Principle Above All (3)
I was left stunned by Judy's words and couldn't react. It was far too sudden. Marriage. Of course I knew it was an option. Just as Grandma Liana had said, one of the fastest ways to forge a tight alliance was through marriage. For that very reason, it wasn't uncommon for children of rival houses to wed as proof of reconciliation. If I married Judy, the Ice family would have a hard time believing I had approached them with impure motives. What kind of madman would go so far as to marry for the sake of espionage? Such lunatics might exist if one searched hard enough, but they were hardly the norm. Besides, family bonds run deep. Even if someone had approached with ulterior motives, the affection that could bloom from a political marriage could not be ignored. Once children were born, there would be no reason to betray them and bring harm to the Ice family. In the end, the moment we married, it would serve as a kind of guarantee that I truly wished to belong to the house.
“.....”
Judy seemed to take my silence the wrong way. After waiting a moment for my reaction, she began making excuses on her own.
“...I..it wasn't me who said it. My sister did. Don't misunderstand. Um... you know I’ve never looked at you that way, right? I just thought of you as a good friend. I’ve never once considered marriage. Ah, o..of course, since you’re my only friend, you might read something into it, but it’s really not like that, so understand that.”
She spoke in a flat voice, as if trying to appear unbothered. But she spoke too quickly. Just as I had been stunned, she was clearly embarrassed too. Regretting having brought it up, she muttered “Damn it...” under her breath, bit her lip, and squeezed her eyes shut.
Of course, even without her excuses, I would never have misunderstood. Like Judy said, I had never seen her that way either. I was simply surprised by the possibility; I didn’t think she was genuinely suggesting we marry or that she was lying to me now.
“...Say something. I’m telling you it’s not like that. Don’t get any weird ideas.”
But the situation was too amusing to simply brush off by saying I hadn’t misunderstood. Watching Judy grow so flustered and restless made laughter bubble up inside me. Perhaps because I hadn’t had much to laugh about lately, the desire to have fun itched at me. Back in the Priester territory, I had always lived playfully. The fact that Kirsi had grown up mischievous was probably because she took after me a little. When I first met Judy, I had teased her constantly too. It had been so entertaining that I remembered never letting up. Whether because of the formal speech or the age difference... So I couldn’t pass up this golden opportunity that had come after so long.
I deliberately twisted my expression into a strange smile and said,
“....Wow... Judy, you..”
At my expression, she jumped in alarm.
“What?? Caiden, what are you saying?”
“Tsk... I was just trying to stay friends... This is getting a bit awkward now.”
Judy’s face flushed scarlet. She frowned and relaxed her features repeatedly, her whole body radiating embarrassment.
“Hey, I said it’s not! Why would I say something like that if I wanted to m-marry you...!”
“So that’s why you said you’d send a letter to your father asking if he could take me in as a vassal? And here I was, completely clueless...”
“Do you really want to die? I said no!”
“How far did your imagination go? Don’t tell me you’ve already named all our children that I don’t even know about?”
“Hey!”
In the end, Judy couldn’t hold back and shouted. I burst into laughter. My voice might have carried to the students in the Political Science Department, but I didn’t have the presence of mind to care. Judy still hadn’t realized I was joking and kept spitting out excuses with a crumpled expression.
“...I..I felt sorry for you, so I sent the letter home...! And you’re making all these weird misunderstandings..! If this is how it’s going to be, I should’ve never sent it!”
I was laughing so hard I could barely stay upright, so I grabbed Judy’s shoulder for support. The more I laughed, the more irritated she seemed to become. In truth, part of the reason I laughed harder was because her irritation amused me. The more I laughed, the more I could savor her hilarious expressions. Judy’s face grew endlessly redder. Even this new side of her was delightful. As expected, when things were difficult, making an effort to create laughter like this was the right thing to do.
After laughing my fill, the gloomy feelings I had been hiding melted away. Before Judy could explode, I brought the prank to an end. Wiping the tears from my eyes and calming my laughter, I said,
“It was a joke. A joke. I know that. Your reaction was just too funny.”
Her previously flustered face froze for a moment. Then she let out a long sigh.
“......Phew.”
Like someone with a heavy chest, she patted her heart and blew air through her nose. Seeing a reaction like that, she must have been truly embarrassed. After patting her chest a few more times, Judy glanced at me. I simply smiled back. Now that she knew it was a joke, she would understand why I had done it. The awkwardness that had appeared when she first brought up the topic had vanished thanks to the prank. I had no desire for us to suddenly become strangely conscious of each other and drift apart. We probably wouldn’t have drifted even without the joke... but we might have spent a day or two awkwardly reading each other’s moods. Since the prank had blown all of that away, I thought it had turned out for the best.
Judy seemed to realize that too, because she didn’t scold me further. She simply fanned her face with her hand to cool it down.
Once the playful atmosphere had passed, I stroked my chin again and said,
“Hah... But. Hmm. It would certainly be more reassuring for your family that way.”
“....”
When Judy shot me a glare, I added,
“No, I’m not saying we should do it. I’m just newly realizing the distance between our families. I’m saying we’d have to go that far for your house to accept me without worry.”
“...It’s strange that you don’t mind it. I’ve told you many times. We’re from hostile families. I heard they were still fighting wars until our grandfathers’ generation.”
“Yeah. But isn’t it nice that we get along well despite that? Don’t you think?”
“.....”
Judy didn’t answer and simply stared ahead. She seemed to be avoiding any affectionate replies in case I teased her again. I stretched and turned toward the window in the hallway. The weather was beautiful. Birds chirped, and the fountain was creating rainbows. It was so peaceful that it was hard to believe I had fought with the twins that morning.
“...Alright. Let’s talk about that later. Anyway, thank you, Judy. You really went that far for my sake.”
Judy came over and stood beside me. Before long, she rested her arm on the windowsill and, just like me, gazed outside while letting out a sigh.
“I understand how you feel.”
“.....”
I looked at Judy’s profile. Gray hair with a bluish tint. Similar height to mine. A straight nose. A balanced figure. A beauty comparable to Asena and Kirsi. On her shoulder was the Ice family crest—a bear’s paw print. She said,
“...As you said, the leftovers of the families should stick together.”
Thinking about it now, I realized how close I had become with Judy. We had grown close enough that she could say such things naturally.
Why had I wanted to become so close to Judy in the first place? Was it because of the relationship between our families? Or had I simply been drawn to her without reason? Or had I instinctively foreseen this comfortable future? Had I wanted a friend in a similar situation?
Suddenly, I grew curious about Judy’s childhood.
“Have you had a hard time too?”
Judy looked up at me. Seeing her complicated expression, I added the subject.
“With your family, I mean.”
“.....”
She seemed lost in thought for a moment, staring at distant clouds before slowly nodding.
“...It was hard.”
“....”
And then she closed her mouth. I had expected her to share her story to some extent. It was my way of showing sincerity—to lighten her burden as much as she had helped me. But aside from saying it had been hard, Judy kept the rest hidden. It must still have been too burdensome to confide in me. Or perhaps she simply wasn’t the type to talk about such things. Even so, I wanted to hear it someday. I wanted to know what had happened that made her empathize with me so deeply and try to help me like this. She didn’t look it, but she possessed a truly upright heart.
“Judy.”
I called her name. She looked at me without much reaction.
“...If you ever have a hard time because of Asena, tell me.”
“It’s hard right now.”
I chuckled at her response. Well, that was true.
“So in the future. If she does anything again, tell me.”
“What would you even do?”
“What wouldn’t I do?”
“.......”
Suddenly, one thought flashed through my mind. It was a worry born from watching Asena gradually reveal her malice.
“Ah, I have one favor to ask.”
“Again?”
“I’ll buy you really delicious food. And honestly, it’s not even for me.”
“...Let’s hear it first.”
I dropped the humor from my voice and asked with genuine sincerity. Through Judy’s future actions, I might be able to prevent major incidents before they occurred. I had seen what kind of villainess Asena became in the book. She had treated human lives as trivial. Of course, that was in the book. This was reality. I didn’t believe Asena would become that vicious. No matter how harshly she had been acting lately, it was nothing compared to her behavior in the story. Still, there was no reason not to prepare.
I said,
“Please keep an eye on Asena from now on.”
“....In what sense?”
Having read my intention, she asked. I explained in more detail.
“She’s been going off track lately. I think we need to watch her carefully.”
“......”
The atmosphere around us grew serious in an instant, matching my tone.
“If she does anything unusual... or goes anywhere strange... let me know.”
Judy stared at me piercingly for a moment. Then she blinked and turned her head away. She seemed to be thinking it over in her own way.
“...Caiden. I understand, but...”
“......”
She kept silent for a long time, brows furrowed. She appeared to be wrestling with complicated feelings. Just when I began to wonder if she would simply ignore it and move on, Judy spoke again.
“.....It sounds like a light request... but why does it feel so wrong to me?”
“Huh?”
“....No... no matter how much I dislike Asena... she’s still someone I’m temporarily serving... is it right to speak about her like that?”
I inwardly admired her and gave a small nod. Come to think of it, that made sense. It would go against her inner sense of chivalry. She continued,
“...You must know. As a knight.”
“Judy, this isn’t a request as a knight. It’s a request as a friend.”
“...Still.”
When she hesitated, I decided to let it go. Yes, asking her to do something she didn’t want to do wouldn’t be right as a friend.
“...Yeah. Never mind, Judy. I’m sorry. It was thoughtless of me.”
“......Are you worried about something?”
Of course I was. Even one thing she had done in the book would cause a major incident. But I couldn’t say that.
“No. Forget it, Judy. It’s fine. Thank you. It was definitely a thoughtless request.”
“......”
Judy didn’t press any further, perhaps because her own mind was in turmoil. Seeing her like that, I felt deeply grateful.
“....Judy. Still, thank you for even considering it. I’ll make one promise. When you need me, I’ll help you with anything. If you ever need help, you must tell me. Alright?”
“....I’ll just take the thought.”
She refused my offer with a small smile. But my goal had been to let her know how I felt. If it was her request, I had come to feel I would grant nearly anything. Knowing that might give her some reassurance.
As we finished our conversation, the sound of the Political Science Department classroom growing noisy reached us. Class seemed to have ended. It was time to begin escorting again.
“Looks like it’s over.”
“...Yeah.”
“Hang in there.”
“You too.”
We returned to our positions and firmly adjusted our stances once more.