Chapter 207 - Episode 200: Subordinates ③
"Dear~, I'm home~"
"Oh, welcome back."
It was a certain night in the latter half of January, when the end of winter was gradually coming into view. Pence, a retainer, greeted his wife Rosetta, who announced her return in her usual relaxed tone, while offering words of appreciation.
In Rosetta's hand hung a bag containing a small pot and bread. It was likely the family's dinner for tonight. Furthermore, their first child, their eldest son Nikolai, was being carried on her back.
Rosetta had shown her face at the mansion to provide cooking instruction half a month after giving birth, and once Nikolai had passed his first six months, she had returned to work completely. It seemed that while she was working, she had the maids who were free look after Nikolai.
"Paaa~"
"Hahaha, did you want to see your daddy? Nikolai."
Smiling back at his son who showed him a grin, Pence took Nikolai from Rosetta's back and held him. Nikolai, finding something amusing, patted his father's face with small hands and frolicked with giggles.
"I made stew today~. It's packed with Gluttony Rabbit meat~"
"Oh, nice. Your stew is my favorite... well, everything Rosetta makes is delicious."
"Ufufu~, that's the greatest reward for a cook~"
Before becoming refugees, Rosetta's parents had apparently run a restaurant in a certain town. Having been taught by them, Rosetta was also skilled at cooking, and she was now the head chef of the lord's household.
The lord's family reportedly always had dinner shortly before the sun set, and Rosetta would return home after finishing the preparation of that dinner, as well as the dinner for the live-in servants and retainers. At that time, she was permitted to bring home portions for herself and her family from the servants' dinner, which she made in excess.
While Rosetta reheated the stew, Pence laid Nikolai in the baby bed, sliced the bread, and poured the wine. Having quickly finished the dinner preparations, the couple sat at the table.
"...Recently, how has Clara-sama been? And the relationship between Noein-sama and the other two?"
While eating, Pence asked his wife about the current state of the lord's family as part of their small talk. Although he was the Guard Captain, he often moved busily throughout the territory due to the current manpower shortage, making Rosetta a valuable source of information for knowing the situation of the lord's house.
Because his wife was a servant of the mansion, Pence himself was often asked similar things by other retainers.
The current concern of the vassals was the health of the lord's wife and the heir in her womb, as well as the internal stability of the lord's household.
"Judging by her appetite, Clara-sama is doing well~. Her marital relationship with Noein-sama is good, and Clara-sama and Matilda-san remain on good terms, so there is nothing to worry about~"
"...I see, then it's fine."
"Fufufu, are you still concerned after all~?"
"Of course. Not to exaggerate, but the future of the lord's house depends on it."
In the Kingdom of Lordberg, basically, the higher the social status, the later one married and had children. While some slaves had children before reaching adulthood, and many commoners married in their teens, many nobles did not marry until their twenties.
That was why Noein and Clara had enjoyed their newlywed life during their teens, but after experiencing the immediate crisis of the Battle of Bezel, they finally moved to leave an heir. As a vassal, this was a joyful thing.
However, now he had to worry about the internal stability of the lord's house. After all, Noein's relationships with women were somewhat special. With Clara's pregnancy as a catalyst, it would not be funny if a crack were to form in the relationship between Noein, Matilda, and Clara. He believed it would be fine, but confirmation was necessary.
"...Sorry for asking the same thing so many times."
"No~, I'm happy if I can be of help to you this much~"
Since Clara's pregnancy had been announced to the retainers, Pence had asked these things several times. He was simply grateful to Rosetta, who understood that this was part of her husband's job and answered politely every time.
The couple's dinner continued harmoniously after that.
.....
"—Then, the planting amount for soybeans and sugar beets from this spring is decided with this."
"Yes, thank you as always, Edgar-san."
"This is my duty. Christy, you're the one who helps me by summarizing your thoughts concretely before the discussion."
At a meeting seat set up at the edge of the civil servants' office in the mansion, retainer Edgar and Christy smoothly concluded their discussion.
The content was regarding the production volume of soybeans and sugar beets, which were important cash crops. Edgar, who supervised the farmers, and Christy, who was the management head for oil and sugar production, often discussed cash crops in this manner.
"...Um, Edgar-san. I have a bit of a consultation, or rather, something I'd like you to listen to personally."
When Christy brought this up, Edgar raised an eyebrow slightly. They always had a bit of small talk after their discussions, but this was the first time she had said she had something she seriously wanted to consult about.
"Hm, I see... If I can be of help, I'd be happy to listen."
"Thank you... Um, it's about marriage, or rather..."
When Edgar responded, Christy spoke while lowering her voice. There were no other civil servants nearby, so there was likely no worry of being overheard.
"Marriage? Did you find someone you've decided on?"
"Ah, no, it's not like that... or rather, I haven't even spoken to the person, and in the first place, I don't know what I should do..."
Even as Edgar asked, Christy repeated vague words.
"Christy, why don't you calm down first? You can speak slowly."
"S-sorry... Um, I thought I should start looking for a marriage partner soon, and there is a suitable person close by..."
"A suitable person... Ah, Damian."
"No, um... Y-yes, that's right."
When Edgar said it bluntly, Christy, perhaps thinking it was too late now, admitted it readily.
"But, how should I put it, I wonder if it's right to choose someone just because they are nearby when I'm of marriageable age..."
Edgar vaguely sensed the reason why Christy had chosen him as her consultant. He was a man of the same generation as Damian, and furthermore, he was married. He was quite suitable as a marriage advisor.
"I see... What do you yourself think of Damian? Do you think it would be okay to become husband and wife?"
"Hmm... I don't dislike him. That person is always like that, but if you change your perspective, you could say he's pure and honest. He's a person with a drastic difference between what he can and cannot do, so I thought that if I helped him, he might find it easier to live..."
In exchange for his talent as a craftsman, Damian's social life skills had collapsed. Christy also had a tendency to become too absorbed in work if she let her guard down, but she was a person of common sense incomparable to Damian. Edgar agreed with what she said.
"However... in the first place, that person doesn't seem to have any desires as a man, and I wonder if I could actually be happy as a woman with him..."
Edgar gave a wry smile to Christy, who spoke while fidgeting with the fingers of both hands.
"Well, I understand the feeling. Damian is... unique."
"Or rather, he's an eccentric. He might be a paper's breadth away from being a madman."
"Hahaha, no doubt. Then, if there's any advice I can give... if you're worrying that much, I think it might be okay to leave the resolution to time?"
"Time...?"
"Yes. You've only just entered your twenties. Damian is over thirty, but even considering making children, it doesn't matter much if the man is slightly older. So I think you don't have to force a conclusion right now... The Arqvist territory is currently in a period of development, and we retainers are busy too. Why not devote yourself to work for a while and take your time to face your own feelings?"
When Edgar spoke, Christy had a face as if she were thinking about the meaning of the advice for a moment... and then it changed to an expression that looked somewhat relieved.
"...You're right. I'll do that. Thank you, Edgar-san."
She had likely been overthinking out of impatience. Having realized she could postpone the conclusion, it seemed a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
"I can only say this much, but I'm glad if you feel easier... Well then, shall we return to our own work?"
"Yes, see you later."
.....
The habit of regular meetings by the lord and the executive staff of the Arqvist territory continued even now, in the year 217 of the Royal Calendar.
Now that the number of retainers had increased, the meetings had become quite large-scale; only the captain Gustav attended as the representative from the Claymore, Kimberly, the steward, attended despite not being a retainer, and depending on the case, influential merchants, craftsmen, or representatives of the farmers in the territory were called, and the nature of the meetings changed slightly along with the development of the territory.
One day in late February. The peaceful winter regular meeting ended simply and adjourned without any particularly major reports.
The attendees who had urgent work left the meeting room in haste, while those whose schedules were not full enjoyed small talk for a while.
Amidst this, Konrad, the dialogue mage, who had temporarily returned to the territorial capital Noeina from the front-line base and thus likely had no urgent work, left the room as if running.
"...He's probably going to see that childhood friend girl. It's youth, isn't it. Being young is nice."
Watching Konrad's figure leave with a smile and speaking with old-man-like lines, the one who approached the nearby retainers—Yuri, Bart, and Rick—was Lord Noein.
Since the lady of the house, Clara, was in full bloom with conversation with the female retainers such as Mai, Anna, and Christy, only Matilda was by Noein's side now.
"From our perspective, Noein-sama is still sufficiently young, though."
Yuri answered, speaking for the feelings of the other two as well. From their view, Noein was not yet at an age to envy the youth of others.
"Looking at Konrad makes me remember when I was about twelve and feel nostalgic. We were more innocent than we are now back then, weren't we? We were experiencing youth, weren't we, Matilda?"
"Yes, Noein-sama."
Hearing the words of the lord and his adjutant-slash-lover, Yuri and the other two felt a sense of incongruity.
"...Noein-sama, when you were twelve, were you, um, in a romantic relationship with Matilda?"
The one who asked in a hesitant manner was Bart.
"That's right. I met Matilda at nine, and we spent every day together... I think it took less than two years before she stopped being just a caretaker."
"Uh... isn't that problematic in various ways?"
Replacing Bart, who looked shocked by Noein's statement, Rick asked this time.
Noein, who had captured a woman's heart at around ten years old, was extraordinary, but the problem was the partner, Matilda.
They had heard that there was a six-year difference between Noein and Matilda. When Noein was still around ten, Matilda should have already been an adult. An adult servant in such a relationship with a master who was still just a boy. By the values of the Kingdom of Lordberg, it could be called a quite abnormal relationship.
"That said, I think it was when I was about twelve that we properly became a man and woman? You see, at first, I was still before various growths."
When Noein casually said something vivid, the three looked at Matilda with expressions of total recoil.
"Matilda, you..."
"Even with a twelve-year-old, that's quite..."
"Depending on the territory, isn't that normally a serious crime...?"
As Rick said last, engaging in obscene acts with a child who had not even reached the age of thirteen for provisional adulthood, let alone fifteen for adulthood, was a crime for which fingers might be cut off depending on the severity of the lord.
Matilda, who was aware that her relationship with Noein at that time deviated from the kingdom's morals, wondered how to answer while being recoiled from by the three, and
"...So what?"
She decided to be defiant. She looked back at Yuri and the others with a puzzled expression, as if she didn't understand what they were viewing as a problem.
Now, Noein was a lord and noble, and here, what Noein said and did was the rule. Since Noein did not consider it a problem, she wore a face that said what was wrong with having a past of sharing skin with him when he was still around twelve...
"""..."""
"Ahaha, as expected of Matilda. That's my beloved Matilda."
Ignoring the fact that Yuri and the other two had fallen silent, Noein let out a lighthearted laugh.
Since there was no rebuttal, it was her victory. It was the victory of the love between her and her master, without a doubt... Matilda triumphed inwardly.
Since it seems the Tokugawa Shoguns of various generations also received education (practical training) toward making heirs from around eight years old, Noein is safe...
By the way, we've finally reached episode 200. Thank you for always reading!
The winter daily life arc is over, and from episode 201, it's a new development again.