“Err... Sorry, but... I get shy easily...”
“Hmph. Do whatever you want. No matter whether you’re in the middle of eating or changing, you’ll be fine so long as you listen to me.”
“Oh, really... Erk...”
Something wriggled under the blanket. He could feel warmth press across his thin undershirt.
“Hah...”
He could feel strained breathing. Regis broke into a cold sweat as he lay face-up on the bed.
Altina was under the covers.
To prevent her shape from standing out, she clung tightly to Regis’s left—the opposite side to where Jerome stood.
By doing so she was just barely able to hide, but Regis’s heart rattled like the bell on an alarm clock.
Her left arm rested on his stomach, her right tunneled under his back. Her head was buried into his flank. The bulge there would definitely give them away, so he had taken his largish book and placed it open across his chest.
It was a somewhat unnatural position, but—
Jerome didn’t question what such an arrangement could be hiding.
“Hear me out, Regis.”
“Yes...?”
“I— See, I can’t stand you. I think admin officers are useless piles of trash. They’re all talk.”
“I-Is that so... Do you want me to return to the capital?”
“You wouldn’t go even if I told you to.”
“I am the princess’s subordinate, after all... Erk...”
Altina’s squirming leg tangled with his own. He knew she was trying to stick as close as possible to hide, but this was bad for his heart.
The sensation of her soft thigh was conveyed to his own. On top of that, a girl’s leg rubbing his inner thigh was a sensation he had never experienced before.
Regis’s left leg was now sandwiched between both of Altina’s. His pulse hastened to such an extent he feared what it would do next. Perhaps it would stop entirely and he would die right then and there.
—Not a bad way to go... No, no, that’s way too miserable! His mind had fallen into a tumultuous panic.
Jerome closed in.
“Ah, wait, Margrave... Please wai—”
“Listen!”
“Yes, sir.”
Jerome slammed his right foot down onto the seat of the nearby chair—without removing his shoe, to boot. He placed his right elbow on his now-raised knee and leaned forward. His left hand pressed against his hip.
“You’re trash. But, you’re useful trash. My principle is to use even trash, so long as it has some value.”
“I-I see...”
“But a kid who doesn’t obey my orders isn’t one of my men. You get me?”
“...To summarize, Sir Jerome, you are dissatisfied that I do not obey your orders?”
“Yeah, of course I’m dissatisfied! Real dissatisfied! It’s irritating just hearing you say you’re that little lady’s subordinate!”
“Umm... You’re technically the princess’s subordinate, too...”
“That’s the part I can’t stand the most!!”
“As I thought.”
“And that’s the thing. Go tell the little lady to make me your direct superior.”
“Oh, I see...”
The margrave practically wore his disregard for military regulation on his sleeve, but if the need arose, he was apparently capable of going through proper procedures. Following through with his proposal would not change the fact that Regis reported to Altina, but... Jerome needed it to be true that the princess’s subordinate had chosen the margrave over the princess.
“Kukukuh... Become one of my men, Regis.”
“A-About that...”
The girl under the covers squeezed his flank in protest. I get how you feel, Regis cried out internally, but he’s going to see! He promptly dropped the corner of the book on her small head from over the covers.
It shouldn’t have hurt too much, but she went quiet. He hoped this had settled her down.
For once, Jerome began speaking calmly.
“...I... don’t plan on freezing in these northern lands forever.”
His rebellious heart was fully justified. Even so, the empire was such a large structure that any opposition was difficult.
“Do you have a plan?”
“Naturally, I’ll... No... Whatever I do’s got nothing to do with you. Don’t get conceited, fifth-grade admin officer.”
“Well, that sounds about right.”
“I’m going to need all the hands I can get, so I’m saying even someone as worthless as you has value to me. Be grateful.”
“I’ll work for what I’m paid. If you want to transfer me, please bring it up with the princess...”
“You’re choosing the little lady over me?”
“T-That’s... I can’t decide immediately.”
“Very well. Think over it seriously. Not that there’s anything to think about.”
Jerome removed his foot from the chair and turned to the door.
“If I decline your proposition... what happens then?” Regis asked cautiously.
“I am a merciful man. Your death will be a painless one.”
A twitch came from Altina, who was still pressed tightly against him. Regis discreetly placed a light hand on her head.
“...That is... most generous.”
Jerome left the room with a smile, convinced there was no way Regis could decline.
✧ ✧ ✧
“Phew!”
When he lifted the blankets, Altina sprung up. It must have been quite hot down there, as her cheeks were bright red.
“Are you all right?”
“Hah... Hah... I’m not all right!”
“Q-Quiet down.”
“Guh.”
Altina’s face shot up to his. She mounted Regis as he lay on the bed, making for quite the bold situation.
I-Is she not aware of the situation?
Presumably—or, at least, going off her lack of other relevant knowledge—she didn’t get it.
He felt her weight press down on his stomach. Regis was seemingly alone in his embarrassment as his face flushed red.
“N-Now look here, Altina... For starters, how about you calm down and get off the bed before we talk...”
“You want to become Jerome’s subordinate!?”
“I wouldn’t dream of it!”
“I mean, he said he’d kill you if you refused.”
“That was just an empty threat...”
“But... You didn’t refuse...”
“No, that’s because you were there...”
If Regis had declined the proposal, it was possible he would have used violence as his next mode of persuasion. If it came to that, he would have definitely found her hidden under the covers.
The fact her thoughts hadn’t reached that point meant she had definitely lost her cool. Altina grabbed Regis’s shirt.
Her crimson eyes wavered.
She was on the verge of tears.
No ruby could ever match this beauty—a misplaced thought crossed Regis’s mind.
A transparent dewdrop traced the length of her pale white cheek.
“Help me...! I need you!”