“Come in,” Aresh answered the knock on the door.
Valtom the butler bowed and entered his lord’s room.
“A letter has arrived from House Indolark.”
Aresh’s already surly face darkened further as he regarded the letter in Valtom’s hand.
“From the main house?”
“No, from their mansion in the capital.”
Aresh’s expression cleared up slightly in relief. He took the letter and read it. The message was more or less along the lines of what he expected. Valtom must have anticipated it, too, because he told Aresh to call him whenever he was ready, and that the preparations were already done.
He also added: “Your actions this morning were somewhat immature.”
Aresh did not need anyone to tell him this. Valtom was talking about how he had gone to work first thing in the morning, avoiding Seiichirou after their fight the night before. Perhaps he was also talking about how Aresh had locked himself in his room.
“I know,” said Aresh, after a short silence.
“No, you do not. I speak of the lapel pin matter as well.”
Aresh gritted his teeth. Few people dared to reproach him, a member of a marquess family and the current commander of the Third Royal Order. One of those people was Valtom, who had served Aresh since his childhood.
“Young Master, if you will allow me to speak. I was overjoyed when you asked me to prepare Mr. Seiichirou’s suit and lapel pin, for I thought the day had finally arrived. Milan and Pavel were of a similar mind. And then what happened? You sent Mr. Seiichirou to that dinner party without asking his opinion, and when he returned to you in confusion you started blaming him instead. Then finally, you sulked and shut yourself in your room. You are well past twenty now. Here I thought you were doing a fine job as a knight commander, but I seem to have been mistaken.”
Aresh groaned. “I get it. Lay off already.”
“I am pressing the issue because that is what your actions deserve. You have finally met someone with whom you wish to spend your life, and you wish for him to return the sentiment… Young Master, heed this advice from your elder. You will blunder if you rush into anything.”
Valtom spoke sense, Aresh had to admit to himself as he sat in a carriage bound for the house he’d lived in until just a year ago. But Seiichirou would disappear if he did not hurry.
Because the journey was not terribly far, Aresh only calmed down right before the carriage reached its destination. When he stepped from the carriage, a familiar butler’s face was already waiting for him at the entrance.
“Welcome home, Master Aresh.”
The man opened the door with a respectful bow. Although it was not strong enough to qualify as “nostalgia,” the familiarity of the mansion did bring back some memories. Yet Aresh had no time to wallow in emotions when an unexpected face came into view.
“Welcome back, Aresh.”
“What are you doing here?” Aresh’s frown deepened at the sight of his older sister Erene in the entrance hall. He thought she had moved out after getting married.
Although Erene was his closest sibling in terms of age, they didn’t have much to do with each other these days. Partly, this was because gender differences meant that they occupied different stations in life, although Erene had always rushed to help him when they were children. Even now, she remained an indomitable figure.
“I came here because my husband is busy at work for the week. Anyway, Mother and Father are waiting for you. Put your things down and come to the reception room,” she urged, leaving no room for him to get a word in edgewise.
Aresh put his luggage in his room, which was still exactly as it was when he’d left it, and headed for the reception room as he’d been told. A butler opened the door for him, and there he found Erene and a middle-aged couple sitting in the room. It was Marquess Indolark and his wife—Aresh’s father and mother.
Having always been a capable and obedient child, Aresh had no recollection of being scolded by his parents. This strained atmosphere was a first for him. Seized by an unfamiliar tension, he did as he was told and took a seat—opposite his parents.
“You know why we called you, yes?” his father asked in a low voice.
Aresh did his best to keep his face blank as he responded.
The current Marquess Indolark was pushing sixty, which added up when Aresh considered the fact that he was the youngest child. A former knight, his impressive physique still retained its burliness, and his bearing exuded majesty.
“We heard the story from someone who attended the welcoming party the other day, and I must say we’re surprised.” The woman next to Marquess Indolark tilted her head in a girlish manner, as if she were a little bird. Her purple eyes, the same shade as Aresh’s, conveyed dismay.
The marquess’s wife came from a distinguished ducal lineage. Aresh had heard that his father was given permission to marry her as a reward for his military achievements. Although her appearance was beautiful, the girlishness she retained in her actions and mannerisms accentuated her charms. Yet she was certainly no young girl on the inside. She possessed all the wiles of a canny noblewoman, and her cutesy behavior actually was a trap to lower the other person’s guard.
“Is it true, then, that the otherworlder was wearing your color and an accessory signifying betrothal?” she asked.
“Yes. I gifted those to him,” Aresh responded in no uncertain terms. He’d never harbored any intentions of pulling the wool over his parents’ eyes.
His mother brought her hands to her mouth in surprise. Even the duke, who normally showed very little emotion, was wide-eyed.
“We knew the otherworlder was under your care,” said his mother. “You left the house because of him, yes?”
Indeed, it was so that he could properly keep an eye on what Seiichirou was doing and manage his health. “Yes,” said Aresh.
“Yet unlike the Holy Maiden, I have heard that he has no abilities or social standing, and that he is a man of weary countenance. Is that also true?”
“It is not. Although Seiichirou—the otherworlder—does not possess special powers, and this world’s atmosphere is ill-suited for his body, he is still an exceedingly capable man. He has rectified the kingdom’s finances and devised countermeasures against the miasma.”
“Goodness.”
“I heard about that plan. Was that not Prime Minister Carvada and Count Blanc’s doing?” said the marquess.
“Seiichirou was almost entirely behind the actual idea and planning. I should also add that he was the one who refined His Highness the Crown Prince and Her Holiness’s idea for a private school. He is also involved in managing human resources within the palace.”
The extent of Seiichirou’s exploits was not public. Seiichirou himself did not want to stand out (because this would get in the way of efficiency). Others around him, including the prime minister, concealed his contributions as well.
Some of the wilier nobles were already dimly aware of this, however, and the marquess was not an exception.