After that, I had various meetings with the Count and then we disbanded.
After a dinner that had the feel of a "nobleman's banquet," we each went to our rooms.
When I asked Marial later, she told me that just because you're a noble didn't mean you ate like that every night.
Only when there were celebrations or guests.
…I guess so. If I ate that kind of food every night, I would get sick and die early, which is a problem that goes beyond the necessary expenses!
We were servants, so of course we didn't have a private room, but a shared room. Me, Layette, Belle, and Francette were in the same room. …I didn't know about the men.
Belle insisted on her right to sleep with Layette, so she gave in. I could sleep with her anytime.
Francette, a knight, was not the type of person to let down her guard when away from enemy territory. She moved the desk to the front of the door, put a vase on it, sat under the window, held her sword, propped up on one knee, and apparently took a nap.
…yeah, I knew that.
When I woke up the next morning, the desk at the front of the door had already been returned to its original position, and Francette was staring intently at my face, holding her sword in its sheath in her left hand.
…with a distance of about 10 centimeters between the faces.
I was scared!
I couldn't help but scream! !
And when I tried to tell her not to do it again, she seemed dissatisfied.
Damn it, I'd do it this time! Felt as if your heart is about to stop!!
And breakfast.
She's quite a gutsy guy.
In this world, the mornings were early, and those who had to prepare lunch outdoors, such as farmers, hunters, woodcutters, and travelers, could not afford to spend large amounts of time, materials, and water on it. It's fleeting. …of course, there were also soldiers on field operations.
So, ate a hearty breakfast and had a light lunch. It was common practice to have dinner a little earlier and enjoy it together.
…yeah, I was used to the Japanese style, but even now, almost five years after I came to this world, I still couldn't keep up with the hearty breakfast here…
Well, for the past five years or so, I'd been making most of my own breakfast, so I'd been eating light Japanese-style portions. That's why I couldn't get used to this method.
However, when nobles have guests over, it's normal for them to eat as much as they could and leave it behind, so it's not a problem.
“We are talking about the table of Marial-sama and the nobles themselves! At the table of us servants, it is polite to eat everything that is properly served!” (Francette)
Francette thrust into me from the side.
We were invited to last night's dinner as a token of appreciation and to help Marial calm down, but after that, of course, the servants would no longer share the table with the master.
…yeah, I knew that.
Then, out of necessity, I quickly replaced it with a Francette cooking plate that was almost empty.
…don't look at me with such a shocked expression!
This amount wasn't enough for you. It's not a win-win!
Then, everyone went to the faction leader.
…however, Belle and Layette-chan were excluded.
Aside from myself, the lady's maid, and Francette, the female bodyguard (who can accompany Marial when changing clothes or picking flowers), the babysitting nursemaid and babysitted maid work together, as expected. That would be bad….
Roland and Emile would join as guards for the carriage, and during the meeting they would prepare for any unexpected situation in the guard's waiting room.
From the next day onwards, when Marial was taken to the chief, it would be best for Francette and I to accompany her. If I were to hire another male bodyguard from here, it would mean that I didn't believe in the chief and the power of the chief's bodyguards.
"Oh, nice of you to come! I'm Marquis Cerdric!" (Marquis)
Marquis Cerdric is the leader of the faction to which the Count Maslius family and the Viscount Reifel family belong.
He was over 60 years old, which in modern Japan would still be a healthy age, but in this world he was quite old. The skin has also shriveled considerably.
According to information from Count Maslius, Marquis Cerdric was the head of a faction that had been passed down from generation to generation, but he was a relatively moderate, small faction that did not have any great ambition or ambition, and strives for centrist politics and maintains an unbiased and moderate position. He was merely a coordinator. …yes, until last month.
Then, within my faction, a "beloved and beloved child of the goddess Celestine" was suddenly born, and what's more, she was a young, cute, unmarried girl, and on top of that, she was the head of an aristocratic family, giving her a triple role or a royal straight flush. It seemed like she got away with it.
Yes, he wasn't planning on conquering the world, but he was planning a major breakthrough for the faction he led.
No, that didn't mean it's bad. If you were a politician, or if you were the leader of a faction, you should think about the nobles of your faction and the country, and strive to increase your power and promote the policies you believed were right. Of course this was true.
…unless it's a bit, no, a really sneaky way of taking advantage of a girl.
Well, that's what it was.
And then the attack of the Marquis begins!
As expected, the elderly Marquis himself didn't seem to have any intention of doing anything with Marial, but he did try to match her up with his grandson or the children of powerful nobles within his faction, and it's clear that there's a party with "such purposes".
And Marial brilliantly avoided this by saying things like, "I don't feel like that right now because I just lost my family," or "Right now, the first priority is to settle the chaos in the territory."
Marial dodged the spear of words that the Marquis sends out one after another with a dance of words.
Awesome… Nobles, be afraid!
When she was advised to move to the marquis' residence and stay in the capital for a long time, she shied away by saying that her top priority was to take control of the territory she had inherited without knowing anything about it. Even Marial, who did so, couldn't refuse the invitation to introduce her to the nobles of her faction, paid a courtesy visit to the royal palace, and meet with powerful merchants. These were my duties not as Marial, but as the head of Viscount Reifel's household.
And starting tomorrow, there would be no supporting fire from Count Maslius.
"I'm tired……" (Marial)
The battle was finally over, and we were liberated.
It's amazing how Marial just said, "I'm tired."
“Well, it is necessary to maintain friendly relations with the Marquis. Otherwise, the entire faction will become hostile, and Marial, who has completely lost his shield, will be attacked by Chimi[1], Moryo[2], and the others all at once. Because it will attack me…" (Kaoru)
Yes, just as Count Maslius said, there was no way he could start a fight with Marquis Cerdric from the beginning.
If it were just members of a faction, I wouldn't mind if there were some individual conflicts.
They were nobles with many conflicting interests, so even though they were from the same faction, they were not all that close to each other. So all you had to do is stick to the points.
…and now it's over.
Also, I would try to be helpful to the nobles who are friendly to Marial, and I would avoid dealing with nobles who might be harmful to Marial, and I would alienate them.
It's not really an ambivalence towards factions, it's just a matter of "keeping a distance from those within the faction who show malice," so it's personal, or rather, it's a one-on-one discussion between noble families, so it's not about factions. It didn't matter at all.
After that, Marial would do as she pleases.
I didn't know how the other nobles and the Marquis Cerdric who were present would react, but it didn't matter.
…why did you think Francette and I would accompany Marial?
Translation Note
[1] 魑魅
[2] 魍魎
Edit History
8 Oct 2023: improved readability, added notes, grammar correction.