The Great House Arche (4)
Meanwhile, Aria had returned to the Arche territory.
The flagship of House Arche, which had crossed the Void in the blink of an eye, glided gently into the central port of the domain.
"This way, my lady."
Stepping off the airship, Aria boarded a vehicle that had been prepared in advance.
The car ran in silence through a city center lined with stately old buildings, heading toward the Arche estate. Beneath the soft glow of the white lamps inside the vehicle, Aria sat in the seat of honor, quietly gazing down at her own hands.
On her bare white fingers, the sensation from earlier in the day still lingered, vivid and unmistakable.
Kang Hyunwoo. That brief moment when she had shaken hands with the man.
The feeling of her mana resonating with his.
That feeling...
Aria's blue eyes rippled, calm and slow.
It resembled the mana of her father, who had passed away ten years ago — a mana that carried the warmth of family.
Memories she had long forgotten since coming of age stirred back to life within her.
By the time the carriage drew near the entrance of the estate and began to slow, who knew how far it had traveled. And when Aria looked out the window, her brow knitted deep with displeasure.
A swarm of powerful nobles had gathered at the gates of the family estate.
"Hah..."
The moment she saw their eyes brimming with greed and political ambition, the faint flutter she'd carried since her time with Hyunwoo sank like a stone in cold water, curdling into disgust.
With eyes gone cold, Aria straightened her posture and readied herself to don the mask of the Lord of House Arche...
"You've arrived, Lady Aria."
Barreling toward her the instant she stepped down from the carriage were Zacharias, heir of House Glipos, and Gordan, heir of House Talos.
Zacharias wore a monocle, clasped his hands — thin leather gloves sheathing them — and flashed an irritating smile. Beside him stood Gordan, a hulking frame draped in a heavy military coat, his posture just barely insolent.
House Glipos effectively monopolized the art of precision mana-circuit engraving, while House Talos controlled the lion's share of logistics and maintained its own private military force — the two most active players in Fragment City's political scene at present.
In the days of Aria's father, the previous Lord, they had served as Arche's faithful hands. But ever since Aria had taken up the mantle, they had begun baring their ambitions at every turn, grinding against her at every opportunity.
They knew full well that Aria, whose foundation was still unsteady, could not yet draw a blade and cast them out — and that knowledge made them all the more repulsive.
Zacharias cut straight to the point.
"My lady, the old butler's overreach has crossed the line. How long do you intend to let it continue?"
"Kael's overreach? Whatever do you mean, Sir Zacharias?"
At Aria's frost-chilled reply, Zacharias clicked his tongue as though he'd been waiting for exactly that.
"The rumors are already everywhere — that the butler sworn to advise you cannot tell propriety from folly, and that he has been egging you on into private contact with rootless refugees from the outer rim."
Gordan joined in with a heavy, rumbling voice, pressing down with his presence.
"As ruler of this Fragment City, my lady, we would ask that you at least keep up appearances — if not for your own sake, then for the honor of those of us who have stood beside this house for so long."
Polite in form, brazenly insolent in substance — and for a moment Aria found herself at a loss for words.
In truth, they couldn't have cared less about her dignity. Their design was simple: dismiss Kael, her closest confidant, as a senile old man, paint Aria as a fragile Lord swayed by the word of a mere employee, weaken her political footing — and then wield House Arche however they pleased.
Aria felt a bitter revulsion at their cunning and their greed.
"Who House Arche associates with is a decision for its Lord. Me. Stop fouling my front gate with your pointless theatrics and get out of my way."
Drawing the line in a voice like ice, Aria turned her back on the nobles snickering behind her and walked toward the estate.
Thud—
The heavy doors of her office had barely closed before Aria threw off the solemn mask of a Lord and pressed a hand to her forehead.
"Agh... insufferable. Those dogs..."
Just a brief encounter with the nobles had drained her utterly. She sank bonelessly into the sofa and let out a long, deep sigh.
Just then, Kael approached and set down a steaming cup of tea with practiced grace.
"Heh heh, my lady. You've been through a great deal. Seeing them use this old man as a pretext to shake your position... it does make one wonder whether such creatures deserve to be called allies of the house at all."
Stroking his beard, Kael laid a subtle trap.
"Compared to such hypocritical, small-minded nobles... surely the Lord Hyunwoo you met today — in bearing, in ability, in character — is a far more fitting match for you, my lady?"
The loathsome faces of the nobles, Hyunwoo's face, and his mana — so reminiscent of her father — flashed through Aria's mind, and before she knew it, she found herself agreeing.
"...He certainly is better. By a wide margin."
Kael's eyes flashed.
The old butler burst into laughter, clapped his hands together, and began teasing her with wicked delight.
"Heh heh! With the lady herself in such firm agreement, we must waste no time — we'll push the wedding through as early as tomorrow!"
"K-Kael...?!"
Only then realizing what she had just said, Aria's face flushed crimson in an instant.
As Kael's eyes gleamed and he reached for a stack of documents, the flustered Aria sprang up from the sofa and shouted.
"What on earth are you going on about, Kael?! Stop spouting nonsense and go get the water!"
Clutching her burning cheeks, Aria scurried into the private chamber at the back of the office, fleeing as if for her life — leaving behind the sound of Kael's merry laughter.
Aria's private bath, resplendent in polished marble.
Within the great steaming pool, gentle ripples shimmered in the mist.
Stripped of her ornate but stifling gown and every cumbersome jewel, Aria lowered herself deep into the water.
As the warmth enveloped her entire body, the day's accumulated fatigue — and the ugliness she'd felt from the nobles — seemed to melt away into it.
Aria's marriage was one of the hottest topics in all of Fragment City's politics.
The city was broken, shattered — and everyone knew that without her unique ability, even the remaining fragments could not hold together.
Marriage negotiations had been circulating for quite some time, then... but each and every one had fallen through, whether for the sake of political balance or by Aria's own inclinations.
Resting her chin on the edge of the pool, Aria frowned at the memory of Zacharias and Gordan's repulsive faces.
A political marriage with men like them... the mere thought makes my skin crawl.
And then, quite naturally, her thoughts drifted back to Hyunwoo, the man she'd met today.
Those proud, deep-set eyes that had never once shrunk before her, a Lord in her own right.
His handsome features and solid frame, his courteous and dignified manner.
And above all... that mana — a closeness like family, like something long lost.
Kang Hyunwoo...
Sweeping a quiet hand across the water's surface, Aria murmured her heart's truth in a low voice between crimson lips.
"...Rather than bind the house to those disgusting men."
Whether it was the heat of the water, a soft flush spread across Aria's cheeks.
"If it were Hyunwoo's child... that might not be so bad..."
Aria's eyes flew wide open at her own words.
Oh no... what am I thinking!
Scarlet from head to toe, Aria could bear the shame no longer — she buried her face beneath the churning surface of the warm bath.
Before long she shot back up above the water, pushed her wet hair from her face, and hurried out of the bath.
She slipped on a silk gown and returned to her office, but her heart still fluttered from the thought she had so carelessly let slip.
Hyunwoo's child... what on earth was I thinking...
Aria sat down at her desk beneath the soft glow of the lamp.
Then she recalled the sly faces of the powerful nobles who had ambushed her in the entrance hall — Zacharias and Gordan.
They'll surely... go looking for Hyunwoo and give him trouble...
Unlike her, who could simply ignore them, Hyunwoo would find it nearly impossible to stand against men of noble rank.
To shut the nobles' mouths, I'll need documents that carry authority above theirs...
Aria opened the desk drawer and took out the finest vellum and the seal of the Lord of House Arche.
She began drafting two documents by her own hand.
One was the Trade Permit, guaranteeing his commercial activities.
The other was the Identity Assurance, allowing Hyunwoo and his companions to move freely through the districts of Fragment City and prove their standing.
Writing with steady strokes, Aria was inscribing Hyunwoo's name at the end of the documents when her pen tip suddenly stopped.
When I see him next — if I hand him these documents myself, what kind of face will he make?
Imagining him flustered, or grateful, as he received the papers, an unconscious smile spread across Aria's lips.
And at that very moment—
Knock, knock—
"My lady, the hour grows late..."
Bearing a tray with a single cup of warm milk, Kael quietly opened the office door and entered. The instant he saw the documents spread across the desk and Aria smiling as she held her quill aloft, he put on his trademark impish expression.
"Heh heh, my lady. Might you be writing a letter for Lord Hyunwoo?"
"K-Kael...! It's nothing of the sort!"
Aria jolted upright in alarm.
"It's not like that! These are official documents I'm preparing as the Lord! See for yourself!"
"Yes, yes. We'll go with that, shall we."
Setting down the tray with a mischievous grin, Kael added in a more serious tone:
"But it's an excellent choice, my lady. Not the seal of Arche's administrators, but a certificate of identity bearing the personal seal of the Lord herself — even those shameless nobles will not dare lay a hand on Lord Hyunwoo's standing. To defy it would be to deny the authority of House Arche itself..."
"Right! Now get out!"
At Aria's waspish retort, Kael nodded with a contented smile and quietly closed the door behind him.
Once Kael was gone, Aria gathered herself and walked over to the communication device.
— My lady? Whatever business calls at this late hour?
Through the crystal orb came the deep, weighty voice of the admiral commanding House Arche's airship fleet.
Arraying herself with a Lord's dignity, Aria issued her command in a resolute voice.
"Requisition one of our finest light vessels at once, for use by my esteemed guests. This will be a posting of considerable duration. Crew it with people you trust absolutely, and send it to the coordinates I transmit."
— A guest of the Lord's personal retinue, then. Understood. I shall dispatch our sturdiest vessel, crewed by the most reliable of hands.
Back at her desk, Aria carefully placed the Trade Permit and Identity Assurance — each stamped clearly with the Lord's seal — into an elegant case, and sealed it with care.
"It won't be long before we meet again..."
As she gently ran her hand over the case, a shy, tender smile bloomed on Aria's lips.