The Empire's Skies: Always Clear, Then Thunder
After dropping by the Simon and Roan households—my fathers-in-law—to share the news of my appointment as a professor at the Imperial Academy, we boarded the carriage once more and set course for Cardis.
"Come over here. The view's better from this side."
Marie sat across from me, facing the wrong way for the direction we were traveling, and had been twisting around awkwardly to peer outside.
She'd said she needed time to think, but I had zero intention of just sitting on my hands and waiting.
"Ah—then if you'll excuse me."
She shifted to my side of the seat, though she still left a careful gap between us.
That was definitely a good sign. Until now she hadn't even registered me as a man.
"You can come a little closer."
"Lord Lucian, I asked you to give me some time."
"Yeah, and I told you to think it over as much as you want."
I caught her by the shoulder and pulled her toward me.
"By the way—remember that singularity I mentioned before?"
"Euhyaht!"
"The moment you started worrying about it, you'd already stepped inside."
See? She's not even pushing me away.
Marie flushed scarlet at the sudden contact, but she didn't resist at all.
"You can look forward to it, or—since this is going to take a while—want a lap pillow and a nap?"
"No thank you. How am I supposed to sleep with scenery like this out there?"
"Why not? Do you have any idea how blissful it feels to fall asleep while looking down on the world from above?"
"…"
My silver tongue left her visibly torn for a moment.
"If I get sleepy."
"Suit yourself. Should take about five hours, give or take."
The estimate nearly made her faint.
"That fast?! A normal carriage takes more than two weeks for this distance!"
"Yeah. Last time a five-day trip took under two hours."
"It's like something out of a dream!"
This time I pulled her in more boldly, arm around her waist.
"Stick with me and you'll see plenty more."
"Ehyahit!"
That reaction is pure gold. Is she one of those dolls that squeaks when you squeeze it?
"Lord Lucian! This is foul play!"
"What is?"
"I need time to think, and you keep putting me in these impossible positions!"
"I'm just trying to help you make up your mind."
Honestly she already seemed past the tipping point. I couldn't figure out why she was still putting up the front.
She always acted like some romance expert in front of me… don't tell me she's actually a lifelong single too?
"I don't need that kind of help. Until I give you a clear answer, please stop."
"Fine, for now."
I've shaken her up plenty already. Mission accomplished.
"By the way, can you speak Cardisian?"
"What do you take me for? I'm a young lady of Valencia—of course I can. I'm an all-purpose maid, remember?"
"Oh. I only know the basics."
"How basic, for example?"
"Hmm… Hallo, ich bin Großmeister Lucien."
"Just greeting-level, then?"
"Ich liebe dich, Marie. Und ich möchte für immer mit dir sein. Heirate mich, bitte."
"Wha—!! That is a completely different level!! And you just said you wouldn't do that kind of thing!"
"You asked me to give an example."
"Forget it!"
She scooted away, putting distance between us again.
Adorable.
Marie still refused to admit it, but to someone on his second life like me, this was unmistakably dating.
So this is what it feels like to finally be in a relationship.
We were in a flying carriage; no clueless third party could interrupt us this time. Being cooped up in a sealed little space, flirting with a pretty maid, was pure happiness.
"Marie, do you know anything about the Imperial Academy?"
"Hmph. I'm not talking to you."
"Come on, we've still got a long way to go."
She pressed herself against the window, maximizing the gap between us, and stared stubbornly at the landscape for a long while.
Playing the sulking card, are we? You're gonna get it.
I slid over, caught her shoulder, and pulled her back against me. She offered no real resistance, so I simply held her close and stayed quiet.
After a long stretch of silent window-gazing, Marie finally spoke.
"The Erngard Imperial Academy is in a city called Lichtenburg, right next to Kehnstadt—the heart of the Cardis Empire."
"Okay, and?"
"It's divided into the Knight Division, the Mage Division, and the Politics Division. There's a three-year foundational course, and if you want, you can choose an additional two-year advanced track."
Hmm… like undergrad and grad school from my past life? No, grad school isn't only two years.
"Foundational takes three years—how do they wrap up advanced in only two?"
"No—after the foundational course ends, the advanced track is the two years where you decide which path you'll take."
"Ah. And then how long does it actually take?"
"Once you're properly in advanced, the Knight and Mage Divisions go until you reach Expert rank. Politics Division until you secure an official post."
Wonder if they have perennial students here too.
"So there'll be people who want to take the advanced course under me, right?"
"Of course! Probably everyone in the Knight Division!"
Had she forgotten what she was currently riding in? She seemed to think of me as nothing but a knight.
"I'm a mage too, you know? How else would a knight be flying around?"
"Ah! You're right."
"Marie, the truth is I'm an even more amazing man than you think."
"You're already the continent's youngest Master and the first Grand Master, aren't you?"
That was only because I'd been too lazy to bother climbing any higher and had been content to stay put.
"Look outside."
Marie turned her head toward the window.
I reached toward a distant cloud and manipulated electromagnetism, forcibly splitting the neutral particles inside into positive and negative charges to trigger a thunderbolt.
A flash—
Lightning lanced down. I immediately covered Marie's ears with my hands.
KRA-KOOM!—
She startled hard for a second, then laid her own hands over mine where they covered her ears, steadying her racing heart.
Once the sonic boom of the strike had rolled past, I let go.
"Well? Even the best mages can't pull off something like that."
"Wow! That really was incredible, Lord Lucian!"
"Do I look a little different to you now?"
"Not really."
Would it kill her to play along once in a while?
"You've always been amazing."
What?! This damned little vixen was actually trying to play hard-to-get with me?
"Hey! Pick a lane. Stop flip-flopping."
"But it's the truth."
"Then why keep turning me down?"
"I never turned you down. I asked for time to think."
Wasn't that the same thing? For me it was either yes or everything else.
"Time to think about what, exactly?"
"About you, Lord Lucian. You say things like 'I like you' or 'marry me' so easily. For me this is a matter of my entire life. You can't treat it so lightly."
"I never said it lightly. And I never took you lightly either."
I wasn't that much of an idiot. I didn't live that thoughtlessly.
"Every single time is hard. It takes courage. But you know what? Up until now I've always hesitated because it was hard, dithered, and lost every chance."
In my past life. In the early years of this one too.
"There was someone I liked once. But opportunities don't just walk up to you while you sit around doing nothing."
"…"
"I kept waiting for them to speak first, to say they liked me first… and I blew every chance and ended up alone."
I would never let an opportunity slip away again. If she tried to run, I'd drag her back by the neck if I had to.
"Marie, when you first came to me as my personal maid, you were first in my heart. But this time, while you hesitated, someone else took the first-wife seat. And the second."
"That's…"
"Are you going to let the third slip away too?"
Her pupils quaked like an earthquake had hit them.
That's as far as you go. No matter how sharp you are, to someone on his second life your experience still looks thin.
"I—I don't want that!"
She cried out, eyes glistening as if she might actually cry.
"There we go. Finally being honest, you little minx."
"Even so! Please just give me a little more time. I need time to accept my own feelings."
"This should speed things up."
I lifted Marie straight up—wait, no.
I set her on my lap.
"Look at me properly."
"Euhya!"
She went scarlet with embarrassment and squeezed her eyes shut.
You came in of your own free will, but there's no escaping a sealed carriage.
I pulled her tight against me and whispered right against her ear.
"Think about it just like this."
The way her body trembled was ridiculously cute.
Gradually the shaking subsided. Nearly a whole hour must have passed.
Is this girl actually enjoying herself?
I eased her back a little and looked—she was asleep.
"Ah."
I'd left her completely still, so of course she'd drifted off. I should've kept talking.
Well, first time seeing her sleeping face, at least.
By the time she woke, she would have already accepted becoming my third wife.
I left Marie to sleep soundly and studied the map with one free hand.
Should I turn the carriage around? If I remember right, the Valencia fief is all the way on the western edge.
We'd already come more than halfway. How long would it take to reverse course all the way back to Valencia?
I gradually slowed the carriage to a stop and examined the map more carefully.
One hand was busy tracing distances with a finger, so when the motion registered, Marie stirred.
"Mmm…"
"You're up?"
She was still nestled in my arms. Half-asleep, she stared at me and smiled.
"Heh… hiiik!"
Then reality hit and she tried to shove me away and flee.
"Marie, calm down. Easy."
With the hand not holding the map I wrapped her firmly and soothed her.
"So—should we head straight to House Valencia right now?"
She was still panting from the shock. After a moment she got her breathing under control and answered.
"It's fine. I'm the third daughter—my family won't care who I marry. We can go later."
"That means you've accepted your feelings, right?"
"If you ever make me sad, I'll kill you."
"Then I guess I'll live forever. How many kids do you want?"
"What?! I just accepted my feelings and you're already asking that—it's way too soon!"
"I'm thinking about eleven."
"I'll die!!"
And so we spent a long while flirting inside the carriage as we flew on toward the Cardis Empire.