Was the Break Really This Long? - 4
A few more days had passed since the Deputy Chief's report, and the situation had finally become impossible to endure. It was time to return to the Imperial Capital. I had only come to the fief in the first place because Mother had asked to see my face for a little while; the rest of the party tagging along had been more or less a bonus. If there was no longer any reason to stay, going back to the capital was the right call.
Honestly, Tailglehen County was hardly famous as a tourist destination, so lingering here any longer was awkward in its own right. For the moment the victims' association of people thoroughly toyed with by Ryutis's Five-Night Play were too busy plotting their revenge match to make noise, but there was no telling when those idiots would start howling about going out.
"I think it's about time we headed back to the Imperial Capital."
"Then I'll tell the others!"
So I left the job of spreading the word to Luise. Surely no one would insist on staying behind in the fief when Luise herself said it was time to return to the capital. Anyone that uncooperative had no business being in the Baking Club.
Even Margeta, the only one I had been truly worried about, agreed to go back. She seemed a little reluctant, but we could hardly camp out in the fief forever. Since we would have to return eventually anyway, she consented without a fuss.
"You're leaving?"
"Yes. They're only staying in the Empire for travel, so remaining stuck in one place is rather inconvenient for them."
"I see."
Mother simply nodded, with no particular reaction. The eldest son she had summoned for marriage talks was still fending those talks off by citing his civil service career; there was little reason to hold him any longer.
And so, just as suddenly as we had arrived at the fief, we found ourselves heading back to the Imperial Capital. Life was nothing if not a string of sudden turns.
"You have to take these every day. If you eat them irregularly, they won't do much good."
"Ah—yes."
This, too, had been sudden.
On the morning of our departure for the capital, Mother ambushed us with a mountain of gifts. After the potions from Mother the Demon Duke, was this a health-food offensive from my actual mother? It was far too generous.
And it was not some ordinary maid who brought them, but the head maid herself, explaining each item one by one as she pressed them into my hands. This one worked best if taken at such-and-such a time; that one was for such-and-such a situation; eat this and you would get this benefit, and so on.
"If you think you'll forget, tell the butler. He'll hand them to you at the proper times."
"Understood."
I glanced sideways and saw Erich barely managing to cradle the steadily growing pile of packages in his arms. I had half thought of dumping some of them on him if things got out of hand—or rather, sharing them—but that looked impossible now.
Mother followed my gaze to Erich and promptly switched targets.
"They say the Academy's practical training is quite strenuous, so make sure you take them."
Erich could only nod blankly. At that volume, he could eat them every day until graduation and still have some left over.
So this is a mother's heart.
Such care for a pair of unfilial sons who barely even wrote home—my chest tightened of its own accord.
If only she'd been like this sooner.
Honestly, it would have been better if she had done this even before Erich entered the Academy. Had she only realized how precious her children were once the ones always under her nose had left for the distant Academy?
Still, better late than never. The family head did not seem likely to change no matter how much time passed, but if Mother at least became a warmer parent, Erich would be happier for it.
"We'll be going now. I'll be in touch from time to time."
Once I had confirmed that the family head and the retainers had finished their farewells, I bowed my head to Mother. Yes—let's at least keep in contact now and then. If Erich saw me never contacting Mother and stayed just as still himself, that would be a problem.
When I first came to the fief with those idiots, everything had felt so overwhelming. At the end, I could leave with a light heart. If Erich and Mother's relationship had improved, that alone was reason enough to have come.
They were leaving. I wanted to hold them back and beg them to stay just one more night, but I could not bring myself to cling to children who had to go.
To say I was not sorry would have been a lie. I had only just reached the point where I could smile and exchange ordinary conversation with those children. I wanted to savor that happiness a little longer.
But I was able to swallow the regret and let them go. Because of the confidence that the happiness I enjoyed now would not vanish like foam—that I would be able to enjoy it again.
When they come back.
It would be enough if those children returned. Even if their positions as a civil servant and as students had taken them away from home for a while, they would come back someday.
And when that time came, I could enjoy the happiness again. If I clung to the present and forced the issue, the relationship that had recovered even a little would only sour once more.
I'll wait.
For nearly twenty years I had neglected those children. The time I had truly looked at them was less than twenty days—a fleeting span. And yet in that brief moment, I had achieved a recovery of our relationship I had not even dared to dream of.
For the sake of children who had still approached me, calling me Mother even though I was scarcely fit to be one—and for the sake of the daughter-in-law who had helped restore that relationship—I must not move too hastily.
This was possible not because of any ability of mine, but because of those children. So I only needed to advance carefully, little by little.
"My lady."
"Billy."
While I watched the children's receding backs, Billy came up beside me.
He had kept his promise to me and waited until Karl himself said he would leave. Remembering how I had seized Billy by the collar in the process left me a little embarrassed.
"It seems being grabbed by the collar was worth it, at least."
As if he had read those thoughts, Billy tossed the remark out casually, and I quietly lowered my gaze. However worked up I had been, however angry at Billy, it had still been far too rough.
Even so, if I went back to that moment, I was confident I would seize him again. How could he say something so harsh as sending away the children I had only just begun to speak with properly? We had not even managed to firmly join Karl and our daughter-in-law yet.
At her age, how admirable.
The moment my thoughts drifted to my daughter-in-law, regret and pride welled up together again. I had hoped she and Karl might at least become engaged, but that had failed. How could I blame her for it, though? She was a child filled with the resolve to devote herself to the nation.
I already knew she was deep and mature beyond her years. I had not expected a duke's daughter to set her sights on becoming a civil servant, but that miscalculation was a happy one.
Of course, as Karl's mother I would rather she choose marriage to Karl over a bureaucratic career. The problem was that, as someone indebted to my daughter-in-law, I could not bring myself to say so.
If Karl were to persuade her to choose marriage instead of the civil service, and if she came straight to Tailglehen after graduation—
Then I'll have to teach her the work of the lady of the house.
A child who had prepared for the bureaucracy would pick it up in no time.
The disconnect of being at home in the morning and at the office by lunch hurt more than I expected. And the fact that "home" had been the fief rather than the capital residence only made it worse. It felt exactly like clocking in on a holiday.
Honestly, what a pain.
All of this was the former Count Horpfeld's fault. If that man had not suddenly retired, I would never have had to come in.
"No health problems either?"
"No, sir. He apparently enjoyed a hunt just yesterday."
"He's thriving."
At the Deputy Chief's dry reply, I roughly raked my hair back. A man whose health had deteriorated enough that he needed to hand his title to a nineteen-year-old heir would never be out doing extreme sports like hunting. What was going on? Had he simply retired because he felt like taking it easy?
If he had formally passed on the title, the Emperor would already have approved it—but approval or not, we still needed to grasp the reason. He might have been plotting something, or struck a backroom deal with some other noble.
Yet no matter how hard I looked, nothing stood out. The most likely explanation really was that he had simply wanted a rest.
I'm jealous.
From now on, the former Count Horpfeld was my role model.
In any case, I set aside the former Count Horpfeld's emergency escape case and picked up another stack of documents. More important than the reason for a flight that turned up nothing no matter how I searched was the aftermath of that flight.
"He seems to have the ability, at least."
And the aftermath was quieter than expected. The Imperial Diet had stirred at the sudden replacement of a member, then settled down again.
"He has largely inherited the former count's holdings. It seems he finished consulting with his close associates before the retirement."
"Of course he would."
Making the public announcement by surprise was one thing, but keeping the retirement a secret even within his own faction would just make him a madman.
Looking more closely, the former count's faction and close aides had been left intact; at most, three or four young subordinates had been added. The celebratory envelopes he had circulated to the other assemblymen upon taking his seat were exactly the amounts I had anticipated.
And an appropriately sized "friendship contribution" had been deposited with the Audit Department as well. Compared to what I had fretted over, it was all perfectly ordinary. I had worried he might go wild with youthful arrogance and dive into a "I don't pay bribes!" meta, but no.
No problems, then.
Things were so free of trouble that I almost felt resentful for having come to work at all. What was this strange mix of relief and melancholy?
I kneaded the stiff nape of my neck and turned my gaze to the Deputy Chief. I had rushed in today because of Count Horpfeld, but since I was already here, I might as well clear anything else that needed handling before I left.
"Anything unusual come up?"
At those words the Deputy Chief gave a little start, then carefully opened his mouth.
"The Second Division Chief contacted us first."
Shit. I had only been probing at random, and something turned up immediately.
Of all people, it had to be the Second Division Chief posted to the North. My lips went dry.
"He asked us to send more liquor."
"That son of a bitch."
I was the idiot for worrying.
"...Send it."
"Understood."
I barely restrained the urge to call the Second Division Chief right then and dump a stream of curses on him.
Fine, we would send it. He was suffering up in the North; that much we could do for him. If he had made a demand like that while lounging around domestically, I would not have let it slide.
The only pity was that, just when I had to go deliver a face-to-face report to the Minister, the last thing I had to hear was that Second Division Chief's nonsense.