Middle Manager
Had they somehow passed the lady of the house's little test?
Not long after Eldrina left, the elderly butler from earlier stepped in and bowed his head.
"I am Philip, the head butler. Her Ladyship has instructed me to see to both of your comforts in every way I can. Please call on me however you like."
So she isn't planning to treat us differently just because we're someone else's kids?
Unlike at the mansion entrance, where he had merely waited, he now bent at the waist with proper deference. Watching the change in the head butler's manner, Shiron idly rubbed his lip.
"Head butler. Is there a detached annex here? I'd like to live in that."
Shiron addressed him casually, without honorifics. He had no interest in a contest of wills, but he also saw no reason to use polite speech with a man who was already bowing.
"Of course there is. I shall have it prepared so that you may move in at once."
The sharp-eyed butler finished speaking and withdrew.
Shiron had tossed the request out half as a probe—to see just how far they would go to accommodate him—and in a single breath he had been granted an entire building for himself.
They actually said yes?
Somewhere inside him, Eldrina's favorability ticked up by about three points. Well, of course. She could hardly slight the nephew of the husband she loved.
"A detached annex?"
Lucia, who had been quietly watching the exchange, came over with her hands clasped behind her back. She had never asked favors or given orders to anyone in her life and had no confidence she could manage it smoothly, so she had decided to leave everything to Shiron—but she at least wanted to know the reason.
Shiron rolled his stiff shoulders, still tight from the earlier tension, and answered.
"I'd rather avoid running into that auntie as much as possible."
"...I expected as much, but so this is how it ends up."
Lucia let out a long sigh. The image of Siriel—whom she had been looking forward to living with—flickered through her mind.
Seeing the open disappointment on her face, Shiron only shrugged.
"Honestly, we don't have to live in the annex."
"Hm?"
"Uncle knows what Auntie's personality is like, and he still suggested we come with him. Right?"
"But..."
"So maybe it's safe to assume that whatever else she is, she isn't the type to harm children. At worst she'd be helpful."
"Ugh... mmm... I still don't like it."
Lucia pictured the two faces of Eldrina. She crossed her arms and shut her eyes, a crease forming between her brows.
The gentle mother who was kind to her husband and daughter. And the foxlike woman she and Shiron had just met.
Eldrina had said Hugo was no fool.
Not that Lucia had ever thought of Hugo as a fool—but first impressions mattered, and she had never expected someone to shatter hers so thoroughly. Even in her past life, she had never run into that particular type of person.
Watching Lucia fret, Shiron went on.
"Whether she's decisive or just big-hearted, I can't tell—but this isn't a bad situation. The fact that we don't have to pretend to be good little kids is actually good news, if you ask me."
"...It's just that it leaves a bad taste. I hate walking on eggshells too."
Lucia slowly nodded.
Late that night.
Berta walked a street lit by flickering ether lamps.
Of all times—a summons in the middle of my leave. And at night, no less.
An abrupt call.
Having finished roughly a month of deployment, Berta had been granted four days of paid leave for her hard work.
She still remembered the look on her direct superior's face when she came back not only in one piece but with her report submitted on time. He had clicked his tongue as if he had seen something he wasn't supposed to. It had been quite a sight.
But this time was different.
Her superior had said almost nothing. He flipped through a few pages, stuffed the whole thing into an envelope, and shoved it into a drawer. A few perfunctory words of thanks, and that was all.
"Aigoo. What a life. Why does it always turn vicious on me?"
Who was the bastard who said misfortune arrives without warning? She should have read the warning in her superior's uncomfortable expression.
After a quick handover she had gone home—only to find an unmistakably unusual envelope sitting on her table.
A blue envelope bearing the imperial crest. It had definitely not been there when she left that morning. The knowledge that someone had entered her home without her noticing made every hair on her body stand on end.
I've been popular lately...
She tried to steady herself with a dry little joke, but her heart refused to calm.
The thought of heading to the imperial palace in a uniform she hadn't even had time to iron made her want to drive her face into the pavement and die. She only refrained because she knew it would accomplish nothing except cracking a perfectly innocent sidewalk tile.
Her relentless pace finally slowed.
The white ether lamps turned red.
It was the light reflecting off the towering walls of crimson brick. The magnificent bulk of the imperial palace filled her vision. The absolute weight of imperial authority was on full, unmistakable display—even a fool could see it.
Berta held out the letter to the guards at the main gate.
*
In the heart of Rihnn, capital of the empire, stood a red fortress better described as solid than beautiful.
The Imperial Palace.
But the place to which Berta was led was not the main keep.
The detached palace, set some distance from the main residence of the Emperor and Empress, was where the imperial princes lived until the Crown Prince's investiture ceremony.
That did not mean the word "lavish" failed to apply.
The pillars holding up the ceiling were carved in the rococo style and gleamed with gold, and the carpet on which she now paid her respects was so thick and soft it swallowed her knees halfway.
"You may be at ease."
The person Berta had been brought to see was a boy who looked about the same age as the young master of the great house of Prien.
The Third Prince. Victor Ado de Rihnn.
Just turned eleven this year, the prince was a boy with slightly curly gold hair and friendly eyes.
"..."
Even after being told she could relax, Berta did not rise. Her mind felt filled with fog. Anxiety churned.
Court etiquette she had drilled into herself rose unbidden.
She was not the sort to refuse a member of the imperial family's invitation three times.
The Third Prince.
Victor had not yet properly mastered court protocol.
If he wanted to see the face of a kneeling subject, he had to order that subject to raise their head and stand.
The attendant at his side leaned in and whispered something into the boy's ear.
"...Raise your head and stand."
Realizing it belatedly, Victor flushed to the tips of his ears and repeated the command. Only then could Berta properly look upon the prince's face.
"Dame Berta... that is how one addresses you, yes?"
"Yes, Your Highness."
Berta bowed her head as she answered.
Victor flapped a sheaf of papers in one hand, trying to fan the heat from his face.
"Dame Berta. I have read the report you submitted today with care."
What he held was a copy of the very report she had turned in that morning.
"...I am humbled, Your Highness."
From submission to the making of a copy to its arrival in the Third Prince's hands had taken less than a day.
She had privately wondered where the mission had originated from above... but she had never wanted to learn the answer this way.
You absolute idiot.
A cold sweat ran down Berta's rigid back. Imagining the humiliation she would have faced if she had returned empty-handed made her head swim.
But a newly acquainted subordinate's reaction meant nothing to a young prince. Victor put on what he clearly hoped was a dignified expression and gave a little nod.
"I have summoned you for no other reason than to make a small request of my own."
"Please give any command you wish."
Seeing her eager response, Victor unfolded the papers and began turning the pages one by one.
"People tell me my temperament is a little different from others. I have a nature that cannot stand not knowing something."
"..."
"Because of it I have been scolded often by Mother and my elder brothers. I have tried to restrain myself, but there are things effort alone cannot change, it seems."
Don't tell me...
As the young prince's words poured out, a bad feeling settled over Berta.
"The tale of the hero Kyle, who slew the Evil God five hundred years ago, was more than enough to set my curiosity ablaze. I have longed for it ever since—to see, just once, someone from that legendary bloodline."
"...I understand Your Highness already had the honor of meeting Sir Hugo not long ago."
Praying it was not what she feared, Berta tried to divert the boy's attention by bringing up Hugo.
"Yes! Sir Hugo. Well said."
But that only lit the fuse. The young prince shot to his feet, eyes shining.
"I have glimpsed the warrior praised as the empire's strongest several times from the corner of Father's audience chamber. Just standing nearby was enough to nearly make me wet myself. The last time I almost lost control of my bladder like that was when I first learned to walk..."
"Your Highness Victor, please maintain your dignity."
The attendant stepped forward to calm the excited prince, only for the boy to jab him in the chest with the sheaf of papers and drive him back.
"From that moment, I was captivated."
Victor dredged up the memory. Only a year old, really. The man who had come to the palace when Victor had just turned ten—the man who had overwhelmed everyone present.
He had wanted him. Hugo Prien, who had stood before the Emperor himself and still refused to kneel. With two much older brothers ahead of him, Victor was far down the line of succession—but everything else might still be within reach, might it not?
Victor thumped his small chest once with a tiny fist.
"I am told the eldest of the Priens now in the capital is the same age as I am. According to this report, he is a little lacking compared to his younger siblings, is he not?"
"Y-Your Highness......"
Berta's lips trembled. The situation terrified her.
"Which means that from now on, it may yet be possible. I want that boy as my vassal. Help me!"
The young prince's bold ambition.
Beads of sweat gathered along Berta's jaw.