Chapter 51: The Heartless Princess Goes Around.
Chapter 51: The Heartless Princess Goes Around.
warning: <UNEDITED> IF YOU WANT THE EDITED VER. WAIT FOR A WHILE UNTIL OUR AWESOME EDITOR, PARA IS DONE!! Edited: 10/01/23 Translated by Eunie Edited/Proofread by Para The Bill Convention (Assembly) is being held today. It’s an important assembly that only happens once a year, where the country's upper echelons gather to discuss and deliberate the proposals, revisions and enactments of various bills and national laws. It seems like this is something that Mother created when she ascended the throne. Initially, things regarding the national policy or anything related to the laws was something that the Queen was supposed to do by herself. But Mother decided to do it differently by expanding things a bit more. She wanted to gather everyone’s opinions about different matters, listen to what they had to say and thoroughly deliberate everything before finalizing a decision. By doing this, she accurately created national laws and policies with the needs of the citizens and the country itself in mind. And it was only a year ago that Stayle and I were allowed to participate in the Convention. Of course, I can participate directly and submit my proposals, but in the end, I still don’t get the final say. But I think the real reason we were allowed to participate was to learn and gain experience. And just like the previous year, the last thing that came up again on the agenda for today’s assembly was the Prime Minister Gilbert's proposal, the “Special Ability Registration Bill.” From what I heard, Prime Minister Gilbert has been advocating for the same bill every year. And every time he revises the benefits, prospects, and implementation methods. Through his clever words, he’s steadily gaining supporters. It seems like he was able to garner two-thirds of the votes for the implementation of the bill. But to be honest, it feels like rather than acquiring votes for the bill, those two-thirds were meant for the approval of Prime Minister Gilbert himself. It’s just that there are holdouts like myself, Stayle, Uncle Vest, and Father. Mother also doesn’t seem pleased with the bill itself, hence why it’s been left on hold again. Once the assembly came to an end, the members dispersed, and I decided to bid farewell to Stayle, Father, Mother, Uncle, and Prime Minister Gilbert before leaving the place. “Your Highness, First Princess Pryde.” And just when I was about to leave, I could hear Prime Minister Gilbert calling out my name. I think it was around two years ago when, for some reason, Prime Minister Gilbert had curiously started speaking to me with more favour than ever. Read only on eunietl.weebly.com At a closer look, one will see a slender man with long, light-blue hair tied up and gathered at one shoulder with matching blue eyes. Apparently, his ability lets him control his age, which makes him immortal in some ways. But it seems like this time around, he hasn’t done anything of the sort. Honestly, it doesn’t really feel like he has aged at all. … … …Hmm?.... …But if you look closely, he appears much more haggard now…. Even though he was smiling perfectly as always, I couldn't feel the usual sharpness his eyes used to have. Stayle beside me looked displeased as he fixed his glasses, but he didn’t do anything since I tried to restrain him with my hand. “Prime Minister Gilbert. I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to meet your expectations.” When I apologized to him for my veto over his proposal, he just smiled at me and dejectedly said, “No, no. It’s not your fault. It can’t be helped since Her Majesty, The Queen, gets the final say. It’s just that, this time, it felt like you were troubled by it. Which is why, if it doesn’t displease you, would you mind telling me the reason behind it?” He’s right. Indeed, I was particularly troubled by his proposal. If his proposal is organized and managed correctly, then this could be something like the birth certificates implemented in my previous life, which could be really helpful to the people. And most of all, there won’t be a repeat of Stayle’s situation, and it will be possible to avoid adopting someone against their will. The initial conditions for his proposal are to check a person's age, gender and whether or not their ability is considered rare. It would be possible for children to be individually inspected to see if there are any without parents or legal guardians by their side or if a child is suffering from abuse. It would also be easy to find children willing to be adopted. That way, no one has to be separated from their family, like what happened to Stayle and his beloved mother. I’m happy now that Stayle seems to be enjoying every day. From the bottom of my heart, I am genuinely glad that Stayle was the one who became my adopted brother, but I still couldn’t forget the way he looked back when I first met him. “Well…as expected. The main reason I vetoed your proposal was because I don’t think it's right to acquire jurisdiction over a person that would go against their human rights. It’s not like they chose to or ever wanted to be born with special abilities, and it’s unfair for them to lose their rights and freedom.” In fact, the majority of those against his proposal were all Special Ability users. In my previous life, I’ve seen in countless movies, anime, and manga how these situations end. They were either revered as divine beings and given special treatment with high praises, or they were treated poorly and often despised. So, I don’t think it would be a good idea to further divide Special Ability users and Non-Special Ability users. Doing so would pose a danger to the people of this country. Read only on eunietl.weebly.com But Prime Minister Gilbert just nodded and smiled upon hearing my words and saying, "I see, I understand." He continued, “Certainly, some problems regarding one's stance might arise. I’m also a Special Ability user, so I know the difference in the value and rarity of one's own Special Ability, and I think I’m acting in consideration of your concerns. But at the same time, isn’t it true most things that can’t be achieved through normal means are easily achievable for a Special Ability user? This is why I firmly believe that there’s no need for us to hide a person’s special ability. "In fact, as citizens of our country, I think they’ll feel more honoured…and for that reason, if every member of the Royal family can promote and spread the word of the wonders of Special Ability users, then no one would ever think badly of them.” Just listening to him, I realized again how clever Prime Minister Gilbert is. Especially the way he has with his words. The more I hear, what he’s saying starts to make sense. I guess it’s only natural that he steadily gained supporters throughout the years. (Para: The G in Gilbert stands for Gaslighting) But as expected, I don’t want to create a dividing wall between special-ability users and regular people. Even now, those in the upper class are special ability users, hence the strong demand for people with rarer abilities. The same applies to the successor to the throne or those who get to be adopted–the condition is the same. The one that gets chosen is someone with a rare or exceptional special ability. To be honest, I always thought it would be better to abolish that kind of system. “So how about it…? Since Your Highness has garnered quite a lot of trust from Her Majesty, I believe you can easily help me successfully leverage that same trust to pass my bill, ” he said while maintaining an elegant-looking smile on his face. So he’s been trying to get a feel of what I think, and from the looks of it, he still thinks I’m hesitating. I wonder how I should refuse him. “Gilbert.” I was still thinking over how to convey my refusal to help him when I suddenly heard Father’s voice behind me. And when I looked over, it seemed Father was in a bad mood. “Oh my, so it’s you, Your Royal Highness. I was just in the middle of a conversation with Pryde-sama…urkk....” Father briskly walked over and grabbed Prime Minister Gilbert by his collar, pulling him away. I hope he won’t hit him this time. Ignoring Prime Minister Gilbert’s resistance, Father briefly glanced my way and said, “Return to your room,” before going somewhere else while taking Prime Minister Gilbert away. “...Pryde, are you alright?” “Yes. I’m fine. …I’m sorry for making you worry.” Read only on eunietl.weebly.com Stayle's been following my instructions and remained silent the whole time. But I could feel something like a murderous intent leaking from him whenever Prime Minister Gilbert spoke. Apparently, Stayle has never been fond of him. “It’s fine as long as you're okay, Pryde. …Please be extra careful around Gilbert, especially when you meet him by yourself. Be sure to always call for me,” Stayle said while frowning in the direction where Father and Prime Minister Gilbert had just left. With a wry smile on my face, I answered, “Sure. Since I promised you already.” Two years ago, back when I first convicted a criminal, I wasn’t able to bring Stayle with me. It seems like he was really worried back then. So ever since then, Stayle made me promise that whenever I meet Prime Minister Gilbert, I have to make sure I bring him along. …Nevertheless–even though it’s only me around right now, but to think he finally started calling Prime Minister Gilbert by only his name** (Eunie: **So for those who are not familiar, Yobisute means when you call someone by their name alone without addressing them with honorifics. Like Mr./Ms./Mrs. And it's considered rude to call someone you are not close with or someone older than you without honorifics.) I really do think Stayle has changed already. Just the thought of that, and I couldn’t help but smile already. Originally, he had this amazing relationship with Prime Minister Gilbert, but he has not formed any relationship with Arthur. Back in the game, he was much closer to Prime Minister Gilbert, and they both worked together to support the country. … …Huh? I…What did I just say…??? I stood frozen there, surprised by my own sudden thoughts. I can hear Stayle calling out my name, asking what’s wrong, but it’s not the time for that! Ever since I saw him a few years back, I’ve always had this weird sense of deja vu, but I didn’t know what role he played in the game. Even when I got my memories back for the first time, I couldn’t really remember the introduction about him. And yet…what did I just say? ‘Back in the game, he was much closer with Prime Minister Gilbert, and they both worked together to support the country.’ ?! Ehh? So does that mean Prime Minister Gilbert also appeared in the game?! I desperately tried searching through my memories, but, as expected, I couldn’t remember it. No!! This is something that I should fully remember, or else…!! I immediately grabbed Stayle’s hands, which were gently shaking my shoulders. He froze. Surprised by my sudden actions. “Stayle!! Can you teleport me to the place where Prime Minister Gilbert is?” “Eh…?” Read only on eunietl.weebly.com Two years ago, Stayle could only teleport things lighter than his body weight. Now he can teleport anything equal to his own weight plus another adult. What's more, he can now teleport to a specific person’s location even if he doesn't know exactly where they are. However, he needs to have a strong connection with that person. Like meeting them multiple times, talking with them and grasping that person's character. But if none of those requirements are met, then it's impossible to achieve. Back in the game, he could effortlessly teleport to where Pryde was whenever she whistled or snapped or in cases where Tiara cried out in distress. Thinking about it now, it’s actually tough to pinpoint a person’s location by just a whisper or a cry, but it's a different case if it’s based on that person’s specific trait. “I do think it’s possible…but why so suddenly?” “There’s just something I have to confirm. Please, and if possible, can you make it so Prime Minister Gilbert won’t notice?” Stayle almost hesitated, but seeing me plead, he just nodded and said, “Our maids, guards and even Tiara are waiting for us over there.” Then he placed his hand on my shoulder, and the next thing I knew, our surroundings immediately changed the moment he used his Special Ability. WE'RE FINALLY ON GILBERT'S ARC. LESSGO.
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