By Zephyria It wasn’t that I dared to think of meeting Mikael alone.
It was late April in the second year of the Ruberian Calendar. The main avenues of the Sierran capital had separate paths for carriages and pedestrians. Each was wide enough for three carriages to pass at once, so they were always spacious, even with many people.
But today, the space between people was so narrow that shoulders brushed even when standing still.
Except for me.
He hadn’t arrived on a Wyvern, but he appeared before me with a startling suddenness, and I stared blankly. He gave a casual nod as if it were natural, yet he didn’t leave my side.
Today, Mikael was as breathtakingly magnificent as ever. When I had seen him before, he seemed to be dressed more simply and lightly, but seeing him perfectly adorned from head to toe naturally inspired awe.
The shirt he wore was a pale cream color that suited his healthy complexion, and over it, he wore a dove-gray vest and jacket, densely embroidered with silver thread. The way the pleats were made, the way the cravat was tied—he looked as if he had stepped right out of the latest fashion magazine.
How many nobles walked the capital? The Sieran Citizens, who usually went about their business without paying much mind to ordinary people, stopped and stared, as if bewitched like Sylphs seeing a bird’s egg, following him in a daze, then stopping again, then following again.
As a result, a circle had formed around Mikael and me…
My words caught in my throat, and I barely managed to greet him. It was incredibly difficult to compose myself.
Of course, I had heard the news of Mikael’s safe return.
It hadn’t been long since Ivan had excitedly rushed out to meet his friends and returned, but it was more due to the word-of-mouth from the capital’s residents. These days, whenever three or more Sieran Citizens gathered, they spoke of Lord Ernhardt’s splendid return.
“They say it’s really that Lord Michael Ernhardt who has returned. Apparently, as soon as he entered the capital, he declared to the Emperor that he would be his man. No, no, he said he would be the Imperial Consort. Isn’t that the same thing? I knew it from the moment I saw him on stage. There was definitely something between those two. They say he’s receiving the Grimsbein Territory and will become a Duke. Oh my, he just finished fighting monsters and is going to fight more? That must be tough.”
Hearing such things, I had also looked forward to seeing Mikael myself soon.
It was thanks to Sienna, who had returned to the capital recently with the transparently self-serving remark about whether her child could receive a title.
Ivan, with many thoughts about a child not yet born, had begun attending all sorts of couples’ gatherings as soon as he decided to adopt Sienna’s child. He said he needed to build connections in advance for his future child.
So, if the Emperor and Mikael officially became an item, I thought vaguely that Ivan would eventually drag me along to pay our respects to Mikael.
But, but, even so.
Isn’t meeting Mikael alone too overwhelming? And so suddenly?
If I could, I wanted to disappear right now. I should have stayed quietly at home.
Mikael’s clear voice cut through the air, striking my ears.
“Where is Ivan? Why are you out here alone?”
“Th-that, well. He’s gone to the Marquisate of Antines on an errand. I, ah, I thought I would be in the way, so I said I had another errand and came out, came out…”
The Marquisate of Antines was the Emperor’s maternal family. Ivan, who had extensively utilized the Second Prince’s connections since the current Emperor was the Second Prince, acted as the Empress Dowager’s right-hand man and frequented her family’s estate as if it were his own. However, because the Marquisate of Antines was particularly conservative, strict with etiquette, and even held aristocratic supremacist tendencies, Ivan often went alone when conducting official business there.
Today, it just so happened to be one of those days.
Mikael’s gaze slowly swept from the top of my head to my toes. Unconsciously, I spread my feet shoulder-width apart and clasped my hands behind my back. Looking into the hero Mikael’s eyes, which sparkled blue as he wished to raise everyone, including himself, into excellent knights, my neck stiffened.
“It seems you haven’t done any training since I left.”
As if I could have.
Mikael’s expression was as benevolent as ever today, but cold sweat trickled down my back. However, if I made excuses about being too busy with work, the answer would inevitably be that exercise is something one must make time for. If I honestly replied that I could live well without exercise because I was strong and could lift things easily, I would have to endure a long lecture about how it was fine now because I was young, but it would be a disaster once I passed forty.
Instead of making further excuses, I meekly lowered my eyes.
“…A little.”
“A little?”
“Yes, well, occasionally…”
I, who only exercised by walking and in bed, sold my conscience for a moment. Fortunately, Mikael, who was about to become the Imperial Consort, didn’t seem like he would make me do a chair exercise in the middle of the street.
“What errand are you going on?”
It was the question I had been waiting for. I needed to quickly say I was busy and escape. I replied promptly.
“I’m going to get a gem appraisal certificate and a guarantee. If there’s a guarantee that even gems that already have appraisal certificates have been re-verified several times, their value increases significantly.”
“Ah, appraisal certificates. Then you’re heading to the jewelry district.”
“Yes. And, Duke…?”
“I’m going that way too. Let’s go together.”
No.
But my desperate refusal had no effect whatsoever.
To Mikael, I might have looked so weak that I could roll to the end of the street with just a snap of his fingers, but I was a grown man who had grown up, or rather, exceptionally large compared to the norm. In broad daylight like this, I sometimes hunched my shoulders to appear as harmless as possible so as not to frighten passersby.
Even Ivan didn’t bother escorting me unless he was playing a prank.
Why this person. Why.
I walked beside Mikael, who narrowed his stride as if escorting a petite woman, and swallowed my tears inwardly. I tried to broaden my shoulders to look like an escort knight, but it was useless. Mikael occasionally looked back at me like a guardian worried about losing a dog that had wandered off without a leash.
After enduring the silence for a long time, I tried to make small talk.
“Ah. Speaking of which… Baroness Vikoff is still newly married, isn’t she?”
I gained nothing from it.
Fortunately, Mikael’s curiosity wasn’t about the hot and secret private lives of newlyweds.
Lately, whenever I thought of couples, I found myself having lewd thoughts. I mentally chided myself, or rather, Ivan Bikoff, who had made me this way, and answered all his questions diligently.
Sierran was a wealthy nation. Naturally, people of a certain wealth, regardless of age or gender, wore a lot of jewelry.
While men generally preferred large, deeply colored gems, and women preferred small, brilliantly sparkling ones, this was merely a distinction based on their facial features, impressions, and the weight of gems they could bear.
However, it was different for meaningful gems.
I glanced at the box Mikael held protectively in his arms. If it were Pink Diamond Rough for wedding rings, there would be a pair, and they were described as irregularly round. If the box alone was that size, each could be three to five carats. If the Princess herself had gone to the trouble of finding them, it would be difficult to find gems that matched her status.
We arrived at the painting workshop while discussing such things. Now, I would watch Mikael commission the rings, offer some service, finish my own tasks, and then flee home. Then I would complain to Ivan, asking how he could leave me alone on a day like this, and then lie on his lap.
But my perfect plan went awry once more.
It was still early evening, and the bedroom, illuminated by six Magic Lamps, was as bright as midday.
I tightly embraced my husband’s waist, rubbed my forehead against his lower abdomen, and chattered about my day.
How embarrassing it was to walk beside Mikael, who was leading people down the street, how much I sweated while suddenly dropping underground and walking into the Dragon’s Lair, how I was so tense that I couldn’t move a finger, fearing I would step on gold and treasures by mistake and ruin them, leading to ruin and begging by tomorrow…
As I poured out my words, the gentle hand stroking my hair from the back of my head and the occasional laughter that fell on my crown finally put my mind at ease. Ivan, who listened to my story with a wide smile, started with a teasing joke.
“So you earned fifty thousand gold in half a day? Amazing. I came back empty-handed again today.”
“Is that what’s important? I just spent half the day caught up in Mikael’s chaotic Dragon’s Lair expedition!”
“Haha, that friend of yours wouldn’t let you do anything dangerous.”
“…”
“Ouch. Did you bite me? You’ve become a naughty puppy.”
I pretended to bite his dry stomach through his shirt, but finding nothing in my mouth, I lowered my mouth further. I buried my lips in the round, protruding hip bone and bit his thigh, which had the most flesh, and Ivan soon cried out.
“Ah, ah. That really hurts this time. I’m sorry.”
“…”
“Should I tell him not to kidnap you next time?”
“…”
“Right, it wasn’t a kidnapping. Our pretty puppy bravely guided the way on two feet.”
Shaking my head, the hand that had been stroking me gently suddenly grabbed my hair. I gasped. My head was pulled up.
Ivan, his eyes still crinkled with laughter, kissed my lips, smack, smack*, twice. Seeing my husband smile with the pureness of a boy made my chest ache.
The hand that held my hair slowly slid down my nape.
“So, what did you bring me as a gift? Show me.”
“…”
“No, not with your hands. You have to bring it with your mouth. It’s a gift.”
“…”
“You won’t answer?”
“…Woof.”
Instead of barking in the middle of the street, I now barked diligently in front of my husband. I found the watch I had brought home and tightly wrapped like a ball and brought it to my mouth.
Brown eyes were common, but they had many variations. This was the first time I had seen a topaz the exact same color as Ivan’s eyes.
He would surely be pleased. And today, he would give me a good reward.
Still, it was a great relief.
Ivan, Marianne, Lord Benjamin, and the Emperor—countless people who had missed and waited for Mikael had wiped away their tears and regained their smiles. They could see with their own eyes the smiles sent to you by the people you protected, and hear with their own ears the praises sent to you.
I couldn’t stop smiling, as if a long-held dream had come true.
I hope he remains happy for a long, long time, just like I am now.
Preferably, from a little distance away from me.
—Third Story, When People Are Happy, Even Dogs Dance 完