Although the Duchess is fundamentally reserved in nature, she was not easily swayed, perhaps due to her over a decade of social experience as the mistress of the Duke’s household.

The Empress forcibly raised the corners of her mouth and pretended to be nonchalant as she picked up her teacup.

“Well, I wonder. When they marry, I suppose he’ll give them some territory first?”

“Oh my. Would territory be enough? It’s just a matter of time, they’ll have it all eventually anyway.”

“That’s true.”

“As Your Majesty well knows, the most important legacy to pass on to children is connections, isn’t it? That’s why I’ve been so busy preparing for that lately.”

The Duchess’s words hit the Empress heavily.

For the Empress, the most concerning thing recently was the Duke’s family and their forces, wasn’t it?

That’s why she was trying to appease the Duchess like this.

“Oh my, already? You’re both still so vigorous.”

“Not at all. I’m not like I used to be anymore. But our Alicia is so clever, she’s keeping up well. I could entrust it to her with peace of mind right now if needed.”

“My goodness, Lady Lancaster should know how weighty a responsibility that is.”

“That’s why she’s handling it so calmly and well.”

‘Well, that woman was always calm. How irritating her seemingly nonchalant smile was.’

The Empress recalled the Countess Lancaster’s younger days as she lifted her teacup.

It’s true that she had belittled that woman’s daughter in front of the young ladies and acted childishly.

Honestly, it wasn’t befitting of an adult, let alone an Empress.

But.

‘Does that give you the right to openly threaten me, the Empress?’

The Empress slowly sipped her tea to buy time to calm her emotions.

“I envy you, Duchess. I hope our Harry finds a good young lady soon too.”

“I’m sure that will happen soon, won’t it? I heard you’ve been busy with that lately.”

“Y-Yes, that’s right. He’s just about the right age to start thinking about it. Oh, that reminds me. Perhaps the Duchess knows of any suitable young ladies to introduce?”

“Well, no one comes to mind right away, but shall I look into it?”

The Duchess smiled, slightly easing her tone at the Empress’s offer of a truce.

The Empress also smiled and nodded.

But their smiling faces facing each other somehow looked so fierce that the watching maids quietly turned their heads away.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Aaargh, how infuriating!”

The Empress raged as she threw a glass from the table.

As if anticipating this level of commotion, the court ladies and maids quietly closed the door and left.

“Those impertinent ones. Just you wait. When Harry becomes Emperor, I won’t let this slide.”

The Empress muttered while fuming.

“Yes, after all I’ve done for my son.”

She mumbled ominously, biting her lip. Her eyes were red with anger.

Still unsatisfied, she threw the remaining glasses on the table as well.

Then she tried to calm herself with deep breaths.

“Is anyone out there?”

When the Empress called out in a somewhat calmer voice, a court lady quietly opened the door and entered.

“Did you call, Your Majesty?”

“I need to see Viscount O’Brien.”

“I’ll send for him right away, Your Majesty.”

The court lady quietly answered and withdrew, closing the door.

[This is the timeline separator]

After dealing with the monsters that suddenly appeared during the field investigation, Eric looked around to finish up.

“How is it?”

“I’ve recorded all the behavioral patterns and characteristics.”

“Good. Since it’s difficult to newly combine monster creation magic, there’s a high chance the same monsters will keep appearing for a while. Make sure to organize it well to apply to training. Send the records to the Grand Cathedral too.”

“Yes, understood.”

Then Eric looked closely at the fallen monsters.

“Hmm.”

“What are you looking at so intently?”

“Ah, Allen. That.”

“The monster? What about it?”

“Doesn’t that fur look warm?”

“Hey everyone. The Captain hit his head. Call a priest.”

Allen turned his head sharply as if he’d heard nonsense.

But Eric spoke with a seemingly serious face.

“Wouldn’t it be nice to lay it on the floor in winter?”

“Don’t say such ridiculous things. Where on earth would you put that?”

“Lancaster mansion.”

“…Hah.”

Allen clicked his tongue in disbelief and held his head.

“I knew this would happen. No wonder you agreed to the engagement so easily.”

“?”

“Captain, no, senior. I’m saying this as a junior who sincerely cares about you.”

“What’s with you, suddenly getting all serious?”

“If you want to break off the engagement, just follow the proper procedures. Why are you thinking of sending monster fur? This will go down in Imperial history as the worst reason for breaking an engagement, seriously.”

“Break off the engagement? Who’s breaking off the engagement?”

“Then is sending monster fur normal? Are you threatening to exterminate them if they don’t agree to break it off?”

“The twins asked me to bring a gift. I mentioned tigers before. Isn’t it similar?”

“It’s not similar at all.”

“Ah, is it because there are no stripes?”

“It’s not about the stripes. Even if it were, you’re giving monster fur to tiny children? Did you really hit your head?”

The conversation that started half-jokingly turned serious as Allen, who was trying to give advice, started scolding him freely, and Eric pondered for a moment what to do with this guy.

But Allen continued talking, unconcerned.

“Monster fur, really. Your sister-in-law would be so pleased. You’d be lucky if it just ends with breaking off the engagement, what if she sues you?”

“……”

“Ah, well that might be quite interesting to see. Hmm. Maybe I shouldn’t have tried to stop you?”

As Eric crossed his arms and glared, Allen got startled and immediately lowered his eyes, muttering to himself.

‘Ah, with that temper. Really, the sister-in-law who thought of marrying such a person must have sold her country in a past life. Or maybe this guy saved a country in his past life.’

“Look at that expression?”

“Come on, really. Senior, this is all violence too.”

“That’s why you should think before you speak.”

“Captain!! Did you hit your head?”

As the priest ran over with a pale face, Eric turned around wondering what was going on, and Allen waved his hand saying “Over here!”

“Over here, over here! Priest! He’s become extremely violent right now!”

“Oh no. It could be caused by the monsters’ magical energy. I’ll start with holy water first!”

“What?”

Splash.

Eric, whose face was suddenly sprayed with holy water, spoke in a low voice.

“…Get lost. Before I kill you all.”

“Pardon?”

As the priest who was hurriedly preparing for purification stopped in confusion, Allen rolled on the ground holding his stomach and cackling.

‘An interesting knightly order.’

A man with orange hair wearing the same Second Knight Order uniform watched from afar and smirked.

‘The instructions were clear, the skills were excellent. Quick response and improvisation were good too. I guess being a knight captain isn’t something just anyone can do.’

After looking at Eric once more while muttering to himself, he naturally joined the group of other knights preparing to return.

‘But why investigate Count Russell when he’s not even a mage? He doesn’t seem to have anything unusual about him.’

The man tilted his head before following the knights calling for him.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Welcome back.”

“Oh-.”

The one who greeted Eric upon his return was neither the butler nor the head maid as before, but Alicia.

He had slightly expected it since she said she’d wait here when he left, but he thought she would have gone back since it was late.

“You were here?”

“You said you’d be back today.”

“How did you know?”

“His Highness William informed me.”

Prince William, who had promised to send frequent news when they met at the palace last time, had sent word in advance that Eric would return today.

“Ah, I see.”

Seeing Alicia’s bright smile, Eric felt a strange tickle near his heart.

“Um. I’m back.”

It was a first.

Saying “I’m back” like this to someone waiting for him felt strange.

It was an awkward but not unpleasant feeling, so Eric just smiled.

He now understood why everyone wanted to go home so quickly.

“Any injuries?”

“No, I’m fine.”

Eric smiled sheepishly at Alicia’s scrutinizing gaze.

The head maid, watching the two, narrowed her eyes.

‘Surely it won’t end like this?’

He had just returned safely from fighting monsters, no less.

Shouldn’t the atmosphere be tender and somehow like this-, like that-? She couldn’t understand why they were just staring blankly and smiling.

‘No, I heard young people these days don’t do that, but why are our Count and young lady unnecessarily conservative?’

As the head maid stared intently at Eric and Alicia while grumbling to herself, the butler nudged her.

“Ouch, why?”

“It’s rude to glare like that.”

“I wasn’t glaring. I was looking with a warm gaze.”

“It didn’t look warm at all.”

“How could you misinterpret my affectionate gaze like that? What a hurtful thing to say.”

“Anyway, it certainly wasn’t normal.”

“Ahem.”

The head maid cleared her throat, wondering if her inner thoughts had been exposed.

“Honestly, don’t you think their conversation is strange too, Butler?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Don’t lie. Then why are you being so cautious?”

“Ahem.”

The butler also cleared his throat, wondering if he had been caught.

“It’s not like young people these days, but it’s not bad. It’s much better than burning up instantly and disappearing right away-.”

“It’s frustrating, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it’s frustrating-.”

The butler, who had inadvertently spoken his true feelings, closed his mouth and glared at the head maid.

As the head maid grinned, the butler cleared his throat again in embarrassment and shut his mouth.

Regardless of the butler and head maid’s antics, Eric and Alicia continued their conversation.

“The twins asked me to bring gifts, so I was worried, but there was nothing on the way back either.”

“You were worried about that? They’re just kids. You could have bought them anything.”

“That’s too harsh. For the children.”

“They probably won’t remember anyway?”

“Is that so? Actually, I thought about skinning a monster’s fur.”

“Monster fur?”

“Yes. It looked quite warm.”

Alicia recalled the monster she had seen in the square.

Come to think of it, the fur was quite lush.

“But wasn’t the fur a bit rough?”

“Ah, I see. It might hurt the children. I didn’t think of that.”

The butler and head maid looked at each other again.

‘What is this now? Why suddenly monster fur? And why are they talking about it so casually?’

The head maid’s face filled with bewilderment. Looking to the side, the butler’s expression, and those of the standing servants, were the same.

[This is the timeline separator]

Alicia certainly had a lot to say when she met Eric.

Most of it was about work.

The outlook on how the sudden appearance of monsters would affect the domestic economy, the impact on various businesses and countermeasures.

But as soon as she saw Eric’s face, she didn’t want to talk about such rigid topics.

So she was about to leave, but the butler and head maid pushed them into the reception room together, insisting they had a lot to talk about, and they ended up alone.

“What are we supposed to talk about? Did something happen while I was gone?”

At Eric’s question, Alicia thought for a moment and shook her head.

She still didn’t want to talk about work right now.

“Nothing in particular. More importantly, aren’t you tired?”

“No, I’m fine. I’ll rest tomorrow. But I’d like to wash up.”

“Then do that. I’ll head back.”

Eric suddenly asked Alicia as she stood up to follow him.

“Want to stay over?”