End of the Founding Festival (1)
End of the Founding Festival (1)
Let's rewind a little, back to when Yune was dancing the waltz with Charlotte.
"My daughter Charlotte's dancing is far better than your clumsy steps."
....
Erengard, who had just finished her own waltz with Yune, was watching the siblings dance alongside Kir.
Their eyes might have been on the dancers, but both women's attention was fixed on the woman beside them.
Kir and Erengard chatted while watching the dance.
"B-but Yune looked happiest when he was dancing with me."
"Oh dear. You have no eye for detail. When he danced with you, his unease was clear—he never knew what your next step would be. With me, it was different."
"When he danced with Your Grace, he probably felt awkward because of the height difference. Yune, I mean."
"Pfft. As if."
A subtle war of nerves crackled between them.
The battle began in earnest when Kir, unable to bear Erengard's scoff, turned to face her.
"In the first place, a mother dancing with her young son on his debut day is unprecedented, isn't it? No matter how strong the familial love, I believe it was an improper thing to do."
"I think so as well. But Yune begged me to dance with him. How could I refuse the request of such a small, precious child? Sigh. He's nearly eleven years old, yet he still loves his mother this much."
"Th-then shouldn't you start creating some distance now?"
Provoked by the taunt the Grand Duchess had just flung at her, Kir grew quite heated.
Despite the fear eating away at her courage, she began to rebel against the Grand Duchess, gradually but surely.
Yet Erengard merely scoffed as if Kir wasn't even worth the effort and turned her head forward again.
"Thank you for your concern. But that is a matter for Nordkirchen to worry about, not an outsider like you. Do not meddle."
"...I am Yune's fiancée."
"Seducing a naive fiancé on his debut day and rubbing your body against him makes you a fiancée? I beg to differ. I have no memory of pairing Yune with such a shameless girl."
"Your Grace danced the waltz with Yune too!"
"I had no choice but to dance because Yune asked me to. Unlike you. And unlike you, who put the dancing itself second to rubbing your body against him, I performed a proper waltz. There is no comparison."
"L-Look, Sister Charlotte is rubbing herself against Yune right now! I can see the corners of her lips turned up from here, can't you?"
"...Ignore that. I will scold her severely when she returns."
After that, Erengard dismissed Kir's attacks one by one.
...Though she did have to turn her head, unable to counter the point about Charlotte.
Kir, who had been smirking in triumph, finally hung her head in defeat.
"...Yes. Come to think of it, it was my mistake to ask Yune for a waltz. I should have suggested a more modest dance."
"At least it's fortunate that you're not claiming it wasn't your fault. You take after Schmut in that way."
But Kir soon lifted her head and glared at Erengard.
"There's no use crying over spilled water. So I must take responsibility for it. I will take responsibility, marry Yune, and make him happy."
"...Ho."
Hearing this, Erengard turned her head and met Kir's eyes.
"I thought you were an unmaidenly creature, but you talk a good game. However. Do you think Yune would wish to marry you? Didn't you hear him? Yune does not want to marry you. I have no intention whatsoever of sending Yune off to marry someone he dislikes."
"...But Yune showed no signs of disliking me while we danced. You saw how brightly he smiled the whole time."
"Yune is simply like that."
"But if he disliked me, how could he have looked at me like that? No, it's clear that Yune secretly likes me, too."
"...."
Kir's defiant eyes clashed against Erengard's, which seemed indifferent yet held a glimmer of interest.
"I am confident that no one else is more suited to be your daughter-in-law. Not only does our family status match... but above all, Yune and I are the same age. Unlike an older lady with a significant age gap."
"...An older lady. You speak as if you're pointing at someone in particular."
"Isn't it customary for young noble sons to marry older women? That's all I meant. I'm not referring to anyone specific."
Kir's eyes were now outright blazing. Erengard's blank expression held a touch of disbelief.
This suffocating standoff ended with Erengard letting out a deep sigh.
"Hoo. What am I doing, bickering with a child like this? Enough."
"...Your Grace?"
"If you are unduly worried because I danced the waltz with Yune, rest assured. It is nothing but groundless anxiety, so do not fret."
"...!?"
Kir swallowed a gasp at Erengard's words.
Though she hadn't been aware of it herself...
After seeing the mother and son waltz, her subconscious had begun to view Erengard not as a mother-in-law, but as a female competitor vying for a single male.
She had never consciously thought that, of course, but despite that, Kir reacted as if Erengard had struck a nerve.
Disbelief flickered in Erengard's eyes.
"Yune is my son. I am no degenerate who harbors lust for my own child."
"I-I didn't think that of you, Your Grace..."
"I said it's fine. I might have thought the same, were I in your shoes."
Still, Erengard chose to overlook Kir's rudeness. She figured that if she were in Kir's situation, she would have drawn her sword already. Kir, who had been only verbally rude, was, in her view, quite well-mannered.
"In any case. Do not fret over nothing and hurry back. Schmut is fretting anxiously."
"...Pardon?"
Only upon being told to return did Kir look over at the next table.
There, Schmut was constantly glancing her way even while speaking with other nobles. With a look of immense worry.
"...I understand. But I have something to tell Yune, so if he returns after finishing his dance, I will intrude once more."
"Do as you wish."
The long war of nerves ended anticlimactically, and Kir turned to go back to her mother.
But as if she had just remembered, Erengard spoke up.
"...Ah, before you go, one more word."
Erengard placed a hand firmly on Kir's shoulder—Kir had already turned away—and leaned in close to her ear.
A flicker of killing intent flashed in her eyes.
"Do not dance like that with Yune ever again."
"...!!?"
Kir's shoulders stiffened in shock at the murderous voice. But Erengard paid her no mind and began to unleash her presence.
She released the unique pressure of one who had reached the Stage, which she had been suppressing out of consideration for the timid-seeming Kir.
Bearing the full, intentional force of the Empire's Strongest alone, Kir's face went pale as a sheet.
"No. Do not even lay a single finger on Yune's body. If you touch Yune before he comes of age, or before you are married... it will not end simply with a broken engagement. I will personally tear you to pieces. Even if it means making an enemy of Schmut. Even if it means making an enemy of the Charlottenburg Ducal House."
"H-hiee... y-yes..."
Listening to the softly murmured words, Kir realized, painfully clear, that the only reason she had been able to stand up to the Northern Grand Duchess was because Erengard had been humoring her.
"Good. Heed my warning well. You may go now."
"Y-yes!"
Hearing those words dripping with killing intent nearly made her lose control of her bladder. No, she did end up letting a few drops leak out, and then hurried over to Schmut.
Cold sweat poured down her face like a waterfall. She felt as if she'd stuck her head into a lion's mouth and barely pulled it back out. An indescribable shame and discomfort over her dampened underwear plagued her.
"Kir, are you alright?! Did you break anything? Should I take you to the Temple?"
"M-mother. I need to go to the restroom for a moment... and take off my underwear..."
"Huh? Restroom? Underwear...? What on earth happened?"
* * * * * *
Kir returned from the restroom after disposing of her soiled underwear.
Perhaps because she was walking so carefully, pressing down the hem of her dress, Yune had long since finished dancing and was asleep with his cheek resting on the table.
Seeing Kir return, Erengard shook Yune awake.
"Yune. Wake up. The banquet will be ending soon. You can sleep the rest of the way when we return to the estate."
"Hwuh...?"
Yune stared blankly at her with eyes clouded by sleep. Then he stretched both arms out towards her.
Erengard instinctively picked him up.
Yune rested his chin sulkily on her chest.
-Squish.
"My legs hurt..."
"You danced five waltzes, so it's only natural they would hurt. I'll carry you to the carriage."
"Now that I think about it, I was sweating earlier."
"I used Samadhi True Fire to dry you off, so don't worry. Though you will need to wash when we get back to the estate."
"Can't you wash me, Mom...? I really don't think I can move another step."
"...That is the one request I cannot grant. I'll take you as far as the bathroom door; make do with that."
"Tch. Fine."
No matter how much the surrounding people were focused on the young lords and ladies dancing in the center, there were plenty of people nearby.
Despite this, the two talked while holding each other like lovers.
"By the way, Yune. Your fiancée said she had something to say to you."
"Huh...? Kir?"
'He said my worries were unfounded...? What part of that is unfounded? His chin is buried in her chest! And his hands are resting there too?'
Kir was aghast at the two's unsettling skinship.
Unaware of her inner turmoil, Yune looked at Kir while hugging his mother.
"Hwaaah... Kir, I was wondering where you'd gone."
"Y-yeah. I just went to the restroom for a bit."
"Okay. Well, first... take this."
Yune then pulled something from his bosom and held it out to Kir.
"This is...?"
"A present. I bought it the day I arrived in the Imperial Capital."