The Abandoned Duchess Seems to Want a Peaceful Life - Chapter 176

 Chapter 176: Eating Around the Stalls and the Alchemist’s Request

After peering at stalls and enjoying brief chats with familiar faces, they returned to the serving booth, where Alexis and the others had already come back.

Or rather, it was probably more accurate to say they had accumulated so much luggage that they could no longer move. On a cloth spread over the ground was piled a great quantity of things whose purpose was not entirely clear, and the two boys were in a state of excitement.

“Aunt Marie, this is apparently a Romana charm against evil. Serleine, Aunt Melfina, and Aunt Marie all bought matching ones for me!”

“Sister, this is apparently a spice rare even in Romana. They said it was cheap enough that it wasn’t included in the lord’s residence’s cargo, so I bought some for you and Simon.”

“This is a set of seashells. I had never seen shells before, but the insides are like jewels—they’re beautiful, aren’t they?”

“This is an old book collecting stories handed down in the east. They said it wasn’t for sale, but they would let me have it specially.”

The two boys happily showed off their spoils, and more followed: a stole with glittering beads sewn onto it, small carved leather goods, and so on.

All of them were things rarely seen in the Enkar region—expensive but not stiff or formal, stylish items that stimulated the desire to buy. It was not hard to understand why the two, who had surely been raised surrounded by first-rate things, had become so absorbed.

“There’s no way they could have bought all this with the pocket money we gave them.”

She turned her gaze not to the two who were showing her one thing after another, but to Alexis and August behind them.

“Well, the two of them looked like they were having fun, so it’s fine. The merchants were kind, too, and it was all shopping far better value than the market rate. I think this Romana caravan really did its best.”

“It is a good thing to encounter something you like. This is my first time attending a festival like this, but it is not bad at all.”

At the two of them, not showing the slightest trace of guilt, she remembered only now that August, too, was of noble birth.

For them, obtaining something that looked appealing was not something to hesitate over, and neither Serleine nor William was of a station where they would ever struggle for money in their lives.

By the standards of her previous life, buying children whatever they asked for did not seem very good for their education, but for nobles, saying that one must not buy children everything over a purchase of this degree would probably make Melfina seem the odd one.

There was surely also an aspect in which wealthy nobles and great merchants spending generously moved goods and money and had a good influence on society as a whole.

“—I’m glad you had such wonderful encounters. Which one do you like best?”

This was not such a frequent opportunity, and she felt reluctant to dampen their obvious enjoyment, so she asked the two. Both seemed torn, saying that this cushion was warm because it was stuffed with wool, and that the embroidery pattern on this cover was vivid.

“Did you two adults buy anything?”

“I bought several kinds of dried meat. They said the seasoning was varied—some spicy with spices, and so on. I got to sample a little, and that will definitely go well with the lord’s residence’s ale.”

“Alexis?”

“I was drinking ale while walking through the crowd, and before I knew it, I had passed all the way through.”

“His Grace is not very good at having fun, you see. While he was letting his eyes wander, the stall street ended.”

Imagining Alexis, before he could pick anything up, being told by the children that this was good or that looked interesting and having his attention drawn that way, Melfina and Marie shook their shoulders with laughter.

Looking at the present Alexis, the phrase “the fierce Ice Duke” would never come to mind, no matter how one tried.

“Fufu, Marie and I are going to look around the stalls now, so shall we go together? Since we’re here, I think it would be good for you to buy at least one thing as a memento for yourself, Alexis.”

“Ah, then I’ll stay and accompany His Highness Serleine and Lord William. If Your Grace is here, the escort should be enough, so Sir Theodor, please stay and help as well.”

“…Is that all right, Your Grace?”

When the question was turned on him, Theodor looked bewildered, and Alexis nodded magnanimously.

“Soldiers are patrolling everywhere, so there should be no need for concern. You two, please look after His Highness well.”

To Alexis, who said that, Theodor gave a firm knight’s salute.

“His Grace is about as reliable as ten knights on his own, and while it would be difficult in Soarasonne, I think it is good to enjoy the festival with just your family.”

August gave a wink so splendid it seemed it should make a sound, and she let out a wry smile.

The children still seemed absorbed in their spoils, and when it came to guarding Serleine, the crown prince of a neighboring kingdom, and William, heir to the ducal house, more was better.

Melfina’s face was famous, and too large a group trailing along might get in the way of business.

“Then let’s do that. Just the three of us is a fresh change, isn’t it?”

“I will protect you properly, so shop with peace of mind.”

Just as he used to say so easily to Serleine, and once to his younger brother, Alexis said that, and she lightly tapped him on the back.

“You enjoy yourself too, Alexis.”

“…I will keep that in mind.”

To Alexis, who answered with a slightly awkward look, she thought sincerely:

—This person is quite clumsy in his private life.

It was not hard to imagine that Alexis had never had anything like a private life until now.

Melfina, too, was extremely busy as a lord, but she was eager to enrich her life—enjoying the changing seasons, cooking, and valuing time with the people around her—yet perhaps Alexis had never even had that awareness.

The lord of Enkar Village, which was only one small village and a few settlements, and the Duke who ruled the entire north clearly carried different burdens.

Even so, at the center of it all was still a single human being. She did not want Alexis to forget that.

“We came all the way to the festival, so please relax your shoulders a little more.”

“That’s right, brother. Come, smile. When your face is smiling, your heart naturally becomes happier too.”

At Marie’s words, Alexis, awkwardly but surely, let the corners of his mouth soften.

＊　＊　＊

“Oh, I’m so full. —If I eat this much and my clothes get tight, I’ll be in trouble.”

“Me too. I’m almost uncomfortable…”

The festival mood is a frightening thing. Melfina was normally rather a light eater, but after polishing off a flatbread sandwich with ale in one hand, she bought a basket of dates and figs and dried fruit, and while nibbling on them and looking around the stalls, what with the lively music and buoyant mood, she ate this and that, and before she knew it her stomach was packed full.

“Shall we rest a little and let our food settle? Alexis, are you all right?”

“Yes. I am used to eating while I can, so there is no problem. Shall we return to the lord’s residence pavilion?”

“No, let’s borrow that wooden crate over there and rest a while.”

Some people had joined after finishing today’s field work, so the crowd had grown, and while walking around they had reached the edge of the square. If she were to make some blunder in the crowd, the lord’s dignity would be nowhere to be found.

When she sat down, it became a little easier. Normally she was often approached, but perhaps because Alexis was beside her, today people seemed to keep their distance, and thanks to that she could rest quietly.

—If I had been laced into a corset as I was in the royal capital, it might have been dangerous.

No, if her waist had been tightened with a corset, she probably could not have eaten this much in the first place, so perhaps it was a trade-off. As she thought that and watched the crowd flowing past, the striking blue hair of the tall alchemist caught her eye.

He seemed to have noticed them at once as well, and walked toward them.

“My lady, so you were here. Duke, it has been a long time.”

“Julius, hello. Are Rena and the others not with you?”

“They went off on their own a little while ago because they are participating in the children’s chorus. They were practicing because they wanted you to hear them, my lady, so please do watch from the very front row.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

Last year’s children’s songs had been adorable and had become a very good memory. The thought that she might hear a new song from them naturally softened her mouth.

“Sir Alchemist, while I go buy drinks for the two of them, could I ask you to watch them for a little while?”

“Of course, no problem. No matter what ruffians attack, I will protect them without fail.”

It was a playful way of speaking, but Julius had the achievement of easily driving off the bear that had appeared early in spring. Even if several humans came at him at once, they would be no match for him.

When Alexis stepped away, Julius carried over the empty wooden crate and sat down facing Melfina and the others.

“I had something I wanted to discuss with you as well, my lady, so this is good timing.”

“Do you have another interesting idea?”

“It seems I will be returning to the royal capital before long, so I would like you to take Rena in at the lord’s residence.”

The answer that came to her casually asked, laughing question made her catch her breath.

“I think I will depart before the snow falls, so it is not immediately, but…”

“I understand. Rena has also begun helping with research at the brewery, so using the difficulty of commuting from Melto Village as a pretext, it would not be unnatural for her to have a room in the castle. That said, Rena is still young, so let us prepare a room together with Rod.”

Rod was twelve, an age at which it would not be strange for him to decide his future path and leave his parents’ side. If he was to enter the path of a civil official as he aspired, the sooner the better.

“Ah, thank you! Rena is truly a rare child. She is very clever, so someday she will surely be able to decide her own path properly. My lady, please protect her until she can walk forward by her own will.”

Julius’s “returning to the royal capital” meant the same thing as “the day when he would not wake again is near.”

Coming so lightly from the same mouth, as if it were idle chat, and then the words that sincerely wished for Rena’s future, made her chest tighten painfully.

“…If not only you, Julius, but both Rod and Rena leave, Nid and Eli will surely be very lonely.”

When he had come to lodge at Nid’s house, she had wondered how it would turn out, but Julius had fit into the family easily, looked after the siblings and the youngest sister, and seemed to enjoy himself like a childish eldest son.

For the people of Melto Village as well, Julius’s presence must have been something to rely on.

“My lady, please don’t make such a face. It’s all right—Sara is there too, and scheduled coaches are running now, so we can meet anytime. Even if I am gone, everything will simply return to how it was.”

“Are you really all right with that?”—the words rose to her throat, and she swallowed them.

He had always seemed cheerful, but since meeting Rena, Julius had seemed even more like a boy again. Surely the one who found it hardest to leave was Julius. She knew that, and yet no words came.

She clenched her cold fingertips tightly, as if to hide them.

Besides, this would not be a final parting in this life. If Maria descended next summer, Julius would surely be saved.

Even if his form changed, there was every possibility that he could maintain good relations with the Enkar region and with Rena.

“Julius, please leave Rena to me. She is also a precious friend of mine. I will protect her until she becomes an adult.”

“Wonderful! Now I can return with peace of mind! Thank you, my lady.”

Julius seemed truly relieved, and there was not the slightest cloud in his smile.

That only made Melfina’s chest tighten all the more.