After the long journey from Sutrena and an interrogation at the royal palace, Robin was returned to the Sempli Convent in the northeastern part of Desnim. As he passed through the thick stone gate and entered the Convent grounds, he was greeted by similarly hard, gray cobblestone paving at the entrance. It was as if it reflected his mental state perfectly.
“Heeey, Master Robin!”
Robin reluctantly moved forward, urged by the soldiers who’d brought him here, when he saw Lubhuta, who’d apparently been waiting at the entrance, happily running up to him.
“I’ve been waiting, my comrade!”
“Count Lubhuta...” Since when were the two of them comrades? Robin didn’t want to be lumped in with such a pervert; he felt dejected, oblivious to his hypocrisy given his past behavior. “I didn’t want to return. I was finally enjoying my freedom with a liberated mood... Damn that Nazelbart,” he muttered softly.
Hearing Robin’s whisper, the sharp-eared Lubhuta moved closer. His face was exuding intense pressure.
“Master Robin, we’re roommates. Next time, definitely invite me on your outing too! I also want to get out and see some young ladies!”
No matter how fiercely Lubhuta complained, Robin would never bring him along on any hypothetical future escape. He felt like it would only cause trouble for him.
I’ll probably be sent back to my old room now. Ugh, I’ll have to be roommates with old man Lubhuta again? His snoring’s so loud.
As Robin was deep in thought, the demonic monk in charge of the Convent appeared; he’d apparently heard Lubhuta’s loud voice. This man had the largest build among all the monks here, and he approached Lubhuta and Robin with his sturdy shoulders squared.
“Lubhuta and Robin, you two will no longer be roommates. Putting you in a shared room will slow down our response in case any trouble occurs. Therefore, Robin will be moved to a special room.”
“What kind of room?” Robin asked.
“A room that will prevent a situation like the last one from happening. Just know that there will always be someone watching you.”
“Hmm?” Robin was taken to a communal room where many people could live together. “Whoa, why did you bring me to this kind of place?”
“Robin, you were originally shown consideration because you were a baron’s son, and you were roommates with Lubhuta because you were both nobles. You were constantly dissatisfied, but you were still treated fairly within the Convent.” But because of the consideration they’d shown him, Robin had tried to escape, so he would now be sharing a room with the commoner monks; that was what the demon monk wanted to say.
At that moment, all of the monks returned together. They were all wearing loincloths, so they were probably returning from tonight’s martial arts training. They were drenched in sweat and the room Robin was inside instantly filled with their masculine stench.
Urgh... Robin groaned in his mind.
“Hey, I’m leaving him in your care starting from today. Train him thoroughly like before,” the demonic monk called out to them.
“Yes, sir!” the monks all replied with their deep voices.
Eeeek... You’ve gotta be kidding me. I’ll have to live here?! This wasn’t a joke. Rooming with Lubhuta would be much more preferable than this.
“Hey, Robin, let’s go take a bath together.” One of the men put his thick, log-like arm around Robin’s slender shoulders in a friendly way. The arm was sticky and glistening with sweat, so the moment it touched Robin, he got goose bumps and cried out in a pathetic manner. “Let’s hang out naked. I’ll treat you so nicely that you won’t even think about running away again. We’ll have a heart-to-heart.”
A different man had a towel in hand and looked ready to accompany Robin and the other monk.
“We’re all brothers. We have nothing to hide from each other.”
“Nooooo!” Robin cried as the men picked him up and forcibly carried him to the bath.
“Off we go!”
“And away!”
“Onward!”
“Heave-ho!”
“Charge!”
Each monk gave a different shout of encouragement originating from their own birthplace in Desnim, and they started walking while tossing Robin in the air. The rest of the men followed one after the other and headed to the bath together. Robin wanted to run, but there was no escape. At this rate, the bath would become crowded, and the men would inevitably stick to each other as they were packed together in the bathtub.
Come on, I don’t wanna touch dudes’ bare skin! Robin already got enough of that during his martial arts training in a loincloth.
“H-Help...me...” But there was no one to listen to Robin’s plea.
✦ ✦ ✦
Ten days after her parole was announced, Lady Liliane arrived at our estate, wearing a modest, pure white dress and carrying a single suitcase. She hesitantly greeted Lord Nazel and me; she would be working as a maid here for the time being. Her main job would be assisting Kelly, the same duties that Miss Sonia from Hihime had once undertaken; Kelly had been awfully busy lately, after all. Our estate was truly lively with more people joining it, and each one was happily performing their duties, but Kelly had her hands full since she was the one managing everyone. I’d always been thinking that I’d like to appoint an assistant for her if someone suitable came along.
Miss Sonia was highly competent in all kinds of work, but Lady Liliane also received strict education since her childhood, and I hear that she excels in different aspects than Miss Sonia. If I were to sort their abilities, Miss Sonia has great practical skills and is well-versed in clerical work, while Lady Liliane is incredibly well-informed when it comes to noble culture, etiquette, and social interactions. She was a different type of worker, but it was still reassuring to have her in our home right now.
“Thank you for joining our estate, Lady Liliane.” I’d visited Lady Liliane many times during her captivity, and had talked to her under a guard’s supervision. I hadn’t gone to see her as frequently as Torre, but I believed that we’d gotten relatively close.
“Lady Agnes, I’m a commoner now, so please call me by just my name. As I said during our meetings, it would set a bad example.”
“That’s true. I’m sorry... Then, once again, thank you for joining our estate, Liliane.”
“The pleasure is all mine. Thank you so much for providing me with a place to work, Lady Agnes, Lord Nazelbart.”
Although Liliane had once committed a crime, I believed we could trust her, which was why she’d been invited to our estate. Master Robin had taken advantage of her when she’d been cornered, and she’d been imprisoned for attempting to assassinate Lord Nazel. However, because she had been unsuccessful, had originally been against committing any crimes, and had later cooperated in exposing Master Robin’s misdeeds, her sentence had been a bit more lenient. She’d also shown exemplary conduct during her incarceration in Sutrena, which had factored into the decision to parole her.
“I think Torre is going to be noisy, but tell me right away if it becomes a problem. We’ll give him a warning,” Lord Nazel said.
“Thank you very much. But I’m grateful to Master Torre. He came to see me time and time again during my prison term, and was concerned if I had any problems.”
“Yes... It seemed like he visited almost daily. I’m really sorry about that. I told him that he was going too far and tried to stop him, but...”
It was just as Lord Nazel said. I’d also pointed that out to Torre in the past, but he hadn’t stopped. Even on rainy or stormy days, he hadn’t failed to visit Liliane. He’d gone to see her in the prison’s visiting room no matter what.
“I was confused at first, but before long, I also got used to it somewhat. Meeting him became part of my daily routine.”
Liliane’s senses have gotten numb to it, I thought as I quietly listened to her. Perhaps it hadn’t been intentional, but Torre’s strategy of frequently visiting his loved one was working.
“Come to think of it, Master Torre also proposed to me. We are no longer engaged, yet he seriously proposed to someone like me. What is that man even thinking?”
Despite everything Liliane was saying, I noticed that her expression wasn’t exactly displeased. Her cheeks were also faintly pink.
Could it be that Liliane also seriously loves Torre? In that case, I didn’t think that other people should interfere. Lord Nazel and I looked at each other and decided not to take the topic any further. If Liliane wasn’t suffering because of Torre’s intense love, it was all fine.
And so, Liliane peacefully joined our estate during her parole. She was welcomed by everyone without any problems. Torre repeatedly proposed to her without feeling discouraged, so I figured we might hear an announcement of their engagement before long. I continued watching over the two of them while waiting for the day I could hear the auspicious news.