The Queen’s Cosmetician

Swapped with Rodimus, a woman pushes a trolley into the room.

"I'm not convinced"

Beside her, who moderates the tea, Assé insisted with a bewildered look.

"Why are you suddenly in Perfilia?

"Is there a problem, too?

Take up the tea bowl poured with tea, and Mariage groans.

"Again and again, even at the time of the Queen's election, you had come to Her Majesty the other queen. You resigned earlier, but the delegates stayed until the crowning ceremony. If it's true, you know Assé put off asking me where I should thank you right away because this one's restless."

"That's right, but it's too -..."

Assé pointed the swallowed word at the die with his gaze on it. Abrupt, don't you think?

Die smiled. It seems abrupt, and it's not. I must have heard of Mariage, too, that there is a Dadan here.

As the Queen's brother, as Chancellor, the story of a man living in Perfilia.

I'm sorry if I didn't check everything with my own eyes. I also knew she would say she wanted to go to the neighboring country. Though I didn't expect to try to get a step up so soon.

A woman officer leaves the room and is left with four people in the room.

It was Dadan who broke the awful silence.

"Well, maybe not for the same reason as the knight there, but I'm against going to your Perfilia, too, Mariage"

"So how many times have you told me not to abandon Your Majesty?"

"Ass, stop talking for a second."

I would also like to say to Dadan, who has not broken his unscrupulous attitude by coming this far, but I also have trouble being overreacted to the assay.

Die pulled the knight's arm and forced him to sit down, sending Dadan a gaze.

"So why is Dadan against it? It's been six months since the Queen of Perfilia arrived. If you're going to thank me, shouldn't it be sooner?

"Normal."

Dadan took a new curly cigarette out of his nose and lit it on fire.

"As always, this country seems to be at peace, so I'll advise you. Maisemble has been doomed for more than a decade. Though the Western continent's public opinion is still calm. Outside this country, people are skirmishing over territory. In the meantime, Perfilia is trying to take control of the northern part of the continent with the momentum of a flying bird drop. Visit us on the Mustang Mountain. It's the mountain of Sekiyama that gets twisted."

Die shrugged in his chest as he stared at Dadan, who spit out the smoke thinly, as he was right.

Perfilia, dressed as the lord of Serenesti, instantly annexed neighbouring countries that had lost their stopovers and been unstable since Maisemble's demise. Now it seems very difficult, but given that “the man” was lurking in this country, it is obvious that the hand of aggression was reaching out from behind. For whatever reason, visiting Perfilia will require you to be prepared for it.

"Dadan, what kind of woman is the Queen of Perfilia?

Mariage turns to Dadan, who beats the edge of the ashtray with cigarettes.

"... what? Why doesn't the queen of a country know about the queen of a neighbouring country?"

"Sage, who calmed the rough land"

She responded instantly with a sober voice, not looking like Dadan's rubbing.

"I know a lot of other words to compliment that queen. Mostly, it's used by a civilian mourning my incompetence. What I'm asking you is not a superficial story as it is written on a page in history. I warn you, it's the only reason why you could be twisted just to say hello."

Dadan sees a mere tribute visit as if going to the battlefield. It is not hostile. It is too noisy a view of the interaction between the two countries.

Dadan put the cigarette on the ashtray and put his hands together on his knees.

"In this, how the land of Perfilia was rough...... do you know how Serenesty became queen in the first place?

"How did you become queen?

"Die, Serenesti wasn't chosen in the ballot, either, like Mariage, unless it was the direct line of his predecessors. Officially he was supposedly the eldest son of a rural local lord, but I don't know how true that is either. … what is certain is that Serenesty appeared out of nowhere with no one's back shield and took the throne with his hand"

Six years ago, Dadan said.

"The queen collapsed in Perfilia. After giving birth to a young queen, she went to the afterlife with her first child. Problem is, I'll see you later. Perfilia also made a condition for an elected queen if she lost her direct heir to the queen."

Like Del Ligueiria.

Within the third degree of kinship in this country, a girl with the blood of the Maisemble public is a candidate to contend for the Queen's throne. In the case of Mariage, her paternal great-grandmother and maternal grandmother were Maisemble Duchess people.

Even in Perfilia, a girl on edge with Maisemble was to be adopted by the royal family and reigned, Dadan explained.

"I got involved with Doppelgum, too, and I found out. This condition is part of the assimilation policy of Maisemble, the country that used to be its predecessor, Scarlett. On the surface it takes the form of independence, while naturalizing it by putting in the blood of Maisemble. That's how Maisemble has mastered this western continent. In other words, because Maisemble exists, it can also be considered a meaningful condition"

"But what's the connection between that and the cause of Perfilia's rough national territory?

"Well, listen."

He rushes to teach the core.

"I'm going back to six years ago. At the time, Perfilia had two major forces. On the other hand, the Left Minister, who was welcoming the princess of the Maisemble public to his wife. The other is an ambitious, junior aristocratic right minister. This one didn't have an edge with Maisemble. Both houses had educated princesses who deserved to be queens. If Maisemble had survived, no one would have doubtless had the princess of the left minister in office as queen. But..."

Maisemble was doomed.

The terms of the election had ceased to make sense.

"... the man in the right minister thought. Why should I lose the possibility that my daughter could be queen, bound by terms that do not exchange meaning"

With comparable forces, anyone would think.

Die looked at Mariage and her face. They must have looked the same in each other's brains. Alishuel's father, Byram. He was also one of those who was angry at the 'conditions' as to why he had to be kept away from the throne just because he was a man.

"Which princess will reign as queen? That discussion developed into an argument, and finally into a situation where a man in the left minister would kill a man in the right minister. And the right-ministered man assassinated the left-ministered princess in retaliation."

Separating words, Dadan moistened his throat with tea and rambled the tea vessel back onto the plate. The stiff noise lingers in my ear.

"Then it was muddy. A retaliatory battle between each other's houses, the houses that lead there. Eventually it developed into a situation where it would also fly among neutral nobles and slaughter those who could be queens, that is, aristocratic women, into lice."

It was a tragedy.

"If you ask, it means that there will be trouble if there are dropped seeds from the city well, so even the mistress's house and whorehouse where the leading aristocrats were going were in the grill. He also said that a whole village ruled by the local lords had been burned. … Del Ligueiria's adherence to old-fashioned conditions that no longer make sense is a manifestation of the nobility's fear of hitting badly and having the same thing happen."

but.

Die took off the tea bowl.

At hand, I tremble.

"Die? What..."

He said he was going to stay out of the way.

blocked Asse's inquiry, and Die groaned.

"Arguing among the nobles, he said it would be muddy... is that what you mean...?

Everyone seemed unable to understand what Die meant by what he said.

When I visited Miguel's store with Heath in search of information on the missing Arishuel.

The side after Arishuel and the side reporting to Mariage, I was doing a calculation of split hands, at that time.

Heath said to herself that the carriage of the Missouri family without escort feared that they would be attacked by Byram's men.

'... if we fight between the same nobles, they can't even know it's going to be muddy'

He described the Perfilia tragedy in retrospect.

"Ass... did you know?

Asked Mariage, Assé nodded silently.

"At the time, my mother was heartbroken. But there was no help from this country with mountains on its borders, and my mother herself, defending this country, was the best she could do."

"Serenesty put an end to this muddy feud. After that, as you all know."

He rebuilt a country exhausted by civil strife, made a name for itself as a wise man, and finally became the champion of the northwest of the continent.

In a few more years, Perfilia will be counted as one of the world's leading powers - under Serenesti.

Smoke the cigarette, says Dadan.

"If you're going to go see a woman like that..."

He looked sharply at the mariage and warned.

"Mind your own business. Otherwise, they'll eat you, Mariage."

From my fingertips, I get zero Shizuku.

It widened the ripples and rocked the void of a die reflected on the surface of the water in the bathroom. Shake your neck sideways to get rid of your worried expression and take care of your smile.

"Now put on some makeup."

"Yep."

Finished arranging the tools, wiping the re-cleaned hands with a cloth, Die gave Mariage a bowl of grace. It's not that bad of a voice of acceptance to come back. Never before has she prompted the die to make up. But I think that's fine.

Mariage, who has just finished taking care of herself, is in a pale mellow. You must be tired of all sorts of things. While rubbing her body and face apart, she was falling into a much shallower sleep.

I'm meeting with Rudia, so you'd better look bright. Choose the brightest possible color for the eyes and mouth, and prepare only the bright one for the red that pours on the lips.

The carefully cared for Mariage skin is even soft, which can also be considered the fruit of Die's efforts. Uncleaned skin is old and fast so that the house decays quickly. Conversely, the more you polish, the more glossy the furniture, and the more you love your skin, the more transparent and radiant it will be. Skin will honestly respond to the process of basing and overlapping the powder.

The basement from which the dissolved light of the pearl powder was collected was thinly extended to the skin of the mariage, attracting two different shades of refined powder. Brighter eyes than Mariage's skin are spread under the eyes, nose muscles, and forehead, followed by familiar colors for the rest of the body. Careful care was taken not to apply too much, and not to allow the borders to float.

Keep the shavings. Rudia prefers to chat with the mariage of vegetables over with the queen who honors her extraordinary beauty. So, to make you look like a teenager, dare you. Just to avoid fatigue, I brightened up under my eyes. It is painful to avoid thick coating.

"Die."

Mariage opened her eyes thinly in the middle of the die finishing the makeup on her eyes, pale colors wide and putting them in her cheeks.

"Yes, Master Mariage"

"... why were you keeping your mouth shut about Heath?

To the name of a man from her mouth, he only stops for a moment.

"Excuse me."

Die laughed as he put the brush on the color plate again and dropped the excess powder on the cloth.

"... but I'm not going to tell you later."

Yes, Mariage nodded.

"... do you really think that's the guy who said you're the Prime Minister of Perfilia?

That's what Dadan affirmed.

But I didn't make sure with these eyes.

Die replied.

"If we don't see each other, we won't know."

Slip a brush containing a sufficient amount of powder onto Mariage's cheek. From the highest part of the cheek, fan-shaped, slightly round, and wide, add color.

"Fool."

Mariage groaned irritably.

"Listen to people properly. I'm asking you what you think."

Switch from a brush for cheeky lipstick to that for lipstick.

"It's him."

The color plate was attracted, and the red, the noble deep red, was shrugged at its tip.

"I think so"

Bring lips to edge with red. Fill. Luminosity and colour were added to the fleshy lips, highlighting the whiteness of the skin.

"I think you should talk to Rudia today."

"Consultation? What?

"It's about going to Perfilia. Who should I take, or something? And then there's the negotiation, and so on. Going to say hello doesn't end with that, does it?

"Really?"

"Because we're going to spend money, time and personnel, aren't we going to take advantage of this opportunity to make a lot of decisions about what we're going to do with future national traffic?

It is not an easy round trip to the royal castle of Perfilia. Besides, if Mariage were to go, she would have to increase the number of escorts and escorts. There's no way Rodimus would end that with a tribute visit only.

"Oh, I see."

"And... from what I've heard about Dadan today, the queen of Perfilia seems so scared. If I accidentally do, I'm going to be able to decide all the inconvenient things over here. If you're Rudia, you know how to have a good discussion."

The Del Ligueiria system, which focuses on mariage, is still young. It lacks stability. Besides, if Heath is really Serenesty's brother, Dietrout, this insider should be out of line. If you do poorly, Delligeria will be twisted down. That's all we have to avoid. Rudia would draw around and give us advice.

Dai's adoptive mother, who runs one of the best whorehouses in Hanaguchi, always prepared herself downstairs when negotiating with other managers, and took consultations with her surroundings.

Die paid off unwanted powder from Mariage's face with a large brush and removed the powder shroud cloth. Give a hand mirror to my husband, who stretches his back gently.

"Right...... Let me do that. Just listen to my advice, but you're not."

Mariage shrugged as she peered into the mirror she received.

"Besides, Rodimus doesn't seem like much of a guesswork."

"Really? He's always got a flat face."

"You think that's probably because you're in your position. Even today I was just next to Dadan, not so calm."

If you ask me, and Die nodded.

If Mariage had not been beside Dadan, Rodimus would have adopted a slightly calmer and more effective measure, even if he were to ask if it was between Doppelgum or not.

"I knew there was something he couldn't do."

Mariage rises with her hand mirror back to the die and leaves the chair. The dark green costume she is wearing shakes saggily. A white watermark braid slips over the red carpet except from the hem. The colour reminds me of the blissful rash that fills the heavens and the earth that I saw when it was.

Closed his eyelids to seal the remnants, Die broke his hips to Mariage.

"Welcome aboard. Have fun."

"Yep. I'll call you back when I get back from the dinner party."

"Yes, sir."

"Die."

Nestled in front of the door, Mariage turned her quiet eyes to the die.

Pierced gaze. She always shoots people through. With that look. With that Rin look.

"... would you like to see Heath?

Showing hesitation, she mouthed the question. Die was aware that the voice was slightly trembling. I know. That you have faith in yourself for choosing her over Heath at that time. But at the same time, to show a child-like threat that parents fear they will abandon if the die doesn't stop rushing out to that man one day.

Die smiled.

"I don't know."

That's the truth.

I didn't know. Do you want to see me? Don't you want to see me? A man who disappeared leaving too much mouthfeel behind. From that rainy night when his fingertips stroked his cheeks and his pale anointed the world, a girl crying all the time, though living within herself.

I don't know.

"Just... if I see you, I'd like to knock you down"

Mariage closed her eyes properly and laughed ridiculously.

Die, who was left alone in the room with the door closed, walked over to the window.

Open the window that was closed. Decorative stars glimmer upon the sky. Far away sky. Beyond it. Perfilia is beyond the mountain range, also visible from this room.

Previously, Heath said he lived by the border. A land of nothing for once, with plains stretching to the east. The story, which was nothing else, showed that his birth was Perfilia.

Would it have been possible in those days to pursue a bit more elegance if we had learned more about geography?

No, I wouldn't have been able to. It should have been Sekiyama who would be deluded by him.

I didn't know. Nothing. We were together so much. We talked so much. So much.

I liked you so much. I didn't know anything about him.

I chose Mariage. Even if I find out something about Heath now, it doesn't mean it's of any use. Before, Die's master said. Thinking about a man who's gone doesn't make it anything. Exactly.

Just still.

(What you want to know, isn't it bad?

Same as Mariage. I want to know: what he thought and what he exchanged, were they beside themselves?

I want a reason to hate you.

As far as mariage is concerned, there's a reason to hate the man who tried to use us.

To give the girl who lives in the back of her chest a reason to stop crying.

Suddenly the core of his body ached and the die clenched the window frame and flexed.

And as it was, I cried secretly.

While I think this is the last time I cry over the consequences of my choices.