episode_0154

The day before the Duke Consort’s birthday.

“William, I’m really sorry, but you’ll have to go to the Duke Consort’s birthday alone this time.”

“Yes?”

This thunderbolt came down on me as I was leisurely waiting for tomorrow, having finished all the preparations.

“That guy Edward fainted after reading this letter, so I think I’ll have to urgently go to the territory with him.”

“……”

Letter, faint, territory.

One terrible situation came to mind, and with a stiff expression, I received the letter my father handed me.

“Gulp…”

And swallowing, I carefully unfolded the letter, folded in half, with trembling hands.

[Wilhelmina was giving birth for the first time, so she bled a little during a difficult labor, but the baby came out healthy and Wilhelmina finished giving birth in good shape. Ashley doesn’t cry much and is calm, she seems to be the spitting image of Wilhelmina. I’ll be preparing well so that you can meet her with a cheerful face, so don’t worry.]

“?”

A perfectly ordinary letter saying that my sister-in-law gave birth well, nothing strange about it.

Rather, I thought he should be grinning like he was on drugs, not fainting.

Because if it’s my brother, he’s the type of person who would be so happy that he’d be flying in the sky at the news that his sister-in-law and baby are safe.

“Why… Why did my brother faint?”

“That idiot Edward only read the first line.”

“Sigh…”

“Haa…”

My father and I simultaneously sighed and swept back our hair.

I honestly felt pathetic towards my brother for the first time in my life.

“Is it really okay to give him a title?”

“He’s a decent guy except when it comes to his daughter-in-law… And it’s hard to take it back now.”

“Tch…”

I hope my sister-in-law lives one day longer than my brother, in good health.

“I can’t go to the territory, can I?”

“Then wouldn’t Her Imperial Highness follow you to the territory? Helen won’t let you off if that happens.”

“I guess not.”

Suddenly dropping off a high-ranking person to someone who just gave birth is torture.

“I’ll get through the Duke Consort’s birthday somehow, so please take good care of my brother and sister-in-law, Father.”

Regretfully, I accepted the reality that I had to go to the Imperial Palace alone.

Thinking back to the mess I made on Foundation Day, this is like an angel.

“Thank you, William.”

“Please tell me if you need baby clothes.”

“Okay.”

My father, who gave his thanks with a bitter smile, got up from his seat and left the room.

“……”

His shoulders were subtly drooping.

Father will be fifty soon, and he’s suffered a lot because of his two incompetent sons.

_

The Duke Consort’s birthday event is a textbook event consisting of simple greetings > various performances > banquet, unlike His Majesty, who makes a mess under the guise of a birthday.

Of course, the Duke Consort also hates formalities and proceeds concisely with only what is necessary, but the ‘Emperor’s Duke Consort’ is by no means a light position, so even if it proceeds lightly, you have to invest the entire day from morning to midnight.

“Young master, you need to get ready.”

“Ugh…”

So, I had to wake up early in the morning, two hours before sunrise, and start preparing.

The event officially starts at 10 o’clock, but since the event is held inside the Imperial Palace, you have to pass through the palace entrance at 8 o’clock to finish the inspection on time and enter.

“Ugh…”

“Please get up quickly, there’s no time to delay like this.”

I forced myself to get up with my body feeling heavy, waking up two hours earlier than usual, and I saw Emily, who had already finished preparing and was moving busily, fluttering the skirt of her cherry blossom-colored dress.

She must have woken up at least 30 minutes earlier than me, but why is Emily so energetic?

“Emily, how do you always wake up earlier than me? No, more than that, why are you so energetic…?”

“We always have to have one person awake at night for errands, and that person wakes up the other servants, and unlike you, young master, I usually go to bed early. I closed my eyes at 9 o’clock yesterday, but when did you close your eyes, young master?”

“A little after midnight…”

“Oh my, I can’t live like this… You have to wake up early, but how can you sleep like usual?”

Emily’s eyes widened at the word midnight, then she lightly tapped her chest.

“Oops~ I need to wash my face quickly to wake up completely~”

I felt like I would get nothing but nagging if I asked the wrong question, so I immediately pretended to be doing something else and sat on the edge of the bed.

“……”

And I immediately wet my face with the water in the basin next to the bed and tidied up my disheveled appearance from the night.

“Are the meal and clothes ready?”

“… The meal is being prepared as a sandwich so you can eat it in the carriage, and the clothes are ready in the closet so you can wear them right away.”

I quickly finished washing my face, wiped the water with a towel placed next to me, and got up from my seat. I quickly opened my mouth before Emily could say anything.

Emily looked like she had a lot to say, but she knew better than anyone that I was busy now, so she made a sulky face but answered my questions faithfully and opened the door to the closet.

“Thank you.”

I thanked Emily, undid the buttons of my pajamas one by one, and went into the closet.

“Heuh…”

A chilly air penetrated my body.

I need to change quickly and hurry to the Imperial Palace…

_

“William Henry Howard, Baron Howard, accompanying person is one maid, and serves as the agent for Earl Hume and his heir… Yes, identity confirmed. The gifts for the Duke Consort will be moved directly to the audience chamber by us after checking the contents, so please go inside first.”

“Um, thank you for your hard work.”

The Imperial Palace I headed to after finishing all the preparations.

I arrived quickly before people crowded in, and after finishing the inspection when people were crowding in, I sent a light encouragement to the Imperial Knight and came out of the room used as the inspection room, following the knight’s guidance.

“You came early?”

“Oh, what.”

Elizabeth, with Sarah and Lady Rachel by her side, greeted me as soon as I came out of the inspection room.

I waved my hand at Elizabeth and opened my mouth, scurrying over to check Elizabeth’s complexion.

“Were you waiting long?”

“I just came down after hearing that you passed through the Imperial Palace entrance.”

“Really? Then I didn’t come too early, did I?”

“No, you came at just the right time before it got boring.”

“That’s a relief.”

Since she didn’t seem to be saying it just to be polite, I put on a soft smile and stood next to Elizabeth.

As I got close enough that my arm brushed against hers, and slightly moved my left arm away from my body, Elizabeth naturally slipped her hand into the gap between my arm and torso and linked arms.

“But, are you alone? Where’s Earl Hume?”

Elizabeth, who secured a perfect distance where her body didn’t touch mine even though our arms were linked, looked around for a moment and asked with a slight frown.

“Some trouble came up, so he went back to the territory with my brother for a bit.”

“Trouble?”

At the word trouble, Elizabeth stiffened her face and looked at me with panicked eyes.

The same reaction I had yesterday.

Indeed, if trouble arises in our family at this time, everyone thinks of my sister-in-law first.

I chuckled and shook my head.

“My sister-in-law is fine, it’s really minor trouble, so there’s nothing serious.”

“Ah, ah, that’s a relief.”

As I corrected the misunderstanding Elizabeth was having, her complexion, which had turned slightly pale, returned, and Elizabeth gently placed her trembling hand on her chest.

Elizabeth, who calmed her surprised heart while gently touching the necklace placed on the red velvet, had a slightly languid expression, then suddenly frowned and tilted her head.

“William, but why are the head of the family and the heir going to the territory at the same time…?”

“They said it was a difficult labor, of course, it ended well, but I guess my brother was worried about it being a difficult labor.”

“The heir, I can understand, but why Earl Hume? I still don’t understand why both of them are heading to the territory…?”

“That’s why my brother fainted.”

“……”

Instantly, the focus disappeared from Elizabeth’s eyes.

“Well, loving your wife is a good thing…”

“It’s better than being indifferent, right…?”

“At least his children and wife will be happy.”

“Yeah… Then that’s enough.”

Even so, my brother’s actions seem a bit excessive, but for the sake of our mental health, Elizabeth and I forcibly rationalized my brother’s actions.

And at the same time, we shook our heads and blew away thoughts about my brother.

“Ha- So, you’re the one representing the Hume family at today’s event?”

“That’s right, so I’m a bit nervous.”

“Hehe~ Then Emily and I will have to help you a lot today?”

“No, I’m just planning to quietly hole up in a corner.”

I was planning to stay as quiet as possible and not cause any trouble until the banquet started in the evening.

My brother is causing a huge mess, and if I, a hot-blooded son, also cause trouble, my father’s body really won’t be able to handle it.

“I don’t think you’ll be able to do that even if you want to?”

“What? Why?”

“You have to present the gift to the Duke Consort on behalf of the Hume family, and even the first in line.”

“Oh no, this is a disaster…”

I covered my forehead and squeezed my eyes shut.

I forgot because my father was always the one doing it…

My plan to pass by quietly collapsed from the start.

“You didn’t know?”

“No…”

“Hehe~ You, if I wasn’t here, you would have been a fool without knowing?”

“I guess so… What should I do?”

“What do you mean what should you do? Act confidently like before, you’re not the type of person to commit rudeness, are you?”

“That’s true.”

“Heh, then that’s settled.”

Elizabeth, who chuckled and lightly hit my arm, straightened her back and stared ahead.

“Let’s go.”

“Okay.”

And we simultaneously took a step forward with our right foot and moved towards the audience chamber.