House Katram's Secret Annex
“Why are you asking me something like that?”
I had the distinct feeling I had asked the right question. Her tone stayed calm enough, yet I had never once seen Iren this flustered.
“Why not? Is asking where someone lives such a strange question?”
“Ah—no. Why? Planning to drop by or something?”
“That wouldn’t be half bad. You visit the Katram estate often enough, don’t you? Or would it be inconvenient if I came over?”
“Th-that’s not it!”
“Then tell me. A member of the imperial family’s residence isn’t exactly a state secret, is it?”
“Ugh…”
Iren bit her lip. The fact that she didn’t shut me down cold suggested the place wasn’t under some absolute seal of secrecy—so what kind of annex was she living in that made her react like this?
After a long stretch of hesitation, she finally spoke.
“Tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?”
“Yeah. I’ll show you myself tomorrow. I can’t tell you today.”
“Something going on at home today, then?”
“Y-yeah. I’ve got something I need to take care of. After classes tomorrow I’ll take you there myself, so just wait. That much is fine, right?”
“Well, I don’t mind.”
If she was going to guide me personally, I was all the more grateful.
With no academy schedule left after the midterms, I headed straight back to the mansion that day.
When I returned, my lady greeted me with open delight—and then promptly dragged me off to her room.
“Frey! Stay here with me today!”
“Pardon? Why is that?”
“Because I want to play with you for once in a long while!”
It hadn’t really been that long, but if my lady wanted to play more, that was that.
Lately she hadn’t been showing me much open affection, so I had been feeling a little disappointed. At her command, I settled in to spend the time in her room.
Thud. Thud.
For some reason, faint vibrations kept running through the mansion. What was that?
“My lady, doesn’t something feel off outside?”
“Hmm? Like what?”
“I keep sensing these strange tremors.”
“I don’t feel anything? Maybe you’re just imagining it, Frey.”
“Imagining it?”
No. I had definitely felt them.
Yet after that first impression, the vibrations vanished as if they had never existed. What was going on? Had I really overused my mana today and started hallucinating?
“Frey, I just took that land of yours.”
“Ah!”
I had let my guard down, and my lady had snatched my territory and raised a massive mansion on it. I really needed to focus.
And so the next day, after classes.
Iren dithered her way out through the academy gates. I was about to follow in silence when she suddenly stopped walking.
“Is something wrong?”
“Wait here.”
“For what?”
“The carriage.”
“I’ve never seen you take a carriage before.”
“Of course not. I never used one.”
It seemed my earlier guess had been right. His Grace the Duke must have been helping her commute with teleportation.
“Then what carriage are you waiting for?”
“Ah, there it is.”
In the direction Iren pointed, a single carriage was rolling slowly toward us.
The problem was that it was my carriage.
With a creak it came to a halt, and Iren climbed aboard without the slightest hesitation. The coachman stared at her with startled eyes.
“Er… who might you be?”
“I’m Frey’s friend. We’re riding together.”
“Ah, I see. Please make yourself comfortable.”
“……?”
The whole exchange unfolded so naturally I was left speechless. Hadn’t she said she would take me to her home?
While I stood there blankly, Iren called out.
“What are you doing? Get in!”
“Uh… right. Yes.”
Fine. I would see where she was leading me.
On the ride, I watched with a pounding heart, half-expecting her to ask the coachman to change direction. But she only gazed out the window with a faintly dissatisfied look.
Without a single incident, we arrived at the Katram mansion. Iren stepped down and headed straight for the main gate of House Katram.
“Iren, what exactly are you doing?”
“Going to the place where I live.”
“This is my house, though?”
“It’s mine too.”
I understood less and less. After passing the gatekeepers, Iren did not enter the mansion proper; she turned instead toward the garden.
Winter’s chill had fully withdrawn, and the garden, embracing the warmth of spring, was flaunting itself with brilliant blooms.
Iren strode straight into the flower beds without a second thought.
“H-hey! Iren! You can’t do that!”
“They’re protected by magic anyway.”
“How do you even know th—”
“Because I live here.”
“What?”
The moment I voiced my confusion, Iren stamped her foot on a particular spot in the flower bed.
Then something astonishing happened. Without the slightest vibration or warning, the ground beside her slowly split open.
The parting earth revealed a staircase leading underground, wide enough for one or two people to pass. Wait—there was a place like this in the Katram mansion?
“Follow me.”
“Ah… yes.”
I followed Iren down the stairs into the depths. Magical lamps had been installed in generous numbers to light the dark descent.
How much did all this cost? As expected of royalty, I suppose.
From my perpetually strapped perspective, it was pure envy. Everything I needed for daily life came out of the steward’s salary, after all.
An ordinary commoner living on a steward’s wages would have been set for life, but unfortunately I was a mage. Money drained away for one reason or another.
The funds I had seized after dealing with the assassin guild were reserved solely for my lady, so I couldn’t touch a single coin of them.
“This is where I live.”
At last we reached a door, and Iren spoke as she opened it.
“This is a secret from everyone else. Got it?”
With that, the Third Princess’s current residence was laid bare.
It was a modest space—by noble standards, of course.
There was room enough for about ten people to live comfortably. Within that generous area sat one section that looked like a bathroom, one that looked like a study, and one that looked like a bedroom.
The rest appeared to have been decorated to Iren’s tastes, judging by the sheer number of lion plushies. From a lion doll wearing a crown to a black-haired, red-eyed lion, the variety was impressive.
For a member of the imperial family it was cramped beyond belief, yet for a single “person” it was more than enough.
“Satisfied? This is where I live.”
“…….”
“How does it feel, seeing the princess’s little sanctuary?”
“It gives me a great many things to think about, Iren.”
It truly did.
All this time I had assumed she lived in some secret annex, yet that place turned out to be none other than the basement of the Katram mansion. On top of that, there was a hidden mechanism in the estate I had never even known about.
“How long have you been living here?”
“At least ten years.”
“I see.”
That resolved some of the questions I had been carrying. At the very least, Iren had been living extremely close to me all along.
Which meant the possibility was high that her affection for me had begun not at our first meeting at the academy, but at some point during those ten years. I had never met Iren, yet—
Iren had already known me…?
Wait a second.
“Iren, then… don’t tell me.”
I was so stunned I asked the question outright.
“Did you know my true identity from the very beginning?”
“Ah.”
“Ah?”
Iren slowly averted her gaze. She gave no answer, but that silence was answer enough.
“Y-you knew I was the steward of this house… from the start…?”
“Haa… this is exactly why I didn’t want to tell you where I lived.”
My mind went completely blank in an instant.
Every word and action I had ever directed at Iren flashed through my head. Not even “in the past”—hadn’t I, just yesterday, been going on about knowing her three sizes and the like?
I, a lowborn commoner, had said those things to the Third Princess of the Empire…
“Gurgle.”
“F-Frey? Frey?!”
I didn’t even hear whatever Iren was saying. I blacked out.
“Haaaa…”
Iren von Valencia could only sigh as she cradled Frey’s head on her lap.
Beside her stood Duke Katram.
“Your Highness.”
“I didn’t think he would take it this hard.”
“Frey has always been the type to observe proper etiquette to a fault.”
“That’s true enough. Haa. Why did I ever make that bet…”
“Indeed. Why on earth did you make such a ridiculous wager?”
Harsh words left the Duke’s mouth for the first time. Yet Iren showed no sign of displeasure.
She knew full well how hard Duke Katram had worked the previous night.
This underground space had been constructed overnight under the Duke’s direction.
A secret basement residence for Iren in the Katram mansion? Why would such a thing even be necessary? She had already been living comfortably in the estate itself through Jin:Polymorph.
This place was nothing more than a decoy residence created solely so that Frey would not discover her true identity.
Iren had not exactly lied. She was living in the Katram mansion. The only difference was a matter of elevation.
“I’m sorry.”
“It was for Your Highness’s sake, so it is fine. But what do you intend to do from now on?”
“About what?”
“When Frey meets Aylin and then encounters Your Highness.”
“Have Father install a spatial magic circle connecting this place to my bedroom.”
“…….”
Duke Katram’s face went ashen. But he soon shook his head and answered.
“As you command. Installation will take about two days, so please be careful in the meantime. For today, just in case, I will arrange it so that Aylin and I are out of the house.”
“Thank you.”
The Duke bowed and left the underground chamber. Alone with Frey once more, Iren gently stroked his hair.
“What becomes of our relationship now, I wonder?”
She would only know once Frey woke up.