It Must Be Nice Having Two Mothers - 1
A certain sage once said that even the bottom has a bottom of its own.
That sage was a sage for a reason. Amazingly enough, I was realizing in real time exactly what he meant.
"There's the New Year's Audience, so I'll have to wait until that day."
It had begun with the Magic Lord's confession, which I'd thought nothing could possibly shock me more than—
"Then... may I say that I like you too, Brother?"
—passed through Luise, who had rejected no fewer than five leads to choose me—
"I'm not unworthy of standing by your side, Oppa."
—and even Irina, whom I'd never, ever imagined would like me.
What even is this.
I lightly pressed my fingers against my brow. These headaches simply would not leave me alone lately.
Of course I wasn't treating the confessions of people so far above me as if they were the bottom of anything. It was only that my own mental state was scraping along the floor.
I had to admit it honestly. Even a grand mage or a cleric with the loftiest spiritual world would have ended up the same if they were in my shoes.
All of that in less than a week.
My head throbbed again. Confessions that would make a person's heart race even once in a lifetime had come at me in a chain, all within a single week. Was this the true triple combo?
But a triple combo was something you took from one person, not a three-way ambush from three different people, wasn't it? This needed a whole new term.
"I'm not asking for an answer right this second either. I came later than Luise, so I can't exactly cut in line."
Just as I was about to invent that new term on my own, Irina's awkwardly smiling face rose before my eyes. Along with that strangely tear-tinged voice.
"I just... I just wanted you to look at me, Oppa. Not as a little sister you feel sorry for... just as a woman."
I barely managed to push myself up from where I'd collapsed on the bed and let out a long sigh. People said sighing drove good fortune away, but I didn't care. It felt like there was no fortune left to drive out anyway.
In any case, Irina had left those words behind and fled in a hurry. My body, frozen solid, had failed to catch her as she vanished so quickly.
Even if I could have caught her, I probably would have just let her go. What exactly was I supposed to do if I grabbed her in that situation?
I can't accept it either.
As Irina herself had said, I still hadn't given an answer to the confessions from the Magic Lord and Luise. Taking Irina's on top of that would be strange.
And I can't reject it either.
For the same reason, shoving Irina's confession aside first would also be strange. Putting the other answers on hold while only shutting hers down at lightning speed? Even if she cried, I would have nothing to say. She would wail about whether I found her that repulsive.
Should I just run?
For a moment the thought even crossed my mind in complete seriousness.
About a week. No, even three days would do. I just wanted to be somewhere with no one around so I could sort out my thoughts alone. Then at least I wouldn't have to receive any additional confessions.
I should have gone to prison right now. Getting locked up for about five days from this point would have been better than anything.
If I beat Ryutis again...
I clenched a fist without thinking. Assaulting royalty, and as a habitual offender at that. Even without any extra stacked charges I could go straight into detention. Unlike last time, it would be months at minimum, not a mere five days.
Of course if I slipped even a little it might be execution rather than detention, but life was all or nothing anyway, wasn't it?
Right, just shut my eyes tight and go for it one more ti—
Ah.
Right before I completely lost my reason, light flared from the communication crystal.
Thank goodness. A moment later and I really would have flipped my eyes back and gone on a rampage.
"This is the Audit Department Chief."
The benefactor who had just saved my life. Thinking of him that way, my expression softened on its own.
And so, carrying that gratitude, I activated the crystal. I couldn't very well show a twisted face to the person who had saved my life.
"—Heh, managing all right? Your complexion looks better than I expected."
The instant I confirmed the Minister's face, my expression twisted right back.
Shit.
I had been so out of it that I had forgotten something important. I had failed to remember that there existed a man who would be delighted to death the more I suffered.
Of course the Minister wouldn't know about Luise's and Irina's confessions as well, but the Magic Lord alone was more than enough, wasn't it?
The Crown Prince was quiet for now, busy fretting over the political upheaval the Magic Lord shock would cause. The Minister, on the other hand, had zero interest in politics. From the standpoint of an ordinary count who only wanted to retire, what did it matter whom the Magic Lord married?
But when that marriage partner was a subordinate he constantly traded misery with? That he couldn't stand.
"—Hmm, now that I think of it, as the consort of a duke I ought to show some proper manners."
At the spine-chilling formal speech I hurriedly shook my head. For me to receive honorifics from that man was a sign the world was ending.
"Stop talking nonsense! Who's anyone's consort?!"
"—Obviously you. Everyone except you is going to think that."
The formal speech vanished, but the unpleasant cackling continued.
Obviously...
And the moment I heard the Minister's words, all strength drained out of me.
Obviously, obviously. It was a short word, yet its weight was no joke. I had just heard the testimony of a third party, the Minister himself.
Right. From everyone else's perspective, me becoming the Magic Lord's husband was already a settled matter.
It makes sense, I suppose.
No matter that I was the heir to an Imperial Count, the other party was a duke. Audit Department Chief? Even so, that was nothing compared to the Magic Tower's master. The gap was large enough that a marriage could proceed on one-sided selection alone, without mutual will.
In fact, even if I had been kidnapped by the Magic Lord at the Crown Princess's birthday banquet, the nobles would have been in the position of clapping and saying, "Have a lovely romance."
So it was not strange at all for people to view the current situation not as "the Audit Department Chief has not accepted a confession" but as "the Magic Lord is preparing for marriage."
"...How are things over there?"
After a long silence I finally forced out a single sentence.
"—You want to know?"
The Minister's reply was packed with sincerity. At those few words I could only shake my head in bitter silence.
The place that would be in the greatest uproar over this whole affair was the Imperial Capital, the center of politics. And if that man was this serious, the situation in the capital was pure chaos.
I won't even look that way for a while.
If I poked my nose into the capital for no reason I would get forcibly dragged in like two Pokémon trainers whose eyes had met. No thank you.
"—Ah, and one more thing."
While I was resolving that even if the Crown Prince summoned me I would play dead until the New Year's Audience, the Minister opened his mouth again.
But even after opening it, the words did not continue. His faintly furrowed brow and the small sound of him clearing his throat.
What is it.
Why did that make me so uneasy.
"—You. Would you rather get hit first, or get hit later?"
"Excuse me?"
The Minister, who had already looked ominous, now said something equally ominous.
"...Getting hit first is better, right?"
When I answered cautiously, the Minister nodded and continued.
"—I only just found out myself, but Her Grace the Magic Lord has moved."
My hand trembled on instinct.
Terrifying words. The Magic Lord had already used the mages of the Magic Tower as messenger birds. If she was moving in earnest now, what on earth was she planning to do? Scatter flyers across the entire Empire?
"—To your territory."
...
Excuse me?
The castle was turned completely upside down.
"Prepare everything of the highest quality. Whether it's wine, tea, sweets, or the meal itself. There must not be a single thing lacking."
"Yes, my lady."
At my words the head butler nodded and vanished at speed.
Normally the head butler's role was to direct rather than run about the field himself. But in an urgent situation like this, the participation of a seasoned head butler was desperately needed.
"My lady, the garden work is all finished as well."
"Well done, head maid."
The moment the head butler left, Laura approached, and I was finally able to catch my breath.
If Laura said it was finished, it would be perfect. The garden was practically the face of the castle. We had at least preserved the minimum of dignity.
"Nia, this is... really..."
Laura, who had been surveying the surroundings, whispered softly. Her rarely trembling voice showed just how badly shaken she was.
Of course I was the same.
"It's because of Karl... isn't it."
"Good heavens."
Laura covered her mouth with her hand. Looking at the expression that mixed bewilderment, pride, satisfaction, and dizziness all together, I could only sigh.
Karl, what in the world happened.
My feelings were complicated. What on earth had he done to make a duke move? I had no right to resent him, yet a tiny part of me still felt a little resentful.
At the same time I was proud. To think my son was a man charming enough to captivate even a duke. The faint resentment was overwhelmed by far greater pride and satisfaction.
"—This is Theodore Jedas of Sicilia, steward of the Catovan Ducal House."
But even that pride could not cover the dizziness of the present moment.
The sudden contact from the Catovan Ducal House. The steward of the Catovan Ducal House, Count Sicilia, bowing his head politely.
He managed the ducal territory in place of the Magic Lord who was in the capital, making him essentially the second-in-command of the entire duchy. Receiving contact from such a heavyweight left me both flustered and, because I could already guess the reason, strangely dazed as I returned the greeting.
"—Her Grace the Magic Lord has long known of your wisdom and compassion, my lady. Until now there was no opportunity to meet, but she says that even now she wishes to personally meet the one who gave birth to a pillar of the Empire."
"You flatter me."
Separate from the courtesy, it was a proposal I could not refuse, so I simply nodded.
Technically refusal was possible. Whether to accept a sudden request for a visit was the master's discretion.
But this was a request from none other than a duke, and in a situation where the reason she wanted a meeting was painfully obvious, refusing was difficult. If I pushed away a prospective daughter-in-law's request to meet her prospective mother-in-law, goodwill would turn into fury.
Daughter-in-law.
At that dizzying word I felt as if I might get light-headed.
Me, a mother-in-law.
Even more dizzying. Of course it was a title I had wanted to hear. I had even thought it was a title I would hear soon enough.
Still, I had expected to hear it from Margeta, that child. Becoming entangled with a ducal house for a second time was burdensome, yet I had thought that if it was her, it would be all right.
Then the Magic Lord had appeared. A person I had never anticipated, at a time I had never anticipated.
"—I am sorry, my dear. With the work of the assembly so busy these days I simply cannot find the time to return."
In my desperation I had hurriedly contacted Billy in the capital, but Billy had only brought up assembly business and refused to come back.
Traitor.
Recalling that moment again sparked a small anger. How cowardly of him to pull his feet out alone. Separate rooms for Billy for a while.
"M-my lady!"
Seeing the steward running from far away shattered my thoughts.
The steward was the calm type, perhaps under the influence of the taciturn Billy. For such a man to be this flustered.
She's arrived.
My prospective daughter-in-law, the Magic Lord, had come.
...I'm dizzy.
I wanted to lie down on a bed right this instant.