A Joyful Year-End - 5
I quietly slipped the half of a couple's ring into her breast and watched the Demon Duke beam. Unlike the serene, lofty smile she usually wore, seeing her laugh like a true child filled me with a rush of pride.
If I'd known she'd like it this much, I would have given it ages ago. From now on, I'd be generous with gifts.
...Is this right?
But watching her wear half a ring and delight in it stirred a subtle guilt. It felt like watching a wife pretend to be happy so her impoverished husband, too poor to buy a proper couple's ring, wouldn't blame himself.
Well. As long as she was happy, that was enough. It was only a temporary ring anyway—no need to dwell on it.
"A treasure for life..."
I hurriedly shook my head at the Demon Duke murmuring in a dazed voice. That wicked thing was absolutely not a lifelong ring.
"That won't do. You need to leave room for a wedding ring."
Right. My goal was to fill my brides' fingers with proper wedding rings, not halves.
Honestly, looking at the current state of things, even the wedding rings might end up as halves—but splitting wedding rings would still be weird. When the time came, I'd do my best to stop that.
"Wedding ring..."
Thankfully, the word marriage worked wonders. Life returned to her glazed eyes.
"Um, little one?"
"Hmm?"
Perhaps her thoughts had branched elsewhere, because the Demon Duke, still fingering the ring, spoke up hesitantly.
"Marriage... when were you thinking of it?"
I couldn't help but smile at the Demon Duke asking, shy yet with sparkling eyes.
I'd accepted her confession and even mentioned marriage—so by now, a glorious wedding and tiny quarter-elves playing in the garden must have appeared in her head.
I understood. She'd briefly lost her temper over the life-extension potion, and because of that had fallen to rock bottom. For the Demon Duke who had tasted the bottom even for a moment, talk of marriage must feel like happiness.
"Hmm. At earliest, next year? Mar needs to graduate first, at least."
At those words, the Demon Duke's body went rigid.
What. Could she not wait until next year?
Still, marrying Margarethe while she was still a student would be awkward.
The little one's words snapped me back to my senses. Blinded by happiness, I hadn't noticed—no, the truth is I'd known and simply looked away—as the problem approached.
The princess first.
The hand wearing the ring trembled. I unconsciously bit my lip.
When I asked about the wedding date, he mentioned Lady Margarethe. That meant his first wife would be Lady Margarethe.
Of course. She was the one he had given a ring to first, and unlike me, who had hurt him out of selfishness, Lady Margarethe had done nothing wrong.
So—so of course Lady Margarethe would be the first wife.
Then, what about me.
The problem I'd desperately avoided and refused to think about slowly invaded my mind.
One of higher rank than the first wife cannot enter as the second wife.
An unspoken custom to protect the first wife's authority. Only now, with marriage approaching, did that custom come to mind.
If Lady Margarethe became the first wife, virtually every young lady of the empire could become his wife. No young lady ranked higher than a duke's daughter.
But not me. As a duke myself, I stood above a duke's daughter.
If only I were a duke's daughter too.
Then I wouldn't be below Lady Margarethe, but at least not above her either. Enough to qualify as second wife.
I missed my father, whom I already yearned for on ordinary days, even more. If Father were still well to this day... I could have fulfilled my love and shown him adorable grandchildren.
For the first time, the name of Duke felt heavy. In a hundred years I had never felt this way, and once again the little one was taking my firsts.
I didn't need firsts like this...
...But he did say wedding ring.
I shook off the gloomy thoughts and forced myself to think positively.
Yes, the little one had clearly said wedding ring. Even if I couldn't enter as a wife, even if we couldn't hold a wedding ceremony, it meant he would think of me as a wife.
Becoming a mistress is a sad thing, but with the wall of custom blocking us—
"It'll be a little awkward being second, so please understand. We can't hold the wedding ceremonies at the same time, after all."
...?
His words felt wrong. Because those words sounded like he intended to hold a wedding with me.
Strange. Unless he made me the first wife, marrying me was impossible. And yet hadn't he also said I was second?
"Marrying me—is that what you mean?"
"Yeah."
The look as if asking why I was stating the obvious left my mind blank.
Ah.
And belatedly I realized. The little one didn't know the custom.
Well. He was only just past twenty. And a boy who had entered civil service the moment he became an adult. He might not know much about marriage.
"Little one. That's impossible. The second wife can't rank higher than the first, you see."
I spoke as gently as I could. Explaining with my own mouth why I couldn't become his wife was miserable, but the little one must not be allowed to misunderstand.
"I know."
"Y-yes?"
But the answer that came back only deepened my confusion.
He knows...?
"Are you thinking of breaking the custom? You can't. The Valenti family won't stand for it."
Imagining the worst scenario, I hurriedly tried to stop him.
If he knew the custom and still married me, it meant he intended to ignore a longstanding custom.
That cannot be. Even for him, he must not do such a thing. If he took a wife who could threaten the first wife's authority, House Valenti—more precisely, the Iron Blood Duke—would surely be enraged.
I cannot let the Iron Blood Duke, who should be his solid supporter, become his enemy over me alone. If I just set aside my greed, everyone can be happy, can't they?
"Does the custom apply to you too?"
But to my attempts to stop him, he only asked back as if he couldn't understand.
"That rank thing—wasn't it just based on the family?"
I was left speechless.
"I thought people from ducal houses were equals."
Well, they are equals. But even so, it's hard to put a duke and a duke's daughter on the same level.
"There have been cases where both the first and second wives were daughters of counts."
There have. Rather common, actually. But if the second wife had been a count rather than a count's daughter, it would have been impossible.
...Or would it really?
There's no precedent, but.
At his words, I quickly searched my memory.
Certainly, there are many cases of young ladies from houses of equal rank entering side by side as wives. So if we set aside titles and count me and Lady Margarethe as both people of ducal houses, we can be considered equals.
To reject this assumption, a title-holder and a mere young lady would both have to enter as wives of one man... and there's no precedent for that. Why would a title-holder settle for being one of several wives?
"...No?"
"No, you're right. The little one's words are correct."
I answered firmly to the little one carefully checking again.
In truth it was a stretch. An overly convenient interpretation.
But it was content we could sufficiently argue. Not breaking the custom—merely interpreting it differently was enough to attempt.
As expected of my little one.
A pioneer who carved a path no one had thought of. A partner who found a way to take even me as a proper wife.
My already beloved little one felt even more precious.
I walked down the corridor following the butler who managed Karl's mansion.
With every step, I couldn't hide the racing excitement in my heart. The butler's guidance now was not a courtesy for a guest, but the procedure of introducing the mansion to its future mistress—among them, the first wife.
Excellent.
I thought, watching the butler's back. I'd felt it since last summer: the servants of this mansion were truly outstanding.
In fact, I'd liked them from the moment I entered the mansion. They might have been flustered by guests arriving without their master Karl, but this butler entertained us perfectly.
When we passed through the front gate, the servants welcomed us grandly. In particular, the butler bowing respectfully at the front looked as if he were receiving a superior rather than a guest.
I'd told him his flawless courtesy meant he could relax, but upon seeing my ring, the butler smiled lightly and said,
"Though this body is lacking in many ways, my eyes and ears are not yet blind."
Having heard that, how could I stop him? As expected of servants carefully selected by Karl—they're far too excellent.
"Receiving the ladies who will become the mistresses... I find myself a little nervous."
He even added consideration for Lady Luise and Lady Irina. Words mindful of the two young ladies who might feel left out.
He has sense as well. Enough for Karl to trust him with the mansion.
"If the place you stayed last time was not inconvenient, would it be all right if I guided you there again?"
"Of course."
And so, under the guidance of the butler who had delighted his guests from the start, I arrived at the room where I would stay, and not long after unpacking, a knock sounded.
When I told him to enter, the butler opened the door and bowed his head.
"If it is all right, I would like to show you the facilities of the mansion."
I nodded without hesitation. There was no need to detail the mansion's facilities for a mere guest.
"Only the treasure vault remains now."
"Is that so? I'm looking forward to it."
I answered softly to the butler's words that broke my reverie.
We'd already gone round and round the mansion, and only the last place remained. Truly a vast mansion, but the spaces Karl actually used were few, so we could tour it quickly.
"Alas, regrettably, it is lacking compared to House Valenti's."
"Hehe. Valenti's treasure vault has continued for three hundred years, but this is what Karl accumulated in just a few years, isn't it?"
I answered with a smile to the butler's words, which carried a note of pride.
This wasn't even the Crassius family treasure vault—it was the one in Karl's personal mansion. If he took Valenti's as the comparison, it meant this was no ordinary vault.
And as if that thought was correct, the butler smiled deeply and opened the vault door.
Good heavens.
The moment I saw Karl's treasure vault, I could understand the butler's pride.
Weapons that a warrior like Karl would favor, gems of every color, lavish garments and fabrics, and various other treasures.
The quantity wasn't large, but the variety was. And the quality of each piece never fell short. Small but substantial.
"Spoils of the Great Subjugation War, imperial bestowals, and various rewards piled up and up to create this vault."
Even the process of filling it was extraordinary. Treasures obtained purely through ability.
"Impressive."
"Though the master himself pays them no mind."
I offered a soft smile at the butler's words, added with a touch of regret.
That's true. Karl is so frugal. He goes around wearing little more than his Audit Department uniform.
When there are so many fine clothes like that.
All sorts of formalwear piled to one side. He could wear any of them without issue.
Hm?
And when I reached the deepest part of the vault, I discovered something far too unexpected.
Ordinarily, the inner vault holds what the master treasures most. For example, items left by the founder, or family heirlooms.
What is this?
But the objects before my eyes were far too ordinary.
The display cases themselves looked clean and luxurious. But on them lay a sword, a staff, a spear, a scripture, two crossed swords, a dagger, a bow.
An utterly incomprehensible combination. And they didn't particularly look like masterpieces either. If they had at least the feel of relics, I might have thought Karl had a hobby of collecting antiques—
"These are the items the master cherishes most."
As I stared blankly at them, the butler said quietly. I'd wondered if they'd been misplaced, but they truly were treasures Karl valued.
...Why?
"It would be better to hear the explanation of those from the master rather than me. That would hold deeper meaning."
As if reading my thoughts, the butler added with a slight smile.
"Ah, and that as well."
When I turned my gaze where the butler pointed, an equally peculiar set of objects had been left in a corner.
A greatsword and a great scythe. Another combination that made my head spin.
"...The upkeep seems a little neglected?"
"The master instructed that those be left roughly as they are."
My head spun even more.