A Date.

A date.

Given the position he held, he had never heard the rumors directly, but for a long time now he had sensed that the castle workers were whispering strange little stories about the young knight and the state of his married life.

“Mm…”

《Hmm…》

An awkward current filled the already dry air.

With the interpreter gone, idle conversation was beyond them; instead, they sat there chewing over what had happened a few moments before.

There is nothing uglier than a man’s jealousy.

So the castle lord was thinking.

When he thought about it properly, he had no right to be jealous of Jack.

That young man must have been at his wife’s side since long, long ago. Far longer than himself. The uninvited guest who had butted into their lives was no one other than himself.

Rather, if his wife regarded him not as a nuisance but as a companion permitted to step inside the bond between them, if there was a place for him in his wife’s future, was that not, in itself, an honor?

Had Ugli been present, he would have said ‘No, it really isn’t an honor,’ but regrettably he was not there.

Central-kingdom culture is beyond me, but…

He nodded along to his own reasoning.

My wife has accommodated herself to any number of northern customs, for my sake. If I need only accept this one thing in return, then really, it is I who ought to be thanking her — yes.

The men of the north tended to be taciturn, highly responsible, and ashamed to be seen feeling anything.

To guard the peace of one’s household in silence, and then die as no more than a handful of dust: that was the northern creed of manhood. Gus, a northern man through and through, held to this creed himself.

And so the castle lord ignored the jealousy boiling in his chest.

And honestly… am I not the better of the two, compared to that knight?

No, he struggled to ignore it.

Yes. That knight fellow is, admittedly, a touch prettily made. But he is not a manly sort.

Agreeing with himself, he began comparing the two in earnest.

His eyes are round and soft, too — like a tame little dog’s. As anyone would agree, a man you can trust with a household is, by his very nature, a man with the eyes of a wild beast, as I have. His hair is like an expensive dog’s, too. All curls, and — the color is pretty, I grant, but that much I could manage, if I washed my hair in lye a few times…

He fiddled with his own hair, coarse as winter bark, as he thought. Already he was plotting to steal a sack of ash from the incinerator yard and dye his hair pale with it.

But then… “My lord, you’ve changed the color of your hair. Are you fancying yourself up?” — to hear that sort of thing would be a touch embarrassing… It isn’t as though I’m trying to put on airs. Let’s see — what if I made it look like Star had brought the wrong water for washing by accident, so it would seem—

Thump—

The castle lord’s scheme got no further before it came to a sudden halt.

His right shoulder had, without warning, gone warm and toasty.

《M-my lady…》

Gus looked over his right shoulder. What met his eyes was the crown of his wife’s head, asleep like a child’s.

Aspara, who had been mulling over her plans for what lay ahead, had gone and fallen asleep against her husband’s shoulder.

《Um, my lady. Your neck will stiffen up.》

“Mmm…”

《My lady…》

He was too afraid to shake Aspara’s shoulder or raise his voice, and he flustered about helplessly.

After a little deliberation, the man hunched his back so that his wife’s neck would be as comfortable as possible, settled into a fixed posture, and resolved to stay perfectly still until Volmo returned.

《My lord, my lord!》

《…》

“Hey!”

《Hm…?》

The castle lord woke to the sound of someone calling him. Lulled by that warm shoulder, he must have drifted into a shallow doze.

《Ngh…》

As he lifted his limp head, the castle lord felt his neck wrenching itself out of joint, and groaned softly.

《You’re late. Did you find the food?》

《That’s not what matters!》

Volmo’s breathing was harsh and uneven. A red mark remained on his palm, as though he’d been clenching his fist, and worst of all, the belt holding his sword at his waist had been severed.

Sensing something serious at once, the castle lord opened his eyes fully.

《What has happened.》

《It’s the madam’s ex-husband’s lot. Those bastards hadn’t gone back after all — they were still at the inn. I’ve only just barely managed to escape and get here.》

《Was there retaliation?》

《It’s not a matter of simple retaliation.》

He stammered, not knowing how to explain the situation.

He could not begin to guess how on earth he was to make this barbarian understand the value of what had been stolen, or the scale of danger it could invite.

Explaining it to Aspara would be quicker.

《Please wake the madam, my lord. I will explain.》

The castle lord shook his head.

《She seems to have been under a great deal of strain from what happened earlier. She’s fast asleep.》

《No, if we simply wake her…. In any event, I’ll explain later. They’ve stolen something that will pose a grave threat to the north if it passes into central-kingdom hands. We have to go after them at once and recover it!》

Something that would pose a grave threat to the north. Gus returned his answer with a considering look in his eyes.

Volmo’s heart sank.

The look on Gus’s face was unmistakably one weighing why he should be in possession of such a thing, and whether he was truly the sort who would fret so over the security of the north.

Yes. Had he been the castle lord himself, he would not have believed it either. The scenario where he’d plotted something with Flower and laid a trap was the obvious read.

《I understand it’s hard to credit what I’m saying. But you have to believe me. Damn it all, do you know what I’ve given up to be standing here doing this! We’ve got to ride after them at once.》

《I believe you.》

The castle lord answered, without any particular resistance or skepticism, in a level, even voice.

《You are a resident of my castle. What king does not trust his own citizens.》

《Then — then that’s fine, so hurry and give chase…!》

《…What would you say to giving chase about five minutes from now.》

《What?!》

What kind of nonsense is that, Volmo thought. He could not begin to understand why this man was doing this.

Then it hit him all at once. This man — could it possibly be —

《…You can’t go because you’re worried Lady Aspara will wake?》

《…》

《Are you serious?!》

The castle lord’s brow furrowed. And yet not a muscle in his body flinched. If he so much as stirred his upper body, his wife would wake. Or her posture would slip and her neck would ache, or so he was thinking.

《Is it the nation, or is it a woman?!》

《Not “a woman.” “My wife.”》

His growling voice resonated low down Volmo’s spine.

《…My apologies. But the weights still don’t balance. I swear it — if that thing crosses over to the central kingdom, we really will be in serious trouble!》

Gus sank into deliberation.

If the castle lord were ordered to choose between his nation and his wife, he would choose the nation without a breath of hesitation. That was no lie.

Moreover, as the man said, if the north was endangered, then his wife’s safety could not be guaranteed either.

Any way he looked at it, there was nothing wrong in what this interpreter-attendant was saying. He had to rise, now, and move to stop this oncoming threat, whatever it turned out to be.

And yet…

《My body will not move.》

His head understood perfectly well that he ought to get up at once; but his body refused to shrug off the warm cheek pressed to his shoulder.

《Are you, are you really in your right mind?》

《It would seem that I am not.》

《Agh! Honestly!!》

Volmo stamped his feet and cried out.

“Mmm…”

At that very moment, miraculously, Aspara woke. Volmo’s foot-stamping seemed to have roused her from her light sleep.

“Mmh… Oh dear, are you back already? No, have I overslept—”

“Madam, at last!”

“Oh, goodness, were you waiting to eat on my account? Why are you looking so pleased to see me—”

“I’ll explain later, first get on your horse!”

That’s really quite like a line out of a novel, Aspara thought, rubbing her sleepy eyes.

The three of them hurried to where the horses had been tethered. Volmo saddled a horse and knotted the reins; the castle lord had gone off to enlist the help of the villagers nearby.

As he fastened the saddle in place, Volmo explained the situation to the lady.

“—And so, we’ve had the purple fabric stolen.”

“Hmm.”

“Can you imagine what will happen if it becomes known to the southerners that purple can be mass-produced from what amounts to a common weed?”

“It would be a great nuisance. The investors in the dye trade are the nobles and the rich. I can already picture the uproar.”

Aspara, still not fully awake, spoke while hiding a yawn behind her hand.

“They may well burn the northern soil to the ground just to pull up the weeds by the roots.”

“Then why are you taking it so calmly?”

“That is how it is. Ah, so that was it. That purple-stained lump of stone Star brought with her — that, I suppose, was the thing.”

Thrown by his lady’s unconcerned voice, Volmo said,

“You knew already?”

“I did not know about the existence of the dye itself. It was only hearing you say it just now that I realized — ah, so that was what that was.”

“Then — why did you not ask where she got that purple stone from?”

Volmo had all but shouted the pressing question, then quickly read the room and lowered his voice. Gus was glaring at him as if to say and who do you think you are, raising your voice here.

“Mm… When you saw that scrap of purple cloth, how did you feel?”

“I was amazed, of course. Star didn’t properly grasp what the thing meant, but I did. That is no ordinary object!”

“Yes, yes. You were amazed.”

Aspara helped Volmo pull the horse’s blinker-straps tight.

“I am not much good at that. Even when I meet something amazing, I’m not especially amazed, and even when I meet something frightening, I’m not especially frightened… so it takes me a long time to properly weigh what is important.”