The Kingdom of Michel follows the most traditional male primogeniture inheritance law. (TN: Eldest inherits most or all, so male primogeniture targets the eldest male descendant.)
As the name implies, titles are inherited with priority given to male heirs, and only when there are no male descendants will inheritance be considered for daughters. However, in practice, when women inherit, other male family members will attempt to create obstacles, claiming they are the rightful heirs to the title. Female rulers often face numerous trials and tribulations. (TN: I'm not gonna remove the previous one. It's a matter of pride.)
The King of Michel has five children in total—two sons and three daughters. Fortunately, both princes are excellent and healthy, which means that the kingdom's princesses, as members of the royal family, naturally only have value in political marriages.
On the continent of Lemoria, the age of majority for humans is 16, at which point they gain the right to independently activate their age restriction switch. The Third Princess mentioned by the old man is the king's youngest daughter, who just turned 16 this year.
A political marriage immediately after her coming-of-age ceremony... Even royalty has it tough.
"Who is the Third Princess marrying?"
"A prince from the Kingdom of Garuda. You know about the war between the Kingdom of Garuda and Midgard, right?"
"I have some impression... I remember it was... Elf King Oberon VII who declared war on the Kingdom of Garuda."
The geographical divisions of the continent of Lemoria are pretty interesting. Aside from the undead, who are beyond consideration, the three great human kingdoms happen to be adjacent to the territories of the other three races. The Kingdom of Michel is closest to Arcadia, home of the beastkin; the Kingdom of Yazlar is closest to Atlantis, home of the merfolk; and the last of the three great kingdoms, the Kingdom of Garuda, borders Midgard where the elves reside.
Elf King Oberon VII is not a gentle ruler. It's said that since his ascension, Midgard has been in an almost constant state of war—quelling domestic rebellions, crusading against the undead, invading Arcadia. Basically, he's fought every war he could fight. Even now, Midgard remains at war with the Kingdom of Garuda.
The old man nodded and continued speaking.
"Yes... *sigh*, it's such a pity for the Third Princess. I heard that the Garuda prince is an incompetent playboy. The Kingdom of Garuda is using this political marriage to secure the Kingdom of Michel's knight order for their expedition—they've already set out..."
When royal houses form political marriages, it's equivalent to establishing an alliance. The Kingdom of Garuda wants to gain the Kingdom of Michel's support through this method to resist the elven invasion. The knight order represents the kingdom's elite forces, and considering the distance factor, a large-scale expedition isn't very realistic. Therefore, the Kingdom of Michel decided to send only the knight order on an expedition to assist their ally.
"The date for the Third Princess's wedding has already been set. As usual, nobles of count rank and above must provide gifts as the Third Princess's dowry, and merchant associations also have an obligation to provide congratulatory gifts. Count Montefeltro is putting his heart into the preparations, but that Garuda prince is hardly worthy of our Third Princess..."
The old man shook his head and sighed repeatedly as he spoke, genuinely feeling it wasn't worth it for the Third Princess.
The Third Princess is the youngest daughter, the royal family member with the least connection to the throne. From the moment she was born, her identity as a tool for royal political marriages was already predetermined. Even so, the Third Princess has calmly accepted her fate. Throughout these sixteen years, whether at holiday celebrations or actively participating in disaster relief activities, she has never brought shame to the royal dignity.
Unfortunately, being born into royalty means one's fate is beyond their control.
Before long, the Third Princess will be escorted by Duke Carolingian to marry far away in the Kingdom of Garuda.
But none of this really concerns me. Even in a virtual world, royal family members aren't beings you can casually meet in person. As a mere country maid, I don't have any possibility of getting involved with royal family members.
"Oh my! Look at me. I got so caught up in chatting that I forgot the important matter. My son won't be back for quite some time, so would you like to..."
"I'm not ordering custom clothes. I just want to buy some fabric."
"Fabric, I see. No problem, just wait a moment. I'll go get some. My legs aren't what they used to be, so you might have to wait a bit longer."
"That's fine."
The clothing in the tailor shop is dazzling in its variety, but unfortunately, I don't see the safety shorts I'm looking for. Maybe I should go home and try making safety shorts by hand? Or perhaps alter the skirt into a long dress...
I was thinking about these things when a customer pushed open the door and entered.
Yet another handsome guy, and this one, how should I put it... his [Charm] value is high enough. Still, he has that kind of fresh-faced internet celebrity look that's good at singing, dancing, rap, and basketball... To put it somewhat diplomatically, he makes me want to give my breakfast a chance to breathe some fresh air.
The number of handsome adventurers I've encountered today can no longer be simply explained away as a coincidence. I'm not stupid—with a bit of thought, I can figure out the reasoning behind this.
They couldn't possibly be... trying to use men to raise my affection rating, could they?
A chill instantly ran through my entire body.
Calling it bad taste might be going too far, but I absolutely will not fall for handsome guys while in a girl's body.
"Here we are, here we are. Please look at what kind of fabric you'd like..."
The old man returned to the counter carrying several rolls of fabric. The adventurer unhurriedly approached the counter, holding denarii in his hand.
The routine of paying for me in advance?
"Shopkeeper, please allow me to pay for..."
"Old sir, have you been experiencing lower back pain lately?"
Though interrupting someone mid-sentence is quite rude... I had no choice but to resort to this tactic to avoid owing a favor.
"Well, when you get old, it's pretty normal to have some aches and pains..."
"Actually, I'm quite confident in massage. Proper massage can reduce fatigue. If you don't mind, please allow me to give you a massage."
"This is... why...?"
"Come on, come on~"
I urged the old man to the back room, leaving the adventurer clutching his money and looking confused in the wind, along with an apologetic smile.
[Congratulations, Affection +0]