Even the gentle-natured honeybees were likely to sting humans when frightened. That made the gas a necessity. I wouldn’t dare put His Royal Highness in harm’s way, after all.
He teased me, saying how he’d like to know what a bee sting felt like, but I ignored that remark.
Any Rhuddlan territory beekeeper would know how much gas to administer to honeybees to make them wake up at the perfect time. They already worked with carbonic acid gas to capture bees or transfer them to different hives, after all.
Also, the “knight” who’d been the first to protect His Royal Highness each time the bees appeared was actually one of our beekeepers in disguise. He was a spirited, muscular man who told me, “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to help the young miss.” His build helped him blend in amongst the other knights. As for the name “young miss,” well, that was what he called me.
The bee inside the manor was one I’d wrapped up in one of the ribbons on my skirt.
The beekeeper said he shooed it outside after everything settled down, so it was probably busy gathering nectar from flowers at the Brooke manor now. He also retrieved the hives once we were home, returning them safely to the Rhuddlan territory where they came from.
I wanted to reward those bees for their efforts with a banquet of delicious flowers.
But I wondered how to thank that beekeeper who’d protected His Royal Highness. Perhaps a lifetime’s supply of protein powder in addition to a monetary award? I remembered protein powder existing as an item in the game, so I could probably find somewhere to buy it.
“But…I can’t marry into the Rhuddlan family if I’m a duke. I refuse to accept that. I won’t do anything that prevents me from marrying you.”
I’d been lost in thought for a moment, but Siraiya took the silence as an opportunity to sort out his own feelings. In place of astonishment, he was now full of determination.
“I don’t want that either,” I said. “That’s why I’m going to become the Brooke family’s next duchess and ask my father to delay his retirement. Once we have two or more children, both the Brookes and the Rhuddlans will have heirs to the family titles. Right now, that would be the ideal outcome.”
“Hang on a minute. That means you won’t become the next viscount, right? But that’s the goal you’ve been working toward all your life!”
“That’s not completely true. What I really wanted was to protect the viscounty I cherish. I’ll still be able to do that as a duchess, and I intend to offer Father direct assistance, however possible. I’m also considering asking my parents to grant me legal proxy powers so that I can manage our territory myself. After all, I want my mother and father to be able to rest after all their hard work.”
“Then that means… I’m actually going to become a duke…”
“You’ll be able to form a relationship with Duke Gridimore and his family as supporters of the crown prince. My family and I will be supporting you as well. The residents of your territory should accept you without any trouble, since you’ve already been running things for them. Though it’s unusual for a viscount’s daughter to become a duchess, it’s even more unusual for a duke to still be in school. But it shouldn’t be a problem with the crown prince’s endorsement. Siraiya, your hard times have come to an end. You were so strong to make it through them on your own.”
I drew Siraiya closer to me and made him lie back down in bed. I hoped to keep our conversation brief so he would have time to rest. But perhaps he would sleep better once his worries were no more.
Well, I had no way of being certain either way.
“…He’s been forcing me to do his work even before I started school,” Siraiya muttered under his breath.
He seemed to have more to say, so I kept my words of comfort to myself and nodded silently instead.
“It was hard, but I didn’t hate it. I felt like my father finally needed me for something for the first time. I thought my family would actually start to like me. But they treated me the same. Actually, it got even worse. Once I started school, I worked really hard to get good grades, expecting Father to be proud of me. Of course, he never so much as looked my way. By the time he refused to approve our engagement, I’d finally had it with him, so I raised my voice at him for the first time in my life. That was what set him off. He chained me up, told me to know my place, and threatened to disown me and work me like I was his slave.”
I gritted my teeth as I listened to him speak. I could practically feel all of Siraiya’s pain over the years. Or perhaps my pain was now welling up. The man I loved had suffered for so long, and I was only just finding out about it.
I thought about how things might have changed if I’d chosen Siraiya instead of Eddie all those years ago. I could have easily been engaged to him instead if I’d wanted to. Now, all I could do was regret my poor decision.
“One time, I asked Father why he’d taken me in if he was just going to treat me so poorly,” he continued softly. “I asked him if, somewhere deep down, he really did care for me as his son. But he laughed and told me the simple truth. He thought that if he accepted me as his son, then that beautiful, favorite maid of his wouldn’t run away. But my mother left me behind without a second thought, so Father told me I was nothing but a disappointment because of that. I was never, ever going to win his approval. No matter how hard I worked, I was still that same disappointment until the end.”
“You don’t need approval from a man like that,” I asserted. “He’s not fit to be your father, Siraiya. I’m your true family, and that’s the way it should always be.”
“You’re right… I ought to be the one who withholds my approval from him. I don’t even see him as my father anymore. I’m going to cut all of them out of my life. That way, I can protect my true family.”
“Yes, that’s exactly right.”
I embraced Siraiya, pulling his head to my chest. He wrapped his arms around me instead of recoiling shyly like usual.
“I’m so happy you love me, Cynthia. Am I really allowed to be this happy?”
“No, someday, I’m going to make you even happier than you are right now. You’d better look forward to it, Siraiya.”
I heard him start to breathe in and out gently, and I realized Siraiya had finally fallen asleep in my arms.