“Documents relating to the region’s finances and taxes were left relatively sorted, so I’m fairly sure that if we got some civil servants sent down here, we’d be able to have things running at the bare minimum,” Nia added.
“Then let’s include that request in our report to His Highness. That would probably be quite a bit easier for him to send than a few hundred knights from the Special Battalion,” I agreed.
“I would also appreciate it if you could ask him to send a dozen or so knights as guards at the same time, preferably from the Special Battalion. It would be even better if they could stay here for a short while afterwards.”
“I don’t see that being a problem at all. His Highness always works to keep some spare men at the ready.”
At the very least, he probably had a single platoon or so kicking around, so ten shouldn’t be an issue. Probably couldn’t get the entire platoon, though, since they’d need time off.
But man, look at us, being so decisive. “I’m glad I consulted you, Nia. If I was alone, then I would have probably been stuck trying to decide what to do.”
“I’m glad you think that way. But there were things that I wouldn’t have known if you yourself hadn’t acted already, and without your connection to His Highness Prince Alphonse, I wouldn’t have been able to do much of anything,” Nia replied to my honest words, smiling bashfully.
Ahh, this is kinda nice. It’s soothing. Like, yeah, we’re having a meeting, but the vibes are so different than the ones I’d have with the Special Battalion.
“I guess, from a noble standpoint, this is a proper conversation for married couples.”
The words had slipped out of my mouth without me realizing. For nobility, political marriages were the norm. Conversations between couples, then, were mostly businesslike, and even if they weren’t, at the very least they spoke to each other just to talk out big decisions. Probably. I mean, there were apparently lords who decided everything without consulting their wives and wives who weren’t interested in governing, but most of those married couples’ relationships were on thin ice, which made me want to learn from them what not to do. I was grateful that Nia was the ideal advisor.
“Really, I’m so glad to have you, Nia. I believe that from the bottom of my heart.”
“Huh, wha, what are you saying all of a sudden?!”
When I said what I did in complete earnest, she got embarrassed. Saying it might’ve made sense to me considering it had been on my mind, but from her perspective, it had probably come out of left field. But the genie was already out of the bottle, so...
“I truly do think that,” I said. “Even though I sprang all this talk of governance on you, you don’t look upset in the least. In fact, you’re actively suggesting things.”
“B-But that’s because it aligns with my own goals...”
“But it doesn’t feel like you’re doing it all out of self-interest. Or am I wrong?”
“Y-You aren’t wrong, but...”
The more I spoke, the more she got flustered. So cute. The whole situation seemed to be a rare one, and Nia was cute, so I felt like I could keep on pushing.
“I sincerely hope that we can keep on having days like this and become a true married couple.”
“Lord Ark...”
As she blushed, I took her hand, and was about to kiss it when...
“Nnmmm! Cough, cough, cough!”
Just as I was about to make my move, I heard Laura clearing her throat and tore my hands away.
That’s right. Laura’s here too. I got so carried away that I forgot about her. Though the fact that she could make herself unnoticeable shows just how skilled she is as a servant.
“A-Ahh, sorry, there are more things we need to decide, aren’t there?! Um, oh yeah, while the report is on the way to His Highness, we should make arrangements with the mayors in each of the regions!”
“Y-Yes, you’re right! That will let them know that we’re not planning on neglecting them!”
With the mood thoroughly crushed, we reopened our discussion with clear embarrassment. I don’t think we could be blamed for talking through it a bit fast. But we really did need to decide what we’d do the next day, so it was a good thing, in a way. At least from Viscount McGuine’s perspective, unlike just Ark’s. This was probably how territory lords started thinking of themselves. Probably not, but...!
“We’ll have to ask for Count Farlon’s assistance tomorrow as soon as possible. Do you think Tom would be able to carry a message?”
We’d gotten here after noon, and several hours had since passed. The sun was going down pretty quickly, but if he was fast, he’d probably return by nightfall. Thinking of all that, I asked Nia, and she nodded. “While I feel a tad sorry for him, since he was steering the horses the whole way here, you would have to go if he couldn’t, wouldn’t you? That would be bad for your image, having the head of the house himself go on an errand.”
“Yeah, you’re right. I feel bad for asking, but I’ll have him do it.”
Nia looked guilty. Honestly, I didn’t want to make Tom go out when he was tired either, but I knew I had no choice. I’d become a laughingstock if I went out delivering messages for myself as the lord of the territory. Plus, seeing as how it was getting dark, he was about the only person I could ask to do it. The old gardener had a bad knee, after all.
If I were a normal knight, I would’ve just gone and gotten it out of the way, but since I was the head of our house, there were a lot of hoops I had to jump through. It’d be like this more and more often, so I just needed to get used to it.
“I’ll head back to my room to write the letter for Tom to deliver. Ah, you there, can you call him to my room? Let him know he can take his time,” I said, asking a maid to pass along the message.
For example, this was one of the things I’d need to get used to. I might’ve wanted to just bring the letter straight to him once I finished writing it, but now it was best for me to call servants for my own errands. Plus, instead of me, now a whole other person had to be used for the calling. It was a pain in the ass. But despite the pain, if I acted like my usual self out here, I’d only be ridiculed, especially by the nobility.
In the world of the nobility, the moment someone looked down upon you, you were well and truly lost; no one would listen to someone they considered beneath them, and in the same breath, they could push unreasonably terrible conditions upon them without a care in the world. It was for that reason that I needed to consciously act like a proper head of a noble house, so no one would do that to me. Our servants all knew that, seeing as they’d worked in a royal palace before. So I didn’t have to worry about offending them. I would just have to get used to it. I wasn’t used to it, but I had to adjust eventually.
Sighing, I made a head-of-house-like expression. “With that said, I’ll be returning to my room. My apologies for intruding on you so suddenly.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that. I’m glad you came to discuss it all with me. And, um... We’re married, so we’ve got to support each other, don’t we?”
The bashful smile and cute words were a direct hit to my senses. I clutched my chest. Damn. The cuteness could’ve killed me... I thought my heart was gonna stop.
“L-Lord Ark?” Nia asked, looking at me confusedly.
Ah, yeah. She had no clue what she’d just done. Wait, she wouldn’t have done something like that on purpose, would she? Her being completely oblivious was honestly kind of worse, but a part of me hoped she’d stay this way.
“Oh, it’s nothing,” I said, in a rush. “I’m fine! See you later!” I escaped from her room with harried, jerky steps. I returned to my room to write the letter as planned, but my hands shook so much I had to redo it a couple times.
But I finished eventually and got Tom to deliver it. He later brought back a message from Count Farlon saying he’d make time for us. So the next day, Nia and I visited the garrison, but...
“I guess you’re the reason our reception was different, Nia.”
I hoped I’d be forgiven for the muttered comment. After all, we were alone when I said it.
Yesterday, I’d met with the count in a tent near the garrison’s entrance. Today, we were in the parlor of their lodgings. It might’ve been a simple temporary construction, but it had actual walls and doors, so meeting him here felt quite different from how I’d met him the day before. But I knew what the brigade was working against, so I wouldn’t openly complain about such a thing.
“I believe we should take this as the count understanding the gravity of the situation,” Nia said. “Believing so will make proceedings run more smoothly, at any rate.”
“No arguing with that, since it’s completely true, isn’t it? I want things to go well with Count Farlon.”