If I Go to the Capital, I'm a Beast
After successfully salvaging Margeta's mental state, I was finally able to enjoy truly peaceful days. It might have been because the crisis had even sucked in every accident that was supposed to explode in the future.
Even the birthday I had been waiting for with a faintly trembling heart passed by ordinary and uneventful.
"I've already received something precious."
Watching Margeta smile so brightly as she stroked her left hand—more precisely the bar/ji… no, the ring—I couldn't bring myself to open my mouth.
The fact that those two pieces had originally been one was a secret I would take to my grave. If I said something like "Actually, that one's broken" while she was this happy, Margeta's mental state would shatter all over again.
"Next time I'll give you something even better."
The only thing I could do was plant a little foreshadowing for eventually swapping it out with a proper ring.
"Hehe. There won't be anything better than this. It's the first ring, after all."
Even that failed.
This was bad. Did I have to keep her wearing a split ring forever?
…An opportunity will come.
Engagement rings, wedding rings—there were plenty of excuses. Someday I would manage to swap out something as simple as a ring.
"Um, Karl."
"Yes, Mar."
"Could you give me your hand for a moment?"
At the request I had already lost count of, I let out a small laugh and offered my left hand.
Margeta immediately held out her own left hand, looking as proud as if she owned the entire world.
"It really is one."
I nodded along as she murmured the words almost like a song.
The bar I wore and the ji she wore. When we laid our left hands together, they formed the shape of a single complete ring.
Well, they used to be one piece…
The secret I could never speak swirled inside my mouth. No matter how many times I resolved myself, it was never enough. This was a secret that absolutely, under no circumstances, could ever come to light.
That was why, a few days earlier, I had pressed a generous handful of gold coins into the hands of the merchant who sold me the ring and told him to set up shop in the Imperial Capital instead of the Academy. With that, the chance of Margeta ever finding out had dropped to nearly zero.
It was a completely random measure, but the merchant had been delighted at the chance to expand into the capital, so everyone ended up happy. That was what I chose to believe, anyway.
"…I won't take it off ever again."
Margeta said it while gently taking my hand. The sheer determination in her voice made it sound as though she would keep wearing it for the rest of her life even if the world itself collapsed. All I could do was nod.
Everywhere we walked, countless gazes stabbed into us.
"It's true."
"A ring that joins into one… that's so cool."
The whispers of female students drifted over from a distance.
Every time it happened, my fingers itched. Since when did stares possess physical force?
This feels strangely familiar.
The sensation of being a predator on display in a safari was far too familiar. It had been exactly like this during the Demon Duke incident.
First wave: the Demon Duke confessed to the Audit Department Chief. Second wave: despite that, he exchanged rings with the Iron Blood Duke's daughter. The perfect recipe for every eye in the vicinity to lock onto us.
Of course it hadn't spread across the entire Empire yet the way it had back then, but my instincts screamed that it was only a matter of time.
There's no better place for a rumor to explode than the Academy.
A social arena where every noble scion gathered, an educational institution that even admitted the occasional foreigner. Once a rumor properly took root here, it could set the Empire—no, the entire continent—ablaze in an instant. Especially if it was a rumor no one had any reason to suppress.
"Karl."
"Ah, Mar."
Besides, with Margeta constantly roaming the Academy grounds, controlling the rumor had been impossible from the start.
"What a coincidence, running into you here."
"Indeed it is."
Margeta covered her mouth with her left hand and laughed softly; an awkward smile escaped me in return. It didn't feel like a coincidence at all, but if she insisted it was, I would pretend to agree.
Originally she had spent almost all her time shut inside the vice-president's office handling Student Council work. Ever since receiving the ring, however, she had been touring the Academy with terrifying enthusiasm.
Knowing exactly why made it both adorable and terrifying. If—if I hadn't prepared that ring that day, what on earth would have happened…
Absolute chaos, that's what.
I didn't have the courage to imagine the details. "Chaos" was enough of a summary.
"It's lunchtime. If you don't mind, would you like to eat together?"
"Gladly."
Apparently satisfied by the swift answer, Margeta smiled and offered her left hand for an escort. A perfectly natural gesture.
Left hand…
Except that Margeta was originally right-handed.
In my clear memory she had always covered her mouth, held her fan, and taken hands with her right hand. Ever since receiving the ring, though, she covered her mouth with her left, held her fan with her left—everything with her left—so she could show off the brilliantly gleaming ring.
"Karl?"
"Ah, sorry. Let's go."
I took her hand while deliberately ignoring the surrounding whispers.
Right. What did stares or rumors matter? As long as Margeta was happy, that was enough.
Simply being proud that my gift made her happy enough to flaunt it was sufficient. It meant I hadn't chosen wrong.
Whether I turned a ring into a bar/ji or matched couple rings, the fact that I was the advisor of the Baking Club remained unchanged.
Luise constantly sneaking glances at my left hand, Irina who at some point had started permanently camping in the clubroom and joining in, the other members who had apparently abandoned the baking concept entirely and were now playing blackjack—performing the role of advisor in the middle of all that was more exhausting than expected.
Still, the more overwhelming the work, the greater the joy of finally clocking out.
"Nephewww—! Nephew nephew nephew!"
"My ears are perfectly fine. Please say it only once."
But when that joy shattered, the despair was equally vast.
The moment I lay down on the bed, the communication orb flared with light. Thinking it might be Mother or the Minister who had heard the rumor, I answered—only to discover it was the Wise Duke.
You've got to be kidding me.
As always, she was thoroughly drunk and giggling. I wanted nothing more than to hang up immediately, but one did not simply ignore a call from a Duke.
"What is the matter?"
"Aaaah nooo! Do I need a reason to call my nephewww!?"
Of course she did. A Duke making a direct call to the Audit Department Chief.
Those words, of course, stayed trapped inside my mouth. Drunk or not, a Duke was still a Duke. Speaking curtly and souring her mood would only create more headaches.
Most people forgot everything once they sobered up, but the Wise Duke was drunk every single day, so her memory remained pristine. In my professional opinion she belonged to an entirely different species.
"Since Your Grace is busy with both public and private—"
"Auntie."
Why was her pronunciation suddenly crystal clear only at moments like this?
"…Since Auntie went to the trouble of contacting me, I assumed it must be something important…"
"Pfhehe, that's riiight~"
Watching her gulp more liquor while snickering, I quietly rubbed the back of my neck.
"Huh? Nephew, is your neck stiff these days?"
Yes. Because of you.
"It's nothing. I must have slept wrong; my neck's just a little stiff."
"Pyahaha! Our babyyy does the same thing! Family really does resemble each other!"
At those words the rarely-seen face of my uncle floated up in my mind.
Yeah. Even I, who only spoke with her occasionally, ended up grabbing the back of my neck. What must life be like for the man who lived with her every day? Sudden, profound respect blossomed in my chest.
"…Yes, it seems so."
"Thaaat's riiight~?"
She continued laughing and drinking and laughing until the bottle finally emptied, only then getting to the point.
"Hihi, actually there's something I wanted to ask my nepheww~"
"Yes, please go ahead."
At my reply she drew a long breath and exhaled a pale red plume of smoke.
Anxiety prickled. What on earth was this professional alcoholic about to say that required her to actively drive out her own drunkenness?
"Nephew. You didn't forget what I told you, did you?"
"Pardon?"
The words struck a civil servant's deepest instincts; my body locked up on its own. It was a sentence on the same level as "Did you do the thing I told you to do?"
I rapidly spun through my memories. What had the Wise Duke ever told me? If I excluded drunken rambling, complaints, tantrums, and pure madness, there was nothing left—
"Nephew. If it looks like the Demon Duke is about to drag you off, you stab first. She'll be so happy she'll collapse."
Ah.
That was it. That was the only thing it could be.
"You didn't forget~?"
"Yes, of course not."
"Then why did you do that."
Her earlier grin vanished in an instant. The expression that replaced it was one of genuine pity, as if she were watching a child thrashing at the bottom of a well.
She even pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes in a theatrical display of tears.
"I heard everything. This auntie is so sad. Our nephew's future looks far too dark."
"Th-that…"
"If my nephew happens to get chopped into several pieces, I promise I'll make sure at least one of them gets sent back to Crassius!"
What the hell. I'm not some mythical founder who gets cut into pieces—why would that happen to me?
At the sight of my frozen face the Wise Duke cackled again and continued.
"Nephew. I can congratulate our nephew's marriage. She's the Iron Blood Duke's youngest, right? When I saw her before she was cute and clever!"
But will everyone else be able to congratulate you as well?
The additional remark made me unconsciously swallow.
"The Demon Duke, all flustered and embarrassed~ She's been waiting so desperately for the New Year's Audience~ And then suddenly her beloved prospective husband goes and gives a ring to another woman?"
Cold sweat began to trickle down my back.
"Ah, you heartless man! While I'm fretting myself to death over here, someone else is leisurely out dating!"
That particular accusation felt a little unfair. Leisurely? When I had given Margeta the ring I had been more serious and solemn than at any other moment in my life.
Still, my mouth refused to open. The rumor was still confined to the Academy, right? Unlike the Demon Duke incident there were no messenger birds this time, so it should spread slowly…
There are mages at the Academy too, you idiot.
I had let my guard down. There were people who could serve as the Demon Duke's eyes, and I had been far too careless. Had my intelligence actually dropped? How had I failed to consider that?
When I dry-washed my face with trembling hands, the Wise Duke grinned and delivered the finishing blow.
"Teleport—do you need one?"
"…Please."
Satisfied with the answer, she nodded vigorously.
A hollow laugh escaped me. I now had to personally travel to the Imperial Capital to put out an urgent fire—no, to extinguish the fuse of a bomb.
It was catastrophic. I had fully intended never to set foot in, or even look at, the capital until the New Year's Audience.
One shouldn't carelessly make promises one cannot keep.
While I stared blankly at the communication orb, the Crown Prince's words floated up unbidden.
Crown Prince, you were right. For me, turning my back on the capital had always been a promise I could never keep…
If I show up before then, I'm not a person—I'm a beast pup.
And then the vow I had made while hurriedly leaving the National Cemetery resurfaced as well.
Shit.
Actually, I was a beast pup. After fighting beasts in the north for so long, I had become one myself.
I decided to just leave it at that.