22 — His Return Home

22 — His Return Home

Yesterday we finished all of our work in preparation for Mr. Fisalis’s homecoming. So all that was left for the day was to double-check everything.

“Mr. Fisalis’ room, check.”

“Buffet ready to go in the kitchen, check.”

“Alcohol and snacks restocked, check.”

We can’t afford to overlook anything, so I’m saying everything out loud as I go along! Then again, I’m pretty sure the word ‘overlook’ simply doesn’t exist in our servants’ vocabularies. This is mostly to make myself feel better.

I went along, checking things off my list, making sure that we’d be ready for Mr. Fisalis to come back in any manner or mood imaginable.

We’ll be ready for anything he can throw at us!

“He can come home at any time now!”

The preparations to welcome Mr. Fisalis home were complete. Since we were currently in In-Law Shift, meaning I was unable to wander around in my maid uniform, I had been cleaning in some of my regular clothes, so I changed into something a little nicer. I had Dahlia fix my makeup, and I braided my hair. My transformation was complete—I was all ready, too.

“There. All primped and prepped.”

“The only question is when Mr. Fisalis will come back.”

“That’s difficult to say, indeed.”

“Yeahhh. Now that everything’s done, I guess I’ll just wait for him in the salon. There’s no point in running around.”

“Yes, Madam.”

It was already well into the afternoon. I really couldn’t say when he’d be back, but it seemed too early yet, so I followed Dahlia to the salon.

When I got to the salon, I found I wasn’t alone.

“Oh, hello, Vi. We thought we’d wait here, too,” said my mother-in-law from where she was elegantly sipping some tea on a sofa with my father-in-law.

You’re a little early! ...ahem. Um, phew, okay. I’m fine now.

Look at this wonderful display of parental love! They were waiting in anticipation of their darling (?) son’s return from war!

According to what I heard from Dahlia earlier, back when Mr. Fisalis just let himself go completely off the rails... ahem, I mean, when he let his mistress wrap him around her finger... er, I mean, Mr. Fisalis’ parents were overly strict with him when he was a child, so he grew up never knowing affection or what it was like to be doted on. But I never got that impression from his parents myself. They’re always smiling, and they don’t mind at all that I like to garden. I can’t imagine them ever being cruel. Now’s not the time to be thinking about that, though.

They certainly appear as if they care about him, excitedly waiting here for him to come home from the battleground. It sure seems that way to me, at least.

Then again, Mr. Fisalis was sort of going through a rebellious phase back then, albeit a late one. He was acting out just to upset his parents, so that probably only made things worse. And boy, he didn’t hold back when he misbehaved, either—getting the whole manor and even my own family involved. If he were my brother, Mother would’ve sent the little brat to bed without dinner, but not before she got an apology! She’s terrifying when she’s angry.

Ehh, I’ll leave my own family out of this.

“Don’t just stand there, Viola—come and have some tea,” I heard Lord Fisalis say, forcing me to return to reality from my thoughts of parental love and post-teenage rebellious phases.

Well, that was... illuminating.

Approaching my in-laws canoodling on the sofa, I took a seat in an armchair, being careful not to wrinkle my dress. According to my maids’ instructions—which I really didn’t understand—I should ‘dress especially cute because Master is finally coming home!’ so obviously that meant the only option was to wear a light, airy dress with extra tailoring around the waist that made for a voluminous, flattering silhouette. And yet, although the goal was to make me more adorable than usual, they strangely also dressed me in petticoats to hide my movements.

So now I need to be extra cautious, even though I’m basically wearing regular clothes. It’s probably my fault for not being used to petticoats yet.

In the time it took me to straighten my skirt, the maid had brewed my tea.

“Goodness, I wonder when he’ll be back. It seems like he was back from his last business trip much sooner,” Lord Fisalis suddenly said with a smile, staring through the doorway to the entrance.

Little did he know, Mr. Fisalis returned home so quickly last time because he skipped the banquet. Naturally, I did not voice that little factoid out loud and merely blew on my tea to cool it down. I did my best to be careful as I lifted my cup and saucer to my mouth; it would have been a terrible time to make a mess. Steady... Steady...

...But wait. How did Lord Fisalis know that Mr. Fisalis came home earlier last time? He and Lady Fisalis were away in the countryside then! That must mean...

I stared at Rohtas, who in turn, refused to meet my gaze. Culprit apprehended.

Well, now that I know who the culprit was, mystery solved.

I felt my face begin to turn red as my father-in-law grinned at me knowingly.

“Er, you see, Mr. Fisalis and all of his subordinates were positively exhausted, so the banquet was actually postponed. They were very, verrrry tired!” I tried to explain, making sure to emphasize how worn out they had been. Yes, so exhausted that they didn’t even get out of bed the next morning. It was very sad. And when they did finally get up, I could tell they were only putting on tough faces. Why are you looking at me like that? That’s really how it happened!

My mother-in-law, however, did not seem to buy it.

“Tee hee. I’m sure they were. They must have felt much better then when they saw you. If they were so exhausted that they could barely move after a two-week business trip, I can’t imagine how they’re going to feel after a two-month one! All their letters did say they wanted to come home as soon as they could, though...” she said with a pleasant expression as she watched me sweat bullets.

She’s teasing me, isn’t she? Regardless, the servants and I have anticipated three possible outcomes, and boycotting the banquet is still the number one contender.

It eventually approached the time when we expected Mr. Fisalis to come home, assuming he was following the pattern we thought he would.

As we were drinking our tea, waiting for him, a maid came into the room and announced, “There is a royal envoy at the entrance.”

“An envoy, you say?” Rohtas questioned as his eyebrows rose up his forehead.

“Yes,” the maid replied, her own eyebrows tilting down in a confused frown.

“I see. Please pardon me for a moment,” Rohtas said before excusing himself from the salon with a bow.

“A royal envoy?” Lady Fisalis cocked her head.

“If Mr. Fisalis is soon to arrive, shouldn’t we be getting an announcement of that, not a royal envoy?” I asked, cocking my head, too, as I looked at the door where Rohtas had exited. Royal envoys usually brought messages from the Royal Palace and His Majesty the king (such as royal rescripts and orders). What should have arrived before Mr. Fisalis was due home was simply an advance messenger.

So sure was I that Mr. Fisalis would skip the banquet and come straight home, I hadn’t considered the possibility of a royal envoy.

“Perhaps something has happened,” suggested Lord Fisalis.

As we all whispered amongst ourselves about what the arrival of a royal envoy could mean, the door to the salon opened a second time and Rohtas came back in from listening to the envoy. He gave us a slightly grim smile as we stared at him keenly, waiting for him to tell us what the envoy said.

“Master and the special division have returned to the capital safely and are presently at the Royal Palace. He will be attending the banquet this evening, and so will be returning home rather late,” Rohtas informed us matter-of-factly.

“Huh?”

“Eh?”

“WHAT?”

It wasn’t like we planned to or anything, but the three of us all reacted in basically the same way. That was its own surprise. I was the one who was extra shocked there at the end.

Please pretend you didn’t read that.

“He’s staying for the banquet...!”

“I can’t believe it!”

“Mr. Fisalis is actually going to participate in a work event like a mature adult...”

“Well, that’s the obvious thing to do, of course, but then again, this is him we’re talking about...” my father-in-law correctly pointed out.

“Goodness me, Madam! You’ve spilled tea on your dress!”

“Oh no! Vi!”

“What? You’re kidd— Noooo!”

“Oh nooo, Viiii!”

“A towel, quick! And something to cool her down!”

In my shock, I’d completely emptied the contents of my cup all over my skirt.

Wh-What’s going on? I’m all confused and there’s something warm on me.

My in-laws descended into panic off to my side over the piping hot tea I had spilled on myself; meanwhile I just stared blankly in confusion. Luckily for me, the voluminous dress I was wearing that day absorbed most of the tea, so only a small amount actually made it onto my legs. The hot liquid didn’t make direct contact with my skin thanks to the dress and the petticoats I was wearing, so I avoided being burned. I guess I wore the right thing at the right time after all! ...Granted, petticoats were probably never intended for burn prevention.

“I can feel something a little warm, but I’m wearing a petticoat under my dress today, so really, I’m fine! Ohhh, but I’ve gone and stained my clothes now...” I tried to reason amid the chaos, but my statement was lost among the ‘towel!’, ‘ice!’, ‘a change of clothes!’, and ‘now!’

“Never mind the stain, dear! Ah, here, dab at it! Rohtas, honey, please step out of the room for a second— I need to lift up her skirt!” Lady Fisalis said, thus banishing the men from the salon. It was the right choice, considering I spilled the tea on my lap, and it would have been embarrassing to have my skirt pulled up that high in their presence. Good thinking, Mother Fisalis!

We were quick in our response, so the area affected was only a bit red, rather than scalded. I started to blot at the stain on my soiled dress.

Wehhh, my dressssss.

My in-laws were visibly relieved when I told them I was okay after I came back from changing my clothes yet again. I thought they had overreacted a little bit, but I was grateful that they cared. How lucky I was to have such nice in-laws!

Now that the problem was solved and everyone had calmed down, Lord Fisalis commented, “Well, now that we know he’s staying for the banquet, presumably to the surprise of all, it sounds as if he won’t be coming home until quite late.”

“So it does,” Rohtas replied in agreement.

“Hmm. In that case, why don’t we all have dinner without him? It’s been some time, but you don’t mind us eating here, do you, Viola?” Lord Fisalis asked me.

“Why, of course!”

“And what shall we do afterward? Rather... what are you going to do, Vi?” Lady Fisalis then asked.

By ‘afterward,’ you mean, until Mr. Fisalis comes home, right? I’m no good at staying up late, but considering that this is the best possible outcome, I’m gonna give it a shot! I mean, my most important duty as a wife is to greet him when he comes home after finishing some very important work!

I’m sure some of the servants will still be awake (they always are!), so I can probably sit and chat with them in the servants’ dining room while I wait. Er, maybe it’s more like take a nap in the servants’ dining room while I wait.

“I’ll stay up and wait for him,” I told my mother-in-law. “Will you be going back to the cottage? I can call for you when Mr. Fisalis comes home.”

“No, we’ll wait here with you, too. We’re already here, after all. If we get tired, we’ll just take a nap. Or perhaps you have a guest room available?”

“Oh, of course! Feel free to use any of the available rooms!” Ohhh. Okay. You’ll wait here. They really do care about their son! It’s so wonderful to see the bond between child and parent in play!

There go my plans of waiting in the servants’ dining room if my in-laws are going to wait here, too, though. It was a nice plan while it lasted. Looks like I’ll be staying up with my in-laws in the salon instead. I’ll have to do my best to not lose consciousness!

We did not need to stay up too late, however, because Mr. Fisalis came home rather quickly. It was somewhat later than my usual bedtime, but there was still a significant amount of time before morning.

“I’m home! Finally! Ah, it’s so good to see you, Viola!”

We received a prior announcement, so Lord and Lady Fisalis, along with the servants, had been waiting by the door, but the first words out of Mr. Fisalis’ mouth when he came in were directed toward me, and came with a big hug.

“Oh, Viola. It’s really you. I’m home!”

“You’re... squishing me.” He hasn’t changed a bit—that is, he still doesn’t understand how strong he is! I can hear my spine cracking and warping under the force of his hug! Not to mention everyone is watching! Great, now he’s rubbing his cheek in my hair. Relax, please.

Did he even notice his parents and everyone else? Hey, look around you!

I had all the strength of a kitten batting at a piece of string compared to him, but that didn’t stop me from pounding against his arm in an attempt to persuade him to free me.

“We-Welcome home, Mr. Fisalis! I am very happy to see you are doing well, but you are suffocating me. Mr. Fisalis. Please let go. Please, it hurts.”

He gasped.

“Did someone hurt you?!”

“You. You are hurting me now.”

“Oh, me?”

After some gentle prodding, he loosened his grip lat last.

Ahhh. Just in the nick of time for my poor back.

I pushed again where he had loosened his grip and finally made some space between us. I tried to get away, but to no avail, because he simply grabbed me around my middle from behind, trapping me in his arms.

If my options are this or getting my back broken, I guess I’ll take this.

That didn’t stop me from trying to push his arms away with my own, though. When I finally made some leeway and looked up at him, he was peering at me with his dark brown eyes crinkled in joy. He didn’t have bags under his eyes or appear haggard—in fact, he was still as handsome as ever. His facial features perhaps looked ever so slightly sharper than before he had left for the campaign.

Despite having put on a rare serious expression when he had told me was going to leave, he’d seemed very eager and willing to go (and everyone else discouraged, for some reason), and then proceeded to send me all sorts of letters from the field that made me want to tear my hair out . Everything he had done up until and while he was away flashed through my mind.

His journey to the frontlines hasn’t changed him at all, and yet... he seems tougher, somehow. There’s a lot about him that I wish was different, but I’m definitely glad that he made it home safely.

I reached for his face, and gently stroked his cheek.

“Did you lose weight? You must have worked yourself to the bone.”

Mr. Fisalis’ eyes widened in surprise at my words of praise.

Oh no, did he not like that?

I went to draw my hand back when I saw his reaction, but he grabbed my hand with his own and pulled it back to his cheek. As I stood there, letting him rub my hand against his face, a wide grin soon appeared across his face.

“I really must have! But just having you stroke my face like this makes it feel like the exhaustion is melting away,” he boldly said.

Hold up. Check yourself, Viola. What the heck were you just doing?! I was totally touching his face! Of my own accord! And then I was cradling it! And stroking it! Gyaaah! I’m gonna die on the spot!

Suddenly getting a bad feeling, I nervously looked up at everyone else in the room. Sure enough, my in-laws and all of the servants were staring at us with looks of faint disgust and secondhand embarrassment.

Just as my own embarrassment felt like it was about to take a physical form and overflow from my body, out of nowhere Lord Fisalis said, in a mix of exasperation and ridicule, “Er, I’m sorry to interrupt your passionate reunion, but we’re all still here. Be more aware of your surroundings, Cercis. Save the romance for later.”

They must have been watching and hoping he’d remember they were there for a rather long time. Wish he would have interrupted sooner instead of just waiting.

“Oh, you’re here, Father. I’m finally home,” Mr. Fisalis said. The affectionate smile he had given me disappeared and was replaced with a look of indifference as he did so. I couldn’t help but notice the change.

“...Why, you! Is that any way to greet your parents?!” Lord Fisalis thoroughly scolded him.

“But I’m exhausted.”

“...It’s plain to see that the way you treat us is entirely different from how you treat Viola.”

“Well, naturally, yes,” Mr. Fisalis replied nonchalantly.

It was just like a scene from a comedy play, but then Lord Fisalis’ demeanor turned more pleasant. I could see it in his eyes that he was glad to see Mr. Fisalis walk through the door in one piece!

“I suppose being able to hold Viola like that does make you feel better...”

“Oh, no, we didn’t do all that much down there, we mostly just stood around. I’m not tired at all,” Mr. Fisalis said, hugging me again and nuzzling his face into the top of my head.

Although I was impressed by how much he seemed to have matured despite the arrogance, since he had decided to stay for the banquet at the Royal Palace, he was still his usual self after all. Yup, that’s just how he is.

So, although he was behaving contrary to everyone’s expectations, Mr. Fisalis made it home safe and sound.

Looks like my life with him is starting all over again. Back to living with the sappy man who wrote those tooth-rotting letters to me while he was away, I was thinking to myself, when:

“Ohh, Viola!” the man in question blurted out in front of everyone, using the same bedroom tone of voice he had used in the letters! He was back to his old ways, but now with ten times the sap.

Even though his features and overall silhouette looked a little sharper and leaner, this only made him appear all the more dignified. Grrrr. Something will have to be done about that, I thought enviously, as he continued to hug me.

It was at that very moment, too, with his face at point-blank range to mine, that I realized the two of us were still in the entryway. He hadn’t even taken off his overcoat yet, since he had come straight from the Royal Palace. Stop hugging me and go to his room for some rest, is what he should be doing! Maybe I ought to try to have him do that! Instead of just standing around talking and hanging all over me.

“I imagine you must be tired, Mr. Fisalis. We’ve run you a hot bath and there’s a warm bed waiting for you. The servants really went all out to prepare everything. It seems you’re going to have a busy schedule tomorrow, too, so please take this opportunity to rest up!” I said as I gently removed Mr. Fisalis’ hands from my body, around which he was still wrapped, and half dragged, half guided him to his room.

Look, the sooner you go to bed, the sooner we can all relax! We’re already working overtime. You can try to resist or argue, but you’re going to bed now! We all want to go to bed too, so I’m not giving in to any tantrums! I told myself as I resolutely dragged him along.

He’d normally protest around that point, but he actually said, “Oh, great! That makes me so happy! I can’t exactly say the sleeping arrangements down there were comfortable so, yeah, I think I will take it easy for the rest of the night. I’ll have pleeenty of time to tell you about everything later,” he said, obediently taking my hand and walking with me toward his room.

What. That was... anticlimactic.

Even Rohtas and Dahlia were surprised to see him act that way. Rohtas’ face didn’t give much away, but his eyebrows rose ever so slightly, and I noticed Dahlia’s cheek twitch for maybe half a second.

Okay, but I’m more concerned than surprised by what he said. Why did he put so much emphasis on ‘plenty’? It’s not like he’s going to be sent on another business trip or campaign any time soon, right?

“You-You certainly will! I can’t wait to hear all about it tomorrow!”

“Great. Well then, Father, Mother, I’m going to see myself to bed now. Thank you for waiting here for me,” he turned and said to his parents from halfway up the stairs, as if he’d only remembered them just then.

“Of course, of course. Have a good night.”

“Sleep well, dear!” They replied, their words tinged with shock at Mr. Fisalis’ obedient response to my suggestion.

And so, Mr. Fisalis let himself be led into the closet in his room... I mean, to the door to his room.

His sudden obedience has left a bad taste in my... No, I mean it was super weird... No, I guess it was kind of disappointing.

“Sleep well, Mr. Fisalis.”

“Good night, Viola,” he replied, giving me a gentle hug before releasing me with a smile and retreating into his room.

I returned to my own room once I heard his door shut.

“...He actually listened to me...” I mumbled as I trembled in shock.

“He did indeed...” Dahlia said with an expression somewhere between a smile and a grimace.

Don’t act like you weren’t shocked just a minute ago, too! But, yeah, lately he’s been acting rude, and has been overly-sentimental and clingy. What could it be? Normally he simply wouldn’t show up at events he didn’t want to go to, but today he actually stayed for one of them, and he was even in a good mood afterwards, too. Did he hit his head while he was away? Or is he just acting funny because he really is exhausted?

Dahlia stood to the side as I muttered to myself, deep in thought.

“What in heaven’s name is she...” she murmured, rubbing her temples and sighing.

So he gets back in town—positively gushing melodrama, I assume—and then actually participates in a work function, and then listens to instructions here without causing the servants (especially Rohtas!) or me any trouble at all... He’s really grown u— Er, he sure has changed. I wonder what could have caused it. There’s no way to ask him now that he’s off to dreamland, though.

Even Rohtas and Dahlia, my usual fallbacks, have no clue what’s going on, which leaves vague guessing as my only option.

At any rate, looks like tomorrow will be my first day living with a somewhat more mature (in more ways than one) Mr. Fisalis! ...I’m not even sure how to respond to him now. Will I be able to keep my cool? Ha, if tonight was any indication, that might be kinda hard!

...For now, anyway...

To be continued