6. An Unexpected Reunion

It’s me again—the guy who lived at the mercy of whatever crazy rumor was circulating that day, and who was summarily crushed when the girl of his dreams started avoiding his gaze.

Looking back on it now, however, that was a more peaceful time.

We’d received intel that the neighboring kingdom of Aurantia was planning to bring a war to Flür’s doorstep. After repeated investigations and reconnaissance, we deemed the tip accurate—and so it was decided that our Special Ops Division would make an expedition to the border, where we would serve as an advance party to prepare for the impending hostilities.

“Let’s just get this blasted war over with so I can go back home.”

Now that the war council was over, the commander and I were hurrying back to our headquarters. The satisfyingly crisp squeak of our boots echoed throughout the halls.

The commander’s zeal for completing this mission was off the charts.

“Yeah,” I agreed. “The sooner we’re done with this, the better.”

Of course, him being in a hurry to get home wasn’t anything new, but this had to be the most fired up I’d ever seen him.

Ever since the break-up with his infamous girlfriend, the commander might as well have been living entirely for his wife. Despite all those dastardly things he’d said at the outset, he’d ended up falling head over heels for his noble and adorable spouse, eventually showing the mistress he was once so madly in love with the door. It just goes to show that you never know what life has in store.

“If I’m gone for too long, Viola might not remember who I am when I get back! And though I’d never forget her for even a fleeting second, I can hardly bear the thought of being apart from her for any length of time, so I’ll give this all I’ve got!”

Yeah, yeah, that’s enough about Viola already. I cast the commander and his feverish mutterings a sidelong glance. Come to think of it, he’s been booking it home as soon as he’s done with his work these days, huh?

“Hold on—so the reason you’ve been heading home early...”

“Is because Viola’s there waiting for me, obviously! I know I won’t be able to see her for a while, so I need to charge my batteries while I still can!”

He really just came out and admitted it! Oh, whatever. It’s good to love your wife, I guess.

I’d popped over to the Fisalis manor twice before with the rest of our unit, but I was pretty sure that was the last time I’d seen her. Wait, no, I think the commander dragged her into one of our undercover bases once. Something about countering allegations of infidelity.

She looked like a fragile beauty on the outside, but once you got to talking with her, it was clear she had a good head on her shoulders. Given the kind of person she was, there wasn’t a chance she would appraise the commander based solely on his looks or his title.

The first time I met her, I’d tried to raise her opinion of the commander by rattling off all his good points, but the Bombshell Trio had butt in and ruined everything. Just what had those girls been thinking?

From the sound of it, Mrs. Fisalis wasn’t a fan of social events, so she rarely made an appearance at any evening parties. That meant sightings of her were rare, and between that and her delicate, ephemeral looks, we—no, the entirety of high society soon took to calling her The Illusory Belle.

The feeling I’d gotten thus far was that she wasn’t particularly impressed with or interested in the commander. With his pretty face, prestige, and riches, any other high-class lady would be falling all over him... That girl really was a strange character.

Then again, the commander was sick of women who get blinded by those superficial qualities. A girl who’s got zero interest in him might be just the right amount of novel to drive him crazy.

“Perhaps I should send her letters from the front lines. One per day, so she doesn’t have the chance to forget about me...” The commander kept muttering to himself beside me.

Well, I couldn’t say I didn’t understand the feeling. I hoped to get back to the palace as soon as possible myself.

I wanted to see Stellaria’s smiling face, after all.

* * *

Thanks to the combined efforts of the commander, the rest of our squad, and the front line troops, the war ended both swiftly and with an overwhelming victory for Flür.

Hardly enough time had passed to use the word “finally” here, but we did return to Rohze for the first time in two months. Our long journey was... Eh, no, it wasn’t that long at all, actually. With how much work we had to do each day, the whole affair had felt like it was over in the blink of an eye.

After taking part in the repatriation ceremony and enjoying a whole boatload of vacation time afterwards, I went back to work for the first time in a while.

I was looking forward to seeing Stellaria again, but I couldn’t find her anywhere. It was strange, considering I used to spot her all over the royal palace.

As the days went by, I kept on looking around for her, but to no avail.

In the beginning, I tried to keep an optimistic attitude: We work in the same building, so I’ve got to run into her one of these days. However, as more and more time passed, that confidence soon turned into desperation.

Before the campaign, I would often catch sight of her hunting for the prince, but I never even saw that anymore. Now it was always some other lady-in-waiting chasing after him.

What happened to her? Did she get assigned to a new post? (That wouldn’t explain why I haven’t seen her anywhere.) Did she quit her job altogether? (If she left to get married, I’m gonna cry.) No, wait...did she come down with a serious illness?! (Which would mean she must have gone home, I guess?)

Despite my concerns, I was so busy with passing off my old work and adjusting to my new department that I didn’t have time to look into it.

Every single member of the Special Ops Division working under Cercis had been transferred to the Royal Guard.

“If the same people work undercover for too long, they run a higher risk of being recognized,” the commander had proposed to His Majesty and his retainers. His wish had been heard, and he was reassigned to a department that specialized in domestic intelligence operations. Public safety, in other words.

“I won’t be sent off on any long business trips now!” the commander (or vice captain, after the transfer went through) had gloated, but I pretended I hadn’t heard that part.

Sometime after the mess of our transfer had been sorted out and I’d gotten used to my new post, I happened to overhear a conversation between a couple of ladies-in-waiting in the halls.

“It’s so hard to catch His Highness without Stellaria around.”

“The princess never goes to her lessons anymore either.”

“She must be so bored back at home... I hope she’ll return to her post one day.”

And that was how I found out that Stellaria had quit her job at the royal palace and gone back to live with her family.

* * *

With the kind of power I had at my disposal, I could easily figure out where she lived and what she was doing now if I tried. Yet for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to actually follow through. Instead, I kept on telling myself: If I ever decide I really want to know, I can look into it then.

But one day, after wrapping up a long, grueling meeting...

“And that’s all, everyone! Okay, I’m done for the day. Hey, I haven’t seen the duchess in ages, so let’s go stop by for a visit!”

“Sounds like a plan!”

The excited shouts of the Bombshell Trio filled the room.

“Excuse me?” the new vice captain of the Royal Guard demanded, shooting them a menacing glare...which had little effect.

“Woohoo! You have the best ideas, girlie!”

“I’m in!”

“Let’s do it!”

The rest of the unit chimed in, one knight after another, until everyone was bursting with excitement.

“We haven’t seen your wife since the repatriation ceremony! The healing effects of her angelic smile are gonna wear off soon, so we need to charge up while we—ouch!”

“Oho, so you need to charge up on Viola now? And where do you get off calling her ‘angelic’? Not to say she isn’t an angel, of course.”

“I know, right?”

“But you have no right to say it!”

“Owww!”

The vice captain gave his subordinate a firm kick, knocking him clean off his chair.

Of course, it would take more than that to keep our unit down.

“Oh, come oooon! It’s like tradition to have a wrap party after a long meeting!”

“Says who?! Even if I were to agree to this party, there’s no reason to hold it at my home!”

“Booooo!”

It was the vice captain vs. his entire squad. The knights whined and demanded to go to Cercis’s house and see his wife, while the aura of a roaring blizzard steadily formed around the vice captain.

They’re not getting anywhere like this. Jeez, both sides need to grow up.

“Now, now, don’t be so selfish!” I interjected, hoping to break up the fight. “There’s nothing more important than keeping up communication with your subordinates!”

Wait, that was me taking the squad’s side one hundred percent.

“What does letting them into my house have to do with communication?”

“Tons! Nothing tears down the walls between people like a relaxed get-together!”

“Do your relaxing in someone else’s manor!”

“Oh, stop sweating the small stuff!”

“I’ll sweat it all I like!”

The vice captain was losing his cool, doing everything in his power to avoid having his alone time with his wife interrupted.

Our subordinates were heartened by my support. “Come on, your wife awaits your return!”

“Go on, go on!”

“Ugh...”

They gave the vice captain a shove from behind, encouraging him to head home. (Obviously, they had every intention of going with him.)

Wow, he’s being pretty stubborn about this! Looks like he still needs one last push.

I kept quiet for that whole exchange, instead calling out to someone else who had been watching us with interest. “Want to join us, Captain? We’re paying the vice captain’s manor a visit.”

“Ooh, that sounds like fun. I’ll take you up on that offer.”

“Why, you little...! That’s not your choice to make! ...Wait, not you too, Captain!”

No sooner had I grinned and invited the captain along than he accepted with an amused little chuckle.

This particular individual was the captain of the Royal Guard, Cardios Permam—our new boss. He was also head of the Permam earldom and a swordsman renowned throughout Flür. At thirty-five years old, he was devoted to his job in the Royal Guard and as loyal to the king as they come. Though he was mild by nature, he was well known for being the straitlaced type who never compromised when it came to his work. Incidentally, he was also a loving father of two sons and two daughters.

Now that he wants to join the fun, are you really going to tell us no?

“What’s wrong? Would you rather I don’t come?” the captain asked, surprisingly eager to gang up on the vice captain. I’d heard he was a real square, but he was turning out to be more fun than I’d expected.

Now that his own boss was in on it, Cercis had a much harder time putting his foot down.

“What? No, I’d never... Oh, all right already!”

“Yahoo!”

The moment the vice captain gave his reluctant go-ahead, the squad cheered and prepared to head out.

* * *

It had been a while since my last visit to the duke’s manor. As soon as the vice captain stepped through the entrance, the rest of us poured in after him.

“As you can see, we have some unexpected guests. Sorry for springing this on you.”

“Goodness!”

The vice captain explained the situation to his wife, doing his best to keep us at bay in the meantime.

Despite her surprise at our unannounced visit, Mrs. Fisalis welcomed us with a smile. Not a single look of irritation ever once flitted over her features. Her response is the exact opposite of the vice captain’s!

“Madam! It’s been too long!”

“You know how it is—we were hit with this overwhelming urge to come see you!”

“Man, she’s so gosh darn cute!” several voices rang out in unison.

“Hey! Don’t crowd Viola!”

Soon we were graced with the usual sight of the squad flocking to Mrs. Fisalis, brushing off the vice captain’s efforts to hold them back. The man was getting desperate in his attempts to pry everyone else away from his wife.

What a pleasant sight. The fact that we get to enjoy a day like this makes all the effort of fighting and winning the war worth it, I thought as I watched over their antics from a few steps away. Someone had to hang back with our uninitiated captain, after all.

“Is it always like this?” he asked, observing the commotion in the entryway with an awkward smile.

“Pretty much,” I replied with an enthusiastic nod.

Once Cercis had successfully recovered his wife, she called for the butler and started handing out orders. “Show our guests to the parlor, Rohtas.”

“Yes, ma’am.” The Fisalis manor’s super (no—hyper?) competent butler, who had been hanging back quietly throughout all the hullabaloo, stepped forward at his mistress’s command. “This way, please. Stellaria, escort them inside,” he said, calling out to one particular maid.

“Certainly. Follow me, everyone.”

Wait, Stellaria?! Did he just say “Stellaria”?!

He’d dropped the name so casually that I’d almost missed it, but the butler had definitely just said “Stellaria”!

I turned my head in the same direction he’d pointed. There stood the very same Stellaria who had quit her job at the royal palace, now clad in the uniform of a Fisalis manor maid.

What’s going on?!

My mouth fell open in a silent scream, and I stood rooted to the spot, pointing and staring at her in spite of myself.

“Corydalis? Is something the matter?”

“What’s gotten into you, Corydalis?”

Mrs. Fisalis and the vice captain both addressed me when they saw me freeze up, concern evident in their tone.

Uh... Sorry, guys, but I’m in panic mode right now!

Captain Permam even grabbed me by the arm and gave me a firm shake, but all I could think was, Hey, you’re blocking my view of her! Move it!

“What happened to him?” Mrs. Fisalis pondered.

“Don’t ask me,” the vice captain responded.

The couple tilted their heads in puzzlement.

“So you don’t know either, hm?” When it became clear her husband didn’t have the answers, Mrs. Fisalis decided to ask the girl in question. “Do you and Corydalis know each other, Stellaria?”

If she answers “no” here, I’m one hundred percent sure I’m going to break down crying!

With a sweet smile, she replied, “Oh, yes, I’ve known of him for a while now. He’s made quite the name for himself—not to mention he’s our master’s subordinate. Plus, we ran into one another several times in the royal palace.”

“Oh, I see!”

“Yes. Though perhaps ‘ran into each other’ is putting it too strongly—we’ve merely passed each other in the corridor, that’s all,” she went on.

Eh. That response didn’t exactly inspire a ton of confidence. But hey, at least it wasn’t bad enough to reduce me to tears.

Am I crazy? We didn’t just “pass each other”—we did talk, right? She gave me a caramel when I was tired and everything! What, so none of that counted for anything?!

I couldn’t help picking all of this apart in my head.

Well, considering her crush on Duke Fisalis over here, I get why she wouldn’t want to say, like, “We’ve talked before, and I even gave him a caramel!” Still, I know that calling us friends would be pushing it, but I thought I’d at least been promoted(?) to acquaintance! Guess we weren’t even that much, in her book!

Ugh, I get the picture... I’m just His Grace’s subordinate—nothing more.

I was suffering from shock on so many different levels that I had yet to move a muscle.

“Corydalis? Erm...what should we do with him, Mr. Fisalis?”

“Just leave him.”

“If you say so...”

The rest of the squad was escorted to the parlor, leaving me in the dust. Long after everyone else was gone, I still didn’t (or maybe I couldn’t) budge from the entryway.

Oh, but don’t worry—I caught up to them the moment I snapped back to my senses, of course!