Translator: Nox

Chapter 25

25. Valiant Marquis, Your Excellency2021.11.25.

“……!”

Only after his thoughts reached the purpose of his visit—regarding the subpar supplies—did the Marquis realize the underlying bite in the knight’s earlier words that he hadn’t noticed before, and his face hardened.

「The superior who takes responsibility for us, leads us, and ‘feeds us and keeps us alive’ is Supreme Commander Your Excellency Arthur Julius. ‘Not you.’」

All these knights. They were the very ones he had to beg Arthur to silence.

“…….”

The Marquis’s eyes wavered. He belatedly realized his mistake. But he couldn’t back down now and let them seize the initiative. That would be an intolerable humiliation in front of knights that included even commoners. After all, wasn’t Arthur their commanding officer? Determined to flaunt the hierarchy between himself and Arthur right in front of the knights, he confidently shook off the head butler’s arm.

“You’ve come at just the right time.”

The Marquis lifted his chin.

“You. Come talk with me.”

Arthur coldly shifted only his gaze to look down at him and replied.

“Yes. I was just thinking I needed to discuss my quarters with you. But it seems something unseemly has happened?”

The Marchioness hurriedly interjected.

“Ah! Oh, I’m sorry, Sir Arthur! That was my doing. We’d already planned to assign you separate quarters in the mansion. I just hadn’t gotten around to telling the Marquis yet, so this mistake happened.”

Arthur’s gaze turned to the Marchioness. Feeling the pressure, she hastily continued.

“The bedroom you’re using, your private reception room, office, study, secondary bedroom, and the separate breakfast room and dinner hall—all those are your spaces, Sir Arthur. I should have told you sooner. Oh, look at me. If you wish, we can assign a private garden and greenhouse too……!”

“Later.”

Arthur cut off the Marchioness’s words.

“!”

Then he looked down at the Marquis again.

“Did you assault my subordinate?”

“!”

The Marchioness desperately hoped the Marquis wouldn’t make another mistake here. Please, just apologize first and say you’re sorry for the blunder! But the Marquis, smugly lifting his chin, said,

“That bastard made the first mistake against me. Aren’t you going to ask about that?”

Arthur smiled softly.

“What mistake did he make?”

Tsking his tongue, the Marquis’s voice grew boldly louder.

“Those bastards rudely blocked me, saying I wasn’t permitted to see you. This is my mansion, and you’re my son-in-law!”

Arthur replied calmly.

“That is correct; you weren’t permitted. The Marchioness had already made the same mistake, so I had them block you. Didn’t you hear?”

What? The Marchioness flinched, and the Marquis’s eyes bulged. Arthur continued.

“You entered the bedroom where my wife and I were alone, without permission. I asked them to prevent such embarrassing incidents. It seems you should have sought permission first, shouldn’t you? Isn’t that right?”

The Marchioness’s body began to tremble. Loud voices had drawn spectators from downstairs. Not just the flustered servants and maids peeking and hiding, but also the family physician Alvin Lorenson staring up in astonishment, the guests who had come for scheduled appointments, and……. Lord Rembrandt.

“!!!”

The Marchioness’s face turned ashen.

“S-Sir! I’m sorry! I already apologized for that mistake……!”

Arthur cut her off again.

“If you’d asked for permission, I would have met you. But without even thinking to ask, you assaulted my subordinate?”

Another knight answered in her place.

“We told him that since he was the Marquis, we’d inform Supreme Commander Your Excellency and ask. But right after hearing that, he assaulted Sir Lionel.”

Murmurs were gathering from downstairs. Head Butler Jim hurriedly tried to usher the guests back into their rooms, but there was no containing it. The flustered Marquis stomped his foot and yelled.

“Y-You were rudely blocking me when I had urgent business!”

“What was the business?”

The Marquis was lashing out wildly, but Arthur’s soft voice didn’t yield an inch. The Marquis ranted on.

“There are ridiculous rumors circulating outside, and it seems the war veterans are blabbing recklessly, so I came to ask you to correct it! But that bastard was so rude to me……!”

The Marchioness’s face drained of color. She instantly realized he was talking about the subpar supplies issue. This madman! And he had the nerve to slap a knight over it? She staggered, flailing her hands, barely gripping the stair railing. No matter that Arthur was their Supreme Commander, there was no way he’d issue such an order after seeing this spectacle, undermining his own authority in front of his knights. Arthur curled one corner of his mouth in a sneer.

“You have no fear of soldiers, it seems. Then again, you’re the valiant one who had no fear of insulting the Imperial Family either.”

“!”

The Marchioness clutched the back of her neck and collapsed. Reina, who had slightly cracked open the bedroom door and witnessed the entire scene, gaped in stunned silence. Beautifully dressed Christina stood frozen at her room door watching it all, then pressed her hand to her forehead in horror and shut the door. Rembrandt, barely suppressing his twitching lips as he returned to his annex, doubled over laughing. It was the third day at the Julius mansion. That day’s visitors and all remaining scheduled appointments were summarily canceled. * * *

Lukan, who had been out inspecting the garrison outside the territory and returned late to the mansion, heard the situation and fumed with rage. Kay looked shocked, while Tristan silently furrowed his brow. The bewildered Reina, not knowing what to do, led them into Arthur’s reception room. Since Reina was outwardly ‘Christina,’ she fidgeted anxiously seeing the knights displeased by her father’s outrage. Then she remembered the ointment Doctor Lorenson had given her to apply periodically to her forehead, so she quickly crossed to the bedroom, fetched it, and returned. After asking permission, she tried to apply it to Lionel’s face, but in an instant, Kay took over the task and she yielded her spot.

“You must have held back because of me.”

“…….”

Arthur apologized to his subordinate with a bitter expression.

“Thank you for showing mercy with my reputation in mind.”

“No, sir.”

“…….”

Reina stood awkwardly before them, glancing around uncertainly. Does this knight know I’m the fake Christina, or not? She couldn’t tell, but either way, she couldn’t help feeling mortified by the Marquis’s antics.

“All done.”

As Kay covered the ointment and stepped back, Reina bowed her head in apology instead.

“I’m sorry, sir.”

The knight named Lionel stood with an embarrassed, awkward expression, giving a vague nod.

“No need. I’m embarrassed to be greeting you like this. I’m Lionel, my lady.”

Reina offered her hand apologetically, and his lips lightly brushed and parted from the back of it.

“I’m Lukan, my lady. Pleased to meet you.”

Lukan, seeing Reina for the first time, followed suit, taking her hand and kissing the back as he introduced himself. Do they all know, or not? But the Marchioness’s command to act thoroughly as Christina in their presence and give no cause for suspicion was absolute. Clutching her skirt, Reina curtsied with a small voice.

“Pleased to meet you. Chri……Christina.”

Lukan watched her fumbling greeting quietly, then chuckled softly and turned his head. Tristan gave a knowing glance.

“…….”

They all know, after all. But it wasn’t mocking hostility; it felt more like pity, which left Reina with a strange feeling. Kay let out a short sigh, shaking his head as he spoke.

“Sir Lionel, you got the short end. But thanks to it, Sir Arthur’s quarters in the mansion are now clearly defined. Not a bad outcome.”

Reina’s eyes widened in surprise. Sir Lionel chuckled, lifting one corner of his mouth, then winced in pain. He seemed to have expected as much already. * * *

“Bedroom, private reception room, office, study, secondary bedroom, breakfast room, dinner hall. And private garden and greenhouse, right? We’ll need to call in more knights to expand the guard perimeter.”

Lukan asked.

“Why no lunch room?”

Kay answered.

“The lunch room is just the one in the central mansion. Probably means the family should gather for at least one meal a day. Most mansions don’t even have separate breakfast and dinner halls—two each is rare. Lunch can be in the dinner or breakfast hall anyway.”

“Ah.”

Another knight looked up and asked.

“So where exactly do we guard from now?”

“Is the room between the reception room and study included?”

“Can’t we ask for more? It’d be nice if there was space for the knights to stay too. The maids have their own rooms.”

The knights chimed in one by one. Moments later, Sir Kay, who had been listening, cracked his neck side to side with a pop and stood.

“Okay. Message received. I’ll go collect.”

Sir Kay went to meet the Marchioness and secured for Arthur the entire southwest section of the mansion from the second floor up, plus three separate annexes, the private garden between them, two greenhouses, space for the knights to stay, and a clearing in the garden for a training ground. It amounted to a third of the vast Marquis mansion. The knights who heard Kay’s report of the spoils upon his return raised their fists together in cheer.

“Yesss!”

Arthur grinned.

“Has everyone had dinner? My wife and I got interrupted and haven’t eaten yet.”

The knights grinned back.

“We haven’t either.”

They headed down to the Empire’s most luxurious dinner hall. Arthur seated Reina and Lionel to his left and right, paying special attention to Lionel. At first, Reina felt awkward—why am I here?—but soon she was laughing along with them. * * * The appointments with eagerly lining merchant guild leaders hadn’t been canceled yet. But the appointments with the most noble, influential aristocrats who prized ‘honor’ began to be canceled one by one. The merchants outwardly agreed readily, but as the nobles pulled back to observe the situation, their attitudes cooled. When pushing talks to the main point, they all stepped back a pace, saying, ‘It’s a good day and we’re here to celebrate, so let’s keep it light and fun—complicated matters can wait.’ They left themselves escape routes. The lavish offers and extravagant gifts bundled with no-strings-attached gentlemanly overtures came to an abrupt halt. Some gifts even arrived halfway, only to be whisked away with claims of misdelivery.

“…….”

The shrewd Julius instincts sent a warning. Even the already-scheduled merchant talks changing tune was only a matter of time. This wouldn’t do. The Marquis, eyes bloodshot, summoned the head butler.

“Jim.”

“Yes, master.”

“Go to Arthur and…….”

The Marquis hesitated long before saying,

“……tell him I came to schedule an appointment. ……That I’ll visit at whatever time he wants.”