Homecoming - 5
The life-or-death excuse—no, confession—dragged on for quite some time. It’s a universal truth that the more nervous a man is, the longer his tongue becomes.
Fortunately, no matter how long I talked, Mar and Beatrix simply listened in silence. If they’d thought my confession was nothing but an ugly excuse, they would have cut me off at once. The fact that they heard me out meant they believed me. That alone was encouraging.
"I could have said all of this through a communication orb, but for something this serious I thought it would be better to speak face-to-face."
For something I’d thrown together in a hurry, the confession even sounded plausible. No matter how good a communication orb’s quality might be, you were still talking to someone far away. They weren’t right in front of you.
Imagine hearing that your lover lost an arm in war and being unable to touch him. You couldn’t stroke that arm and offer comfort, and if you burst into tears yourself, no one would be there to wipe them away. Once the call ended you’d be left alone, half out of your mind. All because he wasn’t actually there.
A wound that already existed—one that had fully healed—should never be allowed to cause that kind of horror. When I framed it that way, both of them seemed to accept the reasoning.
"Of course Beatrix would have known even if I hadn’t said anything. I just… didn’t think of that. I’m sorry for making you worry more for no reason."
I’d truly believed Beatrix wouldn’t find out, so the apology came from the heart. Beatrix gave a small shake of her head.
"The madness of war stops reason cold. I understand."
"Thank you."
Something about the way she phrased it felt like a backhanded jab, and I could only offer a bitter smile. There’s a self-deprecating joke that once you join the military your intelligence goes weird; after going to war, how much worse would it get? Just as Beatrix said, my reason—more precisely, my intelligence—had temporarily shut down.
Yeah. That had to be it. There was no other explanation for the insane idea of trying to slip outside the Magic Tower Master’s information network.
I’m alive.
I let out a quiet sigh of relief. Judging by their reactions, they’d completely settled on believing me instead of chewing me out.
I was alive. I’d escaped a situation where one wrong step would have stripped me down to my soul. As expected, a man survives by talking well.
"…Still, this won’t happen again, right? Karl going to the battlefield, or keeping secrets from us."
Mar’s voice, still edged with a faint unease, reached me, and I nodded quickly. Of course nothing like this would happen again.
"Of course not. This was an extremely unusual situation that forced me to accompany the army. I’m part of the administration, not the military."
Coming from someone who’d already marched off twice while belonging to the administration, it was a bold claim—but both times had been because of the special circumstances surrounding Kagan and Dorgon. There’d been no choice.
Both of them were dead now, and the North had become imperial territory. No more special situations that required me to go to war would arise. And as long as it wasn’t war, I’d have no reason to stay silent or lie to my lovers either. Just as Mar hoped, this sort of thing wouldn’t happen again. I was certain of it.
Hell, if they wanted to send me to the battlefield they could just transfer me to the military. The Crown Prince had blocked that, though.
"Hehe. That’s right. Karl is an administrative official."
Seeing Mar giggle with genuine relief made the corners of my mouth lift on their own. A smiling face was always prettier than a worried, gloomy one—
"I wasn’t born yet, but I heard Father went to war often. I kept worrying… what if Karl ended up the same way."
Ah.
That explained why Mar was so particularly uneasy about the word “campaign.” She already had someone in the family with frequent wartime experience, so of course she would be.
When my first father-in-law had still been active, the eastern border had never known peace. The chaos that had been building for ages finally exploded near the end of the previous emperor’s reign and continued into the early years of the current one. My father-in-law’s prime had overlapped perfectly with that period, and he had been the man in charge.
"Thanks to Father-in-law’s efforts back then, our generation never had to go to war. We’re grateful."
"Is that so? Then Father was working hard for his son-in-law even before I was born."
Mar answered lightly, half-joking, but from the perspective of the eastern kingdoms that had been thrashed by him it wouldn’t have felt like a joke at all. He’d beaten them so thoroughly that the eastern border had stayed quiet ever since.
Leon Kingdom in particular—once called a great power of the central continent—had been reduced to the patient of the center after taking the Empire’s sincere punch. A tragic story, really.
"I’ll have to go thank him soon. Tell him that thanks to him I was able to marry Mar in peacetime."
Sympathizing with a country I’d never even visited was far less important than saying something nice to Mar, so I wiped the thought from my head at once. Leon, tiger, whatever—none of it mattered.
Watching Mar’s smile deepen at my words, I had the feeling that tonight Father-in-law would hear the words “I love you, Daddy.”
He’d probably be happier about that single sentence than any gift or formal thanks. I only hoped he’d also notice the invisible efforts of his son-in-law.
"Come to think of it, it’s almost lun—"
I was just about to finish with “It’s lunchtime, so how about we eat together?” when the door to the student council president’s office suddenly burst open with a racket.
What now?
Seriously, what? Few Academy students or staff ever came to the student council room in the first place, and even fewer would come all the way to the president’s office while a duke’s daughter was holding court there.
Still reeling from the cultural shock in a completely different sense, I turned my head—and saw a familiar head of white hair.
"Mar! The Chief is here, right?!"
Ah. It was her.
That made sense. If it was her, of course she would.
"Welcome, Eri."
"Huh? Unnie?"
Erzebet, who had flung the door open while calling Mar’s name, blinked when she saw Beatrix was there as well.
Surprised? So was I. Who would have guessed the two of them would be together?
"How unfair is that—just the two of you sitting on the Chief’s lap!"
Watching Erzebet get angry about something completely sideways made my chest warm. She was the same kid no matter when or where you saw her.
I just hadn’t expected her to react first to her lover’s lap being stolen rather than greeting the man who had returned from the battlefield.
"Chief, you don’t have a third leg or anything, do you? Don’t hide it—bring it out!"
"You crazy—what the hell are you saying?!"
I recoiled at Erzebet’s natural delivery of pure insanity. She was probably just free-associating, but from the listener’s perspective it was pure horror.
…It was free association, right?
Thanks to the latecomer’s fierce protest, the owners of my lap were swapped. Erzebet and Penelia, who had hurried in after her, became the new occupants.
It was definitely my lap, yet for the moment it was no longer mine. Anyway.
"Heehee. This feels nice."
"Glad to hear it."
I stroked Erzebet’s head as she grinned, and her smile grew even more satisfied. This same girl who could smile like that had been talking about third legs a second ago.
"I’m just glad the Chief came back in one piece. If you’d been hurt we couldn’t do this!"
"So my legs are only good for being chairs, is that it?"
I let out a short laugh and ruffled her hair roughly.
Looks like she explained it well.
Inwardly I sighed in relief.
The fact that she’d claimed my lap and settled in contentedly instead of immediately pecking at me meant Penelia must have persuaded her properly. Or maybe Erzebet had been generous about injuries from the start.
Either way, it was good for me. If I’d had to persuade Erzebet myself I had zero confidence I could win a war of words. Arguing with her was like me playing baduk while she played tiddlywinks.
"Later during club time, do the same for Luise and Irina, okay?"
Strange. I was the one providing the lap, yet she was talking like she was doing everyone a favor.
"Our Erzebet is so kind. Looking out for the others too."
"Right? I don’t do this for just anyone, but we’re family!"
I offered a half-joking compliment, and she brushed aside the joke and took only the praise. Her mental fortitude was astonishing. Living like that, she probably never felt stress at all.
After watching Erzebet for a moment I turned my gaze to Penelia and felt a pang instead of wonder. Her friend had no sense of personal space whatsoever—so why was she like this?
"…Penelia, you can sit more comfortably."
"I am fine, Master. This is already comfortable."
I was briefly speechless. I was saying it because she clearly didn’t look comfortable, yet the person herself had no idea.
Unlike Erzebet, who sat with complete ownership, Penelia was maintaining a safety distance as if she were perched on an invisible chair. We’d already hugged and kissed each other on the forehead and cheek, so what was this?
Is it that she can’t sit on me?
Then would it be fine if I sat on Penelia’s lap…?
Pushing down the complicated feeling, I pressed on Penelia’s shoulders. Only then did she settle onto my lap—though everyone present knew she would soon start glancing around and revert to the invisible-chair state.
I watched the three of them—more precisely the two of them—chattering noisily and allowed a soft smile. Giving up the lap was a tiny, tiny bit disappointing, but for the girls who were practically my little sisters I could yield gladly. Especially since Eri and Penelia would soon have to return to the Imperial Capital.
I’ll save the congratulations for later.
Eri, laughing nonstop and never taking her eyes off my darling; Penelia, face flushed and frozen stiff after being forcibly settled onto his lap.
I couldn’t interrupt this happiness. The congratulations were for him, but offering them now would be the same as killing the mood.
Ribnoman Count, was it.
I thought back to the incident that had happened only yesterday yet had already swept across the entire Empire. The moment when his close friends—his former lovers—had finally had their merits recognized and received the highest honor.
That glorious event had spread far and wide. Beyond the Imperial Capital, beyond the capital region, across the whole Empire. Soon it would reach the entire continent.
Because I had made it so. I had ordered the mages to spread the news far and wide.
The more it spreads, the happier he’ll be.
Of course I had no intention of showing off to him. If he started thinking he owed me a debt, that would be troublesome.
All I needed to do was clap for him and hold him close, telling him he had worked hard. That would be enough for the congratulations I wanted to give my darling.
…He already looks happy enough as it is.
But that was no reason to hold back the congratulations.
Happiness only grows when it is shared.