A Summons From Home

“Nova-sama! It’s morning, Nova-sama!”

“…Mmm?”

When I awoke from my pleasant drowsiness and opened my eyes, a familiar face filled my vision.

Under the gaze of eyes looking down at me in exasperation, I slowly sat up.

“Good morning, Nova-sama.”

“Yeah, morning, Tanya.”

I greeted the woman in a maid uniform standing beside my neatly made single bed, then stretched.

Maybe yesterday’s fatigue had not completely worn off, because along with the satisfying sensation of my muscles stretching, a dull ache ran through me.

“…………”

Normally, I would forget what I had dreamed about, but this time I remembered it vividly.

No, whenever I had that particular dream, I always remembered it clearly.

It had already been ten years since then, and even I had to admit I was being rather sentimental about it.

“Nova-sama? You seem rather happy.”

“Yeah. I had a dream about the past.”

“The past… You mean a dream about your first love?”

The one asking was my personal maid, Tanya, who had also appeared in the dream I had just had.

Her full name was Tanya Restor.

Apparently, she had been with me since I was very young, so we had known each other for quite a long time.

She was the only person who had come after me that day ten years ago, and one of the few who never looked at me as though I were a failure.

Though her personality could be a little troublesome at times.

She had always been my personal attendant, so I had told her several times about meeting Shia ten years ago.

Because I still thought about a girl I had met only once a decade ago, Tanya had decided she was my first love and often teased me about it.

The usual routine was for me to deny it, only for her to refuse to accept my denial.

Was that really appropriate behavior for a servant?

I was just thinking that she would probably start teasing me again today when—

“I see… That’s good. You’re always in a good mood after having that dream, Nova-sama.”

Tanya replied with a smile.

Come to think of it, lately she had stopped saying anything about Shia.

Maybe even she had finally grown tired of teasing me about it.

“Ahem… So? What’s on the schedule today?”

When I put on a slightly exaggerated act in an attempt to joke around, a glare as cold as absolute zero immediately shot my way.

It was so frigid that I almost felt as though someone had pressed ice against my back.

“Nothing, as usual.”

“Figured…”

“Even though you have your own territory and residence, everything ultimately falls under the Grand Master’s jurisdiction, and Gill-san handles the territorial administration on your behalf. Gill-san himself said he was free… no, that he had plenty of time to spare.”

“So he is bored.”

I sighed and scratched the back of my head.

In that case, there was only one thing to do.

“Well, I guess that’s to be expected when my territory is just a tiny piece of Father’s larger domain. In that case, I suppose I’ll swing my sword like usual.”

I had been born into a clan of swordsmen, yet I had failed to inherit the power of my bloodline.
Even so, I loved the sword. I loved training too.

So whenever I had free time, I wanted to practice, and not a day went by without me picking up a sword.

I loved it enough to become so absorbed that I lost track of time.

“You overdid it yesterday, so please take it easy today.”

Tanya, who had known me for years, warned me about that bad habit of mine, and I responded with a wry smile.

I finished my morning sword training, then took care of the scant amount of territorial work that needed doing.

I spent most of the afternoon reading or practicing with my sword again.

Looking outside as darkness began to fall, I figured I would eat dinner after this and bring yet another uneventful day to an end.

That was when a knock sounded. After I called out in response, the butler entered the room. He was an excellent butler I had hired fairly recently. He bowed deeply.

“Nova-sama, the Grand Master has summoned you. He requests that you come to the manor on his estate.”

It was unusual for Father to summon me.

In fact, this was the first time since I had moved out of the family home and into this territory. Had I done something wrong?

“Did he say what it was about?”

“No, I was not told.”

“I see. All right. Thank you.”

At my words, the butler bowed once more and left the room.

After hearing the door close, I turned toward Tanya nearby.

“Father summoning me… What could it be?”

“Who knows? I have no idea… By the way, Nova-sama, changing the subject, is there currently anyone you have romantic feelings for? Ah, preferably someone you would want as your fiancée.”

“Huh?”

I gave Tanya a suspicious look at the abrupt question. What in the world was she talking about?

“No, there isn’t. You know perfectly well I don’t have anyone like that in my life. Is that supposed to be sarcasm? The master you serve is the third son of a noble family who’s practically on the verge of becoming an old bachelor.”

I answered with a sigh, only for her to reply with a very brief, “I see.”

Wait, she asked the question and that was all the reaction I got?

“If I’m going to Father’s place, I should probably arrive in the morning… Let’s leave a little while after dinner. Still, a sudden summons, huh… It’d be nice if it were something like a marriage proposal.”

“Who can say?”

Tanya merely closed her eyes as she answered.

I had said that, but I did not seriously believe anyone would send a marriage proposal my way.

Who would want the failure of a clan renowned for swordsmanship?

Still, it was not as though I had no desire to do something about my situation.

“As a man and a noble, I’m already at an age where I should be thinking about marriage, let alone an engagement. But I never meet anyone. I guess I could marry into someone else’s family instead.”

“Nova-sama, you are a member of House Fols, so marrying into another family would be…”

“So that means I’d need a woman willing to marry into mine… Yeah, I really can’t think of anyone.”

I thought back over my work managing the territory, my duties guarding the area near the border, and the occasional trips I made into town, but there were only a handful of women I interacted with in the first place.

“As your servant, I do worry about my master remaining single.”

Tanya pretended to sob dramatically, wiping away imaginary tears.

She often joked around like this, so I was used to it by now.

“As your master, I’m also worried that the maid who’s served me for so long is still single.”

So I turned the teasing back on Tanya, who was older than me, only for her to reply, “Please do not concern yourself with me.”

As I teased her back, something from our childhood suddenly came to mind.

“You used to say, ‘Tanya will marry you,’ remember? You were always acting like the older sister.”

“…T-That was a long time ago.”

“I know, but… you don’t have to reject the idea that strongly.”

I had dredged up an old childhood memory, yet somehow I was the one who ended up taking damage.

Seeing her shudder at the very thought hurt more than I would have liked to admit.

“…I’m not ready to die yet.”

“Hm? Did you say something?”

“No… It’s almost time for dinner, so shall we go?”

With one smooth motion, she slipped out of the room a step ahead of me.