Chapter 2: Temporary Return

Chapter 2:
Temporary Return

 

“WHAT? I’m being called back?”

After Noelle sped out of the house, Angie, Livia, and I settled down to enjoy some tea together.

I made the right choice pulling out my stash of tea leaves for this occasion.

It felt like it had been forever since I last saw Angie sip from a cup I’d prepared, even though just a couple of months earlier, we had regularly enjoyed moments like this.

“His Majesty requested it as well. If you’re on summer break right now, there should be no problem, right?”

There was no real issue, since I had no plans lined up. The only thing weighing on my mind was Noelle, but I doubted either of my fiancées would understand. I could only imagine the disbelief and disgust on their faces if I said, “Actually, this world is an otome game, and Noelle is the protagonist of the second installment in the series!” It gave me the shivers just thinking about anyone being stupid enough to blurt that out.

“I just don’t know about all of us returning together,” I said.

Angie shook her head. “Marie, His Highness, and the others will remain here. The only person returning with us is you, Leon.”

“What?” I’d been sure she meant the whole group was being called back, but apparently it was only me. Roland, that bastard. Who does he think he is, summoning me like this? …Okay, yeah, I get that he’s the king—and I’d totally be cool with it if he wasn’t such a rat.

Livia took one bite from her snack before setting it back down on her plate. It actually came from a stash of sweets Marie had in the dining hall, which she had been kind enough to bring over. Sadly, Livia didn’t seem too fond of the taste.

Pretty sure Marie said Jilk bought these.

Livia took a sip of the tea I’d prepared, cleansing her palate. “Actually, the queen agreed with His Majesty. If there’s political maneuvering going on here in the republic, she wants to talk about what we should do moving forward.”

“Miss Mylene too?! Uh, I mean… Her Majesty as well?”

Their eyes narrowed.

Holfort’s Queen Mylene Rapha Holfort was Julius’s mother, but despite her age, she still looked plenty young and beautiful. If we’d still been in Japan, I might have tried my luck with her.

Hold up. She’s married. I can’t do that. Why did she have to be taken? She was totally my type!

“Uh, um,” I said, trying to find the words. “Well, I guess I better get back to Holfort then.”

Livia’s cheeks puffed as she pouted. “You sure seem happy about being able to see Her Majesty again.”

I can’t help it! She’s cute! Even now I found it hard to believe such an amazing woman was married to garbage like Roland. Political marriages sure are rough.

Angie cleared her throat. “Sorry to be so abrupt, but yes, you’ll be coming straight back with us to Holfort. You’re the only one who can act in the event that something does transpire here in the republic, so you need to be involved in the conversation.”

I didn’t want to dirty my hands with the republic’s politics, but Holfort Kingdom didn’t share my sentiments. One of the Six Great Houses—the Feivels—had lost power. That was actually my fault, since I had orchestrated their downfall, but any resultant political upheaval might impact the kingdom. They couldn’t afford to get directly involved without diplomatic repercussions, but perhaps they thought I could more easily manipulate things while I was here studying abroad.

They give me way too much credit.

Politically speaking, I was like a baby who had barely learned to crawl.

Angie glanced around. “That aside… So this is where you’ve been living with His Highness and the others, hm? I was worried that something might have happened between you and Marie.”

There is no way in hell that’s ever happening. I shook my head. “You have nothing to worry about. There’s nothing between Marie and me now, and there never will be.”

Livia eyed me suspiciously. “Can we really take you at your word? You have been known to lie sometimes.”

“Aw, c’mon. My one redeeming quality is my honesty.”

Angie chuckled. “It’s been a while since we last drank tea to the tune of your dubious excuses. Now, I hate to hurry you, but if you have no other plans, let’s leave tomorrow. Do you have anything you need to take care of before we’re off?”

Not really. Although, I would have liked time to buy some more gifts for everyone back home.

“Oh, actually, why don’t you two go sightseeing for a bit while you’re here? Since we’ll be going back to the kingdom, I’d like to stop by my parents’ place on the way, and I’ll need some souvenirs to bring them.”

The girls traded looks before nodding.

“All right. I trust you’ll escort us while we’re here.”

“We are excited to spend time with you, Mr. Leon.”

My heart warmed as they both smiled at me.

Admittedly, the thought of Marie having to take care of matters here in the republic while I was gone made me seriously anxious.

 

***

 

That night, Leon took Angie and Livia out on the town. Supposedly they would be dining at a restaurant while they were at it. Marie suspected Angie and Livia didn’t want to eat any meal she’d prepared. She understood that, but it troubled her when they didn’t return.

“Why isn’t he back?!” she wailed.

“Because Livia and Angie said they don’t want to stay here,” said Cleare.

“They can stay wherever. Why doesn’t my brother at least come back?! I wanted to talk to him about my finances!”

Marie’s five idiots had made off with their entire budget. She had no idea how much would be left once they were through squandering it. Worst-case scenario, they would spend the rest of summer break penniless.

“I don’t know what plants are edible in this country!”

She knew the plants back home well enough to be able to forage on her own at least, but it was a different story in this foreign land. Marie had no idea if the grasses near their mansion were safe to eat.

“Rie, do you really mean to munch on whatever weeds are growing in the garden?” asked Cleare. “Well, whatever, you can’t hold it against the girls. Did you actually expect them to stay here? In the same place where you and His Highness are living?”

Julius was one of the many men Marie had enticed, thereby destroying his previous engagement to Angie. Given their past, it only stood to reason that Angie wouldn’t want to be around them.

“But they could at least stay at his residence,” Marie protested.

“Master said that was a no go on account of not having cleaned it yet, so they’re crashing in the Licorne for now. In the morning, he’ll hop on the Einhorn and be on his way back to the kingdom.”

Marie fell into despair. Some fine study abroad experience this was turning out to be. At this rate, she wasn’t even going to be able to enjoy summer break!

“Now what am I supposed to do?!”

Having sufficiently enjoyed Marie’s suffering, Cleare finally said, “Ding-dong. Master already knows your situation.”

“He does?!”

“Yes, and he said that since he’ll be away from the republic for a bit, he expects you to deal with anything that happens in the meantime.”

“What? That’s it? Ugh, you big idiot of a brother!”

Alas, her hopes were dashed. Leon hadn’t prepared any backup financial aid.

Cleare dropped something, and a heavy thump echoed.

Marie’s spine immediately straightened. “Wh-what is this?”

She opened the bag to discover that it was, wonder of wonders, filled with cash.

“Master said you’d probably need this for your expenses and the like.”

Marie threw her arms around the bag, nuzzling her cheek against it. “He’s the best brother ever!”

“Greedy as ever, I see,” Cleare said, exasperated. “Not that I dislike you for it. After all, it goes to show how pure the old human blood is in you! Far from disliking you, I adore you, Rie!”

The old humans had created both Luxion and Cleare as weapons, but their feelings were beyond Marie’s comprehension. She let the talk of blood and genetics go in one ear and out the other. The most important thing to her was finances, which was why she clung so desperately to the bag.

“Let my brother know he can leave everything to me,” said Marie. “The Six Great Houses are terrified of him after what he did, so I’m sure they won’t try anything.”

“Don’t forget: Danger comes when you least expect it. Anyway, I’ll be staying with you this time, so if anything does happen, I’ll be sure to pitch in.”

“What?” Marie blinked. “You’re staying?”

“Master was too worried to leave you on your own. I should warn you that I was originally an AI working in a research facility though, so don’t expect my capabilities to match Luxion’s.” Under her breath, Cleare muttered, “I really hope he returns as quickly as possible.”

However, Marie optimistically assumed that as long as Cleare was here, there would be no issues. She was convinced that the Six Great Houses were too terrified to act anyway, and there was a more pressing concern.

“I’m actually most worried about Noelle,” she said.

“That’s protag number two, right? Something happen with her?”

“Yeah, my brother broke her heart. I never dreamed she would fall for him.”

 

***

 

The next day, Lelia was flabbergasted when Noelle finally came out of her room with swollen eyes and a bad case of bedhead. Her hair always had a mind of its own, but this was particularly awful.

Noelle shyly stroked a hand over the tangles, forcing a smile. “It’s been so long that even my bed felt different. But since the sun is out today, I was thinking about doing some house cleaning.”

“Something happened, didn’t it?” Lelia asked.

“Nothing at all.”

They were sisters—twins, actually. Lelia could see right through that lie. In fact, she would’ve known something was wrong even if they weren’t related.

“If you don’t want to talk about it, I won’t force you, but I think you’ll feel better if you do.” Lelia handed her sister a cup of coffee. She froze for a split second when she noticed Noelle hiding the back of her right hand.

It was easy to guess why.

I can’t believe it. Did the Priestess’s Crest appear? But then…does that mean Leon is her partner?

The order in which the crests had appeared was strange, but they had appeared. In game terms, they had already cleared one of the hurdles. But Noelle’s behavior was worrying. Confused as she was, Lelia kept it from showing on her face.

Noelle covered her face with her left hand. “Lelia, you know our family’s legend, right? The one about the Priestess and the Guardian.”

Lelia sipped her coffee as she contemplated. That’s right, there was a story, wasn’t there?

Said legend played a pivotal role in the romantic plot of the second game. Ordinarily, the Priestess picked a man who would then become the Guardian. The Sacred Tree doled out many crests, but the most important—and most powerful—was given to the person the Priestess selected, hence the reason for the legend, narratively speaking.

“It’s said the person most suited to becoming the Guardian is someone who feels deeply for the priestess and whose affection she also returns in kind. Or something like that, right? That’s how Mom picked Dad, anyway.”

That’s right. Even though Albergue Rault was her intended, our mother picked a man outside of the Six Great Houses.

Lelia and Noelle’s father had been a commoner with no crest. Their mother had betrayed her engagement with Albergue to choose him. This had enraged Albergue, and in revenge, he had annihilated House Lespinasse. Or at least, that was how it was explained in the game.

Lelia could still remember how it had happened.

And thus, the protagonist meets her love interests at the academy, feelings blossom between them, and she’s able to pick the man she truly cares about to be the Guardian. Although we’ve kinda gone off track, since Leon’s already been chosen.

It was no wonder Lelia was so confused. It had never crossed her mind that Noelle might pick Leon—at least not until now.

“The truth is…I love Leon. But my feelings seem to be one-sided. I couldn’t bear to keep living there with them, so I came back,” Noelle admitted as she sobbed. Her gaze was glued to the back of her right hand. Her heart had taken an enormous blow. She clearly still hadn’t acknowledged that she’d received her crest.

Lelia couldn’t afford the same denial. I can’t decide whether this is a good thing or a bad thing.

She was happy that they finally had a Priestess and a Guardian, but Noelle was completely in the dumps. That made it hard to predict how the story would develop from here.

“Did you tell him how you feel?” asked Lelia. “He doesn’t seem like he’d be that popular with the girls. I bet if you told him, he’d jump for joy.”

Leon didn’t share the love interests’ good fortune in the looks department. Lelia also hadn’t heard of any romantic entanglements between him and any other girls, so she was pretty sure he was available.

Noelle shook her head. “He’s already engaged. And to two women, at that.”

“Two?!” Lelia spluttered. It was shocking enough to hear he had one fiancée. “O-oh. Well, I guess he is part of the nobility. Maybe that’s not all that odd for Holfortians.” All the while, she was beginning to second guess what she’d thought was common practice—namely, having only one partner.

Wait a sec. I’m pretty sure Holfort Kingdom’s supposed to be a matriarchy, right? Is reality somehow different from the game? I’d better check with Marie and Leon just to be sure.

“W-well, I understand the circumstances now at least. So what do you plan to do? It’s not good to dwell on things. Maybe you should look for someone else instead?” Inwardly, Lelia racked her brain over which love interest she might still feasibly pair her sister with.

Noelle shook her head. “Not right now. I don’t even want to think about romance.”

Sounds like this is pretty serious.

Lelia concluded that she would need to consult with Marie and Leon, but she couldn’t leave her sister alone in her current state. She would stick by Noelle’s side for the rest of the day.

 

***

 

Before making our way to Holfort’s capital, we dropped by my parents’ house. When my father came out to welcome me, he seized me by the shoulders and shook me.

“What in the world were you doing there in Alzer?! We were right to get you engaged before you left. Or maybe that was a mistake, actually. At any rate, why are you cheating on those girls?!”

If this was any indication, my family already knew about my suspected adultery.

You guys really have no faith in me. “I didn’t cheat. It was all a misunderstanding, okay?”

“You’re…not pulling my leg, right?”

Jenna—who had returned home since the academy was on break—came waltzing up as the two of us were speaking. “Hey, Leon, where’s my present?”

Finley, my younger sister, was right on her heels. She was petite, with short, curly hair and a hell of a glare. Presumably, she had also heard talk of my alleged two-timing.

“You are absolute garbage,” she said.

Why am I getting dragged through the mud? I told you guys it was a misunderstanding. I glared at Jenna.

“Wh-what? Don’t tell me your lechery would go so far!”

Even as a joke, that wasn’t funny. I was definitely not into incest. The only reason I eyed her at all was because I kept thinking about the girl back in the republic who had begged me to call her “Big Sis.” Her name was Louise, and she was as kind as she was dependable.

I averted my eyes from Jenna and mumbled, “I want an exchange.”

Her face grew red with rage. “What’s your problem?!” she snapped. “How dare you suddenly stare at me and speak of wishing to exchange me! You really have no manners. The republic must be a truly bizarre place if any of the women there are willing to have an affair with you.”

I snorted. “Oh, yeah? Well, what about you, dear sister? Find yourself a partner at the academy yet?”

Jenna trembled in place before stomping off, as if to escape my question. Finley followed close behind her, glancing back only once to stick her tongue out at me.

Knowing my sister, I was pretty sure she hadn’t found anyone. Seemed like I was right.

I grinned triumphantly as I watched her go. “I win this round.”

“Don’t antagonize her,” said my father with an exasperated sigh. “Jenna really does seem to be trying her best. The problem is the boys at the academy are on the defensive right now, warding off potential suitors. So there’s no one for her to pair off with.”

“What do you mean by ‘on the defensive’?”

“They’re all claiming that they’d rather marry someone who hasn’t been exposed to the academy’s previously poisonous ideology. Well, at any rate, I’ll marry her into one of our knight families, so she won’t be totally out of luck.”

In other words, he would pick a boy from one of the houses serving our family. Knights had their own lands—fiefs. Honestly, I balked at the idea.

“You’re going to force her on one of them? I pity the guy with that little luck.”

“D-don’t phrase it like that. I do plan to educate her properly beforehand.”

Yeah, “plan to” being the key words here. Considering Jenna’s attitude, he was fighting an uphill battle.

The one positive out of all of this was that the marriage situation seemed to be changing in the kingdom. I envied my underclassmen for that.

Although, I admit, I have two wonderful partners, so there’s nothing for me to begrudge.

“More importantly, His Majesty summoned you to the capital, didn’t he?” asked Father. “What did you do this time?”

“I wish you wouldn’t say it like I’m always getting myself into trouble. All I did was give some Alzerian noble’s son a good pounding. That’s all.”

“You know, sometimes I’m overcome with guilt and want to tell the king and queen how sorry I am for all the trouble you cause them.”

Well, that’s uncalled for. They’re the ones giving me trouble, I’ll have you know.

 

***

 

When I made my way to the capital, Roland was waiting to see me. Our meeting was more casual than not, since we didn’t use an audience chamber. He had some officials, as well as some knights to guard him. Miss Mylene was present too, but Roland seemed eager to do all of the talking. If his pale skin and disheveled hair were any indication, he was pretty fatigued. Apparently, they had been pretty busy here in the wake of the incident with the republic, and he made his indignation about that no secret.

“You look well, brat. Thanks to someone, I haven’t even had the time to sleep lately.”

“Oh, well I am doing amazing. Sleeping like a baby every night,” I said, smiling blithely.

Roland ground his teeth in frustration.

Yes! Good, good—just like that. I’ll be sleeping extra good tonight.

“We have been drowning in work because of you,” Roland spat. “You sure do love trouble.”

“The Alzerians picked the fight. I thought it would be rude to deny them.”

“What are you, some kind of barbarian? Who starts a war over a petty argument? You disappoint me.”

“Oh, thank you, Your Majesty! I so desperately wanted to see that exact expression on your face. That’s the whole reason I put so much effort in!”

Roland’s disappointment meant nothing to me. In fact, he’d never expected anything from me to begin with. That said, I had done this knowing it would vex him, so this reaction didn’t surprise me.

“I would love to send you to the gallows right this second.”

“My queen! Can you believe our king would say such a thing?!”

Panicked, Roland snarled under his breath, “You cowardly fiend.”

Mylene was clearly exasperated by the whole situation. “We cannot send the man who saved our Julius to the gallows. In fact, this is an excellent opportunity for us. We should prepare a reward for Leon—no, sorry, Lord Leon.”

What, I’m getting a reward?

Up until this point, I had climbed the social ladder at a ridiculous pace, but now I was an earl—and with a lower third court ranking at that. That was as high as I could go. Whatever this reward, it wouldn’t be further promotions at least, which was all the more reason to happily receive it for once.

Although the real question is: How did I ever end up at this rank to begin with? Even I found it odd.

Roland averted his eyes. He was pouting like a child, but since I was an adult, I let it slide.

“Thanks to you, we have had a chance to get detailed information on the republic’s inner workings,” Mylene continued. “I had heard they worshiped this Sacred Tree, but it seems it benefited them greatly in other ways as well.”

If that’s all you knew, weren’t we a little inexcusably ignorant before?

Suspicious as I found it, maybe that was only because I was accustomed to how things worked in my previous world. Correspondence in this world traveled at a snail’s pace. There was also the issue of credibility. There were so many rumors that it was hard to distinguish truth from fiction, so what reports did come in couldn’t be taken for granted. Apparently, since Miss Mylene trusted me personally, she put faith in the information I delivered.

Nothing could please me more.

“Now that the Feivels have lost power, I wonder how Rachel will react,” she said thoughtfully.

“Are you referring to the Holy Kingdom of Rachel?” I asked.

One of Holfort’s neighbors, the Holy Kingdom was a hostile nation involved in no small number of wars. They also had an embassy in the republic. Miss Mylene’s motherland was a small country on the other side of Rachel called the United Kingdom of Lepart. It was a collection of various states that had united to form a kingdom under three large families, of which Miss Mylene’s acted as the leaders. They had their own special circumstances and a convoluted system of government. But leaving that mess aside, Lepart had basically been founded because Rachel kept threatening to invade and no smaller country on its own had stood any chance of fending them off.

“Rachel has ties to the Feivels,” Miss Mylene explained, seeing the surprised on my face at the turn the conversation had taken. “Now that the Feivels have lost power, it’s possible they may try to rely on those connections. Or it could be that Rachel will try to approach one of the other houses instead.”

Ah, that’s what she means. Makes total sense. I frowned. “Wait. In that case, which family have we cozied up to?” No one had bothered to tell me.

Roland scowled. “No one in particular. At least not anymore. They’re gone now.”

“Do you mean the Lespinasses?”

Once, Alzer was ruled not by the Six Great Houses but the Seven Great Houses. Lelia and Noelle’s family, House Lespinasse, had traditionally served as chairmen of the assembly. However, about ten years ago, they had been wiped out by the Raults. That meant Miss Louise and Mr. Albergue had been involved. Neither of them had ever been unkind toward me, but it did leave a lump in my throat.

“We never made an alliance with any house thereafter, and the import of their magic stones ceased. Come to think of it, it’s been about a decade since then,” said Roland.

Miss Mylene’s brows drew together in contemplation. “Yes, it’s been over ten years since House Lespinasse fell. We need to find a new ally.”

Alzer made its fortune by exporting magic stones. For that very reason, Holfort wanted a solid (and substantial) pipeline through which they could receive their share. I understood their motivations. I tried to imagine who they might align themselves with, but I honestly had no idea. Politics were beyond me.

“Well, the Feivels are out of the question,” I said. That was the only thing I did know with any certainty. “You’ll have to pick one of the other five.”

Apparently (much to my relief), Miss Mylene didn’t intend to leave the matter entirely to me.

“We’ll be sending a diplomat regularly, so all you’ll have to do is support them while they’re in the republic. I hear the heirs of the Six Great Houses are attending the academy, so if you could share any information on them, we would be most appreciative. We’ll also arrange matters so that you will be cleared to move freely while you’re in the republic. If anything untoward does occur, we leave it to you to handle it however you see fit.”

We weren’t in a public venue, but Miss Mylene was still being more formal than usual. She was completely in work mode. Bit disappointing, to tell you the truth. But if she asked this of me, I had no choice but to oblige. After all, I was both an earl and a knight of Holfort. Disobedience wasn’t an option.

“As you wish,” I said.

“Now hold on!” Roland interjected. “Why did you look utterly disgusted when I made a request, but when Mylene does, you’re all smiles?!”

The answer should be obvious enough. I snorted. “Perhaps it has to do with how you regularly conduct yourself? You should really learn to take your work more seriously, Your Majesty.”

The other officials and knights standing on guard nodded firmly in agreement. In fact, some of them shot me expectant looks, hoping I would lecture the king more. Jeez, how much did this guy slack off, anyway?