Awareness
I met the head maid’s eyes again only after she finally pulled her hands away from my ears.
“…Is it over?”
“Yes. It seems she’s come out.”
The sound of water that had been coming from beyond the bathroom wall was gone.
Just as the head maid said, Ilia must have finished her bath and left the bathroom.
“Then the knight must have calmed down a little as well, so I’ll take my leave.”
“Ah, yes. Thank you.”
“Not at all. Thanks to you, I also…”
“Pardon?”
“Ah, it’s nothing! Well then, I’m off!”
The head maid opened the door with movements swifter than ever and fled.
What on earth had she been calling “nothing” this whole time?
She kept talking only about things only she understood, and it was leaving me thoroughly frustrated.
“Sigh.”
It was a day that made me think far too much about far too many things.
On a day like this I ought to take a leisurely bath and empty my head—
Click.
That was when it happened.
The door that should never have opened—the one that made my blood run cold—swung wide.
“Roen.”
“……!”
A voice that should never have been heard inside my room reached me around the same moment.
I had been about to gather a towel and bath supplies, so I had no choice but to greet her frozen in an awkward half-crouch.
And then the sight that unfolded before my eyes made me suck in a sharp breath.
“I-Ilia?!”
“What?”
“What do you mean, ‘what’?!”
It was enough to make anyone’s jaw drop.
Was she even aware of what she was wearing right now?
Was it remotely acceptable to barge into someone else’s room wearing nothing but a bathrobe, completely unguarded?
And into the room of a man her own age, no less!
This went far beyond simply being too comfortable around someone.
Under ordinary circumstances I would have thrown her out on the spot, master or not.
I ought to do exactly that now.
And yet… I couldn’t take my eyes off her.
The pale rose-tinted skin of Ilia’s body peeking through the gaps of the white gown.
Water droplets still falling from her hair even as she wiped it, sliding down into that deep valley between her breasts, and the steam still rising from a body that had not yet cooled.
The strange atmosphere those things created overwhelmed me in an instant.
Ilia—the very person who had created this situation—roughly towel-dried the moisture from her hair and walked casually right up to my face.
“What do you mean, ‘what’?”
“Uh, well…”
I couldn’t get the words out properly.
I felt like an absolute idiot.
Honestly, what man in the world could manage normal conversation under these circumstances?
It would be impossible unless he had already ascended to sainthood.
“More importantly, Roen.”
“Yeah…”
“Haven’t you been staring way too hard since earlier?”
“Huh?”
Ilia stretched out her hand and covered my eyes.
The world went dark in an instant.
Only the rose scent lingering around my nose and her hot body heat told me she was still standing right in front of me.
“W-what are you doing?”
“I figured if I didn’t do something like this, you’d keep looking forever.”
“Who barged in wearing something this defenseless in the first place…!”
“Hmm. That means… you’ve started to become aware of me?”
“…Aware?”
Well, of course I was conscious of her.
Ilia was my master, and a woman who might go flying off in any direction at any moment.
But what Ilia was talking about didn’t seem to be anything that ordinary.
That question just now—asking whether I had started to become aware of her.
The strange sense of dissonance and the questions I had been carrying ever since I came to the Grand Duke’s Castle and watched the way she treated me.
If I fitted every one of those puzzle pieces together, the conclusion was, in other words—
“You, don’t tell me you actually— mmpf!”
This time my mouth was blocked.
Judging by the damp sensation covering my lips, she had clamped the towel over them.
“…It’s not the time yet.”
Not the time?
What was that supposed to mean?
More than that—did Ilia saying those words mean my guess had been right?
Did Ilia really… me…
“Hm?”
In the moment my thoughts were chaining together, the rose scent suddenly grew stronger.
Something soft and hot pressed firmly against the nape of my neck, then lifted away.
Ilia’s hand withdrew.
When light returned to my eyes, only Ilia stood before me, her face flushed bright red.
“…I’ll be going now.”
“Uh… yeah.”
Ilia spun around in a hurry and walked clumpingly toward that door.
Click.
Ilia disappeared into her own room.
In the empty space she left behind, amid the lingering scent and the water droplets soaking into the carpet, I clutched the nape of my neck and slid down onto the floor.
Warmth still remained on my skin.
Having returned to her own room and closed the door, Ilia was immersed in pure exhilaration.
Roen had finally started to become aware of her.
Until recently, Ilia had firmly believed that Roen also deeply liked her in his heart.
The problem had been his lukewarm reactions every single time.
If Roen truly loved her, it would be normal for him to approach her more passionately.
Yet even when she kept initiating skinship so relentlessly, his response remained utterly underwhelming.
So after intense deliberation of her own, Ilia had reached one conclusion.
Roen simply had not yet properly realized the love he felt for her.
This dense man really required a lot of work, Ilia thought.
In that case the answer was simple.
She would just have to awaken him herself.
Everything that had happened in Roen’s room moments earlier had been calculated entirely for his sake.
Using the thin wall on the bathroom side of Roen’s room, she had intentionally let him hear the sound of her bathing, then barged into his room wearing nothing but a bathrobe to drive the point home.
A kind of pressure that asked: Even after I go this far, you still don’t get it?
And that pressure had been a resounding success.
She had never once seen Roen’s face flush so bright red or him look so thoroughly flustered before.
Of course, when she impulsively kissed the nape of his neck at the end, she herself had become unbearably embarrassed along with him.
Even so, Ilia had many things she wanted to do with Roen from now on.
Something more lover-like than the relationship of knight and master.
For that, a definite confession was necessary first.
The chance to confess had already flown away twice while she hesitated, but it didn’t matter.
In the study she had frozen because she simply couldn’t muster the courage to speak when the moment came.
At the training grounds only her own feelings had been racing ahead, and looking back it hadn’t been a particularly romantic atmosphere.
Rather, she could use those previous failures as a stepping stone and make an even more perfect, more romantic confession, couldn’t she?
In that case, the Imperial social gathering that would soon be held in the capital Kronstadt would be ideal.
By then Roen would surely have realized her feelings as well.
On the deserted terrace behind the splendid social gathering hall, facing Roen alone, she would return the flower he had given her when they were children and confess her love.
How romantic would that be!
By then the two sisters of the Kraus family would also have to admit defeat and keep their mouths shut.
Ilia twisted her body in delight at that perfect confession and threw herself onto the bed without even finishing drying her hair.
Without the slightest thought that the head maid’s scolding would crash down on her tomorrow.
“Chancellor. How are the preparations for the social gathering progressing?”
In the deepest part of the Imperial Palace, Emperor Wilhelm Sonnenreich reclined languidly on the splendid throne and opened his mouth in a drawl.
“The preparations are scheduled to be completed within this month, Your Majesty.”
Imperial Chancellor Richter Adler bowed at the waist and reported.
“As always, your work is fast. Very good. I consider it truly fortunate that someone like you occupies the chancellor’s seat.”
“You flatter me. I am merely fulfilling the duties assigned to me.”
The chancellor bowed even deeper, as if he did not know where to put himself under the emperor’s praise.
“I hear that major figures are scheduled to participate in large numbers in this social gathering. Including my worthless son.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. That is correct.”
The chancellor drew a thick register from his breast and began reciting names as he turned the pages one by one.
“From the northern grand duchy of Nordwacht, Ilia Weiss of the Weiss Grand Ducal House. From the southern grand duchy of Goldküste, Lukas Wallenstein of the Wallenstein Grand Ducal House. From the eastern grand duchy of Sternwald, Julius Eins of the Eins Grand Ducal House. From the western grand duchy of Lichtaue, Kilian Glauben of the Glauben Grand Ducal House. The children of the grand ducal houses that rule the empire’s four major regions are all scheduled to gather in one place.”
“Huh. So those who will bear the future of the empire are all assembling. It will be the most splendid social gathering in history. Is there anyone I should particularly keep an eye on?”
“As expected, the one who stands out by far would be Lady Ilia Weiss. With outstanding talent and excellent beauty, would she not be suitable as a match for His Highness the Crown Prince?”
At the chancellor’s words the emperor stroked his beard and leaned back against the throne.
“That was not the meaning with which I asked. Still, I shall keep your opinion in mind as well.”
“I apologize, Your Majesty.”
“Hmm. Chancellor. Send invitations to the families that will participate in the social gathering. They should be given time to prepare as well, no?”
“I shall obey your command, Your Majesty.”
When the emperor’s order fell, the chancellor straightened his bent waist and quickly exited the audience chamber.
Left alone in the vast audience hall, the emperor sank into thought.
Because the name of Ilia Weiss that the chancellor had just reported kept circling through his mind.
The emperor had a connection with the Weiss family.
His own sister had married into that house.
Although she had given birth to a daughter and passed away not long afterward.
And so the emperor was curious.
How much Ilia Weiss resembled his sister.
It was pure curiosity, untouched by any ill will at all.