Return, Part 4
"So then, which one of them is Lord Valdes's mate?"
"?!"
'Has this bastard finally lost his mind…?'
It was the sort of question that left all three women, Valdes included, utterly stunned.
Even for a marquis, it was not something just anyone could say—unless he was the renowned Marquis Propylene of the Ulsro Kingdom. After all, the "of them" in his question included not only his daughter, but the kingdom's two princesses as well.
"F-Father!"
Ethylene shrieked at the marquis, aghast. Her face was a vivid scarlet, and this time it wasn't an act.
Mercede and Mari were just as flustered, unable to answer at all. The question had been so unexpected that it was a miracle none of the food they'd been eating had flown out of their mouths.
And yet, though no one gave him a proper answer, the marquis let out an impressed hum as if he'd noticed something.
"Oh-ho…."
'Damn it… why has this guy changed so much?'
While Valdes grumbled inwardly, the marquis gave him a warm, genial smile.
"This is quite an amusing discovery."
"M-Marquis? Th-that's…"
"Ah, it's all right. As a father with a daughter, I'm not exactly pleased, but... it's not as if I have any right to say anything."
Valdes didn't know it, but Ethylene's mother had passed away not long after giving birth to her. Her body had simply never been strong to begin with.
After that, the marquis had taken a second wife, and later still a few more, so that he now had three wives at his side in total. Even so, his image as a romantic remained remarkably strong, and he had handled matters of succession and the like with such thoroughness that no one among his retainers had any reason to complain.
"Haha…."
"Still, remember this much. If even a single tear falls from my daughter's eyes…."
He was smiling, but there was killing intent in the marquis's voice. When a servant saw the knife in his hand snap cleanly in half with a sharp crack and fall to the table, the poor man hurriedly replaced it with a new one.
Silence and awkwardness settled over the table, and the marquis gave an embarrassed chuckle, as if he'd just realized his mistake.
"...Haha. I've been rude, haven't I? Especially with guests sitting here."
"N-No, well... i-it's fine, Marquis."
Mercede, the first to recover her composure, nodded. She had been startled, but she didn't feel particularly offended. Even if the marquis had said the same thing in regard to his daughter being made to cry, his gaze had clearly been directed not only at Ethylene, but at the two princesses as well.
The princesses were already on friendly terms with the marquis, and they remembered how much he had cherished the royal family and themselves. They didn't think Valdes would make things difficult for them, but even so, no one could resent being worried over.
"Hmm."
The marquis quietly looked over the faces of the three women and nodded as though satisfied.
"You all seem to wear comfortable expressions, so I take it Lord Valdes treats you well. That's a relief. Still, all of you should be careful at night…"
"Ah, Dad! N-No, Father! Please, enough…!"
"Hahaha! It's been a while since I've heard someone call me Dad! I might have to use that again later!"
Seeing the two of them bicker so adorably, like nothing one would ever expect from a high noble house's father and daughter, Valdes and even the princesses could only manage awkward smiles. It was a side of them unlike anything they had known before—refreshing, yet strange.
Valdes, in particular, felt a great deal from the marquis.
The weight of the eighteen years he had forgotten for so long came crashing down on him with painful clarity.
It was the same sensation one felt when the children they had known in their youth had grown up in the blink of an eye and become adults.
When he had taken revenge on Marc, he had been too focused on the thrill of it and on preparing his next moves to think about such things. But in truth, the one who had changed the most was him. In the eighteen years since then, he had become the king of a nation and the father of three children.
The man who had once stood at the vanguard of the Hero's party, a warrior who had been unable even to properly fan his own anger anymore and was slowly falling apart. Yet the figure Valdes remembered was nowhere to be seen.
'Yes, eighteen years is a long time for humans. ...Somehow, it feels like I'm the only one who hasn't moved from my place.'
Perhaps it was because he had grown up all over again from infancy. Or perhaps it was because he had simply longed for revenge without end. He couldn't say. But for some reason, it felt as if his time had stopped the moment Hero Pedro died.
"Lord Valdes?"
"...."
"Lord Valdes?"
Lost in the past, Valdes finally came to at Mari's voice.
"Ah, yes."
"Are you feeling unwell, by any chance?"
"No, not at all. I just... recalled an old memory for a moment."
"Ah…."
A soft sigh escaped Mari's lips.
It was no secret that Marquis Propylene had deep ties to the Hero. Knowing Valdes's true identity, she had worried that he might be thinking of those days again.
Valdes gave her a light look to say he was fine.
He had merely remembered something from the past for a moment. That was all. He had no intention of clinging to old days forever, nor did he regret his revenge. To be struck from behind and stay still was the work of a fool—or of some exalted clergyman. He was neither.
He also had no intention of revealing his identity to the marquis.
Hero Pedro was dead. It was enough that only his women—and some of the Demon King's army—knew who he had been, along with the people he intended to take revenge on. He was Pedro, yes, but now he was Valdes. As he carried out his revenge, he believed he needed to sever his ties to the past.
"Haha, it's been so long since we've had a gathering like this that I'm genuinely pleased."
Marquis Propylene clapped lightly as he spoke, trying to refresh the mood. At once, servants brought in new dishes and decorated the table with them.
"Dessert made from our estate's specialties. Please, enjoy."
His voice was low, but it carried the dignity of a man whose words could reach every table in the dining hall.
The marquis swept his eyes across the room, briefly taking in the envoy, then returned to his seat.
"Ah, and just so you know... our conversation from a moment ago was not heard by anyone, so there's no need for concern."
'He put up a wall of mana only around us, so not even the servants could hear. He's really grown.'
Indeed, the Master was the Master.
After the dinner—colorful with a bit of commotion and a few little incidents—ended, everyone who had filled the dining hall scattered in all directions. Among them were those who visited the knights' order, wanting to witness the famed swordsmanship of House Propylene's rapier, as well as those who went out for a quick stroll to look around the castle.
Most, however, returned to their rooms to rest. Valdes did the same. It wasn't so much because he wanted to rest as because he didn't want to run into the marquis again for no good reason.
'Now that I think about it, it's been quite a while since I contacted Vilma, hasn't it?'
Lying on the bed and rolling lazily about, Valdes decided to contact Vilma after all this time.
When he had been in the Ventorino Kingdom, he had always exchanged reports through Irena. Back then, because she had been nearby, it had been a little inconvenient, but it had still been easier to go through Irena. Now, though, there was no need to do that. This wasn't the Demon Realm, and there was no risk of being caught communicating with someone in a remote outpost.
'I wonder what Robert's been up to.'
Chuckling softly, he was just about to take out the crystal sphere from his luggage when there was a knock at the door.
Knock, knock.
"M-Master... ah, I mean, Lord Valdes. Are you in there?"
It was Ethylene.
Wondering what was going on, he opened the door.
"Ethylene?"
"Ah, Lord Valdes!"
The blue-haired beauty, who had been standing uncertainly outside, lit up the moment she saw his face. Before even asking what she needed, Valdes motioned her inside.
"What's wrong?"
"It's... about earlier. I'm sorry."
"For teasing your father?"
"Eek! Y-Yes…."
Watching Ethylene tremble as she clutched at the hem of her clothes, head bowed low, Valdes gave a faint snort of amusement.
He hadn't noticed it at first, but thinking back on it, it had been a little odd. And after seeing the attitude of the father and daughter in the dining hall, he had more or less caught on. Ethylene had dragged her father into it for the sake of some scheme or another. But like the princesses, he didn't care much about it.
"Come here."
"Y-Yes…."
Trembling at the thought that her master might be angry and about to punish her properly, she nevertheless approached Valdes.
Once she'd done it, she had regretted it.
Fortunately for Ethylene, what Valdes gave her was not punishment, but a sweet kiss.
"Mmph?! Mm, mnh, mm… ah, h-hah…."
"Why are you in such a hurry?"
"I-I…."
With just one kiss, Ethylene's nerves melted away, and she began to pour out her true feelings.
"I was a little, um... anxious."
"Anxious?"
"Yes... I mean, my position is kind of ambiguous, isn't it? So...."
"Ambiguous... I see."
He understood what she meant immediately.
It was because he knew how he had treated her so far, and because he knew the kind of things the women had said among themselves when they thought he wasn't listening.
Ethylene was indeed somewhere in the middle. She was the sort who received his favor and spoke with him often, much like Beatris, Mercede, Mari, or Serenia, sneaking light touches whenever she could. But she wasn't at the very top either. She wasn't like Elsa or Grette, who waited eagerly for his grace. She occupied that awkward middle ground.
Sometimes he spent time with her, and sometimes he made sure to show his face, but in terms of priority she had been pushed behind the princesses. Still, during the envoy mission, she had often been with Mari because of escort duties. As a result, the two of them had only lain together three or four times during the entire time they spent traveling as part of the delegation.
"And now Katarina and Clara have appeared here too, right?"
"Yes... and lately you've been paying attention to that beastwoman, Jurina."
"So you were worried you'd keep getting left behind even after we returned to the capital."
"T-That's right…."
"Hmm. Well. That one's on me, I guess."
Valdes pulled Ethylene into his arms and threw himself onto the bed with her. Then, lying there with her beneath him, he reached up to stroke her hair.
"Honestly, if something like that bothers you, you can just say it. Tell me to pay attention to you too. Tell me you're lonely. Tell me you want it."
"Wh-What? H-How could I say something like that…."
"Honestly."
Startled, Ethylene shook her head at once. The young man hugged the innocent-looking knight tightly.
He himself felt a little guilty about this sort of thing. It was true that, in the Ventorino Kingdom, he had focused too much on Katarina and Clara.
Besides, there had been no Beatris or Serenia there, but Irena and Yueli, along with the twin dark elves, had all been hidden at his command, hadn't they? If anything, the sheer number of women around him had been greater while he was in Ventorino. Because of that, he had, without meaning to, slighted her somewhat.
"Back then, I thought it was cute when you'd glare at me and snap at me."
"Eek! Th-That was…!"
"Well, I wouldn't ask you to do that now if you couldn't... but don't be so afraid. I told you before, didn't I? I don't abandon my women. And you're both my sex slave and my woman."
"...Y-Yes...♥"
There were plenty of vulgar and utterly useless words in that declaration of love, but Ethylene was happy with nothing more than that.
There was only one thing that could follow in a mood like this.
Valdes's hand, which had been wrapped around her waist, slowly slid upward and seized the blue waves of her hair. Then he drew her toward him, slowly, deliberately.
"Mm, haa... chu, chuu. Mwah, smooch...♥"
A thick, languid kiss, tongues tangling wetly together.
Ethylene was already wearing an ecstatic expression as she busily sucked and licked at his lips and tongue.
It was funny, really.
It was the first time he had begun sex with a kiss.
Usually, their hot nights started with Ethylene serving the man she loved. Whether with her mouth or her breasts, she would strip Valdes down below first and softly caress the fiercely aroused thing until she had wrung out the first spill. Only after that did they tangle their bodies together, filling the room with a sticky, dense fever.
But this time was different.
"Haah, haah... ahh, Ma-Master...♥"
With a long silver thread still linking mouth to mouth, Ethylene called to the one she loved with a dazed look in her eyes.
"You can call me differently just for now."
At his words, Ethylene thought for a moment, then shook her head.
"No. I like this better. Because you're my master... my master."
As she said it, a bright smile blossomed on her face.
Valdes went blank for a moment. He didn't know why, but for some reason the smile she was wearing just then looked incredibly beautiful—and incredibly sensual.
"Ethylene."
"Yes?"
"Spread your legs."
"Ah, yes.♡"