Even After All This, Will You Still Kneel Before Me?
From that day onward—
I began taking on the role of advising Lin in earnest. Without any special orders issued to me, I simply offered counsel whenever she summoned me to the royal castle. State Tactician Parfalle was still busy settling affairs in the east, so calling on me was the rational choice from Lin's perspective as well.
For my part, I advised her exactly as my Intelligence 100 brain dictated. For the time being, I needed her to place at least a measure of trust in me.
"Swen, I've suddenly got three idle hands. What should I put them to?"
"There are still a few hidden talents buried around Anel Castle and this territory. If you search thoroughly, I expect you'll turn up something worthwhile."
The search yielded a B-rank general who had been living in obscurity, along with a treasure worth roughly two thousand gold.
"I'm thinking of cleaning up the western region soon. I plan to invade the Garamill Army. What do you think?"
"It is not yet the time. It would be wiser to gather more soldiers and prioritize fortifying the border defenses."
"…Is that so?"
A few days later, word arrived that the Brans Army had marched some thirty thousand troops against the Garamill Army west of Jeiland Castle—and been defeated. A sudden plague had broken out in the allied camp, crushing morale, and they had failed to breach the walls of a Garamill force fighting for its life.
Apparently Lin had ignored my advice and forced the attack anyway.
That was fine. In fact, it was better this way. The more she tested me, the more she would come to trust my counsel on an unconscious level.
"…Swen. Looks like you were right again."
"I merely thought we needed to establish a defensive line. There is no need to overrate me. The defeat was purely a matter of bad luck."
"So we should just sit quiet for now, right? Morale is rock-bottom, and we can hardly pull more troops off the border."
"No. Reorganize immediately and attack again. This time you will take the castle without incident."
"…"
And once more, a few days later—
News arrived that the Brans Army had breached the walls and seized Hoero Castle, which the Garamill Army had been holding. With that, the Garamill Army vanished into history.
"…We won. Just like you said."
I watched the faintly complicated expression on her face even after hearing the victory report, then dressed the situation up in plausible language.
"The Garamill soldiers never truly regarded their previous victory as a victory. They only won because disease had broken out among the Brans forces. So even after that success, their morale never rose. They had merely been lucky enough to repel us once."
"When they thought things would finally quiet down, word came that the Brans Army was marching on them again. Of course their spirits broke. After holding out once or twice, anyone can see there is no future left for them."
I bowed my head and finished.
"I simply struck at the moment the enemy's morale had collapsed. Not everything unfolded exactly as I predicted. All of it was thanks to your decisive judgment, my lord."
Of course, the talk about morale rising or falling was just a string of impressive-sounding words I had strung together. All I had actually known was that the first invasion would end in defeat and the second in victory. Even so, the results matched. That alone was certain to leave a mark on her heart.
In the empty hours, I deliberately went to a cave some distance from the territory and meditated. I posted two soldiers at the entrance so no one could enter. The image I wanted was simple: "There were times when Swen meditated alone in that place, free from all interruption."
After several days of attending her in this fashion, she finally put a question to me.
"Swen. You've worked hard these past few days. Parfalle should be back tomorrow, so from the day after you won't need to come every day like this. More importantly—is there anything you want? You've gone to so much trouble for me; I'd like to give you something."
"Did I not already tell you? I wish to make a name for myself. Please continue to make thorough use of me."
"Is that all?"
"It is."
She was silent for a moment, then put on that bright, refreshing smile of hers again.
"Still, I want to repay you. Outside the castle gate I've prepared something I think you'll like. Consider it a token of my sincerity and accept it. Take it home and look at it alone. Then come tell me what you thought. I'm curious about your feelings. Understood?"
A token of sincerity?
The part about taking it home and looking at it alone already felt vaguely unsettling, but right now I needed to show Lin the face of a loyal retainer.
"I am grateful for your grace. I shall never forget it."
"Good. Heh heh."
I left the royal castle.
What awaited me was something I had never expected in the slightest.
"Um… are you perhaps Lord Swen…?"
It was a woman. Strikingly beautiful, dressed in revealing clothes, blonde, with a figure full of curves. She did not look like a general of the Brans Army. More like an ordinary civilian. No—judging by the makeup and the clothing…
She's a woman who works in a brothel.
And here I could read Lin's intention without difficulty.
She was trying to… train me.
Bestowing a brothel woman on a subordinate under the pretext of a reward. Telling me I would like it, ordering me to take her home, and then demanding a report on my impressions afterward—it was absurd. This was no reward. It was an insult.
Put lightly, the meaning was something like "Let's see how far you'll endure" or "Even after I do this, will you still kneel before me?"
In short, she was testing how far I would submit to her. Before she fully trusted my ability, she felt she had to put me through this process. "I'll give you what you want, so bow a little lower before me"—that sort of thing.
Heh. Honestly.
If I had truly been a loyal retainer, I would have sighed and seethed with resentment. But I was a thoroughly disloyal subordinate who fully intended to stab her in the back.
Yes. This was the moment to put on a performance that said, "Even if you humiliate me like this, I will do exactly as you order for the sake of rising in the world."
I smiled gently at her.
"I… was just about to return home. Would you care to accompany me?"
"Pardon? Ah…"
She looked at my face, flushed, then nodded.
"Y-yes… I understand…"
Haa.
A woman who had become the ruler of a nation, dragging an ordinary brothel girl into a power struggle with her subordinate. Her tenacity was enough to make my head ache, yet right now I was almost grateful for it. That same tenacity would make her drop her guard at the final moment.
And so I brought the young woman home.
Naturally, the eyes of Airen—who had been training in the house—went completely white.
"S-Swen…? Who is this…??"
"Please think of her as a guest who has dropped by for a short while. Ah, could you prepare some tea?"
"Well, that is no trouble, but…"
"I'll explain everything."
Airen kept glancing back and forth between the woman and me in confusion, but she soon nodded and recovered her composure.
"Mm. Very well. It is a humble place, but please make yourself comfortable."
"Pardon? Ah, yes…!"
I sat down at the table with the young woman. She leaned in close and whispered,
"Um… Lord Swen."
"Yes?"
"I… was told to let you experience a man's pleasure, but… do I have to do it in front of that lady? I mean, if you want me to I can, but even for me this is a first…"
"…"
I let out a short sigh.
"Miss. What is your name?"
"Pardon? I'm… Rina."
"Miss Rina. I don't know what our lord told you, but what I would like you to do is not that."
"Then…?"
"Have a cup of tea, spend a little time, and then leave the house."
"What…? Lord Swen, do you have that kind of wall…? Well, I've heard men's walls come in all sorts of varieties."
"It's not a wall, it's… haa…"
"Hm? Wall? Swen, did you come back from repairing castle walls today?"
Airen, having finished brewing the tea, set a tray with three cups and a teapot on the table. I drank while giving her a rough explanation of the situation.
"Th-that… so it wasn't about walls at all, but that sort of thing… mm."
Airen's face turned as red as a beet. Her hands trembled as she sipped her tea, and then she began coughing in a most uncharacteristic fashion.
"Are you all right, Lady Airen?"
"I-I'm fine… mm…"
"Um… so we're not doing anything today…?"
I nodded at Rina's question.
"Correct. However… after you leave, I would be extremely grateful if you would act outside as though you and I had 'done something.'"
The reason I had brought her into the house instead of sending her away at once was simple. If this was Lin Brans, she would have put a tail on me. My instincts were not particularly sharp; I felt no gaze or sense of being followed. Even so, I judged it better to act this way. If she learned I had simply sent the woman back, she might overestimate me unnecessarily.
Looking thoroughly submissive to her—that was an indispensable step for a perfect exit.
"That's easy enough, but… it's a little disappointing."
"…Pardon?"
At the unexpected words I turned. Rina was looking at me with a faint blush.
"To be honest, when I first got this request… I thought I'd have to deal with some old man again. But then it turned out to be someone as handsome and dashing as you, Lord Swen… so I was looking forward to it a little…♡"
"Kehk! Koff! Cough!"
Airen choked on her tea again and coughed violently. I patted her back a few times, then asked Rina,
"…Do you receive this sort of request from her often?"
"Yes. Actually, I have a bit of a connection with Lady Lin Brans."
"A connection?"
"Lord Kalintz is a regular of mine."
…Ah.
That Kalintz fellow really had been living it up in spectacular fashion.
"Did you know? Lord Kalintz has a solid body, but… as a man he's not that impressive. Three minutes and he's done, you know?"
"…"
Information I truly had not wanted. Airen's continued coughing was a bonus.
"Anyway, I'd appreciate it if you could do as I asked. Please act as though you and I did something. And take this—it's not much, but keep it."
I handed her half the gold I had saved from my salary in the Brans Army. It was money I had no particular use for, but her face lit up as she accepted it.
"Oh my, you didn't have to give me something like this!"
She tucked the money away and nodded.
"Okay! Got it. Besides, I have a hard time refusing a handsome man's request. Don't worry!"
"Flattery won't get you anything extra, but thank you."
I spent a little while exchanging trivial conversation with the woman named Rina. After a suitable amount of time she left the room, and only then did Airen turn to me with a serious expression.
"That Rina woman… was she someone our lord attached to you?"
"Yes. She seems to be testing me. Something like, 'Will you still follow me even after this?'"
"I see…"
Airen hung her head and gave a bitter smile. She, more than anyone, would understand this situation. After all, she herself had been the one subjected to this kind of underhanded torment by Lin until now.
"…I worry that because of me, you too have come to be hated."
"What does it matter? Being hated by Lady Lin is of no concern to me. Now, if it were you who hated me, that would be another story."
"…H-huh…?"
"If Lady Airen hated me, I think I would be terribly sad."
At my words Airen's face flushed crimson again and she lowered her head. In a voice so small it seemed to squeeze out of her, she answered,
"I would never… hate you, Swen…"
"Neither would I."
"…Mm."
She fidgeted for a long while, staring at the empty cup, then carefully looked up at me.
"There is… something I wish to ask you."
"What is it?"
"That… w-wall… how is it…?"
"…Pardon?"
I answered, half-convinced I had misheard.
"I didn't do any wall-repair work today."
"Th-that is not what I mean. I mean… the thing that woman Rina mentioned just now… that sort of… thing…"
"You're curious about that?"
"No, not curious exactly…! I-it's just… the topic came up and… you never answered. Men all have various walls, they say… no, that is not what I mean…!"
By this point her face had gone past red and looked ready to explode. She was clearly mortified, so why had she asked in the first place? Suddenly she seemed terribly endearing. At the same time, for some reason, I felt the urge to tease her.
"A wall, is it… I'm not sure if this counts as a wall, but I like women with large chests."
"Ah? Ah… yes…! Ch-chests, is it. Yes. I-I've heard that men… l-like chests…!"
Was it my imagination, or did she look a little proud?
"And I tend to prefer women with red hair."
"R-red hair?! Hmm, hmm, y-yes…!"
"Someone skilled with a sword is even better. I have a lady-knight fetish, you see."
"A lady-knight fetish…?"
Hearing that far, Airen seemed to sense something odd and looked at me with a puzzled expression. I smiled at her.
"Someone who trains every day would be ideal. Ah! And when I see a woman who brews tea well, I get excited."
"…Swen…!!"
Airen puffed out her cheeks in a most uncharacteristic way and protested.
"I-I asked seriously… why are you teasing me…!"
"I answered seriously, though?"
"…Ah?"
And once again her face turned scarlet. Her mouth hung open as if broken, and no words came out.
"I like red-haired lady knights with large chests. I'm completely serious. I answered honestly, so it hurts that you think I'm joking."
"W-was that really…?"
She looked genuinely apologetic and flustered.
"I-I'm sorry. I thought it was a joke because… it all just sounded like me… ah… th-that means… um… th-that… is…!"
I laughed out loud at the sight of her. After laughing for a good while, the petty trick Lin had pulled on me earlier no longer even registered in my memory.
"I'm sorry. That part was a joke."
"…S-so it was a joke after all—"
"But regardless of any of that, I like you, Lady Airen."
"What…!!"
Her face flushed bright red once more. Airen was far more expressive than I had imagined. The image of her always wearing a heavy expression, rejected and frustrated by the people of the Brans Army, now felt like a lie. I found myself wanting to see many more of those varied expressions of hers.
"Please stay by my side from now on as well. All right?"
"…"
She said nothing for a long time, simply gazing into my eyes. My reflection was held perfectly in her violet irises.
"…Yes… Swen. I understand."
The bond between Airen and me was tighter than anything else. There was not the slightest room for Lin Brans to insert herself between us.
The next day.
When I visited the royal castle, Lin looked at me with a smile.
"Well, Swen? How was the 'item' I bestowed on you?"
I answered with a completely unshaken smile.
"Thank you for your consideration. Thanks to my lord, I was able to take time to recharge. I shall never forget this grace."
"What?"
She listened, then burst into delighted laughter.
"Grace worth never forgetting? Swen, you're a man after all! Well, I understand! My older brother was the same way!"
I offered an appropriately pleasant smile. My submissive words seemed to please her greatly. In her eyes, how pathetic must I look? Someone with this level of ability, yet appearing to think of nothing but currying favor with her.
Yes.
I felt that the time had finally come to set the board.
"My lord. Since today is the last day, there is something I wish to say."
"What is it?"
"Having received a reward from my lord, I too would like to dare offer a gift in return."
"A gift? For reference, my taste runs toward delicate, pretty boys like you, Swen, so keep that in mind."
"It is a far better gift than something so trivial."
I grinned and spoke a word she almost certainly had not expected.
"Valharat Castle."
"…!"
My eyes gleamed as I put on an expression that seemed to see through everything, and I declared with absolute confidence,
"It seems the time has come to clean out the Aesius Army—that thorn in my lord's side."