Why Won't You Two Just Get Together? (3)
“Well, anyway. The Administrator’s testimony is solid—we’ve got the proof—so there shouldn’t be any more talk about it.”
“Hnnngh.”
She had gone out of her way to gather the evidence herself and bring it over. Yet Artraia’s reaction was unmistakably flat, almost dissatisfied.
What the hell is her problem?
No matter how hard I racked my brain, I couldn’t figure out why she was acting like this. If an event message would just pop up, at least I’d have some kind of guideline for how to fix it.
PAUSE
Completely lost, I finally hit Pause and sank into another round of agonized thinking. But even with all the time in the world, I had zero clues to work with. The whole exercise was useless. When the endless fretting still produced no answer, I released the Pause and decided to just ride the current of the situation.
PAUSE RELEASED
With the Pause lifted, I took one look at Artraia’s thoroughly bored expression and realized that hanging around any longer would only cut into her work time.
“Artraia, is there anything you’re curious about?”
“Nngh… no, not really?”
Only after that final confirmation did I start getting ready to stand and head back to the Foreign Executive Ministry.
“Got it. No more reports worth mentioning, so… I’ll be on my way.”
“Okay.”
But just as I was about to leave—everything done—Artraia simply sat there staring at me.
—Steady…
“What is it, Artraia?”
“…”
Even when I asked, she only kept watching me with that strange look, saying nothing. If Riel had pulled this, I’d have cracked her over the head with the Etiquette Injection Rod on the spot. With Artraia, though, that was out of the question—not just because it would be unthinkable, but because I’d end up with a broken spine right alongside the rod.
Wanting out of this weird atmosphere, I rose and started edging toward the door with Riel and the Administrator in tow.
“Um, Lady Artraia? Why not just say it while you have the chance?”
The Administrator’s sudden remark left me momentarily stunned.
“Say what? What are you talking about?”
At that, the Administrator wriggled free of my grip and—
“You’re so dense! Lady Artraia is already choosing the best possible approach in every respect—as your wife!”
—dropped a bombshell right in front of the person in question.
“…”
Well, at least it wasn’t an assassination like I’d feared. Just an explosion. The guy was a full-blown terrorist. Who could have predicted he’d detonate it with the target standing right there?
I braced myself for the coming storm of Artraia’s furious scolding and the eventual purge blade, trembling inside—
“…?”
—yet somehow, not a single word came from her.
What?
Faced with that anomaly, I quietly lowered Riel, whom I’d been using as a human shield, and cleared my line of sight. What I saw was…
“Uuuu…”
“…Mm.”
Her face was flushed scarlet all the way to those characteristically long ears, heat practically radiating off her. Those big eyes were brimming with tears that even the vertical pupils of the imperial bloodline couldn’t hide. Her mouth looked like it desperately wanted to form words, yet the surge of emotion kept it from opening properly.
One thought flashed through my mind.
Oh, I’m screwed.
That expression. That reaction. It was the look of someone completely overwhelmed by an explosion of rage(?) she had no idea how to handle.
PAUSE
I had zero interest in tasting Artraia’s genuine fury unprepared. The second I hit Pause, I silently unloaded a string of curses on the Administrator who’d just suicide-bombed me, then spent some time meditating to calm the anxiety flooding my chest. Only after giving myself as much breathing room as possible did I finally get my head straight.
No—more than that. Once the panic settled, I could look at the situation more realistically.
Think about it. Why would Artraia purge me?
The Administrator’s bomb had thrown me into a full mental spiral, but a little calm reasoning made it obvious my worst-case scenario was nonsense. The Empire’s current internal and external stability rested entirely on Artraia handing me the Foreign Executive Ministry and me using it properly. Purge me? Even that Georgian butcher uncle of history had carefully chosen his targets and timing. Our Artraia might not quite match the mustachioed Georgian, but she was far smarter than me—she’d think that far ahead.
So I cast off the fear of purge and settled into a healthier, more rational mindset.
All right. Face it head-on.
PAUSE RELEASED
Whatever enraged(?) Artraia threw at me, I would meet it fair and square.
But the moment I released the Pause—
“…Uuuuuugh!!”
“?!”
—the woman I’d thought was furious to the tips of her hair covered her face with both hands, sank back onto the sofa, and curled in on herself.
Artraia is acting like this?
I hadn’t seen this side of her since the distant past—at least fifteen years ago, right after her accession. Both Riel and I were left speechless by the sudden shift.
It didn’t last forever, though.
“…Ha, fine!”
Still burying her face, ears glowing red, Artraia suddenly shot to her feet—
“Arto!”
—and of all the people (three) in the room, she zeroed in on me, striding right up—
—Thud!
—stopping dead in front of me and striking a pose full of the arrogant self-assurance unique to those in power.
“Arto!”
“Mm.”
“Since that Administrator… already spilled everything, I’ll just say it straight!”
She was trying her hardest to wear a bright smile while projecting swagger through her posture… yet her flushed face and ears showed no sign of cooling. Blushing, a tiny tear still clinging to her eye, Artraia spoke in a voice trembling far more than her proud stance suggested.
“I-I-I, Artraia Beliard Penash Khan Seveli… like Arto Virtorius Seveli a whole looooot!!!!”
“…”
By the end she had her eyes squeezed shut and her voice had climbed into a full scream. The effort was almost admirable.
Hearing it, though, left me wrapped in a profound sense of anticlimax.
“Uh… so… what was that?”
Afraid I’d misheard, I actually requested a replay from the Empress herself.
“Uuuu… I just said it! Like the Administrator told you—I like you!”
Even while dying of embarrassment, Artraia answered as steadily as she could. I studied her for a moment, lost in thought.
Then, a beat later—
Ah. So that’s what this was.
The truth finally clicked. I straightened my posture in front of her and spoke.
“Artraia, I like you just as much.”
“…Arto!”
To my surprise, her eyes welled up as if she were genuinely moved.
“Hah, finally that clueless Minister of ours managed to notice, yeah.”
“Remarkable. How can someone so competent at everything else be this hopeless when it comes to matters of the heart?”
Riel and the Administrator muttered behind me, but I ignored them and continued calmly to the woman in front of me.
“So let’s keep going as the best of friends and the most trustworthy sovereign and subject.”
It was the highest oath of loyalty I could offer her.
The instant the words left my mouth—
“Oh for fuck’s sake.”
—Riel, standing with the Administrator, let out a spontaneous curse.
“What’s wrong, Riel?”
I turned, half-expecting she was angling for another round with the Etiquette Injection Rod. Instead I found both of them staring at me with the exact expression reserved for the densest idiot alive.
Looks like Riel’s going to need a new lump on her head today.
I spun around, ready to administer some corrective education—
—Grab!
“…?”
—only for a hand to seize my shoulder. I carefully looked back.
And there—
“Arto.”
“…”
“I knew it. That side of you is usually charming, but I can’t just let it slide today.”
“Uh… what?”
Her tone was completely different now—relaxed, almost casual. Yet somehow it sounded exactly like the low growl of a starving predator.
So I naturally tried to slip free of her grip and retreat to the Foreign Executive Ministry—
“Finally, the time has come, yeah.”
“Sometimes a little push is all that’s needed.”
“We’ll be going now. Have a lovely romance, yeah.”
What.
Those two ungrateful wretches had already slipped out and shut the only exit behind them.
“Haa… Arto.”
“…Yes.”
“You’d better prepare yourself.”
For the first time in my life—across both my previous existence and this one—I understood exactly what it felt like to stand as prey before a predator.