Chapter 57
*
‘No matter how many times I think about it, I don't think it's an aphrodisiac.’
If I were giving it secretly in private, that'd be one thing.
But handing someone an aphrodisiac in the middle of the Founding Festival was no different from openly telling them to screw off.
— ‘I heard you haven't been able to get it up lately?’
It could be taken as a message roughly like that.
At that point, I'd be dueling the imperial family before long.
Even with all the embellishment that comes with a misunderstanding story, this didn't seem salvageable, so rejected.
So I chose the most conventional option: a gun.
Apparently, the highest-ranking attendee at this Founding Festival had beast hunting as a hobby.
‘Still, it's expensive.’
Firearms—especially guns and bullets strong enough to work on beasts—came with price tags even nobles found a little hard to swallow.
For young ladies and young lords still living on allowance, it was the sort of gift they couldn't even dream of.
It was a cash-and-money strategy only someone like me, with money rotting out of my pockets, could pull off.
You can't buy someone's heart with money, but you can show sincerity with it.
And so, the day of the Founding Festival arrived.
Clatter.
A carriage stopped in front of the Nihirit manor.
The coachman's seat was empty.
Maybe because this was a fantasy world where magic existed.
Self-driving carriages had been realized much earlier than in my previous life.
Needless to say, that coachmanless carriage was far more expensive than our family's car.
House Hauzen's crest was engraved on the side of the carriage.
Click.
The carriage door opened, and someone appeared from inside.
“Long time no see, Young Lord Nihirit.”
It was Charlotte Hauzen greeting me from inside the carriage.
Today, Charlotte wasn't wearing her usual detective outfit.
She wore a white dress with a cape embroidered in gold thread, and a small pearl pin was tucked into her short blonde hair.
I spoke to my fiancée, who looked oddly uncomfortable for some reason.
“Long time no see, Miss Charlotte. Is this the first time since the Kirchner Count family incident three months ago?”
“If you don't count letters as conversation, I suppose so.”
Even after our engagement, we still met up from time to time.
When either of us came across an interesting case, we'd set a meeting and meet there.
Usually Charlotte would do the deduction there, while I would casually toss her whatever knowledge was needed from the side.
“Come to think of it, I solved the last letter problem too. That makes it 95 to 4 now.”
“You were counting all of them?”
“I had no reason not to.”
With a wry smile, I handed her a silver coin.
No matter how I thought about it, maybe the problem had been handing her a silver coin on our first meeting.
Every time we met, my fiancée shook me down for silver coins.
Of course, she later bought me gifts worth the same amount, so I couldn't really complain.
“Oh, thank you for telling me last time how to distinguish a stab wound from a slash wound. Your discussion of the epidermal stripping ring was especially impressive, no matter how many times I read it.”
“It isn't particularly difficult knowledge. It's basic.”
When I sent letters, I also taught her forensics on the side.
I wasn't a forensic specialist, but I was a trauma surgeon, at least.
So my forensic knowledge related to trauma was still relatively deep.
On top of that, when I casually tossed in forensic knowledge at the level of a medical student,
it was no trouble at all to make Charlotte mistake me for a formidable rival.
“Come to think of it, Miss Charlotte. Didn't we agree to use each other's names in our letters now?”
“Mm. It's still a little awkward now that we're face to face.”
“I'll wait until you get used to it.”
“…Ahem. I'll try to get used to it as soon as possible.”
She cleared her throat and pulled back the elbow resting on the window frame.
The tips of Charlotte's ears turned faintly red.
I'd learned over the year that Charlotte was surprisingly vulnerable to sweet, romantic atmospheres.
“Please come in.”
“Thank you, Miss Charlotte.”
I opened the carriage door and climbed aboard.
Before I sat down, I caught a faint smell of mint inside.
It was the scent of her father, Inspector Hauzen.
The man practically lived on peppermint candies.
I had even once seen Charlotte and the inspector bickering over those candies at our engagement ceremony by chance.
— “Stop eating candy at a gathering like this. I heard you're even on insulin now.”
— “What kind of attitude is that toward your father, Charlotte?”
— “Don't talk like my father.”
It was heartwarming to see how informal they were as father and daughter.
Even more so because it was a sight rarely seen in this age.
“Is the seat all right?”
“It's very nice. Ah, could you wait a moment? The others haven't come out yet.”
“I got your message, so I'll wait.”
I waited across from Charlotte for a few minutes.
At last, the manor doors opened, and two people came rushing out in a fluster.
One of them was Erika.
She wore a black one-piece dress with an open back, and her dark red hair was tied up in a high ponytail.
She hated it, but in the end she was forced into wearing it by the head maid and my mother.
The other was Freya.
Her silver hair was neatly braided and tied with a sky-blue ribbon, and she wore a silvery-white dress with a sky-blue shawl.
Seeing the two of them side by side, I got the impression that their colors were like a demon and an angel.
“Sister! How could you forget that?”
“Wasn't underwear supposed to go under a dress?”
“How can you say that out loud!”
Hmm. Better not ask why they were late.
The two of them climbed into the carriage.
“Thank you for the ride, Young Lady Hauzen.”
“Hello.”
Freya greeted politely, while Erika gave a perfunctory nod beside her.
Charlotte didn't seem to pay Erika's greeting any special mind.
Rather, Charlotte's attention was on Freya.
“You don't have to be so formal, Young Lady Nihirit. Try calling me big sister.”
“It would be rude to call an unmarried woman that, wouldn't it?”
Warm conversation flowed between the two, both smiling gently.
After exchanging brief greetings, the two of them got into the carriage.
Freya sat beside Charlotte, and Erika took the seat next to me.
Erika leaned against the window frame, staring blankly outside.
“…I should have eaten lunch.”
She wasn't in pain or sleepy.
She'd skipped lunch to eat more at dinner, and now her blood sugar had tanked.
Clatter, clatter.
The pleasant sound of wheels rolling over the cobblestones began to ring out in a steady rhythm.
On the way to the imperial capital, the carriage was filled with awkward silence for a while.
Then, by the time the carriage reached the center of town, Charlotte broke the silence.
“But aren't you sixteen this year, Miss Freya? It feels a little early for you to attend the Founding Festival.”
At Charlotte's words, Freya narrowed her eyes.
“Thank you for your concern. But I also came because the Inspector asked me to.”
“That man... my father asked you?”
“Yes.”
Before answering, Freya straightened her posture.
“Before that, may I ask you all one thing? Do you know anyone among the young lords attending this Founding Festival called the Silver Wasp?”
Freya asked, looking around at everyone seated in the carriage.
Charlotte tilted her head slightly.
“My mind is already too full of other knowledge to keep stuffing in more. What possible influence could someone like that have on my affairs that I'd need to memorize them?”
Freya's gaze turned to me.
“What about you, brother?”
“Sorry. I'm not really interested in that either. I'm already too busy seeing patients and doing research.”
Just filling my head with medical knowledge, essential general knowledge, and cooking-related information was already more than enough for me.
I didn't have enough passion left to pay attention to the latest social-club gossip as well.
Freya's gaze finally moved to Erika.
Erika answered, still leaning against the window frame.
“Do I have to know too?”
“Sigh...”
Freya sighed, pressing a hand to her forehead.
“This is exactly why I'm coming along. None of the three of you know anything about high society, do you? That's why both families decided to send me.”
“Both families? You mean my father did too?”
“Yes. Inspector Hauzen was worried about Miss Charlotte too, so he asked me.”
At that, all three of us had no choice but to fall silent.
I think I could guess what exactly both families were worried about in our case.
And since it was an accurate assessment, I couldn't even argue back.
“Tsk. That man and his useless meddling.”
Charlotte, who didn't seem to feel the need for socializing at all, seemed to think differently from me, though.
“For that reason, I also ended up coming with you. There isn't any rule saying someone my age can't attend the Founding Festival.”
Fair enough.
Usually, people attended the Founding Festival around the age of seventeen because that was when they started looking for fiancés.
But there wasn't really any major problem with debuting earlier either.
“Then before we go, let me tell you about the people you absolutely need to know. First, the imperial family members attending the Founding Festival are...”
In the end, we headed for the imperial capital with Freya's crash course in high-society prep.
***
In this world, where beasts ruled most of the land, even travel wasn't free.
Powerless commoners couldn't guarantee their lives while traveling.
Nobles who could protect their own lives were no exception.
Since no one knew what might happen while they were away, they couldn't casually set foot in another city.
That was why noble interaction was usually limited to letters or communication through magical tools.
But the Founding Festival was the exception to that rule.
Once a year, nobles from across the empire made their way to the imperial capital, even if it meant taking risks.
Once a year.
Because the Founding Festival was the only chance they had to show their families hadn't yet fallen into decline.
And so, nobles gathered from all over the empire.
Carriages carrying those nobles' children lined up in a long queue all the way to the imperial capital's main gate.
Eagles, snakes, roses.
Carriages bearing each family's emblem on their doors let people out with their own particular style and formality.
Young ladies dressed in silk stepped down holding their attendants' hands, while young lords wearing suits close to military uniforms climbed down the steps.
Every time someone got out of a carriage, those who had arrived earlier repeated their whispering on the terrace.
— “Looks like House Debro's young lord has arrived.”
— “Stenbeck from the west is already here? I heard things were unsettled over there because of the Belheim incident, but...”
— “Isn't that the Sing family? Does that mean it's already time for their young lady to debut?”
Sometimes they flaunted their connections, and at other times they showed contempt.
The young nobles on the terrace quickly began memorizing the families attending today's Founding Festival.
And in the middle of that procession,
a carriage with an empty coachman's seat came to a stop.
The appearance of a coachmanless carriage, allowed only for high-ranking nobles of count rank or above, drew the attention of the noble children.
— “House Hauzen?”
— “A newly risen noble house.”
— “I haven't heard very good rumors about their young lady...”
Amid all that attention, the carriage door opened.
The first to step out was a black-haired young man.
The young man's raven-like black hair was swept back, and his indifferent gaze swept across the terrace.
“So that's the Black Swan of Nihirit...”
“Honestly, with a face like that, I don't get how he hasn't come to a banquet until now.”
“If he's getting out of a carriage from House Hauzen... so the engagement was real after all.”
Unbothered by the judging gazes, Julian turned and held out a hand to the carriage.
The one who took his hand and stepped down was a blonde girl.
Short blonde hair with a single pearl pin.
A gold-thread cape over a white dress.
She looked every inch the marquis's daughter, but the way she got out of the carriage was a far cry from someone accustomed to dresses.
She was all proper on the first step, then descended the last two steps at once as if they were a nuisance.
Julian, escorting her, also gave a bitter smile.
“She's certainly unusual, just like the rumors say.”
“Even if he is the Black Swan, I wondered why House Hauzen agreed to the engagement. So that was the reason.”
Two more people stepped down after them.
They were the red-haired girl Erika in a black dress, and the silver-haired girl Freya in a silvery-white dress.
Erika jumped down, then belatedly remembered etiquette and performed the bizarre act of taking Julian's hand.
Freya, watching from behind, barely held back the collapse of her expression and slowly got out of the carriage while taking Julian's hand.
Only the Nihirit siblings maintained a walk and posture fitting the occasion to the very end.
“That's a shocking entrance in more ways than one.”
Someone on the terrace muttered.
Everyone on the terrace had no choice but to agree with his assessment.
Under that attention, the four of them passed through the banquet hall entrance.
After Julian and Charlotte went through first, the protocol officer standing beside the entrance shouted at the top of his lungs.
— “House Hauzen's young lady, Charlotte Hauzen, and House Nihirit's young lord, Julian Nihirit!”
It was a brief, no-frills introduction.
Normally, even if Julian as a baron's son was one thing, Charlotte as a marquis's daughter should have had a longer introduction befitting her family.
But they couldn't make up something that wasn't there.
The protocol officer had no other words to introduce the strangely obscure House Hauzen.
However, Charlotte didn't seem to mind the plain introduction at all.
Behind Julian's group, after they passed through the entrance,
Freya whispered in a voice only the group could hear.
“You know where we're supposed to sit, right?”
Charlotte and Erika shook their heads.
By contrast, Julian nodded.
The only thing he didn't know much about was social gossip.
Etiquette, though, he'd studied thoroughly for the protagonist's sake.
Thanks to that, he knew exactly where they were supposed to sit in the banquet hall.
Julian quickly scanned the layout of the banquet hall once and then found their seats immediately.
Slightly right of center.
The third tier from the innermost upper section.
It was a seat chosen with Charlotte, the marquis's daughter, in mind.
“Please have a seat, Miss Charlotte.”
Julian pulled out the chair, and Charlotte sat down with ease.
Next came Erika.
“Erika. Not yet, sit down first.”
“Hmph. Then when does the food come out?”
“In an hour. The other people haven't all arrived yet.”
“Eeek.”
Erika, who had been staring fixedly at an empty plate, lowered her head.
Her long ponytail drooped, as if to reflect her mood.
Erika sat down weakly in her chair.
Finally, Freya.
“Thank you, big brother.”
As expected, Freya was once again the only one greeting people properly and with full etiquette.
Once Julian had taken his seat at last, Freya looked over the group and spoke.
“Now that we've checked our seats, I need to go greet the other young nobles again. Just in case, do you remember who I mentioned in the carriage?”
“The family friendly with ours was House Wolff, right? And the one we don't get along with was House Gilbert.”
“Then what about those families' children?”
All three of them fell silent at once.
Freya seemed to have expected that, and sighed as she stood up.
“Come with me, brother. I'll guide you.”
Charlotte, Julian, and Erika headed with Freya toward one group.
As they went, Freya expertly organized the situation.
“Not over there yet. Young Lady Lilienthal looks terribly busy.”
“How about over there?”
“Since House Wolff and House Heide are on good terms with my father, it should be fine to exchange greetings.”
Freya approached first, greeted them with a smile, and the other side also recognized her and welcomed her warmly.
And following after her were Julian, Charlotte, and Erika.
The first couple of greetings were formalities.
Then, by the time the greetings reached the third and fourth rounds,
the other young nobles joined in, naturally turning it into a larger group.
Once enough of a group had formed, Freya changed the direction of the conversation as smoothly as flowing water.
“Let me introduce them again. This is my brother, Julian Nihirit, and this lady here is my brother's fiancée, Young Lady Hauzen.”
At Freya's subtly dismissive attitude toward Charlotte, the young ladies being introduced gave wry smiles.
A few of the young ladies who met his gaze even blushed faintly.
“That person is...”
“The Black Swan of Nihirit...”
Freya's sharp glare at those young ladies was just a bonus.
Among them, a young lord from House Heide pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses and sent Julian an admiring look.
“I've heard about it from Freya, Lord Julian. I heard you solved an unsolved case in House Belheim. Could you perhaps tell us more about it?”
Julian realized that was the boy's consideration.
There was no way there was a single young lady or young lord here who didn't know the Belheim count family's news.
Unless they were cut off from high society like Julian or Charlotte.
And yet, asking him to tell that boring story from more than a year ago was a kind gesture meant to help Julian blend into the group.
‘After living nearly fifty years, and my social skills are worse than this kid's...’
After a brief moment of self-reflection on the young lord's kindness, Julian began telling the story from back then.
“You're giving me too much credit. I only did what I could at the time...”
Before long, Julian had naturally blended into the group Freya had introduced.
Beside him, Charlotte's lips twitched as she barely held back her instinctive urge to start deducing.
At the very least, it was proof that she still had enough social sense not to ruin the mood here.
After the young nobles of the families introduced themselves one by one,
it naturally became Erika's turn.
“This person is...”
“This is Erika. She doesn't have a surname.”
“Ah! So this is the one Miss Freya praised so much!”
Erika looked at Freya, a question mark practically floating over her head.
Meaning: how have you usually talked about me to other people?
As if answering that question, one young lady opened her fan and praised Erika.
“Miss Freya is famous among her peers as an outstanding apprentice mage. I've heard she has never once beaten you in sparring, Miss Erika.”
“Pardon?”
“I'd be grateful if you could someday give us a chance to witness that skill firsthand.”
The young lady leaned toward Erika with sparkling eyes.
Erika unconsciously stepped back.
“I'm not that amaz—”
“Our family also has high expectations for Erika.”
Julian cut Erika off and jumped in.
This wasn't a place to be humble.
In a place where people were inflating accomplishments that didn't exist, there was no need to downplay the ones that did.
To the wide-eyed Erika, Julian whispered in a low voice,
“You're not still doubting why I chose you, are you?”
Erika shook her head back and forth.
Her long ponytail, hanging down like a tail, slapped her cheek.
Julian gave Erika a smile, then began telling the young nobles just how exceptional she was.
At her age, she'd already started applying aura in combat, could use magic in real battles, and had the talent to reach First Rank before long.
At Julian's explanation, the young nobles also gave Erika a small round of applause.
“Ah, that... I'm just...”
Her words started to knot up.
Erika stepped back once and then naturally slipped over behind Julian's back.
She had always admired nobles and dreamed of rising in the world.
But now that those very people were busy praising her, she just couldn't get used to it.
With Erika as the last one, the self-introductions came to an end.
Freya smoothly changed the subject.
“Oh, have you heard which member of the imperial family is coming today?”
“I heard it was His Twelfth Highness.”
“Twelfth... that's right.”
At the mention of the prince, one young lady's voice dropped.
Another young lady cut in, unfolding her fan.
The young lady lowered her voice as much as she could and whispered to the group.
“I heard the Crown Princess had another miscarriage.”
“I heard that too. This is the fourth time...”
The young ladies and young lords all lowered their voices too.
Erika was the only one who couldn't follow the conversation.
Noticing this, Julian whispered to Erika.
“It means she's miscarried for the fourth time.”
“Oh, my.”
Miscarriage.
It was more common than one might think in Sector D.
Erika had seen plenty of prostitutes who didn't realize they were pregnant, kept working as usual, and ended up with horrific consequences.
Because of that, Erika understood the weight of the word miscarriage well.
“Do they know what caused it? Is it a curse?”
“Who would dare curse the imperial family?”
“Then is Her Highness the Crown Princess just naturally delicate?”
“At this point, I don't think the imperial family will stay quiet much longer.”
“I'm worried this might end in a broken engagement.”
“I know. I heard His Highness the Prince has been doing everything he can to protect his wife and hold it off, but...”
Everyone here knew what the outcome would be if it kept going.
If it kept happening like this, the Crown Princess's position would inevitably become precarious.
No matter how deep the affection, the issue of an heir had already crossed the line where it could be brushed off as a private matter.
This rumor was proof of that.
Bad news inside the imperial family was always kept under tight control so outsiders could never know.
Even so, the fact that the rumor was spreading also meant the imperial family had deliberately let it out.
It was natural to think the imperial family was already preparing for a broken engagement.
Then, Julian, who had been listening quietly, suddenly looked interested and said,
“By any chance, do you know where Her Highness the Crown Princess is right now?”
It may not have been their imagination that his voice sounded oddly eager compared with the others.