4. A Sudden Postnuptial Development

“Their long, long, loooong courtship is finally coming to an end.”

“...So it is.”

I was in my bedroom at the moment, in the midst of a little talk with my husband.

Though I was looking down at him with only the sweetest of smiles, Mr. Fisalis’s face kept twitching nervously. My, how very curious. He seemed to be so intimidated that at some point during the conversation, he had even gotten down on his knees.

But hey, whatever! That wasn’t about to stop me from getting on with my lecture.

“But if you ask me, they really ought to have been given the chance to tie the knot sooner rather than being forced to go their separate ways for such a long, long, loooong time.”

Once again, I took great care to emphasize the word “long.”

“Yes, dear.”

“The only reason they couldn’t is that Rohtas always had his hands full with work. Are you with me so far?”

“Of course. I understand precisely what you’re getting at, my love.”

When I flashed him yet another smile, Mr. Fisalis gave a vigorous, contrite nod of his head. Good, looks like we’re still on the same page.

“Glad to hear it. Now then... Rohtas has worked quite diligently to cover for your prolonged absences, wouldn’t you say?”

“Ugh... It’s tough to hear it spelled out for me like this. Even worse when you say it with such a beautiful smile on your face!”

“What was that?”

“Nothing!”

I shot him a look that said, Cercis? Did I just hear you mutter something you shouldn’t have? Thankfully, he was quick to duck his head under my piercing glare.

Hmph. I see he has yet to learn his lesson. Well, in that case...

“Rohtas had to settle for a long-distance relationship because a certain someone blew off all his duties to go cozy up to another certain someone in that cottage! He buried his sadness over being unable to see the woman he loved deep in his heart, slaving away to pick up somebody’s slack...!”

“Waaah! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry! Look, I’ll admit that I was in the wrong there! I get it! I promise it won’t happen again!”

I expressed Rohtas’s and Amaryllis’s heartache on the couple’s behalf, to which Mr. Fisalis responded by freaking out and prostrating himself on the spot.

Hee hee, I’m starting to have some fun with this. I think I’ve done enough messing with him for now, though. All this emotional distress is clearly wearing the poor guy down!

“But now they’re finally getting the chance to marry. And not only that: Rohtas even pulled off a dashing proposal right in front of the whole family! Man, that was so cool! He made everyone’s hearts skip a beat, believe you me.”

“Curse you, Rohtas...”

A gleeful smile spread across my face as I recounted the incident in the cottage earlier that day, which caused Mr. Fisalis to look distinctly unamused. There’s no point in making it a competition, dear. You don’t stand a chance against him in that department.

“It’s an indisputable fact that Rohtas knocked it out of the park. Better to just accept it.”

“Ugh...”

“So you see, we decided we might as well take the opportunity to hold a proper ceremony. The couple said they’d prefer a modest affair with only their closest friends, so we figured the garden would be the perfect spot for it.”

“Oh, that sounds nice.”

I perked up the moment it was clear that Mr. Fisalis approved of the idea. “I’ve got a whole lot of preparations to make. First we need to make Rohtas’s and Amaryllis’s wedding attire, and then there’s remodeling Rohtas’s chambers into a two-person room...”

There were a lot of things to take care of in advance of the ceremony.

Instead of stating what I wanted outright, however, I just glanced down at my husband with the best puppy eyes I could muster.

“Feel free to spend as much as you’d like. I’ll cover all of it. Why, it’s no skin off my back!” It seemed Mr. Fisalis had picked up on the meaning behind that look, seeing as he was quick to give me the go-ahead.

Father Fisalis had given me free reign with the budget too, but I figured it ought to be Mr. Fisalis doing the heavy lifting here.

“Thank you!”

I beamed. Unlike all those other smiles I’d been giving him, this one came from the heart!

After that, the entire mansion went to work on the preparations, and the wedding ceremony went off without a hitch.

* * *

When the wedding was over, my parents-in-law went home to their territory, and it was back to the usual routine for us—with one new addition to our ranks. As the months flew by, Amaryllis steadily grew into her new life at the Rohze manor.

Then, on one of Mr. Fisalis’s days off...

Once my husband was done plugging away at the work Rohtas had left for him after taking some vacation time of his own, the two of us decided to go for an afternoon stroll. The destination we had in mind was Lognes Forest. This was a lush park that sprawled across the outskirts of Rohze, and it was a go-to relaxation spot for the residents of the royal capital.

“What flowers would be blooming around this time of year, I wonder?”

“It’s been a while since we last visited, so I’ll bet there’s all new varieties of flora now.”

“I can’t wait to see it! I’m only afraid that I’ll want to take some of the flowers back with me if I spend too much time looking at them...”

“Then why don’t we stop at a florist on our way home? Or should I ask Bellis instead?”

“Ooh, I want to go to the florist!”

Mr. Fisalis and I were ambling down the forest’s walking trail, a refreshing breeze blowing past us.

The path stretched on for a while yet, and following it to the end would bring you out into an open field. The meadow boasted a huge pond, and flowers bloomed there in abundance. With that spot in mind as our final destination, we continued along on our lazy stroll.

But when we made it to the end of the forest path and emerged into the field, we were greeted by a shocking sight.

“Huh?” my husband and I muttered dumbly. Having spotted a familiar face dead ahead of us, we both stopped in our tracks.

“...Say, Cercis, am I so tired that my eyes are playing tricks on me?”

“...No, I think I might have gone too hard on all that paperwork.” He was staring in the same exact direction I was, frozen to the spot.

You guessed it. Right before us stood none other than Rohtas—along with a little kid.

Though we were still hanging a good distance back, we were close enough to be certain that it really was Rohtas we were looking at. And he was walking around holding the child by the hand, to boot!

The kid looked to be about the same age as my little sister, Freesia. If the outfit was anything to go by, he was a boy...probably.

“Does Rohtas have a son?” I asked in a whisper.

“Not that I’ve heard.”

The way Rohtas caught the boy when he stumbled over his feet sure made them look like a father and child, though.

“But Rohtas only just got married!”

“My god, you’re right!”

Now that we’d put that out there, we found ourselves gripped by a full-scale panic!

“C-C-C-Cercis!” I grabbed my husband by the arm and started shaking him furiously.

“C-Calm down a second, Vi!”

“No can do! How am I supposed to stay calm at a time like this?! What’s going on here?!”

“I couldn’t tell you! Are we sure that’s Rohtas’s son? Are we sure that’s even Rohtas?!”

“Rohtas is a newlywed! There’s no way he could have a child that age!”

“For now, we’d better hide. If we kick up a fuss in plain sight, he’s bound to notice us here.”

“Roger!”

With that, the two of us took cover behind a nearby bush.

“Could he be Amaryllis’s child, you think?” Mr. Fisalis mused. “I’m pretty sure we don’t have any children around the house...though I couldn’t claim to be certain of that.”

“Huh? No way. There’s never been a single trace of any kids around the manor, and I can state that for a fact!”

Trust me—I’m saying this as someone familiar with every little nook and cranny of the mansion! I even have official permission to use the servants’ dining room now; there’s not a single place that escapes my watchful eye!

“Given how much time you spend in the manor, I don’t doubt you’re right. Hmm... Then what possibilities are left?”

“Maybe he had a secret lover in the town all along? Could he have been cheating on Amaryllis while the two of them were apart...? No, Rohtas is the last person I’d expect that from!”

We racked our brains as we watched over the pair, but we failed to come up with a satisfying answer.

“Then who on earth could—oh, they’re on the move! Vi, hide! They’re heading this way!”

“Got it!”

Rohtas and the mystery child had begun walking in our direction. Mr. Fisalis and I rushed to duck our heads.

As the boy strode right past us, I saw that he was quite an adorable child, sporting caramel-brown hair and blue eyes. No doubt he’d eventually grow up into a total heartbreaker—not that any of that mattered particularly at the moment.

Rohtas had gray hair and black eyes, while Amaryllis was a brown-eyed platinum blonde...which meant the genetics here didn’t add up. The chance that he was actually their child seemed pretty slim.

“If he is Rohtas’s son, he must have gotten the brown hair from his mom’s side,” Mr. Fisalis speculated.

“You think? But his face doesn’t have a trace of Rohtas in it either.”

“Maybe he just really takes after his mother.”

While the two of us debated in hushed tones, Rohtas and the boy disappeared into the distance—in the direction of downtown Rohze.

“Oh, there they go,” I observed.

“Let’s follow them!”

“Good plan!”

I was just thinking the same thing! Nodding enthusiastically, I flashed my husband a big thumbs-up.

* * *

We tailed Rohtas into the downtown area of the capital, keeping just enough of a distance that he wouldn’t spot us. Failing to notice us there, he strolled leisurely down the streets, happily laughing and chatting away with the little guy.

“Just look at the way they’re walking hand-in-hand! They have to be father and son.”

“I think you’re right.”

“Where do you imagine they’re going? Aha! Don’t tell me...”

They’re on the way to go see the boy’s mother! I thought, jumping straight to picturing the worst-case scenario.

“No, let’s not assume the worst just yet,” Mr. Fisalis asserted. He’d totally read my mind.

Putting that aside, what even is there in this direction? There’s no residential areas, no shopping streets... Oh!

“If I remember right, wasn’t there an academy somewhere out here? You know, that same vocational school all the servants went to.”

The place Rohtas was headed certainly wasn’t a residential area—it was a district lined with all manner of schools. There was an elite finishing school attended by a bunch of girls from wealthy families, the commoner school I went to, and a training academy for knights-in-the-making—just to name a few. The area also boasted a handful of vocational schools, such as the one I’d just alluded to.

We soon watched the pair pass through the gates of the aforementioned school for servants.

“So they were heading to the vocational school.”

After some time had passed, Rohtas came back out alone. That had to mean...the boy lived in the dormitories, I guess? The school required every student to live on campus, after all.

“So he lives in the school dorms, hm? No wonder we’ve never seen him around the mansion.”

“Yeah, it all makes sense now! But wait, who cares about that part?! What exactly is he to Rohtas, do you think?”

“I haven’t the slightest clue myself.”

As we watched Rohtas wander off into the distance, Mr. Fisalis and I stewed over the mystery thrust upon us.

What should we do? I think we just witnessed a real scandal!

* * *

Discovering Rohtas had an illegitimate child right after he’d gotten married? What was Amaryllis going to think if she found out?

It was hard to get my spirits up after that whole fiasco.

I ever-so-casually cast a glance Rohtas and Amaryllis’s way every now and then, but they weren’t acting any differently from usual. If anything, the two seemed closer than ever.

“The boy’s name is Quince; he’s currently eight years old. He appears to be a distant relative of Rohtas, but he doesn’t have any parents. He’s living in the vocational school’s dormitories for the moment. From the sound of it, he’s such an exceptionally bright child that he managed to get his tuition fees waived.”

It was two days after the incident. Unable to bear the sight of me so down in the dumps, Mr. Fisalis had pulled some strings (I was pretty sure this was a blatant abuse of authority) to run a background check on the little boy.

“Whoa... I never would have guessed you could dig up that much on him with only that one glimpse of him to go on. I’m impressed!”

“I asked whichever of my subordinates had a moment to spare to look into it. Reconnaissance of this level is a walk in the park for them.”

Yep, that was definitely an abuse of authority. Still, I couldn’t help but marvel at the skill of the Royal Guard.

“Okay, I get that he’s a distant relative, but I still have to wonder about the whole ‘no parents’ thing.”

“It is curious.”

“You know what, I just don’t think that’s enough to prove he isn’t Rohtas’s secret love child! Maybe he really is his son, and Rohtas just lied about him being a relative when he enrolled him in the school!”

“What, seriously? You’re being oddly suspicious today, Vi.”

“I have to be—for Amaryllis’s sake!”

At least we’d learned more about the mystery kid—Quince—but this was going to keep eating at me until we knew all the facts for certain.

Fast-forward to a few days later, after I’d had plenty of time to stew in my suspicions. We ended up getting the truth about Quince straight from the horse’s mouth.

To my great surprise, Rohtas came to us and said, “I wish to adopt him.”

Quince had lost both his parents to illness in quick succession quite a while back, leaving the poor thing orphaned. Since the boy didn’t have any close family, the school headmaster had instead reached out to Rohtas, who was a more distant relation. Fortunately, the little boy’s grades were good enough that he didn’t have to pay his own way through school, but a child his age still needed some kind of emotional anchor in his life.

For Rohtas’s part, he hoped to adopt the brilliant young Quince and raise him as his successor (a.k.a. the next head butler of the mansion).

“If that’s what the both of you want, I don’t mind,” replied Mr. Fisalis, giving the okay the moment he heard the particulars of the situation.

“Still, bringing a child his age into your family when you’ve only just gotten married? Are you okay with that, Amaryllis?” That was my biggest concern here, so I made sure to check in with the woman herself.

“Of course. I’m entirely in favor of it, actually,” she responded, a delighted smile on her face.

“No objections from me, then! Whew, thank goodness Rohtas didn’t actually have a love child!” I blurted out, so relieved that my word-to-mouth filter momentarily stopped functioning.

“What?”

“Huh?”

“Ah...”

Rohtas and Amaryllis both looked taken aback by my slip of the tongue, while my husband just held his head in his hands.

* * *

Even after being adopted by Rohtas, Quince still had to live in the school dorms, so it didn’t feel like our family at the mansion had grown any larger. The biggest change was just Rohtas and Amaryllis keeping some of their son’s things in their shared room.

It wasn’t too long before Quince came home to the mansion during one of his school breaks.

“You should come stay with us every time you have a day off!” I said to him. “I hope you’ll adapt to life here quickly.”

“Thank you very much.”

“Feel free to ask Viola and Rohtas any questions you have about the manor. If there’s anything you’d like to know about the royal palace in particular, I’d be happy to tell you. Why, I’ll even bring you in for a tour whenever you want.”

“I appreciate it, Master Fisalis,” Quince said, offering me and my husband a polite bow. No wonder Rohtas had sung his praises—he’d even inclined his body at just the perfect angle! I was looking forward to seeing how this kid turned out.

On that note, it sounded like Mr. Fisalis actually planned on paying him some attention. I had to admit, I hadn’t seen that one coming.

Now that I was looking at the boy up close, those blue eyes of his really accentuated his striking features. I’d thought as much before, but now I knew he was definitely going to grow up to be a hunk! Oh, but he’d still be no match for our Mr. Fisalis, of course.

“I can’t believe Rohtas is a dad now.”

Rohtas was in the midst of showing Quince around the mansion. Was it just my imagination, or did they already look like the perfect picture of a father and son?

While I was watching over the two of them and mumbling my thoughts to myself, Dahlia smiled and came at me with an unexpected counterattack. “Hopefully you’ll be a mother soon too.”

* * *

“Dahlia’s nagging me for an heir now...”

“Hopefully you’ll be a mother soon”? Way to crank up the pressure, Miss Dahlia!

“There’s no need to rush into things, but I agree with her,” Mr. Fisalis responded, having overheard my tormented mumblings. “Watching Rohtas has me thinking about how much fun it would be to have a child of my own.”

Mr. Fisalis actually wants to play with kids? I have to say, that still comes as a shock to me.

“I always assumed you hated kids, Cercis.”

“What? No, not at all.”

“Huh, I see. That’s a little surprising, to be honest.”

“I don’t have much experience with them, but I don’t dislike them. Well...with one exception.”

“Hm?”