Ch#44
The Capital (3)
An awkward silence hung over the breakfast table.
Elric stole glances at Tiria with a disgruntled expression.
How could someone with such severe sleeping habits be so completely unaware of them?
To go as far as shifting the blame onto him was truly too much.
He tried to convey his indignation through his eyes, but it seemed they weren’t yet close enough for such silent communication to work.
Tiria remained unperturbed, maintaining her characteristic expressionless face as she leisurely… no, she finished her meal a bit faster than usual.
“I will go prepare to head out. You should get ready as well, Head of the family.”
“……Understood.”
With that, he returned to his room and changed into outdoor clothes.
Elric, who came out dressed in a roughly fitted ready-made suit, had to wait about twenty minutes before he saw her.
He was slightly surprised.
“You are dressed quite lightly.”
“Is there any reason to be excessive?”
She wore a coat over a gray day dress, with a fur cloak draped over that.
It was attire suited for a winter outing, but to put it another way, it lacked the conspicuous luxury typical of the nobility.
Today’s destination was a tailor shop specializing in evening wear, located on the street where the most flamboyant nobles of the royal capital gathered.
As far as Elric knew, when visiting such places, nobles dressed so magnificently it was as if they were competing to see who could be more gaudy. Despite being second to none in her noble bearing, she showed a side different from other aristocrats in this regard, which felt quite fresh to him.
“Splendor is for banquets. No, even there, it is better to avoid being too flashy. It can be perceived as an excess that does not suit one’s station.”
“The beauty of moderation, so to speak.”
“That is an apt expression.”
Elric nodded and then briefly scanned his surroundings.
He was looking for Aldio, but for some reason, the butler was nowhere to be seen.
“What are you looking for?”
“I don’t see Aldio. I intended to at least tell him we were leaving.”
“Ah, I instructed him to go arrange for a new bed. I happened to have a letter to send regarding that as well.”
Ah, right.
Seeing the broken bed, Elric remembered how furious she had been the day before.
“……I see. Then let us go ourselves.”
“Yes.”
The two of them left the mansion together.
In the royal capital of Ferdin, there was a street specifically for the nobility.
Commonly referred to as 1st Avenue, it was a place where the estates of the capital’s most influential nobles were concentrated, and the commercial district had developed accordingly to serve them.
In the middle of the grand avenue, a line of glittering carriages raced past.
On the sidewalks to either side, people who looked like nobles at a glance moved with the assistance of servants, while elsewhere, those who appeared to be estate managers hurried back and forth busy with errands.
There was a certain vitality to it.
And the awkwardness that arose was, as expected, due to the gap between the lives of the Western nobles Elric knew and the lives of these people.
‘Everyone looks so peaceful.’
One could tell at a glance from the leisure in their expressions that they lived quite tranquil lives.
When he sharpened his senses, he could occasionally hear snippets of their conversations.
“I must make an acquaintance with Count Nimrud at this banquet. Did you investigate his tastes?”
“It’s our daughter’s debutante ball. There must not be a single mistake.”
“I’m going to spend time alone with the Gillian young master at this banquet! So you must bring the robe exactly on time, alright?”
These were the conversations of people living in an era of peace.
The West was not like this.
There, no matter where you went, there were only voices discussing the state of the war with grave expressions.
“We should enter here.”
“Ah, we’ve arrived already.”
While he was lost in thought, Tiria led Elric to a tailor shop nestled quietly in a somewhat secluded spot.
“Oh, it has a nice atmosphere.”
The clothes worn by the mannequins visible through the window were very clean and elegant.
Of course, Elric’s preference leaned toward hanging various decorations or chains on himself, but if he wore something like that to a banquet, wouldn’t he just become a laughingstock?
In terms of noble elegance, it passed with flying colors.
“They specialize in men’s clothing. The former head of the family used to frequent this place whenever he attended a banquet.”
He couldn’t help but flinch momentarily at the mention of his father.
He really needed to get used to things like this.
Elric felt strangely self-conscious.
‘……Anyway, it means this place has a guaranteed reputation.’
Emotions aside, if it was his father’s taste, it was certain to be a style favored by the public.
Elric followed her into the tailor shop.
“Welcome—ah, Baroness Portman!”
“It has been a while.”
A stout madam welcomed Tiria.
Then, she cast her gaze toward Elric.
“And this gentleman is……”
“The head of the family.”
“Oh!”
Astonishment began to spread across her face.
Elric gave an awkward smile.
‘Right, there’s no way the rumors haven’t spread.’
If not as the Sword Demon Kasha, then the rumors of the runaway prodigal son Elric Portman must have spread quite widely within Ferdin.
Aren’t nobles, after all, a lot that can never give up their habit of gossiping about others?
How much must the family affairs of the Portmans, who had only recently joined the nobility, have entertained them?
He felt embarrassed, but he couldn’t let it show.
Whatever it was, it was a reputation he had brought upon himself, so he had no choice but to face it.
Elric reached out his hand for a handshake.
“I’ve heard much about you. I came to get clothes for a banquet today, and seeing the entrance, I can tell your skills are trustworthy.”
The conversational technique of flattering the opponent was something he had learned from Elbus Graham.
Fortunately, the madam took the compliment with great pleasure and flashed a smile.
“Oh my! You flatter me.”
Her lighthearted laughter rang out.
The madam’s personality was becoming quite clear.
“Let’s see now……”
The madam’s eyes scanned Elric from head to toe.
However, as she did, a look of trouble began to surface on her face.
Tiria asked curiously, “Is something the matter?”
“……His physique is quite large.”
“Is that a problem?”
“It seems the ready-made clothes won’t do.”
Elric broke into a cold sweat at those words.
It was an expected crisis.
To begin with, his was a body that had rolled through battlefields for years.
Furthermore, as he mastered the sword arts, his killing intent and mana had even twisted and expanded his skeletal structure, so there was no way Elric’s frame could be the same as the Eastern nobles who lived in peace.
Even just stepping out onto the street, Elric was about a head taller than everyone else.
Recalling the measurements he’d taken with Elbus Graham’s help when attending a banquet in the Empire, Elric said, “I recall my height was around 184cm. As for the other parts……”
“No. No.”
“Hmm?”
“I’ll have to measure you myself. It would be troublesome if the figures you remember are different.”
A light flickered in the madam’s eyes.
It was an eye filled with a strange passion.
One might call it the spirit of a craftswoman.
Elric looked at Tiria.
Tiria nodded and said, “Go and get measured. This is our only morning appointment anyway, so you can take your time.”
She sat down on the sofa.
Elric was a bit troubled.
‘Hmm…….’
He didn’t enjoy showing his body to others.
No, to be precise.
‘I hope this madam isn’t a blabbermouth.’
Showing this body to someone else as Elric Portman was……
Quite problematic.
Seri, the madam of the tailor shop, led Elric into the workshop.
“You can stand here. Ah, could you please remove your top? It’s difficult to take accurate measurements otherwise.”
There was a bit of an excuse mixed in her words.
Seri’s true motive lay in her professional curiosity and passion.
‘It’s beautiful!’
She wasn’t talking about his face.
The body of the prodigal son known as Elric Portman possessed the most ideal skeletal structure Seri could imagine.
It was a body that sparked inspiration even through his clothes.
She wanted to see it uncovered.
Seri could not escape the desire to clearly see the shape of the muscles carved onto that frame.
Her eyes becoming glazed with greed was unavoidable.
Elric seemed a bit intimidated by it, but Seri had no way of knowing.
“That……”
“Yes?”
“……Can you promise me one thing first?”
At those words, Seri looked up.
Elric said with a bashful, awkward smile, “I would prefer it if no rumors about my body got out. I don’t think I would be pleased if you spoke of it to others.”
What kind of embarrassing secret could he possibly have to say such a thing already?
But to her, it was almost laughable.
“I’m not bold enough to go around talking about the private matters of the nobility. If I were, I wouldn’t have been able to do this job for thirty years.”
Does he not know this because he hasn’t lived as a noble?
When Seri spoke, only then did Elric look relieved and slowly began to unbutton his shirt.
Gulp. Seri swallowed hard.
As his coat disappeared and his tie was loosened, she felt strangely flushed; and when the buttons of his dress shirt began to come undone, the fleeting glimpses of muscle lines felt like fireworks going off in her head.
And then,
“……Huh?”
The moment she saw his body once the shirt was removed, Seri froze solid.
“I ask once again for your confidentiality.”
A thought suddenly occurred to her.
‘Was he tortured……?’
Elric’s body was covered in horrific scars.
With her imagination, it was at a level where she couldn’t understand how he was even alive with such wounds.
Seri was suddenly struck with fear.
Because his body so vividly showed that he had lived an extraordinary life.
Her instinct spoke to her.
‘I-if this ever gets out…….’
Would Elric Portman tear her throat out?
Seri’s fingertips began to tremble violently.
The Wife Waited in the Wheat Field (Serial)
