The Capital's Groom of the Year - 6
Family can be something you are born into, or something you build afterward. You might open your eyes and find yourself a member of House Barenti; through marriage, another house can become bound to the Barentis. That was why Father treated this formal introduction of the families with such gravity.
With a single gathering, they had become in-laws to House Crassius, one of the Imperial Counts. The Cattovan ducal house, the Masalo marquessate, the Yorun countship, and the Naiad barony had all been drawn inside the same fence called family. For a man who prized family as highly as Father did, it could only be a joy.
But the bonds that form under the name of family are not limited to the elders of each house.
"Have you been working with Big Brother the whole time, Sister?"
"Ahhh, Nii~ We only worked together for two years… wait, it's three now? Before that we were just under the same roof."
"Still, three years is a long time to have known each other."
Women who now shared the same husband. Until recently they had been strangers; now they were family closer than almost anyone else.
And because the connection between the houses would last only as long as their own relationships did, the role and duty of the wives could not have been heavier.
As the first wife among them, the weight might have pressed even harder—
It'll be fine.
Watching Young Lady Luise and Young Lady Erzebet converse so warmly, the tension simply melted away. A marquess's daughter and a baron's, a bureaucrat and a student, a woman in her twenties and a teenager—there was no shortage of reasons for friction, yet the two of them were smiling as if none of it mattered.
Truly a relief. If even one of the wives had possessed a sharp, vicious temper, holding the family frame together would have been nearly impossible. Fortunately neither of those two, nor any of the others, had that kind of jagged personality. Whether Enen was watching over them or Karl simply had an excellent eye for people…
It was true that Young Lady Erzebet, a cadre of the Audit Department, had a certain notoriety circulating through high society. But if one were ranking reputations for dread, the Audit Department Chief himself was far worse. Notoriety of that sort was hardly worth fretting over.
"So what am I supposed to do? The Chief's always out these days. I want to spend my academy days with him toooo~"
Young Lady Erzebet whined and pulled Young Lady Luise into a hug. Young Lady Irina let out a soft little laugh at the sight, and the Magic Lord smiled as well.
It was the ideal picture—no jealousy, no turning of backs. They still knew little of one another and were only beginning to learn, but the simple fact that they were trying was already a good sign.
Thank you, Young Lady Luise.
She looked with quiet gratitude at the girl buried in Erzebet's arms. No matter how even-tempered everyone was, no matter how hard they tried to get along, effort alone did not solve everything.
Awkwardness made it hard to speak; people watched one another's faces; time slipped away empty. That was the inevitable first stage of any meeting. Thanks to Young Lady Luise, they had been able to skip most of it.
From Luise's perspective, Irina was a friend, she herself a senior, the Magic Lord a teacher—and even Young Lady Erzebet was an acquaintance from the Academy fair. Because the one person connected to every one of them had kept the conversation flowing, the awkwardness had faded rather quickly. The social grace that had once captivated royalty and imperial blood alike had clearly not gone anywhere.
"She looks as though she can't breathe. Won't you let her go?"
"Fiiine—"
As a result they had reached the point where, even with people who had never met before, they could talk around the subject of Young Lady Luise.
A master, seeing her disciple thrash about, gently scolded the young lady tormenting her; the young lady released her with a show of reluctance. A few days earlier such a scene would have been unimaginable.
This is how we grow close.
She smiled softly as Erzebet, having released Luise, promptly gathered Irina into her arms instead.
There was no need to rush. They would grow close step by step until they could talk naturally even without Luise as a bridge.
"Whoa, do you work out separately? You're surprisingly firm—"
"H-Hey, Sister!"
In the middle of it all, Young Lady Erzebet was kneading Irina's body and marveling. Startled by the sudden appraisal, Irina raised her voice—but there was no real disgust in it.
Irina, too, was probably thinking that this was simply how they became friends. Everyone seemed so full of the will to grow close that it made her happy.
…She would have been even happier if the Magic Lord had not fixed her with that peculiar look every time the word "Sister" left someone's mouth.
"We're family now, more or less. When it's just us, why don't we drop the formalities?"
At Young Lady Luise's suggestion they agreed that, among themselves, they would call one another "Sister" and "little sister"—yet she still could not find the courage to address the Magic Lord that way.
The Magic Lord seemed to understand and never pressed for the title. She merely cast quiet, expectant glances. Every time, she found herself wondering what reaction she was supposed to give.
Sister Beatrix.
She tried the words out in advance, but an instinctive rejection made her body tremble.
Could she—could she really dare? This was someone who had become a duke before her own father, before even her grandfather or great-grandfather…
I have to try…
But family could not go around calling one another "Your Grace" and "Lord Duke."
Yes. She would try. Someday it would bear fruit. She chose to believe that.
Contrary to every worry, the period of the New Year's Audience passed without incident.
True, there had been the near-death experience of being flattened by the Golden Duke's steamroller, but as long as one still had a pulse it hardly counted. And aside from the Golden Duke, no one had even managed to punch through the in-law shield. It had been almost too comfortable.
Whenever it looked as though even the in-law shield might fail, he simply drifted over to the Ministry of Finance side. A man really did need several bolt-holes prepared in advance.
…This is "comfortable."
A sudden wave of self-loathing hit him. An imperial luncheon invitation, the burning stares of the nobility, the Golden Duke's declaration of the Twelve Rings, meeting four pairs of parents-in-law in a single place—he had endured all of it at once and still called it comfortable.
But what choice was there? Measured against the absolute worst hell he could imagine, this was practically paradise. If the Section 1 Chief's tearful pleas or the Magic Lord's sobbing breakdown from the end of last year had erupted during the New Year's Audience instead, it would never have ended with mere stares.
Thank the gods. The disasters that were going to explode anyway… he was grateful he had managed to space them out ahead of time.
And nothing worse should be left to explode.
He glanced toward the in-laws—more precisely, toward the place where his prospective wives were gathered.
In the usual tales of domestic intrigue the wives plotted endlessly and waged silent wars of nerves; blessedly, among those five there was not the slightest sign of it. The Section 4 Chief, who was not even present, was not the type to lock horns with anyone either. Against miraculous odds, every single wife had turned out to be the mild flavor.
One of them might be a sadistic torture enthusiast merely pretending to be mild, but still. Mild. That was the story he was sticking with.
As long as they don't fight, it's enough.
He had never expected them to be close from the first meeting.
He had only hoped that, in a hall full of titled nobles, no one would start saying things like "Why do you get to share a husband with me?" or "Why are you the first wife?" If the Magic Lord had gone berserk, the New Year's Audience would have become a Last Day in Office ceremony on the spot.
Yet they had gone past mere non-fighting into something that looked almost harmonious. He could have wept. Apparently the subordinate luck he had squandered elsewhere was being refunded here.
"I still can't decide. Whether to give the congratulatory gift all at once or split it up."
"Give it however you like. The form matters less than the sentiment, doesn't it?"
"That only makes it harder."
While he watched Irina escape the Section 1 Chief's embrace only to be immediately claimed by Luise's, the Information Department Chief ambled over.
The New Year's Audience was the only stretch of the year when the Information Department Chief could rest with full legitimacy. Thanks to that, his complexion looked brighter than usual—though still gloomy by anyone else's standard.
"It's been a long time since we met face to face. Have you been well?"
"Well, as long as I'm still breathing I suppose I'm doing fine. Glad to see the Audit Department Chief looks well too."
A light greeting earned a reply that sounded almost sincerely heartfelt.
Right. As long as the Information Department Chief hadn't worked himself into an early grave, he was doing fine.
"Anyway, sorry for the sudden call. I didn't particularly want to talk shop during the New Year's Audience either."
The Information Department Chief, who had snorted a short laugh, quickly composed his face and apologized. The reason Karl had peeled away from the in-laws and the Finance Ministry side to meet him at all was because of that request for a brief talk.
Honestly he hadn't wanted to discuss work either, but when someone who hated talking shop even more than he did asked for a meeting, refusal was impossible. It was almost frightening. What in the world could have happened for this man to make the first move…
"It's fine. We've already rested more than enough."
"Kind of you to say so."
The Information Department Chief let out a small sigh, scanned their surroundings with practiced speed, and spoke carefully.
"Intelligence has come in regarding the 5th Empire. I thought the Audit Department Chief needed to hear it as well, so I called you."
He gave a slight nod.
Those bastards.
Outwardly he stayed calm; inside he was anything but. After the Five Pillars' spectacular self-destruction, there had been Stephen's Glory in the first semester, the Twilight Cult over summer break, and the Red Wave in the second semester.
The way they kept appearing one after another as if on a schedule had already made him wonder—and now they really had popped up over winter break. Creepily punctual.
Right at the start of the new year…
His head began to throb. Important new-year ceremonies were not limited to the Empire; Armein held them as well. Yet while their own country was in the middle of the seasonal chaos, they were making strange moves—moves large enough to catch the eye of Imperial Intelligence?
Weird sons of bitches. Even if they were fringe players in Armein politics, they didn't have to act like total outsiders.
"They've been purged, it seems. Several key figures of the 5th Empire had their heads cut off."
Yes, of course. Act like an outsider from day one of the new year and naturally you get pur—
…?
"The purge was led by the Third Prince, Ryutis. I called you because, as an advisor, the Audit Department Chief ought to know."
"…What?"
His head throbbed for an entirely different reason.
Who purged whom?