The Lady Refuses to See Me
The Lady isn't seeing anyone.
Whoosh—
The wind sang as my sword cut through the air.
It wasn't any special technique—just a simple downward strike, nothing more. And yet, with each repetition of that simple motion, I poured my whole heart into it.
"You've been training even harder than usual lately."
Had my unusually diligent practice caught his eye? Aaron, who had been watching my training from the side, struck up a conversation.
"...It's nothing. When I'm swinging a sword, I can shut out every other thought."
"Would you happen to have something weighing on you, my lord?"
Of course I did.
And not a small worry, either—a very big one.
But the worry currently consuming me wasn't the kind of thing I could share with anyone else, so...
"No, I'm just a little preoccupied."
I brushed him off with a vague answer.
"If something is troubling you, my lord... is it, by any chance, Lady Rebecca of Valencia?"
"..."
Sometimes I thought to myself—
Aaron was surprisingly perceptive, nothing like the way he looked.
With that face, he looked like the sort of man who couldn't even recognize when a woman he liked was interested in him. Was it because other people's affairs were easier to read? Or was it simply that I was bad at hiding what was written all over my face?
"...You really are annoyingly quick on the uptake."
"Was I right? I was just taking a wild guess."
"..."
"It was a joke, my lord. Don't be angry."
The moment my expression turned visibly dangerous, Aaron immediately tucked his tail between his legs.
"Haah."
Only a sigh came out.
Why was it that everyone—my swordsmanship instructor, my parents—was so desperate to tease me at every opportunity?
Is this... karma?
Was this my punishment for all the times I'd teased Rebecca? I would have to make an effort to cut back on provoking the Lady from now on. It wasn't as if things would go the way I wanted, but surely with effort, anything was possible.
And so I made a resolution that I was absolutely certain I would never keep.
"Is that also why you haven't been visiting the Ducal Estate lately?"
"...If you want to put it that way, sure."
Just as Aaron had said—
The last time I had visited the Valencia Ducal Mansion was a week ago.
In other words, I hadn't set foot there once since the night I spent wide-eyed and sleepless in Rebecca's room.
"...Did you quarrel with the Lady, my lord?"
"No."
"Then what... could possibly have happened that you haven't visited the Ducal Mansion for an entire week, when you used to go at least once every three days?"
"So what? Do you hate having me around?"
"Not at all. Frankly, my lord, I find it far more convenient when you stay home."
"...Convenient when I'm around?"
"When you're here, I'm always supervising your swordsmanship—which means I don't have to do my actual job, you see."
"..."
It appeared our household was home to the legendary salary thief after all.
...Should I tell Father?
While I was seriously debating whether I ought to report this fact to my father, Aaron, blissfully unaware of the thoughts running through my head, asked with a puzzled look.
"Something truly must have happened, then."
"...Nothing happened."
"It's just that my humble mind can't make sense of it. Everyone in the Empire knows that you and the Lady get along better than most newlyweds."
By Aaron's account, apparently Rebecca and I weren't citizens of the Empire at all—judging by the fact that we alone seemed unaware of how well we supposedly got along.
"What could you and the Lady possibly have to fight about?"
"I told you, we didn't fight."
"No matter how I think about it, it doesn't seem like a quarrel... Then something must have happened a week ago, when you stayed a single night at the Valencia Ducal Mansion and returned..."
Aaron began stroking his chin and deducing away with all his might, as if he were some master detective. The sight itself was absurd enough to be my first laugh of the morning; the fact that his deductions were disturbingly close to the mark was the second.
"...Did you, perhaps, do something?"
"Pfft—"
For a moment, I doubted my own ears.
"What did you say?"
"It's not that I distrust you, my lord, but you and the Lady haven't even held your coming-of-age ceremonies yet."
"..."
"Therefore, as a knight of House Zernias, I would ask that you exercise a measure of restraint—for the sake of House Zernias's future, of course."
Aaron had evidently and completely accepted his own theory that I had done something unspeakable with Rebecca. Judging by how he'd brushed off my answer and pressed on with whatever he wanted to say...
"I knew you weren't right in the head a long time ago, but today you've truly lost it."
"In my line of work, that would be a bonus."
"...You lunatic."
I clicked my tongue at the sheer, boundless absurdity of the man.
Seriously—which one of us was the employer, and which one the employee?
"Since you hardly seem in the mood to keep swinging your sword, let's call it a day, my lord."
"...Anyone watching would think you were the one teaching me."
"I am always learning new knowledge from you, my lord."
The knight of our house was determined not to yield a single quip to the young master of that very house.
Unable to contain my irritation any longer, I finally reached for my cheat code.
"I'm going to tell Father that we won't be needing a swordsmanship instructor for the next month."
"...I apologize, my lord. I was wrong."
Only now did Aaron concede his fault and turn respectful.
But it was too late. If he was going to admit it, he should have done so from the start.
I turned on my heel at once and broke into a run toward my father's study.
"My lord!!! How could you do this to me, after everything between us!!!"
I ignored Aaron's wail of despair behind me.
You should have behaved while you had the chance.
"...So you're saying you'll practice your swordsmanship alone for a month?"
"Yes, Father."
"Is there a reason?"
Because I can't stand the sight of Aaron, my swordsmanship instructor.
The words nearly slipped out of my mouth, but I managed to swallow them down.
"I thought it might be good to build up the habit of training on my own, at least to some degree."
"...Very well. I'll speak to the Knight Commander."
"Thank you, Father."
Oh, how satisfying it was.
To think that Aaron, who had done nothing but slack off while nominally teaching me swordsmanship, would now have to go do his actual job.
Granted, I had learned a fair amount of swordsmanship from him—but none of that mattered to me in the slightest right now.
Just as I was basking in the victor's smile, the Count's voice drifted over, as if something had just occurred to him.
"I notice you haven't been visiting the Valencia Ducal Mansion lately."
"...That's right."
"Is there a reason for that as well?"
"Well..."
Of course there was a reason.
But as I'd said before, it simply wasn't the kind of reason a person could easily say out loud.
...How exactly am I supposed to tell anyone that I can't face my own fiancée?
Even now, if I sat still for a moment, the memory of that day would replay itself before my eyes.
The slender, elegant hands that had pulled me closer. The petulant voice telling me, quietly, to hold still. The faint warmth I could feel from how impossibly close we were—and those two clear crimson eyes that held nothing but me.
And last of all, Rebecca's soft, sweet lips.
Merely recalling what had happened that morning made my face burn, and whenever I left my mind idle, it came flooding back unbidden.
This was why I had been training so much harder than usual.
Because at least while I was swinging a sword, Rebecca's beautiful face didn't appear before my eyes.
Because when I swung mindlessly, again and again, it felt as though even the memory of that day might fade away.
So I swung. Hard.
"If it's a reason you cannot share, then you needn't share it."
When I hesitated to explain myself, the Count of Zernias gave a faint smile and put me at ease.
"I was only a little worried. A young man who used to march over to the Ducal Mansion every other day suddenly stops going."
"...Thank you, Father."
"If your business here is done, you may go."
Three years had passed since I came to inhabit this body, and in all that time one thing had remained constant.
My parents—the Count and Countess of Zernias—were truly good people.
They always made sure I took care of the fundamentals, but once those were done, they never meddled further. They let their child live his own life as he saw fit, while still teaching him that certain lines were never to be crossed.
More than any parents I could imagine, they simply wished for their child to be happy. Those were my parents in this world.
And I was certain that even now, they knew perfectly well that something had happened between Rebecca and me.
Yet they never pressed me for details.
...Because they trust me.
They trusted me, their son—the one and only heir of House Zernias, Albert Zernias.
And for that, I was always, endlessly grateful.
"Then, I'll take my leave."
"Will you be visiting the Valencia Ducal Mansion tomorrow?"
At my father's question—would I be going to the Ducal Mansion tomorrow—
I answered with a small smile.
"Yes."
"How about we all have dinner together tonight, for a change? It seems Charles has been preparing for quite a while."
"Of course, Father."
"Good."
Dinner that evening was truly delicious.
Whether it was because Charles, the chef of House Zernias, had poured his heart into the meal, or simply because I was sharing it with my parents, the Count and Countess of Zernias, I couldn't say—but I could honestly say it was better than any dinner I'd eaten at the Valencia Ducal Estate.
And so the delightful family dinner came to an end.
*
The next morning.
"It's been a while, Lord Albert."
"It certainly has, Dorothy."
It had been a week and a single day since I last set eyes on Rebecca—and I finally arrived at the Valencia Ducal Mansion to see her.
But there, I was met with a situation I had never once imagined.
"Where is the Lady?"
I asked after Rebecca's whereabouts as casually as a greeting, as I always did when I came to see her.
"Ah..."
For some reason, Dorothy—who never failed to tell me, the Young Lady is in her room again today—stumbled over her words this time. And what came next hit me like a pot swung hard against the back of my head.
"Lady Rebecca has... instructed me to tell you that if Lord Albert comes, she can't stand even the sight of you, and to turn you away at once."
"..."
Rebecca had refused to see me.