We moved to another room, just as she requested. It was the same room we used to discuss the speech before, and I sat on the sofa across from Queen Eve while the Princes sat on the couch on my right.
The Grand Marshal stood guard outside, still thinking there was a danger lurking around targeting the Queen.
Looking at me, Queen Eve smiled and pointed toward the Princes.
"My apologies for the late introduction, Your Holiness. They are my sons, and both of them have agreed to learn under your care."
At her cue, the Princes stood up and bowed to me.
"It's an honor to meet you, Your Holiness. My name is Thomas Humilitas, the first Prince of the Virtue Kingdom."
"I-It's an honor, Your Holiness. I-I am Edison Humilitas, the second Prince of the Virtue Kingdom. I-I am looking forward to learning Swordsmanship from you!"
Both of them were polite and excited, raising their heads after introducing themselves. The second Prince seemed to be a bit shy, judging from how he stuttered some of his words. In comparison, the first Prince inherited her mother's decisiveness and could compose himself better.
The first Prince was still 15 years old, while the second was only 13 years old. Considering their ages, they could act pretty well not to make any glaring mistakes.
I nodded at them and smiled softly, "It's nice to meet you, Prince Thomas, Prince Edison." I said.
"Y-Yes." Prince Edison exclaimed, his face turning slightly red after realizing he had raised her voice. "M-My apologies."
"Fufufu, I have already told them about your offer, and they were pretty excited. Please forgive their impoliteness." The Queen giggled softly as she looked at her sons.
Both Princes nodded softly, with Edison looking down and fidgeting.
"No, it's okay. I understand where their excitement is coming from. When I was younger, I was also excited by the fact I could learn Swordsmanship from a respectable person."
"Oh? So you also have a teacher, Your Holiness?"
"I had." A nostalgic smile appeared on my face. "He was gone already."
"I see." Queen Eve nodded without changing her expression.
Death wasn't something they feared in this world, so the concept of mourning, like what happened to King Cassius, was rare.
However, she knew the sadness of losing someone before their lifespan ended, and I brought up gone instead of leaving. It made her look a little bit sad, but she tried her best not to show it.
"Please don't think too much about it, Queen Eve. More importantly, should we continue our talk about Prince's training schedule and other matters?" I looked at the two Princes who sat back on the couch, listening to our conversation with full interest.
Getting pulled out from her sudden sadness spree, the Queen exclaimed.
"Ah! You're right. My apologies; I was slightly out of it."
We began to talk about the Princes' training afterward. It was to avoid talking about urgent matters in front of them and make them satisfied by having them join this conversation, thus lowering the outside influence that could make them hostile toward their mother.
Because the Queen and I only talked about the rough plan before, I had a proposal for her regarding the training. Grand Marshal Garland was an outstanding individual, and he was probably Level 65 or higher, but his <Swordsmanship> Lv was certainly lower than mine.
There were also kingdom knights who were able to help the Princes to Level up when they weren't training with me.
The efficiency would be considerably lowered because the EXP would be shared with the knights, but it was still good enough so they could gain actual combat experience too.
So my proposal was like this.
"I will train them in <Swordsmanship> every 7 days. Then I'd like Grand Marshal Garland to teach them how to protect if he's willing to. There is nothing wrong with having versatile skills in this world. Then every month, I will bring them to Level up. But that doesn't mean they can slack off. Ask the knights…"
I told the Queen my plan as she listened quietly. Prince Thomas seemed to be excited as he heard my plan. His eyes sparkled with motivation, and there was no sign of him whining about the hard training.
As for Prince Edison, he looked a bit troubled. Clearly, this training sounded too harsh for him, but there was no need to worry.
This plan was made with their well beings in mind. I could restore their stamina and rejuvenate them with <Holy Magic>.
Not only training to become strong, but they also needed to learn how to become a good ruler to replace their mother. Or at least learn enough knowledge not to be looked down upon by others. That was why I proposed their training be held every 7 days instead of 3 or every day.
Also, my influence on them wouldn't be as obvious if I only met them once every 7 days. I proposed that the Grand Marshal train them to allow him to see their 'growth' from the training.
"… And so that's what I have in mind. What do you think, Queen Eve?"
Both Princes looked at their mother, waiting for her answer. She fell into deep thought as she held her chin. The atmosphere was a little bit tense as the Princes gulped. Both of them seemed to agree with my plan, as it actually didn't sound as harsh as it was at the start.
Queen Eve nodded slightly a few seconds later as a smile crept onto her face. She clapped her hands and exclaimed.
"That was a wonderful idea, Your Holiness. We can proceed with that. I truly am indebted to you."
"Please, we have talked about this many times." I raised my hand, brushing away her gratitude as it wasn't needed. It only made us feel… distant, and I didn't want it.
"We are all, after all." I continued with a wide smile.
"Besides, I also want the First and Second Princes to grow into great men. We lived in the same generation, after all. And to be honest, it's also a part of my selfish desire to want this Kingdom to grow into a better one. Please forgive me if I said something wrong."
"No, you're correct. I also have the same dream." The Queen said with a smile. Then she bid good luck to her sons before asking them to leave as she had an important subject to talk about privately with me.
Hearing their mother's approval, Prince Thomas and Edison looked at each other with a smile before bowing toward me and leaving the room. The Grand Marshal opened the door for them and gave me a nod of approval before closing it again.
I couldn't understand his train of thought… Anyway, the atmosphere turned serious as soon as the door was closed.
It was time for us to talk about the urgent matter she mentioned before. Although Beatrice had charmed those Nobles, she still hadn't questioned them about anything and only ordered them to swear their loyalty to Queen Eve.
Any information they had didn't reach the primordial Succubus but relayed immediately to the Queen. I assumed they told her a secret from their meeting in the throne room earlier, and it was something that she couldn't solve herself.
Asking Grand Marshal for help would only show her weakness, and she couldn't allow that. It would only make those opposing factions to be more rampant and brave.
Narrowing her eyes, a cold voice escaped her mouth.
"Your Holiness, I am ashamed to say this, but… I might be a target for assassination tonight."
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