Not Bad

“—— —.”

Gus’s low voice roused Aspara from her reverie.

“Ah…!”

She opened her eyes grudgingly, and the first thing she saw was the snowfield’s earth, its dark soil laid bare. Covering it entirely was a field of purple flowers.

A fragrance reached her nose, not overpowering but distinctly sharp. The scent of living plants.

The purple flowers had petals as thick as a child’s pinky finger. They didn’t flutter delicately in the breeze like their southern cousins; true to northern stock, their stems were thick and bristled with coarse hairs.

Rough-looking flowers, but spread across the snowfield in full bloom, they made for a genuinely stunning sight.

A soft whinny from the horse.

At that signal, the hot-blooded beast came to a stop.

Gus rested one hand on the saddle and swung both legs over, dropping to the ground. He fell to one knee in the snow, forming a step for his wife.

Once again, he did not offer his hand.

“—— — —.”

“Thank you. Though…”

Aspara thrust her hand right under the man’s nose.

“When helping a lady dismount, you’re supposed to hold her hand. You’ve sat me atop this enormously tall horse — surely you don’t intend to just offer your knee again like last time.”

The castle lord reached his hand out halfway, halting and hesitant, only for his small wife to seize it.

Aspara hopped down like a squirrel descending an old tree.

“So, what are these flowers?”

That morning had been a rather leisurely one for Gus.

Well, that wasn’t entirely true; there was plenty to do. It was just that most of it amounted to waiting. A day where all he could do was wait for the castle’s people who had gone out to return with their reports. Not an uncommon occurrence in this place.

Only his attendant Ugli remained in the office, and even he had nothing to report; there was simply nothing of note on the agenda.

Ugli had always been fiercely loyal to Gus. But lately, he had been sticking even closer than usual, ever since the night when a sentimental castle lord had bared his heart to him under the moonlight.

“Ugli.”

“Yes.”

Gus spoke to the attendant who had just finished his report.

“This may be a bit late, but… I was a great burden to you the other day.”

“A man who is about to become a sovereign should not be apologizing for such things. Besides, you’ve been under a great deal of strain lately, haven’t you.”

“I appreciate the understanding.”

“As for the matter of my lord running half-naked through the corridors on that moonlit night — I shall not breathe a word of it to anyone, so please do not worry.”

“…Thank you.”

Unlike his master, whose lovesickness had grown considerably worse of late, Ugli’s complexion had recently bloomed like roses in May.

“You’re looking well these days.”

“Is it that obvious?”

He grinned and blushed.

“The truth is… I’ve been seeing someone lately.”

“You, of all people?”

Gus was mildly surprised. A romantic relationship. He’d thought Ugli was the type who had no use for the sort of joy that came from something so serious.

Setting aside his own marital troubles, he was genuinely happy for his subordinate.

“That’s wonderful news. When the chance arises, you should introduce them to me sometime.”

“Hmm. With all due respect, my lord — even if the castle lord is my good friend, you are still a king and my liege. That might put a bit too much pressure on things, don’t you think?”

Gus hadn’t expected a refusal from that brazen soul of all people. But the explanation that followed was convincing enough, and he could only nod.

“Fair point.”

“You know, now that I’ve tried this whole courting business, it’s really quite enjoyable. So, about that…”

Ugli flashed another grin.

“I think my lord ought to do a bit of that fine courting business himself.”

“There are things you can say to a man with a sweetheart, and things you cannot.”

“I mean with that very sweetheart, my lord.”

He wore the grin he always wore when he was about to stir up trouble.

Gus was not at ease. He and Ugli were liege and vassal, comrades from war, but honestly, Gus found his subordinate, whose personality could not have been more different from his own, to be a little, no, quite often in private, somewhat overwhelming.

“You’ve sealed a marriage contract but haven’t held the ceremony yet — a man and woman in that position, if you think about it, this is precisely the time for a bit of courtship. Her Ladyship seems to enjoy horseback riding, so why not take her on an outing? Once today passes, days this leisurely will be rare.”

Come now, come now, the brazen vassal said as he physically shoved his lord out of the office.

Gus muttered things like no, suddenly, still as he let himself be pushed along by Ugli’s hands, as though he had no choice.

Well, the truth was, both of them knew.

That the war-king called the King of Barbarians, Gus, had a frame that could not possibly be shoved anywhere by a single attendant against his will.

“I believe the queen-to-be is in her chambers. That stammering knight of hers won’t be around, so hurry along and carry her to the stables — or drag her there, whichever you prefer. I’ll be going on ahead. There’s nothing more ungraceful than a man who brings a third wheel to ask someone on a date.”

“Drag her, you say…”

Before the castle lord could even finish, Ugli had vanished with that carefree grin plastered across his face.

He was certainly an excellent vassal, but also one with many incomprehensible qualities.

Embarrassed at how transparent he’d been about disliking his wife’s knight, and bewildered as to how he was supposed to court someone he couldn’t even speak to, Gus was at a loss.

That clueless knight being absent means… a man and woman meeting alone in broad daylight — isn’t that a bit… indecent… for a man of honor?

Even as he thought such things, the castle lord’s feet did not stop carrying him toward his wife’s chambers.

Ugli dashed through the corridor, looping around in the opposite direction from Gus. To peel that stupid, adorable knight away in advance, he needed to arrive before Gus, but there was plenty of time to have a bit of fun first.

After all, his lord would undoubtedly spend ages dithering in front of the door.

His Lordship is going to miss his afternoon snack today, so it should be fine if I swipe a few of the refreshments.

Gus wasn’t the only one who respected his longtime comrade while failing to understand him.

Ugli, too, often found his own lord incomprehensible.

Was there really any need to feel guilty about love just because the bond had come into your hands regardless of the other person’s will?

If a pretty little bird flew into your palm and sat there, lost and helpless, you simply adored it and enjoyed its company.

Ugli’s steps were light as he headed toward the stammering knight.

Having dismounted, Aspara bent at the waist and examined the flower field closely. A peculiar fragrance pricked at her nose.

No insects could survive in a place this cold — so how on earth…

Upon closer inspection, the stamens rose tall and pointed, as if the flowers had no need to court flying bugs; they relied on the fierce, cold winds alone for pollination.

Were flowers like these common in this region? Aspara thought of the northern castle she had been calling “Fang Castle” in her head all this time. Perhaps, she thought, it hadn’t been modeled after a fearsome maw at all, but after a flower like this.

Gus, lord of Stamen Castle. The image was so wildly unfitting that she laughed.

“— — —. — —…”

Gus plucked the flower with the finest color and snapped one of its petals off. Then he held it right up to Aspara’s nose.

The inside of the thick purple petal was pure white and pristine as snow. A distinctive fragrance wafted from the cross-section, and it was pleasant.

The bride had bent so low over the flower that her face was buried in it, invisible to the tall Gus above her. He tried to gauge his wife’s expression without letting on, shifting his eyes this way and that.

“— —. —?”

Ever since the wedding night, Gus had been in a constant state of restless desperation to earn points with his new bride.

That was why he had been elated when Aspara herself had wanted to see his country. Granted, it was a backwater that couldn’t hold a candle to the beaches of the south, but he loved his homeland. He thought that if she saw this flower field, even a princess from the south might come to love this place, just a little.

But Gus’s heart sank slowly once more.

His flower of a bride was staring at the broken petal with furrowed brows and a vacant expression, not a trace of a smile.

Aspara breathed in the fragrance seeping from the broken petal one more time, deeply. It was a familiar smell.

“These flowers — what do your people use them for?”

“— —, —?”

That damned northern tongue and its incomprehensible twists sounded especially tiresome today. She should have brought Jack along; of all days, he had to vanish first thing in the morning.

Aspara tucked the flower into the front of her garment.

“Thank you for showing me this. An unexpected harvest indeed. Now, you must be very busy, my lord — let us head back.”

Aspara walked toward the horse, which had been grazing on moss beside the flower field. She felt sorry for the beast, which had only just begun to rest after the long ride, but all she wanted right now was to return to the castle before the short daylight faded.

“Is there anything else? I’ve finished my business.”

“— — — — —?”

“I’d like to head back now. [— — —.] Is that all right?”

“…— —, go back?”

“Yes. [— — —.] Go back.”

Go… back.

Very slowly, Aspara pronounced the basic northern words she’d picked up over the past few days of living with her maid.

Gus stared at his bride. Frustrated, perhaps, at the man who couldn’t understand a word she said, she was struggling and straining to mount the horse by herself before giving up entirely and looking back at him.

Gus thought.

His bride, unusually small even among the small-framed southerners, would never be able to return to the castle on her own without his help. Because from his wife’s vantage, the snowfield was far too vast and far too empty.