Shield

Sorry for the months long inactivity, I got occupied with school and I apparently have bad time management lol
Also I changed the cover since I've gotten a little better at art lately, and in it is Aya's new design. Here's the sketch tho
I will try uploading more frequently, so thanks for still reading the novel

System: Acquired New Sense: Awareness Of Beauty I

The glimmering sunlight broke through the darkness of the Seanton castle, marking yet another day for Aya's rule without a regency. The plan was simple, using her ability to communicate with objects, I can guide her through situations and manage the Kingdom myself. Apparently, I was quite an addict when it came to games involving politics in my past life.

The day went by mentally draining for the Child Queen, leaving her exhausted from the whirlwind of tasks and social events. When the night arrived, she immediately collapsed on her bed, muttering to herself, "I wish I could just sleep forever."

Don't worry Aya, Mister Chair will take care of everything!

"Really…?" she mumbled before falling into a deep slumber, smiling as if sleeping had become pure bliss for her.

Seeing her in such a hopeless state warmed me from within. Even my parallel self gave up taking the laziness out of her.

 

---

"You're saying that Queen Celestia did all of these?!" an old man in a white robe yelled in disbelief, observing the stack of papers on his table. He was the Duke of the capital region, Arnold Alastair.

His subordinate wiped off the sweat on his forehead and nodded, "Yes Your Grace, it's almost as if the Queen was possessed."

A lady in a black dress appeared, her powerful presence bringing silence to the room. Her face could barely be seen as her fan was covering half of her face, but her words were loud and intimidating. "Didn't I tell you to never underestimate the High Priest?! God is on his side, no matter how stupid his actions seem!"

The duke's subordinate mumbled, "But she's just a child..."

"Yes she is," the lady remarked, visibly disappointed, "So are the three Princes who suggested the idea to embarrass the High Priest by not appointing a regent for the Child Queen."

Duke Arnold sent a gulp down his throat, before saying, "We will fix this, the nobility is on our side. We can easily appoint a regent."

The lady turned to the window, the fabric edges of her mob cap flowing from a strong breeze along her blond hair, as she let out a soft sigh, "How will that help with anything…?"

The two men were stunned by the mesmerising sight, completely unaware that she had already disappeared. "Ah, wait!" Duke Arnold reached out for her, but only petals caught by the wind remained.

 

---

I taught basic education to Aya by utilising the vast knowledge found in the libraries of the kingdom's capital city. Meanwhile, Maine was assisting my chair clone in his extensive research about the political situation of the Hassian Kingdom. "It's almost as if time isn't passing by when I'm doing something laborious," Aya grumbled with a pouty face.

System: You are now a [Level 30] Blessed Chair

I can understand the Depression debuff being there, even though I'm not depressed in any way. But why on earth do I have 'Virgin Forever?!' Was that Goddess trolling me again?!

Message received - "Lol"

At least she finally learned how to capitalise the first letter of her message…

I get it now! Everytime one of my attributes reaches its tenth level, I gain a new point for a Passive Skill!

"Which do we pick?" asked my parallel self, Strategist.

We have too many debuffs, none of them seems to cause any drastic effects, and we wouldn't want to smell any more asses while farming experience points as a public chair.

"Then I guess we'll save the point for the next passive skill."

Even though the Hassian Kingdom was entirely feudalistic, governed by lords and monarchs, it had a Parliament; what we know in the present day as the modern government. However, the current parliament of this kingdom was limited to only the management of laws and policies, as was typical for its early form.

I need to work on that.

Apparently, it'll take years for the kingdom to accept the shift of power from the monarchy to the parliament. During the 16th century, England had a civil war as a result of this transition.

So why even bother? Because…

"Economy is plummeting… prices are rising..." explained a young noble. His face was drenched in sweat as he shivered under the glaring stare of Queen Aya, while his voice kept getting higher and higher until he couldn't even be heard anymore. "D-Diplomatic tension with Cenland is bad… and terrible!"

"Is there not a single good news in this entire month?" Aya asked, genuinely concerned.

The young noble glanced at the other nobles to plead for help, his eyes wide with desperation, but they all collectively looked away, abandoning him like a stray puppy in the middle of the road. He turned to the Child Queen and chuckled, "At least winter didn't kill that much crops this time, right…?"

It did, and it's the main reason why the Kingdom of Hassia never developed compared to its neighbouring countries, because it's situated in the cold north, as cold as Canada. If what we're seeking for is development, we must then initiate modernization by transferring power to the parliament.

"Will that really solve the problem?" my parallel self asked, "Isn't the issue here our unfortunate location? We can't even trade with foreigners since our ports freeze during winter."

In this world, modernized nations already exist, at least in the west. Might as well modernize our own, right?

As political conflicts within the kingdom escalated into full-blown warfare among lords vying for power within their factions, it further worsened the already dying economy. Aya couldn't help but visit her three older brothers in person, hoping to convince them to resolve the growing rift between their respective factions. Her first destination was the coastal town of Benshire, where Prince Sean, representing the League of the Silver Rose faction, resided.

"Mister Chair," Aya mumbled while looking out of the window from her red coloured carriage, "Why are there so few demi-humans out in the streets?"

I was so engrossed in inspecting the stats of the carriage's seat that I momentarily stared into the noisy streets before responding to her question.

Is it troubling you that much?

"When I do see them, they look miserable," Aya muttered under her own breath, "Why is that…?"

After all, you're still too young to witness so much of the world. Just trust Mister Chair, and he will take care of everything!

A slight smile appeared on her face, as she giggled, "Right, of course."

In front of us was Duke Hannes, Aya's advisor, rubbing his forehead in disbelief as he watched the Queen of Hassia talk to herself. She was the only one who could resolve the conflicts and save the kingdom from collapsing, and it had to be a child, of all people. "This is hopeless," he whimpered.

He was one of the kingdom's brightest minds, appointed as the Queen's advisor, yet he couldn't be trusted. My parallel self had been spying on him for several weeks, completely unnoticed, just by appearing as an ordinary chair in his bedroom. It became evident that he was receiving letters directly from one of the royal princes and, rather suspiciously, burning each one of them as if to remove any evidence.

I'm lucky to be a step ahead of whatever they could be plotting again. Well, it seems that being a chair isn't bad at all.

"Even the greatest thinkers of the kingdom are not on our side. What could we even do at this point?" asked Strategist, my parallel self.

We need to remember everything we've learned during our past life, somehow.

Fortunately, during her journey to the west in the Athlene Kingdom, Maine discovered a book that described a unique system where individuals could acquire passive skills randomly, similar to the one I had. The book also mentioned a rare passive skill called "Total Reminiscence," which costs 6 Passive Skill Points and enables the user to remember everything they've learned, with the level of the skill determining the depth of the recall.

Additionally, there was a remarkably game-changing passive skill known as 'Doubled Experience Gain.' As the name suggests, this skill allowed the user to gain experience points at twice the normal rate, which sounded insane. Apparently, it costs only 3 Passive Skill Points, which sounded even more insane.

I guess I should aim for that first.

It didn't take a while before Aya finally came face to face with her older brother, Prince Sean. The atmosphere was thick with tension as they stood on opposite sides of a beautifully crafted wooden table, while I stayed hidden, appearing as Aya's tall ornate chair. The young prince's piercing eyes, brimming with resentment for his sister, met the Child Queen's oblivious gaze.

With a calm and collected demeanour, Sean began to speak, his voice barely concealing the disdain he felt for his younger sister. "Where is he? Could he be a spirit, I wonder?"

Aya, I think he's referring to me. Ignore him and-

"It's Mister Chair!" Aya shouted aloud confidently, "I'm sitting on him right now!"

AYA?!

"Y-You know what, nevermind. What has brought you here anyway?"

"I want you all to stop fighting and erm… you know… you guys are wasting resources."

"What did I expect from an eight year old…"

They had a rather casual conversation, eventually reaching an agreement to quell the tensions within Prince Benedict's and Prince Escott's factions. It came to their attention that Prince Escott's prolonged absence had given rise to rumours of a potential alliance with a demon, and a coalition was formed against him. After their discussion, Aya was met with an unbroken silence, not a single word ever came out from the cold young prince. The weight of his indifference left Aya with a profound sadness, and she exited the room with tears in her eyes.

Just as she was about to depart, however, Sean rushed to her carriage. He was catching his breath, and his face was blushing deep red as he uttered, "I forgot to say... Farewell, Your Majesty."

Suddenly, Aya leaned out of the carriage window and quickly enveloped the young prince in a tight embrace. "Farewell too, big brother!"

Sean screamed in embarrassment, his face turning bright red, and his usual composed demeanour almost completely disappeared. "D-Duke Hannes! Save me!"

"I can't, Your Royal Highness," Duke Hannes chuckled, "The Queen would prefer otherwise."

For once, it felt like Aya was in a family.