Allen and Riese had met at the Westfeldt estate to work in Beatrice’s place. Beatrice was still in the capital, so the paperwork had begun to pile up. The reason Beatrice had been stuck there had already been dealt with, so Allen could bring her back anytime, but she’d been working very hard at this head-of-household business despite her inexperience.
Riese had wanted to let her rest and had therefore offered to take on her work. Technically, though, Beatrice had originally been Riese’s stand-in, so this was just Riese doing the work she was already meant to do.
Allen was around to help with things that Riese might not have been able to decide on her own. For all the education she’d received as a royal, she didn’t have the specialized training to lead a duchy by herself. Without specific knowledge of Westfeldt’s affairs, a lot of the matters that had piled up would’ve been unsolvable—and so came the summons to Allen.
Of course, he hadn’t been taught to succeed the duchy either, but he was still more familiar with matters than she was. Anything the two of them couldn’t handle, they could probably iron out with Silas’s help...or so they thought.
“Hrm,” Allen groaned. “Looks like we’ve only gotten through half of what we thought we would. I don’t think we’ll be able to finish today.”
“I’m sorry... That means I haven’t been pulling my weight, doesn’t it?”
“No, uh... Well...”
Truth be told, she was right. But it wasn’t that Riese couldn’t handle the tasks in front of her. Normally, she certainly would have been able to handle twice the amount they’d finished. The reason for her inefficiency was her lack of focus.
Let it be known that the fault didn’t lay with her, though: It was absolutely Silas’s fault. As previously mentioned, the two of them were in Riese’s study, and naturally, it was connected to her bedroom. That bedroom was separated from them by a shut door, but it was right there all the same. Apparently, Silas’s statement had gotten to her, and she kept awkwardly glancing its way every few minutes.
While the blame lay with Silas, the reasons for her awkwardness made it difficult for Allen to say anything to calm her down. Maybe it was time to reset.
“Hey, I don’t think we’ll get much done at this rate, so how about we take a break?”
“I’m sorry...”
“Don’t say that—it’s not your fault, it’s Silas’s. Honestly, what does he think he’s doing bothering his master? A former head butler should know better.”
Silas probably did know better and had said what he had anyway, but that was a separate matter. Allen led by example and tossed the report in his hands onto a nearby table before sinking into the sofa he was on. He let out a long sigh.
“You know what? I think we were due for a break anyway. I’m tired.”
“That’s true. It’s amazing that Beatrice managed all of this alone. I can’t thank her enough.”
“Seriously! But you’re gonna have to do this all alone one day too, Riese. That sounds rough.”
“Why are you saying it like it isn’t your business?”
“Because it isn’t. I know I’m helping this time, but I doubt you’ll need me again.”
If Riese ever needed help in the future, she would probably call for Beatrice and not him, which meant that he would never have to do this sort of work again. He could probably ask to help if he wanted to, but ruling over a duchy wasn’t in the cards for Allen’s future plans for relaxation.
“By the way,” Riese quietly blurted out, “have you given marriage any thought, Allen?”
“Whoa, that came out of nowhere.”
“Well, I... Never mind. I was simply curious.”
“No, it’s fine.”
Silas’s comments were probably still bouncing around in her head. Plus, Riese was just around normal marrying age, so it made sense that she might have that on her mind.
“In my case,” Allen said, “I don’t know if there’s anything to think about. I don’t think I can get married.”
“Huh? Do you mean, um, that you don’t have a partner?”
“No, I’m talking about something more basic. Since I still don’t have any way to identify myself, I don’t think I can get married. Maybe in the sense of being with someone, but not officially.”
“Oh, I see.” Riese thought for a moment. “But if you could solve that problem, would you want to get married then?”
“Hm...I dunno. I haven’t really thought about it before.”
Now that he was thinking about it, though, there was no reason his peaceful life couldn’t come in the shape of marriage. He’d never considered that before because he’d thought it wasn’t a possibility—or maybe he just had convinced himself of that.
The end of his last life flashed before his eyes. Maybe he subconsciously wanted to keep others away so that no one would ever have to be swept up in something like that again. No, that was overthinking things. He’d probably just never thought about it because he didn’t have any opportunities to.
“On the other hand,” Allen said, “you probably do want to, if you’re asking me that. Right, Riese?”
He’d meant for it to be a harmless continuation of the conversation, but there was a pause before Riese answered.
“I...do. Not right away, but I’d like to eventually.”
“I see.”
“Oh, but maybe that wasn’t the best way to put it. To be more precise, I’d like to marry eventually, but I don’t want to right now.”
“Oh? So you wouldn’t want to get married if it was too soon?”
“No. There’s...a lot I think about, but right now, I’m really enjoying my everyday life the way it is.”
Suddenly, Allen felt like he’d had an epiphany. Maybe this was the real reason he’d never considered marriage—not because it was something altogether removed from his life, but because what he had now was already so fulfilling.
“I see. Yeah, I get it.”
“You do? Um...sorry for getting all sappy. That was a little embarrassing.”
“Was it? I thought you made a great point.”
“Really? If that’s true...then I’m happy you think that.”