6. Back to the Imperial Capital (2)

Morning dawned.

Rupert grasped and swung his original weapon that he had sought out immediately upon arriving at Delvon.

“Ah, it fits perfectly in my hand.”

Though the sword given by House Kramer was certainly top-tier, it couldn’t compare to one he had grown accustomed to over a long time.

Putting the sword back in its scabbard and strapping it to his waist, Rupert left the room. As he headed toward the main building, a servant approached him.

“Sir, the young master calls for you.”

“Young master?”

“Yes.”

Rupert found Sage’s sudden summons strange but just raised an eyebrow once and headed to the office.

It was time to return to guard duty in front of Saena’s room, but it should be fine since she would still be with Duke Kramer. Honestly, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say she was safer with the Duke than under his protection.

Tick-tick. At the casual knock, a voice told him to enter. Going inside, he met eyes with Sage who was, for some reason, pulling at his own hair.

“I need to go guard Lady Saena. Please get to the point quickly.”

“Hey, Sir Carrot. Could this be real?”

Real? What? He said to get to the point but at least make it understandable.

“Young master, I’m not Sir Carrot.”

“Is that important right now? Is this situation real?!”

So what’s… ah, he must have seen Yolly.

Rupert had only found out just before coming to Delvon. How shocked he had been then.

“You saw it yourself, didn’t you? Did that Guardian Spirit look fake to you?”

“Our Saya… why did she have to meet such a troublesome beast…”

He only wanted his younger sister to live peacefully and happily.

Perhaps that’s why Sage felt like all this complicated situation she got involved in was because of meeting that Yolly fellow. In some sense it showed sharp perception, but there was no one to reveal that truth to him.

Meanwhile, Rupert found it fascinating.

Other families would have cheered with both hands raised if an Oathkeeper appeared in their family, but everyone in House Debov just frowned. Though it wasn’t incomprehensible.

Rupert also liked Saena quite a bit, so he wished for her to live as she wanted rather than have special abilities.

“What good does pulling your hair out here do? Why not make plans instead?”

“Ha, plans…”

Sage trailed off with a sigh. Looking at him, it seemed he was doing something.

Thinking that was enough confirmation, Rupert decided to switch off his attention right away. He was a physical type, not a brain type after all.

“More importantly, tell me honestly.”

“Yes?”

“Has Duke Kramer mistreated our Saena, or has anyone in that household been mean to her? Has there been anything that made Saena upset or hurt her feelings? Anything at all.”

Ah. So this was the purpose. The reason for calling him.

The young master hasn’t changed.

“There hasn’t been anything like that. I believe she’s been living well. If anything, His Grace’s affection is excessive enough to be problematic.”

Though there was a somewhat uncomfortable period in the middle, couples can’t always just have good times, right?

Rupert quickly erased that part from his mind, not wanting to tell tales about the lady’s private life that she probably wouldn’t like, and because he had no intention of tattling about her personal matters.

“Problem? What kind of problem?”

“No, how is excessive affection a problem? Please listen properly, okay?”

“You’re the one who said it was a problem!”

“Ah, you need to read the context! Did you really study more than me?!”

“You carrot-head…!”

A scene formed where Sage chased after Rupert trying to smack his back while Rupert ran away. It was a familiar scene.

Clicking his tongue at Sage who only called him to pry into his sister’s private life, Rupert quickly escaped from the office.

Though there was nothing wrong with what he said, there was no guarantee he wouldn’t get hit.

* * *

Saena woke up in a familiar room, and in familiar arms.

But the combination of those two wasn’t quite familiar.

Because she had just woken up in the room she used before marriage.

“……”

The sight of a tall man with disheveled white hair sleeping on the bed that had been so naturally hers alone for such a long time felt strange.

However, it wasn’t an unpleasant feeling.

‘Is this why he wanted to sleep in this room?’

Due to the noble custom of usually assigning separate rooms even for married couples, Uz the head butler had naturally assigned quite an excellent room to Constantine.

‘That’s fine. I’ll stay in the same room as my wife.’

‘…Pardon?’

‘Saya, let’s stay together in your original room.’

‘What? My room?’

‘Yes. Won’t you show me around? I’m quite curious.’

When he insisted on wanting to stay in the room she used before marriage, she thought there was no particular reason to refuse.

‘Ah, your scent is permeated everywhere.’

It wasn’t a particularly remarkable room.

Other than having quite a lot of Guardian Spirit-related decorations which made it somewhat unique, it was honestly a rather austere room compared to other noble ladies’ rooms.

But his eyes brightened while looking around every corner, and upon reaching the bed, even blushed. Then he got excited at some point she couldn’t understand and drove her hard all night long.

Right here on this bed.

Saena unconsciously blushed as she recalled last night.

“Ah!”

At that moment, her waist was suddenly grabbed and pulled toward him.

He had awakened at some point and was looking down at her with a languid smile.

“Why is my wife blushing?”

His hand grabbed her calf and traced up along the curve.

“Was last night… not enough?”

“…Ah, no!”

It was always excessive if anything, never insufficient.

“But your face clearly shows lewd thoughts.”

It wasn’t wrong but it felt strange to agree.

“That’s not it, I just remembered how intense you were yesterday…”

“So, was it bad?”

“That’s not it…”

“Then it was good?”

If she left this solid body pressing warmly against her alone, she would undoubtedly be unable to leave the bed again.

Though Saena had become quite bold recently, it was still embarrassing to roll around in bed with her husband until midday and then face her family.

“Not here… It’s morning.”

“Just a little more…”

“Later when we get to our home, okay?”

Saena urgently whispered while holding back his attempts to burrow deeper. At that, he suddenly stiffened, then abruptly covered his face with his large palm.

“Our…, haah…”

Though she could feel his body getting very excited as if something strange had triggered him again, fortunately he didn’t seem to intend to continue.

“Alright. We’ll do the rest at ‘our home’. Be prepared to receive double.”

“…What do you want to do?”

Constantine just smiled mysteriously.

Finally escaping the bed, washing up and changing clothes, the two dispersed for their respective schedules.

Constantine said he would meet with Sage to inspect Delvon’s knights, troops, and defense system, and examine the territory’s key routes together.

While he went out first since he could prepare to go out more freely, Saena called in maids to help her get ready.

“Will you wear this dress?”

“Then for accessories…”

“For the hair ornament, this one…”

The maids’ faces showed joy as they busily moved about helping to dress Saena.

With no female direct-line members left to dress up after Saena got married, they likely had no one to focus on. The maids seemed delighted to finally have someone to dress up again after such a long time.

Except for one person.

“You, what’s your name?”

“Ah, I’m Amy.”

“Amy… Ah, it’s you?”

“…Pardon?”

“Weren’t you the one who always did my hair before?”

“Ah… Yes, my lady.”

She had stood out right away because unlike the other maids, she kept glancing and observing her. She had been planning to call her in to see her anyway, and here she appeared right in front of her.

“Would you perhaps be interested in moving your workplace to the Kramer mansion with me?”

“…What?”

“I think you’re very good at styling hair. I don’t mean the northeastern territory but the townhouse. It won’t be difficult since you only need to work while I’m in the Imperial Capital. What do you think?”

“Th-thank you!”

Saena smiled slightly at the maid’s acceptance.

The maid named Amy kept exclaiming words of gratitude with round eyes as if she couldn’t believe this luck that had befallen her, while the other maids wore envious expressions. Their eyes showed they secretly hoped she would offer the same to them.

But Saena only offered it to Amy and sent the maids out as soon as she finished getting ready.

‘It’s too early to be grateful.’

It wasn’t something to envy either.

She was taking Amy the maid for a purpose.

‘If she just does her job properly she’ll live, but if she tries anything unnecessary again…’

She will face the consequences.

Saena recalled Elizabeth’s investigation results she had read before.

The more she learned about her, the more shocking it was.

[The investigator has traces of secretly inquiring about House Debov’s young lady 3 years ago. Collected data on personality, tendencies, position within the family and relationships etc.]

She knew the approach had been intentional but didn’t know it was this thoroughly planned.

[Evidence suggests one of House Debov’s maids was bribed. Found evidence of continuous meetings between a maid named Amy and the investigator’s maid.]

Amy. The very maid Saena just spoke with.