New Year's Audience - 2
Luise and Irina went to their fathers, who had come up to the capital. Margeta likewise headed straight for the Iron Blood Duke the moment he arrived in the Imperial Capital. It was a lonely business, but attendance at the New Year's Audience required you to walk in beside a titled noble bound to you by blood. The scattering was unavoidable. I might be all but engaged to the three of them, yet we were not official family—not yet.
Which meant I had to attend the New Year's Audience alone, a single rider on a single horse. Strange. My fingers were absurdly wealthy, yet there was no one at my side…
Should I just take them off?
Three rings on one hand, three on the other—six glittering pieces in total. Looking at the collection that sparkled hard enough to sting my chest, the thought actually crossed my mind.
If I walked in wearing a fistful of rings and no partner at all, people would take me for a complete lunatic. The kind of idiot who reels women in with a fishing net and then refuses to choose a single one. All right, I was already famous for being a lunatic, but there is a difference between whispers behind my back and staring me straight in the face.
Of course it was only a passing thought. Taking the rings off just because the stares annoyed me would make me not a lunatic but a bastard.
When did I ever have a partner to begin with?
I settled my restless heart and shrugged into my overcoat. Right. I had walked in alone last year and the year before that. What was I fretting about now like some pampered fool?
From next year onward partners would start appearing one by one, and eventually I would have to enter with six of them.
…Six.
I thought it every time, but thank the heavens for the Golden Duke and his legendary twelve. A man who had already spent decades walking in with twelve made six look almost modest. From now on I ought to bow three times a day in the Golden Duke's direction.
On ordinary days the Imperial Palace admitted only those summoned by the Emperor or high-ranking civil servants. During the New Year's Audience, however, that same palace transformed into a crowded banquet hall.
Not every wing was thrown open—imperial security still mattered—but the palace was so vast that opening even a portion was more than enough. The scale of the Imperial Palace itself was a living emblem of the Mandate of Heaven and the enduring power of the throne, so of course it was enormous.
"You've been working hard."
"Think nothing of it. When else would we ever get to move around like this?"
In any case, a sudden surge in traffic meant the people who normally managed the entry lists were dying on their feet.
I spotted the commander of the Imperial Knight Order, who handled palace security, and offered a casual greeting. He returned a light nod of welcome. Unfortunately the mouth that spoke so positively was at odds with eyes heavy with exhaustion.
Still, as the commander said, occasions like this were the only time the Imperial Knight Order truly got to shine. As the Emperor's final shield they were permanently stationed inside the palace—forced hikikomori, in a sense. If they never appeared before the nobility to flex their authority, high society would simply forget they existed. A man dies… when he is forgotten…
"Well then, please go on in."
After a quick once-over of my person, the knight commander stepped aside.
The moment I heard him I glanced sideways. A long line of nobles was being stopped one by one for inspection by the Imperial Knights. There was a lengthy queue right next to me, and slipping through with a free pass felt a little awkward. I had only come over to say hello first.
"People who already hold ordinary entry privileges and those admitted only by special exception cannot possibly go through the same procedures. From their point of view as well, fewer people under inspection is better."
Following my gaze to the queue, the knight commander offered a faint smile. In other words: the place was already packed, so anyone who could be waved through without fuss would be waved through without regret.
It still amazed me every time I saw it. A knight commander ought to project the image of a bloodless, tearless stickler for principle, yet the actual pinnacle of the empire's knights—the Imperial Knight Commander—was a flexible, go-with-the-flow sort of man. How on earth had he climbed that high? Or had the flexibility itself been what earned him the post?
"Then I'll be imposing."
No point declining when bothersome procedures were being skipped. I ought to walk in with a glad heart.
I gave the commander a short bow and passed the checkpoint. Outside had been somewhat noisy; inside was still quiet. Had I come too early? Hardly anyone had entered yet.
"Oh, so you made it too."
I never expected one of those few early arrivals to be the Minister. Why was a man who was both Minister and a Count already here? Had old age simply robbed him of sleep?
"Sir, why are you here so early?"
"Show up when the place is full and you draw attention. You have no idea how many people will hound you over a budget that's already been decided."
The Minister spoke as if the whole business made him sick, and I could only nod.
December through January was indeed a season of hardship for the Minister—every department and agency coming to beg, plead, or resent. Better to arrive early and hide somewhere than show up late and pull every aggro in the building.
"And you?"
"I figured the eyes would find me either way, so I came early too."
His look said, You're no different, so why ask?, but the reasons we drew stares were not the same. He was noticed for his power; I was noticed for six rings.
I awkwardly rubbed my hands. The Minister caught on at once and gave a dry laugh. The same man who had raised hell last summer vacation over pushing Margeta away was now well on his way to becoming a little Golden Duke.
"Seeing you alone, I take it the joint wedding still hasn't happened?"
Even the mockery dripping with scorn left me speechless. Looking at it myself, a joint wedding was lifelong teasing material, wasn't it?
Past me, you bastard. If you were going to go crazy, you could at least have gone crazy cleanly.
"And Your Excellency? Why are you alone?"
Unable to rebut the jibe, I simply shut my mouth and carefully changed the subject. Awkward as the pivot was, it was odd. When a titled noble attended the New Year's Audience he usually brought his wife or husband as partner. Why was this man alone? I had never heard of trouble at home.
Thankfully there truly was no domestic crisis; the Minister simply pointed somewhere with a finger.
Ah.
A very familiar cluster of people stood chatting together.
I knew every face. The Minister's wife, of course, plus the various department chiefs of the Ministry of Finance and their wives. The youngest of the lot had shown the audacity to arrive last.
"We're all getting hounded the same way, so we agreed to come early. I didn't expect you this soon either, but if you have nowhere else to go, stay with us."
"Yes, well. Understood."
It was not a bad offer, so I moved with the Minister toward the Ministry of Finance family.
If the Audit Department Chief wandered around alone, people flocked to him. When the high officials of the Ministry of Finance gathered in one place, people stayed away. Even if we were only making ordinary conversation, outsiders assumed something important was being discussed and kept their distance.
Business cards really do matter.
It was early, yet I had hurried for the New Year's Audience. A gathering of every titled noble meant a gathering of countless potential trading partners as well.
To close new deals it was best to claim a spot early and wait. That way you could leave the impression: I have been waiting for you for some time. A small impression, yes—but the difference between small impressions decided the size of a deal and whether it happened at all. How could anyone sit still?
"Irina. Are you tired?"
The only thing that weighed on me was that my precious daughter was sharing the journey made for the sake of those small impressions. My wife felt the same; she asked Irina with quiet concern.
My wife was used to this sort of activity. Irina was not. She had never been involved in caravans or trading-house work; she was simply a delicate child raised in ordinary fashion.
"I'm fine. I came because I wanted to."
Irina answered her mother's worry with a soft smile. It might have been only words to soothe her mother, yet given how sturdy Irina actually was, it might also have been the truth.
…Right. Think of it kindly. If Irina had been dragged here against her will it would be one thing, but as she said, she had come of her own will. Even if the day turned somewhat dull or tiring, she would overcome it without fuss.
Is this love?
The thought rose unbidden and drew a bitter smile from me. How startled I had been when Irina said she wanted to attend the New Year's Audience—and when she appeared with that rather distinctive ring on her finger.
Irina, too, had become someone who loved. Someone who, by the power of love, solved things she had never managed before, things she had never even considered. Claiming I felt no complicated emotion would have been a lie. And if the object of that love was the Audit Department Chief, the feeling only grew more tangled.
Don't think about it.
I had already decided to leave the matter to Irina's own will. Standing in the way of a path my daughter had resolved upon and desired was no proper thing for a father. Changing my word suddenly would disqualify me as a parent, as a noble, and as a merchant alike.
I would simply cheer for her and watch over her. That role was enough.
Not long after, we finished the Imperial Knights' inspection and entered the palace.
"Confirmed. You may go in."
Thankfully the current knight commander was an easygoing man. The previous one had been so exacting and thorough that every inspection left me feeling my blood dry up. It was a mercy Irina would never experience that.
Oh no.
The moment we cleared the checkpoint and I surveyed the surroundings, my body locked. We had moved deliberately early, so people were scarce—yet the few early guests who were present were, one and all, heavyweights.
Six men stood in a corner. My eyes, and every other noble's eyes, were glued to that corner and refused to leave it.
The Ministry of Finance.
There was no mistaking it. The combination of a massive middle-aged man with a monocle and a young man was rare enough on its own. The other four were figures I occasionally dealt with while running a trading house.
Minister of Finance, Audit Department Chief, Collection Department Chief, Procurement Department Chief, Statistics Department Chief, Deliberation Department Chief. The high officials of the Ministry of Finance—men who could move thousands or tens of thousands of gold coins with a single word—were gathered in one place.
What is going on?
Faced with an unexpected summit of giants, I could not tear my gaze away.
Of course not. Even two department chiefs meeting could make the imperial economy twitch; here they had all assembled. And they had done so early, as if trying to avoid other nobles' eyes as much as possible.
…This year's New Year's Audience looked set to be noisy.
Being the only young man among a gathering of elders is exhausting.
"These days even a little snow makes my knees ache. Heh-heh. Really, once you're old you might as well die."
"Come now. If you talk like that already, what are we supposed to do? You still have at least ten years of service left to give the empire."
"Heh-heh-heh. If I have ten years left, does that mean the Statistics Department Chief has twenty?"
Watching them smile while casually cursing one another, I had no idea how I was supposed to respond.
It was a disaster waiting to happen. Once men no longer wanted promotion and only longed for retirement, the conversations they shared were predictable: recent news, children, grandchildren's antics, health. And, at a very high rate, retirement talk disguised as health complaints.
The talk was so obvious and dull that the wives had already fled elsewhere. I, guilty of holding the same rank of department chief, had to endure the old fossils' grumbling with my entire body. Damn it—let me run away too.
Ah.
Boredom and gloom made me cast my eyes about, and there—just past the checkpoint—I spotted Irina.
It felt like finding light in the dark. If I used Irina as an excuse, could I escape this hell of old fossils…?