Making the Anniversary Count - 2
The provocation of "You've got three wives," met by the counterattack of "You're getting married soon." After trading verbal blades so sharp that even a graze was fatal, all that remained was a silence full of wounds.
Mocking me for having three wives was pointless when Section Chief 2 would be getting a wife before I did. Mocking him for his impending marriage was equally pointless when I might well be going through that ceremony several more times myself.
In the end it was a miracle formula where you had to take damage yourself if you wanted to land a hit on the other guy. I naturally realized this was a war of words where only losers remained.
"Shall we stop?"
"Yeah."
What broke the melancholy silence was Section Chief 2's proposal for a ceasefire. Whether he was imagining a wedding with the Minister as a guest or not, his face was thick with worry.
Seeing the guy who started the provocation crash and burn first felt good, but the thought that my own expression probably looked no better made the feeling sour again.
What the hell had we even been fighting over?
"Hey, still—Christina's way out of your league as a wife, isn't she? Don't take it so badly."
After a moment's thought I carefully opened my mouth.
No matter what, it was a problem if the groom-to-be's mood was scraping the floor like that. I didn't know exactly when the wedding would be, but knowing the Minister's personality it would be no later than early next year.
A bizarre situation where I was licking the wounds I myself had inflicted. Still, a little comfort was the least I could do.
"For a newly minted noble to break into high society, there's nothing better than marriage. You two were dating because you liked each other in the first place, right?"
Section Chief 2's family, the Barons, were newbie nobles who had only just received their title. Unfortunately, nobles were not the type to go crazy for newbies; a newcomer entering a social circle overflowing with veterans was always going to be difficult.
But if that newbie was connected—even by a few degrees—to the current Minister of Finance? Then nobles would be falling over themselves to extend a hand to House Baron.
Despite my precious advice, however, Section Chief 2's expression remained unimpressed.
"I'm already popular. There isn't a young lady in the capital who doesn't know me."
"You're bragging, you lunatic."
I worried for nothing. The most useless things in the world were worrying about the Minister and worrying about a section chief, and I'd forgotten that.
...Why did he even allow it?
And after hearing Section Chief 2's words, delayed confusion hit me. Just as the man himself said, the bastard boasted a glittering romantic history. The Minister couldn't have been unaware of that, so why link a guy like him to his wife's niece?
Of course the two of them had gotten together of their own free will rather than through the Minister's influence, but the one who drove the nail in with marriage was the Minister, wasn't it? If it were me and some guy like that got involved with a relative of mine, I'd tell them to break up on the spot.
There were two possibilities. Either the Minister hated his wife's niece that much, or the niece was that head-over-heels for Section Chief 2.
And since the Minister was a devoted husband who would never mistreat his wife's niece, it automatically defaulted to the latter.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"No, nothing."
I scanned Section Chief 2 for a moment and reached a conclusion.
She's got weird taste.
The niece simply had unconventional preferences.
Well, she was someone who came from a good house yet chose of her own free will to become a graduate student in a non-mainstream field. She was never going to be ordinary.
"Have a beautiful love."
An extraordinary groom and an extraordinary bride. Plus extraordinary guests. If this wasn't a match made in heaven, nothing was.
"You hang in there too, Chief. When you're tangled up with several women, managing the lines is exhausting."
"Speaking from experience?"
"Speaking from experience."
The moment those words left his mouth, Section Chief 2 and I nodded at the same time.
I would definitely remember that remark and pass it along to either the niece or the Minister.
I ended the call but couldn't even wash up; I just kept fiddling with the communication crystal. The bomb Section Chief 2 had dropped at the end refused to leave my head.
"Come to think of it, the Lady must be having a hard time of it too. Have you been taking her on dates at all?"
"Huh?"
"Looking at that reaction, you haven't even thought about it."
The sight of Section Chief 2 shaking his head as if I were pathetic made me flare up, but since it happened to be about Margarethe I kept quiet and listened.
"The only person as unsettled as you right now is the Lady. The number of women she has to share her husband with keeps increasing—who could possibly stay calm?"
That made me freeze. It was true; my own mental state had been so shaky that I hadn't even thought of it.
Yeah. There was no way she was calm. Even if polygamy was everyday life in this world, human feelings were a separate matter. The fact that the Golden Duke had perfectly controlled even those feelings just meant he was insane.
Of course, since the Iron Blood Duke himself had multiple wives, Margarethe would be familiar with polygamy. Luise and Irina had both received her permission as well.
But the Demon Duke's confession was a matter completely unrelated to Margarethe's permission. Something outside her own resolve had exploded, so of course Margarethe would be thrown into confusion too.
"When the principal wife goes mad with jealousy, the knives come out immediately. Don't think of her as a fish already in the net—take care of her with affection."
The wording was extreme, but it wasn't exactly wrong, so I didn't deny it.
"Advice from experience, so the persuasiveness is off the charts."
"Aigoo, unlike someone I could name, I never got caught."
If only he hadn't said that last part. Bastard.
Anyway, Section Chief 2's advice left my head complicated. Because of this confession-copying bug, Margarethe had to be just as mentally scrambled as I was. And yet she hadn't voiced a single complaint.
Maybe, just as Section Chief 2 said, I had unconsciously thought of Margarethe as a fish already caught. Margarethe will understand. Margarethe will be fine—
Even if he called me a bastard, I had no defense. If someone was precious to you, you were supposed to treat them better, not dare to handle them carelessly.
The timing is convenient, at least.
I glanced at the calendar on the table. We were about to enter late November.
And Margarethe's birthday was also at the end of November. Even a bastard like me remembered that much.
...What should I do?
But remembering a birthday was the bare minimum. What really mattered was what to do on the day itself.
Dates were limited for both of us since we were stuck at the Academy. Paradoxically, that very restriction meant Margarethe would probably be happy enough just going out into the city surrounding the Academy.
The problem was the gift.
I can't get a feel for it.
No matter how hard I turned it over in my head, no answer came. Unfortunately I had never given a birthday present, nor received one.
Before the possession I hadn't even known the day I was born; I'd just used the day I was abandoned in front of the orphanage as a birthday substitute.
It wasn't a day worth celebrating, and the orphanage wasn't exactly rolling in money, so I had no memory of receiving gifts. And since I never received any, I never gave any either.
Nothing's different now.
Birthdays remaining meaningless had continued even after the possession. This body's birthday wasn't mine, after all.
So whenever someone tried to give me something I would refuse it half-heartedly or shove it into storage. Honestly I couldn't even remember what I'd received up to now.
Is this my first gift?
Separate from the complicated thoughts, a quiet laugh slipped out. Giving someone a present on their birthday—this would be the first time. I never expected that first time to be for Margarethe.
Yeah. It was the first. So I should think about it all the more seriously. If necessary I could even ask someone else for advice.
Someone else.
A gift that a noble young lady around Margarethe's age would like. Asking Luise would be easy, but—
"Brother. I'm sorry, but could you hold your breath for about three minutes? Five would be better."
The image of Luise's dead-serious face floated up and I discarded the idea at once. Asking the person who just confessed to you what gift to give another woman? Even a good-natured person like Luise would get angry. Irina was out for the same reason.
If I abandoned gender and just looked at someone of the same generation, there was Erich. Moreover, unlike me, Erich was the type who showed his face in high society with some regularity, so he would have plenty of gift experience.
"Hyung. Have you lost your mind?"
Of course asking Erich wasn't exactly sane either. The guy already had fraternal-marriage punches dancing in front of his eyes; asking him for romance advice? Even if I immediately got the succession to the family headship I would have no excuse.
In the end, for one reason or another, I couldn't even get proper counseling. My human relationships were this narrow—
"Ah."
A good method occurred to me.
I kept wiping the corners of my eyes with the handkerchief Laura had handed me.
"Stop crying. You'll collapse at this rate."
Laura said that, yet her own eyes were red; she was in no position to talk.
When I simply stared at her without a word she averted her gaze as if embarrassed. She had been crying herself.
Of course it was natural to cry, so I understood. I only hoped Laura would understand me as well.
Karl...
I carefully wiped away the fresh tears gathering at the corners of my eyes. The news that had arrived so suddenly that morning truly felt as if the sky itself had collapsed.
"My lady. I thought you needed to know as well, so I contacted you."
A call from the Countess with whom I normally exchanged messages and maintained a friendly relationship.
Her expression had been somehow restless, which made me wonder, but she wasn't the type to waste words, so I told her to speak freely. Besides, unlike me she was staying in the capital, so she might be trying to convey important information.
"The Audit Department Chief..."
But the one listening couldn't stay at ease.
"Is it... really true?"
"I found it hard to believe myself, but it seems to be fact."
And the words that, though hesitant, were filled with certainty made me feel as if I were losing my mind. If someone of the Countess's standing said "it seems to be fact," that meant it was already established truth in high society.
My mind went blank. I had heard news I simply could not believe—news that, if true, would tear my heart apart.
Karl, that child, had fallen asleep at the National Cemetery. And of all places, at the spot where his former comrades were buried, after drinking himself into a stupor.
"I'm sorry to bring you such news. But I thought you needed to know."
"...Thank you, my lady."
I gave a small nod to the Countess, who looked as if she didn't know what to do with herself, as though she were the one at fault.
Yes, it was sad news—but precisely because it was sad news, I needed to know. I needed to know even a little of that child's sorrow and pain.
So I maintained as normal an expression as I could. Only until the call ended. The moment I set down the communication crystal, tears poured out as if my eyes had broken.
"Why not try contacting him?"
At Laura's careful suggestion I shook my head.
"Would he... pick up?"
At that, Laura closed her mouth as well.
Karl had never shown weakness since he was small. After becoming an adult he had even developed a cold side.
That child had surrendered his body to alcohol, laid everything down, and fallen asleep in front of the graves. If I contacted him now, would he even answer? Wouldn't I only be agitating him further?
"For now... for now let's wait."
In the end that was all I could say.
I hated this version of myself so much. If I had been a proper mother I would have had the courage to contact Karl immediately.
No—if I had been, Karl might already have opened his heart to me.
There's still a long way to go.
I had been happy thinking the distance between Karl and me was recovering, but there was still a long way to go.
The communication crystal glowed.
"Ah, Mother."
When I realized the one who had called was Karl, the tears I had barely held back nearly spilled again—
"I'm sorry to ask out of the blue, but what would be a good gift for a lady?"
At those words the tears that had been about to fall went right back in.
I glanced and met eyes with Laura standing behind the communication crystal. She nodded vigorously.
Romance advice.
My heart, which had felt as if it would tear, began to pound at Karl's single sentence.
I really was shameless. Just from thinking my son was relying on me, my mood lifted this easily.
"A gift for the Lady, then?"
"...Yes."
But seeing Karl nod as if embarrassed, a smile rose on its own.
The distance with Karl wasn't as far as I had thought after all.
I really was shameless.