Chapter 41
“What do you think? Is she a decent person?”
Though the question had been tossed out as casually as if it meant nothing, Blanc nearly dropped the parchment he was holding.
He had never once imagined hearing Vieta talk about another woman.
It was only natural, since there were no women by his side.
His position within the Empire was still unstable, and after meeting Vieta, Blanc had been turning down invitations from other young ladies whenever possible.
‘…Could she be jealous?’
The foolish hope was short-lived, and Blanc soon abandoned the delusion.
It was absurd. Unfortunately, to Vieta, he was nothing more than a friend.
‘But why had she specifically singled out Lady Marlene?’
Blanc retraced every one of his actions in Bingsho.
He had often crossed paths with Lady Marlene, but there was nothing particularly special about their relationship.
He had only borrowed the maids’ assistance because there had been so much to do in Bingsho. So he hadn’t singled out Lady Marlene to ask for help.
No matter how he thought about it, he could not find an answer, so Blanc asked as casually as he could.
“…Why?”
“No, she just seemed better than the other maids.”
“…Is there some problem?”
“Huh? What do you mean, a problem? I really just wanted to hear what you thought.”
No, I mean, why did she want to hear what he thought about Lady Marlene?
By this point, the letters on the documents had ceased to register.
“Is that woman not very likable?”
As a woman? Or simply as a subordinate?
It would have been nice if he could just ask her outright, but Blanc could not bring himself to.
What if she was asking what he thought of Lady Marlene as a woman?
“No. I asked something pointless. Keep working. I really won’t bother you anymore.”
Vieta, who had felt sorry for the quill circling the same spot, hurriedly brought the conversation to an end, then leaned against the window and closed her eyes.
She thought that if she fell asleep, Blanc would be able to work in peace.
***
The night before they entered Ahan Territory, Vieta went to Fulcare’s tent under the pretext of attending to him.
Fulcare, who had been gazing at the golden sphere floating between his hands, looked over at Vieta.
At Vieta’s request, he was making a magical artifact to protect Laura.
It usually took only a few hours at most, but he also had a promise to keep with Blanc, and Vieta was being unusually particular this time.
On top of that, since its owner was an ordinary person who knew nothing, it required quite a bit of work.
As a result, a masterpiece was taking shape quite unintentionally.
“Fulcare, even you think Blanc has been acting strange lately, right?”
Fulcare nodded instead of answering.
Blanc had replaced most of his attendants with men, and even when he had to speak with his personal maids, he never met with them alone.
Not only that, he let out deep sighs whenever he looked over documents, and sometimes complained that he felt stifled, skipped meals, and gulped down nothing but cold water.
It was a little strange to see Blanc, who almost never showed any discomposure in public, acting that way.
“Why do you think Blanc suddenly started acting like that?”
“Who knows? Though he did ask me recently whether it looked as though he had a lot of women around him.”
Blanc was still undergoing treatment in the subspace every night.
Since they met face-to-face once a day without fail, Blanc would sometimes confide his worries to Fulcare.
“…Blanc?”
Vieta’s voice was filled with bewilderment.
“Did he have a lot of women?”
“Probably not. It seems he stopped corresponding with the Third Imperial Princess of Madak a long time ago, too.”
“Then why did he ask whether it looked as though he had a lot of women around him?”
Who knows? Fulcare shrugged once.
“In any case, if you’re that worried, couldn’t you just ask him directly?”
It was curious, but Fulcare had never seriously pondered Blanc’s behavior.
He was not insane yet, after all.
“I already asked him. But he keeps evading the question. Should I ask Laura instead?”
“I don’t think that’s a bad idea.”
Fulcare tossed the completed magical artifact to Vieta.
“Oh, is it finished already?”
Even while half reclining, Vieta caught it with a flourish.
The apple-sized sphere that had been humming gradually shrank until it was about the size of the bead on the bracelet she wore.
It looked like an ordinary yellowish glass bead, but if she broke it when she was in danger, the artifact would teleport her to Fulcare’s subspace. Iseria’s hypnotic fragrance had been added as well.
“…It’s pretty. Thank you.”
With this, Vieta could feel at ease even after Laura returned home. A bright smile bloomed across her face.
“Don’t mention it.”
The two of them chatted away in Fulcare’s tent from night until dawn broke.
Most of their conversation was about Laura, Vieta’s new friend.
*
“It’s so pretty, Vieta. Thank you so much.”
At daybreak, Vieta went to see Laura and gave her the magical artifact. She did not forget to tell her to break it if she was ever in danger.
“By the way, Laura, can I ask you something?”
Laura nodded as she put on the bracelet Vieta had given her.
She did not know what it was made of, but the bead gleamed beautifully in the light and immediately appealed to her.
“It’s about a friend of mine.”
“What’s wrong with your friend?”
“Oh, the back of your hair is a little tangled.”
Laura went behind Vieta and fixed her hair.
As Laura worked on her hair, Vieta poured out every detail of her worries, and Laura listened to her story seriously.
“So, why do you think he suddenly started acting like that?”
Laura fell silent in thought. She had merely listened to Vieta, but the nature of their relationship had fallen neatly into place in her mind.
Vieta thought of the man only as a friend.
However, the man was in love with Vieta.
And now that Vieta had asked what another woman was like, the man must have been frustrated.
‘But is it really all right for me to tell her this?’
Since the man was clearly suffering in silence without saying anything, there had to be another reason.
As a third party, it somehow didn’t feel right to just blurt out the answer.
“Do you like him, Vieta?
As she considered various possibilities, Laura first checked whether Vieta herself was ready to accept the truth.
“Of course I do. He’s a good person. Like Laura?”
Ah.
A short exclamation escaped Laura’s lips.
From Vieta’s words, Laura became certain of one thing.
She absolutely must not tell Vieta about this.
“Then just wait for him. He may be a little tired, too.”
“Is it really okay to do that?”
“S-since he’s your friend, I think waiting is a good idea.”
That poor friend of hers had a long way to go.
Laura offered silent consolation to the man suffering from unrequited love.
***
Windows occupying almost all of three walls were covered by rattan curtains that blocked the hot southern sunlight.
On the remaining wall hung a map of Ahan Territory, its finely drawn coastline standing out.
The map was the only decoration the heat-weary owner of the office had left behind.
Even sitting still was stifling in the heat, yet the marquis had shut himself in his office in loose clothing and was concentrating on his work.
“Those damn snake bastards.”
The marquis cursed as he signed his name beneath the figures densely packed across the document.
The document he had just signed was an order to pay the penalty for a merchant vessel’s wreck and compensation to the victims.
Running a territory was never easy, but the pirates who had appeared five years ago were Ahan’s greatest headache.
The pirates were called the Snake Bastards because their captain always wore a black hood emblazoned with three snakes. They robbed merchant ships and fishing boats alike, and at times even plundered patrol vessels.
As a result, the military expenses and compensation payments needed to guard against the pirates had reached the point where they consumed ten percent of the marquisate’s annual budget.
“Huh?”
The marquis turned a page with a sigh, then stopped short. There should have been at least ten payment orders left to process, but the parchment he had signed was the final one.
“Ha….”
The marquis’s temple twitched; the heat and pirates had already put him on edge.
He gulped down some cold water to calm his rising anger, then pulled the bell cord.
A moment later, an aide appeared through the oak-colored door.
“What is it, my lord?”
“It seems some paperwork is missing. Could you check?”
He was irritated, but people made mistakes.
He did not want to get angry at Viscount Anatole, who had been helping him for over ten years.
“I apologize, Your Excellency, but as far as I can tell, none of the documents are missing.”
Anatole checked the file the marquis held out and spoke.
“What do you mean? Are these three payment orders really all there are for the past week?”
“Yes. Exactly three. The last time the pirates attacked was a week ago.”
Unable to believe what he was hearing, the marquis dropped the quill he was holding.