Regarding the Duke with Gynophobia and the Eccentric Lady Scholar Chapter 22

On the second day of the Philosopher's Conference, Elsa held back her yawn as she went into the castle. Her makeup was darker than it was the day before, her face looking worse from a lack of sleep.

"Good morning, Elsa-dono."

"Good morning, Professor Trihory. You're being early."

Elsa had been the first to arrive on the day before, but Professor Trihory was faster than her this time. "I woke up early", he said as he laughed.

"I'm glad you came after all."

"I was chosen by His Majesty, so I have to see it out until the end."

There was a another reason as to why she came, but she kept quiet about it. It was fine if only she knew.

"That's the spirit. Youth is a wonderful thing…… Oh yes, I heard you're getting married. Congratulations."

"…… Excuse me?"

Elsa tilted her head, not understanding what he meant, but someone else from the conference showed up, stopping her from asking for details.

Several people frowned at Elsa, who was attending as if nothing happened, but they didn't say a word and the second day of the Philosopher's Conference began.

The Philosopher's Conference was a place where experts could put their heads together, but it was the bureaucrats who got the final say. That was why the Prime Minister was here and the only person who could command him was the King. This conference was held so that the King had a reference for policies.

Therefore, he wanted the experts to b.u.t.t heads at the Philosopher's Conference. Everything becomes reference for new policies.

"So, continuing from yesterday. We will talk about Martinez's reconstruction."

Perhaps, they would talk about the current welfare care. At any rate, Elsa had had a heated discussion before and was now being treated like an outsider.

Elsa took notes just as she did previously, while she was listening to the discussion. No one would say a thing as long as she remained quiet.

"I investigated the geology of Martinez again and I saw several signs of earthquakes occurring in the past. As Elsa-dono said, an earthquake probably occurs once every several hundreds of years at Martinez."

If Professor Trihory, the geologist, said so, then it was likely to be true. Elsa, who felt as if she was talked about in a casual manner, spoke.

"The doc.u.ments go back even further than that, but as Professor Trihory said, earthquakes have occurred many times in the past at Martinez and the city has been destroyed. Keeping that in mind, it would be better to restore the city."

Having said that, it would be troublesome to rebuild a whole new city. The selling points of being a health resort were the historical landscapes.

"But if you focus too much onto safety, your 『Historical Buildings』will disappear, you know?"

"I understand that it's inevitable to some degree, but restoring the original buildings is also a way for an architect to show their skills."

"…… It's unprecedented."

"Me sitting here today is also unprecedented."

Elsa answered flat-out. She restrained herself from shutting them down blatantly because she had already said too much the day before, but she could only limit herself to some extent.

"His Majesty knows that it is unprecedented but still decided to summon me to this conference. It's an unwise idea not to follow through just because it's unprecedented. We must also change in order to adapt to the ever-changing world."

Elsa understood that well because she had studied history. It was an overstatement to say that they had to change principles too often, but they would still throw away old customs to introduce new ones from time to time. It would usually be when the dynasty changed, although that was the most extreme example.

People's lifestyles and thoughts rapidly shifted nowadays, but what would happen if they did not support that? More than ten years ago, women started to work as researchers, lawyers and bureaucrats. Some even join the army; so why did they show such distaste for a woman attending the Philosopher's Conference?

"I'm an historian. I would like to thoroughly examine Martinez and restore it to how it was originally, however people's lives would be put in danger and adjustments need to be made. The memories of our ancestors are important but as Professor Fallon said yesterday, it would be pointless if it isn't liveable for the people of today."

It was a logical decision, but Elsa had to consider that the people of Martinez, as prideful as they were of living in an historical place, would try to avoid vacating it.

The Philosopher's Conference was a place to draw ideas from. The general policies were decided here, but it was King Jean Carlo who had the last say. Martinez's reconstruction would change depending on the opinions here.

Afterwards, the experts once again got into a heated discussion and Elsa told them that she wanted to confirm Martinez's sacred places and castles before the reconstruction, and went back to taking notes.

She admired how, as the standpoint changed, their idea also changed along with it.

The second day of the conference ended a little calmer than the first, but the arguments were still intense. Everyone who attended the conference was an intellectual and their arguments looked like the would never end.

"Come to think of it, Professor Elsa is getting married. Congratulations."

"What? Hah……"

The King said as he left the room and Elsa remembered something that she had forgotten. Elsa caught up with Professor Trihory:

"Professor, thank you for your hard work."

"Ah, good job."

Elsa asked Professor Trihory, who was smiling:

"What did you mean when you said I was getting married?"

"You're not?"

"This is the first time I've heard of it."

So why did the King also know? She didn't understand.

"I heard that Duke Inglacia proposed to you yesterday."

It was just as she thought. In other words, someone had seen that scene from the day before, which also meant that they saw her crying. She made a blunder:

"…… Well, he did propose but……"

Elsa didn't remember replying to his proposal. Huh? Did she? Nevertheless the information about her 『Getting married』was pa.s.sed around.

Moreover, why did it spread so quickly?

"Because it's about Duke Inglacia, who stubbornly refuses to get married and Elsa, the first woman to partic.i.p.ate in the Philosopher's Conference. Of course it would spread quickly."

Professor Trihory smiled and said. Elsa could only sigh:

"Why are people interested in these things?"

"Because it's fun."

Professor Trihory's swift reply was obviously cheeky.

She parted ways with the Professor and went to look for Luca. He always appeared when she didn't need him but when she needed him, she couldn't find him at all. She even went to the Prime Minister's office but only the Prime Minister was there. Incidentally, he also congratulated her. It was spreading too far.

"Ah, found him."

She finally found Luca being held up by a maid at the royal palace. Young ladies from lower aristocrat families often became apprentice maids at the royal palace to learn mannerism.

Elsa called out to Luca, who had a girl younger than him by ten years cling to him like usual.

"Luca, what are you doing?"

"Ah, oh, Elsa."

Luca looked relieved when he saw Elsa but the maid, on the other hand, glared at Elsa, meaning that she knew who Elsa was. She shrugged as she said, "I have to talk to you". Luca tried to go to Elsa but the maid said, "Please wait!", startling Luca.

"…… There's something I want to confirm with Martinez's construction."

"Ah, alright."

Luca quickly got away from the maid and went to Elsa's side. The maid couldn't interrupt if it was about the conference, but kept glaring at Elsa for a while before she went back to work. Elsa sighed:

"Isn't she a cute girl? She probably likes you."

"No, there's a high chance that that kind of woman doesn't like me, but my status."

"Oh, that's sharp of you."

Elsa was being awful as always. She, however, thought that it was a good game because he was a natural airhead.

"It would be better for you to ask the Prime Minister about matters concerning Martinez's reconstruction……"

"Nope, that was an excuse to talk to you."

Luca had thought that Elsa really wanted to talk about Martinez. It was just like Luca to be so dense, which was a little irritating.

Luca laughed, looking a little miserable:

"Oh, really? What should I do if my ego inflates?"

"…… You, your handsome guy credibility is ruined."

The two stopped at the end of the corridor and Elsa looked up at Luca:

"People congratulated me on my marriage today."

"Ah, the Prime Minister also congratulated me."

"His Majesty also said that to me."

It was certainly well known in the royal palace but Elsa was worried about one thing:

"We were probably seen yesterday……"

She said and Luca nodded, "Yeah".

"My feelings won't change."

"I know…… It's not about that. What was my reply?"

She wasn't sure and wanted to confirm it with Luca.

Translator: Blushy
Editor: Katsono