Chapter 2: The Kingdom’s Secret Weapon (F)

"By the way, sire," Excel continued. "I do think that carrier is a wonderful ship,

but it wouldn't do to simply go on calling it 'the carrier' forever. Why don't you give

it a name now?"

"Hm? Oh... You have a point," I said. "What would be a good name for it?"

"Let's see... I think the name of a place, or of the king who built it, would be the

most common options. How does Aircraft Carrier Souma sound to you? When you

build more of them, they would belong to the Souma-class."

"Absolutely not."

I didn't want that. If I put my own name on the ship that would be the center of

our navy, it'd make me seem conceited, and I didn't want that. Besides, if it had my

name, they were going to say things like, "Souma, departing!" and "Souma,

withdrawing from the line of battle!" and "The Souma has been sunk!" right?

...There was no way I wanted that. I needed to propose an alternate name.

"Oh, hey, I know," I said. "Why not give it the name of a carrier from my world?"

"From Your Majesty's world?"

I nodded. If I had to give it a name, why not use one that existed my world? Let it

be one that had never folded in the face of adversity, and that had never given up

fighting. It was going to be carrying wyverns, so this was the perfect name.

I looked down at the island-type carrier beneath us and declared, "I hereby name

that carrier the Hiryuu!"

Having finished appointing Castor as captain of the Hiryuu, my work was done,

and we returned to Lagoon City in the Walter Duchy. Because the sun was already

setting when we arrived, we decided we would spend the night at Excel's mansion.

At least partly because it was a coastal city, we had a dinner that made ample use

of seafoo;, and then Juna, Excel, Castor and myself chatted over tea in the parlor.

In the middle of that relaxed atmosphere, Excel suddenly put down her teacup

and asked, "Now that I think of it, sire, you have no plans after this, do you?"

It was so sudden, Juna cocked her head to the side and looked at her quizzically.

"Grandmother?"

I was puzzled, too. What could she want, all of a sudden?

"Yeah..." I said. "When I get back to the castle, I'm sure there'll be work for me,

but I haven't brought anything with me."

"I see. You have time right now, then?" The moment she said that, there was an

unsettling glint in Excel's eye.

I shuddered, feeling a chill run down my spine. I got goosebumps, my every

instinct warning me. I sensed... danger? I almost jumped up from the sofa despite

myself, when...

Thump!

"Juna?!"

Juna, who was sitting next to me, fell to the side. She was slumped over the arm

of the sofa, already asleep.

Even asleep, she sure is charming... Wait, I didn't have time to think that! I looked

over to Excel, who was smiling, a tiny bottle in hand.

"No need to worry. I'm just having her take a little nap."

"Sleeping drugs?! You drugged your own granddaughter?!"

"It seemed like she would get in the way if she was awake, after all." Excel put a

hand to her own cheek and let out a sigh.

No, no, no, no! She was giving me that, "Oh, goodness, she's such a handful," look,

but what she'd just done to Juna was pretty nasty!

"I couldn't help it," Excel said. "I received a request from the chamberlain to give

you some lessons."

"From Marx?! You can't mean..."

"What you might call 'sexual education,'" she smiled. "As an older woman, he

wanted me to teach you some things, sire."

"You're more than just 'older'!"

"Oh my, how rude. My body is still full of youth, you know."

"Not your heart, though!" I shouted.

Excel rose from her seat, slowly closing in on me. "Creating an heir is a serious

matter for the country. Especially considering the shortage of royals. Even though

your betrothals are essentially already being seen as a marriage, and even though

those around you have been encouraging you to hurry up and produce an heir,

you've yet to lay a hand on the princess, or Juna, or Aisha. It's little wonder the

chamberlain is so worried."

"N-No... I was hoping to wait until I was a little more ready... you know."

"That leaves us worried," Excel said. "It might be forgiven as a youthful

indiscretion now, but once you are formally man and wife, if you are awkward and

inept when you get down to 'business,' it could have an effect on your relationship.

That sort of discord between a royal couple can lead to future strife within the

house."

Excel sat down on the back of the sofa, wrapping her arm around my neck. What

was this?! I was like a deer caught in headlights, unable to move!

"That's why the chamberlain asked an experienced woman like myself to give

you some direction. Now, sire, let's move to the bedroom. Until dawn comes, I will be

giving you thorough lessons on how to handle a woman. First, let's start with some

classroom lectures."

Lectures?! I was going to be taking health and physical education classes at my

age?! I'd graduated from high school... Wait, I guess they didn't go into quite that

much detail in health and physical education classes.

"Wait, hold on! You just said 'first,' didn't you?!" I shouted.

"Hee hee! In any field of study, it's best to learn through experience, don't you

think? If you want to, I wouldn't mind keeping it a secret from Juna and the others,

you know? We can consider it a one night indiscretion, and I'll give you some handson training."

I don't want it, okay?! I cried out in my mind.

Excel smiled, putting her hands on my shoulders and leaning in close to peer at

my face. Yeah, she was definitely having fun seeing my reaction.

I turned to Castor, who was sitting there drinking tea as if nothing was

happening, for help. "Castor! You recognized me as your lord, right? Your lord is in a

tight spot! Help me, would you!"

"...I did indeed swear loyalty to you, my lord," Castor set down his tea and said

with an all-too-serious look on his face. "However, I would like nothing more than to

see the lord I've devoted myself to leave behind descendants who will prosper. I

cannot get in Duchess Excel's way. I can only bite back tears as I ignore my lord's

request for aid."

"You say that, but you just don't want to get caught up in this!" I shouted.

He pretty blatantly averted his eyes.

I hit the nail on the head, didn't I, you jerk?!

"Now, sire, shall we be going?" Excel took a firm hold of the back of my neck, then

began dragging me towards the door of the parlor.

I was bracing myself to run for it, but I couldn't even put up the slightest

resistance. Even factoring in my own weakness, her strength was incredible. Where

did that slim body of hers have that kind of strength?

"No, wait, please, Excel, come on," I begged.

"Yes, yes. You can just leave everything to this big girl here. I'll teach you real

good."

"No, I mean... Okay, I'll take your lessons! Just the lessons! None of that hands-on

stuff, okay?!" I screamed.

"...Good grief, I suppose it can't be helped. But if you find yourself wanting to get

physical with me, do tell, okay?"

"As if I would!"

In the end, I was subjected to Excel's lengthy lectures.

Having to take health and physical education classes from Excel, who looked so

much like Juna, was so embarrassing that I thought I might die.