Prison Freedom - 4
Dishes far too lavish for a simple lunch began arriving at the table one after another. The portions were generous as well. Was this special consideration for a guest, or did the First Section Chief simply prefer extravagant meals on a regular basis?
Of course, given that the First Section Chief usually showed up to work clutching nothing more than a single piece of bread, it was almost certainly the former.
"Isn't this a bit much?"
"Not at all. I invited a guest. If I treat you poorly, Father will scold me."
Ah. So it really was the former. The idea that this kid paid attention to anyone's opinion was mildly surprising.
Still, from the Marquis's point of view it was welcome news. The fact that the First Section Chief worried about being scolded by him meant she at least respected and considered him as a superior—or as family.
That's a relief.
Marquis Iones, the First Section Chief's father. Beyond glimpses at last year's and this year's New Year's Audience, I had little connection with him, yet he was one of the people I privately felt sorry for.
To have that First Section Chief as a daughter… how much heartache must he have endured? Legend had it he fiercely opposed her joining the Audit Department. The results spoke for themselves.
"She may seem a little immature and unpredictable, but she is a thoughtful and kind-hearted child. Please look after her well."
"Ah—yes. Of course."
Perhaps that was why, every New Year's Audience, Marquis Iones would take my hand and plead with such earnest eyes… no, request so earnestly: please take good care of my daughter.
In the middle of it he would say incomprehensible things, the way only a father who finds his daughter endlessly adorable can. Thoughtful? Kind-hearted?
Even so, I never committed the outrage of contradicting him with cold facts. His eyes had been far too wistful and sorrowful for that.
Thank goodness…
Apparently the First Section Chief understood her father's feelings as well; she was reluctant to earn a scolding from him. Marquis, are you watching? Your love was not misplaced.
"Chief, would you care for an aperitif?"
The First Section Chief's voice shattered my reverie. I had briefly lost my mind right at the dinner table.
When I looked up, she was holding a bottle in each hand—one red wine, one white.
"White."
"White, is it?"
I had chosen lightly, but the way she smirked made me suddenly uneasy. Had she slipped something into it?
"On second thought, re—"
"Here you go!"
Before I could finish she thrust a glass of white wine into my hand.
"Drink it all in one go—think of it as me!"
I hadn't even taken a sip, yet she was talking as if she had already downed three or four bottles herself.
I glanced at the First Section Chief's hair. White. Then at the glass. It was called white wine, but it certainly wasn't pure white.
Damn it.
Yet because she had told me to think of it as her, the wine somehow overlapped with the image of her hair.
So the brat had learned how to assault the mind as well as the body…
"White is pretty too, right?"
"…Yeah."
She was still smirking, so I simply nodded. Overreacting here would only encourage her further. Don't rise to the bait. Just eat normally and go home.
"There's a prettier white right beside you, Chief—you're blessed!"
Her sheer brazen confidence left me too embarrassed to manage any reaction at all.
The meal itself passed without major incident. The First Section Chief tossed out the occasional strange remark, but that was ordinary; her saying something normal was the rare event.
"Black goes well with red, but I think it pairs nicely with white too."
I still had no idea what that was supposed to mean. The fact that cola, seasoned fried chicken, and pickled radish briefly flashed through my mind suggested I wasn't entirely normal either.
In any case, after that abrupt comment the First Section Chief committed the atrocity of pouring both red and white wine into the same glass.
"Hey—why are you mixing them?!"
"They go well together!"
I truly had no idea what she meant. I would probably never understand.
I sighed at the revolutionary concept of half-and-half wine, and the voice on the other end of the communication crystal spoke.
"—Karl, you must be a good superior for her to act so freely around you."
"I suspect the line between a good superior and a pushover is paper-thin."
The Duke of Victory burst out laughing. Good. If he could enjoy himself even for a moment, that was enough for me…
After laughing for a while the Duke of Victory composed himself and continued.
"—I contacted you because I was worried, but I'm glad nothing seems amiss."
"If anything does happen, I'll contact you first without regard for pride."
"—Glad to hear it."
Seeing him smile again, I smiled as well. The lonely feeling from the disciplinary action seemed to warm a little.
After finishing the meal and returning to my office, the communication crystal had suddenly chimed. Finding the Duke of Victory on the other end had surprised me somewhat.
"—Karl. I don't believe you would have done something like that for no reason. There must have been circumstances."
Those first words after accepting the call had startled me. They sounded exactly like a teacher admonishing a student who had committed some misdeed.
Of course I had an idea what he meant. After achieving the legendary feat of assaulting royalty and then returning to the Imperial Capital, word would naturally have reached the Duke of Victory's ears as well.
Yet assaulting royalty was not a mere misdeed—it was treason-level. That he still assumed there must have been circumstances moved me.
"…That is how it turned out."
So I swallowed my tears and explained in detail. Had he known the full story, he would never have spoken of "circumstances."
And when the Duke of Victory heard the truth and struggled to hold back laughter, it stung. Open mockery would have been better; being shown consideration only made me feel more pathetic.
Perhaps sensing that, he quickly changed the subject. We talked about various recent matters until the conversation somehow reached my lunch with the First Section Chief, which forced me to describe the bizarre red-and-white combination as well.
Recounting a subordinate's eccentricities in front of the Duke of Victory was embarrassing, but preferable to receiving heartbreaking consideration.
Is it really preferable?
Even I wasn't sure.
"—In any case, that child only behaves that way because she looks up to you, Karl. Don't take it too much to heart."
"Yes, understood."
I nodded at the Duke of Victory's words, which had broken through my solitary, serious fretting.
Truthfully, I had come too far to feel genuinely annoyed with the First Section Chief over something like this. I had merely been startled by the sudden meal-time prank; it wasn't particularly out of character.
Even if I were truly displeased, I could never show it in front of the Duke of Victory. Regrettably, from his perspective the First Section Chief was a close junior of his daughter's.
I'm going crazy.
It was always new and astonishing. The Crown Princess and the First Section Chief were close senior and junior… and she was even acquainted with the Duke of Victory… my head was spinning.
Only after talking at length did I end the communication with Karl. I had meant to keep it short, yet I had held him for far too long. The older I get, the more I talk.
Still, it was a relief. When His Highness the Crown Prince informed me that Karl had received disciplinary action for assaulting royalty, I had wondered what on earth had happened. That boy was not so thoughtless as to cause an incident of that magnitude.
Hearing it from the man himself, it had simply been an injury sustained during an Academy event. In that case it was not assault but merely an unfortunate accident. One could forcibly frame it as assault on royalty, yet His Highness the Crown Prince had no reason to attack Karl deliberately.
It seems he was never fated to live quietly.
A laugh escaped me unbidden. Ever since becoming Audit Department Chief he had been at the center of every uproar, but I never imagined he would get entangled in such affairs even at the Academy. Or rather—had he caused them rather than gotten entangled?
After chuckling several more times, I operated the communication crystal. Having checked on Karl, I still had other business to attend to.
"—Father?"
"Your Highness the Crown Princess."
The moment Aria answered she immediately bowed her head.
"—I told you to just call me Aria when it's private."
She glared at me with a pout, and I laughed again. How was it that even after all this time she was still exactly the same as when she was small?
"How could I address the future mother of all the people so casually?"
"—I'm hanging up."
"I'm sorry. I looked into the matter you asked about, so please forgive me."
At that Aria's expression brightened. To look so pleased over something that wasn't even her own affair.
"Karl seems to think of her simply as a subordinate."
"—As expected."
Even though the news was less than ideal, Aria remained unfazed. As she said, it was within the range of what she had anticipated.
"—That's just how Eri is. She probably only hung around teasing him. As long as he doesn't dislike her, that's fortunate enough."
A merciless evaluation. Ordinarily she spoke gently, yet when it came to Lady Erzebet she was strangely unrestrained.
Even so, it was at Lady Erzebet's request that Aria had asked me to sound Karl out. Her words might be harsh, but her feelings toward Lady Erzebet were sincere.
"He doesn't seem to dislike her, at least. When Karl truly hates someone, he either ignores them or removes them."
To Karl, Lady Erzebet was less a woman and more simply a subordinate. Yet the time they had spent together had left him with a certain fondness.
Karl himself would no doubt shudder and deny it if he heard. But from a third party's perspective it was accurate—what could one do? Karl never kept people he truly disliked nearby. The fact that they constantly clashed yet remained side by side was itself proof of goodwill.
"—Is that so? Eri will be delighted to hear it."
She spoke curtly, yet she could not hide the faint upward curl of her lips.
Perhaps because they had been close since their Academy days. I never imagined she would insert herself into that junior's romance as well.
He's going to have a hard time.
Karl was only just beginning to open his heart and approach Lady Margeta. Lady Margeta had long since fallen for him, so a favorable outcome would arrive before long.
And the moment that outcome arrived would be when Lady Erzebet made her move. Karl would likely be rather flustered.
That is Karl's problem to handle.
Had Lady Erzebet been aiming for the position of Karl's first wife, I would not have moved even for Aria's sake. I knew how the Iron Blood Duke doted on Lady Margeta; how could I interfere?
But if she was aiming for the place after Lady Margeta, it was none of my concern. I had no need to go out of my way to help, yet neither was it something worth refusing Aria's request over.
"—Thank you, Father."
Seeing Aria smile brightly filled me with quiet satisfaction.