Have I Finally Gone Mad?
Come to think of it, things had already strayed quite a long way from the original plan.
After getting caught carefully tying Yuri's hair for the children, I gave the matter deeper thought—and realized the situation was tangled far worse than I'd first assumed.
Back when I still believed Yuri was a man, the problem had been simple: just persuade him to approve the engagements with Charlotte and Yulia. Yuri might have regarded me as a mortal enemy, but I figured that if I gradually improved our relationship and cleared up the misunderstandings, winning that permission wouldn't be impossible.
But now that I knew Yuri was a girl, securing permission for the engagements and aiming for an engagement with Yuri herself had become entirely different dimensions of difficulty.
If Yuri decides to distance herself from me out of consideration for Charlotte and Yulia, it'll be a disaster.
The way Yuri cared for Charlotte and Yulia went well beyond ordinary best friends. To her, those two were more precious than herself—family, essentially. So what would she do once she learned that her friends truly wanted to be engaged to me?
She might prioritize her friends' happiness over her own feelings and simply give up on any engagement with me. Given Yuri's self-sacrificing nature, that scenario was entirely possible.
That is the one thing I will never allow.
Yuri folding her heart for the sake of her friends could not be permitted to happen. From the start, if I had only ever intended to take one wife, I never would have raised both Charlotte and Yulia. To nurture both of them with equal love, know that both harbored feelings for me, then choose only one and cast the other aside? That was the sort of idea only a deranged psychopath would entertain.
I wouldn't hide behind some cowardly excuse like, "I come from a modern world where monogamy is the norm, but since both girls like me, I have no choice but to engage both." Everything stemmed from my own greed. I simply wanted to be engaged to Charlotte, Yulia, and Yuri. Any other reason was nothing more than a justification tacked on afterward.
I have to make her understand that I am not a vessel meant to hold only a single wife.
The solution was surprisingly simple: actively declare that I had every intention of becoming engaged to more than one person. From now on, I would seize every opportunity to make that fact known—so that Charlotte, Yulia, Yuri, none of them would feel the need to bury their feelings and give up.
Once that clear answer came to me, my worries melted away like snow, and my heart felt considerably lighter.
"...My lord. Your expression is unpleasant. Are you entertaining some sordid thought?"
Kali is startled out of her wits, demanding to know how on earth she figured that out.
Just then Silvia poked my forearm and asked with a grave expression. This girl…
I had been in the middle of making a serious, weighty decision regarding future Countesses, and she called it a sordid thought? I nearly docked her pay out of spite, but after a glance below her neck I held back.
"Close your front a little more. Your cleavage is completely on display."
"The cut is generous enough that fully closing it is impossible… This is simply how the garment is worn. You said nothing about it earlier, did you?"
"I've changed my mind. Upon further reflection, this is an event at the Imperial Palace. Excessive exposure would be a breach of decorum."
"If exposure is the issue, what about my completely bare back? Changing clothes at this point would also be difficult."
"…"
Silvia tilted her head with perfect composure. When I'd first seen her I had been too shocked to notice, but now the dress's level of exposure was thoroughly disagreeable. The lower half was properly covered by the skirt, but the upper half was the problem. A grown lady revealing that much skin in public? The Confucian dragon inside me was thrashing about in agitation.
"Please be honest. You simply don't want other men seeing my cleavage, do you?"
"Who said anything of the sort? I am merely speaking as the representative of House Belmont. An unseemly appearance is undesirable."
"Hmm. At a banquet where self-display is the baseline, claiming this attire is unseemly sounds like pure sophistry. Instead of being so peevish, why not be honest with yourself and—"
"You never listen, do you."
"…!?"
I seized the front of Silvia's dress and forcibly closed it. She froze solid in shock. For all her earlier nonstop chatter, her mouth simply hung open, stammering wordlessly. While I fastened the front closed, her face flushed scarlet as if it might burst at any moment.
"We've arrived. Get down."
"Ah… Uh… Yes…"
I stepped down from the now-stopped carriage and offered my hand inside. Earlier she had thrown a tantrum demanding to be treated like a lady—now she was dying of embarrassment. Hopeless softie.
Just as the flustered Silvia reached to take my hand—
"Now!"
"Then me too!"
"…?"
Thud-thud! Tap!
Yulia shoved Silvia aside, seized my hand in an instant, and descended from the carriage. Charlotte immediately followed, grabbing my other hand and leaping out with a whoosh. When I glanced back, Yulia was smiling with the utterly relieved expression of someone who had just fulfilled a lifelong wish. To think getting down from a carriage while holding my hand had been that desperate for her…
Having finally cooled her burning face, Silvia gently took my hand and stepped down slowly.
"Treating me like a lady… was it."
"That's right. I dislike the idea of rumors circulating that the Count of Belmont keeps company with cheap-looking women."
"Understood. Still, rather than closing it yourself, if you had simply ordered me I would have closed it without further complaint…"
I offered my arm to the still-grumbling Silvia. She coiled around it like a snake. The soft pressure against my arm was faintly distracting, but I decided to endure it.
Perfect. Entering like this, I would appear to the other nobles as a dissolute count who had come to the banquet simply to show off his newly acquired lovely lady. Not the wisest image for a trusted confidant of the Emperor—but as a secret escort, it was ideal for lowering the enemy's guard.
"From this moment, the instant you spot anything suspicious, report to me at once. If reporting is impractical, you may take discretionary action and report afterward. I will take full responsibility for everything."
"Yes…!"
Charlotte and Yulia answered vigorously and strode ahead. Yuri replied more quietly and followed behind. From here on the Imperial Palace would become a bloodbath. Surviving would require each of them making rapid decisions on their own. I could only trust they wouldn't cause any disasters that were too large.
I-I'm finally here! The Imperial Palace!
Among the endlessly milling throng, Yuri—trailing close behind Aslan—swallowed hard with nerves. This wasn't her first visit to the Imperial Palace, but a banquet so packed with nobles that you practically tripped over them was definitely a first. Listening to the greetings around her, she kept hearing titles like count of this place and duke of that place.
The Dark Mister is somewhere in here…!
If her prediction was correct, the Dark Mister would be present as well. Even the Northern Grand Duke—famous for never leaving his seat—had attended this event. No one ranked higher than the Northern Grand Duke except the Emperor himself, so the Dark Mister couldn't very well have stayed away either. That meant one of the people exchanging greetings with Aslan Belmont had to be the Dark Mister!
Yuri kept her tension high, concentrating every nerve so she wouldn't miss a single person who spoke with Aslan even for a moment.
"Count Aslan Belmont! At last we meet! Your face is a rare sight indeed!"
"My lord Count, a pleasure! Regarding the swords produced at the forge under your ownership—about the mana output—"
"Last time my daughter committed a grave discourtesy, Count Belmont! If my second daughter is not to your taste, would you care to meet the youngest?"
A great surge of people converged the moment they recognized Aslan. Yuri's pupils darted frantically—and soon lost all direction.
Wasn't Aslan Belmont a social outcast?! Why are so many people talking to him…!
She had expected that the only people exchanging greetings with Aslan Belmont would be Irene Belmont, the Northern Grand Duke, the Grand Duchess, the Count of Arrient, and maybe the Academy headmaster. Yet already nearly half the nobles at the banquet had flocked over to speak with him. How was she supposed to figure out who the Dark Mister was like this…!
Ugh. I'm getting dizzy…
Examining each face one by one overloaded Yuri's brain. The endless chatter and the oppressive press of the crowd brought on a wave of motion sickness. Just as her body began to sway—
"Ah…!"
She instinctively grabbed the hand extended before her and managed to stay upright by leaning on that large hand. Only after collecting herself did Yuri realize whose hand it was. Aslan Belmont was still exchanging pleasantries with the nobles in front of him while casually offering his hand behind his back.
How did he even know I was staggering…
It was somehow irritating. Why was he paying this much attention to her when she was already this dizzy? She was supposed to be his escort, wasn't she? The moment Yuri pouted and lifted her head—
Huh? This back…
Looking up at Aslan's formal-clad back, she froze. For some reason the silhouette felt eerily familiar.
Have I finally gone mad!?
Even if only for the briefest instant, she had actually thought Aslan Belmont's back resembled the Dark Mister's. She must really be motion-sick. Yuri shook her head hard, yet she still couldn't quite erase the unsettling feeling.