Although Orgueil was persistent, he comfortably sat cross-legged on the sofa [in my living room] as he was drinking the tea that he apparently poured himself, looking like he was completely at home.
He was wearing a knight’s outfit during the day, and so he changed his outfit into what seemed to be civilian clothes. He was wearing plain white shirt and black tight trousers along with a pair of black boots, it was really simple, but the high-quality of the outfit stood up.
–No, I couldn’t be fascinated by him.
I rebuked myself who was about to be thoughtlessly fascinated.
It could be said that we were in the early evening, but normally, it was just a time when dinner was over, the time for children to be sleeping. Wouldn’t this be a breach of manners for a male to be visiting a female’s room around this time without any urgent business, then relaxing at home as he liked?
There were no maids. In any case, it seemed that it was because Orgueil told them that he would be serving himself or that he had an important matter to talk about.
I had a problem with the maids letting him pass through my room without my consent, I wanted to say that, but it couldn’t be helped. They would obey my orders if I were there, but if I weren’t there, they wouldn’t have any choice other than [obey] Orgueil’s words. He himself was considered to be able to freely utilize his demon-like beauty that there was no way to deal with it. Although his rank in the army was no more than a [Colonel] (I was sure that there were circumstances about it), Orgueil was below the Gladius’ governance, and didn’t he hold the authority right after the three dukes? I secretly thought.
“…I just had a long, leisure bath that my body was relaxed. It was such a good bath. All that’s left is a good sleep.”
I said as I continued to wipe my head with a large dry cloth. I tried to imply quite blatantly that I wanted him to just return, but he only looked back at me calmly.
Won’t he understand it unless I said it clearly? Or was he ignoring my intention?
…It was definitely the latter.
“What business do you have at this hour, Orgueil?”
I tried to clearly ask him.
I could tell that the usually expressionless Orgueil turned slightly sullen. He was a bit scary. No, considerably scary.
But I tried to not lose heart.
“I don’t want to get sick after taking a bath. If it’s urgent, then please keep it brief. If we can talk it out tomorrow, then please postpone it until then.”
Well said, me!
“—I heard from his Excellency and thought that you might be restless, so I came here to inquire your condition.”
Orgueil’s expression didn’t change. There was no sign of him leaving his seat, either.
…My courage abruptly vanished.
I obediently sat opposite of him as I poured my portion of the tea as if I was going with the flow.
“…What did you hear? And restless?”
“About what happened inside the returning carriage. When you were alone with him, you had a deep talk, didn’t you?”
Just how far did he know?
Besides, it wasn’t that deep of a talk. Something else was going deep. Really, Leon-sama was a brute.
As I was silently sipping the tea, I felt like Orgueil standing up.
‘Is he finally returning?’ so I thought, but he turned behind me instead, picking up the cloth I used to wipe my hair.
“Orgueil?”
“…You shouldn’t carelessly treat your beautiful hair like that.”
Saying that, he began to dry my hair a hundred times more careful and thoroughly than me.
The cloth was very big, and as long as we were to change the way we held it, we won’t run out of dry part. He diligently dried my hair.
I couldn’t calm down when I realized that it was somehow quite intimate for someone to let someone else holding one’s hair, but his hand movement was as precise as a first-rate beautician, and it was also as polite as it could even be said as respectful. In the end, I decided to let him continue and closed my eyes. Actually, it felt really comfortable.
“—Duke Odile seemed to be quite interested in Riviere-sama.”
Orgueil said with a calm voice after a peaceful silence.
“After that, there was an uproar in Duke Odile’s castle that made it seem as if it was a beehive. The rumor had it that the straight-laced duke fell in love at first sight with the princess.”
“…About that, Orgueil.”
I was feeling good and dazed, and if possible, I wanted this kind of atmosphere to go on, so I tried to hold back other emotions as much as I could.
–Right. I might as well ask Orgueil more about it. It appeared that Orgueil came here with the intention of answering my questions. Most likely Orgueil thought that Leon-sama’s explanation to me—which caused my rationality to disappear—was too short. I agreed. I had heard the shocking circumstances of the three dukes’ marriages, but I was so shocked that I couldn’t remember it afterward. I also couldn’t remember what led to Leon-sama’s sudden ‘attack’.
“…You told me during my study that the marriage circumstances of this world, or rather, those under the Gladius sovereign was basically a monogamy, right?”
“That’s right.”
“By ‘basically’, it means that there are exceptions, so you said at that time, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Since the governance isn’t a monarchial system, there is no such thing as concubines, but when I asked if there are lovers or second wives, and you told me that it was just as I said, right?”
“Exactly.”
“Then, why…”
I desperately endured my own voice that was unintentionally becoming restless as I continued to talk, still without turning around to look at Orgueil who was behind me.
“…Why didn’t you tell me that the three dukes would be sharing one wife?”
I asked while staring straight ahead where no one was there, as I tightened my fists that I put on top of my lap.
