Chapter 14

I managed to get through the unannounced home visit by the final boss, but it left me with a great mental burden.

He got in his carriage in a good mood, smiled at me and said, ‘I’ll see you again soon.’ I vaguely smiled back at him, thinking that he wasn’t really kidding. Then, I saw the carriage off until it was out of sight and suddenly dropped my shoulders. I somehow wondered why all these events that were mentally stressful overlapped with each other.

“You’ve worked hard, my lord.”

I was cracking my neck, stiff from being used as a footrest when Karl, who also saw Eberhardt off, called out to me.

Why, you.

I glared at him with a bit of resentment, but Karl seemed like he had no idea why he was being glared at, and parried it with a composed face, as if to say, ‘Is something wrong?’

…Well, I was probably just taking it out on him. If I had been a bit calmer, I wouldn’t have missed the luxurious carriage parked beside the estate. And, in the first place, Karl had tried to inform me of the guest’s presence. It was all my fault for shaking it all off. It would be effeminate or cowardly to blame it on someone else… Haa. I had come to self-loathing after feeling remorse.

I pressed down my temple to prohibit the negative thoughts that had begun to gather. Not good, not good. Eberhardt’s arrival had given me one more thing to think about, but no matter what I do, I must have a straight mind. Otherwise, I’d burst. If that were the case, then.

I turned my body around and informed Karl where I was going.

“I’m going to the garden.”

Karl wasn’t in the least bit disturbed by my words even without context. He took my words easily and responded.

“Yes. However, it seems that the head knight is missing. I have confirmed that he has returned a while ago, but did he not accompany you?”

…I didn’t want to hear that name if possible. I felt like my newly born dark history had been dug out. There was just no way I’d be so thick-skinned to the point that I’d say, ‘Hey, walk with me.’ without batting an eyelash, not only right after I had put something so wretched into play, but also… just right after letting him see that.

Nonetheless, I couldn’t tell Karl what was going on, so I feigned ignorance.

“…Well, who knows. I haven’t seen him.”

“Shall I go get him?”

He was really still concerned about my safety. I thought it was fine since it wasn’t very often that we experience irregularities like we did with Carlos, but I suppose he couldn’t help but say it just in case as a butler.

By the way, for a guy who was so concerned about things like this, he’d never ask me if I wanted him to go with me instead. But he had been doing other jobs perfectly, and I didn’t particularly want him to do it, so it was all good.

I waved my hand and declined.

“It’s too much trouble. I don’t need any other escorts too, so there’s no need for you to do anything else.”

“…As you wish.”

In the end, Karl was still the same perfect butler today, never disobeying my words and always following my orders.

◆◇◆

I finally found my way to the section lined with rose hedges and took a deep breath.

It was a routine I did whenever I visited here. The scent of roses filled my chest and made me feel a bit calmer. …This time, though, things were in a serious situation, so I wasn’t in a completely bright mood.

While gazing at the roses, I recalled the shocking words Eberhardt declared just before leaving the room. I wasn’t talking about that kind of vicious obsession with chaining or not letting me get away; no, I was talking about the circumstance that would lead to it.

My engagement to Eberhardt’s distant relative. ‘By the end of the year, you will truly belong to me.’

…How could I forget these things? I thought to myself. I should’ve been pretty shocked when Craig first told me about it.

Perhaps, a possible reason for this could be the extreme lack of interest in Heinreid’s memory or something. There was certainly a hidden existence of it at the end of the playing cards, but there was no opportunity to take it out at all. It seemed as if it was buried within the atrocious memories, since I use ninety percent of it when acting as Heinreid. …Was he planning to treat her as a trophy wife? Even if she was a relative of the king? What a hell of a nerve he has.

Also, it might’ve been decisive that the priority was somehow lowered in regarding my affairs at first. Eberhardt had mentioned that it’d be by the end of the year, but perhaps, if the development would proceed smoothly according to the novel, neither I nor Eberhardt would still be alive by then. The rebellion would be done, and the story should end nicely with Sieg’s victory. That being the case, I wondered if… it would be better just to leave it alone rather than to bother with it.

Once I remembered it, I still thought it was a good thing to just leave it alone… But honestly, I had a little bit of free time from here on out. After all, I had already finished writing all the letters for the release of the hostages, and also confronted Sieg. But I thought it would still take some time for Sieg to join forces with the town heads of various places. To begin with, he’d have to heal the wounds inflicted on him today at the Kisch family house, then I’d have to return the hostages a little later.

Nevertheless, it was also difficult to resolve these tax-related issues right now. Not all the money collected here would go into Heinreid’s pocket, but also to the King’s. If I lowered the tax rate, I’ll be immediately discovered.

Even though I had successfully deflected, if I did that right after sowing some seeds of distrust by Elmer’s case, then there was a possibility that I’d get another sudden home visit. It was entirely possible that Eberhardt himself would not only whip me for giving too much sweets or something to the people, but also severely trample over this land.

In that case… I had an open hand, so it may be a good idea to organize information on cases that had been lowered in priority. Heinreid’s memories were still vague and unreliable. Maybe I should ask Karl to bring me the documents relating to the engagement later.

But still, an engagement… marriage, huh? I never thought about it in my previous life. My work was simply hard, but I think I simply wasn’t interested in it. It wasn’t as if there weren’t people my age of the opposite gender, but I still didn’t see them that way. Perhaps it was because I hadn’t had a decent relationship when I was a student, or my sexuality was quite distorted, or I was biased in my preferences for women. The women I somehow liked were usually older, and it seemed that they had no desire to get married… They were all free-spirited who were independent and lived their own lives as they pleased. I guess one’s first was the most important thing in those kinds of things… It was something I couldn’t help but think about now, though.

I was thinking about the past when I heard someone’s footsteps approaching.

…Is it the gardener? No, he’s not supposed to be working at this hour. I didn’t particularly forbid anyone to go in and out of this garden, but it seems that everyone avoids the garden of their atrocious lord, and the general servants don’t come in either. If that’s the case, then is it a guard on patrol? Woah, I’m going to scare the crap out of them when we run into each other…

My prediction, however, wasn’t necessarily wrong. The one who got surprised wasn’t the person who showed up, rather it was me, who recognized their figure.

“…Craig.”

It was the head knight of the guards, the one who always accompanied me on my walks here, who emerged from the hedges.

…But, why? I told Karl that I didn’t need him to come over, didn’t I? I don’t think he’d go against Heinreid’s word right now… In that case, it means Craig came here looking for me personally. I think right now is the time when I don’t want us to see each other the most.

It was definitely awkward, and I didn’t have the courage to look at him in the face, so I quickly averted my eyes and turned towards the roses.

“You’re here. I was told you had a visitor.”

“…He just left a short while ago.”

I see. So, he saw the carriage that was originally parked in the estate and… tried to eavesdrop on a secret conversation between Eberhardt and Heinreid, for a lack of a better word. And as a result, he ended up having to see that thing.

It’s just one thing after another for you, Craig… I won’t complain anymore, no matter how painfully you let me be killed.

“Did you come all the way here looking for me? I didn’t call for you, so you may return if you want.”

If Eberhardt wasn’t here, then Craig would’ve gone on a fool’s errand. It wasn’t necessary for him to be in here if he didn’t have any business with me.

However, Craig didn’t show any signs of leaving.

“…It is my duty to ‘protect my master no matter what’.”

…It was a strong irony. If you’d take it at face value, it’d be a line of a loyal subordinate, but Craig’s real master was Sieg. It was easy to see that he had plenty of meaning behind it, blaming me for making him hurt that person. Well, it was just a natural response.

The accusatory tone in his voice punctured my conscience, but if I apologized to him now, it would sound like sarcasm. I was sorry that I couldn’t do anything other than accept it.

“I see. Well then, suit yourself.”

I said, unable to make eye contact with Craig.

“…”

“…”

I said it was fine, however, I could feel a terrible gaze on my back…!

No, I told him to suit himself, but still. I know I deserved to be stared at, but still. This was… troublesome for the receiving side. If I were being watched, I should just accept it, but after showing my disgraceful behavior… I, too, would feel some shame.

I mean, how long is this going to last? How much longer do I have to wait until it’s all right? There’s no clock in here, so there’s no way of knowing how time is progressing. There’s nothing but roses in here. But right now, I can’t smell the roses because I’m so worried about his gaze that feels like it’s burning a hole right through me.

I completely missed the timing of returning to the mansion and a cold sweat broke out on my forehead.

Someone… Anyone, please do something about this atmosphere!

I didn’t know if my wishes had been answered.

But a strong wind suddenly blew through the space where time seemed to have stopped.

It was a stronger gust of wind than when I first woke up as Heinreid and came here.

“…!”

Although the garden was well maintained, there was of course invisible dust. It swept into my eyes and I closed my eyes to the stringing pain. After the gust subsided, I was blinking my eyes to remove the foreign object when Craig broke the silence and called out to me.

“My lord, there’s a petal in your hair.”

“Huh?”

The petals scattered by the wind had apparently stuck to my head. He hurriedly put his hand to my head, but the moment his fingertips touched the petal, it fluttered off. But it didn’t appear to have fallen to the ground.

I wondered where it had stuck this time, when a shadow suddenly appeared.

“…Pardon my rudeness.”

It was because a man taller than me had closed the distance in front of me. Craig just went on and placed his hand behind my neck. I flinched when a large hand grazed [/touched] the nape of my neck a little, but the next moment, the red petal was in Craig’s hand.

“Th…ank you…”

Before long, I lifted my eyes and thanked him. When I looked at him, Craig no longer had the same eyes full of hatred as when we were at the Pieira River.

Instead… he had a quite strange look on his face that I didn’t understand. Emerald eyes, observing my being, as though trying to probe for something.

“Craig?”

“No… It’s nothing.”

He said, but he unusually didn’t take his eyes off me nor did he leave.

I didn’t know what to say in this difficult situation, so I ended up staying in the same position until Craig voluntarily distanced himself from me.