Walking beside Mumuzawa, Dio observed the [Ten] around her as he listened to her introduction.
"This is my private palace. Normally, only Mother comes to see me, bringing my little brother Marayam with her, so when the gatekeeper said a man had come to visit, I guessed it was you, Master Dio."
Mumuzawa spoke smugly. She was almost a completely different person from the one she presented to others, without a trace of that dignified elegance. She looked like nothing more than an excited little girl.
"Do all the princes have their own palaces?"
Dio paid no mind to the change in Mumuzawa's demeanor. Instead, he silently nodded in approval at her [Ten]. She must have put in hard work over the past few months to reach this level.
"Yes. The Kakin Empire's Princes' Palace Complex was built a very long time ago, and the number of palaces has never changed. There are exactly fourteen."
"And every generation of the Kakin Royal Family has also 'just happened' to produce only fourteen princes."
Mumuzawa recalled the scraps of information her teacher had once let slip during royal etiquette lessons as she spoke.
At this, Dio suddenly frowned and looked at Mumuzawa. "Every generation? What if a female prince takes the throne?"
Since the Succession War did not discriminate between men and women, that meant Kakin definitely had precedents of female kings taking the throne.
That made things very strange.
Mumuzawa froze at the question as well, then answered hesitantly, "I suppose she would also have to give birth to-fourteen princes..."
Her voice began to fade toward the end.
Mumuzawa thought of her own situation. If she were chosen as the king's successor, would she have to give birth to fourteen children too?
If that happened, following her father's example, she would