Hawthorn Trees Don't Break - 5
My house arrest had finally reached its last day. What a relief. Nothing had happened in the whole week—thank goodness for that.
Enen seemed to have a conscience after all. Beating up someone who had already taken a thrashing was just too petty and cruel. Even in games, beginners got a protection period, and people whose home base had been thoroughly ransacked were usually safe from consecutive invasions for a while.
Was I being too tense?
Looking back, even the club members had been pretty quiet since the second semester started. Unlike before, they weren't pulling stunts just to get on Luise's good side. It almost felt like they were simply enjoying ordinary school life.
And even if something did blow up, people like the principal and Villar were still around to hold the fort. I just felt better handling things myself. That was probably why I was like this. It was starting to feel like a sickness.
I've developed a slave mentality.
A heavy sigh escaped me at the bleak thought. After four years of grinding myself down, I'd come to treat the iron chain around my ankle as something natural. I wasn't some servant constantly reading the master's mood just to make him happy.
I lifted my gaze from where it had drifted downward and found Mar sipping her tea.
"Mar, you really shouldn't become a civil servant."
"Pardon?"
Her eyes went round at the completely random remark.
In truth, Mar had no intention of becoming a bureaucrat anyway, and I had occasionally dropped hints that civil service was no way to live. Still, I had never said it this out of the blue before.
But the thought of Mar somehow ending up a slave to the job the way I had filled me with a deep, quiet sorrow. I simply could not keep it in.
"If I'm not a civil servant, there's not much else I can do. Will you take responsibility for me, Karl?"
Mar blinked once, then broke into a mischievous little smile. The sight pulled a smile onto my own face without permission. Her offensive power really was climbing by the day.
I felt a tiny pang of regret. It used to be adorable when she said bold things while blushing. Now she delivered them deadpan without even coloring.
"Whatever Mar chooses to do, I'll take responsibility."
"Really? I'm... happy to hear that."
Still, her defense remained as paper-thin as ever, so the regret lessened a little. There was something reliable about the way she started these exchanges herself and then got flustered by the answer.
Is she trying to check?
Watching Mar quietly bring the teacup to her lips with her face flushed red, that thought occurred to me. This might be her own private way of confirming affection.
Last year I had refused the marriage talks. After meeting her again at the Academy I had known how she felt, yet I had still gently pushed her away. After going through that, how could anyone simply be fine?
Even if she looked perfectly composed on the outside, it wouldn't be strange for a quiet hunger for affection to have taken root inside. So she was probably filling that hunger by hearing the words she wanted to hear.
My karma is thick.
What the hell had past-me been doing? The self-loathing was painful.
"Karl, there's something I'm curious about."
"Ah, yes. Please, speak freely."
The creeping self-reproach was driven off by the sound of Mar's voice.
"Um, well..."
Her hesitation surprised me. Mar wasn't the type to fumble for words. What was this about?
Rushing her would only make it harder. I simply waited qui—
"How do you feel about having more than one wife?"
—etly...?
What.
What on earth was that supposed to mean.
No—I understood the words themselves. I just had no idea what she meant by saying them.
Seeing the bewildered look on Karl's face, I nearly sighed out loud.
I understood exactly how he felt. Even I was getting dizzy saying this—how much worse must it be for the one hearing it.
There's no need for me to go this far.
I found myself absurd and pathetic. There was no real reason for me to do this, so why was I?
Casually saying a few kind things about Lady Luise in front of Karl would have been fine. That much I could manage without issue. But this kind of blatant hinting was on a completely different level. It might even make Karl feel put off.
But what could I do? The words had already left my mouth.
"Actually... there are more people who like my brother."
Lady Luise's words from yesterday floated back to me. When I first heard them I had nearly dropped the teapot. I had thought her comment about "three people being fine" was about wives.
Looking back, it wasn't that shocking a statement. If a man looked wonderful in my eyes, of course he would look the same in others'. It wouldn't be strange at all for people I didn't even know to have fallen for Karl somewhere out of sight.
What mattered was the reason she had chosen to say it in front of me.
"Irina wants to be with my brother too. If... if you would allow it, senior..."
She had gone on at considerable length after that, but the summary was simple.
She would never dare aim for the position of first wife, so please grant her the place after that. She herself wanted to say this in person, but she couldn't just show up unannounced, so she hoped to visit tomorrow.
...Hearing it from Lady Luise was already abrupt enough, but there was still a difference between the person herself dropping by as an ambush and a third party delivering the message early.
"It's been a while, Lady Irina."
In any case, we met. I had fretted over it, but in the end I did not refuse.
I already knew that Lady Irina's house, the House of Count Yorun, had suffered because of the Audit Department. Father had even clicked his tongue, wondering just how the work had been handled for something like that to happen.
And that very victim had come to hold feelings for the perpetrator—Karl, the Audit Department Chief. I couldn't even begin to imagine how rough that road must have been.
It's not my place to say anything.
How could an outsider interfere with someone's feelings? Especially a young lady who had clearly agonized over this on her own.
"If your feelings for Karl are sincere, I won't stand in the way."
"Th-thank you so much!"
Watching her light up with joy, I felt I had made the right choice and was quietly pleased.
But did Lady Irina know? No matter how freely I gave permission, when you remembered the iron wall Karl used to put up, the path ahead would not be smooth at all.
If Karl refused both Lady Luise and Lady Irina, if he pushed them away and the two young ladies were hurt—
That would be awful.
They would go through exactly the same pain I had endured for a year.
"It's common for high-ranking nobles to have more than one wife. I was just wondering how Karl felt about it."
"Ah, well. There are certainly plenty of gentlemen with multiple wives."
That was how things had reached this point. I had opened my mouth because I was afraid Karl might stubbornly insist on monogamy and push those two away forever.
It was meddling, pure and simple. I lost nothing by staying silent. In fact, if I thought about monopolizing Karl's love, staying quiet would have been the smarter move.
But what could I do? I simply could not keep my mouth shut. I couldn't turn a blind eye while people I knew walked into a field of thorns.
I wonder if they even know I'm doing this.
The faces of the two young ladies floated up and I almost laughed hollowly. This was entirely my own unilateral decision, so I couldn't even take credit for it or use it to put them in my debt.
Is it even something that could be called a debt?
All I was doing was asking Karl's intentions and gently nudging him, if possible, to look favorably on the idea of multiple wives. No matter what I said, if Karl himself hated the idea, that would be the end of it.
Yes. It wasn't a debt. I was simply doing this because I wanted to.
Sometimes a completely ordinary remark lodges itself deep in your skull. This was one of those times.
Polygamy.
Even after Mar left, the word kept circling around inside my head.
Honestly, I had never particularly cared whether someone had one wife or several. Borrowing the modern mindset from before I transmigrated just to yell "This is a relic of the dark ages!" felt ridiculous when this world actually was the dark ages. Romance-fantasy settings were usually modeled after medieval or early-modern Europe, after all.
Besides, if I was going to take issue with polygamy, shouldn't I first raise objections to the entire class system? Living well as a transmigrated noble and then suddenly throwing a fit over multiple wives would just look weird.
"As long as the feelings are mutual, I don't see a problem with there being more than one. It's not as if we're still living in an age of bridal abduction, right?"
That was the answer I gave Mar. The Emperor himself had multiple wives, there were dukes with several, and the nobles below them hardly needed mentioning. Shouting "Down with polygamy!" in that environment would just make me a reactionary.
"As long as the feelings are mutual... Yes, that's what matters."
Fortunately it seemed to be the answer she wanted; Mar nodded again and again.
What was that really about?
I felt like I had picked the correct choice, but I still had no idea what her true intention had been. Still, it had passed without incident, so maybe it was fine?
Yes. As long as Mar was in a good mood, that was more than enough. What could possibly be more important than that?
And nothing had gone wrong right up to the final day of house arrest. That was not just enough—it was more than I deserved.
I had forgotten the famous saying that it isn't over until it's over.
"Hey there, Tutor! Long time no see! Have you been well?"
"Yeah."
I was doing great until you showed up. We're going to see each other tomorrow anyway—why did you have to come today?
I forced my twitching mouth still and gave a nod. Even so, I couldn't exactly tell a guy who had come all this way for a consolation visit to get lost or demand to know why he was here.
Calm down. Sure, this bastard had put me through a lot in the first semester, but right now he hadn't done anything. And this house arrest was my fault for beating Ryutis in the first place. It was a heartwarming story of the victim coming to comfort the perpetrator.
"It took longer to get ready than I expected. I was worried I might miss the window, but luckily I made it on the last day!"
With a booming laugh, Ryutis held out a box to me.
"A restorative meal for the convict just released from prison."
This little shit.
The wording was completely wrong. Just call it a restorative meal.
"It's a fairly well-known dish, but even I had never gotten the chance to see one."
"I can imagine."
Serving a prince the food meant for convicts would be outright treason.
A rapidly growing sense of unease welled up, but the look in his eyes screaming "Open it already" made me carefully lift the lid. Inside sat a pure white cake.
...A cake?
Why is it so ordinary?
More importantly—a cake for a convict just out of prison?
Then I saw the number 1377 written across the top. What was this supposed to be?
"Originally that spot is supposed to have a prisoner number, but Tutor doesn't have one of those. So I just put the year."
"Hah."
A laugh burst out of me. You son of a bitch—this time you actually got me.
And after I sent Ryutis away, I laughed a second time when I discovered the cake had been made of tofu instead of bread.
I guess a whole week locked up really does make you laugh at the smallest things.