After Prince Valen arrived in Sutrena, Lord Nazel and I kept busy giving him a tour of the school and showing him around the territory. After all, we were being visited by the prince of the neighboring country, so things ended up getting a bit grandiose. Paul and Ryuk, who’d once studied in Polpystan, also joined us, and they happily exchanged updates with Prince Valen on the recent state of affairs. The prince was the chairman of the school the two of them had once attended, so they were all acquainted.
A few days passed, and Lord Nazel and I, along with Prince Valen and his guards, were finally going to head to the capital to celebrate the birthday of Queen Latriche’s sons. She’d given birth to twin princes around six months before I’d given birth to Solis, and their birthday was celebrated nationwide every year. A celebratory ceremony would be held at the castle again this year. Nobles from across the country would gather for it and offer their congratulations to the two princes.
A birthday celebration had been held for the princes last year as well, but since we’d had a lot on our hands with me having recently given birth, Master Robin’s escape, and the upcoming storm and manabeast rampage, we’d been unable to head to the castle personally. But since things had calmed down this year, we could visit the capital just fine.
We can’t take Solis with us yet, but I want him to join us once he’s a little bigger. In her letters, Queen Latriche had mentioned that she’d like our children to meet once they were older, and I felt the same. It would be nice if our kids could get along like we did.
Lord Nazel and I—the rulers of Sutrena—were headed to the capital accompanied by my head handmaiden Kelly and guard Torre, as well as Prince Valen’s group. We all got on mountbeasts and started our journey. Lord Nazel and I rode on Geni, Kelly on Charite, and Torre on his pegasus. Dunk just decided to tag along. Our Polpystani guests were all riding on pegasi. They moved with coordination, lined up in an orderly formation. Solis would be staying at home with his wet nurse, Mrs. Holly, and the handmaiden Liliane looking after him. I was worried about his habit of escaping, but I could leave him in their care with peace of mind.
“Agnes, it’s a bit of a distance to the capital, so let’s take proper breaks along the way.” Lord Nazel had put our travel plans together, and it seemed that he’d planned for breaks during the trip. “Mountbeasts can travel quite fast, but let’s stop for one night on our way to the capital. We have Prince Valen with us, and more importantly, I don’t want to push you too much.”
“Lord Nazel...”
“Besides, I also want to enjoy my trip with you.”
I was happy that Lord Nazel felt that way, so I gently leaned on him as he sat behind me. Lord Nazel smiled as he softly hugged me with one arm and kept steering Geni with the other.
After flying for over half a day and taking sufficient breaks, we landed in front of an inn close to the capital. It was a large, clean building with a splendid red roof, suitable for nobles to spend the night. In fact, it seemed that other nobles heading to the capital were staying here too.
“Let’s spend the night here.”
“All right, Lord Nazel.”
After moving the mountbeasts to their designated area, we went inside where we were met with a luxurious staircase. It seemed that the dining hall was farther in the back, while the rooms were upstairs.
It should be satisfactory for Prince Valen to stay here.
Kelly and Torre were also getting ready for our stay. Just like I’d noticed the other day, Kelly seemed to be feeling somewhat down lately.
All right, I’ll go with a forceful approach, otherwise Kelly will probably just bottle everything up. I need to be firm. Kelly was very likely to never confide her worries to anyone out of consideration to those around her.
I quietly approached Kelly and spoke to her.
“Kelly, could you come with me for a second?”
“Of course, Lady Agnes.” She obediently followed me, probably thinking this was just regular business.
I led Kelly to an empty room to make sure no one could hear us. The room had a calm atmosphere and didn’t seem intended for nobles, but it was still perfectly clean. The lamp’s orange light was dimly reflected off the stylish crimson curtains. After closing the door, I started speaking in a low voice. It was time to execute my forceful approach.
“Say, Kelly? You’ve looked kind of down lately. Is there something worrying you?”
“Huh? No, not really...” Kelly had thought this was about work, so she was startled when the conversation suddenly turned to her. Her expression didn’t change much, but I could tell. She let her guard down a bit only in front of Lord Nazel and me.
“I’ve asked before, but is there something troubling you? Please tell me now, or I’ll be so worried about you I won’t be able to relax. I can’t just turn a blind eye to my dear Kelly feeling worried. Knowing you, you were going to keep everything bottled up and never tell anyone, right?”
Kelly said nothing in response. It seemed that I’d hit the nail on the head—that was the kind of impression her silence gave.
“Maybe I can help you solve your problems, and even if I can’t, you’ll feel better after letting it all out.”
“I apologize for letting my emotions show during work.”
“There’s nothing to apologize for. In fact, only Lord Nazel and I have noticed. But it pains me to watch you suffer.” I was probably the person closest to Kelly. I doubted she would discuss her problems with anyone else, so I was the only one who could get her to talk right now.
After spending a moment in thought, Kelly slowly started to speak.
“I feel ashamed of coming to you with my personal problems.”
“You can tell me anything.” Kelly was always helping me out, so it was now my turn to be of use to her.
“I’ve been exchanging letters with my parents lately. A marriage interview for me came up in one of those letters.”
“A-A marriage interview?!”
“I never had any intention of returning home, so I thought there was no reason to go out of my way to tell you and thus kept quiet about it.”
The marriage interview had most likely been suggested by Kelly’s parents. She wasn’t interested in romance at the moment and wished to continue working for the House of Florescruz. Starting with my brother Paul, many younger men were captivated by her, but she hadn’t noticed their affection, and didn’t seem to view men as a whole as romantic partners.
Everyone has their own values. I wanted to respect her wishes.
Perhaps urged by my momentum, Kelly explained her current situation little by little.
“To begin with, I’ve been estranged from my family.”
“Yes, you’ve told me.”
Kelly had shared a bit of her circumstances with me before. Ever since she’d gone to work in the capital at a young age, she’d barely had any contact with her family.
“And yet, after all this time, my parents suddenly sent me a letter about a marriage interview. I don’t understand their intentions and feel at a loss. I naturally turned them down, but it seems that my parents haven’t accepted my refusal... They’ve been persistently sending me more letters.”
“I see...”
“My family knows where I work. I’m dealing with things on my end, but depending on the circumstances, they might cause trouble for you all, Lady Agnes. I’ve been worried over what to do about this.”
“Oh dear! You don’t need to worry about us. Please take care of yourself first.”
Kelly had already told me a little about her family. She was the eldest daughter of a large farming family, and ever since she’d been little, she’d grown up doing housework and babysitting her many younger brothers.
I need to rely on Mrs. Holly for raising my only son. I couldn’t even imagine how difficult it must have been for Kelly to look after several children on her own. Not to mention that she had been a child herself back then.
Kelly’s family life had obviously been a burden on her. That was why she’d left home one day and started working in the capital. Her life had been full of ups and downs. After a series of twists and turns, the exceptional Kelly had ended up in the employ of the royal family. Then Princess Mia had poached her to be her stylist, but since Kelly was a commoner, she’d been held responsible for certain problems and fired. When I’d first met Kelly, she’d been working as a maid for the House of Florescruz, Lord Nazel’s family. And even after Lord Nazel had taken me under his wing, she’d accompanied us all the way to the frontier territory of Sutrena.
I can’t even describe how reassuring Kelly’s presence was at the time. I was always grateful to her. I now thought of her as an older sister or close friend. At the moment, Kelly was the head handmaiden of the House of Florescruz. If there was anything troubling her, now was the time to help her out.
“Kelly, even if something happens with your family, it won’t be a problem for us. If your family tries to force a marriage interview on you, rest assured that I’ll be firmly against them. I’ll be happy to send you off if that’s what makes you happy, but if not, I’ll resist to the end!” I wasn’t going to tolerate anyone making Kelly suffer.
Kelly looked a little conflicted, but then slowly nodded in understanding.
“Thank you very much, Lady Agnes. I’m against a marriage interview from the bottom of my heart. Besides, I doubt any marriage interview my family is recommending would be good for me.”
I nodded back at Kelly. I had no idea what her family was aiming for by bringing up this marriage interview. Were they worried about their daughter being unmarried forever, or did they perhaps have some other goal?
But what Kelly herself wants is the most important. If her family ignores her wishes, I intend to firmly stand against them. I wanted to respect Kelly’s choices, just like she’d done for me up until now.
“Don’t worry, Kelly! If you’re ever in trouble, I’ll use my authority as the margravine. That power is meant for times like this.” I clenched my fists, determined to protect my precious Kelly. I didn’t care if I was criticized as a selfish margravine who used her power to trap her handmaiden and prevent her from quitting.
I’ll do it!
As Kelly saw how motivated I was, her lips curled into a modest smile. I was worried about her since she was a strong-willed woman who hardly ever complained.