Our Fair Is Open for Business as Usual - 3
After being expelled by Luise and then recruited by Margeta, I found myself spending a peculiar fair period in which I reported to the booth every morning only to leave the moment I arrived. It stung a little every time Villar stared after me with a look that said, What the hell is that guy doing?, but I didn't really have a comeback.
I never expected I'd end up a wanderer like this either. The man who had, on paper, gathered people for labor had been the first to desert, so there was truly nothing I could say. Even if Villar and the forces from the three kingdoms had come as escorts, this looked far too blatantly like I was slacking off and bailing.
Still, as a civil servant, I could hardly ignore Luise, a civilian. I hoped they'd understand.
"This year's fair is unusually quiet. Last year, something would blow up just when you'd started to forget about it."
While I offered Villar a brief, silent apology in my mind, Margeta, walking beside me, spoke up.
"Is that so? I never saw last year's fair, so I wouldn't know."
"Back then there was subtle sparring even over booth locations, and competition for drawing customers as well."
That made sense. If they hadn't run booths at all it might have been different, but once booth operations produced visible results, the prideful nobles would naturally start competing. There were plenty of blue bloods who would go all out to win once they'd started.
"Hehe. I think this is thanks to Young Master Karl as well. I'm truly grateful."
I answered with a small smile toward the giggling Margeta. As she said, my influence wasn't small.
The participation of the Audit Department Chief, and the various nobles who had flocked to see me. It was a lineup that would make even the most spirited, competitive noble scions think twice. If I had unintentionally helped Margeta, that was good.
"I'm glad if I was of help. Ah, would you like some more?"
"Yes. Thank you."
Margeta blushed slightly as she picked a few kernels of corn from my hand. Seeing her reddened face nearly made me laugh as I recalled what had happened just before.
Originally, seeing that Margeta seemed to be wandering around without even eating breakfast, I had tried to put something simple in her hand to eat—but she refused, saying it looked undignified. She was reluctant to walk around holding food, apparently?
Sitting down to eat wasn't feasible either. If she'd had time for that, she wouldn't have skipped breakfast in the first place.
"Then I'll carry it. You can take some whenever it's convenient."
"Pardon?"
So I had bought some corn nearby, shucked a few dozen kernels, and held them out to Margeta. Her trembling pupils had been quite something—she looked thoroughly confused.
"This way, it isn't Mar who's carrying it around. Just take as much as you want."
"Th-that… Thank you."
Margeta had hesitated a moment before bowing her head and taking the corn from my hand as if she were biting into it. I decided not to dwell on the expressions on both our faces after that. It was my fault for thrusting my hand too close and inviting misunderstanding. Margeta was kind-hearted for going along with it instead of scolding me.
Anyway, that was how I chose to think of it. Because when Margeta looked at my face with corn still in her mouth, she really did look like she might cry if I so much as poked her.
See? Even now, just looking at the corn made her face go red.
"If taking it by hand is awkward, you can take it the same way as before."
The way Margeta chewed and then ducked her head deep was quite memorable. I couldn't help smiling a little at the sight.
That was why I felt both grateful and sorry toward Margeta. Because she still treated me openly even though I kept pushing her away. Even after I'd rejected the marriage talks and we hadn't met for a whole year, that side of her hadn't changed.
It's a miracle she's even alive.
Even I, the party involved, felt bitter about it—how must the Iron Blood Duke feel? I seemed to owe the Valenti ducal house far too much.
After wandering around with Margeta, I returned to the Baking Club booth in the afternoon. Wandering outside all day was exhausting no matter what, so I had obtained permission from Luise to return to the booth in the afternoons.
In short: play outside in the morning, rest inside in the afternoon. Saying it that way made me feel like a complete deadbeat adult.
"Hyung, sit tight and relax."
"Brother. Even watching from behind is a great help as Advisor."
Apparently even my gaze from the corner bothered them, since the club members each said something as they passed. From their perspective it was probably meant as consideration, telling me to rest easy.
Like a new recruit.
No matter how generously I looked at it, it felt like a lone recruit left abandoned. That feeling of officers walking by and telling you to make yourself comfortable. Their consideration and attention became poison instead, and I felt pathetic.
When I looked toward Luise, she seemed to sense my gaze and glanced my way, but she only smiled and quietly shook her head, so I couldn't say anything. The meaning was clear: don't think about doing other work—just stay put quietly.
I was truly grateful for the concern, but still, sitting still knowing everyone else was working was hard.
"When else are you going to rest if not now? Please rest well."
A voice came from right beside me as if it had read my thoughts. When I turned, I saw Ryutis sweeping back his red hair and smiling.
The more I look, the stranger it seems.
It wasn't that Ryutis's red hair was strange. I was just thinking of the hair colors of the Baking Club members, who all looked completely different.
Luise was pink, Erich black, Ainter gold. Ryutis, Later, and Tanian claimed red, blue, and white respectively. With six people, what were the odds they'd all be completely different? Was it because the original was a romance fantasy that they differentiated even with this?
"Hm? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"No, it's nothing."
I sealed deep in my heart the comment that when he and Later stood side by side, they looked like a traffic light.
"Well, if it's nothing."
Ryutis chuckled and sat down beside me, then held out one of the two coffee cups in his hands.
"The aroma is quite nice. Would you care for a cup?"
"I'm fine, but…"
When I looked at him as if to ask whether he was okay sitting around like this, Ryutis burst out laughing.
"Haha. Everyone's gotten used to the work now, so we're taking turns resting. It's just my turn, as it happens."
Certainly it was better for people to rest when there was room to spare. I nodded and drank the coffee Ryutis had offered, though I couldn't really tell if the aroma was as nice as he claimed.
"Erich made that. He said he was worried about you and worked hard on it."
"Is that so?"
Thinking about it again, it did seem pretty good. Hearing that Erich had made the coffee made me keep drinking. I still didn't know about the aroma, but it was clearly filled with a family member's care.
"You weren't hurt anywhere, were you?"
Then Ryutis, who had been chuckling at the sight of me, spoke quietly. At the abrupt, context-free remark, my eyes turned to him of their own accord.
"What do you mean?"
"Did you really think no one would notice?"
"Ha."
I let out a small sigh at that.
Yeah, there had been plenty of signs. The First Division Chief had suddenly joined us, and not long ago the First Division Chief and I had disappeared together and not reappeared until the booth closed. If you saw signs like that and didn't find it strange, you couldn't call yourself royalty.
Thinking about it made me a little mad. Why did these guys, who were catastrophic when it came to romance, think so normally at times like this? If Ryutis knew, then Ainter, Later, and Tanian would know too. And looking at how he'd been worried about me, Erich must as well.
"Of course I don't know what happened. Just that something did, more or less."
"No need to worry. Nothing major happened."
"Is that so?"
Then a brief silence settled, and it was Ryutis who broke it first.
"Thank you, Advisor."
My hand, about to drink coffee again, stopped. Royalty should not easily say thank you, or I'm sorry. As a clan that rules a nation, they must not easily express their emotions. That had been the tradition since time immemorial.
…Of course, looking at the way these guys acted in the club, it didn't seem like a big deal, but it still wasn't something to say lightly in a private conversation like this.
"Is there something to thank me for?"
"Why wouldn't there be? You're the one who suffers more than anyone because of us, Advisor."
These little bastards who knew that.
I swallowed the words that had surged to the tip of my tongue and wordlessly looked at Ryutis. Separate from my feelings, a royal being this honest with his emotions meant he had steeled himself for something significant.
Again, excluding the disgraceful displays in the club.
"I'm always grateful. Not just me—the other members as well, for being able to attend the Academy without trouble."
"Is that so."
"And I know that it's possible because you're working hard like this, Advisor."
"I see."
All I could do was answer awkwardly to Ryutis's sudden words. We weren't on bad terms, but we weren't close either—more of a distant relationship—so hearing this was embarrassing.
And it seemed Ryutis felt the same, since he scratched his head a few times and sighed.
"Talking around things really doesn't suit me."
"So it seems."
"What I want to say is that there are many people who are grateful to you, Advisor. More than those who dislike you."
"Heh."
It was clearly Ryutis speaking, so why did my face have to heat up just sitting there listening?
"No matter what worries you have, no matter what happens, there are plenty of people who are grateful to you and will help you, Advisor."
"……."
"—Or so Luise asked me to tell you."
At the sight of Ryutis dropping the serious atmosphere and bursting into laughter, I let out a wry chuckle too. This guy—I'd wondered what was going on all of a sudden, but he'd just received a messenger quest from Luise.
When I turned my gaze toward Luise, she flinched and gave an awkward smile. Of course there was nothing to be angry about, so I waved lightly to signal that it was fine.
"Man, Luise begged so earnestly. I'm almost afraid I might end up competing with you, Advisor."
"What, planning to ship me off somewhere before the competition starts?"
"Would you even go if someone tried to ship you off?"
Watching him snicker as if it was so funny made me laugh too. They say laughter is contagious, and looking at this guy, it really seemed true.
"If it comes to competing, it won't be easy, but I'll have to try."
"That's unexpected."
"We're already competing with five people—would six be a problem? Besides, Luise isn't an object, so I have no justification to stop her."
I'd thought a royal who'd fallen for a baron's daughter in this abnormal way would stop at nothing, but he was saying surprisingly normal things. This was truly unexpected.
"Why? Did you think I'd say something like 'If I can't have Luise, I'll smash everything'?"
And if I'd had that kind of mind, I would have used my power to take Luise, Ryutis added, and I quietly nodded. Certainly, relative to their status, these guys had conducted the contest for Luise on a truly modest scale. Modest enough to leave onlookers dumbfounded and frustrated.
"Fight cleanly, and accept defeat cleanly. That's what it means to be a knight of Armein."
"For 'clean,' there sure was a lot of interference flying around."
"Hahaha! That's a form of competition too."
Having finished his share of coffee at some point, Ryutis stood up.
"So if I lose, I'll have to accept it. Though it would be best if that never happens."
I'm sure the other four feel the same.
Saying so, Ryutis was heading back toward the members to work when he suddenly looked back.
"Ah, and the thank-you was sincere. If I hadn't felt that way, I wouldn't have done it even for Luise's request."
Ha.
Watching Ryutis's receding back brought all sorts of thoughts. If he'd put even half that effort into Luise-related matters, things would have progressed long ago. At times like this he was definitely a royal, so why was he like that when it mattered most?
After slightly adjusting my evaluation of Ryutis, embarrassment washed over me belatedly.
Was I that bad?
How much of a mess must I have looked to Luise for her to even enlist Ryutis? Even I knew I'd been different from usual, but was it that severe? But what could I do? You can't shake off in an instant something you couldn't shake off for two years.
It still wasn't easy to shake off. If it had been possible, I would have already. Still, if I'd worried a kid young enough to be my little brother this much, it was pretty embarrassing.