A Blessed Man, You Say? What Do You Think, Seobang-nim?
The estate of Count Allond lay a long way from the mansion.
It was in the western reaches of the empire, where the sunlight was generous and the wheat grew thick and tall.
The empire was divided into eastern, western, southern, and northern regions with the capital at its center. Since Ania’s and my mansion stood in the south, the journey by carriage would have taken two full days of hard travel.
I had expected the trip to be long and dull, yet an unexpected pleasure awaited us.
“So this world has trains too.”
It was none other than a train.
This medieval-flavored world was only just stepping into its industrial revolution. Mysterious goods from the East had begun pouring into the empire, spurring development the likes of which it had never known. Light bulbs and trains were among the fruits of that progress.
While I drifted in those strange thoughts, Ania asked softly,
“Is this your first time riding a train?”
“……It is.”
In truth, before I had been possessed into this world I had ridden trains every single day, yet the answer was no lie. The trains here were steam engines—classic machines that burned coal and drove turbines with the resulting vapor. I had never ridden anything so old-fashioned, so calling it a first was perfectly accurate.
Of course it was slower than an electric train, yet after so long without a swift means of travel a peculiar nostalgia rose in me. As I watched the scenery whip past the window, Ania lightly rested her head against my shoulder. A soft rose scent drifted from her hair.
“I’m looking forward to it.”
“The ball, you mean?”
“No.”
She glanced up at me with sparkling eyes.
“I’m looking forward to introducing such a wonderful husband to everyone.”
“……How shameless.”
“What does it matter? We’re husband and wife.”
Ania smiled faintly, as though the words were no mere flattery.
A wonderful husband, is it…
Was that the truth?
In the original novel Ania had discarded Edward. Discarded was too strong; it would be more precise to say her interest had simply faded. During the early days of their marriage she had seemed to care for him, at least a little. Then, after a certain incident, she began to neglect him. What that incident had been… my memory was hazy. If I had known even the when or the why, my heart might have rested easier. As things stood, there was no way to learn it.
So I had to ignore the woman who now rested her head against me and lightly linked her arm through mine. I must not love her. Her beauty was only skin-deep…
Of course, knowing that did not make it easy. Instinct was the problem. Bodily lust was not love, yet lust had always been the fuse that lit love’s fire, and I needed to remain wary of it.
“Ania.”
“Yes?”
“It’s warm.”
“Hehe… Why?”
Even when I told her to move away a little she simply laughed it off, leaving me nothing to say. If she sulked the way she once had, that would be troublesome in its own right. In the end all I could do was endure.
We had passed five more stations when someone glided past our compartment, stopped, and peered inside. Startled by the sudden attention, I looked up as well—and found a face that was somehow familiar. Short stature, a ridiculous monocle, a face full of mischief…
Where had I seen him?
“Edward?”
He clearly knew me. My own memory, however, remained foggy. Who on earth was this man?
“Edward! To run into you here of all places. How long has it been?”
He stepped in, calling my name with open delight—then spotted Ania and froze solid. In a stiff voice he asked,
“Th-this beautiful lady is…?”
“Ania Brontë.”
Ania offered a light, perfectly polished greeting.
“The young lady herself! My, my… to meet such a beauty on a train—I must be a lucky man indeed, haha!”
He scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, and at last the locked memory rose to the surface.
“Alphonse?”
“Yes! It’s me—Alphonse!”
He was one of Edward’s academy classmates. Alphonse de Gimula, son of a baron from a small northern kingdom. He had never excelled at his studies, yet his business sense was exceptional. He had aggressively imported Eastern goods and later developed printing technology… or something of the sort.
“By the way, Edward, what business brings you and the young lady together…?”
“We’re on our way to a ball. Count Allond’s ball in the western empire.”
“Aha… I see! But why are the two of you going together…?”
“We got married.”
“What?”
Alphonse nearly jumped out of his skin.
“You… and Young Lady Brontë?”
“Yes.”
His mouth rounded in pure astonishment.
“Well… that is a surprise. Edward, you married the empire’s greatest beauty… you truly are a blessed man. Wouldn’t you agree, young lady?”
Classic merchant’s tongue—praising both parties without ruffling a single feather.
“Is that so?”
Ania only smiled softly.
“We simply married because we like each other. There’s nothing blessed about it. Isn’t that right, Mr. Alphonse?”
Her eyes flashed. Sensing he had stepped wrong, Alphonse hastily revised himself.
“Ahaha… of course! A marriage of mutual love, nothing more.”
Yet Ania was no woman to be handled lightly. She had learned the proper courtesies, but she was never one to mind another’s feelings.
“Well then, Edward—I’ll be off! Let’s talk again sometime.”
Alphonse fled the compartment as though escaping, and silence settled once more.
“Hehe… you keep interesting company. A blessed man, you say. What do you think, Seobang-nim?”
Ania gazed into my eyes and smiled, turning in slow circles of amusement.
At a moment like this the proper answer was…
“It isn’t wrong.”
“Hehe… yet we married purely for love, didn’t we?”
Ania only laughed, clearly enjoying herself.
“Is the young lady really on this train?”
“I told you she is! Just shut up and follow.”
Inside a train that had left the southern empire and was now racing toward the far western edge, a band of masked men crouched in the freight car, eyes gleaming.
“Pull this job off and we’re set for life. Keep your heads straight.”
“Damn it, just do your part. Remember last time? You screwed up and we all got fucked.”
“You bastard… why bring that up now?”
They were vagrants—yet not ordinary ones. Parasites of the empire’s back alleys who took on every filthy job that came their way. In those alleys they were known as the Sewer Rats.
“Anyway, we snatch her clean and quiet.”
“I know. Stop repeating yourself.”
“Fuck… I’m just nervous, all right?”
They could carry out any dirty deed without blinking, yet this particular job was enormous: the kidnapping of Young Lady Ania herself. To abduct a member of one of the emperor’s five closest houses meant that failure—and capture—would bring only one result.
“Fail and it’s the gallows.”
“We’re already betting our lives.”
“Hell if I know. If this falls through the debt collectors will kill me anyway. Same difference.”
A job that led straight to death. Yet the risk was worth taking. Even split three ways, the pay would keep them fed for the rest of their lives. Whoever the client was, he was clearly a heavyweight.
So they had planned with care. A once-in-a-lifetime chance and a once-in-a-lifetime crisis—high risk, high return.
“We go in just before the next station.”
“By the way…”
One of the Sewer Rats spoke quietly.
“Why specifically the young lady? What do they plan to do once they’ve got her?”
“Why do you need to know?”
“They’ll do whatever they want, I guess.”
“Right. Empire’s greatest beauty—probably sell her as a slave or keep her as a plaything.”
“Hmm… something feels off.”
The leader barked,
“If you’re going to keep grumbling, get out.”
“I’m not quitting. I’m just curious.”
“Why be curious? At worst it’s some noble power struggle. We do what we’re told. Whoever pays, we do the job.”
“Once this is over we can wash our hands of everything.”
“Fine…”
The train began to slow, hissing steam. The signal that a station was near.
“Let’s go.”
Their task was simple: snatch the young lady, leap off at the station, and vanish in the waiting carriage.
The three masked men wiped the sweat from their palms and slipped quietly out of the freight car.
“We’ll be there soon.”
Trains really were fast. Even if this era’s steam engines could not match electric ones, they still outpaced any carriage. Only two stations remained before Count Allond’s estate—which meant the exhausting hours trapped in a sealed compartment with Ania were nearly over.
I congratulated myself.
Well endured.
Had I not exercised every scrap of self-control, I might have found myself stroking her hair while she slept.
“Excuse me a moment, my lady.”
Just before the train eased into the station I gently disentangled myself from Ania and stood. Sitting still and sweating had left me in urgent need of the lavatory.
“Where are you going?”
“Once we stop I’ll step out for a moment—just the washroom.”
“Go carefully.”
I was about to leave the compartment when a sudden chill brushed my instincts. I whipped my head around—
“Mmph…!”
Three figures had climbed through the open window, thrown a sack over Ania’s head, and were already fleeing with her.