Let's Play at the Ducal Estate (2)
"Well… that's how it ended up…"
"…I see."
"I'm sorry, Master."
"Frey, what could you possibly have done wrong? Ah, I had something to give you."
"Pardon?"
Duke Katram opened a drawer and drew something out. The moment Frey saw it, he nearly jumped out of his skin.
"Master! That's—!"
"You distinguished yourself at the Academy this time, did you not? They won't be able to award you anything officially, so I prepared a gift of my own."
"Is it really all right for you to give me something like this?"
"I trust you."
"Master…!"
Overcome with emotion, Frey accepted the item from Duke Katram with the utmost reverence.
"You must be exhausted. Go rest."
"Yes, sir!"
Clutching his gift, Frey practically bounced out of the duke's study. One minute after he left—
"Haaaaaah…"
Duke Katram let out a long, weary sigh.
"Don't tell me I have to suffer through this again?"
"Yes. You do."
With a soft rustle, Iren materialized out of empty air as if someone had painted her into existence.
"You only need to step out for a little while, don't you?"
"Your Highness. It is not that simple. And why are you not in Aylin's form?"
"Mm, there's a bit of a problem with that?"
Iren had kept Aylin's existence carefully hidden. If the ducal house or the imperial family ever learned of her, they would almost certainly erase Aylin's personality entirely. That was the last thing Iren wanted.
"Hah. Spending a night here as the Imperial Princess…"
"I want to. It's a request from your beloved daughter—you'll grant it, won't you?"
"Please do not say such things while wearing the princess's face. And you said you intend to sleep beside Frey?"
"Yes!"
"Have you already forgotten what happened last time?"
The memory still haunted Duke Katram—Frey bolting upright from a dead sleep, the binding ropes, Iren. She had not approached Frey while he slept since that night, but the duke lived in constant dread of the next attempt.
"That's exactly why I'm trying to sleep next to him."
"What do you mean by that?"
"The reason I lost control yesterday was because I saw Frey collapse."
"Frey collapsed… I ought to give him more leave."
"He didn't faint from overwork. He said he shot an illusion spell into his own head and knocked himself out."
"…?"
Duke Katram could not make sense of it. Why would Frey—capable, versatile, brilliant Frey—do something like that?
Looking only at the Frey who served as steward of the Katram Estate, such a thing was utterly unimaginable.
The duke gazed at Iren with pity.
"Your Highness. It seems the aftermath of the previous incident still lingers."
"It's not that. Hah… Father, you simply don't know what Frey's Academy life is like, so I suppose it can't be helped."
Iren grumbled as she explained.
"Frey really did fire an illusion spell into his own head. And the content of that spell is the problem."
"What kind of content could do that?"
"He said it was a spell that displayed every stress he'd ever endured, all at once. And after taking that hit, Frey ended up like this."
Iren swept her hand through the air. Frigid mana sprayed forth and formed a mirror of ice in the empty space.
The ice mirror reflected Frey's collapsed figure. The duke's brow furrowed. It was far too wretched a sight to call a simple faint.
"You're telling me that simply gathering and firing unpleasant memories was enough to reduce him to that?"
"That's right. And when you add how unusually wary he is of anyone approaching him while he sleeps… doesn't it seem strange?"
"You mean to discover what happened to Frey in the past?"
"Yes. Because something terrible must have happened to him before he came to this estate."
As far as Iren knew, Frey had almost never been stressed after arriving at the estate. It was a little embarrassing to admit, but the Frey who attended to "Aylin" had been genuinely happy.
Which meant something must have happened before he ever set foot in the Katram household. Iren's heart ached for him.
Frey was seven years old when he came to the estate. What on earth could have been done to a child that young?
For Iren, this was a problem that had to be solved. First, because Frey was carrying a trauma. And second—
W-well, getting tied up every single time we try to sleep together is a little inconvenient…
Being bound once wasn't so bad. Being bound every night, however, sounded exhausting.
That was why Iren intended to spend a night at the ducal estate—either to get tied up one more time, or to draw the truth out of him through an honest conversation at bedtime.
She could have used the imperial intelligence network to dig into his past, of course, but Iren refused to uncover Frey's history that way.
A person's past only held true value when it came from their own lips. Anything else risked sowing disaster later on.
"So, Father, I need you to pretend to take 'Aylin' out with you! Understood?"
For the plan to work, Aylin had to leave the estate. Frey would fight tooth and nail against her going out alone—but if Duke Katram went with her, Frey would accept it and let her go.
She had briefly considered planting a double—disguising a maid with transformation magic and using hypnosis to make her act like Aylin.
But after consulting the Aylin within, she abandoned the idea. Frey would see through a fake Aylin in an instant.
Considering that Frey had memorized Aylin's height, weight, vocal tone, and even the precise length of her hair by date, it was the right call.
"Your Highness."
"Yes?"
"Of late, this duke has begun to feel fatigue for the first time in his life."
Duke Katram's eyes looked sunken.
"Being misunderstood by a steward I have only just come to trust… being body-slammed by a princess I raised as my own daughter… and now I am expected to stage a fake outing as well."
"Ahaha…"
Iren averted her gaze. She had, admittedly, been making unreasonable demands of the duke lately.
"Of course, this Katram would do anything for Your Highness. However."
Duke Katram spoke in a voice thick with sorrow.
"Having risen to this station only to still be doing work like this… one does occasionally feel a certain existential despair…"
"I-I-I-I understand, Father. It was my fault. From now on I'll make sure things like this happen as little as possible!"
"Truly?"
"Of course. You know I love you, Father."
"Then why, a few days ago, did you storm into my study, scream that you hated me, and storm back out…"
"Aaaah! Frey's about to come to my room any second! Good night!"
Iren bolted from the study. Left alone, Duke Katram heaved another deep sigh.
Once outside, Iren hastily transformed into Aylin's appearance, then turned her attention inward to her own consciousness.
Aylin was staring back at her with a sulky face. Iren asked lazily,
"How are you feeling right now?"
"Awful."
"Awful? You broke the promise first. If anything, I'm being generous. I'm only going to do as I please over the weekend."
That was right. The two of them had made a pact. And the clause Aylin had broken was Article One: neither was permitted to invade the other's domain without just cause.
If Aylin had not insisted on having her way at the Academy, the infirmary would never have been severed from the rest of the campus.
And when the rules were broken, the other party was free to tear up the contract's terms for one full week. In other words, Iren could ignore their agreement for seven days.
"I could have done whatever I wanted for a whole week, but I'm only taking two days—so you should be grateful."
"I only did it because I was worried about Frey."
"Which is exactly why your method was wrong. Hah…"
Iren fretted over how to educate Aylin. Someday their personalities would have to reintegrate. If Aylin fused back into her while still this childish, it would leave a nasty mark on Iren herself—the original personality.
"Anyway, no causing incidents like the infirmary affair this weekend. Understood?"
"Understood. A daughter of House Katram keeps her word."
"And who was it that broke that word within a few days, I wonder."
"Just trust me."
"Fine, fine."
Still, Iren decided to trust her this time. As Aylin said, she was Aylin Katram—Iren's other self, a young lady of renown in high society.
If she could not trust herself, what was the point? With that thought, Iren surfaced from the world of consciousness.
I've already tried plenty of physical seduction. This time, let's try a different approach.
Iren poured her energy into devising ways to charm Frey over the weekend—starting with having Duke Katram order Frey to obey every word Iren said…
And then the weekend arrived.
Iren had told Frey to meet her in front of the Academy. Since that was their usual point of contact, she figured it made sense to meet there and head to the estate together.
"Aylin" had already left that morning with the duke, so returning to the Katram Estate together shouldn't raise any issues.
I'll bloom conversation after conversation with Frey on the way to the estate. We can even have a short date on the capital's main street along the route. And then…
Iren was lost in blissful daydreams when she spotted Frey approaching from afar.
"Fre—!"
She raised her hand to wave in delight—then froze mid-motion. Frey was not alone. A little shrimp of a girl was tagging along beside him. And that shrimp was no ordinary shrimp.
A thoroughly flustered Frey… and clinging to his arm—
Irina Varian.