Where I Belong
"I've been quite a nuisance all this time."
"Not at all. Take care on your way."
After exchanging final farewells with the guard who had always stood watch outside my quarters, I set off toward my new residence.
My steps felt unusually light today. Was it because I was carrying only the barest essentials, or was it the thrill of heading somewhere new that made the difference?
I followed the streets of Aingart, the capital city, so richly appointed and thronged with people. How long I walked, I couldn't say. But as the crowds began to thin, a thoroughly impressive mansion came into view beyond the road.
Whoa…
The grand building with its iron-barred gates reminded me of the Nighthart estate. No—it was far finer than that. It was only natural that the architectural style of Aingart, capital of the empire, would outshine that of Valharat, a modest eastern territory.
As I approached the main gate, a guard spotted me and spoke.
"What business do you have here?"
Before I could answer, the soldier beside him cut him off.
"You idiot—that's Lord Swen. The young man with white hair."
"Ah…!"
The moment the words left his mouth, both men turned to me and saluted.
"Forgive us, Lord Swen. Please, go right in."
"Thank you for your hard work."
I offered a light greeting and stepped inside.
Passing through a well-tended garden and following the path deeper into the grounds, I was greeted by a young woman in impeccably neat attire. Her hair was pinned up with quiet elegance, her dress modest, and a pure white apron skirt completed the picture. Anyone would have known her for a maid at a glance. The moment she saw me, she bowed at the waist.
"Welcome. Might you be Lord Swen?"
"Yes."
"We are honored to receive you. The mistress is waiting inside. Please, come in."
With that, she opened the doors for me.
It was the most lavish reception I had ever been given in my life. The treatment bordered on full ceremonial protocol, and I felt a little awkward—but I hadn't come somewhere I didn't belong, so there was no reason to shrink away.
"Welcome."
"Lord Swen, we are so glad to have you."
"We've heard so much about you from the mistress. We shall serve you with all our hearts."
The moment I entered the building, maids began greeting me from every direction. It was awkward at first, but before long I grew used to it and made my way down the vast corridors of the mansion.
Mistress, huh…
Had she risen high enough now to be addressed that way? The thought lifted my own spirits as I finally stepped into the drawing room where the "mistress" was waiting.
And then—
"…Swen!"
"Lord Swen, over here!"
The red-haired knightess—deputy commander of Serpina's occupation forces and mistress of this mansion—Irene, and Reika, seated beside her, both welcomed me.
"Hello."
"It seems the formalities finished early. You arrived sooner than I expected, so I wasn't able to prepare much…"
"Not at all. I've already been showered with an overwhelming welcome from so many people. It almost felt like one of those endless requests for handshakes."
"Endless requests for handshakes…?"
Reika tilted her head at my words, and I found myself smiling as I answered.
"It's a thing."
"Is it…? Well, if you say so, Lord Swen…"
"Have you eaten?"
"Not yet."
"Then we should fill your stomach first. You've come a long way, after all."
"It wasn't that far, really."
"It puts my mind at ease. Swen—if I don't look after you in every little way, I feel restless…"
"All right. Thank you."
Only after hearing my answer did Irene allow a faint smile to touch her lips. Unlike the fragile, precarious smile Serpina had worn not long ago, Irene's carried a quiet firmness—as if she could weather anything that came her way.
Irene, who had once been nothing more than a hunting hound cruelly cast aside by her master, was now being called "mistress" by her maids. If that wasn't a complete reversal of fortune, I didn't know what was—the kind of turnaround you'd only expect to find in a novel.
As of today, I would begin living together with them in the grand mansion Serpina had bestowed upon Irene. "Living together" wasn't quite the right phrase, though. It was simply a return to the way things had always been. Ever since I first met Irene, the days we spent side by side had far outnumbered the days we spent apart. In the Brans Army, in the Aesius Army—she had shared both day and night with me. Only after coming here had I truly realized that such closeness was never something to take for granted.
"Mistress. The meal is ready."
"Mm. I'll be right there."
I followed Irene to the dining hall.
Sitting down to a table laden with dish after dish was something I hadn't done in quite some time. The cooking itself wasn't especially refined—a limitation of the era, perhaps—but good ingredients make for good food in any age. And at the table of a general holding a key post in Serpina's army, the most powerful force on the continent, only the finest things would ever be served.
It's been ages since I had expensive meat. This is nice.
"It's delicious… sniff."
Watching Reika eat with tears in her eyes, I gathered the food here was a step above even what the Nighthart household had provided.
When the meal was finished, a maid brought tea with slightly clumsy movements. Irene raised a hand to stop her.
"Forgive me, but would you leave this to me?"
"Pardon? But—"
"It's all right."
"Th-then… excuse me."
The maid, who looked quite young, hesitated in confusion before bowing deeply and withdrawing. Irene took the tea set the maid had brought and steeped the leaves with practiced ease. Before a tea service, she was more of a maid than any actual maid could hope to be.
"Here. Take this."
I took a sip of the tea she offered, and a warmth spread deep into my chest. It wasn't merely because the tea was hot, or because the fragrance was rich. No—more precisely, it felt as though I had finally come home.
My time with Jennis hadn't been bad, but returning to those quarters had always felt more like arriving at a temporary place to sleep than coming home.
A home needs Irene's tea. That's just how it is.
Taking a sip after so long, the familiar taste lightly coated my throat.
"Oh? This is that one, isn't it? The black tea with the faint smoky aroma."
"You remember, Swen."
"Of course I do. We drank so much of this at Anel Castle."
"Hehehe."
"Wow… the fragrance seems even deeper than the last time you made it."
Reika seemed to like the leaves as well. Her cheeks faintly flushed, she kept blowing on the hot tea and sipping with soft little sounds of appreciation.
"Swen."
"Yes?"
Irene's face was flushed as she spoke in a deeply earnest tone.
"Making tea for you like this… it finally feels like I've come home."
"I feel the same way."
"Truly?"
"Yes."
Hearing that, she let a smile like starlight settle across her face.
"…I'm glad."
In a calm voice, as though carefully measuring her own feelings, Irene slowly parted her lips.
"Being able to drink tea with you like this, Swen… it makes me so happy."
She always spoke with such seriousness, her speech steeped in formality and etiquette—but in front of me, she would sometimes talk like this, almost like a young girl. Honestly, that side of her was so endearing I could barely put it into words.
"Do you… remember? What you said to me back then."
"What do you mean?"
"That time… at the fortress north of Kelstein Castle. What you said to me there."
"Ah."
Looking back on it now was a little embarrassing—but I ought to say it anyway.
"I told you that if there was still an unextinguished ember left, I wanted you to use it to brew tea for me."
"Mm."
The moment she heard those words, Irene broke into a bright, open smile. Back then, she had been a candle in a storm—so fragile that the slightest rough wind might have snuffed her out. After enduring Lin's cruel persecution, after being denied recognition for her achievements and demoted, after finally being driven into a deathtrap… of course she had been. That woman who had seemed ready to shatter at any moment could now wear the smile of a beloved woman on her face. How wonderful a thing that was.
Why, then?
In a moment I could fairly call one of pure happiness, the fragile image of a golden-haired sovereign flickered through my mind.
—Will Serpina ever be able to smile like that someday, too?
…No.
Now was not the time for that thought.
"I promised you. That I would brew tea for you someday… so being able to do it again like this… makes me glad."
It seemed that being apart from me had left Irene quite lonely as well. And how did I feel upon realizing that? Happy. Because I hadn't been the only one feeling alone. The fact that she and I had shared the same feelings resonated with me more deeply than anything else.
"I'm glad, too."
"…Mm."
"…"
When I glanced to the side, Reika's face was burning red as she fidgeted, not knowing what to do with herself—but what could I do? Irene was sincere, and so was I.
"Thank you for waiting. I'm sorry I'm late, Irene."
"…It's all right, Swen. Welcome home. I've been waiting."
Among all the memories of drinking tea together—at Anel Castle, at the northern fortress, at Valharat Castle—this moment at Aingart Castle was being added as one we would never forget.
And then—
Wow…
There was a girl who couldn't help but marvel as she watched the two of them.
Reika stole glances at the pair, not knowing what to do with herself.
Those two really… seem to love each other so much…?
Would she be able to fit in between them? She wanted to, as much as possible. Irene was a truly wonderful person—strong and gentle all at once, someone Reika looked up to as a fellow woman and wanted to learn from in so many ways.
Sharing a husband meant becoming family. If Reika could choose the woman she would spend her life with alongside the same man, she sincerely believed she would choose someone like Irene.
—But.
Reika's heart had begun to beat in a slightly different direction. It hadn't always been like this. Was it because Lord Swen, her teacher whom she hadn't seen in so long, seemed even more dashing than before? Or was it the exhilaration of partnering with him a few days ago, using magic to solve that case together?
Reika found herself feeling a little lonely. The thought slipped in unbidden: If only I could share a look like that with Lord Swen, too…
…The marriage talk… it's still on the table, right?
Lord Swen himself had told her to think it over a little more, hadn't he? Which meant—it wasn't a rejection. It wasn't him saying no. But… what if he had changed his mind in the meantime? After all, when he looked at her, his expression was never quite as tender as the one he wore now.
Reika liked Irene. And Swen… she had started to care about him, too. Whether she was simply caught up in the atmosphere or merely lonely, she couldn't say for certain—but she envied Irene. The shameless thought crossed her mind: What if I were the one sitting in Irene's place?
The emotion Reika felt toward Irene, even just a little, was something she had never experienced before—and yet it was one of the most natural feelings any human could hold.
—Jealousy.
Reika was feeling jealousy toward the Irene she so admired.
…I need to… convey my feelings a little more, too…!
And so, between the two people who had crossed the line of death together, exchanging gazes heavy with all the years they had shared—one young woman began, little by little, to recognize her own heart.