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“YOU finished Rosemary’s gravestone?” I asked.
“Indeed,” Albert replied. “With the help of our new prime minister, we finished the construction right away.”
“This will be Rosemary’s new resting place,” Reynaldo added. “It was only natural for me to put my utmost into the project.”
Some time had passed since I’d started having dinner in the prime minister’s office. Tonight, the subject of Rosemary’s gravestone in Hubert came up.
When Albert learned that Reynaldo and I were having dinner together, he joined in. That’s how we started eating our nightly meals together again. Occasionally, one of them would excuse themselves due to work, but as a general rule, the three of us had dinner together.
If we’d still been gathering at Stanley’s residence, this wouldn’t have given rise to much gossip. However, we were now dining in the prime minister’s office. Thus, rumors spread like wildfire. At first, this made me uneasy, but strangely enough, I’d gotten used to it.
“You’ve got guts, kid,” Sir Eva said with a laugh when I told him this.
I received curious and stern stares from all directions. They no longer bothered me; I’d come to accept them. Thanks to Reynaldo keeping the rumormongers at bay, I hadn’t suffered any real harm. Everyone’s stares might as well have been water off a duck’s back. Perhaps I had guts, as Sir Eva had said, or perhaps the entire Edigma family had nerves of steel. Stanley was a good example of that.
“I have some time off from work in the palace,” Albert said. “I’ll finally be able to act the part of a feudal lord, at least somewhat.”
A few days ago, Albert finished his peerage conferment ceremony. Afterward, he’d gone to inspect the region formerly known as Hubert.
Following Rosemary’s death, her father—the Marquis of Hubert—had been demoted. Because the state seized a portion of his lands and transformed it into national territory, Hubert had been under government control for a long time. Now that Albert had received these lands, the region had been renamed McClain.
At first, Albert considered this too great an honor. In Dirésias, the names of regions changed to match the names of their rulers. As a consequence, they changed often.
Similar to Reynaldo, some people changed their last names whenever they received a peerage. Albert was reluctant to change his name, as he’d been a McClain his entire life. While he’d anguished over it, the decision was made for him. The Hubert region had been renamed McClain.
Albert’s family had been thrilled to have the land renamed in their honor. Only the man himself struggled with the decision. From what I could tell, he’d been reluctant to rename his childhood home after himself.
Rosemary and Reynaldo’s childhood home was included within Albert’s new territory. Until recently, it had been used as a government facility, but when Albert received his peerage, it became his manor instead.
Nevertheless, Albert had his main duties as high commander to attend to. Likewise, he had no experience managing a territory. Per Reynaldo’s advice, Albert hired the government worker who’d managed the region until now to continue presiding over McClain. Funnily enough, Reynaldo had a better grasp of the territory than Albert, as he’d kept a watchful eye over his childhood home.
Who’s the real feudal lord here? I couldn’t help but wonder.
Yet, rather than entrusting everything to a novice like Albert, we could all rest much easier with this decision. He would have to live with the mockery of being a lord in name only.
“I took time off during the same period as Albert,” Reynaldo said. “I still need to move Rosemary’s coffin from her current resting place. Will you attend the ceremony as well, Mary?”
“Is that all right?” I asked, turning towards Albert for confirmation.
He responded with a nod and a smile.
Back in the audience chamber, I declared my vengeance against Grey, and King Rizel carried out everything on his father’s behalf. Immediately after the coronation, he put out a notice concerning the false accusations against Rosemary, whom the kingdom once called a villainess. At the time, newspapers printed the story nonstop. Rosemary transformed from a villainess to a tragic heroine, receiving a great deal of sympathy from the people. Yet, after a little while, the buzz died down, and these days, I rarely heard a whisper about her.
Decades later, people finally knew the truth. Personally, I had no strong feelings on the matter. Good for her, I thought as an outsider.
Albert and Reynaldo hadn’t spoken much on the matter. For the past twenty years, they’d loved Rosemary and thirsted for vengeance to an unfathomable degree. Regardless of whether Rosemary was proven innocent, the past two decades would never be restored to them.
“The ceremony is in five days,” Reynaldo said. “I’ll return to Rose the day after tomorrow, retrieve Rosemary’s coffin, and then travel to McClain. I’d like both of you to begin your journey around noon the day before the ceremony. If all goes well, we can hold the service in the morning five days from now.”
“That works for me,” Albert confirmed. “Mary, please adjust your schedule so that you can take time off work. We’ll travel together.”
I nodded while drinking my after-dinner tea. “Understood.”
A handmaid cleared away Albert and Reynaldo’s utensils before coming over to clear mine away. Sensing something off, I looked up. The handmaid glared at me from a position not visible to anyone else. Or perhaps she was staring at me?
I averted my gaze from her—who I recognized—and drained the rest of my tea. As I recalled, her name was Liella. Despite being a palace handmaid, she worked for the still-understaffed chivalric order. Every time I crossed paths with her outside, she would glare daggers at me.
Does she like Albert or Reynaldo, perhaps?
Sadly, I’d gotten used to other women treating me with borderline hostility. Albert and Reynaldo were very popular with the opposite sex. Since both were unmarried, more than a few women threw themselves at the two men. A mountain of letters seeking arranged marriages arrived at Albert’s workplace, despite the impropriety.
According to what Lyle told me a few days ago, the prime minister’s office received similar letters. Mere handmaids, noblewomen, and even married women sent these letters.
How terrifying.
In all likelihood, Liella always glared at me because she harbored affection for Albert or Reynaldo.
As I avoided Liella’s eyes, her hostility vanished. After finishing her duties as a handmaid, she left the room. Thankfully, her dislike of me hadn’t affected her actual job. Even so, something still bothered me.
I don’t know what, but…something about her seems different from the others.
Had it been her gaze? Unlike the other noblewomen, her eyes held more than just envy towards me. That said, I had no idea what had caused this.
“What’s wrong, Mary?” Albert asked, noticing my peculiar behavior.
“It’s nothing,” I replied, dodging the issue.
Having silently watched over this series of events, Reynaldo sighed. “You really are dense, aren’t you?”
He looked at Albert with exasperation. Apparently, Reynaldo noticed Liella’s gaze. As the only person who hadn’t caught on, Albert furrowed his brow, perplexed. Laughing, I changed the subject.
In five days, Rosemary’s remains would return to her place of birth. The idea of returning to her childhood home filled me with joy, nervousness, and even a vague sense of unease. Perhaps because of this, I hadn’t realized the reason behind Liella’s hostile gaze.
I would soon come to regret that.