MB Chapter 26

Better to show than tell.

Rather than answering with words, Goiyo called Wortien out.

Droplets of water materialized in the air, swelling into roundness, expanding until they formed a sleek and sinuous body. The shape of the whale she summoned every day was familiar to her now—and yet something felt faintly wrong.

'Has it grown since this morning?'

While Goiyo was gauging the whale's size in her mind, Razine's mouth fell open and her face flushed pink.

"Good heavens, it's a spirit! For the—first time, I'm seeing one, the first time!"

"You said you had never witnessed magic before."

"Yes, magic for the first time! But a spirit—really, truly, for the very first time!"

The plainly ecstatic knight peered at the whale from every angle, then suddenly her expression hardened.

"...But is it all right to show me? The spirit, I mean—it is a precious gift, is it not?"

"So I've heard. But this little one can't even extinguish a candle."

"Pardon?"

"It can snuff out a matchstick, but that is of little value. It's merely something rare and lovely to look at. And I've only been summoning it for about a month, in fact."

Running her fingertips along the whale's fin, Goiyo recalled something Entzi had said.

He had told her that this whale would one day be capable of considerably advanced magic. At the encouragement to look forward to it, Goiyo had smiled faintly and nodded—but then again.

Goiyo had no later.

"Even if Wortien were to grow stronger, it would make little difference, in truth."

"Wortien is its name! Then... might you use it to escape some unforeseen threat?"

"I rarely leave the mansion as it is. The sort of thing from hero novels doesn't happen in real life."

"I see." Razine nodded, looking sheepish.

For a moment Goiyo's concentration wavered, and the whale rippled and dissolved into nothing. The knight let out a small, regretful sigh.

"Even so, for small occasions like earlier, it seems quite useful. I don't imagine anyone will be throwing tea at My Lady again."

"Thank you."

After that, Razine asked about Wortien at length—how Goiyo had summoned it, how large it had been at first, what would happen as time went on, how far the magic could reach.

True to someone who had followed a stranger all the way to her mansion out of sheer fascination with magic, Razine's questions were both deep and varied.

It was a type of conversation Goiyo had never had before, and though it was somewhat taxing, she found it equally enjoyable. She had, after all, developed at least a small measure of affection for the little whale she had summoned.

Razine's questions wound their way until they arrived at how one might make Wortien grow more quickly—something Goiyo had actually heard from Entzi on that very subject.

"Having a clear goal works well, apparently. I myself don't approach it with much enthusiasm—I mostly just summon it and watch it. I don't feel any particular drive to do something with it."

"Hmm, then—what about entering a hunting competition?"

"A hunting competition?"

Goiyo repeated the words, caught off guard.

"Yes—for the first time in quite a while, the imperial house is to open the Ramona Forest in February."

It was normally a place with restricted access for the sake of ecological preservation, but whenever something auspicious occurred within the empire, the imperial house would periodically open the Ramona Forest.

Set aside the Avalanche, and the Ramona Forest was said to be home to the most diverse array of living creatures in the empire—a place so mysterious and beautiful that legends persisted of mermaids dwelling at the bottom of its lake.

"Even if you don't hunt, merely going to observe should be quite fine. Only gentle animals inhabit the forest's entrance—rabbits, deer—and in practice many people go simply for the scenery."

"But I'm not a knight."

"You need only submit an application. The only privilege of being a knight is not needing to."

After a brief hesitation, Goiyo spoke slowly.

"I'll... think about it."

"Please let me know if you decide to participate—I could assist you every single day."

"That wouldn't be right; you have your own schedule."

"Oh, I'm a freelance knight, so please don't worry about that! If I can keep seeing the spirit, that would be the greater honor."

A freelance knight—meaning she had no affiliation? Goiyo blinked, and the knight gave a wry smile.

"I've been placed at a few establishments, but was expelled from all of them. It seems I can't free myself from a certain reputation."

"A reputation?"

"Yes, well... looking like this, I tend to be popular with women. Most of them take me for a man, and once they learn I'm a woman they generally go away—but a handful of them, well..."

Goiyo watched the awkward smile on Razine's face, understood, and gave a small nod.

Entzi had returned briefly to the mansion to retrieve something he had left behind, and stopped short just as he was about to pass through the front gate.

What caught his eye was the carriage being serviced—the one he'd used to bring his wife to the tea party, which had apparently already returned to the mansion.

Has it really been that long? Entzi glanced briefly at the clock. It was barely past noon.

Intending to go straight to his rooms without the bother of greeting anyone, he instead called over Lukurue, who was attending to his work in the parlor. The butler was wholly unsurprised—such things happened all the time.

"The carriage that Goiyo took is outside."

"Ah, the master has also returned early."

"There was something I left behind. Only briefly."

"My Lady returned early as well. She has brought a guest with her—I haven't had occasion to inquire as to the reason yet—but she is in the drawing room at present."

A guest? At his puzzled look, Lukurue added an explanation.

"Yes—a very tall, handsome knight. It has been some time since I've seen a uniform look so well on someone."

Tall. Handsome.

They were words very much familiar to Entzi Bethelgius—and yet, for some reason, those familiar words made him feel faintly put out.

Forgetting even the documents he had come to retrieve, Entzi pushed open the drawing room door in a few long strides. The motion was not particularly careful, but the money spent without restraint meant the door swung open smoothly all the same.

His wife and her 'guest' were seated across from each other on the drawing room sofa, deep in conversation—so absorbed that they had not even noticed a new person enter.

Without making any particular sound, Entzi moved around behind Goiyo—and as he did, caught the eye of the 'guest.'

Long black hair. Clean and striking features. The eyebrows were on the thicker side, but not heavy, and the sky-blue eyes looked very clear.

Light-colored eyes and long hair—but in terms of coloring, somewhat reminiscent of Therio Alte. No—to say that might be an insult.

"You are indeed quite handsome."

'Handsome, indeed.'

His wife had no eye for these things. His mood turned faintly perverse, and Entzi reached from behind to draw Goiyo's shoulders into an embrace.

He must have genuinely surprised her, for Goiyo's shoulders gave a startled jolt. Entzi settled his chin on her straight shoulders and continued.

"Wife, an open liaison within the mansion is rather inconvenient."

"Entzi?"

Having said it, he sensed the phrasing was somewhat off, and amended himself.

"Outside the mansion, of course, is also not permitted."

"When did you arrive—no, what on earth are you saying?"

"My innocent wife. I know. They approached you under the guise of harmlessness and goodwill—but the sort of knights who work that way, in this world..."

"This person is a woman."

Entzi blinked slowly. A woman?

Looking again now, the bone structure and frame did appear somewhat smaller. It was not as though someone with his eye for detail could genuinely have made such a mistake.

'A very tall, handsome knight.'

Lukurue Alto. Picturing the face of the butler who had deliberately withheld the gender, Entzi let the corners of his mouth slowly curve.

"It was a joke."

"And you expect me to believe that?"

"It is a sad thing, a marriage without trust."

"You were the one who didn't trust my judgment first."

"So I shall endeavor to question my own from now on."

'To think Lukurue had been infected by Kolave.'

Entzi released his arm and moved around the sofa to settle beside Goiyo. Razine, who had watched the bewildering scene unfold in silence, was at last able to make herself known.

"Ah—so you are Marquess Bethelgius."

"That's right. Marquess Bethelgius himself."

"Razine is a guest I invited," Goiyo said. "We met at the tea party, and somehow the conversation turned to magic, so I invited her back to talk."

"Of course, you may invite guests freely."

Noticing that Goiyo seemed to be reading his mood a little anxiously, Entzi said this deliberately, without reservation. He wanted to append the footnote that male guests were preferable to avoid—but suppressed even that.

He extended a hand toward the knight, who was blinking at him.

"Entzi Bethelgius."

"Ah—it is an honor to meet you. Razine Eliom."

He was about to think that even the name was ambiguous, when the surname reached his ears. Eliom?

The face of a man who had been made to kneel before him, voice breaking, flashed briefly through his mind.

A cold light passed through the gray of his eyes—only for a moment. Then the familiar mask settled back into place, and Entzi smiled as he always did.

"A pleasure, Dame Eliom."

Razine Eliom left not long after Entzi arrived.

He was a celebrated magic swordsman, and Goiyo had expected Razine to become flustered with excitement and pepper him with questions about magic—but unexpectedly, Razine seemed somewhat ill at ease in Entzi's presence. Perhaps his striking appearance had been overwhelming.

After Razine left, Entzi also returned to the imperial palace to retrieve his documents and came back in the early evening.

After dinner, the two sat at the table beside the garden and shared a glass of wine. The topic that arose as accompaniment was the proposal Razine Eliom had made.

"A hunting competition?"

"Yes, I received an invitation of sorts. Though with an ability that cannot even extinguish a candle, it seems rather hopeless."

"Having a goal tends to accelerate growth—it's not a bad idea. Opening the Ramona Forest is a rare occasion; taking the opportunity to see it would be worthwhile as well."

Participate?

The hunting competition was scheduled for February, less than two months away. Goiyo had naturally expected Entzi to discourage her.

Because there was no way a baby whale that struggled to hunt candles could hunt a living, moving creature.

'Do spirits really grow that quickly?'

Lost in thought, Goiyo heard Entzi speak.

"I prefer rabbits."

"Pardon?"

"Deer or squirrels are also acceptable."

"Surely... you want me to bring one back?"

"It is a hunting competition, is it not?"

I'll prepare a handkerchief. I'll try to find one that isn't too elaborate. He spoke as though her participation had already been decided. Was he telling her to try everything she wanted before she died?

With a vague, trailing unease, Goiyo answered in kind.

"I'll try, if it comes to that."

"Thank you. By the way, Goiyo—what was it that brought you home so early today?"

The subject she had been choosing the right moment to raise, Entzi brought up himself.

Goiyo was now Lady Bethelgius. She could not simply swallow significant matters on her own and decide that they were fine.

Since it needed to be said, Goiyo gave a brief account of the Lanthe Prityl affair—from the mockery at the tea party through to Lanthe departing with a face drenched in tea.

"The Prityl Marquisate has always been that way. The family as a whole has a severe aristocratic superiority complex—people who believe commoners exist to be used. Now that you mention it, it seems they've had something of a falling out with Rubiette lately... Did anything beyond talk about me cause you any trouble?"

Apparently already acquainted with Marquess Prityl, Entzi's expression was unhurried.

At his question, Goiyo thought back over the events—but the target of the mockery had been largely Entzi, and the thrown tea had soaked an unintended face. She had suffered no real harm.

"No. It was roundabout, but it amounted to mocking me as a social climber who had married into a newly wealthy household."

"...Pardon? A social climber?"

"Never mind that for now. As you said, Miss Prityl has always been that sort of person. She can't stand those of higher rank than herself, and those who are incompetent. I have the standing of a firstborn daughter of a ducal house but am incompetent—so I was easy prey."

Entzi's eyebrow tilted ever so slightly.

"Remarkably poor judgment, I must say. By that reasoning, shouldn't Therio Alte have been the first one she went after?"