A Guard Knight's Day
The next day.
Fresh off his meteoric promotion, Orion left the quarters he'd first been assigned and moved into the Agnes manor itself. The original room had already been more than he could have asked for — so when he was relocated to something even cozier, sleeping in was all but inevitable.
Rising at a thoroughly unimpressive hour, Orion yawned his way to the door in a half-dreaming haze.
"Man, I'm starving."
He was just about to head naturally toward the knights' mess hall when—
"Lord Orion. Did you sleep well?"
It was Heily.
Orion hastily clapped a hand over his yawning mouth and smoothed down his bedhead.
"…Is something the matter?"
She stood as she always did — composed, elegant, every line of her posture immaculate. No matter how many times he saw her, her expression never shifted by so much as a hair. It was honestly a little uncanny.
"The Grand Duchess has summoned you. She instructed me to bring you the moment you awoke."
Under ordinary circumstances, he would have answered with a reflexive Right now? His stomach was staging a full-blown riot demanding breakfast, after all.
But Orion couldn't bring himself to refuse.
"…Lead the way."
There was something almost supernatural about her gaze — the kind that made saying no feel utterly impossible.
The place she led him to was already fragrant with the smell of good food. A long table dominated the center of the room, each place set with its own array of dishes. It was a feast fit for royalty.
Karen, who had arrived ahead of them, furrowed her delicate brow.
"So you finally deign to appear."
"Uh — what is all this?"
"What else would it be? Breakfast. Though thanks to you, it nearly became lunch."
"That's… not really the issue here…"
Never mind the lavish spread — why had a meal like this been arranged in the first place? A thought struck him, and Orion scratched the back of his head.
"Ah — is this like a welcome banquet for yesterday? Come on, you really didn't have to."
Please let that be it. The idea of sitting across from her at a meal, face to face, in this stifling atmosphere — and every single day, no less? Absolutely not. That was a fate worse than choking to death.
"You vanish without so much as showing your face after I saw you in the office the other day, and I'm supposed to throw you a welcome banquet out of sheer affection? Spare me the noise and sit down. I don't care about other mealtimes, but breakfast will proceed like this from today onward. Take note."
A storm broke loose behind Orion's back. Thunder crashed.
He shot Heily a desperate look, silently pleading for rescue — but she only tilted her head and gestured him toward his seat.
"Please, go ahead."
Utterly defeated, Orion dragged his heavy feet to his place. Karen occupied the head of the table. Heily sat diagonally to her left; Orion's seat was diagonally to her right.
"Urgh…"
He could barely breathe. So this was what a noble's dining table felt like. He had the distinct impression that even the clink of silverware would be unforgivable, that he mustn't make so much as a sound while eating.
After a moment's agonized deliberation, Orion did not sit. Instead, he picked up the plate holding his main dish.
"And what, precisely, do you think you're doing?"
"How could a mere guard knight possibly share a table with the boss?"
Watching her brow knit tighter by the second, Orion planted himself two seats farther down.
She looked thoroughly displeased, but after a moment she simply snorted.
"Hmph. Suit yourself."
Whew. Orion exhaled in relief as he settled in, and the meal began.
Three minutes of picking at his food in that sepulchral silence later—
Is this right?
It felt like he'd stepped into a pocket dimension outside of time. He stole a glance at the two women. They weren't eating so much as posing for a portrait.
Haa…
It was genuinely tragic that he couldn't dig into this mouthwatering spread the way he wanted. Orion was a healthy young man in his prime, and the last thing he wanted was to make a spectacle of himself wolfing down food in front of women who looked like they'd stepped out of a painting.
Karen regarded him with a puzzled expression.
"Hm? Is the food not to your liking?"
Not to his liking? It was so good he couldn't tell whether it was going into his mouth or his nose. She had no idea how he felt.
"…No. I just woke up, so I don't have much of an appetite."
"Hmph. Easy for a full man to say. In that case, rise earlier from now on."
Orion felt deeply wronged.
After the meal, Orion approached Karen.
"If you don't have anything for me to do, would it be all right if I stepped out for a bit?"
"You? To do what?"
She looked genuinely curious — and faintly appalled, as though the unspoken subtext were A freeloader with nothing better to do?
"Hey, even I get hurt by a look like that, you know."
"You're imagining things. So. What exactly are you going out for?"
"I wanted to grab some of my things from home."
The cabin where he'd spent the last fifteen years. Inside it was the treasure that had sustained him all this time — nothing other than his towering stacks of novels. Space had been so tight that he'd been forced to part with the more mediocre ones, but living here, he wouldn't need to make that kind of sacrifice.
"Things? You?"
"Okay, now that face is definitely saying, What could you possibly own worth packing?"
"That, too, is your imagination. More to the point — if there's anything you need, I can simply have it provided. What's the problem?"
"I've got some things I'm attached to. I'm going to be living here for the next two years. I can't keep running back and forth every time I want them."
"Oh? So you are capable of forming attachments to objects."
Her eyes said the rest: You don't look the type…
Orion was past the point of bothering to push back. He just looked exhausted. Karen's lips curved upward.
"What sort of things?"
"Wow. Next you're going to ask what color underwear I wear."
"Hmm. Judging by how hard you're trying to hide it, I believe I can guess."
Her voice rang with absolute certainty.
"A teddy bear you cuddle at night, I take it?"
"…Do I look like that kind of guy?"
"A pity. Not a teddy bear, then — a puppy plushie?"
Unbelievable.
"Haah… Boss. Permission to flick you once on the forehead?"
"Hmph. How rude. And it was a joke, besides. You truly have no sense of humor."
"No one in their right mind would have called that a joke…"
At this rate they'd be here until dawn. Orion turned on his heel.
"Anyway, it won't take long. I'll be right back."
"Wait."
"Huh? You said I get free time when there's no work, didn't you?"
"That isn't what I meant. I'll assign Heily to accompany you. Go together."
"What? Come on — you know I can't run away anyway."
What was with her today? Was she seriously worried he'd bolt?
"I'm well aware you lack the spine to flee. Had you possessed it, you never would have signed that contract in the first place."
"Urgh… That somehow feels worse. Then why?"
"Must you ask? How am I to know what sort of trouble you'll stir up inside the territory? If you aren't going to remain under my eye, I must at least attach someone trustworthy."
"Is that really how you see me? I'm your guard knight! At this rate you're treating me like a puppy that can't even housebreak itself."
"Hmm. She's merely going with you. Why the hysterics? Heily is not the sort to laugh at your teddy bear. You needn't worry on that account."
"Argh — it's not a teddy bear. It's books. Novels! Happy now?"
"Oh?"
Karen rested her chin on her hand and studied him with genuine surprise. Then her pupils dilated, and a look of profound confusion crossed her face.
"I don't know what you're thinking, but it's not that. I'm a guard knight, okay? At least leave me some dignity."
He felt an urgent need to clarify, somehow certain she'd decided he spent his free time devouring nothing but smut. The misunderstanding, however, did not appear to clear. Karen averted her gaze and gave a small nod.
"It's quite all right. I shall respect your… preferences."
Why was he stuck defending himself against something that wasn't even true? A wave of existential exhaustion washed over Orion, and he sighed.
"Anyway — I just need to take the secretary with me, right? I'll be going now."
He fled the office before she could say anything else strange.
Out in the corridor, a thought settled over him.
…I think I'm screwed.
People always said life never went the way you planned — but he'd honestly thought this would be a dream job. Now he was starting to suspect it might be a black company in an entirely different sense of the word.
At Karen's request, Heily made her way to the manor's front entrance. Orion was already waiting.
"Ah — there you are."
He stood quickly from the steps and came to meet her.
"I was told you are going to collect your belongings from your residence."
"Yeah, well. I could've gone alone, but the boss insisted we go together… I feel kind of bad about it."
"Not at all. I am perfectly fine. Please do not concern yourself."
Heily had worked alongside Karen long enough to understand exactly what her mistress was thinking in sending her. A watchdog, no doubt. But it was also an opportunity. Heily placed Karen's safety above all else. Even if he was a talent Karen herself had chosen, Heily — as her secretary — needed to take the measure of the man.
"Hmm."
Orion looked her up and down. She was still in the maid uniform she'd worn inside the manor, with only a single coat thrown over it.
"Is something the matter?"
"No — I just thought you might be cold dressed like that."
"I am quite all right. I am accustomed to the cold. This will more than suffice."
Orion muttered under his breath — She's definitely going to freeze… — but he respected her choice and didn't press the point.
"Shall we go, then?"
"Yes."
And so the two of them set out across the pristine white snowfield. That Heily would learn Orion's home lay beyond the fortress walls was a discovery still waiting a little further down the road.