A Brief Commotion - 3
The Imperial Capital was vast beyond comparison with any city I had ever seen. So vast, in fact, that calling it a mere city almost felt dishonest.
I had wandered through various districts ever since visiting the plaza on the first day, and I still felt as though I had not even seen ten percent of it. At this rate, I doubted I could finish the Capital alone before the break was over.
So much for visiting other cities.
I lay on the bed and stared blankly at the ceiling. Honestly, ten percent was already generous. Did I really need to go anywhere else?
Even here in the Capital, where my brother’s kindness had made everything so comfortable, I still had not finished sightseeing. And in that state, I was supposed to strike out for some other city? Choosing where to go, finding lodging—every step of it was work.
Exhausting.
I pulled the spare pillow into my arms. More than anything, simply moving from place to place was too tiring.
Travel could be fun for a day or two, but keeping that excitement going was another matter entirely. Body and mind both were worn thin. We had been out without rest for days already.
Thankfully, Tanian had business at the church, so today I could finally stay put. If I had gone outside again today, I probably would have left on two feet and crawled home on all fours.
“Huuuuh—!”
I stretched long and hard until my whole body trembled. Today I would stay as still as possible. That was the only way I would be able to move again tomorrow.
Hang in there.
I was a citizen of the Empire. I could take my time. Whether it was the Capital or somewhere else, I could always visit later if I made the time. There was no need to rush.
But three of our club members were not from the Empire. When else would they get the chance to see the Capital like this? Never mind the rest of the country.
So a little fatigue was something I could endure. For me, these were experiences I could always have again. For them, the memories they made now might never come a second time.
“I won’t be able to stay with you for a while because of work. I’ll leave things to the vice president. Still, if anything happens, tell the butler right away.”
And for my brother’s sake as well—he who had started commuting to work from the day after we arrived—I would do my best.
Strictly speaking, he had no obligation to stay with us over the break. Yet the moment he heard we were traveling to the Capital, he opened the mansion to us and arranged every convenience. It was almost too much consideration.
I could not cause him worry. No trouble. We would stay neatly within the Capital. If we started talking about going elsewhere, he would probably feel he had to move with us.
Then something unexpected happened, rendering that resolve immediately meaningless.
“Senior?”
The room had grown stifling, so I was on my way to the garden when I spotted the Lady. Ordinarily I would have offered a polite greeting and continued on my way.
“Ah, Lady Luise.”
But I could not simply walk past her like this—shoulders slumped, gaze fixed emptily on the air. Even now, she only barely responded to my voice, managing nothing more than a faint smile.
I had never seen the Lady look so drained. She always carried herself with such poise and pride. There had been times, when the matter concerned my brother, that another side of her showed—but never this listless, hollowed-out version of her.
Is it because of my brother?
If the Lady was acting strangely, the culprit was almost certainly him. From her perspective, it was hardly unreasonable that she might feel a little hurt.
Unlike Irina, the Lady had been invited by my brother himself. Strictly speaking, she was less a fellow traveler and more his guest. Of course she had joined the sightseeing as well, but the distinction still stood.
In other words, my brother was currently neglecting a guest. She knew it was not deliberate—that he simply had no choice—but when that half-neglect dragged on for days, the heart could not help but ache.
Being ignored by someone you liked was a uniquely terrible feeling.
Oh, Lady…
Understanding her situation made my chest hurt. Unlike the other club members, and unlike my friend Irina, the Lady occupied a slightly awkward position. She had come here for my brother alone, and he was not here. She had no one to whom she could confide this disappointment.
While we were out enjoying the sights, how hard must it have been for her? How much must she have fretted? And her status as a duke’s daughter would only have bound her more tightly, forbidding her from freely showing that pain.
As an Imperial duke’s daughter, she had to show confidence even before foreign royalty, and dignity before the nobles of her own land. That lofty title came with its own obligations.
What do I do?
And there was nothing I could do for her. For someone of a baronial house to presume to worry over a duke’s daughter, to offer words of comfort—it simply was not done.
Which meant the only real solution was to remove the cause of her suffering… and there was nothing I could do about how busy my brother was.
I stood there, fretting over a situation I could neither fix nor abandon, when the Lady—who had seemed lost in thought—approached me.
“Lady Luise.”
“Yes, Senior?”
“May I borrow your strength?”
“Pardon?”
Mine? I don’t think I’d be of much help…
I could only blink at the unexpected request, but the Lady’s expression was utterly serious.
Um… could I actually help her? Was I supposed to go to my brother’s workplace and ask him to come home early today?
Acutely aware of my own inadequacy, I stood blankly in the corridor.
Even if the other party consisted of royalty and a Saint candidate, I was still a duke’s daughter of the Empire. However I might lag behind them in purely objective rank, as long as we were on Imperial soil, a noble of the Empire like me necessarily held certain advantages.
With that foundation, I had believed that a courteous manner and persuasive restraint would be enough to prevent any sudden impulses. That was common sense.
And that very belief was proof of how insufficient I was.
If they were people common sense worked on in the first place…
…they never would have come to the Academy.
The realization came far too late. The thought that anyone who obeyed common sense would never have been at the Academy—or here in the Capital—left me dizzy.
“Rather than remaining only in the Capital, wouldn’t it be better to visit other regions as well?”
“A fair point. We came to see the Empire’s scenery, after all. Seeing more of it would be best.”
I had been hovering near the princes so I could respond at once to any sudden ideas, and that was when I overheard those dreadful words. Other places? Absolute nonsense. Even here in the Capital it was already hard enough to see Karl—if they left for other regions it would only get worse—
No. These were figures the Capital itself watched with every nerve taut. People far too great for any ordinary market town to handle. If they could be stopped, they had to be stopped. That was only proper.
“The Capital is where everything of the Empire gathers. Would it not be wiser to experience the Capital thoroughly first?”
So I carefully stepped forward and applied the brakes to the two princes. Fortunately, the Saint candidate had left for the church early that morning, and His Highness the Third Prince possessed a presence so faint one rarely saw him unless one went looking. If I could just hold these two, nothing would explode.
What followed… I honestly do not remember. No—correction. I do not want to remember.
I did my absolute best to stop them. I marshaled every justification I could invent, and even produced a stream of eloquence that impressed myself. Any reasonable person would have muttered, “Tsk, can’t be helped,” and let it go.
“The Lady’s opinion is sound, of course, but one can’t help one’s eyes being drawn to other regions.”
It was useless. When royalty decided, I’m going, though?, there was simply no answer.
Karl, I’m sorry…
I had wanted to lighten his burden. He had trusted me with this, and I had so badly wanted to handle it well.
I felt tears prick at the corners of my eyes. Karl—what kind of battles had you been fighting all this time? I only dealt with them for a moment and already felt my mind coming apart.
“The thoughts of those in high places are different from ours. Remarkable things do happen from time to time.”
That was not merely the mutter of someone worn thin with fatigue. It was a death cry, the last gasp before the end. Fool. To only notice it now.
I wanted to run to Karl that very instant, throw my arms around him, and cry. I wanted to tell him to forget everything, resign at once, and come in as a live-in son-in-law. But I could not. Karl was a true noble, one who moved by duty and responsibility.
What do I do?
I stood in the corridor for a long time, drowning in helplessness and powerlessness.
“Senior?”
“Ah, Lady Luise.”
Until Lady Luise appeared.
This is it.
Life returned to my numb head. Lady Luise. With Lady Luise, this situation could still be salvaged.
The heart of the Baking Club was Lady Luise. That the members already gathered around her was no real secret. Ordinary faculty and students who never went near the club might not know, but anyone who had watched for long could not possibly miss it.
“May I borrow your strength?”
“Pardon?”
Lady Luise blinked, looking as though she had no idea what I meant—but I believed without the slightest doubt. Lady Luise could stop those absurd beings. She absolutely could.
I had believed it… yet watching it actually unfold left me feeling a little strange.
“Wandering all over the place is tiring. Wouldn’t it be better to just stay in the Capital?”
“Well, that’s true enough.”
Why did they accept it so readily when she said it? When I spoke, they had not even listened with half an ear.
Karl… just how…
Just how had he managed a whole semester with people like this? And he was going to spend another two and a half years with them?
I was seriously starting to worry about Karl’s health.
I sensed a commotion as I was passing by, so I checked—and found Luise saying something to the club members. Behind her, the Lady simply watched with a serene expression.
Nothing important, then.
I took in the situation and continued on my way. No doubt the princes had said something strange again, and Luise was talking them out of it.
Whatever the reason, it was almost certainly trivial. It was hardly something a mere young lady of a count’s house needed to concern herself with—not when she was neither the vice president nor a duke’s daughter.
Everyone seems so lively.
They even had the energy for debates like that.
I took an apple from the paper bag in my arms and bit into it. I had meant to share if I ran into anyone, but looking at the scene, there was no real need.
Yuris, was it?
The brown-haired young maid who had suddenly pressed the fruit on me as a gift. She was oddly kind to me in particular, enough that I had ended up asking her name.
It was delicious. Preparing something like this must have been a strain for a maid. I should prepare a gift of my own in return.