The End of a Long Night (3)
"Mmm…"
With a low groan, Schwarz slowly opened his eyes.
Warm sunlight filtered in through the window. The cheerful chirping of birds perched on the branches outside gradually pulled his hazy mind into clearer focus.
"Where… am I…"
Muttering under his breath, Schwarz carefully pushed himself up from the bed. The blanket that had covered him slipped away with a soft rustle.
His vision remained unfocused and blurry. He narrowed his eyes, trying to force the world into sharpness, then rubbed them and blinked several times.
After a while, the haze began to lift, and the familiar scenery of his own room came into view.
"This is my room…?"
He was back in his quarters at the count's manor. Why was he here? Schwarz began to piece together his memories.
"Ugh…!!"
A sudden headache slammed into him, and he grimaced, letting out another low groan. Still half-asleep, he told himself, and after a short sigh he rose fully and looked out the window.
As if the previous night had never happened, the countship spread peacefully before him, just as it always had. The sight eased the tension in his shoulders, and he stretched with a long, satisfying yawn.
How much time had passed since then? Had everything been properly resolved?
Staring blankly outside, he shook his head with another soft groan and turned back into the room. He could hear the details from someone else later. Right now, nothing mattered more than checking on Milia's condition.
He crossed the floor to the wardrobe, opened the doors, and took out his butler's uniform, hanging it carefully over a chair. Then he began to pull off the shirt he was wearing.
And in the very next moment—
"My Lady! You really don't need to do this yourself!!"
"I said I'm doing it myself!!"
A lively commotion rose from the hallway outside. What on earth was that noise? Schwarz turned his head just as the door latch clicked and the door swung open.
Standing there was a flustered maid of the household—and Milia, holding a plate of food in one hand.
"My Lady!! The head maid is going to scold me for this!!"
"I'll speak to Heine myself, so don't wor—"
Anyone could have guessed the situation at a glance. Unfortunately, the timing could not have been worse.
"Ah."
"Ah?"
"…"
Both of them let out short, stunned sounds at the sight before them. Schwarz felt their gazes lock onto him and froze stiffly in place.
Cold sweat slid down the back of his neck as an icy silence filled the room, as though someone had dumped a bucket of freezing water over them all.
How long did it last? Seconds? Minutes? All he knew for certain was that it had not been very long.
"Ah—good morning, My Lady?"
"Kyaaaaaaaaaah—!!"
Schwarz raised a hand in an awkward little wave, offering a stiff smile. What followed was Milia's piercing scream.
"T-two weeks!?"
"Yes. To be precise, this is the fifteenth day."
"Good heavens…"
Bernus took a quiet sip of tea as he answered, and Schwarz found himself unable to form another word. He had expected to have been unconscious for a few days at most, but the actual time had been far longer than he imagined.
"Would you like to hear what happened while you were out?"
Bernus asked, watching the speechless expression on Schwarz's face.
"Yes…"
"Very well. Sit down first. This is not a tale short enough to tell while standing."
Schwarz gave a small nod. Bernus let out a low hum as he gathered his thoughts, then began to speak. The account, once pieced together, ran as follows:
The monster's heart had been destroyed by what was presumed to be Schwarz's breath attack. Stripped of its core, the creature had collapsed like a crumbling ruin. Bernus had hastily assembled a search party and found Milia and Schwarz lying amid the wreckage, along with a handful of other survivors.
The damage to the countship had been severe: Kelebor Fortress half-destroyed, and of the three thousand soldiers stationed at the castle, five hundred dead or missing and roughly a thousand wounded. Nearly fifteen hundred lives lost or broken in total—a staggering toll.
"Is that… really true?"
"It is…"
Bernus nodded with a calm face toward Schwarz's stricken voice. To Schwarz, the Valentine Countship was as good as a hometown—the land where he had been reborn and raised, the territory of the family that had become his own. A catastrophe of this scale on that soil inevitably left him wondering whether there might have been some way to prevent it.
"Do not take it too hard. Without you, the entire kingdom might have been in peril. No one can fault you for what happened."
"That's right. It wasn't your fault."
Bernus and Milia both spoke gently, their faces full of quiet sympathy as they tried to comfort him.
"I understand."
Schwarz nodded at their words. Even knowing they were right, he found it difficult to shake the heavy gloom settling over him.
"Eat first. You must be starving."
"Ah… yes."
At Bernus's prompting, Schwarz carefully turned his attention to the plate set before him. Steam still rose from a bowl of soup. There was freshly baked bread with fruit jam, a sandwich stuffed with ham, and a glass of warm milk. After more than two weeks unconscious, the sight of the food sent a wave of hunger crashing over him that was almost impossible to resist.
He picked up his utensils and began to eat with unrestrained urgency. Bernus and Milia watched him with warm, contented smiles. Robert, standing nearby, observed the scene as well but chose to look away this time, as if deciding to let it pass without comment.
Schwarz was thoroughly absorbed in filling his empty stomach when Bernus spoke again.
"By the way, what was all that noise upstairs earlier? It sounded rather loud…"
"…!!"
"Kh—!!"
Apparently Bernus had heard Milia's scream that had shaken the entire manor. He set down his teacup with a puzzled look. At the same moment Milia flinched, her face turning scarlet, while Schwarz pounded his own chest with a fist as if something had gone down the wrong way and drained his glass of milk in one desperate gulp.
"I-it was nothing! R-right!?"
"Cough! Y-yes!! Nothing at all happened!"
Milia answered, cold sweat beading on her forehead in her panic, and Schwarz hurriedly agreed. Neither of them could possibly admit that the cause had been the sight of Schwarz half-undressed.
"If you say so, then I suppose that is the case."
Bernus simply nodded and returned to sipping his tea. Watching him, Milia let out a short sigh, then narrowed her eyes at Schwarz and began jabbing him lightly in the side with her fist while he tried to resume eating.
"My Lady… that hurts…"
"Be quiet, you idiot. Why did it have to be at that exact moment…"
Milia grumbled under her breath. Schwarz felt thoroughly wronged. After all, she was the one who had barged in without knocking. He had only been trying to change clothes—how had things ended up like this? Of course he swallowed the protest and kept it locked firmly in his chest.
Just then—
"Schwarz! Are you in here!?"
"Pffah!!"
The dining-room door burst open with a loud bang. Startled once more, Schwarz broke into another fit of painful coughing.
The person who strode in was none other than the lady of the house—Milia's mother, Melissa Valentine.
"Mother?"
"My lady?"
"Ah—good morning, my lady."
Schwarz wiped a smear of jam from the corner of his mouth, rose from his seat, and bowed.
"I came the moment I heard you had woken. How is your body feeling?"
Melissa waved a hand as if to say there was no need for formality, then walked over and took the seat beside him.
"I'm all right. Still a little tired, perhaps."
"You've been through so much. Finish your meal first."
"Ah… yes."
Schwarz nodded and returned to his food. Melissa watched him with a look of quiet pity. The weight of that gaze made him self-conscious, but there was little he could do about it. In this household, no one could defy her.
A short while later, Schwarz finished eating and rose from his chair with a soft sigh.
And in that very instant—
"Come here a moment."
"Pardon? Wha—my lady!?"
As if she had been waiting for him to finish, Melissa caught his hand and pulled him straight into her arms. Caught completely off guard, Schwarz could only cry out as he found himself enveloped in her embrace.
"Um… m-my l-lady? Th-this is… what exactly…?"
Something similar had happened before, he thought, his voice trembling. Then a warm sensation settled over his head.
"Just stay quiet for a little while."
"Y-yes, ma'am…"
Melissa spoke softly as she began to stroke his hair with gentle, unhurried motions. For some reason, the simple gesture filled Schwarz with a deep sense of comfort. A warm feeling rose and spread through his chest—something he had never known before, having lost his parents so early in life.
Neither Bernus nor Milia made any move to stop her this time; they simply remained silent.
After a long moment, Melissa finally released him.
"Thank you… truly. And I'm sorry."
"I only did what I had to do."
Schwarz bowed his head with a faint smile. Melissa returned it with a warm, motherly one of her own.
And so the long chain of events that had shaken the countship finally drew to a close.