How to Spend a Holiday (1)
When I opened my eyes that morning, my body felt inexplicably heavy.
At the same time — for reasons I genuinely could not explain — the young lady's scent hung thick in the air.
Half-asleep, I turned my head and surveyed the room, but of course I was the only one there.
People often experience a kind of sensory confusion when they desire something intensely. Someone trying to lose weight, for instance, might swear they can smell their favorite food even when none is present.
This had to be the same principle. After the shock of being trapped yesterday in a room I could not leave without submitting, my longing for the young lady must have grown even stronger. But the scent was awfully potent. Had she stopped by during the night?
—That was far too pleasant a delusion. Snap out of it.
"Hooo."
I opened the window and drew in the fresh air, and my mind cleared a little. My body was still heavy, though.
The one silver lining was that today was the weekend. That meant no exhausting entanglements with Irene.
Ordinarily I would have been performing my duties as head butler.
"You're asking for time off?"
"I'm sorry..."
I bowed my head before the Duke. Even so, my body simply could not take any more.
The Academy might look easy from the outside, but the assignments piled up like mountains, and for the past two weeks I had been dragged around by Irene with barely any rest.
If I kept going like this, trying to fulfill my head butler duties over the weekend might actually cause more problems than it solved.
It was shameful — I had boasted so loudly that I could handle my duties on weekends even while attending the Academy. I kept my head down, waiting for the Duke's scolding.
"I was wondering when you'd finally ask. Well then. Shall we calculate it by the calendar and give you about a month of leave?"
"Pardon?"
"Counting only the weekends, that comes to roughly fifteen weeks of vacation."
"I-Is that all right?"
"What kind of question is that?"
The Duke looked at me with something like distaste.
"You've worked without missing a single day for ten years, and only now you ask for leave. Even when I was fighting for the succession, I don't think I worked as hard as you."
"Ah—"
"Don't worry about it. Do whatever you like during your vacation. Focus more on the Academy if you want, or simply rest. Honestly, I'd prefer you take an extended leave for the entire Academy term."
The Duke shook his head after reading my expression.
"You won't hear of that, though."
"I'd grow far too lax."
"But take this one-month leave. Collapsing from overwork would be a greater loss."
"Thank you!"
I received an unexpected month of leave — more precisely, fifteen weeks of weekend vacation.
Having never once thought of taking time off from my butler duties, the feeling was strange. What did other people do when they rested? Wander the streets the way I had with Irene last time?
But walking around itself drained energy — was that really rest? How does one rest with maximum efficiency?
Rest was for recovering a tired body. That settled what I needed to do.
"Mother. I'm home."
"Frey! How long has it been!"
I paid my mother a long-overdue visit. Her house was about a thirty-minute walk from the Duke's estate.
After greeting the maids who attended her under the young lady's orders, I apologized to Mother.
"I'm sorry. I've been so busy lately."
"Don't be. Just knowing you're well is enough to make me happy."
"You're doing all right yourself, Mother?"
"I'm living well thanks to you. Though there is one thing that bothers me."
Worry settled on Mother's face. But I already knew what it was.
"You should rest easy, Mother."
"Even so, accepting this kind of kindness without doing anything feels wrong, doesn't it?"
"You've suffered enough all these years. It's fine for you to rest a little."
Mother was living comfortably in the house provided by the Duke and the young lady, doing nothing at all. After recovering from her illness, she had wanted to work as a maid for the ducal house the way I did, but the young lady had stopped her, so she was resting.
For the past ten years she had constantly wanted to work, but upon hearing that if she did, I would be dismissed, she had no choice but to stay home.
"I can't tell you how grateful I am to the Duke and the young lady. Frey. You always live with gratitude, don't you?"
"Of course. I'd gladly devote my entire life to them."
"Goodness. Well, if you're happy, then I should be content with how things are. But, you know..."
"Yes?"
"Mother would love for Frey to bring home a daughter-in-law soon."
I quietly averted my gaze.
The typical marriageable age for nobles was between seventeen and twenty. In fact, plenty of students at the Academy were already married.
But I wasn't a noble. Still, now that my life had stabilized, Mother seemed eager to find a daughter-in-law.
"Is there anyone who's caught your eye?"
"No. I'm busy enough with work as it is."
"You've started attending the Academy, haven't you? You never know. Some noble young lady might fall for dashing Frey."
"Please don't say such things! That would be a disaster!"
It really would be a disaster. I wasn't actually a collateral member of the Katram family.
Marriage between nobles was best understood as an alliance of power. Getting married while carrying a false claim to power? I'd have nothing to say even if my head ended up on display in the square.
"I'll handle that myself."
"But Frey. I hear a great deal from the Duke as well. I know you throw yourself into work far too much."
"Ugh."
"Wanting to repay their kindness is fine. But the Duke and the young lady treasure you, don't they? They'd want to see you happy, too."
"That's..."
"I hope you'll give Mother's words some real thought."
It was a truly difficult request. The person I loved was a flower on an unreachable cliff. But I needed to put Mother's mind at ease for now.
"I understand."
I could see the relief on Mother's face. Guilt stabbed at my chest.
After spending a few hours with her, I left. She had liked the cookies I'd made with illusion magic, so I should practice other varieties as well.
Leaving Mother's house, I returned to the estate. It was time to fulfill the original purpose of my rest.
"Soft bed, warm blankets, dark room. Perfect."
Having changed back into my sleepwear, I lay down on the bed. This was what I would be doing for the rest of the weekend.
Except for meals, I would not leave this bed. I would restore both body and mind, no matter what.
Part of me wanted nothing more than to sit by the young lady's side, chatting and laughing. But I had been given leave, so I ought to use it properly for its intended purpose.
I always slept well enough. But lying in bed during working hours like this was a first.
The moment I closed my eyes, rather than sleep, my body itched with restlessness. I wanted to get up right then and start issuing orders to the maids and butlers. I wanted to attend to the Duke and the young lady so they could have the finest day possible.
But I held back. The Duke had worried about my health, after all.
...
I should have paid my respects to the young lady before coming to my room. I must truly be exhausted. I went straight to the Duke without even thinking of that.
Still, this kind of rest was only for this weekend. Next weekend, leave or no leave, I would go see the young lady.
Two hours after closing my eyes.
"I can't sleep at all."
I had heard the theory that there was no such thing as oversleeping — that a person could be sleep-deprived but could not sleep more than they needed. But wasn't that only true when the body wasn't tired?
Even if I had slept nine hours a day, a fatigued body should demand that much more rest. How could I not be sleepy at all?
No — come to think of it, I had woken at my usual time this morning, hadn't I? Did that mean my body didn't need sleep right now?
"This is a problem."
Even so, I didn't get up. Simply lying in bed should still count as rest.
But just lying there without sleeping made me restless.
"...Maybe I should read a book."
The ducal estate's archive was so vast it functioned like a library. Unlike the Academy library, it was a true library filled only with safe books.
Despite its enormous size, finding a book was simple. Every volume that entered the estate was inspected and stamped with a magical serial number. Search for a title with the crystal orb at the library entrance, then simply locate the serial number.
So going to the archive would have been the right call. But I chose a different direction.
"I'll go to the young lady's room."
Ever since falling ill, the young lady had taken to reading with great enjoyment. She had read a great deal even before, but afterward her already considerable reading volume had roughly tripled.
That was why her room had its own dedicated bookshelf, stocked with interesting books she had carefully selected.
Going to the young lady's room to pay my respects and find a good book at the same time wasn't a bad choice.
It wasn't as if I had any ulterior motives. I was simply going to offer my greetings. Yes.
"Huh? Why is the door open?"
When I arrived at the young lady's room, the door stood ajar. Had she gone out? But she wasn't the type to leave her door open.
"Young lady? You're not in, are you?"
Without much thought, I pushed the door fully open and looked inside. If she was out, it would be a shame, but better to just take a book and leave.
"Eh."
"Hm?"
But why—
"F-Frey?!"
"...Irene?"
Why was Irene in the young lady's room?