After The Festival

The lord’s uncle had coveted the position of Lord of Goran.

He had therefore assassinated his older brother and become his nephew’s guardian, intending to dispose of his nephew as well when the opportunity arose.

However, his plot had been exposed, and both the uncle and the viscount’s family from which his wife hailed had faced severe punishment. Those involved in the conspiracy were sentenced to death, and the viscount’s house was abolished.

There was no way a mere lower-ranking noble could have pulled off something like that alone. Someone far more powerful had been behind it.

Although he knew this, the young Count Goran had been unable to strike at the true mastermind.

“…………”

I must have had a look on my face as though I’d bitten into something terribly bitter.

“E-Elm Tree Manor-san, is something wrong? Are you all right?”

The young man from the town hall addressed me rather timidly.

“…No, it’s nothing. I just remembered something unpleasant.”

“Something unpleasant?”

“Well, it’s all in the past.”

“I see…”

“Still, despite everything that must have happened, Goran’s territory is flourishing. His Lordship must have endured a great deal of hardship.”

When a territory grew weak, the central government could seize the opportunity to interfere. …Just as it had in the south.

Count Goran had refused to allow that to happen, and the western region had continued to preserve its autonomy.

At my words, the young man raised his head and gazed at the lord’s portrait.

“That’s true. Everyone in the territory adores him. He became our lord at such a young age, and he’s protected both the land and its people ever since. I think he’s a truly admirable man.”

Having once been a royal palace knight, I had a pretty good idea which viscount’s house had been abolished approximately twelve years ago.

That viscount’s family had belonged to the faction associated with the second queen’s family. Even a margrave could hardly submit a formal accusation to the king without absolutely conclusive evidence.

There was a second queen because the first queen, who had been a princess from a neighboring country, had passed away shortly after giving birth to His Highness the Crown Prince.

The second queen wanted her own child to ascend the throne, and she regarded His Highness the Crown Prince as an intolerable obstacle.

The recent assassination attempt against His Highness had been orchestrated by this queen’s family.

If His Highness, who possessed an impeccable royal bloodline, were removed from his position as Crown Prince despite having done nothing wrong, the first queen’s homeland would certainly not remain silent.

Whether it would lead to war was uncertain, but it would undoubtedly damage the friendly relations between our countries. That, in turn, would create tensions with other neighboring nations.

For our own country, replacing the Crown Prince would also be an utterly humiliating disgrace. Anyone thinking rationally would recognize that such a situation had to be avoided at all costs.

However, the queen enjoyed the king’s favor, while her elder brother, a marquis and head of his house, served as chancellor. The queen’s entire family wielded tremendous political influence.

And so, by sheer coincidence, security around His Highness the Crown Prince had been unusually lax. At that very coincidental moment, a suspicious individual approached His Highness and raised a knife against him.

Had I not happened to be there and thrown myself between His Highness and the assailant to protect him, he would have lost his life.

Despite the gravity of the incident, the only punishments handed down were the execution of the perpetrator and the demotion of several knights responsible for security.

And that was despite the obvious involvement of the knight order’s senior officers and those even higher up.

Well, at least the incident had prompted a review of the security arrangements, so His Highness was probably somewhat safer now. Nevertheless, just like Count Goran, I, Lydia Venesca, had allowed the true villains to escape justice.

We had been defeated by those pigs in the royal capital.

The days leading up to the festival had been as hectic as a battlefield, but all that hard work had paid off. The festival itself was a tremendous success, and the madeleines sold like hotcakes.

Despite the enormous quantity I’d prepared, we were on track to sell out by early afternoon.

Noah, Mirei, and Cassie had all helped me run the stall, and when the stream of customers finally slowed down,

“Lydia-san, you must be tired. Why don’t you take a little break?”

At Cassie’s suggestion, I decided to take a breather.

In truth, I had hardly ever participated in anything that could be called a festival, even at my age.

My childhood at home had been one thing, but after entering a school for training mages at the age of six, I’d been overwhelmed with studying. Once I became a magic knight, I’d been responsible for maintaining public security.

Because I held a position of some authority, I didn’t stand guard on street corners like ordinary knights. Instead, I simply remained on standby at the guard station, prepared to respond to any emergencies.

…Festivals have always been rather melancholy occasions for me.

That was why I’d been looking forward to this one so much.

As befitted a festival celebrating spring, flowers decorated every corner of the town, and in the middle of the square, young men and women in colorful costumes danced in a circle.

Then something in one corner of the square caught my eye.

They were roasting enormous pigs, sheep, and cattle.

Only half a cow was being roasted, but the pigs and sheep were being cooked whole.

Whole-roasted meat was delicious, but preparing it was a tremendous undertaking. Several people had to work together to turn the meat on an enormous iron spit, making sure it didn’t burn. Depending on the size of the animal, it could take more than three hours to cook.

Burly men were sweating profusely as they tended the roasting meat.

A wonderfully appetizing aroma drifted through the air. It was a magnificent spectacle, exactly the sort of cooking one expected at a festival.

…I wanted to try roasting something like that myself.

As I stood there staring, someone called out, “Hey, you there! Have some, if you’d like,” and handed me a few freshly roasted cubes of meat.

Apparently, it was lamb.

Spring was the season for milk-fed lamb.

Milk-fed lamb referred to young lambs that were still nursing, generally around two to three months old, and their meat was exceptionally delicious.

While I ate the complimentary meat and watched the young people dancing in the square, a sudden cheer of “Whoa!” erupted nearby. I turned around and saw a crowd gathering some distance away.

What was going on?

“It’s His Lordship!”

“His Lordship is here!”

“What? His Lordship?”

Young women flushed with excitement and hurried toward the commotion.

Goran’s territory was vast, and the arrival of spring varied slightly from region to region. The spring festivals began in southern Goran, while the festival in this town, close to the frontier, was the last to be held in the territory.

The neighboring town had held its spring festival about a week earlier, and apparently, the lord himself had made a brief appearance.

The townspeople had been hoping he might grace their festival with his presence as well.

I caught a glimpse of black hair in the middle of the crowd, surrounded by knights serving as his personal guards.

Most people in this country had blond or brown hair, but Goran’s territory apparently maintained close ties with the neighboring country across the border, where black hair was common. Consequently, it wasn’t particularly unusual to see black-haired people here.

I was curious about the lord, who had been tossed about by such a cruel fate at a young age, but not curious enough to push my way through the crowd just to catch a glimpse of him.

I got up and returned to the stall where Noah and the others were waiting.

As soon as the festival ended, I began preparing the sweets I’d promised to make as a birthday gift.

It was the day before I was due to take the finished sweets to the town hall.

“Lydia.”

“Bla… Alvin-sama.”

The black-haired man, otherwise known as the knight Alvin, had arrived with his brown-haired companion.

“…………”

“…………”

We stared at each other in silence.

After all, this was the first time I’d seen Alvin since that bewildering embrace—the incident I’d dubbed the “Call Me by My Name” affair.

Immediately afterward, the brown-haired man had arrived to fetch him. Alvin had looked as though he wanted to say something, but he’d departed almost at once. Riding a horse at night was quite dangerous, so they had needed to get moving before sunset.

…This was a little awkward.

“Ah, welcome.”

“Thank you. It’s been a while. I’ve been so busy lately that I haven’t even had a chance to stop by.”

Our first exchange had been rather stiff, but once we actually started talking, the conversation flowed surprisingly smoothly.

Naturally, I greeted him with a smile, since he was a customer, but Alvin returned it with a cheerful smile of his own.

…What on earth had that whole incident been about?

“Have you been busy?”

“Well, spring is always a hectic time for one reason or another.”

When winter ended and spring arrived, people became more active.

At this time of year, all manner of troublesome matters were brought before the knight order.

From my own past experience, I could easily imagine how busy he must have been.

“Goodness. Thank you for all your hard work.”

“Ah, thank you. Now that the spring festival is over, I should finally be able to catch my breath soon.”

“I’m glad to hear that. Will you be staying the night today?”

When I asked him that, Alvin’s eyebrows drooped regretfully.

“No. I’d love to, but unfortunately, I have to return to headquarters today.”

By headquarters, he presumably meant the Goran Knight Order’s headquarters in the territorial capital.

Even on horseback, it would take at least three hours to get there from here.

“Just let me have a meal, then.”

“Certainly. I’ll put my heart into it.”