Even the Great Have Daily Lives - 2
Once I realized the strange discrimination against Mar, my head grew complicated. Complicated enough that I let the Emperor’s speech go in one ear and out the other.
Of course, it was full of ceremonial platitudes anyway, so missing it was no real problem.
“My son-in-law has finally come all the way to the capital, and yet that child isn’t here. What a shame.”
“I feel the same, sir. I only wish the break would hurry up so we can spend time together.”
My thoughts were so tangled I could barely hear the Emperor—yet outwardly I kept my expression as calm as possible. It was a rare chance for my fathers-in-law to gather in one place and exchange greetings; a son-in-law sitting alone looking grim would only make things awkward.
Even now Marquis Iones, Erzebet’s father—my fifth father-in-law—was smiling at me.
“Still, you seem to keep in touch often. Keep that up, will you?”
“Of course, Father.”
I nodded again and again as my fifth father-in-law clasped my hand and made the request. Erzebet was bold enough to call first if I didn’t message her, so there was nothing to worry about—but there was no need to say so and embarrass him.
“It’s a relief Luise is still a student. Having her away from my side is hard, yet knowing she’s with such a reliable son-in-law puts me completely at ease.”
“Honestly, it seems I had that girl far too early.”
While my third father-in-law spoke with a smile, my fifth—whose daughter was no longer a student—reacted as though the unfairness of it all was killing him.
Strange, really. Even if they were family in the broad sense through a shared son-in-law, a baron and a marquis chatting so freely was unusual. Did the fathers-in-law keep in contact on their own? Otherwise I couldn’t explain the easy camaraderie.
If they get along, that’s a good thing.
I watched my laughing fathers-in-law and privately accepted it.
Yes—if the in-laws were on good terms, a son-in-law could only welcome it. If they were at odds, the lovers who inevitably felt their families’ influence would be the ones left in a bind.
I had especially fretted over my third father-in-law, who occupied the miraculous position of “the baron squeezed between a duke, a marquis, and a count,” yet seeing them now, my worries had been needless.
The original capybara god, maybe?
Come to think of it, he was Luise’s father. If the pink-capybara temperament was hereditary, then he was the original—the prototype who surpassed even Luise.
Suddenly my third father-in-law looked entirely different.
The banquets that stretched across several days ended quietly and without incident. The Emperor had secured a proper succession amid the nobles’ pledges of loyalty, and the nobility had no intention of crossing the new sovereign. Instead they bowed low, careful not to be cut down by imperial authority at its peak.
Fortunately I too was allowed to enjoy that peace. Perhaps because I had already been run ragged as the Emperor’s favorite toy—confirming the founding of the Inspectorate Ministry, managing Wiridia, forming the northern faction, and more—he left me alone for once.
“Ah—oo—ah-oo—”
“I’m glad to see Your Highness is healthy today as well.”
“Ahwuu—”
The only work that came my way was visiting the Crown Princess, whose babbling had grown more fluent. As her godfather that was only natural, so I had no real complaint.
Though I would have preferred she stop gripping my finger for dozens of minutes at a stretch. It wasn’t as if I hadn’t gone simply to show my face and ended up trapped more than once or twice.
“As expected, it seems Her Highness truly recognizes her godfather.”
Once again I was bent at the waist offering my finger; the head lady-in-waiting, watching the scene, smiled as she spoke.
“Me?”
“Yes. Aside from His Majesty the Emperor, Her Majesty the Empress, and His Majesty the Retired Emperor, Her Highness quickly lets go of anyone else’s finger. Only her godfather is the exception.”
“I see.”
I found myself smiling without meaning to. If the lady-in-waiting’s words were true, this tiny baby recognized her godfather and regarded him as family…
…
“Does His Majesty the Retired Emperor visit as well?”
I brought up the remark that had nearly slipped past. The Retired Emperor was also a sacrificial offering of fingers to the Crown Princess?
“He comes often. Last time he was holding Her Highness himself when she seized his beard.”
She added that he had been forced to keep holding the child for a full hour because she wouldn’t let go; I was left speechless.
The iron man who had guided the empire for decades, his beard turned pure white by years and hardship he could not escape—standing stock-still for an hour while his granddaughter clung to that beard. Contemplating the scene nearly gave me cognitive dissonance.
The hand that seized the Retired Emperor’s beard.
It was wondrous. In that tiny hand rested a feat no one on this continent had ever achieved. Not even Kagan, who had threatened the empire’s mandate of heaven, nor the Pope who stood at the continent’s summit alongside the Emperor, had dared accomplish such a thing.
And since the Crown Princess had seized my finger as well, didn’t that mean I had made indirect contact with the Retired Emperor’s beard?
“His Majesty the Retired Emperor must dote on Her Highness greatly.”
Of course the thought was so treasonous I forced out something ordinary instead.
“Ah-oo—”
The Crown Princess babbled as though in answer.
That reply sounded for all the world like the triumphant cry of a hero flaunting her achievement.
Thank goodness I don’t have a beard.
If I had, I would have become one more of this little hero’s legendary deeds, just like the Retired Emperor.
A terrifying business.
At last I returned to the Academy. The outing had been so long I could barely remember how much time had passed.
From now until my Academy posting itself ended, there would be no more long absences. The north had quieted, a new Emperor had ascended—there was no reason I would be dragged back to the capital again.
This wasn’t foreshadowing or wishful thinking; it was plain common sense. If something of this scale erupted once more, that would be a curse from the gods.
…A curse.
The word brought a certain old wound to mind, but I hurriedly shook my head and cast it off.
There’s no such thing.
I was a priest who bore a divine stigma, not a curse. A god had said so in person—no lesser being.
Yes. There was no divine curse upon me. Only a divine stigma. I believed a peaceful, quiet daily life would greet me from now on. It surely would.
Consoling myself that way, I set off. The club room would still be empty, and Beatrix had already vanished, saying she had a class soon. So my destination was decided automatically.
The president’s office.
I needed to go see my first love—the one I had, without meaning to, treated differently.
I sat on the sofa in the president’s office and stared blankly at the ceiling. Having the host occupy the sofa meant for guests was odd, yet these days I felt so hollow I couldn’t even care about something that obvious.
I knew perfectly well where this emptiness came from. Knowing the cause, however, did not make a solution possible.
There’s nothing to do.
The hollowness I felt was the emotion that arose when there was no work—and unless I manufactured tasks myself, it was an emotion that could not be dispelled.
Ordinarily such a thing would be impossible. As Academy student council president I might have a little spare time, but a situation with literally nothing to do simply couldn’t occur.
Yet the combination of being at the end of third year and having no intention of becoming a bureaucrat had produced this strange state of affairs.
“President, you’re graduating soon—you should spend the end comfortably. We’ll handle the work.”
The vice president had taken the duties, insisting it would be sad for a soon-to-be graduate to struggle to the last and that I should leave everything to them.
“That’s right. There aren’t any big events left anyway, are there? One person missing is fine.”
Amelia had not only failed to stop the vice president but actively backed the claim.
They weren’t wrong. Until the closing ceremony the Academy had no particular schedule, and the absence of one president wouldn’t cause problems.
Still, the reason past presidents had kept working until the end was simple. It helped—even a little—when sitting for the civil-service exam or interviews. No bureaucrat looked kindly on someone who grew idle just because graduation was near.
“Thanks. I’ll trust you with it, then.”
And so, under the subtle pressure of the officers, I was forcibly retired.
To be honest it was comfortable. Claiming I didn’t feel lighter after being freed from the work I handled every day would have been a lie.
Yet that sense of liberation did not last long. Had I been freed while Karl was still around, I might have been purely happy; but with neither Karl nor work, the empty days stretched on and I began to sink into gloom.
But he’s coming today.
The gaze that had been fixed blankly on the ceiling slowly lowered to the front. The emptiness was dreadful, yet with Beatrix, Erzebet, Luise, and Irina I had somehow managed to endure.
And today was the day Karl returned. The day Karl, who had left the Academy, finally came back.
Thank goodness. If his return had been delayed even a little longer, I might have fallen into depression.
— Knock knock
“Mar. Are you there?”
And as if heaven itself had aided me, the moment I thought of Karl there came a knock and that longed-for voice.
A smile rose of its own accord. Enen must have taken pity on me as I grew more listless by the day.
“Yes, come in.”
I hurriedly straightened my slumped body and answered.
My heart was racing. It was still early, not even lunchtime, and Beatrix had only just begun her class. Until Erzebet made a surprise appearance, I could monopolize Karl.
The hollow place in my heart began to fill with happiness. Time with Karl and no work—truly the best.
“I’m ba—”
I hugged him before he could finish stepping into the president’s office. Startled by the sudden embrace, Karl soon hugged me back and patted my back.
“I’ve been away far too long.”
With those words he pressed his lips to my forehead.
I was happy. Happiness, I realized again, was not simply physical comfort—it was something you felt when you were with the person you loved.
“I’m sorry. Once you graduate, though, we can attend events like this together. Just bear with it a little longer.”
At Karl’s continuing comfort the corners of my mouth climbed without limit toward the sky.
No matter how happy I was, a tiny part of me had wanted to pout a little—but after hearing that, I couldn’t say a word.
“All right. It won’t be much longer, so I’ll be patient.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
Then Karl kissed my forehead once more.
Instinctively I tightened my arms around him. Receiving this intense skinship one after another in so short a time—if I let my guard down my legs would give out—
“Since Mar is so generous, may I ask just one favor?”
The words that followed let me barely cling to reason.
“No—that was a strange way to put it. It isn’t a request; it’s a notice.”
“Pardon?”
I blinked at the incomprehensible statement. A notice? Karl would never do anything so rude.
I looked at him in bewilderment; he wore a deep smile.
“We’re going to be married soon—keeping up formal speech feels stiff. From now on I’ll talk casually.”
“…What?”
A third forehead kiss followed.
“That’s fine, right?”
I felt as though my mind might fly away.