Congratulations, My Friend. My Heartfelt Blessings To You

The next day.

In the sunlit royal capital, the wedding of Lady Shitoen and me was held.

The ceremony in the cathedral ended without a hitch, and after that, we rode in a carriage parade through the royal capital.

Far more citizens than I had expected came to celebrate us, and Lady Shitoen was so moved that she cried the whole time.

…Well, her first engagement must have been the worst possible experience.

While I was patting her on the head and soothing her, the citizens got a full eyeful of it, and there was wolf-whistling and teasing and all the rest…

After that, we changed clothes and moved to the wedding banquet being held inside the palace, but…

“Are you all right? Lady Shitoen, aren’t you tired?”

I could not help asking.

I was a man, so even if I said that, changing clothes was a simple enough matter for me. At most, I changed jackets and swapped the flower in my buttonhole to match the color of Lady Shitoen’s dress.

But in her case, everything had to be redone, from her hairstyle to her accessories to the dress itself.

The time it took for her to change and the time it took for me to change were completely different, so in the meantime I could drink water, eat bread, get teased by the Crown Prince, get cried over by my second older brother even more than Mother had done, and actually take a break.

But it was different for Lady Shitoen, and so I looked at her closely.

We were standing at the entrance to the banquet hall.

Lady Shitoen and I had been made to stand side by side here so that we could greet the invited guests as they entered.

At the moment, she was wearing a cream-colored dress. Her shoes and hair ornaments were crimson, the same color as the flower in my buttonhole. The necklace strung with garnets had apparently been a gift from the King of Tania, and well, they had matched the dress and the rest of the accessories to it for that reason.

A little while ago, I had greeted the King of Tania, and he had seemed thoroughly pleased, saying in high spirits, “I thought it would suit Shitoen.”

Well, anything looked good on her, though.

“I’m all right. Thank you very much.”

Lady Shitoen smiled.

Whoa… She’s cute.

What am I supposed to do, she’s cute. Starting today she’s my wife, and she’s cute.

“More importantly, you don’t need the ‘Lady’ anymore.”

She laughed quietly. Ahh, right. It was just a habit slipping out.

“Ehh… Are you all right? Shitoen… Lady.”

I meant to correct myself, but I ended up attaching it again anyway. It somehow felt like something was missing if I did not.

“But when you speak in the language of Tania, you just call me Shitoen normally.”

Amused, she laughed out loud this time, and I could only give a wry smile.

“That’s only because I don’t really understand the honorifics in that language… In my heart, I’m still adding ‘Lady,’ you know?”

“Oh my, was that so?”

She laughed happily to herself.

She was just unbelievably cute, honestly. What was I supposed to do?

“Lord Vandel, son of the Count of Sheen.”

A voice called from the far end of the corridor. Ohh, another guest was coming, or rather—

…Vandel, huh…

I thought I did not need to stiffen up, but when he approached, he was not alone. Lord Marder was with him too. That would not do. We were both in military dress uniforms right now too, after all, so I straightened up properly into attention.

The two of them stopped before us and gave a formal bow.

“Congratulations, my friend. My heartfelt blessings to you.”

Then Vandel put on a fake-looking smile, spread his arms, and came closer. Ugh, no, no thank you, I thought, but when I reluctantly hugged him— the bastard, sure enough, tried to kiss my cheek, so I drove my knee into his side.

“Haha, cut it out. You’re so shy.”

“Keep fooling around and I’ll kill you.”

I spat that at him once he finally pulled away from me.

Then I let out a sigh.

“Every time I see you, you look healthier. Just how much of a picky eater were you?”

By now, there was not a trace left of the “Vampire Count” with that decadent air. No matter how you looked at him, he was simply the sturdy, good-looking heir to a count.

“It is thanks to the lady. No, she is no longer merely a lady, is she? Princess Shitoen. I truly thank you.”

What irritated me was that to Lady Shitoen—no, not Lady Shitoen, to Shitoen—this man bowed politely and properly.

“It is the fruit of Lord Vandel’s own efforts.”

Shitoen answered with a smile. So kind. What was that.

“No, this guy only got into that situation because he had not been making any effort up to now, that’s all.”

“This too is one turn of fate, isn’t it? My meeting with Princess Shitoen. In the end, after all the twists and turns, you were the man fate intended for me.”

“Cut it out! That!”

“This time, allow me to offer my congratulations. I sincerely pray for the happiness of the princely couple.”

While we were fooling around pointlessly, Lord Marder offered his felicitations, and Vandel and I both reflected a little.

“Thank you, Lord Marder. How have things been since then?”

Intending to reset the mood, I cleared my throat and asked that, and he gave me a deep nod.

“At present, I have the people in the residential quarter undergo regular health checks. Especially those who eat a great deal of karis.”

“That’s a health screening. Wonderful.”

Shitoen’s voice rose brightly. The corners of Lord Marder’s mouth twitched just a little. It seemed he was embarrassed in his own way. Apparently, he was pleased to have been praised.

“I had the sense that the Mira Empire must also be troubled by this illness. At present, I am providing them with information.”

Vandel spoke while looking back and forth between Shitoen and me.

“You softhearted fool. You’re just giving them the information for free?”

I grunted. “Haha,” Vandel let out a dry laugh.

“I’m aiming for something of equal value in return.”

Hey now, his eyes were kind of scary.

“I look forward to being able to report the results to you.”

The Vampire Count and Lord Marder spoke together with obvious satisfaction, while Shitoen and I watched them with strained smiles. Scary, scary. Those two were plotting something.

At that moment, the attendants who had been keeping time emerged from the hall and called to Vandel and the others, “Please, this way.”

Inside, my parents, Their Majesties the King and Queen, and my older brother and his wife, the Crown Prince and Crown Princess, should have been receiving the guests. Also, in the background, my second older brother—and consort to the king of a neighboring country—was there as well. …Well, to be fair, that second brother’s efforts had been extremely impressive.

“Then until later. Ah yes, in the County of Sheen, my subordinates are ringing bells of celebration even now.”

Lord Marder bowed deeply. Ohh, that actually made me happy. I remembered Ligo. I wondered if he was well. Get along with your wife, all right?

“Oh, right. I saw them earlier. They should be next.”

As he entered the hall, Vandel said that.

“What? Who?”

When I asked, he replied only, “Crown Prince Arios and the woman.” Then he smiled meaningfully and disappeared into the hall.