Yune, Debut Imminent! (1)
Yune, Debut Imminent! (1)
After the audience with the Kaiserin ended, I found myself receiving the spoils of victory from my mother.
"Well done, Yune. Brilliantly done, Yune. I believed in you."
"Hehehe. I did pretty good."
-Pat, pat, pat.
My mother's petting was even more enthusiastic than usual, layered with praise so thick it was almost embarrassing.
My sisters had always stressed that she must never show this side of herself to others, but Mother was stroking me in a public hallway as if she didn't have a single care in the world.
Well, she was loyal to the Kaiserin. The Kaiserin's health improved because of me, so her delight and her doting on my achievement were understandable.
'...Given how well things are going, I might be able to ask for that.'
My manly instincts, honed over two and a half years of relentless wheedling, screamed out a clear signal. Mother was in an exceptionally good mood right now, ready to grant any reasonable request.
I jutted my face toward her, chin tilted high.
"Mom, scratch under my chin too."
"Your... chin?"
"Yes! It feels amazing."
The memory of the chin-scratching Chloe gave me back in the dorm was still vivid in my mind.
I made the same request of my mother. A troubled look flickered across her face for a moment, but...
-Squish, squish.
"...Like this?"
"Fuuuuu. Yeeaahh..."
Her fingers slipped under my chin, scratching me with a gentle clawing motion, and I melted instantly into her touch.
It was a little rougher than Chloe's version, but my mother's unique, long, slender fingers rubbing softly into my chin fat...
A supreme pleasure washed over me, like chewing a mouthful of sweet cookies.
'I could seriously get addicted to this... Should I ask my other sisters to scratch my chin like this too?'
"Hoo hoo. Do you really like it that much?"
"Yesss..."
The moment she saw how fiercely I enjoyed it, any lingering awkwardness vanished as she kept petting me. Her loving touch, the affection brimming in her eyes as she looked at me... I was literally melting.
A moment later.
-Flump.
"Y-Yune!?"
My legs gave out and I crumpled to the floor of the hallway. A trickle of drool escaped the corner of my mouth—I'd probably been enjoying the scratches with my mouth hanging wide open.
"Are you alright!? What happened?"
"N-No, I'm fine. It just felt so good my legs went... Hehe."
I looked up at her from my spot on the floor, doing my best to show I was okay.
Oddly, my mother's expression froze. But, oh well, it was probably nothing.
* * * * * *
'How could I, of all people, make such a mistake...'
Erengard, the Northern Grand Duchess, chewed her lip as a wave of shame washed over her.
"Mom, what's wrong?"
"...It's nothing."
Yune looked up at her with concern. The reason for her self-reproach was simple: she had just spent an excessive amount of time petting him outside—and in the Inner Palace, of all places.
Honestly, she had thought a little head-patting was harmless enough...
But Yune, his eyes shut, swaying his head gently with each pat, smiling like an idiot—he was simply too precious. And on top of that, he had just resolved the ailment of her liege, the Kaiserin.
So she had been unable to refuse his sudden request to scratch under his chin, and she had actually done it. As if she were handling a pet.
A head-pat was one thing, but scratching under the chin like one would an animal was impossible to gloss over as a display of parental affection.
And as a result, Yune's legs had given out completely.
Staring down at Yune, a trail of sweet-looking drool running from his mouth, she realized just how far she had overstepped, doing something that must never be done in public.
'If the other children find out, they'll be thoroughly disillusioned. ...Everyone except Charl, that is.'
She had directly violated the fervent warning her daughters gave her before they left the dorm.
Fortunately, she had unconsciously deployed her Ki Barrier, so none of the servants could approach them. Still, she blamed herself for losing all restraint and doing something so inappropriate to her son.
'What's done is done... but I'll have to stop sleeping in the same bed as Yune. I clearly can't control myself.'
Deeply aware of her own lack of self-control, she made a resolution that would have devastated Yune if he ever found out.
From today, Yune would be a formally presented debutante in high society, a young nobleman in the bloom of youth. Even as his parent, a woman like her could no longer engage in such physically intimate behavior with her son—that was her rational judgment.
"...Mom, you're thinking something weird right now."
"Not at all."
Yune glanced at her sulkily, as if he had read her mind. She composed her expression and stared straight ahead again as she began to walk.
Having made up her mind about Yune, she turned her thoughts to the Kaiserin. More precisely, to the Kaiserin whom Yune had so devotedly massaged.
At first, she tried to think about the reward the Kaiserin had so openly hinted at...
-Crack.
The moment she recalled what had happened, her teeth ground together.
It was hardly a reaction befitting a loyal subject thinking of her revered Kaiserin, but Erengard couldn't help it. She had just stood there and watched her ten-year-old, unmarried son touch a woman's body.
What parent could possibly be indifferent, watching the child she cherished beyond all measure knead the bare skin of another woman?
She had held back, telling herself, 'It's for treatment,' and 'It's for Her Majesty, the Kaiserin I revere.' But the whole time, a suffocating pressure built up layer by layer in her chest.
Perhaps that was why an irreverent thought, one she would never normally entertain, sprouted in her mind.
'Surely Her Majesty wouldn't talk about taking Yune as a consort, or appointing him as Prince Consort. No matter how splendid a son-in-law our Yune would make, he's still ten years old. If Her Majesty really does ask for Yune... I'll have to join the Noble Faction.'
The Kaiserin had no such designs whatsoever, but Erengard had already plunged into needless worry. Had her friend, Schmut, been able to read those thoughts, she would undoubtedly have said, "Good heavens, how utterly ridiculous."
* * * * * *
After that brief chin-scratching session with my mother, we made our way back to the banquet hall in the Outer Palace.
-If only I had those elixirs... Hmph.
-What's wrong? Did you see some... Oh.
-Good heavens.
The hall was bustling and noisy, but the moment my mother and I walked in hand in hand, a sudden silence fell. Every gaze converged on us—on me, to be precise.
It was clear that everyone was speechless at the sight of me in my artifact formal suit, which I'd commissioned ages ago just for this day.
'...Hehe. Impressive, right? Handsome, isn't it?'
-A maid outfit...? Was there such a thing?
-I'd always dismissed it as the attire of the lower classes, but to reinterpret it with such elegance... It has a remarkably refined charm.
-It seems the Grand Ducal House has indeed prepared thoroughly for the youngest son's debut.
-He's adorable...
My mood dipped slightly when I caught the phrase "maid outfit" floating in the air. I knew it was only the name that had changed while the design stayed the same, but even after all this time, I just couldn't get used to it.
Deflated, I held my mother's hand and walked slowly forward, just as Sir Max had taught me. Softly, gently, gliding along.
The gait wasn't exactly manly, but I had no choice. Running around or striding briskly through the banquet hall would get me labeled as frivolous behind my back.
I tried to observe the atmosphere and the expressions of the gathered guests as I walked, but I gave up almost immediately.
'My eyes...'
The attire of every young nobleman present was committing acts of visual terrorism. That cursed codpiece, I swear. I had absolutely no desire to look at men wearing those things.
Instead, I fixed my gaze on a single table. The spot where my three sisters and Chloe were standing.
"Mother, you've arrived... Haaah."
"Yo, little brother. Seeing you like this, you really do look even more dashing."
"Yune, you're so cool. ...Charl, sis, you're drooling. Shut your mouth."
"...Sluurp. I never opened it in the first place."
"She's been the same since the Founding Festival, honestly."
My sisters welcomed us warmly. The five of us, our whole family, gathered around the table and started talking. The topic, of course, was me. More precisely, me as the debutante making my first appearance in high society today.
"Wouldn't it be prudent to have him greet at least the members of the Ducal Houses before the ceremony begins? It is his debut, after all."
"No. The ones who should feel eager are them, not Yune."
I'd heard that newly debuted young men normally go around, greet the established middle-aged men of society and their peers, and make friendly connections. But my mother said it wasn't necessary, and I let out a silent sigh of relief.
I had no desire to go and play nice with those men in their crotch-bulging outfits, going "hoho" while I tried to impress them. I was absolutely certain I couldn't have kept a straight face staring at that spectacle, so this was a lucky break.
As we waited quietly for the event to begin, people began to approach our table one by one to offer their greetings.
"A pleasure to see you, Your Grace. And Young Master Yune."
The first to arrive was Sir Max, who had taught me dance and etiquette.
"Sir Max. A pleasure."
"It's been a while, Sir Max!"
"Ha ha. We saw each other just yesterday, didn't we? ...At any rate, have you noticed? Everyone's eyes are fixed on Young Master Yune. That's our young master for you."
"Heheh."
After a bit of casual chat, Sir Max started bringing people over and introducing them to me.
-Whisper, whisper.
-They're all from families in the Pro-Imperial Faction.
-Sir Max is being incredibly helpful. Let's express our gratitude later.
Listening to my sisters whispering nearby, I gathered they were all loyalists. It was a clear testament to Sir Max's seasoned experience in high society. I kept greeting them, making one new acquaintance after another.
...Of course, since most of them were men, my eyes stayed unnaturally fixed upwards during all the pleasantries.
'I'm already exhausted...'
But even though I dodged looking at the codpieces by keeping my eyes averted, the constant stream of shy greetings from the young men was mentally draining.
I needed to purify my weary eyes and mind.
And right on cue.
"Y-Y-Yune... hi?"
My fiancée, Kir, approached me.