The wedding dress fitting session I had been dreading was over, and we were walking home.
It was a short walk from the dress store near the noble district to the Dolknes residence in the capital.
As Eleanora walked slowly next to me, she looked around curiously.
“You know this area better than I do, don’t you?”
“I never walked through this area before, so it’s new to me. The scenery should be familiar, but there are so many things I don’t know.”
It has been a few months since she came to live in the Dolknes territory. Eleanora has adapted so well that she now wears shoes with low heels.
Her trademark amazing gaudy dress has been transformed into a gaudy dress. From her point of view, it is a simple dress that allows easy movement.
There are many eyes in the capital. After seeing her happily walking around, I decided we didn’t have to take a horse-drawn carriage.
“I feel strange that I haven’t been in the capital for a long time. I have been living here for a long time.”
“It’s not exactly a comeback, but would you like to extend our stay here?”
It is not safe to leave her alone in the capital. Not only is she a dangerous person to take one’s eyes off of, but Eleanora’s status puts her in several troublesome situations.
Duke Hillrose self-destructed in Dolknes territory, surrounded by monsters. Her daughter, who was the only living relative, is unaccounted for, and her life and death are unknown… was the official announcement.
Our housemate, Eleanora, who continues to walk beside me, is a stranger to Eleanora Hillrose. Any resemblance is coincidental. Eleanora and the rebellious Duke’s daughter are entirely unrelated. …No one would believe the official opinion of Count Dolknes.
Duke Hillrose’s survival is concealed between us and only a few people in the kingdom’s upper echelons, but as for Eleanora, everyone knows about her.
Whether it is to be celebrated or targeted with resentment against the dukedom, I want her within my and Patrick’s sight only until the dust from the Duke’s rebellion settles in a few years.
She may want to stay in the capital all the time, but she is limited in how long she can extend her stay. It shouldn’t be a problem if we extend our schedule from one week to two or three weeks.
Thinking back to the work I had left behind in the Dolknes territory, I received a surprising response from Eleanora.
“No, we’ll be back on schedule.”
“We can go for a little longer, okay? Maybe you’d like to do some shopping or something?”
“…I can go shopping within the scheduled time frame.”
She is upset. It’s like I said, she wants to see a lot of things in the capital.
Eleanora is broke, but I will give her as much allowance as I can. I’m like a Papa to Eleanora. I’ll make her call me Papa and brag to the old Duke Hillrose, who is her real papa.
After a brief pause, she struggled for a moment and then opened her mouth in an anxious, hesitant tone.
“‘Um, when we go shopping… I’d like to ask you for a favour.”
“That’s fine. Please tell me anything.”
“Yumiela-san, would you like to go shopping with me?”
“I don’t want to, it’s going to be too long.”
I have been shopping with Eleanora for a long time. I know it well because I had to accompany her several times when I was a student.
It’s lengthy in time and physically as well. The memories of being trapped in two prisons at once, absolute and relative, are traumatic for me. I just reflexively said no.
Eleanora turned away from me in a sulky manner as I instantly changed my mind.
“I know you hate shopping, Yumiela-san.”
“Not that I hate it, but that it’s not in my nature? Uh, I’m not interested… in it, I mean.”
I dug an extra grave trying to say I am not anti-shopping.
I wonder if Eleanora is angry at being denied something she likes. When I nervously checked on her, she turned her head away from me and remained silent. Is she incredibly angry?
Finally, she stopped.
“Um, Eleanora?”
She didn’t answer my call but stared at a point. I followed her gaze to some nobleman’s mansion. Whose house it is, I don’t know. It was bigger than ours, so I think they were more than a Count.
Eleanora, who was looking at the mansion, twisted her head and said.
“Is that the Archiam family estate? It’s different from the view from the carriage.”
Before I knew it, the shopping conversation was over.
An inconvenient off-topic, but the Count of Archiam is even more inconvenient.
The House of Archiam. They own an estate in the eastern part of the kingdom, which is famous for its lumber. Yes, that is where I had gone the other day to pick up logs. It was fresh in my memory, so even I, who wasn’t familiar with nobles’ affairs, was able to recall it right away.
The Count and his family must be living in the capital. But unlike my parents, he is a proper central noble and probably holds some kind of position related to the central government. I don’t know the position name.
Although I have no interest in the chaotic political strife in the capital, I know some things about the Archiam family because I am acquainted with their daughter. While I don’t recall having a direct conversation with her, I have had many opportunities to see her face. We were classmates at the academy, and most importantly….
I’m going to take measures early in anticipation of what Eleanora is going to say next.
“I don’t know either. Shall we look into it when we get home?”
“You’ll understand if you ask her. I haven’t seen Dorothea-san for a while.”
Eleanora’s words were just as I had imagined, and I sighed inwardly.
Dorothea Archiam, huh? I recognised the name, and her face came to mind along with it.
The reason I knew Dorothea was that she was always next to Eleanora at the academy. The Count Archiam family was part of the extremist noble faction, Duke Hillrose’s faction.
During the Duke’s rebellion fiasco a few months ago, many of the noble houses of the Duke’s faction were crushed. Unaware of Duke Hillrose’s plan for a cleanup, and holding a rally to overthrow the royal family, I heard that they were all collectively roped off.
Of course, not all noble houses were lost. Around half of the extremist nobles managed to escape, either because they were cautious, accidental, or unable to go because they were in their territories.
There seem to be quite a few left. Even with half the numbers, the faction’s power hasn’t been reduced by more than half. Having lost its leader, Duke Hillrose, and its key members, the faction has now lost most of its influence.
Being away from the capital, I don’t know what the atmosphere is like, but I think the remaining extremists are in a situation where they can’t act too conspicuously. No one will believe them when they say they didn’t know about the Duke’s rebellion plan. Just by gathering together, they would be suspected of something, so they wouldn’t be able to hold a meeting to decide what to do.
Therefore, they would refuse to see the daughter of their former leader. To prevent Eleanora from being shocked, we want to avoid a situation where she would be told outright that they refuse to meet with her.
“Visiting unexpectedly would be inconvenient, let’s call ahead of time before we go.”
“I have sent her several letters from the Dolknes territory, but she hasn’t responded at all, and that worries me.”
There’s nothing to worry about. She’s just ignoring you.
Despite my apprehension, Eleanora seems to have made up her mind to charge into the Archiam estate. She walked swiftly toward the estate’s gate.
Guess this would be the one that won’t give up until she refuses her directly. Reluctantly, I followed her.
There was one guard in front of the gate. They are not supposed to let unscheduled visitors through unless they are someone exceptional.
Eleanora spoke to the gatekeeper. He seemed to recognise the face of Duke Hillrose’s daughter because his face was tightening as he realised that someone dangerous had arrived.
“Excuse me. I am Eleanora Hill… Eleanora. Is Dorothea-san home?”
“Dorothea-sama is very busy. Please forgive us for not being able to accommodate those who aren’t on the schedule.”
It’s a diplomatic response, like it would normally be.
The gatekeeper wasn’t intimidated by Eleanora, and I was glad that he gave her a safe response. Thinking that I could take her home at this point, I arrived at the gate behind her.
“Looks like we won’t be able to visit. Shall we come back another time?”
The gatekeeper seemed to notice my presence there. His face is even more tense than it was at Elenora’s. Despite the chilly weather, sweat is floating on his forehead.
Aah, he’s thinking about what he’s going to do if Yumiela insists on getting past him. If I chose to force my way through, there would be no way to stop him, but I wouldn’t do that.
I said it again so that he would know that I had no intention of breaking in.
“We can’t force our way in. Dorothea-san seems to be in good health, so let’s go home.”
I wondered if Eleanora would back down quietly now.
Even if she doesn’t meet with Dorothea, if she knows she’s safe, I think the bare minimum requirement is met. She is rather serious and concerned about her friend who hasn’t responded.
Before Eleanora could reply, I continued.
“Dorothea-san might come to see you during your stay in the capital since she will know that Eleanora-sama has come to see her. Even if it’s not possible to meet her, she could at least send a letter—”
—If she doesn’t get a letter, she might come unannounced again.
The gatekeeper seemed to understand the rest of my unspoken words and nodded his head repeatedly. There would be a letter delivered to the Dolknes residence in a few days, containing a blunt refusal to meet face to face.
As I waited, almost breathless, Eleanora said.
“I apologise for the unannounced visit. Please give my best regards to Dorothea-san.”
She bowed with a graceful gesture and retreated from the gate. She looked like the daughter of a Duke.
Eleanora then walked on her own along the pavement of the noble district. I felt a sense of melancholy at the sight that should have been familiar to me.
That hits, at least Eleanora has the strongest bodyguard