Ch.23Foundation of Reform (1)

“Master… I love you.”

“…Chloe.”

Chloe’s eyes have transformed into those of a girl in love.

That declaration of love isn’t merely expressing familial affection.

“You’re… my sister.”

At my words, Chloe’s eyes widen and her lips part slightly.

…Still, I need to say what must be said.

“I can’t see you that way. Mother asked me to take good care of you—”

“No.”

Chloe’s firm voice cuts off my words.

…What does she mean ‘no’? Chloe is— Huh?

The shocked expression Chloe had just moments ago has reverted to what it was before. Those distinctive eyes looking at someone she loves.

“That’s right, Master was just… a neighborhood boy who happened to live in the same house.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Yes, a childhood friend. A childhood friend with a significant age difference.”

Chloe’s face grows increasingly red as her voice becomes more heated.

Her breathing quickens and her words accelerate tremendously.

“…Chloe?”

“There’s nothing strange about childhood friends getting married. We’re not even siblings to begin with—”

“CHLOE!!”

“Ah…!?”

When inappropriate words came from Chloe’s mouth, I shouted without thinking. Chloe gasps in surprise at my outburst.

Ugh… I shouldn’t yell at Chloe when she’s hurting.

*Gently*

“…Don’t say such things. You’re my sister.”

“Mas…ter…”

Chloe, who had been breathing heavily and blurting out words, becomes remarkably calm when my hand rests on her head.

I absentmindedly stroked her head out of guilt, but it’s surprisingly effective.

“Chloe, you’re… too exhausted.”

“…”

Receiving my pats, Chloe becomes very docile, as if what just happened was merely a dream. Though her eyes still held the gaze of a girl in love.

…Regardless of how Chloe feels about me, I can’t harbor such feelings for her.

How could I possibly see Chloe, who’s so cute and like family, as a romantic interest?

“Get some rest for today. Let’s talk again tomorrow.”

It’s too much to continue this conversation today.

Chloe might have been slightly delirious from stress, so I’ll try talking to her again tomorrow.

Who knows, maybe when I wake up tomorrow morning, all of this will have just been a dream.

“…Master.”

Chloe stops me as I carefully open the door to leave.

“May I… ask just one thing?”

Her voice is extremely tired, but not as desperate as before.

“You can embrace other women. But… please let me be your first.”

“…”

I don’t answer.

I simply turn off the light and carefully open the door to leave.

“Haaaaah…”

As I close the door behind me, a massive glass window greets me straight ahead.

The night is cloudless with a full moon, so why does everything look so dark?

“That’s quite a deep sigh.”

“HUAACK!?”

A slender, elongated voice enters my ears as I’m sighing.

There definitely wasn’t any presence before!?

“Who—Ines… ah… don’t scare me like that.”

“Fufu, what a good reaction.”

Despite the corridor being very dark with the lights off, Ines’s distinctive silver hair and white skin shine brightly even in that darkness.

She’s always so pale that it hurts my eyes to look at her when she catches the light, but seeing her in such darkness gives a different impression.

“Are you… walking alone?”

“Yes, I quite enjoy taking solitary night walks.”

Hmm… apart from being alone, it’s not an incomprehensible preference.

Red eyes naturally have difficulty absorbing light, so walking around during the day must be very tiring for the eyes.

“It’s dark, quiet, and I don’t need to worry about anyone’s gaze.”

“I see.”

Indeed, if you spend your whole life maintaining proper etiquette and grace in every single action, it must be exhausting.

Perhaps nighttime solitude is the only time Ines can truly relax.

“Still, you should always be careful not to get hurt. If you don’t watch where you’re going, you might fall.”

“Of course, I always move carefully to avoid injury. The corridors are all kept clean to match the castle’s exterior, making them easy to walk on.”

I tried to advise her that walking alone might be too dangerous… but since she says she’s being careful, there’s nothing more to say.

“Is that so? How do you like the castle?”

“It’s more complex and splendid than the castle in Lorel where I stayed, so I’m quite fond of it.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

Excluding the Bar region I conquered and the coastal region my grandfather conquered, Lorel and Bourgogne have a territorial size difference of more than triple, and Bourgogne has abundant fertile farmland.

Since Bourgogne has always been wealthy even before my grandfather’s rule, it’s naturally larger and more magnificent than other castles.

“Yes, though I haven’t seen everything yet.”

Ines says this and slowly walks toward me.

The corridor is so quiet that even the small sound of her shoes echoes loudly.

“So… could you show me what I haven’t seen yet?”

“Uh…”

Only then could I properly see Ines’s clothes.

Until now, I’d only seen Ines wearing elaborate or elegantly dignified clothes, but the current Ines is nothing like that.

While still completely white, there’s a significant gap between the clothing and her skin, making it very flowy. This is—

“Yes, that’s right. These are pajamas.”

“…Pajamas?”

What, how did she know— Ah… maybe I was staring too obviously. That’s possible.

Ines immediately perceives what I’m thinking as I look at her clothes with puzzled eyes.

“One can’t wear tight clothes while sleeping, can they?”

That’s… true.

The real issue is why she’s out wearing pajamas.

“Fufu, what does it matter? You’ll be seeing them often from now on.”

*Smoothly*

Ines instantly nestles into my arms.

“Wait… Ines…”

She’s too close.

Though Ines is so short that the top of her head only reaches my collarbone, when she wraps her hands around my neck and pulls while standing on her tiptoes, our faces suddenly become close enough to touch.

No… at this rate, our lips will—

“…”

“Mmh…”

She stopped.

Ines’s approaching face halted about a hand’s width away.

My pupils are reflected in Ines’s eyes.

“…Your lips look moist.”

With those final words, Ines releases her interlocked hands that were pulling my head.

That’s not all.

Ines, who had been in my arms, has already stepped back one pace. She’s quick.

“Hmm… well, that’s fine. You’ll be mine eventually.”

“Ines…?”

Ines glances slightly at the door to Chloe’s room, then looks at me with a grin.

It’s still a beautiful smile.

But… something is eerie. I can’t feel the fresh sensation I had when I first saw her.

“Claude, I’m sorry, but I suddenly feel sleepy, so I don’t think I can continue today. I’ll go to bed now, so I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“O-okay…”

With those words, Ines turns around and slowly walks down the corridor.

With each step, her pajamas sway, reflecting the moonlight.

‘Moist… huh.’

She noticed.

……….

“Good morning, Master.”

“…Chloe.”

Despite what happened yesterday, Chloe has changed into neat clothes and come to wake me up today.

…Still the same cute smile. Yesterday feels like a dream.

But… it’s reality.

“Now that the coronation is over, there’s much to do. Please get up soon.”

“…Right.”

Everything seems normal, but it’s so difficult to speak up.

While washing, changing clothes, and eating, Chloe tried to engage me in conversation as usual, but I couldn’t reciprocate.

“…?”

LeClerc seems to have noticed something has changed.

He squints slightly, looking back and forth between Chloe and me, before returning to his usual calm and composed expression.

“Your Majesty, I’m informed that the recovery of bodies abandoned in the Nevers wetlands has been completed.”

LeClerc seems to have chosen to ignore the subtle change in atmosphere and just do his job.

I should do the same.

If I just stay still, yesterday’s events will keep coming to mind… focusing on work should help.

“Is that so? That’s good news.”

Most of the bodies there are from the Carolingian army, but quite a few are our own troops.

I thought it would take longer… it’s surprisingly quick to finish right after the coronation.

“As per the previous treaty, identified bodies have been sent to their families, and unidentified bodies have all been burned.”

“Hmm…”

Not cremation, but simply burning them—it can’t be helped. There’s no suitable place to bury so many bodies, and leaving them would create a horrific scene.

“What about the armor and precious metals? They weren’t embezzled along the way, were they?”

“The administrators dispatched from Dijon report that there wasn’t much difference between the initial inventory and the final count.”

“Not much difference means… some was embezzled?”

That’s unavoidable. There’s a shortage of officials, and all documents must be handwritten one by one.

“Also, there’s a high possibility that items were stolen before the administrators first recorded them. In such cases, it’s difficult to estimate how much was taken.”

Tsk… hearing LeClerc’s words, this seems more plausible.

I have a bad feeling, so let’s consider all possibilities.

“First, check all the workers and officials who worked there, and focus on investigating those whose wealth suddenly increased.”

“Yes. But that would be an enormous task—are you sure?”

“That’s true…”

With an inefficient medieval administrative system, assigning audit work to officials on top of everything else would make them all suffer.

It’s no wonder past monarchs imposed death penalties for minor crimes or deliberately inflated their own notoriety. Since they couldn’t catch all criminals, they spread the word that they showed no mercy to criminals to reduce crime.

…Should I do the same?

“…For now, hire more people to work as officials and divert some personnel to auditing. Conduct audits not just for Nevers but for other places as well.”

“Yes, understood.”

The audit work must proceed.

Even if I wanted to create a reputation for being merciless, I need criminals to build that reputation.

I’ll let those who took moderately get away with forced labor, but those who took excessively will lose their heads. Literally.