Two Grand Dukes (1)

I was every bit as flustered as she was. Out of nowhere, she tells me I'm handsome — and this in the middle of a desperate battle, no less.

"Is that the whole reason?"

Flustered though I was, the words that left my mouth were another matter entirely — quiet, almost accusatory. The discipline of keeping the mind's balance had been worn into my body. My master would have praised me for it; in a situation like this, it was a perfect way to be misunderstood.

"Not exactly. There are far too many reasons, actually..." Uld asked, anxiety flickering in her eyes.

"Did I say something wrong?"

"No." I stressed it again. "It wasn't a mistake."

Come to think of it, Uld hadn't said anything strange. At fifteen, wasn't this exactly what normal looked like? A boy and a girl meet, fall headlong into passion, get seized by foolish thoughts. Youth was supposed to take that shape; I had simply been the only one barred from it, thanks to my severed meridians.

"But you don't look very happy about it."

"It's just... my head's a bit of a mess."

The truth was, there was a reason I hadn't told Lily or Lucian either — the real reason I had tried to choose a spouse through such a slapdash event. I might be dead in five years. That was why I couldn't bring myself to truly love anyone. But as acting lord and heir of House Esterzy, I still had to secure a last resort to protect the family, and I intended to squeeze this marriage for all it was worth. Which was why my ideal partner had been "a woman as strong as I was who wouldn't fall in love with me."

"Is it a burden, my being a commoner?"

"It's not that." The problem was those guileless eyes. ...I couldn't exactly say that out loud. It would have been easier if she were some social climber hungry to be a duchess; then it would be a proper political match, two people using each other and nothing more.

"Where are you staying right now?"

"The Starlight Breeze Inn."

"...And your address?"

"If you mean where I usually lodge... the guild's dormitory."

I could feel her embarrassment.

"My villa has plenty of spare rooms. Move your things in. I'll speak to the head maid myself."

"Thank you."

She bowed her head.

The news that a commoner woman had been chosen as my spouse caused an enormous uproar. The amusing part was that opinion hadn't been half this heated before the tournament. Judging by how everyone came swarming out of the woodwork, they had all been quietly assuming I couldn't possibly be serious.

"I spoke with that woman."

A middle-aged man began, his tone heavy as lead. His name was Robert Esterzy, head of the Esterzy Family Council and a distant relative of mine. Behind him stood eight orange-haired men and women — cousins, every one, sent by the council to lean on me.

"I was truly appalled. How could you even think of bringing such a vulgar woman into the ducal residence?"

"I'm curious what standard you use to judge a person vulgar."

"She has no parents, does she not? No proper education to speak of. Why, the girl can't even write her own name in a decent hand. A wench who spent the years others learned their letters slaughtering monsters — if she isn't vulgar, what in this world is?"

"That's a strange thing to say." I crossed my legs and settled back into the sofa. "Anyone with a proper education in history would know that House Esterzy received its title precisely for being good at killing monsters."

"Th-that may be so, but that hardly means you can make a lowborn wench with not a shred of noble refinement into a duchess."

"Refinement can be learned in time. She's only fifteen, isn't she?"

"Noble refinement is not something one acquires through study. It is born in the blood. She was born low, and low she will remain. Teaching her now would change nothing."

"So refinement is something you're born with..." I snorted. "Then that explains why my elder brothers turned out as they did. Truly exalted gentlemen, the both of them."

Robert flinched. Every soul in that room had, at one time or another, backed one of my brothers.

"...Say what you will, my lord. We cannot approve of this engagement."

"Sorry, but vulgar happens to be my type."

"Even a grand duke cannot force everything to go exactly as he pleases. And you, Lord Eden, are not yet a grand duke at all."

"Are you saying that because you lament that I'm not?"

"That is not what I meant."

"That's how it sounds."

"Lord Eden...!"

"You may go." I dismissed them.

I did not like these relatives of mine, and I had no plans to like them going forward. Not one of them had shown so much as the tip of his nose while I grew up without a mother, yet they never missed a chance to stick a spoke in my wheel. The habit did not endear them to me. Decisively of all, they had refused to sign the petition Uncle Ruka had been circulating — which is to say, they opposed my becoming Grand Duke.

The feeling gnawed at me. The council's relatives shared blood with Mavel's line or Chris's, and my instincts told me their scheming would be cut from the same cloth. So I drove the engagement preparations forward as fast as they would go. Uld was arriving with nothing but herself, and the ceremony would be a simple one, so there was little to arrange; the dress was the longest lead item of all. I settled on Bishop Colin's rectory as the venue. The procedural work belonged to the staff regardless, so I threw myself into a different problem. However much of a political arrangement it was, a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠marriage was still a marriage — and with the ceremony rushed, my goal was to grow at least somewhat closer to Uld before the day came.

"Uld."

The black-bobbed girl turned to me. "Hello, Lord Eden."

I nodded in acknowledgment. "Is this all your luggage?"

She was lodging for the time being in a spare room of the villa, and the room was strikingly bare. Aside from the furniture that came with it, there was hardly anything worth calling a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠possession: one set of armor, one sword, a cooking pot and mess kit in a worn backpack.

"Yes. I've spent a long time never staying anywhere for long."

In my past life I had wandered without destination carrying exactly this much, master in tow from childhood — that part, too, was the same. So I could read it from her posture alone: she was prepared to leave at any moment.

"There's somewhere I need to go."

"Where?"

"The Subterranean World."

Uld's eyes went wide. This would be a first for her; the Subterranean World was closed to all without a special dispensation. We headed together for the passage linking the surface to the depths. I had bored several more of them over the past two years, so there was no longer any need to commit the indignity of trampling through our ancestors' mausoleum.

From below came the thud of hammer blows. The farther down we went, the more I could hear workmen laughing and shouting, and the hiss of hot metal breathing steam.

"...Wow."

Uld breathed a small gasp of wonder. Just as Colin had said, the base camp had grown to the size of a small town, half of it the workshop Uncle Ruka had raised to work Oradium. I made straight for it. Ruka had gathered the young journeymen outdoors and was in the middle of teaching them something.

"Uncle."

"Eden." Warmth spread across his face. "That's it for today's lesson. Go practice what you've learned, all of you."

The craftsmen pretended to practice, pretended to drift away, all the while watching us with curious eyes. I smiled thinly and made the introduction. "This is Uld. Uld, this is Ruka Rain — my uncle."

"I'm Uld. A pleasure to meet you."

"...Hm." Ruka's eyes narrowed. "So. You won the tournament, did you?"

"Yes."

"And why do you want to marry our Eden?"

Uld looked to me. I nodded, granting permission. Her face went red as a beet, and she stammered, "B-because he's handsome..."

She hadn't even finished before Ruka burst out laughing. "Bwahaha! You've got a good eye for men, I'll give you that."

She looked utterly flustered. Ruka laughed until his eyes welled, then said, "...And they say your swordsmanship is remarkable besides. You'll make a perfect lady of the house."

"You approve, then?"

"Approve? It was never mine to approve. You're the one who chose." Ruka answered heartily — a reaction entirely unlike my "relatives." "A fine pair you make, the two of you. Walk together often. Make sure no one can doubt what's between you."

"That's the plan. And Uncle — there's a favor I'd like to ask."

"What is it?"

"I'd like you to forge Uld's armor and sword."

"My armor and sword?" Uld started in surprise, waving her hands. "Y-you really don't need to. My current gear fits my hand just fine—"

"Here, let me see it." Ruka held out his hand. Uld hesitantly surrendered the sword, and he turned it over, examining it with a craftsman's thoroughness. "Cold steel, eh. Not a bad material, but the edge is chewed all to pieces. I'd very much like to know what manner of swordwork turns cold steel into this."

"I'm sorry. It's my own lack of skill..."

"I'm not scolding you. Every swordsman has habits all his own. I need to know yours before I can forge gear that fits you." Ruka handed the sword back. "Over there."

Where his outstretched arm pointed, a boulder as tall as I was sat embedded in the ground. "Strike that, once. You can manage that much, can't you?"

"I'll try."

Uld stepped forward. She raised the sword level and extended her left hand beneath the flat of the blade — the opening stance of Soul Pierce.

Tssssss... White energy beaded along the greatsword. I could feel the air itself trembling around her. It was hard to believe this was the same person who had been stammering in embarrassment moments before. Then her body shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow. With a grinding crack, the top half of the boulder simply ceased to exist.

"...You do have an eye for women." Ruka turned to me, marveling.

"Is that praise for her swordsmanship?"

"Not praise. Awe. Where in the world did you find a girl like this?"

"I didn't find her. She came to me first."

"Lucky bastard." Ruka chuckled, then grew businesslike. "I'll tell you why the cold steel couldn't hold up — it's a simple matter of strength. Nothing short of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Oradium can carry that level of power without coming apart."

Uld retrieved her sword and came back, taking her place at my side with a sheepish expression. "How was it?"

"I'll need to start work at once. Sword and armor, was it? I happen to have Oradium smelted and waiting — let's discuss your measurements and the design."

Just then, from the direction of the passage we had come by, a man came sprinting toward us, breathless. "Lord Eden!"

"What is it?"

"The head maid asked me to deliver this letter to you at once, my lord."

The man was one of the villa's attendants. He thrust a single card into my hand; on the envelope, in familiar handwriting, stood a name I knew all too well. I tore it open and read.

"What's the letter about?" Ruka asked, curiosity plain on his face.

"Mavel. He's congratulating me on my engagement."

"You don't look much like a man who's just been congratulated."

"Read it for yourself."

I passed him the card. He skimmed it through once, then crumpled the paper in his fist and hurled it to the ground. "So the bastard has finally crossed the line."

Mavel, ever the man of learning, had couched it in the most dignified of prose — sincere congratulations, and regret that duty kept him from my side. The problem was the signature at the bottom: Grand Duke Mavel Esterzy.

"Looks like the family council got in touch and asked him to stop me."

"The one putting him up to it will be the Emperor. Entertaining, isn't it — a feud breaking out inside House Esterzy."

For nearly three years now, the Emperor had kept Mavel close at hand without exacting the slightest punishment. I could have wagered rubies that somewhere in the imperial heartland, famine was twisting the land dry.

"Give it here." ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I held out my hand to Ruka.

"What? Don't tell me... you mean the petition?"

"Yes." I nodded firmly. "I think it's time you signed."