The Chief Was Satisfied with You - 1
The deputy director's report came up swiftly.
"The traitors have all been executed without exception. His Majesty the Emperor was most satisfied as well."
In only a few short hours, the report had already reached the Emperor. That was the deputy director for you. No matter how often I left the Audit Department empty, the only thing that ever worried me was the sudden whims of the section-chief trio; the department itself never did. The section chiefs, after all, handled their work properly once orders came down.
"Well done. You never disappoint."
Something I had ordered at noon was finished and reported before the sun even set. Any superior who heard of such efficiency and still found fault would have to be a man without a brain. Since I was not a man without a brain, I nodded and praised the deputy director; he bowed his head and answered with a brief word of thanks.
"Tell the section chiefs they did good work as well."
"They will all be delighted by the Director's praise."
I hope so.
I allowed myself a faint smile and cut the communication. That settled it. The Third Glory, and every last traitor who had made contact with those rebels, had been swept away. Not a single one left.
Thank goodness.
Those who had dared insult you. Those traitors who had carelessly spilled talk of you to that maggot—I had dealt with them. It had not been by my own hand, but my subordinates had moved, so I still had a share in it.
I could not deny that I had risen on the back of your sacrifice. You never returned, and I climbed to this seat simply because I had survived. Insults aimed at me I could endure.
But that bastard had not hesitated to insult you as well. He had dared say that I rose on the blood-price of your lives. Your lives were never so cheap. Your sacrifice was never so light a thing that it could end with nothing more than one man's promotion.
How pathetic of me.
A wave of self-loathing washed over me as I sat on the edge of the bed. Even to my own ears the thought sounded absurd. I could not deny that I had risen through your sacrifice, yet the moment someone reduced the result of your deaths to nothing more than my advancement, my eyes had gone red. Like a child who, when faced with the truth, simply refused to accept it.
But what else was I to do? Of the seven, only I had survived. As long as I lived, that brand would never be erased. The only thing I could do was erase the son of a bitch who dragged the brand out into the open.
And now that sole task was finished, something inside me loosened. The banquet would begin soon; at least I could go with a lighter heart.
Knock, knock.
Who is it?
I had been thinking of catching a little sleep before the banquet, but the moment I lay down, someone knocked at the door as if they had been waiting for the chance. No one had ever come all the way to my quarters before—this was not the club room.
"Young Master Karl. It's me."
"Mar?"
The visitor herself was even more unexpected. The vice principal or Villar I might have understood, but I had never imagined Margeta would come. For a second I wondered how she knew my quarters, then remembered that this was where the auditors stayed on their regular visits. As a member of the Student Council, she would already have known.
"I'll be right out."
I rose again from the bed I had just settled onto and walked to the door. If she had come all this way, it had to be urgent.
"Mar. What brings you all the way—"
The words died on my tongue the instant I opened the door. Margeta's appearance was nothing I had expected.
"Young Master Karl. If you don't mind, would you go to the banquet hall with me?"
Standing before my eyes was not the girl in her usual academy uniform, but Margeta in a splendid crimson dress, smiling softly.
On the evening of the day the expo awards ceremony was held, a banquet always took place. During the expo the students had deepened their friendships with the visiting nobles; now they were to strengthen the bonds of camaraderie among classmates who had competed in good faith. That was the official reason, at any rate.
In truth the pretext hardly mattered. For a noble, banquets and social gatherings were simply part of daily life. The moment a halfway decent excuse appeared, one was held. That was how noble banquets worked.
I had attended the closing banquet last year as well, but I had only shown my face briefly before slipping away. Even though I had volunteered for the Student Council just to meet Karl, the unfamiliar flood of expo-related work had left me exhausted. I had seen no merit in forcing myself to enjoy a banquet on top of that fatigue.
This year is different.
This year Karl was here. As advisor to the winning club, there was no chance he would skip it. I was almost grateful to Young Lady Luise for guaranteeing his attendance. If Karl was at the banquet, I would go even if my legs were broken.
Karl never appeared at social gatherings except for the New Year's Audience and the gatherings of the Imperial Count houses. This truly was a heaven-sent opportunity.
"This is a problem..."
But because the chance had come so unexpectedly, I had not prepared properly. Last year I had only meant to show my face and leave, so I had brought a merely decent dress, then immediately taken it off and left it forgotten in a corner of the wardrobe.
I only remembered it now. The result was the plain dress currently staring back at me. I had no confidence to stand before Karl in something like that. When I already needed to show him only my best self, I absolutely could not appear in this.
"Nanny!"
"Miss? What is it at this hour?"
I felt bad for her, but I contacted her at once. Fortunately it was still morning. There was no need for me to attend the awards ceremony, so there was time before the banquet.
"I—I need that dress! That one!"
That dress. The one I had prepared after first meeting Karl last year so that we might attend a banquet together, only for him to be too busy for me to wear it. The one I had carefully stored away intending to wear it at our engagement ceremony, then hugged while crying more times than I could count after he rejected the marriage talks.
...It was not a dress filled with especially happy memories, but I had meant it for decisive moments, so it was still the finest I owned.
"That dress? Ah, that one. Why so suddenly..."
"I can attend the banquet with Karl!"
In that instant the nanny's eyes changed completely.
The nanny and the maids who served me at the mansion arrived at my quarters in the blink of an eye, arms full of the dress and every kind of accessory case. According to the nanny, Father had scowled but still assigned a teleportation mage for them.
Thank you, Father.
Tonight I would definitely tell him I loved him.
"Miss. First, let's get the dress on."
While I was still offering silent thanks and affection to Father, the nanny seized me with terrifying vigor. Ah—that hurts, Nanny...
"Miss. Could you stretch your arms out to both sides?"
"Okay."
But I could not complain to the nanny who had come all the way to the Academy at my request. I simply surrendered myself to her hands, and the dress was on me in no time. It still amazed me every time. A dress was not an easy thing to put on, yet somehow when the nanny did it, it always went like this.
"Thank you, Nanny!"
How mortifying it would have been if I had gone in last year's dress. Showing Karl a sight like that would have been embarrassing enough, but it might have made Karl standing beside me feel embarrassed as well. Having a lady at his side look that shabby—even the unflappable Karl would have disliked it. Yes, he definitely would have.
So I spoke with genuine feeling, and the nanny smiled faintly before seating me straight in front of the vanity.
"There's still a great deal left to do, so I'll accept your thanks later."
"Ah."
Ah... aah...
Watching the nanny and the maids rush at me, I quietly closed my eyes.
Right. The makeup time had always been the hardest. I thought I looked fine, but the nanny was never satisfied, so the process became an endless loop. I had been so focused on the dress that I had temporarily forgotten.
But I would endure it. I had to show my absolute best self. I could trust the nanny's skill and eye completely. If I just held on, something even better than I imagined would be waiting for me.
"You look truly beautiful, Miss!"
"The absolute best! If Young Master Karl sees you, he'll be utterly captivated!"
At the end of that trial of patience the nanny's hands finally stopped, and the maids' cheers and compliments poured in from the side. I carefully opened my eyes and saw the nanny nodding in satisfaction.
"Have a look for yourself. Do you like it?"
She stepped back slightly so I could see the mirror. She asked if I liked it, yet her expression was full of the certainty that of course I would.
"Yes. I like it."
And her confidence had solid ground. The face in the mirror was truly beautiful. It was embarrassing to say with my own mouth, but the truth was the truth. That only meant the nanny was that remarkable.
"Nanny, thank you so—"
"Now we only need to choose the accessories."
"Ah."
Only when the banquet was nearly upon us did the finishing touches finally end. The result was unmistakable. After putting that much heart into it, of course it was.
"Thank you, everyone..."
The price was that I was already drained before even entering the banquet hall. Even so, I was proud of myself for still walking all the way to Karl's quarters.
No matter how perfect the preparation, time would gradually disturb it. The moment right after finishing was always the most beautiful. To show that most beautiful self to the person I most wanted to see it— for that reason alone, strength I did not have would appear.
And so, carried by the nanny and maids' encouragement, I went to Karl's quarters—
"Mar. What brings you all the way—"
Seeing Karl's eyes widen in surprise, I felt truly satisfied.
Tonight I would tell Father I loved him twice. And the nanny as well.
What does it feel like when an unexpected person appears in an unexpected place looking completely unexpected? I had never particularly wanted to know, yet now I did.
"Young Master Karl?"
When I said nothing, Margeta tilted her head and spoke again. Ah. Right.
"Ah, my apologies. I was lost in other thoughts for a moment."
"It's all right. It's my fault for arriving so suddenly."
I offered an awkward smile at Margeta, who was still beaming. It was a look I had never seen on her recently—no, even digging up memories from a year ago, it felt unfamiliar, and that left me a little flustered.
Honestly, even to someone like me who had no interest in makeup or accessories, she looked as though she had gone all out. And yet nothing about it felt excessive; there was even a subtle harmony. If it looked this good to an outsider like me, then...
"You... asked if we might go to the banquet hall together?"
"Yes. Would that be all right?"
"Of course."
The way her face lit up with a bright smile was striking. Truly, the Iron Blood Duke's genes seemed to have contributed nothing but hair color. I had never met Margeta's mother, yet I could tell that lady's genes had done the heavy lifting.
"You look especially beautiful today. I was quite surprised."
"Y-yes?"
I had been watching her quietly and the words simply slipped out; she stammered as though caught off guard by the sudden remark. Then her face flushed red almost at once.
She hurriedly covered her face with her trademark fan and cleared her throat, but I had already seen everything that needed seeing, so I wondered what the point was. Still, if it gave Margeta some comfort, that was fine too.
I let the corner of my mouth lift a little. I knew perfectly well for whom she had dressed herself so carefully, and she had shown me a sight startling enough that I was not so dense as to offer no praise at all.
Anyone who looked at Margeta as she was now and failed to call her beautiful would have to be a person without a heart. At the very least, I was not that sort of man.