My Home, Now with Uninvited Guests - 1
Whenever something involved the club members, it always ended with me running into Villar. By this point he felt less like a foreign knight and more like a colleague from the same government office. I couldn't explain why he felt so familiar and comfortable.
After three years together like this, all sorts of attachments were bound to form. A fleeting urge rose in me to casually suggest he defect. But making that kind of offer to a man of such upright character would have been the height of rudeness, so I kept the thought to myself.
An upright knight. Yes, that was exactly what he was.
"Are you getting enough sleep?"
"I can manage three days without it."
The problem was that upright character and mental exhaustion were two different things. In the short time since I'd last seen him, Villar had rapidly taken on the look of a man ground down by fatigue. Of course a knight of the royal guard wouldn't drop dead after three sleepless nights. He just wouldn't die—his insides would be a complete mess.
The day I sold my household's freedom to the Crown Prince for ten gold coins, I had invited Margeta to the mansion and immediately contacted Villar. Our conversation then could be summarized in two sentences, it was that short.
"So the bastard in my neighborhood wants me to jam your bastards into my house?"
Oh, for fuck's sake.
Obviously we hadn't actually spoken like that. But both Villar and I—and even the Magic Lord who had made the communication device—knew that the underlying meaning was exactly that. In any case, Villar, who now had to spend the vacation in the Imperial Capital instead of at the Academy, found himself with a brand-new headache.
Under the terms of the agreement, the escort forces of the three kingdoms were only permitted to be stationed at the Academy. If things went spectacularly sideways, the people they were meant to protect would enter the Capital while the actual escorts sat outside sucking their thumbs.
Fortunately there was already precedent: the Golden Duke had once allowed the three kingdoms' forces to stay in Boyar. Taking the unusual nature of the situation into account, the Crown Prince also granted them entry into the Capital. The catch was that, unlike the Golden Duke, he had placed a limit on numbers. Foreign troops loitering around the Capital were bound to grate on the nerves.
"There were more than a few people to screen, so I haven't had time to sleep."
"You've worked hard."
Thanks to that, the hours Villar should have spent sleeping had gone up in a spectacular blaze while he sorted who would enter the Capital and who would return home to hand over duties to the new escort force.
From what I gathered, half the force would be sent home first to rotate with the newly assembled escorts, and the remaining half would head back once the new group arrived in the Capital. Naturally everyone wanted to leave first, which had made the selection process a nightmare.
"Think nothing of it. It was only what I ought to do."
Villar smiled lightly, but his expression was full of sorrow. Assigning the selection duty to Villar—the earthbound spirit who could neither leave early nor leave late—had been a rather cruel piece of work.
"The Capital's prosperity is second to none on the continent. I hope Your Lordship will take this chance to enjoy yourself at ease."
"I'm looking forward to it as well. When else would I get the chance to see the Capital?"
Somehow his true feelings sounded more like I never wanted to see it in my entire life.
"You will also be a guest staying in my mansion, so I shall look after you with special care."
"You are too kind."
Villar offered a faint smile tinged with sadness and inclined his head slightly.
Would I get to see Villar laugh from the heart before graduation? The thought made me feel solemn. I decided then and there to give him the best room available.
Two more days slipped by while Margeta wrapped up Student Council business, the club members packed their things, and we arranged carriages for dozens of people and a proportional mountain of luggage.
Teleportation would have been convenient, of course, but apparently the journey itself to the Capital was part of the trip. For a moment I recalled the hardships of the road when I first came to the Academy, but thankfully the newly appointed local magistrate had been maintaining the roads properly. Nothing like last time would happen.
I trust you haven't forgotten what I told you last time.
"Yes, of course."
What did I say, again?
"If I wanted a marriage talk with Mar, I should go to Your Grace myself, kneel, and beg…"
You remember correctly.
In those same two days I also received a call from a certain father whose mood had soured upon hearing that his beloved late-born daughter was heading somewhere other than home. If looks could kill, the glare he gave me would already have torn my body into dozens of pieces.
I was lucky Luise and Irina—other noble young ladies—were coming as well. Had I invited only Margeta, he would have led his knights straight to my mansion to surround it. The Crown Prince would probably have applauded and granted them entry into the Capital on the spot.
Bastard.
I hadn't done anything to deserve cursing yet, but it was fine to swear at the Crown Prince whenever he crossed my mind. They say people who get cursed live long lives, so wasn't I being a loyal subject for the future emperor? Live long and prosper, you bastard of mine.
"Everything is ready. Inspector, please board the lead carriage."
"Ah, thank you."
While I was busy praying for the Crown Prince's longevity, Villar approached. Since the three kingdoms had overwhelmingly more people and luggage, he had volunteered to handle it all and cheerfully taken the work off my hands. I was happy to do nothing and take it easy.
"Shall we be off? Let's arrive quickly and rest."
"I hope the journey is uneventful."
Villar's words had a strangely foreshadowing ring, but it really would be fine. The Empire's territory was vast, so there were still bandits or monsters that hadn't been fully suppressed in some places—but this was the road between the Capital and the Academy. If anything went wrong, the local magistrate's neck would go with it.
The truly astonishing part was that they had focused so hard on public security that the road conditions themselves had been left in a complete shambles. I still wondered what kind of courage it took to pull a stunt like that. Had they already given up on living?
"Young Master Karl, are you here?"
"Mar?"
In any case, I climbed into the carriage Villar had indicated with a light heart and was greeted by Margeta's bright smile. The passengers already aboard made for an unusual combination: Luise, Erich, and Margeta.
Not bad.
If you set one person aside, it was a strangely familiar group. There was Luise, who got anxious when left anywhere else, and Margeta, whom I had invited myself. Not bad at all. Erich's presence was a little unexpected, but I could roughly guess why.
He's clearly the weakest of the bunch.
After spending a whole semester at the Academy, Villar had finally learned the truth of the Baking Club—that it was basically a collection of five men bewitched by Luise. The sight of him laughing like a man who had lost his mind when he first found out had been pitiful. At least, among the three kingdoms, only Villar had reached the truth. That was a mercy.
And from the perspective of a Villar who now knew the truth, pairing Ryutis with Luise would look like favoritism, while putting any other of the three kingdoms' people with her would have meant getting on Ryutis's bad side. Even Ainter was a rival who carried the title of imperial prince.
So it had to be Erich. The weakest of the five, officially recognized even by Villar. It made my heart ache a little.
"Come sit down. We'll be leaving soon."
"Ah, yes."
While I was looking at Erich with pitying eyes, Margeta patted the seat beside her. If I stayed standing and the carriage suddenly started, I'd go flying out. I would rather not.
"It's been a long time since I was last in the Capital."
The moment I sat, Margeta spoke.
"Is that so?"
"Yes. I haven't been since last year's New Year's Audience."
Her smiling eyes and the casual way she said it made me glance aside. If last year's New Year's Audience had been the last time, that meant she hadn't set foot in the Capital since the incident when I rejected the marriage talk with her. Bringing that up out of nowhere was awkward.
"Something sad happened last year, so I was reluctant to go to the Capital…"
"……"
"But getting to travel with Young Master Karl in a happy mood makes me truly glad."
"That's fortunate, then."
My heart hurt quite a bit.
"It's wonderful that a happy occasion can cover it up!"
"Hehe, isn't it?"
At Luise's words—spoken without knowing the circumstances—Margeta's gaze shifted that way. Thank you, Luise…
As expected, the road to the Capital was uneventful. We watched the scenery outside the window, dozed a little, chatted among ourselves, and talked about what the Capital was famous for.
"Everyone behind me is with my party. Let them through."
"Understood."
We completed the entry declaration and passed through the Capital's gates without incident. As the carriage entered the central district it gradually slowed; we must have been nearly there.
"Is that your mansion up ahead, hyung?"
"Yeah. Here."
The carriage only slowed; it didn't stop and kept rolling.
"Hyung?"
"I haven't been to the mansion in so long I got mixed up."
"What the hell have you even been doing in the Capital?"
I arrived at the mansion while unintentionally showing off my black-hearted civil-servant lifestyle to Erich. At least I still remembered the address properly. If I'd mixed that up too, we might have ended up somewhere completely wrong.
Thus, under the new moniker of "the man who doesn't even remember his own house," I stepped down from the carriage first. The butler and the servants were waiting to greet me.
"We welcome the master of the house."
"It's been a while since I saw you in person."
"My heart swells at the sight of you as well, Master."
"Don't say embarrassing things."
The butler was smiling, so it was probably just a light joke. What was there to get worked up about between people who simply exchanged money?
"Might the gentleman behind you be Young Master Erich?"
At the butler's words I turned; Erich was already climbing down. Same hair color, similar face—he'd spotted it right away.
"That's right."
"If he is Master's younger brother, then he is a guest more precious than any other. We shall serve him with all our strength."
"There's an even more precious guest coming, so don't exhaust yourself."
"I shall keep that in mind."
I clapped the butler on the shoulder a few times and headed toward the main building. Entertaining guests was the butler's specialty, not mine; interfering would only tangle things up. Besides, I didn't particularly want to interfere.
My eyes drifted to the servants lined up on either side, bowing at the waist. This was just a place I used for sleeping, so I had hired people accordingly. There were no attendants or maids of noble birth—only commoner footmen and maids. People who already found ordinary nobles intimidating would probably find royals and imperial princes an unbearable burden.
No matter how I looked at it, the foreign trio really were the Three Calamities. A disaster for ordinary salaried workers just trying to get by.
"You've worked hard."
"It is an honor!"
See? Just a single word from me and every muscle in their bodies tensed. These were people who got nervous even around a free-spirited, hands-off master like me.
I sincerely hoped no one would resign during the vacation.