「……So you’re saying everything is Halfren’s fault?」
「Yes. These two seem to have been incited by some older brother and started treating me as their sworn enemy. That’s why Noie overreacted and did that.」
I took out a handkerchief and went 「Yoyoyoyo」 while pretending to cry. No actual tears came out, though.
As the ringleader of the incident, we had been summoned to the king’s office.
The king sat in his chair with a stern expression and looked at the two girls standing beside me, their faces deathly pale.
「Is there any mistake in what Argusta is saying?」
「No, there isn’t.」
Pal answered while making strange jerky movements.
「Argusta-niisama is a good person.」
Mil also answered with suspicious movements.
Truly good little sisters.
The king looked at them with cold eyes and spoke with a sigh.
「You two… your way of speaking seems different from earlier?」
「「We’re fine, desu.」」
The two answered like broken toys… Maybe the medicine was a bit too strong.
「Well, if all three of you say so, there’s nothing to be done. Schnitt.」
「Yes.」
「Charge all the cleanup costs to Halfren. No punishment for Noie.」
The prime minister brother twitched in reaction.
「The cost is fine, but is it really acceptable to let Noie off without any reprimand?」
Mind your own business.
But the king let out another sigh.
「It can’t be helped. The rumor that if anything happens to Argusta, that one will come flying is known to everyone. It simply turned out to be true.」
「Understood.」
The prime minister bowed, took the cleanup bill, and addressed it to Halfren.
Victory. A complete victory this time.
「By the way, Argusta.」
「Yes?」
I was thinking of celebrating the win with cake in my room when the king stopped me.
「There is a report that Camille was knocked down by you and got injured?」
「……」
I turned my face away from the king’s piercing stare.
「Is it true?」
「……As an excuse, I only dodged when she tried to cling to me.」
「Even so, injuring a woman’s face is a crime worthy of death.」
What? A face injury?
「Is she okay?」
「Hmm.」
The king crossed his arms and fell silent.
No way, was it that serious?!
「She hit her nose and got a nosebleed.」
「It was just a nosebleed～?!」
I couldn’t help but retort!
Ah～ that was bad for my heart.
「It was a nosebleed, but Camille was in a lot of pain… She says she wants you to apologize.」
「Hm? In that case, just tell her to come to my office later for some cake.」
「No… She says she wants you to come to the mansion and apologize.」
The king cut me off and spoke clearly.
Haa, so that’s what she wants.
That girl has been saying 「Come play」 every chance she gets.
「Understood. Then next time…」
「Excuse me, Your Majesty.」
This time ikemen onii-chan interrupted me.
And for some reason the king is making a really unpleasant face? What’s going on?
「Camille has a habit of clinging to people, and we are currently working to correct it. This incident was her own fault. There is no need for Argusta to apologize.」
「But….」
「Her husband is me.」
Onii-chan refused in an unusually firm tone.
The king wore the textbook example of someone who had just bitten into a bitter bug and fell silent.
「Argusta.」
「Yes?」
「I will speak to Camille. You don’t need to worry about this matter.」
「……Understood.」
Feeling like I was being ushered out, I had no choice but to take the twins and leave the king’s office.
The three of us quickly escaped the room and naturally ended up heading to my own office.
-0-
「Are those two on bad terms?」
「I’ve been away from the capital for five years, so I don’t really…」
Pal, the older of the twins, answered while stabbing her fork into a cake.
There, there, little sister. Eat a little more elegantly.
「Ah～. Is it about that?」
Krea, the cake-shopping specialist, joined the conversation while picking up a roll cake.
「I think I heard something about Schnitt-sama’s mansion having a lot of children, and there being some dispute over it.」
「That’s pretty vague.」
You really are useless, aren’t you?
Krea shot me a glare.
「Argusta-sama. Aren’t you being a bit harsh with me?」
「It’s the difference between a little sister and a subordinate.」
「……」
Angrily stabbing her fork into the cake over and over, Krea chopped it up.
That’s why I told you to eat a little more elegantly.
「By the way, why does onii-chan’s place have so many kids?」
It doesn’t really suit him, and there’s the lolicon suspicion, but… is he actually living out a real-life Hikaru Genji plan?
It was Pal who answered that question.
「Calling it having many children is a bit misleading… but that place is essentially an orphanage.」
「An orphanage?」
The prime minister’s home being an orphanage? That can’t be right.
But Pal continued.
「To tell the truth, both Mil and I were raised there. All of His Majesty the King’s illegitimate children are sent there to be raised.」
「Why?」
「……As the queen’s children.」
I feel like I just had a massive bomb dropped on me.
But Pal didn’t notice my shock and kept talking.
「It is a garden for the queen’s children living in Schnitt-sama’s mansion. An orphanage that was opened for the queen, who can no longer have children after an accident. That is what some people call it.」
Mil also stopped eating her cake and looked down.
Maybe she can’t stand hearing it spoken of badly?
「The queen is a very kind person, but because she rarely appears in public, some nobles speak very ill of her. I have heard that His Majesty kept only one concubine for purely political reasons… and that he had no choice but to marry her.」
Pal glanced at me nervously. I simply told her 「Don’t worry about it.」.
Technically that’s my family’s house too… though everyone except me was executed for treason.
「So His Majesty would sleep with the maids, make children, and send all of them to the queen.」
What started as a nice story suddenly took a sharp turn.
Isn’t he just wrapping his personal tastes and sexual desires in a very thick layer of euphemism?
「Um… what about the mothers?」
「I hear they are given sufficient money.」
But having their children taken away… maybe that’s acceptable in this world?
Well, the other party is the king, so they probably can’t refuse.
Let’s set aside the ethical issues for now. This is another world, after all.
「In that case… does onii-chan not want me to meet the queen?」
I have a vague memory of the king saying something like that earlier. Something about 「The queen wants to meet you」.
At the time I brushed it off with 「Noie’s work has just resumed, so once things calm down」… but honestly I was just too lazy to go.
For some reason, I’m getting a really bad feeling about this.
Leave a Reply