Hide, Audit Department Chief - 2
Finding my master was never hard. He was usually the one trapped in the crush of the crowd.
"Ah, Audit Department Chief."
"Your Grace."
The Duke of Victory spotted us first and called out in greeting, so I bowed my head. With so many eyes watching he had used my official title rather than "Karl," but I didn't mind in the least.
Anyone important enough to be standing here already knew the Duke of Victory and I were close. Still, knowing something in private and announcing it in public were two very different things.
The image of the Audit Department Chief cozying up to any particular noble, or of the de facto head of the military openly favoring someone—those were impressions best avoided.
"Ah, so the Audit Department Chief has arrived."
So you should avoid it too, you bastard. The image of a Crown Prince who teases his subordinates is even worse.
At any rate, the Crown Prince followed the Duke of Victory's gaze, turned toward me with a light smile, and stepped closer. The look on his face said, Got you.
What now?
Instinctive unease surged up. For a second I wondered whether the Crown Prince's personal restraint device was missing, but the Crown Princess was right there at his side.
Seriously, what? Even he wouldn't pull a stunt right in front of the Crown Princess… would he?
"I greet His Highness the Crown Prince."
You couldn't ignore a superior who spoke first. Margeta and I both bowed; the Crown Prince clapped me on the shoulder and continued.
"Raise your head. At a banquet held for my wife it feels embarrassing to be the only one drawing attention."
"Isn't the protagonist always the last to take the spotlight? Please don't trouble yourself over it."
Beside him the Crown Princess curved a small smile.
It actually worked.
Moments like this always left me wondering. Why did lines like that land so well?
Was it some native sensibility of this world that an outsider like me could never grasp? Or was palace life so dull that even tiny jokes felt delightful?
Either way, I would never understand it in a lifetime.
Though I do it because they like it.
When the people above you enjoy something, the people below put on a good show. That was simply how society worked.
"The Audit Department Chief is right. Of course the supporting cast draws eyes before the main character appears."
Satisfied, the Crown Prince burst out laughing, and the nobles around us laughed right along with him.
This is power.
No matter how old or influential you were, when the Crown Prince rang the laughter bell you laughed. That was the destiny of a class system.
Naturally I laughed too. I belonged to that system just the same.
"I'm already enjoying myself. I hope the Audit Department Chief enjoys the banquet as well."
"Thank you, Your Highness."
With that polite farewell and a meaningfully amused smile, the Crown Prince turned away. The Crown Princess offered a silent nod of greeting and followed him.
Damn it.
Experience had taught me never to take that particular smile lightly.
He wore it whenever I was about to get thoroughly worked over. Since he couldn't teabag me in public, he was doing it with his face instead.
Too damn sharp.
He probably knew the Iron Blood Duke was waiting for me. Enjoy the banquet under those circumstances? As if he ever would.
I could already see the future: the Crown Prince watching from a safe distance while the Iron Blood Duke dismantled me.
"His Highness seems quite fond of the Audit Department Chief."
After the royal couple, the Duke of Victory approached next, laughing heartily.
"I am undeserving of such regard."
I wanted to demand exactly where he saw fondness, but I held my tongue. If you thought of it as a man cherishing a favorite toy rather than a person, the statement wasn't entirely wrong.
"As His Highness said, I'm truly glad you came. I hope you have a pleasant evening."
"Yes, Your Grace. Thank you."
I bowed; the Duke of Victory clapped my shoulder the same way the Crown Prince had. Same gesture, completely different feeling.
"And you as well, my lady. Enjoy yourself. Your partner is fine company, but don't forget the Iron Blood Duke either."
"Yes, Your Grace. Thank you for the advice."
Before he left to greet other guests, the Duke of Victory spoke with a laugh in his voice; Margeta answered with a gentle smile of her own.
Attending banquets was a chore. The reason was simple.
"It's been a while, Audit Department Chief."
"Ah, Speaker. Have you been well?"
Show your face and you were immediately forced into an endless greeting relay with every person present.
One or two people would have been fine, but the moment you started greeting those one or two, everyone else came swarming over as if they'd been playing a waiting game.
Ignoring someone who greeted you first was rude; failing to remember an acquaintance was even ruder. Trying to place a face while exchanging pleasantries was exhausting work…
"First time I've seen the Audit Department Chief with a partner."
Bardon, Count of the Empire and Speaker of the Imperial Diet, spoke in his usual dry tone. Margeta dipped her head politely.
"I am Margeta of House Valenti."
"A pleasure. So the day has come when I finally meet the Treasure of Valenti."
Color flooded Margeta's cheeks.
Treasure…
I barely stopped myself from laughing. That nickname she found so mortifying had been born entirely from the Iron Blood Duke's enthusiastic efforts.
When Margeta was newly born, the Iron Blood Duke—overjoyed at his late-in-life daughter—had gone around boasting to every acquaintance: she was already talking, she already recognized her father, she was already rolling over… that sort of thing.
The being a duke loved and cherished above all else. Sharp-eyed nobles were never going to miss that. High society had unleashed a barrage of praise and titles on one-year-old Margeta; the only one that survived to the present day was "the Treasure of Valenti."
"Th-thank… you."
What did it feel like when a nickname from age one followed you all the way to eighteen? Looking at Margeta, it clearly wasn't pleasant.
Her lips trembled; her words tripped over themselves. She always strove for dignity, but even she couldn't overcome this ancient black mark.
"An old man got a little too familiar out of sheer delight."
Watching her reaction, the Speaker turned his gaze back to me and continued.
His tone stayed stiff, but the corner of his mouth had lifted ever so slightly—like a man who had just enjoyed a good show.
"It was good to see you after so long. We'll meet again when the chance arises."
"Yes. Next time I shall greet you first."
The Speaker gave a brief nod and vanished. Appearing and disappearing like that, he might as well have been a ghost.
Still, the way he slipped off while muttering about being an old man, and that faintly smiling expression, were probably his own form of consideration.
I glanced at Margeta. Even the Speaker, with whom we weren't especially close, had taken one look at the two of us and tactfully withdrawn.
Is this just how the elders are?
Had my marriage prospects become high-society content without my noticing? Were people placing bets on when I would finally marry?
I scanned the room out of idle curiosity and caught sight of a noble who had been heading my way being intercepted and dragged off by the Speaker.
…Well, even if high society as a whole hadn't caught on, among the Imperial Counts it had definitely become content.
"Mar. Shall we rest a moment?"
I deliberately ignored the strange spectacle and took Margeta's hand.
We hadn't walked long enough to need a break, but she had just had her black history excavated on the spot. The mental shock couldn't be small.
"Already? Has it even been an hour?"
"Wouldn't it be tragic if the Treasure got so much as a scratch?"
Margeta shot me a look that said I was being unfair.
I'm sorry. The word "Treasure" was just too memorable…
The moment we stepped onto the terrace, the carefully composed calm on my face crumbled.
I was mortified. I barely managed not to scream.
I had been forced to hear that nickname I never wanted to remember, never wanted to hear—spoken right to my face. And by someone so much older than me. Worst of all, in front of the person I loved more than anyone.
How could you?
I shot Karl a resentful glare; he gave me an awkward smile and took my hand.
You think this is enough to make it better?
Of course it was. That was why I couldn't even get properly angry and was stuck like this.
Objectively it was only a nickname. But to me that nickname was a vicious word older than my own memories.
If it had been something recent I might have found it merely a little embarrassing. Because I had heard it since childhood, the name always dragged those childish years back with it.
Father…
My orphaned resentment turned toward Father. I didn't know who had coined the nickname, but he was certainly the cause.
What a miserable banquet. I had taken a massive psychological hit right at the start.
It's all right.
Still, the evening had produced a satisfying result as well. I had been able to display my relationship with Karl to none other than the Speaker of the Imperial Diet.
From the Speaker it would spread to the Diet members, and from the Diet members to every other noble.
Yes. That was enough. A brief moment of embarrassment was a fair price for a gain like this. Mm…
…Mm?
While I was busy comforting myself, a commotion rose far off near the main gate.
I couldn't hear voices, but the guards stationed there were moving in a sudden flurry. And someone was standing in front of them.
Who?
The banquet had already begun. How many people could possibly arrive late to a banquet held for Her Highness the Crown Princess—at the Duke of Victory's own residence, no less?
"Ah."
Karl, following my gaze toward the gate, let out a quiet sound of recognition.
"A most distinguished guest has arrived."
He must have been able to see even from this distance; he rested a hand on my shoulder as he spoke.
That only deepened my curiosity. If even Karl reacted like this, the newcomer had to be someone of very high rank.
Is there anyone left who would come?
No one. The imperial family was already present, and the Golden Duke and the Wise Duke stayed on their lands, showing their faces only for the New Year's Audience.
Even the Demon Duke, who was currently in the capital, was famous for attending only a single day during the New Year's period. Then… a marquis?
"Come, let's go back inside. They'll be here soon; we should at least offer a greeting."
"Ah—yes."
Karl was right. A guest was a guest; we would meet them soon enough. The question would be answered quickly, so there was no need to overthink—
"Little one."
…What?
The instant I turned to re-enter the banquet hall, a voice sounded right behind me.
"To lay eyes on my little one the moment I arrive—how fortunate I am."
A languid voice.
"Were you waiting for me, by any chance?"
Yet it carried a strangely palpable pressure.
"Heh. If you were, I would be delighted."
I carefully turned my frozen body. A white-haired woman stood there.
The woman I had been certain I would never meet at a gathering like this.