First Weekend (2)
"Look at this. It's candy that changes your voice when you eat it."
"Oh, is that so."
"Look over there. They say if you drink it, your tongue turns blue for five minutes."
"How dreadful."
"Ah! A flying spaghetti monster over there!"
"There's no way something like that exists."
The girl walking beside me stopped dead in her tracks.
"What's wrong?"
"Frey. Didn't you say you could never treat someone you've met carelessly?"
"That's right. That's my principle."
"Then what are you doing right now?"
"What do you mean, what am I doing?"
"Aren't you enjoying this street? You're barely reacting to anything!"
"Enjoying... the street...?"
I looked around.
Clowns dancing, merchants hawking their wares, nobles strolling elegantly with parasols open — the ordinary scene of a wealthy capital street, nothing more and nothing less. Why was I supposed to find joy in this?
"I don't really get it. The candy you mentioned, the drinks that change your tongue color — it all just seems noisy and chaotic."
"Then what do you find fun?"
"What I find fun?"
I thought carefully. What I found fun...
All my life, I had aimed to become a splendid person who could serve my lady. As a street urchin, constant effort had been necessary to earn the right to serve her.
Aside from the rest required to maintain essential stamina, I had no free time. My lady was so kind-hearted that seeing my bloody efforts would only pain her, so outside of work hours I trained in thorough secrecy.
Eight years of that, and I had risen to the position of head butler. In all that time, the things I'd found fun...
"I can't say."
"Why not?"
"That's a secret."
"What kind of answer is that."
I absolutely could not say it.
Because serving my lady was my only joy and happiness. I had never particularly found anything else fun.
No — when Mother smiled, that had been nice, at least?
Right now I was disguised as a collateral member of the Katram Ducal House. I couldn't very well say that serving my lady was my joy.
Then suddenly Aileen wore a sly smile.
"Aha, I get it."
"Get what?"
"You're finding your fun in some very shady places, aren't you? The dark side of nobility I've only heard about in rumors? Spending your nights embracing beautiful young girls and indulging in pleasure?"
"Absolutely not! What do you take me for!"
"A black-hearted man with secrets he can't speak of?"
"And you want a man like that as your attendant?"
"Kyaa. Sounds like the nights would be scorching~."
"This hopeless..."
"Well."
Aileen patted my shoulder.
"I think I've got a rough idea of your situation."
"Of what?"
"If you don't react to fun things like these, it means you don't have any hobbies to begin with. What do you usually do after Academy hours?"
"Magic study, and various other things."
"Simple rest? Counting stars under the night sky? Chatting with friends?"
"Do I need those things?"
"Perfect. I've found the key to conquering you."
Chuckling in a manner entirely unbefitting a princess, Aileen grinned. What on earth was she scheming?
"Today, I'll teach you how to play. Come on, come on. Follow me!"
"W-wait!"
The place Aileen dragged me to was bizarre.
In the distance stood various items that looked like targets, and in front of a marked line lay several slingshots.
"What is this place?"
"A slingshot range. Don't you know?"
"I don't. What is it?"
"Heh heh. You shoot those targets up ahead with a slingshot, and if you hit them, you win the designated prizes. One try costs fifty copper coins."
"What, you can get those items on the targets for just fifty copper?"
The prize items came in all varieties. I didn't know their exact value, but one thing was clear — they were definitely worth more than fifty copper coins.
"Is this place running at a loss?"
"You'll understand once you try. Want to go first?"
"Sure."
I scanned the prizes and immediately set my target. That lion plushie over there. My lady would definitely love it.
"I've handled slingshots plenty."
As a child, there hadn't been much to play with. Before Mother fell ill, I used to make slingshots from wood scraps and cloth scraps found on the street and play with them.
The distance to the targets was about ten meters. For someone who'd hunted birds with these, this would be a piece of cake.
Tang!
Whoosh!
"Oh my."
Aileen's eyes went round.
"You missed?"
"..."
"And you were so confident."
"..."
"It wasn't even a close miss — you were off by about five meters."
"Grr!"
I paid another fifty copper.
Tang! Whoosh!
Again.
Tang! Whoosh! Tang! Whoosh! Tang! Whoosh!
Again.
Tang! Whoosh! Tang! Whoosh! Tang! Whoosh!
Thud.
Aileen grabbed my wrist.
"Stop. You're wasting pebbles at this point."
"No, this is weird! By my calculations and sense, I should definitely be hitting them!"
"This is why people who've never played look like fools. Look."
Aileen held a slingshot up in front of my eyes.
"These recreational slingshots are designed so they don't hit the targets easily. If you're aiming, you have to twist your aim to compensate."
She put the slingshot down and paid fifty copper.
"Watch carefully. This is how you really shoot a slingshot."
Strangely, she angled it forty-five degrees and aimed slightly off from the target.
Tang! Pop!
The pebble Aileen shot flew beautifully and toppled the target! The proprietor clapped enthusiastically.
"Congratulations! You've won the valiant lion plushie!"
"Heh heh. See? Do I look like a master now?"
"Master, my foot..."
"I'm a merciful one, after all. Here!"
"Huh?"
Aileen held out the lion plushie to me.
"I'll specially give it to you! I'm a merciful master to my attendants, you see."
"I told you I'm not becoming your attendant. I don't need it."
"Why? You were challenging yourself to death earlier."
"I just wanted to hit it, that's all. You're the one who hit it, so you should keep it."
"No. I don't like lions. You take it."
"Why would I! I said no!"
"Then I have no choice. If you grant me one request, I'll stop foisting this on you."
"What is it?"
"Call me by my name, like earlier."
I immediately snatched the lion plushie. Aileen blinked.
"This is hurtful in its own way, you know?"
"That's what you get for presenting such arbitrary choices."
"Heh heh, I like that about you too. You have to gift that lion to someone, right?"
"Ugh."
Did she have some talent for reading people's hearts? Aileen seemed to have figured out that I intended to gift this plushie to my lady.
"Alright, seems like we've had our fun here. Next!"
After that, Aileen dragged me all over the place.
A game of hitting flying balls with a stick to send them far, a game of batting a small bouncy ball into the opponent's court to decide the winner, a game of tossing and catching five pebbles from the roadside while racking up points...
After several hours, Aileen and I were both exhausted.
"Haa, haa. So?"
"...So what."
"Wasn't it fun?"
"Hmm."
I couldn't answer Aileen's question with a yes. Fun? Had I felt fun? However.
"I'm not sure about that. But."
"But?"
"I did think I'd like to do it again sometime."
Nothing we'd done today had any productivity to it.
Even if the slingshot range let you win items, the games after that only drained stamina and killed time. Calling them purposeless activities would be the right expression.
This was the first time since becoming a butler that I'd spent time like this. Nearly everything I did had a purpose — building stamina, researching magic, or making my lady happy.
To feel like doing it again after engaging in thoughtless activity for the first time in ten years...
It was my own emotion, yet I couldn't understand it.
Aileen beamed.
"That's what fun is."
"This is what fun is?"
"Human activities don't always need a goal. Living that way only wears you down. Sometimes you need to let loose like this."
"I do rest, you know."
"Not just rest that recovers your body. You need rest that recovers your spirit too."
"Rest that recovers the spirit..."
Certainly. The things I'd done with Aileen today had something that put the heart at ease.
"But something's strange."
"What is?"
"Silent."
A sound-blocking barrier spread around Aileen and me. She snorted a laugh.
"If I had escorts, your head would already be off?"
"If this weren't allowed, you — no, Your Highness — would have been the first to react."
"So what did you want to say that required a sound barrier?"
"Nothing major. Are you really a princess?"
"Oh my, planning to commit lèse-majesté?"
"No, it's just strange. How does a princess know so many commoners' pastimes? Most of what we enjoyed today were things anyone living in the imperial capital could enjoy."
Right. Aside from the dessert shop we'd visited first, everything Aileen and I had enjoyed today was accessible to anyone.
A princess could take interest in commoners' pastimes.
But taking interest and being thoroughly familiar with all of them were different matters. Even I, who'd been a street urchin, couldn't do them all properly — yet she handled everything with skill?
This wasn't a matter of talent. These were things you could only do well if you'd done them a lot.
"Your seclusion until now, the way you singled me out... Could it be."
I swallowed the words I'd been about to prefix and spoke.
When I was young.
"Have you ever seen me on the streets?"
"Hmm."
Aileen only wore a meaningful smile. Come to think of it, was smiling her specialty? She never lost her smile no matter the situation.
"If you put it that way, it sounds strange in reverse."
"Pardon?"
"It sounds like you're saying that you, a collateral member of the Katram Ducal House, were out on the streets."
"No, that's—"
"I'm kidding. I understand what you mean. But you're mistaken. Does it make sense that a secluded princess would hide and live on streets where commoners dwell?"
"Ugh."
"Don't think about conspiracy theories. Just think about one thing."
"What would that be?"
Poke — Aileen's finger jabbed my chest.
"Coming under me quickly and living happily with me."
"I must respectfully decline."
"Just wait and see. At the very least, the fact that you found today enjoyable with me won't change."
"...Huh? Does it work that way?"
"In a few months, you'll probably be head over heels for me, all dazed and dreamy."
"Absolutely not. I'm not so young as to confuse a relationship of affection with one of love."
"Won't you only know after living through it? Ei!"
"Wha—!"
Thud! Aileen shoved me, and I fell onto my back. We'd been sitting on a grassy field, so it didn't hurt.
Having laid me down, Aileen used my stomach as a pillow and lay down herself.
"Aaaah. I've wanted to lie down like this. That's an order. Don't get up."
"Your Highness. According to Academy rules..."
"This isn't the Academy."
"Ah."
"If you get up, I'll punish you for treason."
So this was her play!
I'd fallen into Aileen's scheme from the moment I'd agreed to meet outside the Academy!
Aaaaaargh! I lost this time, but next time I absolutely won't lose! I! Will not! Submit!
Aileen used me as a pillow for a full two hours before finally releasing me.
"Well then, see you at the Academy on Monday."
"Haa. Yes."
"Bye, Frey."
"Farewell, Your Highness."
"That's not it."
"Pardon?"
"Call me Aileen."
"That's—"
"That's an order."
"...Bye. Aileen."
"Mm!"
Aileen beamed and vanished with a whoosh. She seemed to have used a teleportation artifact, a treasure of the imperial family.
"Haa. Well, I should head back too."
Pounding my racing heart with a fist, I hurried back to the ducal house. It was nearly midnight, so my lady would already be asleep.
Arriving at the ducal residence, I tossed a few gold coins of encouragement to the gatekeepers and entered the mansion.
A mansion where everyone except the servants would be asleep. I made my way to my lady's room.
"Haa."
As expected, the light was on in my lady's room. She'd been lounging around during the day, so she must have been reading books again at night.
I knocked on her door.
"My lady? May I come in?"
"Ah? J-just a moment?"
Something clattered and thudded. What was going on?
But not seeking to know what one's master wishes to hide is a butler's virtue. I waited calmly.
Click! The door opened. My lady stood there looking somewhat out of breath.
"W-what is it? At this hour of night?"
"I saw the light was on. Were you reading?"
"Ah, aah. Yes. There was an interesting book."
The two of us entered the room. My lady only calmed somewhat after sitting on the bed. But wait?
"My lady."
"What is it, Frey?"
"Did you go outside today? There's dirt on your sleeve—"
Shak! My lady hid her sleeve. I gazed at her steadily.
"Ahaha. Um, well, Frey?"
"My lady. It's still cold out. If there's dirt on your sleeve, it means you weren't even wearing an outer coat. You need to take care of your health."
"Ah... yeah! You're right. I'm sorry."
"Haa. There's no need to apologize. This happened because I went out on personal business."
Indeed, my lady needed my attendance. Other servants were often cowed by her authority and missed the small details.
"I understand wanting to go outside. But you need to recover first so you can live freely later."
"You're right. I'll be careful. Ah! More importantly, did you have fun outside today?"
"Hmm. Well."
"Oh? Was it not fun?"
What I'd felt outside today was complex and subtle. It wasn't an emotion I could unpack in a single word.
"It wasn't un-fun."
I could only give my lady a vague answer. I quickly pulled out the lion plushie.
"More importantly, my lady, you like lions, don't you?"
"Ah! What a cute lion plushie!"
"I bought it... no, received it while I was out today. I thought you'd like it."
"I'm so happy! I'll treasure it forever, Frey!"
My lady smiled brightly. Haa. Seeing her so happy made every worry and concern melt away. There was no moment happier than this.
...Wait?
But why had Princess Aileen given me the lion plushie?
She clearly knew I would give it to my lady. She'd declared she would make me her lover, yet she'd helped me win favor with the person I liked?
Just why...?