A Brother's Request
Touching a maid or servant girl was something I'd considered for a long time. In this world, nobles were absolute beings—heavenly dragons. In practice, it wasn't unheard of for those in high positions to lay hands on commoners. A wet nurse's daughter, a maid, a servant girl... it was apparently a common enough occurrence. There was even formal education on the matter. The reason I'd held back until now was partly to prepare for any unforeseen circumstances.
“Hmm. That expression tells me you're interested.”
“Ahem.”
But now that the moment had come to speak, I found myself at a loss for words. The only women around me were the maids. A few faces and bodies of maids I was fond of flashed through my mind.
“Is there no girl among the children who catches your eye? Commoners are perfectly acceptable, you know...”
“There are a few female attendants I consider acceptable.”
The one who straightened my bedsheets, the girl who poured my favorite tea. In truth, I'd done a little groundwork to build favor with them beforehand. Maids received a certain level of respect, but nobles here treated servant girls like literal objects. Simply remembering their names and offering a smile was enough to make one wildly popular. Besides, my face was as handsome as my father's and brother's.
“Grace's maids would be fine as well, but touching them without a word would cause problems for her too, so I'd appreciate it if you told her in advance. I'll speak with Grace myself.”
“Ah, yes. That's fine.”
Grace was my brother's wife. Voluminous golden hair and blue eyes. She was the very image of a noblewoman—always wearing a gentle smile, enjoying tea in the garden. The moment I first saw my sister-in-law, the words “So this is a fantasy world” had slipped out naturally. Irina from Boreng had been pretty too. She'd been doll-like and adorable, but I'd been young then. She must have grown considerably by now.
“Since even Sven knows nothing of it, it's true you haven't touched any of the maids yet. If your wet nurse had a daughter it might be different, but unfortunately Leoric's wet nurse only had sons, correct?”
“Yes, that's right.”
I had a twin brother. As my milk sibling, he served as something close to a direct vassal and personal attendant. He was still in training, however. Given my position as the second son, openly recruiting vassals would draw my brother's notice, so I had almost no one I could truly call my own vassals. Those fellows were my closest aides. Lately they'd been busy with training, or so they'd said.
“Producing children is a noble's duty. It's fortunate that you seem interested, at least...”
“I understand.”
As I'd mentioned earlier, noble blood itself was one of our weapons. The more individuals with magic power a territory had, the greater its strength. That didn't mean only nobles possessed magic power, of course. There were cases where nobles would grant their grace to lower nobles—particularly those treated as quasi-nobles, like knights or even commoners—allowing them to bear children. Nobles generally didn't possess strong sexual desires, so such instances were rare.
Children born between nobles almost always inherited magic power, but the odds decreased when paired with commoners. As a form of preliminary education, nobles would sometimes have their sons gain experience—and children—with wet nurses' offspring or maids. Knights frequently received grace as proof of loyalty. Since women with magic power could become knights, receiving grace from one's master was considered the highest honor for a female knight. Any child born from such a union would likely possess even stronger magic, and if that level continued to rise across generations, the family could eventually become a noble house.
Male knights similarly strengthened their bloodlines by having their wives or concubines receive grace and then marrying those children to their own. Occasionally, strong magic power would emerge through atavism from one parent's lineage, but even then it usually only reached knight-level or, at best, a minor noble rank. Even in the extremely rare cases where truly powerful magic appeared, there was little reason for concern. This world seemed aware of the dangers of incest. The issue was that magic power was nearly omnipotent, so people didn't pay it much mind. In any case, new bloodlines were not a bad thing for existing noble families.
Put into words, it sounded as if everyone would be happy if nobles simply did their duty. The greatest drawback, however, was that nobles possessed unusually low sexual desire. It wasn't something education could suppress, yet for some reason it remained weak. The Franz family was even more restrained than most nobles in that regard. I'd never heard the details from Father, but his own experience with women didn't seem particularly extensive. In my brother's case, it was the wet nurse's daughter, his current wife Lady Grace, and the one maid who was Lady Grace's milk sister.
“Leo. On your first time, mistakes can happen during the wedding night. That can lead to stress over failing to fulfill your duty... In severe cases, it may even cause impotence.”
“Yes, yes.”
I know that! Still, shouting it with confidence felt wrong, so I simply listened quietly. As I did, I noticed something slightly odd. When my brother glanced at Father, Father gave a small nod.
“With that said, Leo. I hope you'll hear this without taking on too much burden.”
“Yes.”
Was this the real purpose of the meeting? I looked at my brother with slight tension.
“If you're amenable... how would you feel about Grace?”
“...Pardon?”
What did you just say, Brother?
Is my brother in his right mind? Without thinking, I stared at Brother Aidan's face before turning to Father. Father regarded me with his usual expressionless gaze. So they'd already discussed this beforehand.
“Brother. Why would you say something like that?”
Was this the sort of thing one could discuss so casually? Just when I thought I'd grown accustomed to this world, something new would emerge. Perhaps because of my original common sense, fully understanding the common sense of a fantasy world proved incredibly difficult.
“Hm. It's not that strange a suggestion, is it?”
I was taken aback by Brother Aidan's words. Wasn't lending one's wife between nobles rather uncommon? The common sense of a fantasy world... I clearly needed to study more.
“She's trustworthy, and she has some experience. Grace wouldn't be a bad choice for your first partner.”
“But Lady Grace is your...”
“Ah, I see. That was what gave you pause. But I'm perfectly fine with it.”
I seemed to recall hearing that even on Earth there were cases of taking a deceased brother's wife as a concubine. But the circumstances felt entirely different from the current situation.
“Even among nobles of the same bloodline, such cases aren't unheard of.”
“R-really?”
What? So it wasn't exactly normal after all. I'd been worried that once I had a wife, my brother might casually suggest taking a turn with her.
“However, when certain problems arise between brothers, the situation changes somewhat.”
“Problems?”
According to Brother Aidan, one scenario was if one of the brothers died. In such cases, it was to take care of the surviving wife or children. The second reason was—
“As you know... sadly, Grace and I still have no children.”
“Brother...”
At those words, I unconsciously glanced at Father. He gave another small nod.
“We've been trying for several years now, but neither Grace, nor Milene, nor Saren have conceived.”
“W-well, but having children in the first place is...”
“Are you trying to comfort me? Thank you. I imagine that's one of the reasons you've refrained from touching the maids.”
I fell silent. It wasn't that I didn't know whether it was acceptable to casually touch maids, but the biggest reason had indeed been that my brother still had no children. Brother Aidan was competent. Father had already chosen him as successor, and the vassals had raised no objections. The sole remaining issue was the matter of an heir. Rumors about the lack of children were bound to start circulating soon. And indeed, the fact that none of the three women had conceived was problematic. Of course, the ideal outcome would be for Lady Grace to bear a child, but if the two maids became pregnant, the immediate concern over the bloodline would be resolved.
“I don't wish to blame Grace. But if this continues without any children, both she and I will find ourselves in difficult positions.”
“Hmm.”
In the worst case, Lady Grace might be sent back to her family. The treatment she would receive then would hardly be kind.
“I don't want to give up yet, and I still love Grace. That's why I'm asking this of you.”
“Of me?”
“Yes. If it's you, then no matter what, the child will carry the Franz count family's bloodline. There would be no issue.”
So as long as the bloodline was preserved, everything was acceptable? This was one of the frightening aspects of nobility in this world. The tendency to prioritize family over the individual ran particularly deep. Perhaps this was why their sexual desires manifested in such ways.
“Besides, I have no intention of giving up either. While you handle Grace, I intend to focus on Milene and Saren.”
“Ah, of course. Nothing's been definitively decided yet.”
Milene was the wet nurse's daughter, and Saren was the daughter of Lady Grace's wet nurse. She was one of the few attendants who had accompanied Lady Grace when she married into the family. Since she was someone Lady Grace trusted deeply, it was said they had shared the wedding night together. But was it true? Pregnancy sex with that Lady Grace? The thought of impregnating my brother's wife... it was strangely appealing.
“I'm asking this for Grace's sake as well.”
“Sigh.”
For a married woman to have no news of pregnancy was a serious matter in this world too, and it would wound her deeply. My brother believed the fault lay with him, but it was common to blame the woman instead.
“Then Lady Grace...”
“Of course, Grace has already given her consent. This isn't a bad arrangement for her either. So, Leo. Won't you help us?”
I looked at my brother. The handsome young man wore his usual gentle smile. He truly seemed at peace with this.
...If he was going this far.
“If you're asking this earnestly, then I have no objections. Rather, having my first experience with someone like Lady Grace would be an honor, Brother.”
“Good. Thank you for saying so.”
Brother gave my shoulder a solid pat. It was the first time he'd patted my shoulder instead of my head. Was this his way of acknowledging me as a man? The thought moved me so deeply that tears nearly sprang to my eyes.
But I ended up having sex with my sister-in-law.