Who Will You Dance With?!
A heavy silence fell over the reception hall in an instant.
Escort the Crown Princess to the North.
A part of me had suspected it, but I never actually thought they'd ask me to take charge of the Crown Princess herself.
"Your Majesty, that... Her Highness the Crown Princess is the heir to the Empire. The Ascalon Fief is a barren, dangerous land in the North—far too shabby for Her Highness to stay in..."
"Ascalon."
Calix cut me off, his voice low and heavy.
"I didn't summon you here to ask for your opinion. The comfortable environment of the Sun Palace would only inflate Ophelia's holy power further. The conclusion is clear—the North, with its bone-chilling cold, is the ideal place for her to keep that power constantly drained."
"But Your Majesty, we could assign the Imperial Guard or high-ranking mages from the Tower of Magic to construct a secure private training ground—"
"You know better than anyone what would happen if word reached the nobles that something is wrong with Ophelia's body. The only place that both protects Ophelia safely and lets her control her holy power is Ascalon."
The Emperor's gaze shifted past my shoulders, to Alice and Vivian, who were kneeling behind me.
Why is he looking behind me... oh.
A murderous aura slowly blooming at my back pressed against my skin so vividly it prickled.
Girls... just hold it in a little longer...
If you cause a scene here, we're all in serious trouble.
Master... refuse. Please, please refuse...
Darling... you must not bring Ophelia into the fief...
Their silent screams carried from behind me like phantom voices.
Taking Ophelia to the northern fief in this situation?
One wrong move and war could break out inside the manor—a war reminiscent of the civil conflict twelve years ago.
"Your Majesty, with a dragon's corpse recently discovered in Ascalon, the region remains deeply unstable. My power alone cannot fully guarantee the safety of Her Highness the Crown Princess—"
I had to refuse, no matter what it took.
Setting Alice and Vivian aside entirely, hosting and protecting the Crown Princess came with far too much risk.
Sorry, Ophelia... but...
"Big brother... no, forgive me. Lord Viscount Ascalon."
Just then, Ophelia, who had been standing quietly on the dais, dabbed away a tear and stepped forward.
One hand pressed softly against her chest, her face looked utterly pale and pitiable.
Is she really that sick...?
"It seems... I have become far too great a burden for you, Lord Viscount."
Ophelia staggered, clutched the railing, and spoke through choked sobs.
"Father... Lord Viscount is so reluctant to accept. I cannot force this burden upon him. I will simply... endure, even if I collapse from this fever, remembering how he saved me when I was a child..."
The way she put it made me sound like an absolute piece of trash...
Just as that thought crossed my mind—
Ophelia lowered her head, and through the veil of her lashes, that mischievous, sultry glint flickered toward me, along with a smile that seemed to say, 'Sorry, big brother. You can't say no, can you?'
That is one hundred percent an act.
The holy power running rampant and making her ill might be true, but the pitiful damsel act to worm her way to the North was unmistakably a performance.
I take back everything about her becoming a dignified young lady.
She's exactly the same whirlwind of mischief she used to be.
"Ahaha. You heard her, Ascalon. Can you truly turn your back when she pleads like that?"
Calix clicked his tongue, tightening the pressure.
"And about that dragon corpse... I shall generously support your fief's finances and provide food for your people as well. I will open the imperial treasury to repair Ascalon's walls and supply you with all the provisions you need on a grand scale. Well? What say you?"
Money, supplies, and the Emperor's direct patronage.
As a lord, it was an offer I absolutely could not refuse.
After all, there were quite a few holes that needed filling with that dragon corpse money.
And seeing the look in Ophelia's eyes, one more refusal and she seemed ready to invoke her authority as Crown Princess, draft a long-term northern residency order with her own hand, and hurl it straight into my face.
I finally let out a deep sigh and bowed my head.
"...If it be for Her Highness the Crown Princess's wellbeing, I shall tend to Her Highness until my final breath."
"Excellent! If it's you, then I can entrust my daughter without a worry!"
Calix clapped his hands with a laugh—then abruptly dropped the smile and looked down at me.
"Ascalon."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"I know exactly how that child looks at you."
A chill crawled up my spine.
"And I know that you pretend not to notice. If you thought this old man opened the treasury just because his daughter threw a tantrum, then that would be an insult to me."
"How could I possibly dare..."
"The story about holy power is half true. The other half is the price of binding you to the royal family."
Calix smiled warmly once more.
"I leave her in your care. Whatever that child does in the North... I intend to look the other way."
That last remark was pitched just low enough for my ears alone.
After the audience with the Emperor ended, Calix excused himself, citing urgent state affairs, and left the reception hall first.
The moment the Emperor departed, the imperial guard knights who had been standing watch all withdrew beyond the doors at a single wave of Ophelia's hand.
Only four people remained in the vast reception hall of the Sun Palace: me, Ophelia, Alice, and Vivian.
The instant the sound of the heavy door closing reached us—
"Big brother—!"
The pitiable Crown Princess from moments ago vanished, and Ophelia hiked up the hem of her dress and leaped down from the dais, crashing straight into my arms.
"Big brother! I missed you so much! You've grown taller, and your shoulders got broader! And your face... you've gotten even more handsome too..."
Ophelia wrapped her arms tightly around my neck and nuzzled her cheek against my chest.
"Y-Your Highness, if you do this here..."
"Father already left! And so what if someone sees? You're my big brother... ehehe."
Ophelia lifted her head with a bashful smile.
Her movements were so wild her tiara nearly tilted askew, but her expression brimmed with pure joy and unshakable affection.
That heartwarming reunion didn't last long, though.
Alice shot between Ophelia and me in a heartbeat and gently pushed Ophelia's shoulders back.
"Your Highness the Crown Princess. I must ask you to observe the laws of the imperial court."
Alice's voice was cold as ice.
Her eyes were already rimmed red, and her rabbit ears stood rigidly upright, glaring daggers at Ophelia.
"However deep your history together may be, the Lord Viscount is a noble of the Empire and I am the Crown Princess. Pressing yourselves against each other so brazenly... it is a stain upon the Lord Viscount's honor."
"Oh my?"
Pushed back, Ophelia's lips curled upward as she looked down at Alice.
"Alice? Oh dear, how hurtful... have you forgotten me? And... you were still playing handmaiden at my big brother's side, I see?"
"I am not a handmaiden. I am his chief aide. And... his official wife."
Ah. She's still clinging to that 'official wife' thing, huh?
Alice gritted her teeth as she stressed the words.
"And the one who protects the Master's side is me. For twelve years, it was I who waited on him, dressed him, and made sure he ate every meal. Unlike a certain someone who ran off to the palace."
"'Ran off'? That's a bit harsh. I was dragged back."
Ophelia smiled slyly and took a step closer.
"If I hadn't been caught, I would've gone on living in that manor forever. I was his real little sister—the one he held in his arms every night and lulled to sleep with lullabies, remember?"
"Wh-what..."
Alice whipped her head away, then turned back to me, on the verge of tears.
The thought, 'Master, why is it always her and never me...?' practically radiated off of her.
"No, that never happened, I swear—"
Just then, a sultry burst of laughter cut me off from the side.
"Ufufu... I never dreamed the Star of the Empire, Her Highness the Crown Princess, would fawn so shamelessly over Darling."
Vivian sidled up beside me, latched firmly onto my arm, and made a show of letting her eight fox tails wind slyly around my thigh and waist.
"The one who truly fills Darling's nights is this humble maiden. Every morning I wake beside Darling, and through our swordplay we share the flesh of our entire bodies, you see ♡"
Ophelia's brow twitched minutely as her gaze darted to the arm Vivian was clinging to, and the fox tails coiled around my waist.
"Vivian... you haven't changed either. Those fox tails are as disheveled as ever, and every time you open your mouth, nothing but filth comes out."
"Oh dear~ Filth, you say? This maiden merely expresses her sincere love for Darling. Unlike Her Highness the Crown Princess, who resorts to the underhanded trick of holding her health hostage to strong-arm Darling into taking her to the North~?"
"A hostage? I really am sick, you know?"
Ophelia placed a hand on her chest and put on a sorrowful face.
"If I'm not cradled in big brother's arms... my holy power feels like it'll run wild at any moment and steal my breath away. Big brother, when we return to the northern fief, you'll let me stay in the room right beside your bedroom, won't you? You have to tuck me in every night, just like when we were little..."
"Not a chance!"
Alice shrieked.
"Absolutely not! The room next to the Master's bedroom is our pre-marital chamber—I clean and maintain it every single day!"
"This maiden objects as well! The place beside Darling rightfully belongs to Vivian!"
The gazes of the three women collided in midair and began to spark.
"Girls... this is the imperial palace. Can we please keep it down—"
"Big brother, you stay out of it!"
"Master, stay out of this!"
"Darling, hide behind this maiden!"
"O-okay... sorry..."
With all three of them shouting at me at once, I had no choice but to shut my mouth.
***
The state guest hall within the Sun Palace.
We settled into the special suite—complete with a lavish drawing room and multiple bedrooms, reserved, they say, only for the most honored guests of the royal family.
...Honestly, renting out a single inn close to the palace would have been better.
The only reason we came here was Ophelia's tearful begging for us to stay in the guest hall while we were in the Imperial Capital...
"Haaah..."
I sank into the plush goose-down sofa.
So much had happened in a single day.
The moment our carriage arrived in the Capital, I was dragged before the Emperor for an audience, Ophelia's escort to the North was decided, and caught in the middle of three women's vicious cold war—I was utterly drained.
"Haaah... I'm dying..."
Just as I surrendered myself to the soft sofa and was slowly drifting off, the door to Alice's bedroom slid quietly open.
"Master... I brought you some tea."
Alice stepped slowly into the room, carrying a steaming cup on a tray.
All of that earlier ferocity was gone; with a slightly deflated expression and reddened eyes, she stood before me.
"Thanks, Alice. Just set it there, I'll drink it in a bit—"
As I started to rise from the sofa, Alice hurriedly set the tray down on the table and pressed firmly on my shoulders, easing me back down.
"Stay seated. Let me... take care of you."
Alice sat down gently beside me, lifted the cup, blew on it softly, and brought it to my lips herself.
A faint scent of lavender brushed past my nose.
"Ah... feeding me again...? I figured refusing... would be pointless anyway...?"
With a listless nod, I finally opened my mouth.
After I took a sip and swallowed, Alice stole glances at my face before speaking up.
"Master... are you truly going to take that Ophelia woman—no, Her Highness the Crown Princess—to the North?"
"It was a direct order from His Majesty. I had no grounds to refuse. Besides, he's offering support on top of it..."
"But... that woman is dangerous!"
Alice set down the cup and seized my hand in both of hers. Along with her burning warmth, I could feel the faint tremble running through her.
"I've known her since we were children. Ophelia isn't normal. She may act innocent and pitiful on the surface... but on the inside, she's a woman with a thousand vipers coiled in her heart! She'll stop at nothing to monopolize you all to herself!"
"Alice, Ophelia went through the same hardships you did when we were young. Don't hate her too much. She really is unwell, you know."
"...The problem is that you're too kind for your own good, Master."
Alice pressed my hand against her cheek and whispered wistfully.
"Master... at tomorrow's ball... your first dance must be with me. You understand, don't you? Even if Ophelia asks you first, you must absolutely refuse her."
"Huh? Well, that's..."
"Promise me. Please? Or else... I really don't know what I might do. I might just sign this contract I've been carrying in my breast pocket with blood..."
Alice slipped the still-unsigned marriage contract out of her pocket and held it out.
Seriously? She still hasn't thrown that thing away and carries it around with her...?
Just then, with a soft rustle from the direction of the bathroom, the door swung open and Vivian sauntered out, moving with feline grace.
"Oh my~ Alice? Already laying the groundwork to monopolize Darling, I see?"
Vivian was draped in nothing but a thin bathrobe—a scandalous ensemble by any measure.
Each step she took left the lines of her pale thighs and collarbones teasingly exposed as she began to approach, slowly and deliberately.
"V-Vivian?! What on earth are you wearing?!"
The moment I tried to look away, Vivian swept around behind the sofa and gently wrapped her arms around my neck from behind.
Mmph—
A plush, abundant softness pressed vividly against the back of my head, and the sweet fragrance of her perfume stung my nose.
"Darling~ The bathtub in the guest hall is ever so spacious. It seemed far too lonely to wash all by myself, so I came to fetch you ♡"
"You horny fox! Get away from the Master this instant!"
Alice sprang to her feet and drew a dagger.
"My, aren't you feisty today, Alice. Darling, do you remember? Twelve years ago, you promised that your first dance at the ball would be with me. Darling's first dance naturally belongs to this Vivian ♡"
"When did I ever promise any such—"
Just as I floundered to protest, the main doors of the guest hall swung open with full confidence.
"Big brother—! I brought midnight snacks!"
Ophelia, changed into lavish silk sleepwear, strode boldly inside, with two maids carrying an enormous tray behind her.
The tray was laden with cakes of every kind and fine wine.
Ophelia took in the scene—Vivian clinging to my neck, Alice brandishing her dagger as if ready to trample her on the spot, and me, half-buried in the sofa—and arched a brow.
"What exactly do the two of you think you're doing?"
Ophelia gestured for the maids to leave, then personally lifted the wine bottle and a glass as she approached.
"Big brother, according to imperial tradition... the first partner of the Crown Princess's twentieth-birthday ball is to be personally designated by the Crown Princess herself. And I've already told Father that I'm designating you."
""WHAT?!""
Alice and Vivian's screams erupted simultaneously.
"Absolutely not! The Master's first dance belongs to me!"
"Abusing the Crown Princess's authority for such petty personal gain! Darling already promised to dance with this maiden!"
"It's not authority abuse—it's the law of the court."
Ophelia smiled slyly and settled gracefully into the empty seat beside me. Then she clutched my arm and buried her face against my shoulder.
"Big brother... you'll take my hand at tomorrow's ball, won't you? Just the thought of dancing with any man other than you... it makes my whole body burn..."
"That woman's acting again—!"
"This maiden feels her power about to spiral out of control as well, Darling!"
The three women's burning gazes and hands all converged upon me alone.
"""Who will you dance with?!"""
On my left, Ophelia, clinging to my arm and feigning frailty.
On my right, Alice, gripping my hand tight with tears brimming in her eyes.
Behind me, Vivian, her arms wrapped around my neck, her hot breath spilling against my ear.
"Girls... couldn't you maybe... save my life here...?"