The Closest Wife's Domain - 3
The road to Servette was far more comfortable and stable than the journeys to Boyar or Chenes. Setting aside the symbolic weight of a duchy, Servette sat right up against the Imperial Capital—unlike the two duchies that clung to the empire's southernmost and westernmost edges. Of course the highway to the capital would be anything but narrow and rough.
The road was wide enough for several carriages to race abreast with room to spare, so clean not a single stone marred its surface, and so well policed that even wild animals dared not show themselves. You could have walked it on foot and run into no trouble at all.
She fell asleep again.
Which was probably why I kept drifting off and waking up in the carriage over and over. It wasn't as if I had set out to sleep, but there was no fighting it. This road was the masterpiece of countless civil servants and lords who had ground their souls to dust building it. Riding a luxury carriage over that surface made even a bed feel second-rate. Small wonder that Rory and Rin, who had been so absorbed in watching the scenery, eventually closed their eyes as well.
"Awake?"
"Ah—yeah."
And Trixie was the only one still awake in a carriage full of sleepers.
It was embarrassing. If the two younger ones had already dozed off, the least I could have done was keep Trixie company in conversation. Instead of a conversation partner, I had become a sleeping companion.
"Sorry. You must have been bored on your own."
"Not at all. It's been so long since I traveled from the Academy to Servette that the scenery alone was entertainment enough."
At my apology, Trixie simply shook her head with a gentle smile. It didn't sound like empty reassurance, which was a relief.
"Ah—we'll be arriving in Kenne shortly, so do get ready."
At that, I gave Rory and Rin a shake where they slept leaning against each other's shoulders. We had finally reached our school trip destination; I couldn't very well let them climb down looking half-asleep.
Kenne. The heart of the Servette Duchy, and one of the empire's ten great cities.
As the major city nearest the Imperial Capital, it was a vital hub where goods and people of every kind converged—and yet if you asked what made Kenne itself distinctive, you would find yourself tilting your head. Honestly, Kenne was a little short on character.
That said, a lack of character was not the same as being ordinary. There was a reason for the saying, If it exists in the empire, it exists in Kenne; if it doesn't exist in Kenne, it doesn't exist in the empire. Kenne's prosperity could fairly be called second only to the capital itself.
...Well, every city among the top ten tended to claim something of the sort, but Kenne was the original. In any case, Kenne was impressive.
"Hmm?"
Rory, still yawning as she shook off sleep, took one look at the streets of Kenne and tilted her head.
"It looks a lot like the Imperial Capital, doesn't it?"
Oh.
I marveled inwardly at Rory's remark. To notice that from a casual glance out a carriage window was sharp.
"Kenne is a planned city built by the first Duke of Servette. It was modeled after the Imperial Capital, so of course it resembles it."
Trixie seemed equally impressed by Rory's eye; she smiled warmly and stroked the girl's hair.
Just as Trixie said, Kenne was a new city raised on empty plain. In the era of its founding—around the time Apels lost his head—Crefelofen had just evolved from a kingdom into an empire and was reeling from no small amount of upheaval. The capital had grown dangerously overcrowded, and the strain was considerable.
Kenne had been built to relieve that congestion—which was the rather melancholy reason it had ended up such a faceless city. When you needed to house people immediately, character was a luxury you could not afford.
"If you're familiar with the Imperial Capital, you'll never lose your way in Kenne. So go ahead and enjoy yourselves."
It was a joke that was also entirely true, and I couldn't help a short laugh. The first time I had come to Kenne, the capital-like layout had made getting around wonderfully easy.
Planned cities did have that going for them.
While Karl and the children unpacked at the hotel we had chosen for lodging, I went ahead to the castle.
However much I might be wearing the title of Academy guest lecturer, a Duchess could not very well stay in a hotel. How wretched the staff would be, constantly watching my every expression.
Besides, I spent overwhelmingly more time in the capital than in my own territory. If I did not return now, there was no telling when I would next set foot in my lands, or when I would next meet my retainers. So I needed to move even a little faster.
My time and my retainers' time were not the same. What felt like a brief span to me could be nearly a lifetime to those children.
"Your Grace. Welcome home."
And so, seeing the retainers who greeted me the moment I arrived at the castle, a smile rose of its own accord.
These were the children who worked so hard that I could lose myself in magic without a care, so that I could live as Tower Master of the Magic Tower. Without them, the person I was today would not exist.
"But Your Grace—why have you come alone?"
"E-eh?"
While I was still lost in private sentiment, the head butler straightened from his bow and asked in a rather cool voice.
Looking closer, it was not only him. The other retainers behind him said nothing, but their gazes held a certain sting.
"We regard serving House Catoban—and serving Your Grace—as the glory of our lives."
I nodded blankly at the butler's words. I knew that much well enough. These children's houses were as good as the shields that protected House Catoban.
"To be the pillars that uphold House Catoban, and the retainers who serve Your Grace closest of all—that is our pride."
I knew that as well. That they followed me not for mere profit, but for honor and pride.
Which was why I was confused. For children like that to suddenly say such things—
"As such, we believe we are more than qualified to pay our respects to Your Grace's husband."
Ah.
The butler's next words made their feelings clear.
These children had heard that the Duke's consort was coming, and they were thrilled.
"...They're unpacking at the lodging. He said he would come to the castle straight after, so don't feel slighted."
"The lodging, Your Grace?"
"Yes."
Caught between fondness and embarrassment, I managed an awkward smile. I was glad they so warmly welcomed my marriage—but I had not expected such excessive passion. Without my noticing, my marriage had become not only my own affair but the earnest wish of my retainers.
"Why is His Grace the Consort at a lodging?"
But before the fondness could fade, bewilderment crashed over me.
Why was he at a lodging? Well, if you came to visit, of course you would start at a lodging...
"Surely the castle is where he belongs, is it not?"
?
"Though the formal wedding has not yet been held, the fact that he is Your Grace's husband is known across the entire continent. And yet His Grace the Consort is staying outside the castle rather than within it? That cannot be allowed."
It was so logically sound that for a moment I had nothing to say.
Of course, Karl had come to Servette as an Academy inspector, so lodging at the quarters designated by the Academy was a perfectly valid pretext. But one look at the butler's face told me such an argument would never land.
In that child's mind, Karl was already a husband visiting his wife's family. Words like Academy or inspector would not even register.
"If Your Grace permits it, we shall go ourselves and escort His Grace the Consort here."
Faced with the butler's unyielding stance, I glanced past him at the other retainers.
Naturally, their expressions matched his.
In my own castle, I had not a single ally.
I stared blankly at the ceiling of the carriage. I had only just gotten out of one, and here I was climbing back into another.
And one sent by House Catoban, no less.
What is this.
Seriously, what is this.
I rubbed the back of my neck in pure bewilderment. After seeing Trixie off toward the castle, I had been helping Rory and Rin unpack. Unlike me, who had brought only a few changes of clothes, the two of them had packed a considerable amount. The one with free hands ought to help.
But before long, the communication crystal lit up.
"Karl, have you finished unpacking yet?"
"No, not yet. We just started."
"That's a relief, then."
And with a small sigh, Trixie—sounding a little worn—explained the situation.
The retainers of House Catoban had insisted, quite forcefully, that Rory, Rin, and I stay at the castle. The founding Duke of House Catoban, the Snow Sword Duke, had treated every guest with courtesy regardless of rank—so how could they possibly let family lodge outside? That was the argument.
With the family founder suddenly invoked, Trixie had no choice but to yield to her retainers' wishes. Which was how the remarkable spectacle of moving from one lodging to another—the castle—had unfolded the moment we arrived.
I'm fine with it, but...
I took my hand off the back of my neck and looked at Rory and Rin sitting across from me.
Right. I was fine. I hadn't expected to stay at the castle instead of a hotel, but it was no great problem. What was strange about a husband staying at his wife's house?
I only felt sorry for Rory and Rin, who were being dragged along with me. This year was their last school trip with their friends. Trixie had been so conscious of that point that she had hesitated even bringing up the castle.
But unlike the guilt Karl and Trixie felt, the two of them did not seem particularly troubled.
"Come to think of it, this will be the third ducal castle we've seen, won't it?"
"Oh, you're right. We saw Ulken and Chenes, so this makes three."
They were treating a trip to a ducal castle less like a sudden disruption and more like an achievement unlocked. I didn't show it outwardly, but inwardly I breathed a sigh of relief.
I was simply grateful. If they had looked put out, the whole ride would have hurt.
The third, huh.
That aside—an ordinary count's daughter and an ordinary baron's daughter had gotten tangled up with me and were now on track to see three of the five ducal castles. At this point, that was a genuine life achievement, wasn't it?
Thinking that I had changed both their lives left me with a strange feeling.
The moment the carriage stopped at the castle's main gate, someone opened the door for us.
And the instant the door swung open, the sight beyond froze me solid.
"Welcome, Lord Consort! The servants of House Catoban present themselves before His Grace the Consort!"
"His Grace the Consort!"
A full company of retainers bowing toward me, and behind them the servants and knights offering the same courtesy.
Even the path from the gate to the building was lined with a military band standing in solemn formation.
"Wooow..."
Rin's soft gasp of wonder was what finally brought me back to my senses.
"Wooow..."
But then I spotted Trixie standing in front of the retainers, and I let out a gasp of my own.
Trixie's face was flushed scarlet as she stared at the ground—as if she resented herself for failing to stop this disaster.
The longing must have run deep.
If even Trixie—who had reigned as Duchess for a full hundred years—could not prevent this, I could well imagine how fiercely her retainers had yearned for a consort.
The only problem was that the consort was me.