Chapter Index





    Ch.169The Fourth Flower (4)

    Crack— Snap—

    “How… how could you…”

    Since the Lotaring royal family is so small, I had intended to place a few handmaidens with such purpose by my lord’s side. After all, a nobleman’s duty is to spread his descendants far and wide, which means revitalizing the family line.

    Above all, even if my lord were to have affairs, those women would never receive the blessing of marriage, so I didn’t want to be petty about it.

    In fact, there are already two handmaidens openly living in the palace and having relations with my lord, and I haven’t made an issue of it, have I?

    “Ines, please calm down, okay?”

    One reason I tolerated my lord’s affairs was because I was confident that even if he gave them love, it would be less than the love he gave to me.

    Didn’t Chloe and Jeanne resort to the cowardly tactic of pouncing on His Majesty because they never earned my lord’s love?

    Outwardly I didn’t show it, but inwardly I greatly scorned those two. They were uncultured creatures who committed such vulgar acts because they couldn’t win my lord’s love.

    But… this is different.

    “His Majesty… violated her?”

    “No, it wasn’t violation…”

    To think my lord desired that woman’s body first.

    I wasn’t particularly bothered by my lord’s affairs, so I expected something like this would happen eventually… but when it actually happened, the shock was too great.

    “Hic… huu…”

    I shouldn’t cry…

    I was taught from childhood never to cry because tears are a weakness… but that education has gone to waste. I simply can’t hold back.

    Flinch—

    ‘Ugh…’

    No, my hand is moving on its own.

    It’s searching for tools.

    I decided not to do this anymore because it might be bad for the children’s upbringing… but… ugh…

    Yes, just once.

    Let’s do it just once.

    As long as the children don’t see it, right?

    The room hasn’t been used for a while, but since it’s been closed off, it shouldn’t be damaged—

    Squeeze—

    “Eek?!”

    Suddenly I felt my body lurch forward, followed by a soft sensation enveloping my entire body.

    I can’t move and everything is dark before my eyes, but I don’t feel like resisting. I just want to stay like this. The constant tension in my mind suddenly comes to a halt.

    “Feeling better now?”

    “…Mm.”

    …I’m such a fool.

    Just moments ago, I couldn’t control my emotions at all, but the instant I’m embraced in my lord’s arms, I immediately calm down.

    It’s like a barking dog that becomes docile as soon as you put meat in its mouth.

    “…No.”

    “Shall we stay like this a little longer, then?”

    “…”

    Why do you have to say that out loud?

    …There’s no way I could verbalize something so embarrassing.

    “Alright, let’s stay longer.”

    Ines doesn’t answer and simply closes her eyes, leaning forward.

    …Yes, I had such foolish thoughts. There’s no way my lord doesn’t love me. To doubt my lord was truly terrible—

    Clunk—!

    “Ah!”

    Suddenly, a strange sound reaches my ears. It’s a peculiar mix of wood and metal.

    And mixed among those sounds is… Chloe’s voice.

    Wait— Chloe?!

    “Eek!?”

    Ines, who had been completely limp until just now, springs out of Claude’s embrace like a startled shrimp and turns her back to the direction of the sound.

    There must still be many marks on my face, so I look unsightly. I can’t possibly show such an appearance to my rival.

    “Chloe… what are you doing here?”

    “Ah… brother… well… that is… right, the door lock needs fixing! To think it would slide open so easily just from leaning against it a little!”

    “You were leaning?”

    “…Oh.”

    I hear Chloe and my lord exchanging words behind me.

    …Leaning? Could it be that she was eavesdropping on our conversation this whole time?

    This… this… immoral woman…

    “Excuse me…”

    ‘…?’

    Suddenly, I hear a frail, timid woman’s voice. Judging by the direction and volume, she seems to be speaking from further behind Chloe, probably from the corridor.

    She’s not a servant. I know all the servants’ voices, and this is one I’ve never heard before. Her manner of speech isn’t that of a servant either. The way she trails off instead of stating her business directly—if she had such poor manners, Leclair would have screened her out long ago rather than hiring her.

    Who could it be? The voice sounds ordinary, but if she’s entered the palace and is with Chloe, she can’t be an ordinary woman—

    “Ellen? What are you doing here?”

    ‘…!’

    The moment I recognize the owner of that voice, all the blood drains from my body.

    Until just now, my body was burning with embarrassment at having my vulnerable state exposed to Chloe, but that heat vanished in an instant.

    “I… I was receiving instruction from Lady Chloe…”

    ‘…Ellen.’

    The witch who seduced my lord and made him pounce on her.

    …How strange.

    Just moments ago, when I didn’t know who the voice belonged to, it sounded like an ordinary woman’s voice, but now that I know its owner, it no longer sounds that way.

    It’s vulgar… and filthy.

    ……….

    “Aaaargh…”

    This is driving me insane.

    Clearly, in various media I saw before—that is, in my previous life—harems were portrayed as the concentrated dreams and hopes of men.

    No. I can state with certainty.

    Harems are terrible. Especially the relationships between the wives.

    [Her Majesty the Queen requests an audience.]

    [So you’re Ellen.]

    […?]

    Ines’s gaze, her tone, her expression—they were clearly hostile toward Ellen. The intensity was even greater than when she had dealt with Chloe in the past.

    The reason for Ines’s behavior is likely because I made the first move on Ellen.

    Anyone could see that I was at fault for reaching out without rejection, but Ines’s anger was so massive and powerful that it seemed to reverse who the actual wrongdoer was.

    “Would the Lord have needlessly told us to be faithful to one family?”

    “…Leclair.”

    Leclair is not one to show emotions on his face, but ironically, that’s why I’ve become very good at detecting his emotional changes. His face is so calm that even the slightest change stands out prominently.

    And that expression of Leclair’s was clearly mocking and teasing me.

    For Leclair, who has spent his entire life looking at only one woman, my behavior is certainly worthy of ridicule… but couldn’t he refrain from teasing me so openly?

    “In polygamy, it’s entirely possible for all wives to love their husband. However, it’s hard to imagine that the wives would get along with each other. Isn’t it natural that the stronger their love for their husband, the worse the relationship between the wives becomes?”

    “…”

    Leclair is right.

    Jeanne, who shows no emotion toward other wives as if she’s reached enlightenment, is the unusual case. Generally speaking, Ines’s hostile attitude is the normal one.

    And being normal means that no matter how much I comfort Ines, her heartache won’t disappear.

    Isn’t it normal to feel pain when your body is pricked with a needle?

    If I try to eliminate the pain without removing the cause—the harem, or the needle—I would have to kill all the nerves in the skin or alter the brain that perceives pain. That shouldn’t be called comforting, but rather oppression and brainwashing.

    “Well… the only way is to love your wives to the best of your ability. To help them turn their eyes away from the pain.”

    “Love, huh.”

    “Yes, love. Fortunately, Your Majesty treats women not only with lust but also with heart, so your wives won’t consider your actions insincere.”

    All that’s left for me is to consistently give love to all four so they don’t feel lonely; there is no other way.

    …Come to think of it, didn’t a certain religion on Earth that permitted harems say not to practice polygamy unless you could love and treat all wives equally? Even in the past Earth, there must have been many people with the same concerns as mine.

    “Anyway, I’ve come to submit the report on the weapons you ordered, so please review it. I came to submit the report but completely forgot about it because of Your Majesty’s gloomy appearance.”

    “Yes… I understand…”

    Leclair, who had been teasing me just moments ago, instantly reverts his expression to normal and begins discussing business matters.

    At first, I found Leclair’s conversational style of abruptly changing topics awkward, but having employed him for years, I’m completely used to it now. No, more than being used to it, I’ve adopted it myself.

    There was no need to point out Leclair’s habit of chatting casually but then instantly returning to his duties.

    “Let’s see…”

    The report Leclair handed me details progress on miniaturizing cannons.

    Under my directive to develop guns, the laboratory has been steadily reducing the size of cannons.

    The problem is that as the size decreases, the defect rate of the barrel increases dramatically, but such defects will decrease with more research and production, so time will solve that issue.

    ‘From the description, it sounds like a hand cannon.’

    So they’ve miniaturized the cannon to be carried by a person and withstand the recoil…

    Not bad. No, it’s not just “not bad”—it’s excellent.

    It’s been only five years since the first cannon was made, and despite the high defect rate, they’ve already created a primitive hand cannon. This is clearly a successful achievement.

    A gun? Of course it would be nice to have one, but it requires too much technical capability for medieval technology, so I didn’t even expect it. Even if it does appear, it would probably take decades.


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