Chapter 77

A voice thick with emotion turned toward Lyssel.

"It was really beautiful, wasn't it?"

Lyssel smiled brightly as he answered.

{"Yes. The most beautiful in the world."}(#1nokzciqykdu)

After all the twists and turns, the party schedule was finally over.

Lecashe was seen off by House Marquis Bilson right up to the end.

As things turned out, they happened to be the first of the nobles staying at the Bilson estate to leave, and a fair number of nobles came out to see them off together.

"Lady Iberin, I'll be sending an invitation, so please come by if you can find the time."

"Me too."

The nobles she'd grown close to during the stay were all chiming in.

While they'd been at the estate, Lyssel had ended up — quite without meaning to — getting a reputation as a doting husband.

Even Iberin had to admit the rumor wasn't entirely made up.

He might not be a complete sap over her, but he was definitely the type who'd give her anything she asked for.

Lyssel, who'd looked thrown by the talk, didn't actually seem to mind it that much either.

The power of rumor was a remarkable thing — once word got around that the chillingly aloof Grand Duke couldn't say no to his wife, fewer people felt as intimidated by him as they used to.

"Heh. I hope we'll have another chance to meet."

Count Elton, an old acquaintance by now, even introduced them to nobles he knew personally.

"Likewise."

And so the long trip — long as it had felt — finally wrapped up.

Lyssel had been gone longer than during their stay in the capital.

The servants would all be back at home waiting for them, necks craned.

"Mommy, can we see Rotte and Pons now?"

The same went for Ether and the kids.

The trip had been fun, but no place was as comfortable as home, and they were bound to miss the staff.

"Of course. Shall we hurry back?"

"Yes! I miss everyone!"

"Rozelia too. I want to play with Rotte. And I want to eat the head chef's food."

So unlike when they'd arrived, Lecashe set out with everyone giving them a warm send-off.

---

"Rotte! Pons!"

When they reached the entrance to the territory, the servants were already there waiting.

A letter had been sent ahead, so everyone seemed to have been standing by.

Iberin stepped out of the carriage with a bright smile.

Even faster than her, the kids went tearing across the ground and threw themselves into the staff's arms.

Rozelia at Rotte, Ether at Pons.

The kids had whined about missing them the entire ride back, so the reunion meant that much more.

Rotte and Pons cradled them and made fond little sounds, smiling like nothing in the world could've made them happier.

It looked like grandparents with their granddaughters.

Iberin stood beside Lyssel and watched the scene for a long time, her face warm with it.

"We're really home now."

"That's right. Are you very tired?"

"I'm all right. I just feel good."

Now that they were back, it had finally hit Iberin — I'm home.

Her body was exhausted, but something in her had eased.

"Did you enjoy the party?"

"Mm. I had a great time."

"Nothing hurting?"

"Nope."

"Still, you must be tired — let's get you inside."

She was tired.

She felt like she'd rested plenty, but spending all those hours in a cramped carriage had clearly taken its toll.

"You wouldn't believe how quiet the estate has been with everyone gone."

Tami and Roz said it, laughing in their bright, bubbly way.

"It's so good that you're back!"

"We'll see to you ourselves. Want to start with a bath?!"

It wasn't as if nobody else had been there, but with Iberin and the kids gone, the staff had clearly been bored.

You'd think it'd be easier with nobody to wait on, but the staff were all close enough to the family that apparently it didn't work that way.

Iberin decided to put herself in the staff's hands.

By the time they were done waiting on her, her whole body had melted into something loose and heavy — and the body that had been crying for rest finally sagged.

"You look really tired."

"Mm. A little."

Iberin forced her half-lidded eyes open with what was left of her energy.

"Want to skip dinner?"

"Yeah. I'm too sleepy to be hungry anyway."

"Then I'll leave something light on the table — if you wake up hungry in the middle of the night, help yourself."

"Thanks, Tami."

"Of course."

Iberin staggered over to her bed and dropped down.

"You can head out."

"It's fine. I'll go once you're asleep."

She'd been so tired she felt like she could pass out instantly, but for some reason the empty space beside her kept making her shift around.

"You can't fall asleep?"

"…Mm."

Iberin's voice came out heavy and slurred.

"Why on earth…"

Tami sounded worried, but Iberin had a pretty good idea what the trouble was.

That was when, with the timing of a ghost, Lyssel knocked at the door.

"Iberin, it's me. May I come in?"

"Let him in."

Tami opened the door and Lyssel stepped through.

"Were you trying to sleep?"

"Yes. But I can't."

"Are you in pain, are you uncomfortable? Should I get Rozelia?"

Lyssel's face hardened instantly.

"No. I think if you lay down next to me, I'd fall asleep."

"…Sorry?"

He'd been so caught off guard that his voice cracked on the answer.

Beside them, Tami's mouth fell open without a sound.

She'd been the original believer in the Lecashe couple's love story — maybe that was why she couldn't quite hide the corners of her mouth climbing, or her nostrils flaring.

"We can't?"

Iberin asked, oblivious to Tami.

Lyssel stammered for a moment, then nodded slowly.

"But are you tired too, Lyssel? I'd hate to put you out…"

"I am, of course."

Only then did Iberin break into a bright smile and pat the spot next to her.

Lyssel hesitated and shot Tami a glance — Tami caught it and shouted as she bolted out.

"D-don't mind me, just sleep well!!"

The door slammed shut with a bang, then cracked open again a moment later.

"I didn't mean to slam it that hard. Sorry if I startled you! Sleep well, really!"

And then, through the slightly open door, came the sound of Tami's footsteps clattering away and a peculiar little shriek.

---

The aftereffects of the trip stuck around longer than expected.

The saying about how going away always wears you out turned out to be true — even though it had been a trip, not only Iberin but the kids spent a good while dragging around in a daze.

On top of that, everyone fussed over Iberin since her health was fragile.

The holy power treatment she'd been getting once a week even got bumped up to once every four days.

Iberin worried about Rozelia, who was just as worn out as she was, but Rozelia simply said fine, then I'll just have to get my strength back and threw herself into sleeping deeply and eating a lot.

After a day or two, everyone else slipped back into their normal rhythms, but Iberin was still dragging.

In the meantime, a rumor went around among the staff — that something had shifted in the relationship between Iberin and Lyssel.

Rotte and Pons heard the news from Tami, the very person who'd started the rumor.

"Is that really true?"

"Yes! She said, sleep with me… just like that! And it didn't look like the first time!"

Tami's face was flushed as she spoke.

"What on earth happened on that trip…"

"And you went and told everyone?"

Rotte, who'd been thinking it over, scolded Tami.

The story had spread to the point that there wasn't a single staff member who hadn't heard it, which was how Pons and Rotte had ended up hearing it too.

"Ah — I'm sorry. It just slipped out."

"You should've told us first."

"…Oh."

"You let us hear about it secondhand?"

"I'm sorry. I have no excuse, even with ten mouths."

The actual thing she should've been apologizing for seemed to be a bit off, but nobody pointed it out.

"Fine."

Either way, there was no putting the story back in the bottle.

There was no need to, anyway.

They were married, after all — what was the problem with the two of them sleeping together?

On top of that, neither of them seemed to be making any effort to hide it.

After that first night Tami had walked into, they'd just kept on sleeping side by side.

Plenty of people had seen it by now.

The only thing that bugged Rotte and Pons was that they themselves had been the last to know.

In any case, the two of them seemed to have grown a little closer, and that was something to be glad about.

But while Lecashe was settling into its peace, the Gelta region was doing nothing of the sort.

And the incident broke out before long.

In a way nobody saw coming.

---

The people suffering under the lords — who were inspecting everyone for any sign they might bolt for Lecashe in the dead of night — were only growing in number.

There was nothing peaceful about life when, even if you had no intention of running, lords came around day after day to probe your intentions and hassle you.

The patience of people who'd put up with it and put up with it finally hit its breaking point.

On top of that, word started spreading that an ijet mine had been discovered in Lecashe.

The lords grew more anxious.

If Lecashe's fortunes grew on the back of ijet, life there would only get more comfortable, and even more people would slip away.

"What are we supposed to do from here?"

"More importantly, shouldn't we tighten the inspections?"

"The whole problem is that the people's resentment is already through the roof."

Viscount Alketa's face was deeply troubled.

Word was that the other lords were just as panicked, with no idea what to do.

"Hahh…."

"Should we ease up on them now, even at this point?"

The moment Viscount Alketa let out the small sigh, his son shot the idea down.

"They're just lowborn. What reason is there to coddle them?"

That son — the one he'd doted on and meant to send to the academy.

A spitting image of Viscount Alketa himself, plump-bodied and already losing half his hair.

He'd been married off in a political match, but he didn't get along with his wife.

He was a piece of work, that boy.

The viscount kept brushing it off as youthful spirit.

"So you're saying we should just keep things this way."

"Of course. We should crack down even harder."

"…"

To his credit, the viscount actually had some sense in his head — he looked at his son with an expression that bordered on pathetic.

He'd gone along with the rest of the Gelta Six in grinding down the people, but that wasn't going to work anymore.

The time for just doing whatever the others did was over.

"For now, stay out of it and watch what happens."

"Father."

"I told you to stay out of it!"

In the end, he had to raise his voice.

Only then did his son lower his head and step back, though the resentment was plain on his face as he turned away.

"Tch."

After his son disappeared, Viscount Alketa ordered the surveillance of the residents to be called off.

That fool Roman might keep pushing and pushing, but Alketa didn't need to do the same.

But things didn't unfold the way the viscount wanted.

Because of his rebellious son.

"It's not as if I have to follow Father's wishes every time."

"A perfectly reasonable point, sir."

And because of one of Viscount Alketa's most trusted men, who he'd believed loyal, but who had already been in the son's pocket.