Once the banquet was over, Merellis and Louis got back into their carriage. The young woman’s head immediately fell onto Louis’s shoulder, either due to being released from such stress or from sheer exhaustion.
“You did a wonderful job,” Louis said gently to her.
“Thanks. It’s all because of you. I made a lot of acquaintances tonight.”
“All I did was help you make the connections. Now the rest is up to you.” He truly meant it. He had been astonished tonight watching just how easily she’d gotten so many of those nobles eating out of the palm of her hand. After he’d introduced her to the men, they all insisted she meet their wives as well, and before long she was chatting warmly with them like old friends. He wondered how many people she had made an impression on in just this one day.
Not only that, but to him, it seemed more like others had been honored to introduce themselves to her instead of her approaching them. It was like they wanted to help welcome her into the community of noblewomen and introduce her to everyone.
At any rate, he was surprised that she had so easily captured everyone’s hearts in such little time. And it wasn’t an innate ability; it had been the product of her daily hard work since she had become engaged to Louis. Not only had she attended his mother’s lessons faithfully, but she had also read stacks of books on her own to build on her new knowledge. And once arriving at the banquet, she used each of her five senses to take it all in.
But most of all, her experiences talking with Lady Aurelia every day helped her bloom into the flower she had become tonight. As he pondered all this, he realized the young woman was even more important than he thought. He glanced down at her, and it seemed like she was already deep in the world of dreams.
They would arrive home soon, and he knew that. He half smiled but decided he would let her rest for a bit. A short time later, they arrived at the Anderson mansion.
“Merry…” He gently shook her, and she woke right away. “Morning, Merry.”
“Louis…? Hm? What are you doing here?” She blinked sleepily several times, looking confused. Her head quickly cleared, and she sat up. “I-I’m sorry. I can’t believe I fell asleep when you were so kind to take me home.”
“It’s fine. I’m sure you were exhausted. You should get to bed early tonight.”
“Y-yes, I’ll do that. Thanks, Louis.”
He walked her inside and then climbed back into the carriage. He then returned home to the Armelia mansion.
“Oh! Welcome home, Louis.” Romello was already there, relaxing on the living room sofa.
“It’s unusual to see you anywhere but your study these days,” Louis said, prompting a laugh from Romello. “May I join you?” he asked as he sat down across from his father.
“It’s just as unusual for you to ask if you can join me.”
“I suppose it is.” Louis poured his father a drink.
“Merry looked beautiful tonight. I heard you were gushing over your fiancée to everyone too,” Romello teased with a smirk.
Louis took a sip of his own drink with an impassive look on his face.
“It’s not every day the queen compliments you either.” Romello nodded over and over again, happily.
Louis glared back at him. “Seems like you have ears everywhere.”
“You’re just noticing that now?”
“Fair. I just wanted to say it.” Louis sighed with exasperation. “And I wasn’t gushing. I was just being honest with my feelings. Although…perhaps I did gush a bit in front of the queen.”
“You certainly seemed happy.”
“Of course I was. I’m not sure if it’s just my imagination, but when we had the audience with the queen, it seemed like she was very taken with Merry. So yes, it’s true that I gushed about her a bit.”
“Taken with the girl, eh? Well, I’m not sure about that, but she certainly struck a chord with Queen Iria somehow. After all, her son asked Merry to dance with him even though she’s engaged to you!”
Prince Edgar still wasn’t engaged. Banquets were occasions to meet the young ladies of high society. And although there was no need for the heir to the throne to be the one aggressively pursuing any ladies, it was still a good chance to narrow down some candidates for his fiancée by chatting and dancing with them.
For that reason, it was highly unusual that he asked Merellis to dance, since she was already betrothed. He should have been using that time to appraise one of the single ladies. The number of songs played during the banquet was decided beforehand, so there were only so many opportunities to dance with someone.
“Exactly. Then my hunch was right. Hopefully being engaged to the heir of House Armelia will keep him in check, but that gave me another reason to show just how in love we are.”
“I agree that was necessary, if you don’t intend on letting her go.”
“I do not. I don’t even think I could let her go if she asked me to,” he said firmly. And Louis meant it.
“No one likes a stubborn man.”
“Look who’s talking! I heard from Mother that’s exactly how you were when you pursued her too.”
“Hey now! Let’s not bring that up!”
“She said, ‘Hmm, I believe it was before I entered the academy. And your father…’” Louis ignored Romello and continued relaying the story Lady Aurelia had told him.
“I’m sorry, all right? Please don’t bring that up!” Romello apologized frantically, and Louis relented. His father had an unusually flustered look on his face. “Why in the world did Aurelia have to tell you those things…” he muttered. He wore a look of exhaustion like he’d just fought a hard battle.
“I asked Mother about it when I was young, thinking it might come in handy someday.”
“You always acted older than your years…”
“I did. Thanks to a certain someone.”
“Who? I’ll go complain to them!”
Louis smiled but coolly stared at Romello. His father instead cleared his throat to change the subject. “Anyway, about the matter with Rimmel… I’ll be meeting with them tomorrow.”
“Oh? You finally arranged everything then. That was awfully fast.”
“Yes, it was originally supposed to be several weeks from now, but it just so happened to be more convenient for both sides to meet tomorrow instead.”
“You’re going to visit the two moderate houses first, right?”
“Right. I’m going to confirm the results of our investigation with my own eyes. By the way, the only ones who know about this are the queen, the minister of foreign affairs, and a few staff members. And you, of course. I can’t make a big deal about the trip, so I’ll be leaving everything here in the guards’ and your hands. You’ve worked on the tasks before, so it should be easy for you, correct?”
“Yes. What will you do for protection?”
“Gazell is sending me several of his men. Although I do wish I could bring Gazell or Merry…”
“The stronger your guards, the fewer you have to bring, and then you won’t have as much to worry about, hm? Especially if you’re going incognito.”
“That’s right. But I know that wouldn’t work out, so that’s just how it is. Anyway, starting tomorrow, I’ll be leaving things in your hands.”
“All right.” Louis drained his glass, said good night to his father, and returned to his room. Once there, he finally loosened his tie and sat down. It was already way past midnight. Even though he would normally still be up at this hour, he was especially tired from the banquet. He sank back into his seat and looked up, staring absently at the ceiling as he lost himself in his thoughts.
“Lord Louis.” Suddenly Berne was behind him.
“Oh, Berne. What is it?”
“I just wanted to tell you that I shall be accompanying Lord Romello to Rimmel and that I will be working undercover there for a while. I wanted to bid you goodbye before I left.”
“Oh, is that right? How long will you be staying there this time?”
“It will depend on the situation, but probably six months to a year.”
“That long? You’ve been going back and forth for some time now, but it looks like this time you’ll be staying for quite a while.”
“Correct. The only reason it was possible was because Rimmel chose me to spy on Tasmeria. Apparently they think highly of my abilities too, but little do they know I’ll be a double agent.”
“It’s a shame you have to go since you were finally able to train at House Anderson.”
“I improved there very much, thanks to you. Even though it was only for a short while, I enjoyed my time with the first regiment. And because of that, I was allowed to train at House Anderson too.”
“General Gazell’s name goes very far.”
“It does. While I was there, I realized that his reputation isn’t just a sham. It’s the real thing. After seeing him and his men fight, I now understand why so many kingdoms fear him and his army.”
“All the more reason why we must defend his house. After all, it’s connected to the very defense of this kingdom.”
“I agree,” Berne nodded.
Louis let out a sigh. “Even though Wels’s punishment is permanent house arrest, I doubt he’ll just sit there obediently. We’ll have to watch him and his surroundings very carefully. I only wish you could be here to help me.”
“I’m sorry, Lord Louis. I wish I could do both.”
“Of course you do. I’ll just have to use another one of our operatives.”
“Speaking of which, there is someone else I’d like to train…”
“Oh? Who?” Louis leaned forward with interest.
“Her name is Enarene. She’s one of Lady Merellis’s attendants. She’s already been learning from the lady herself, and she’s a skilled fighter. She’s loyal to the kingdom and has a calm, even-tempered personality. She would be useful in going undercover where only women are allowed. I think she would be a suitable candidate to be trained as a female spy.”
“I see… We’ll take a look at her next time you come home.”
“Very well. But I do think things would move faster if you could be the one who suggested it.”
“All right, I’ll take care of it then. I pray for your safety.”
“Thank you.” Berne bowed and then excused himself from the room.