Journey to the Capital
Around midday that day, a sudden trip to the capital was decided.
"Well then, I'll be off."
"Yes. Please travel safely."
After bidding Heily farewell, Orion followed Karen to the train station.
Between packing essentials for the journey and the carriage ride itself, they arrived sometime toward evening.
"Whoa, there are a lot of people."
"It is the New Year, after all. All manner of circumstances must be overlapping."
People in formal wear, casually dressed travelers, and more—crowds of them stood in line waiting to board.
"More importantly, is it really all right to go dressed like this?"
Orion gestured at his own clothes. They were the sort of thoroughly comfortable things he only ever wore for a quick stroll around the house.
I put them on because she told me to dress comfortably, but still…
This was hardly the attire of a man going to meet the Emperor.
"Do you intend to board a train in a full suit? I won't stop you, but you should know you'll be on that train for at least three days."
"Well, yes, but you told me to just pack some underwear, Boss, so I didn't bring any formal clothes. I don't have anything to wear once we get there."
The round trip to the capital alone took more than a week. And yet all he was carrying was a single shopping bag—and even that held nothing but underwear and a few books to read on the train.
Karen spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"That is nothing you need to worry about. We can have clothes tailored in the capital. As for daily necessities, the train is fully stocked. No need to fret over that either."
"Oof. I momentarily forgot about your wealth, Boss. As expected—money really does solve everything."
"It is not always so. And that is not the way."
Karen called out to Orion just as he was about to join the ordinary queue. An empty passageway stretched ahead—the path leading to the front car of the train.
From behind them, admiring gazes fixed on their territorial lord. Orion felt every one of those stares land squarely on him as he followed her.
"Did you charter this whole train?"
"Charter? Hardly. Look here."
At his words, Karen pointed to the tracks.
"The railway running from the capital to the North, and the train upon it—both are mine."
"Wow."
So this is what it's like when a building owner parks wherever they please in their own lot.
"If you understand, get on already. It is cold."
"Yes, ma'am~"
He hopped aboard without delay.
The inside of the train was wonderfully warm. He finally understood why she had told him to dress comfortably.
Orion tossed off his coat and took a look around the front car.
"It's like someone picked up a hotel suite and set it down in here."
The space was not especially vast, yet everything one could need had been arranged in exactly the right places. A bed, of course, a table for meals—there was even a bathing facility. At the far end sat a small private office that was clearly hers alone.
"You may use that side. I shall take this one."
Karen said so as she removed her own coat. Given the nature of a train, the center aisle served as a walkway. That meant there were two sleeping spaces—one to the left, one to the right.
Which also meant the distance between them would be very close indeed.
Realizing this, Orion scratched his head.
"Oof. If it was going to be like this, you could've just stuck me in the servants' car with the maids."
"You are my guard knight, are you not? What would be the point of keeping you at a distance?"
"That's true, but… won't it be uncomfortable?"
"I have rather sharp hearing at night, but I am not the sort who cannot sleep simply because someone is nearby. So long as you do nothing to grate on my nerves, it will be fine."
Karen folded her arms and smiled faintly.
"Besides, it is dull being alone. Heily is not here this time, so you can keep me company in conversation."
"……Well."
He could thoroughly relate to the part about it being dull alone. But that was not the answer he had been hoping for.
Does she not even see me as a man in the first place?
Hmm. Well, that was possible enough. Overthinking it here would only be a loss.
Orion tried to empty his mind. He really did try.
"Hold on."
Her expression shifted. All at once she crossed her arms over her chest, shielding herself.
"I miscalculated. I had forgotten you are a wolf."
"Huh? I haven't done anything."
"From this moment on, do not even think of crossing this center line. Should you do so, I will throw you off a moving train."
"What?! Why am I getting blamed for something you got wrong, Boss?!"
"In other words, you mean to seize this opportunity and pounce on me?"
"……Excuse me?"
"Your answer just now was a touch slow. That settles it."
"No, I was just so flabbergasted that—"
Seeing Orion's face, Karen let out a soft, stifled laugh, amusement lingering at the corners of her mouth.
"I am joking. Your reactions are so entertaining I cannot help but tease you."
"……Haah. Can I just thump you once on the forehead? Just once?"
"What was that?"
"I didn't say anything."
So this is what they mean by getting hit in the face with pure charm.
Watching her laugh so happily, he couldn't even get properly angry.
"At any rate, make yourself comfortable. There is no need to walk on eggshells around me."
"I was going to anyway. I'll just be reading, so call me if you need anything."
"Very well. I shall."
And so their short-term cohabitation began.
The sun set, and night fell.
After finishing the delicious dinner the maids had prepared, they each returned to their own spaces.
Work, even here.
Something caught his eye. Just as she did at the manor, she was seated at her desk, poring over documents. Relying on a small oil lamp to get through her work looked rather exhausting.
"What are you doing over there?"
"You're working, Boss. It feels wrong for me to just lounge around."
"I already told you there is no need for that. More to the point—why are you standing so far away?"
"You told me not to cross the middle line."
"Hmph. I said it was a joke, did I not? And if you have no intention of helping, then go. You are distracting me."
Orion walked over and plopped down beside her.
"I'll help. So… what should I do?"
"Hm? I did not ask for help."
"It's too dark for me to read anyway. This is just to kill time, so don't get too emotional about it."
"Day after day, you douse your own kindness with cold water. Fine. Since you are already here, stamp the documents I pass you."
"That's my specialty."
As if something had just occurred to her, Karen pulled out a separate set of papers and held them out to him.
"Ah—before that, look this over first."
"What is it?"
"Papers to verify your identity. Skim through them, and if anything is amiss, say so."
Orion tilted his head and took the documents. Personal details, special notes, and more—everything was laid out in neat, orderly fashion.
He had barely finished the first line when he raised an objection.
"Why does it say I'm twenty-five?"
"Hm? Are you not?"
"Uh……. I mean, maybe I am? It's just that I don't think I ever told you."
"I roughly deduced it by compiling what information I had on you."
Orion thought it over. When he first arrived in this world, he had been roughly a ten-year-old brat. Fifteen years later… that would make him twenty-five, wouldn't it?
"If not, tell me now. I will correct it at once."
"No, I think that's right. Leave it as is."
Youth is justice. Yeah. Sure.
"Oh, right. Speaking of age—how old are you this year, Boss?"
Orion gave a slight shrug of his shoulders.
Ah, I shouldn't let the old-man instincts kick in.
But people were only human. Going by face value alone, he seemed older than her. Was that something to be happy about? Anyway.
"I am one year older than you."
"What? Come on, that's a lie."
Without the slightest change in expression, Karen showed him a document with her year of birth written on it. It was one year earlier than the birth year arbitrarily listed on his own papers.
She really was his noona—not a younger woman at all.
"Ugh……."
If the gap had been larger, it might not have mattered. But only one year? Somehow that felt unfairly galling.
"A-actually, my age is—"
"Hm? Did you not just say it was correct? I have already stamped it, you know."
"……Nngh."
Damn. The order of operations really got me here.
"Well, being older doesn't automatically mean you're wiser, and being younger doesn't mean you don't know how the world works."
"What on earth are you talking about all of a sudden?"
"Nothing at all."
And so, in a quiet atmosphere, the document review began. The sound of a stamp pressing down and the rustle of turning pages repeated for a while.
"Noona."
"Pardon?"
"Come to think of it, you are younger than I am, are you not? That would make me your noona, then."
"What is that supposed to mean all of a sudden?"
"I had forgotten—I have never been called noona before."
Karen paused in her review of the documents, the corner of her mouth lifting.
"If you wish, you may call me noona."
"Out of nowhere?"
"Do not be shy. Calling me noona feels warmer and more familiar than 'Boss,' does it not?"
"You just want to hear it yourself, don't you?"
"And if I do?"
"Excuse me?"
Karen leaned her upper body toward Orion. Flustered, he drew back.
"Heh. I am joking. I will finish the rest myself, so go and rest. There is nothing more for you to do."
"……Yes."
Why do I feel like I just lost?
"Ah. It was a joke, but you may still call me that. I will not mind."
"Please stop teasing me. I'm not calling you that."
"Heh heh."
The night grew pitch-dark. Before long, the two of them had each withdrawn to their own sleeping quarters and settled in for the night.
Time passed.
"Ugh……."
Orion sat up in bed, pressing a hand to his churning stomach. The bed was more comfortable than he had expected, but it had been a long time since he last rode any kind of transport—motion sickness was inevitable.
"Water… water."
Hoping for at least a glass of cold water, he pushed aside the partition and walked down the dark passageway.
That was when he noticed a faint light—glowing from the office.
"Oh, come on. I thought she went to bed earlier."
On a hunch he went to check, and there she was: slumped over the desk, fast asleep. Even if the train was warm, sleeping like that was a surefire way to catch a cold.
Orion fetched his hanging coat and draped it over her shoulders.
"Hmm."
Something about it still bothered him. Wouldn't it be better to just lay her down on the bed? The distance to it was not that far, after all.
"All right. Now, how do I pick her up—"
She was not heavy, but the position made it awkward to lift her properly. And doing it without waking her was an advanced technique all its own.
That was when—
"……What exactly do you think you are doing?"
His left hand slipped under her knees, his right arm wrapped around her shoulders. It was a situation rather difficult to explain.
"…I trusted you."
Her gaze grew steadily colder.
"No, that's—"
In the end, Orion spent the rest of the night sleepless, buried under explanation after explanation.