“I will bear in mind that such is your will, Princess.” Raymond said impassively, just as I was about to speak, unable to bear the atmosphere any longer.
“…Okay.”
“However, matters of the future are, after all, matters of the future.”
His gaze lingered for a moment on the torn hem of my skirt. Without a moment’s hesitation, he unfastened the ceremonial mantle he was wearing. It was a formal mantle with no practicality, as is usually the case, but he had worn it because he was to stand before the Emperor in the palace. He was already wearing Glory’s Emblem like a short cape over his shoulders, but he didn’t care in the slightest, placing his own mantle over my shoulders and tying the knot. The feeling of the heavy, stiff fabric wrapping around my shoulders was strange.
“Currently, you are my one and only fiancée.”
“…”
Raymond didn’t ask why I was holding a suspicious sword stained with Lisiansius’s blood, nor did he care why Lisiansius’s hand was a mess.
“Therefore, protecting and worrying about you is not an excessive kindness on my part. It is something I am doing as your fiancé, not as the head of a family.”
“…”
The presence of the mantle, wrapped around me as if to protect me from the gazes of others, felt incredibly awkward.
Right. He has always been the very personification of a sense of duty.
No matter how maliciously Titania acted, he would always show up. He never got angry at the insults she hurled at him. He never even uttered a single word of complaint about the vicious gifts or letter bombs, which were closer to acts of terrorism than presents. This only made Titania’s behavior even more extreme in her desperate attempts to get a proper reaction from him.
I know very well what this is called in another way.
It’s called emotional torture.
I looked into his golden eyes, which must have seemed to Titania like the sunlight rising on the horizon at dawn, or the only moonlight shining in the dark of night. If he wasn’t going to take responsibility, it would have been better if he had just been cruel.
What happens to a moth that realizes the sun and moon are not its own? Will it drown trying to catch the moon’s reflection in the water, or will it fly too close to the midday sun and burn to death? It would have been better to just steal the warmth of a passing traveler’s campfire than to covet a light that was not its own.
“Oh, is that so?”
I offered a bland smile, and the man blinked a few times as if taken aback. He must have expected a sharp reply like, ‘Your excessive kindness is a burden,’ or ‘What makes you think you can do this?’
Well, I’ve made my intentions clear enough. This should be enough to prevent anyone from treating what I’ve done as ‘a conspiracy to steal the Young Duke’s place’ later on.
“The future Grand Duchess will be very happy, I’m sure.”
The man did not deny my words. Instead, he simply lowered his eyes and said nothing.
He had a strange expression.
The House of Habilios
A suffocatingly strong scent of flowers filled the air.
The Marquisate of Habilios was located on the outskirts of the capital. All the prestigious families that had existed since the early days of the Empire had at least one decent mansion in the heart of the capital. Compared to those, this location was almost shabby.
The House of Habilios was one of the few marquisates currently in the Empire, even if it couldn’t compare to the Empire’s only ducal family, the House of Castner. With the exception of the extinct House of Lacerta, which had been charged with treason several generations ago, only the Houses of Integria, Land, and Habilios remained. Just the three of them.
Compared to the House of Integria, which had produced an Empress, and the House of Land, which had produced an Empress Consort, the House of Habilios was surprisingly quiet and lacked any presence. Of course, it was a family with few heirs, so it didn’t even have a daughter to send to the Imperial Family. Nor was it a wealthy family. Its land was located in the southernmost part of the Empire, and although the weather was good and it had an abundance of food, there were no special products that would bring in money.
A family content with simply maintaining its current position and living quietly. That was its public image.
The only thing that was a bit unusual was that the garden in the marquisate was exceptionally large and beautiful.
“Father.” A girl with hair as black as a black rose emerged from among the human-sized trees, smiling with a lovely face.
“Oh, you’ve come, Lilium.” The Marquis of Habilios, who was deeply engrossed in his work, looked up and greeted his daughter. Anyone who didn’t know would have mistaken the two for a gardener and his daughter, as their attire was simple. They wore rough cloth clothes that a commoner might wear and aprons stained in various places, with towels around their necks. However, this appearance was natural for the father and daughter.
“Prim brought me some cyclamen that bloomed today.”
Lilium handed the small basket she was holding to the Marquis. A bundle of deep blue cyclamen petals was contained within the straw basket. When the fresh flowers were pushed aside, a single jet-black egg was revealed at the bottom of the basket. Its black shell was so thin that the contents were faintly visible. There was also a faint crack in it, as if it was about to break at any moment.
The Marquis squinted, as if trying to see inside the egg. As he looked at the faintly reddish contents, the girl grumbled softly. Her grumbling voice was as clear as a bell. “I tried, but it failed to germinate.”
“As expected, there are limits with low-level demons.”
“I was hoping Empress Cleo would be more diligent this time, so it’s disappointing. I thought we would get some decent materials.” The girl sighed and crushed the bright blue cyclamen petals. A blackish-blue liquid dripped from her white fingers.
A single beetle crawled up, licked the flower juice, and shuddered. The blue shell instantly turned a dark greenish-black. The insect, which had been croaking and coughing, soon turned completely black and affectionately hovered near Lilium’s cheek. Tiny creatures that looked like flies, mice, or hummingbirds hid themselves among the leaves and their eyes glowed red.
The Marquis patted his waist and said, looking troubled, “You’re right. If things had gone well, we wouldn’t have to worry about materials for a while. Besides, the House of Castner suddenly started a strict housecleaning, so it’s become difficult for us to find good materials.”
“What should we do about the support for the workshop, Father?”
“Ah, that mad old man.” The Marquis frowned, thinking of something. “He says the same thing every time. ‘If you bring me a blood relative of the House of Castner, I can show you the results of my research right now.’ On the contrary, we almost got caught because of the trade. How thoughtless he is.”
“But he is a genius, isn’t he? They say that if it weren’t for him, the improvement of the Arlene flowers would have never succeeded.”
“The problem is his carelessness! He was raising a fuss about buying slaves, so I thought he could get his own. Tsk. If I had left him alone, he would have caused another accident! To talk about kidnapping someone just because he can’t find anyone to his liking.”
“Who did he have in mind?”
“The youngest daughter of the House of Castner.”
Lilium said in a puzzled voice, “Didn’t they say she was adopted? I thought she wasn’t a blood relative.”
“I thought so too, but it seems that’s not the case. It’s a shame we missed her. He was so upset about losing her. To have to watch a middle-aged man like myself cry… how pathetic.” The Marquis clicked his tongue.
Squeak, squeak. A sound of a mouse was heard, and a black mouse appeared from somewhere, licking up the remaining flower juice on the ground. The beetle that had been hovering near Lilium’s cheek flew at the black mouse and bit its tail.
SQUEAK! A scream was heard.
The lovely girl, who was in full bloom like a rose, watched the scene without a care and said, “When I think about it, it’s truly a pity. The House of Castner could become perfect if they wanted to. It’s too bad they can’t share our ideals.”
“We are gardeners, Lilium. We prune the branches, fertilize the soil, and catch the bugs to harvest the fruit. How can we be the same as those who would simply burn a tree because the fruit is poisonous?”
“You’re right, Father.” Lilium smiled softly.
“However, just in case, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to make a move. Especially since we have a good excuse this time.”
“Yes.” The girl answered obediently. She was happy. The wind was cool, the garden was beautiful today, her father was kind and diligent, and the flowers a maid who served only her had brought were pretty. It was a day full of blessings.
Blessings.
Indeed, no word could suit the House of Habilios more. The residents of the Marquisate of Habilios’s land often said that “living in this territory is a blessing.” It was true. The sun was warm, the water was plentiful, and the temperature was mild. Plants and fruits grew abundantly, and livestock were easily fattened.
Above all, there were no demon invasions. The neighboring territories, even if sporadically, would be invaded by low-level demons. But in the Marquisate of Habilios, not a single common demon dared to approach.
It was unnaturally so.
As if wild beasts were fleeing far away to avoid the nest of a natural enemy…
