It took less than half a day by carriage to get from Protoasta to the royal capital, Asta.
　It was so close that Yifa was somewhat disappointed.

　He didn't even know why he had moved to the capital.......but there must have been a number of reasons, such as location, expansion, and the ease of laying out the imperial-style roads.

　The royal capital Asta was a sophisticated city.
　Its history is new, and the streets and buildings are rationally arranged, as it was built in a planned manner.
　As expected, it wasn't as good as the imperial capital, but it was enough of a city for Yifa.

　However, he didn't come here for sightseeing.
　Without taking a moment to admire the city's scenery, Lise and Yifa headed straight for the rear palace.

　The rear palace was built as a separate building in a section of the interior of the Astirian royal castle.
　It was much larger than Yifa had imagined.

　I wonder how many women live in this building.
　Thinking that, Yifa followed Lise as she stepped into the building...

''Um.........''
What?

　Yifa asks Lise, who replies briefly.

''This place is the rear palace........right?
Of course.
So what are you all doing here now?
You'll know it when you see it.

　Lise says, as she should.

'I'm taking a lecture,'

　A room in the rear palace.
　It was a place that resembled a school auditorium.

　The desks, lined up in tiers, were accompanied by well-dressed girls.
　At the front was a podium for lectures, and a female teacher was writing mathematical equations on a black board with a lime stick while explaining in a familiar voice.
　The content of the lecture seemed to be statistics.

'When Astiria was an independent country, this was also an ordinary back palace. In other words, a garden of love, hate and intrigue for the king's wives and mistresses to live in.

　Yifa looks up at Lise as she begins to speak quietly.

''But things have changed since we became a province of the Empire. The reason, simply put, is that the issue of succession has been resolved. Because women and their adopted children were now recognized as heirs to the throne.
...Didn't there used to be a queen?
'Oh, he wasn't there. It wasn't recognized by the royal code. Women weren't even allowed to inherit property in the first place.
'So that's what happened...'
'But it was different in the Empire. In the days when they had fiercely fought with the demon race a long time ago, they had allowed women to have the right to inherit because the number of men had decreased so much that a number of families were in danger of being cut off. And in making Astiria a vassal state, the Empire did not tolerate the discrepancy here. Perhaps it was judged to be an obstacle to expanding its economic sphere. With imperial law prevailing, women's right of inheritance was recognized in our country as well.

　Lise continues.

'And that extended to the succession to the throne. ─ And this also extended to the succession to the throne, which allowed the queen to reign. And later, in accordance with the imperial code of conduct, the succession of adopted children to the throne was also recognized and the question of succession completely disappeared. At the same time, the posthumous palace was no longer needed.
I see.

　Even Yifa understood what it meant.

　If only boys could inherit the throne, then the royal family would be cut off when no prince was born. To avoid that at all costs, a rear palace (harem) with many women would be necessary.
　But not if the queen is recognized. Simply, the odds of having an heir are doubled.
　Moreover, if a child could be adopted, there would be no need to worry about an heir.

　Inevitably, there would be no need for an heir.

''But... how did that happen?''
It was customary for the Astyrian queen to be deeply involved in political affairs for generations. From the beginning, the rear court had a large number of excellent teachers who served as educators. Even after the first queen reigned, there were many influential people who wanted their daughters to enter the palace for educational purposes. Now that they were able to inherit their property, more and more people wanted to entrust their houses to their excellent daughters when the need arose.

　Lizze continues.

'And here we are. Now the rearguard is like a girls' school. Many of them would later be involved in national politics, so you could say it's a training institute for female bureaucrats.''
So, then........Cecilio's highness didn't really have any particular feelings for me, did he?
No,

　Lise huffs and says with a laugh.

''Most of the past queens have come from here. In that sense, this is still the rear palace. There are even people who come in for that.... You have definitely been discovered by a young man.
Oh, I see....

　That being said, I'm still confused.
　........but.
　It was brighter and more open than I had expected.

''Yes, so much for the preliminaries then, let's get you all used to the idea of statistics first.

　I turned my attention back to the front and saw a calm female faculty member raise the dice.

'Here's the problem. I rolled these dice, and to my surprise, I got ten consecutive rolls of the six!　Now, what are the odds of the next six eyes?　Now.........Mr. Cornelia.
Yes, sir.

　A bright blonde girl with an air of nobility stands up and answers proudly.

''It's one-sixth.''
Thank you.

　The female teacher smiles and says

'Does anyone else have an answer?　Not there...?　And now, you, who has come to see us today.

　The eyes of the entire auditorium turn to him and Yifa shouts out in surprise.

''What?　Am I...?
'Yes. Let me know what you think.

　When I look at Lizze, she just smiles in an amused manner.
　Unavoidably, Yifa replies depressingly.

''........I think there will be another six next time.''

　As soon as he did, a laugh escaped from the entire auditorium.

'You shouldn't be betting on anything, honey.

　The girl called Cornelia makes a teasing noise.

'You know about this thing called event independence?　Whatever eyes you've had in the past have nothing to do with what comes next.

　As Yifa was told, she was a little disgusted and said back

"........the probability of getting a six ten times in a row is roughly one in six hundred thousand.
...What?
Rather, what makes you think that would happen naturally?

　Yifa says, looking at the female teacher.

'That dice you're holding, that dice you're holding, the weight is unbalanced... no, they're all six eyes, aren't they?
'Wonderful!　Great answer!

　The female teacher sounded exceptionally happy.
　She then rolls the dice she was holding to the students from the end of the table.
　I can't see it clearly from here, but from the fact that the students in my hand are rolling their eyes, it must have been all six-eyed cheating dice, after all.

'If this were a lecture on arithmetic, Cornelia's answer would have been correct. But this is a course in statistics, exploring probabilities that no one knows about. We don't think of bias as just a coincidence; we see it as a tendency to do so. We will throw away our preconceptions and calculate probabilities from actual results. That's what it is----


****


　When the lecture ended, a crowd gathered around Yifa.

''Hey, where are you from?'' Are you sure you went to Magical Academy? You can do magic too? What's the Empire like? "Have you seen His Highness Cecilio? 'When will you move into the palace?　My room is free for one person right now!

Awwww....

　Yifa was flustered by the questions.

''Gentlemen, our guest is in trouble.

　A dumbfounded voice sounded, and the crowd quieted down.
　The crowd of people naturally broke apart.
　The one standing there was the blonde girl from earlier.

　The girl spoke to Yifa, who was pouting.

'There is one question I would like to ask you.
Eh, ha, yes. What is it...?
You don't have to be so formal. You were calculating in your head the power of six to the tenth power. How did you do that?
Well I didn't do the math properly.

　Yifa explained in a whisper, "If you multiply six three times, you get twenty-six.

Since we multiply six three times, we get twenty-six, so let's take two hundred for now and multiply it three times and get eight million. Now we have multiplied six nine times, so we can multiply six one more time and get 48 million. I'm sure there's a little more than that so I'll have to multiply it by six hundred million. I wasn't too sure, but....

　The crowd was buzzing.
　The blonde girl sighed and said.

''I did the math earlier, and that's pretty much it. It's a great idea.... You, what's your name?
Yifa, this is...
No family name, right?

　The girl with an air of nobility, however, continues without scorn.

'The fact that you are here in spite of your low status must mean you are that good. From the Empire, how did you come to the rear of Astiria?'
It's just that...well...His Highness Cecilio asked me to speak to him...

　A yellow cheer went up from the crowd.
　The blonde girl said, a little surprised.

A candidate for the queen........ It's no wonder I thought she was so talented and had such a pretty face!

　So the girl quickly held out her hand.

'Cornelia est Latosa.

　Then he smiles and says, "I'm not quite sure what I want to do, but I look forward to the day when you and I can compete with each other here.

'Although my goals are not the same as those of my successor as governor I look forward to the day I can compete with you here.
'Ha, yes. Thank you.....

　Yifa squeezed his hand back.
　With a little bit of guilt.


****


It would have been interesting.

　On the way to the inn where we were to stay.
　Lise, walking next to me, suddenly said this to me.

'At least it doesn't look like the rear of the palace at all.
Yes.

　Yifa also had an honestly good impression of the school.
　Somehow, the atmosphere was similar to that of a magic academy.
　However, everyone seemed to be more serious than the students of the school, perhaps because they all had their own future in mind.

''Because of places like that, there is a tendency in this country for women to be civil servants. That's the reason why the young man didn't want you to get involved in the conflict.''

　Lise says with a sigh.

'I used to think the same way when I was enrolled in that place. If my grades hadn't hit rock bottom and I hadn't been forced to turn to royal magicians, I'd still be thinking that way.
Hahaha, what is that?

　Yifa gave a small smile.
　Then Lizze began to speak slowly.

The current King of Astiria the Queen, the youngest mother, is an excellent sovereign. She is wise and determined, and loved by her people. She is a remarkable man. The succession to the throne is still a long way off, but I'm sure that young man is anxious to see if he can succeed to the throne. Will I be able to behave like that queen?
....
'That's why you're in such a hurry to get the merit out of this dragon thing. He may even think that if he can't solve this, he's not qualified to be king. And perhaps the same is true of his search for a queen. I have a tendency to be in a hurry to find the right person.

　Lise says.

'He's a blue man. He's a green man. But ... he's not a bad man. I can assure you of that, I've known him since he was an infant.
....
Would you be able to support the young man from your side?
"...it's...

　Until now, I would have immediately refused the request.

　But now........the words are caught in something and they never came out.