Found My Manpower - 2
The higher a buyer's station and the more gold they paid, the finer the goods they received. It was market logic so obvious it scarcely needed explaining. That was why the carriages owned by the Crassius family, save for those reserved for delivery to the imperial household, boasted quality that left nothing wanting.
Sturdy materials, a plush interior, seats as comfortable as a bed, and a ride so smooth the jolts were barely felt—everything that made the long, dull hours inside a carriage at least tolerable.
Yet no matter how soft and snug the ride, a carriage remained a carriage. Its limits could not be escaped.
"Sera, are you all right?"
"I told you I'm fine. How many times are you going to ask?"
I held back the words Because every time I look, your face is pale. Say that and Sera—already exhausted—would force herself to manage her expression. Better to let her condition show so we could stop the carriage or rest in a town if needed.
I knew it would be like this.
I forced a smile to match Sera's gentle one, but inside a sigh was clawing its way up.
A fine carriage was still a carriage. Smooth ride, almost no shaking? That simply meant the tremors were tiny. To an ordinary person they were negligible irritation. To Sera, who after long confinement at home was making her first extended journey by coach, that faint motion struck her frail body head-on.
I had wanted to travel by teleport instead. Mother, fretting over Sera's health, had even offered to assign a family mage, so it would have been easy enough.
"I'm all right. I'll be active at the Academy from now on. I can't throw a tantrum and claim it's too hard every single time."
The problem was that Sera herself had refused.
There would be plenty of moving about in the future, and she could not rely on teleportation her whole life, so she needed to get used to carriages—that was her argument. Regrettably, it was not wrong, so neither Mother nor the nanny could override her. When a frail child steels herself and asks only to be treated normally, who has the heart to stop her?
"If Sera looks tired, contact me at once."
"Yes, Mother."
While the nanny hugged Sera goodbye with brimming eyes, Mother slipped close and whispered: if Sera's condition worsened even midway, I was to call immediately. A mage could still be sent to teleport them the rest of the way.
From the estate until now I had no idea how many times I had fumbled with the communication orb. Every time Sera swayed with the carriage's motion, every time she merely sneezed, my heart lurched. The urge to summon a mage on the spot and travel in comfort kept rising.
Of course I never acted on it. Sera would resent me for it, and she was oddly stubborn that way.
"Um, Erich."
Sera, who had just given a tiny yawn—perhaps carsickness—spoke carefully. What was this? Was she finally asking me to call a mage? At last an escape from this bed of nails?
"If you're worried about me... could I borrow your shoulder?"
Ah. Not that.
I quietly shifted my posture. From the mood, she simply wanted a pillar to lean against; that much I could gladly provide. I would have been even happier if she had asked for teleportation instead of a pillar, but still.
Once I settled into a comfortable position, Sera gave a soft smile and rested her head on my shoulder. The carriage was spacious enough that lying down would have been more effective if she was sleepy, but—
"This feels warm."
"Does it? Good."
If she felt warm, there was nothing for it. For someone unwell, temperature regulation was no small matter.
She said shoulder, though.
The only regret was that as Sera dozed, her body gradually slipped downward until she was naturally using my knee as a pillow instead of my shoulder.
Thanks to that, I could not leave my seat until she woke.
Perhaps the sacrifice of my knee paid off: we reached the Academy without ever calling a mage. Remembering how I had fretted the whole way about when I might have to summon one left a bitter taste, yet it also meant Sera's health was holding up. I decided to count it as good news.
While our carriage rolled along the avenue from the main gate toward the dormitories, I spotted a vehicle impossible to miss. Compared with every other coach it was uniquely gaudy and enormous, and on its door the crest of the Lovens royal family was boldly painted.
Ryutis?
Anyone could tell it was Ryutis's carriage. If someone else were riding in a rig like that, it would be stranger still.
They had noticed us as well; one of the knights escorting Ryutis's coach approached and spoke with our family guard.
"Young master."
Moments later the small window in the door opened and the escort knight showed his face.
"His Highness Prince Ryutis asks that, if you have no further schedule, you meet him in the clubroom. He says it has been a long time and he would like to talk."
A perfectly good suggestion. Until the opening ceremony there was little to do and the days would drag; better to pass them with someone I knew. And if the someone was Ryutis, we could play chess or even a one-on-one foot-volley match.
Besides, if I headed straight to the dormitory, Sera would be left alone. No matter how close we were, a man could not simply walk into the women's dorm. What sort of shameless noble would do such a thing?
"Want to come along?"
I asked Sera, who still had her head on my knee. She sat up and tilted her head.
"Prince Ryutis... the one from the same club?"
"...Yeah."
Strange. The titles "Prince" and "His Highness" felt utterly foreign. Even if they were the proper forms of address, after seeing the absurd sights he put on in the club, any sense of reverence had long since evaporated.
I felt a little sorry, but there was no helping it. Even a fervent royalist would lose loyalty after a single month in the Baking Club.
"He's cheerful, so don't worry. Once you're in the same club you'll see him every day anyway."
"Mm, all right. I'll think of it as saying hello early."
Her answer was casual, yet her eyes trembled oddly.
I understood. Suddenly faced with the prince of a nation, of course she would be nervous. From my perspective, knowing Ryutis's true self, the tension looked pointless, but still.
"Oh, Erich! It's been ages!"
"Yeah. You been well?"
After we redirected our carriage toward the building that housed the clubrooms, Ryutis, already out of his coach, waved cheerfully.
As I returned the greeting in a rough fashion, I heard Sera hiccup beside me. The prince's free-and-easy salutation, and a noble answering him so casually, had clearly startled her more than expected.
She'll have to get used to it.
I felt bad for the tense Sera, but stripping away fantasies and awe toward royalty was the destiny of every Baking Club member.
Which made me worry. How long would it take Sera to reach that stage? I had managed in under two months, but with Sera's awkwardness around people it might take half a year...
"And the lady beside you is Sera?"
"Huh, you remember?"
Now it was my turn to be surprised. I had mentioned Sera before winter break, but I never expected the fellow to still recall her.
"Well, every time you talked about Lady Sera affection dripped from your eyes. How could I forget even if I tried?"
I snorted at the exaggerated tone. I had mentioned her a few times because I was looking forward to seeing her again, but it had not been that bad.
"Affection..."
Still, Sera seemed quietly pleased, so I did not bother correcting him.
Since arriving at the Academy I had spent more time in the clubroom than in my own quarters.
In the dorm there was nothing to do, whereas at least in the clubroom there were people to keep me company. Setting aside Margeta, who was frantically renovating the student council office, Luise and Irina also dropped by, and whenever my mouth got bored Luise baked sweets—so I was enjoying a rather decent rest.
"Hm? The advisor is here as well?"
It had been perfectly fine until I saw him.
Damn it.
Looking at Ryutis's face brought home the fact that I was back on duty. Break was over; a new term was beginning...
"You came too?"
"Haha, sitting in the dorm wouldn't give me anything to do either, would it?"
The fact that his thoughts and mine were nearly identical made me feel ashamed. Why did our minds sync only at times like this?
Anyway, as Ryutis laughed, Erich and Sera entered behind him. I had not expected them to arrive together; they must have met on the way.
She really came.
Seeing Sera—who had always been confined to her bed—actually present at the Academy felt novel. The way she held Erich's hand made me wonder if she was overdoing it, yet after a long carriage journey the fatigue was understandable. Even healthy people got motion sickness on extended rides; how much worse for Sera?
"Hello, oppa."
Noticing my gaze, Sera bowed her head. On closer look her complexion was merely worn from exhaustion, not the look of someone suffering illness.
"Yeah. Welcome. Erich didn't do anything weird, did he?"
"Hey, why am I suddenly under fire?"
When I tossed the joke, the unexpected victim Erich opened his mouth with a sour look.
"Hehe, nothing of the sort. Though thanks to Erich I did get to rest comfortably."
At those words every pair of eyes in the clubroom locked onto Erich—mine, Luise's, Irina's, and Ryutis's alike.
Of course I knew Sera had phrased it suggestively and the lewd demons in our heads had simply activated. Erich would never suddenly leap past assertiveness into reckless aggression. Still, instinct outran reason by half a step, so the stares were unavoidable.
"...She means the lap pillow."
Yes, the lewd demons had been correct. Sorry—I had suspected just a tiny bit.
Sera, apparently interested in the dough Luise was industriously kneading, drifted over and entered spectator mode. They had already met at the estate, so conversation seemed to flow well enough.
"I'm glad she has a friend of the same sex."
Erich, watching blankly, murmured the words with a genuine sigh of relief.
It truly was fortunate. However carefully Erich watched over Sera, he could not cross the wall of gender. Dormitories divided by sex, the rare classes that separated boys and girls—under those conditions, Erich alone could never provide full coverage.
"Hyung."
After a moment of thought, Erich turned his gaze to me.
"Yeah."
"Just if—if a situation comes up where no one can look after Sera, could you take care of her?"
No need to deliberate. Sera was no stranger, and she was the head maid's daughter; of course I would look after her. As the family's heir, caring for the retainers was not merely duty but common sense.
"I—"
Just as I was about to answer naturally with Sure, a better idea struck me.
...Should I recruit him too?
Erich: my little brother, imperial citizen, Baking Club member, bearing the Crassius name and thus a fair amount of authority, and ever since Luise turned him down he had never caused trouble or given me a headache.
Thinking about it now, he was the perfect labor force. Unlike Ainter, whose place under me was a bit ambiguous, Erich was clearly my junior—another plus.
"—would like to, but it's not as if I have zero work myself."
So I took a sharp turn. I could have simply agreed, yet if I was going to help, I might as well extract a little credit.
"If you help me out now and then I'll have more breathing room, and then it becomes possible."
"Me, help with your work?"
"Obviously I won't dump the hard stuff on you. Handing complicated tasks to a non-specialist just multiplies the work."
Right—it would not be difficult. It would merely make his insides burn and fill him with the urge to desert.
Still, I could guarantee this much: the truly hard, irritating main tasks I would handle myself. Erich only needed to take the side branches.
"Got it. I'm the one asking the favor, so that's nothing."
"Thanks."
Truly, thank you—my Unit Two.
When I inherit the family, I'll make sure to look after you well.