Queen of the Mad Dog Knights - Chapter 15
Chapter 15 – Master Will Always be My Master, Please be Confident with Yourself (by Maltese)
A letter arrived from the remote island. It was from Yoshimune von Kishu-sama.
In the letter, he told me about the progress of Dashiba’s diet program.
“Dear Your Highness Liselotte-sama
Dashiba-sama’s diet is going well.
He still ate plenty amount of food (but not too much). But don’t worry as we carefully feed him (we pried open his mouth and shove the food in) with food specially made with his diet program in mind every day (it’s military ration). The taste is slightly peculiar (it’s bad), but it has a great nutritional balance.
In regards to his exercise routine, he made some friends among the island’s large-sized animals (man-eating monsters) and he enjoyed running around the island with them (because if he ever stopped running, he’d be eaten).
Also, he is a ‘my pace’ kind of dog (I’ve been tempted to yank his tail out of his butt because of this), we’ve been having trouble with this personality of his.
We will do our best to return him safely (with all his limbs intact, of course) before the coronation begins, so please wait a little bit longer.
Sincerely, you faithful waken, Kishu.”
…I felt that there are some hidden meanings between his words.
But, regardless, the Wakens are reliable indeed!
Feeling relieved, I folded the letter, though for some reason Leonhardt-sama was giving a thumb-up toward the east direction.
* * *
The coronation ceremony was scheduled to be next month.
The invitations we sent to the countries and other major powers of the world have been received well by them.
In particular, the Grand Kingdom of Liselotte (temporary name) located in the Liselotte Continent (temporary name) said that they would gather every influential person in the continent. Words going around that they were having a hard time securing enough high-speed ships for transportation.
Mameta von Shiba-sama, the Shiba Inu in charge of the continent, gave us his report on how smooth the country’s internal affairs were. Of course, he also sent his personal message to me…
“I don’t need your praise, okay?! I’m just doing what I’m supposed to be doing! I don’t need you to brush me, be nice to me or mind me! I’m just doing what I’m supposed to be doing!”
Tsundere…
…Of course, I’ll be thanking you at the very least.
By the way, as expected, the Empire will also attend the coronation.
With the annexation of the Humanist Kingdom, the borders with the Empire had increased in size and signs of geopolitical tensions had started to rise within our country.
However, that country had population and food problems.
Leonhardt-sama reminded me regarding the Empire ‘After the coronation, they would most likely force us to colonize the Liselotte Continent, please don’t make any careless remarks about the continent, especially any remarks about its borders.’ I kept his words in mind.
But among the replies, there was one particular reply that was a little bit…. disturbing…
Archbishop Gorton’s reply…
He is the current leader of the Purist Sect, a person who is able to influence a lot of the sect’s radical believers.
If he hadn’t fallen in love with my dog back then, a massacre that will definitely remain in history would have occurred.
The survivors of the massacre would spend their days fighting for their ‘crusade’ and our kingdom would turn into a land covered in blood and corpses.
That same Archbishop sent me a letter.
“Religion is something that people believe in. Therefore, it is not uncommon to have more than one interpretation of it.
Whenever there is a major change, people would split into groups, those groups are often radical, yet they are also fragile.
Such radicality and fragility are the reason why many of their views ended in vain as they prefer to solve things with violence rather than conversation.
O Future Queen, I’ve done everything I could do to protect my believers, so I shall be watching for you from now on.
When all the fires have been extinguished, I will be the first Archbishop of the Purist Sect to attend a coronation in another country’s land.
In the worst-case scenario where something terrible were to befall you, I will volunteer to take care of Dashiba-sama during that period, you can leave him in my care, you can trust me with this. I will prepare the best food for him.”
“Is this a terrorism attack notice? Are the Purist Sect going to move? Also, it seems like the Archbishop wanted to wash his hands off their actions.”
“Do we even have enough troops to take care of them?”
Leonhardt-sama and Darius sama started to discuss the content of the letter.
Dashiba is trying his best to lose some of his weight, I’m definitely not going to let you spoil his efforts.
I was thinking about that while struggling with another matter inside another room.
You see, I’m a girl.
Like many girls, I like beautiful and cute things.
Especially nice dresses and accessories, they made my heart skip a beat just by looking at them.
But, I never expected a day where I cursed a dress would ever come.
“It’s heavy…”
“Oh my, Liselotte-sama, you shouldn’t cower at this kind of light dress. The previous queens wore it with ease, you know?”
“Something ‘light’ wouldn’t crush… my whole body like this…”
Talking with me with dismay in her voice was Grace Cory von Pitbull-sama.
Seeing this, Theresa-san, who was watching from behind me, spoke out to help me, ‘Liselotte-sama is still a child, can’t you tailor it to make it lighter for her?’
The dress I’m currently wearing is a gorgeous dress made of layers of thick fabric and decorated with a lot of gems and jewels.
It was the idea of the previous kings for the occasions where a queen would be crowned, the dress’ whole purpose was to show off the monetary power of the Kingdom to the other countries.
That’s why… the dress is so… heavy…!!
Fancy jewelry? Embroidery made by silver threads? I don’t need them!!
The moment I put it on, I was shocked because my knees immediately gave in.
My little legs weren’t able to support the dress’s weight.
“What a shame, even though I purposely made it look majestic so that the empire wouldn’t dare to look down on you…”
With a rueful frown on her beautiful face, Grace-sama supported me by my sides and lifted me up effortlessly.
“Hmm, your head could use a little bit more accessories..” She muttered as she lifted me up.
This woman is at the forefront of fashion in the Kennel Kingdom.
The one who is called the ‘Fashion Leader’ and the ‘Fashion Designer.’
She had been struggling to find a suitable dress for me to wear on the coronation day next month.
I’m sick of being dolled up.
But I’m still too small to work as a proper government for the country, so dolling up is the best thing I could do for now.
Oh… why can’t I just deal with the paperwork instead..?
I’ve consulted Leonhardt-sama about this plenty of times and he agreed to gradually share his work with me after I was successfully crowned as a queen.
My stepbrother said to me “You should spend more time studying whatever you want first.” but, he already got a job, he wouldn’t understand my feelings.
I want to do what I can for this country.
Otherwise… I won’t feel like I belong in this country…
Everyone said that they needed me.
My stepbrother and Dashiba were always there for me.
But I… didn’t have any confidence in myself.
They called me a queen, but for me, Liselotte was just a clumsy girl that couldn’t even properly express her emotions.
I mean, if I could express my joy, sorrow or at the very least be able to show a little bit of my affection, I might have been able to get along with my stepmother.
What if I didn’t have this ‘smell’?
What if the Dog-Kin hadn’t told me that I was their royalty?
That’s why I wanted to be able to understand my emotions better.
I wanted to at least be able to feel that it’s okay for me to be here…
..but…
“Well, it’s a shame, but there are no more dresses to pick. Well, pack them all into the box and move them away.”
Grace-sama handed the heavy dresses to the maids and they reverently carried them to a sturdy and antique-looking treasure chest.
“The dress that Liselotte-sama wore is now in the chest ~”
“The dress that Liselotte-sama wore will be moved into the treasury ~”
“The dress that Liselotte-sama wore will be temporarily dubbed as exhibit number 666 ~”
What ‘the things I can do’? I’ve had enough!!
They moved the clothes I wore in treasure chests, it’s embarrassing!
The other day Duke Hainuwele came from the empire and sent me a pitying gaze that I couldn’t forget even if I wanted to when he saw me like this!
All of them are too honest to their desires…
In my underwear, I gulped and crashed into the sofa.
The older nobles (especially the men) and the Mad Dog Knights are all too honest to their desires.
I wish that they would at least restrain themselves when they are in their human form, but they wouldn’t listen to me at all.
Their pride as a “mad dog” that blindly loved their king.
Their pride is to be the dog of the queen.
I’ve tried to read the monthly issues of ‘Inudo’ (published by Greyhound) that had been scattered around the royal palace to try to understand their feelings a little, but… the contents were simply out of this world!
For example, in one of the back issues, I found some dog philosophy like…
“While being a dog is about following your instinct and gaining your freedom, a wonderful bondage will make you feel where you belong.”
Though some of them were about more realistic issues like…
“Today’s recommended brushes!”
“A word from the Fashionista, Grace Cory-sama!”
“Could pork bone sales serve as an indicator for the economy?”
…and so on…
That was what the magazine used to look like
But as soon as I came here…
“For a dog, his queen is his love, his dream, his romance. In other words, Liselotte-sama is our everything!”
The contents suddenly became unfathomable.
“Liselotte-sama’s worn-out fashion!”
“A novel for those of you who agonized over your daily fantasies of being a good dog for Liselotte-sama.”
“On sale! ‘Liselotte-sama’ flavored pork bone!”
Clearly, there was something wrong with this…
There was even more ridiculous stuff in the Q&A section…
“Q: I’ve been missing the smell of the dog-run courts, but the Pitbull’s security is so tight lately, please do something about it. And while we are at it, why don’t we replace all the guards in the royal palace with the people of my family? (by someone from the Doberman Family).”
“A: If you die right here and now, you won’t miss the smell ever again. (by someone from the Pitbull Family).”
“Q: I’m wondering whether or not I’m cut out to be a soldier. My nose is always stuffy, I’m squishy and the terrorist stole my tank. Should I go back to the countryside? (by someone from the Pug Family).”
“A: Before you decide that, return the money you borrowed from me for buying Liselotte-sama flavored gum! 800 wan, no less! (by someone from the Chihuahua Family).”
…it was chaos.
* * *
Grace-sama started to design her next piece.
Because of that, she told me to have a break, while Theresa-san started preparing tea for me.
Leonhardt-sama and Darius-sama had just left the neighboring room to discuss things about the castle’s security.
Dashiba isn’t here, it’s so boring…
As I lazily threw my body into the sofa and kicked my legs to the air, I suddenly heard the voice of the Paparazzi Dog.
[Master ~ aren’t you getting bored with all this fuss about the dress? Let’s go outside and play! The Prime Minister and the Commander aren’t here right now, let’s get some nice things outside ~]
“I’m here too ~”
“Stepbrother?!”
I jumped from the sofa
Theresa-san warned me about something, but I ignored her and rushed out of the room.
[Whoa, wait, I’m going with you], said Mars-sama who had been waiting outside the room in his small white dog form while running towards my feet.
I opened the door to find my stepbrother on the sofa in the luxurious guest room slumped over with his arms behind his back.
His appearance changed from him wearing the usual apprentice uniform into him wearing the regular civil servant’s uniform, but I see that his attitude remained unchanged.
Next to him was Yoch von Greyhound-sama, sitting on the sofa in his dog form with a note under his collar. In one of his long ears, there was a pen hooked on a string.
Even though when they return to their human form, their clothes and accessories that had somehow magically disappeared would appear again, Yoch-sama insisted on going around with this fashion because he claimed that paper and pens are the keys to journalism or something.
That aside, those two were actually good friends.
“Well, Greyhound-sama and I have always been on the same page.”
[Bud is a very promising young man, if it were possible, I would like him to get a job at the Greyhound Publishing co, but he refused, saying that ‘Right now, I need to find a way to get more money first], ahahaha.]
“Haa..”
[We had dinner together sometimes too.]
“In the cafeteria, with Chow Chow, the commoner, Greyhound-sama, and Maltese-sama, we four ate together often.”
Mars-sama too?
To me, it sounded more like Yoch-sama, who was ten years older than the rest of the group, took the other three into suspicious places and played with them.
The boys are so free…
Mars-sama got on the sofa and started to play with Yoch-sama’s long and thin tail.
As I was looking at him with envy, my stepbrother casually dropped a bomb.
“Having friends… is nice…”
“Well, Liselotte doesn’t have any friends aside from Dashiba after all.”
“Stepbrother?! T-that’s not true! Don’t say something like that!”
“Loner ~”
“I am not!!”
I’m not a loner!
I just don’t have many friends!
I’m an elite after all!
I didn’t want to admit that I didn’t make any human friends because I always had this expressionless face and I was always too headstrong and stiff.
I desperately denied it.
But the more I denied it, the more the three men looked at me with lukewarm eyes.
Stop!
My heart can’t take this anymore!
* * *
After all that fuss, Yoch-sama brought me somewhere in the corner of the palace where he said he would show me something nice.
It was a room where portraits of the royal family were displayed.
Starting with the first king, King Ayer, and ending with my blood-related father, the portraits were all on display.
I opened the door that could only be opened by royalty and the dukes, the amazing sight of 125 portraits lined up orderly entered my view.
The portrait of the 125th king was displayed right in front of me.
The king’s name was Abel Budgerigar.
My blood-related father.
As I got closer and stared at his portrait, I noticed his silver hair and purple eyes.
Yes, the same color as mine.
His stiff, well-formed face was also similar to mine, another proof that he and I were father and daughter.
But still…
“..as expected, I still think of Heidegger-sama as my real father… I’m sorry…”
I looked up at my own father’s portrait and muttered.
All the familial love and memories I received were all given to me by my father, Cain.
I heard from Darius-sama that the late king was a great dog lover, but to me, he’s only a stranger. My feeling for him is merely a form of respect towards an older member of the royal family. I can’t love him as my own father.
As I looked at his portrait while having this thought in mind, I heard the white dog, Mars-sama cooing pitifully at my feet.
I lifted him up and said “Sorry…”
[Take a look at the back of the portrait! I found it earlier this morning! The previous head of the Wolfhound Family probably hid it there!]
Said Yoch-sama as he slid into my feet.
Wait, I thought only royalty and the dukes were allowed in here? …well, let’s not think about it too much…
I asked Mars-sama to carry me there and when I looked behind the portrait, I found a journal…
It seemed dusty, but it also didn’t seem old.
“Is it okay if I take it?”
[Yes, it’s fine, Abel-sama wrote in his sickbed, it was for Lieselotte-sama.]
“For me?”
[I heard that he wrote a lot of things when he was in his sickbed.]
I removed the journal from the wooden frame and placed it down on the floor.
It was a thin journal, I held it with both my hands.
I flipped the journal open and was immediately greeted by the words ‘To you, whom I will meet someday ’ on the very first page.
By ‘you’… did he mean… me…?
‘To you, whom I will meet someday
Currently, I’m suffering from an illness that has killed many members of the royal family.
I feel like my soul might be summoned to the heavens at this very moment.
But, I will never give up hope.
Because I believe that you, my child, are somewhere in this world.
Recently, I had a dream.
In that dream, I was able to talk with you, laugh with you and look around the world with you.
I held you in my arms and enjoyed our life together alongside Darius and the other dogs.
I always wished that those days would eventually come.
It’s that feeble wish that keeps me going…
I can’t wait to meet with you.
I wonder what I should say when we finally meet?
Is ‘Hello, I’m your father’ enough?
Or should I start with ‘Nice to meet you’?
…though I probably wouldn’t be able to say anything
I would probably end up hugging you so hard that I’d be unable to say anything even if I wanted to..”
The sentences that were written in the journal were addressed to me.
In the journal, there were stories about himself, his parents, siblings, and his other relatives.
His days with the Dog-Kins, Darius-sama, and his friends in their childhood.
Then he wrote about the epidemic, the royal family that fell one by one to the illness, how he felt when he was among the last ones to survive and was forced to ascend the throne.
He wrote about mother and his broken heart.
His feelings for his child, whom he couldn’t see and touch seemed to ooze out of him as he wrote the journal.
Lastly, at the end of the book, he calmly described his condition with his illness and his neat writing slowly became blurred as time passed.
“I have faith that you will return one day.
I and Mona might never see each other again.
But I firmly believe that one day, I can hear you calling me father while hugging me…”
The next page was a blank.
…he was probably…
—-after reading this, far, I feel upset.
In truth, he probably never expected to meet his child.
He said, his belief in my survival was the hope that made him cling to his life.
Unable to read again, I close the book with trembling hands.
As I held the journal to my chest, I looked up to find Yoch-sama, Mars-sama, and my stepbrother all watching me with warm eyes.
[This journal is a great discovery! Well, it seems like the Prime Minister was planning to give it to you after the coronation. But, you see, if you are going to be crowned anyway, I think it’s better that you are aware of this first, preparation of the heart they said! Besides, I’m sure I’m not the only one who wishes for you to read this journal. Also doing this follows my principle as the Paparazzi Dog, ‘spread information quickly, spread scandals even quicker!’]
Said Yoch-sama in a good mood as he shook the note on his collar
I appreciated his concern.
“Thank you very much. Also, my father… whom I’ve never met… I love you too…”
“Good for you, Lize. I’m glad, both of your fathers cared so much about you..”
“Yes..”
My footsteps that were always sluggish finally became firm.
Finally, I felt like I belonged in this country.
I reached out to grab my handkerchief to wipe my blurred vision.
…and that’s when it happened.
“Everyone get down!”
“Kyah!”
Suddenly Mars-sama locked the door, took me in his arms, and made me get down on the floor.
There were a series of explosions in the distance and I could see something that looked like a white smoke screen through the window.
“What the?”
“It’s the enemy!”
“In this castle?!”
“Yoch, this is bad… this smell is…”
“Pepper bomb, the fanatic’s trump card against the Dog-Kins..”
“Is the castle being attacked?!”
I let out a muffled scream as Mars-sama held me.
Could it be… Is this the “fire” that Archbishop Golton talked about?
As Yoch-sama reported to his men and Mars-sama reported to Leonhardt-sama about this situation on the transceiver, I heard footsteps heading towards the room.
“Thank God, the guards are–”
“No, it’s the enemy! They wiretapped the transceivers! We are going through the window!”
“Kyah!”
Mars-sama took me in his arms and jumped out the window! You know we were on the fifth floor, right?!
Yoch-sama with stepbrother on his back followed behind us.
“The enemy stole the latest equipment from the Fourth Division again, I’ll make this a front-page complaint in the next issue. ‘Take care of your things better, meka-ota[1], monkey-brained Malamutes!’ would be a good title.”
“Some people need to get fired first.”
YES!
I nodded frantically while still being princess carried.
[1] ????, short for mecha otaku, if you don’t know, it’s a slang for the people who are really into machines to an unhealthy degree.
TL: Iyo