"As Viscount Abyss says, more nobles and women will try to get close to Tenma in hopes of having him take concubines, and there's no doubt the Ootori household will become more deeply enmeshed in noble society. However, both Tenma and I, embarrassing as it is, tend to be rather shy around strangers. Even if an unfamiliar woman were to enter the Ootori household, there's a high chance we'd both end up miserable... no, we'd almost certainly be miserable. So, as a minimum requirement, we'd need someone with whom both Tenma and I can interact comfortably. And if we're speaking of noble connections, the Duke Sanga family and Count Sylphid's house are already related by kinship, while Tenma himself is on close terms with the Royal Family and various other nobles. Bringing some random 'decent noble' into the Ootori household at this point would only create discord with all those relationships."
Primera had clearly laid out the downsides of welcoming a concubine, which put my mind at ease... at least for the moment.
"But, let's see... certainly, thinking about the future, having a concubine join the household to expand our allies among the nobility isn't a bad idea. And as it happens, I have someone in mind for this. If I can get the consent of both Tenma and the other party, everything is already set up to put this into motion right away."
So, completely behind my back, the concubine discussion had already progressed this far. Well, I could more or less guess who she was talking about.
"So, Lady Primera, this concubine—I should say, candidate. Let me ask you something:"
Who
and
who
are the two candidates?"
The fact that he already knew there were two candidates—when Primera hadn't mentioned that at all—meant this whole affair was a rigged race from the start. In other words, the reason Viscount Abyss had approached at that particular moment, and why he'd brought up the concubine topic despite knowing it was rude, was because he was one of the people behind it all.
After all, it was hard to believe Primera and Viscount Abyss alone had schemed something like this on their own. At the very least, the Duke's household... no, given that Albert and the mothers were also surprised, Duke Sanga must at minimum be in on it.
"Oh my... sounds like you're having a rather interesting conversation."
Probably not one of the conspirators himself, Caesar-sama seemed to have figured out this was all orchestrated from the start, and he interjected with a look of great interest.
"A-Ah! Caesar-sama!"
"I'm sorry for barging in like that. But it was such a fascinating discussion that I couldn't help but speak up. Forgive me. Now then, don't mind me—please go on with your conversation."
Seeing Caesar-sama suddenly cut in like that, Primera was startled and tried to interrupt her own story to bow, but Caesar-sama calmed her down and urged her to continue, then made his way over to me.
"So, Tenma. Did you know about this?"
"No, this is the first I've heard of it."
"I see."
Caesar-sama quietly confirmed whether I was also one of the conspirators, and upon learning I was not, he silently and gleefully turned his gaze toward Primera and Viscount Abyss. Up until now, I had thought Caesar-sama bore little resemblance to the King, but this was the first time I realized they were alike in finding things like this amusing.
Faced with this unexpected interloper, Primera had lost her previous composure and was showing signs of panic, but she quickly took a deep breath and regained her calm.
"I haven't obtained permission yet, so I can't mention any names, but... Let me just say this much: a powerful noble from the south, and the daughter of a former noble who, although fallen, once held influence within the Neutral Faction."
It was the exact person I had expected, but hearing her lay it out like that, I thought she might as well have just said the names outright.
"I see. I don't know who they are specifically, but you're saying they present the best possible conditions for both the Ootori family and Primera. Hmm, I'm convinced."
"Indeed. Being from the south, they're considerably far from the Royal Capital where the Ootori family resides. And being former nobility, their standing would be far below even that of a duke's house. Neither one could pose a threat to Lady Primera. I'm relieved. Please forgive our rudeness earlier."
Since Caesar-sama, the highest authority present, and Viscount Abyss, who had pressed the question, were both satisfied, the matter should have ended there... but—
"My apologies, Caesar-sama. Primera and I will step aside briefly to freshen up, so we humbly ask your leave to excuse ourselves."
"Yes, that would be a good idea. Well, all the proper introductions have been made. A brief absence from the guests of honor shouldn't cause any trouble."
After obtaining Caesar-sama's permission, I prepared to head to the anteroom with Primera.
Seeing me and Primera move to leave, Duke Sanga also excused himself from the person he had been speaking with and began to follow, and along with him, my mother-in-law and the others, along with Albert and Eliza, started heading toward the anteroom as well— but—
"Hmm... Still, it's rather lonely losing my conversation partners... Albert, Eliza, I'm sorry, but would you two stay and keep Isabella and me company?"
At Caesar-sama's request, Albert and Eliza were abruptly required to remain in the hall. Well, I did think it would be problematic for the hosts to all disappear at once, and Caesar-sama had likely decided that Albert and Eliza weren't needed for the Ootori family's affairs. With Primera's associates, Duke Sanga, and my mother-in-law all present, Albert and Eliza would actually have been in the way, so I was grateful that Caesar-sama had detained the two of them.
As for my side of things—
"Tenma's got it tough too, eh? Here, have a drink. It's quite good, you know."
Someone had, at some point, merged with our group and was pressing alcoholic beverages on us with words like these.
"So, when did you start thinking about the concubine arrangement?"
"Um... I'm sorry. It was right around the time the engagement was finalized."
It seemed to have been roughly four months ago. Primera had been proceeding with the talks behind my back, and perhaps feeling guilty about that, she had remained tense ever since we entered the anteroom. When I asked Duke Sanga about the concubine arrangement as well—
"I'll be honest, this is the first I'm hearing of it. My wives and I all learned about it at the same time as Tenma here. I truly apologize!"
Primera was still a member of House Sanga, so the Duke, as its head, was bowing in apology on her behalf. And following the Duke, the other mothers bowed as well.
"No, I don't intend to raise any objections over that. Well, I was certainly surprised, but I had steeled myself that this matter would come up sooner or later, and most likely...
the
mastermind
...isn't Primera, but Amour."
This was what I said, reasoning that Amour was the only one who would think of something like this, but—
"Tenma, that's not right. The mastermind was me. It's true that Amour made the proposal, but in the end, I agreed to it and saw it through. The responsibility is mine."
She declared it clearly and without hesitation. There was no trace of the nervousness she had shown moments before.
"She already has the resolve of a first wife..."
Duke Sanga's voice trembled with emotion, moved by Primera's unwavering composure.
"When she's made up her mind this firmly, Tenma had better give a clear answer, eh?"
And then Grandpa looked like he was having fun—perhaps the alcohol was starting to kick in.
"I understand that Primera made the decision, but are you truly okay with it? Before we're even married, I'm saying I'll take other women as wives too, you know?"
Setting aside whether I'd actually marry both Amour and Jeanne, I asked because I was worried Primera might be forcing herself—but—
"Tenma, I've noticed that those two like you. I cut in from the side and snatched you up. So I have to be considerate toward them."
That's what she said. Hearing just that much, I'd assumed she was helping out of mere obligation, but Primera had more to say—
"Tenma, let me be clear so there's no misunderstanding. What I'm offering the two of them is nothing more than 'permission to marry.' I won't help them with their advances, and I won't interfere either. Whether they can marry you depends on their own efforts, and the one who makes the final decision is you. I'll simply be watching the outcome. The one condition I have is this: please hold your wedding with them after you've had the ceremony with me."
It felt like Primera had set the entire stage and was just leaving me holding the bag for the responsibility... but since nobody else seemed to care besides me, I couldn't bring myself to say anything. Grandpa, for his part, was looking at me with an expression that said, "This is what happens when I left you alone for so long—man up!" His mouth was twitching in that direction, even if the words never came out.
"Fine. We'll discuss this next time, with Amour and the others included... But why did Viscount Abyss go along with whatever Primera wanted? If you say something like that in a place like that, you risk getting on everyone's
bad side."
might have ruined his standing by doing that, you know?"
I figured they must have coordinated this beforehand, but I couldn't help feeling that Viscount Abyss didn't necessarily have to be roped in—Duke Sanga Albert could have naturally steered the conversation toward the matter of a concubine and built things up from there. That would have felt far more organic.
When I pointed this out, the Duke Sanga group nodded in agreement and looked toward Primera.
"Well... the truth is, I ran into Viscount Abyss a few days ago, and he found out about my engagement..."
Exposed to everyone's gaze, Primera wore a guilty expression.
"Lately, I've been going out more often with Amour and Jeanne, but the time I met Viscount Abyss was also when three of us—or rather, four—were out together. He seemed to pick up on something from the way we were acting..."
"He saw through you, in other words?"
"Yes..."
She did mention that she had excused herself and moved to a slightly more private spot to talk, so Amour and the others shouldn't have heard. However, while Jeanne might not have noticed, Amour had a keen nose for this sort of thing, so she may have caught on. As a side note, I hadn't confirmed this with Primera, but the person who was slowly being forgotten was almost certainly Aura.
"During that conversation, Viscount Abyss offered his cooperation, and I ended up asking for his help."
So that was how Viscount Abyss had suddenly appeared out of nowhere—that made sense now...
"But why would Viscount Abyss go that far? I've heard he's fond of Primera and the others, but that still seems like overkill..."
It was fine because Viscount Abyss turned out to be completely on Primera's side, but if he had been the sort of person with ulterior motives, there was no telling how she might have been used or what could have happened to her.
"Oh, on that point, I think it's perfectly fine. Viscount Abyss is someone you can call a genuine ally, without reservation."
Duke Sanga declared outright that Viscount Abyss was on their side, so I supposed he was trustworthy. But that alone didn't explain why the viscount had been willing to risk going along with Primera's charade. On that subject, Duke Sanga continued:
"Well, that's... it really comes down to the fact that he's genuinely fond of Primera and the others. Viscount Abyss is a viscount under the Duke Sanga house who holds no territory of his own. In lieu of land, he receives a salary by taking on work from the ducal house. One of those tasks involves patrolling the ducal territory, and he would often visit our estate to file reports, which gave him plenty of opportunities to interact with my daughters naturally."
That alone still didn't quite make his level of affection clear, so I waited for Duke Sanga to continue. The duke looked slightly uncomfortable as he went on:
"The thing is... he's apparently always wanted a daughter. He has one wife, and together they have four children. The catch is that they're all boys..."
His wife had borne the eldest son—the heir—as her very first child, and then, to put it bluntly, had gone on to produce second, third, and fourth sons in rapid succession as spares for the firstborn. By any measure, she was an ideal noble wife. However, Viscount Abyss had apparently always hoped that a daughter would follow the eldest son. When the second boy was born, he thought, "Next time it'll be a girl." When the third boy came along, it was "Surely this time it'll be a girl..." and so it went, all the way to the fourth. After the fourth son, his wife never conceived again, so he apparently pinned his hopes on grandchildren instead... but of the eleven grandchildren born, every single one was a boy.
"I suppose that's what spilled over in front of my daughters. Even if they are the lord's children, one would think his wife would object to him doting on someone else's kids—but not only his wife, even his sons and grandsons apparently don't mind, in the sense of 'That's just the kind of person Viscount Abyss is.' And it's not as though he neglects his own sons and grandsons either, so by all accounts, the viscount's family relations are quite harmonious."
In a sense, it could be said that Viscount Abyss had been on a fourteen-game losing streak ever since his dream of having a daughter starting from his second son, and apparently Duke Sanga and the others didn't mind it at all.
"So he's basically like that one grandpa relative who won't take no for an answer... Even if you turn him down, he'd probably just barrel in and insist on helping anyway."
Having grown up in Kukuri Village being doted on by the childless villagers, I could more or less understand how Primera felt. Just as I couldn't quite bring myself to stand up to the people of Kukuri Village, Primera probably couldn't put her foot down with Viscount Abyss either, and would end up getting steamrolled. Well, nothing bad had seemed to come of it so far, so I figured she could just think of it as having a reliable ally on her side. But from experience, that type of person tended to become the overhelpful uncle (or aunt), and it could get a little annoying at times, so she might need to learn to speak up firmly once in a while. Then again, I myself couldn't exactly put my foot down with Lady Maria, and it was plainly obvious that if I tried, the grandpas would just laugh at me—so maybe someday I'd need to have a quiet word with Primera when no one else was around.
"So, things are definitely going to get noisy from here on out—how should we handle it?"
I asked Grandpa for advice in a casual tone, trying to shift the mood of the room—
"Hm? That's simple—Tenma just needs to sit down with Amour and Jeanne and discuss whether he's going to take responsibility or leave things as they are. What else is there to do, really? Hm?"
He was clearly enjoying every bit of this situation.
"Well, whether you marry them or not, that's the most straightforward and effective approach. After all, by setting conditions that aren't easy for Primera to clear, it'll be harder for other nobles to push women onto Tenma in the future—so I'm in favor of welcoming Amour and Jeanne as concubines. Besides, if the two of them become concubines, it'll also open up connections to the south and the Neutral Faction through Primera and Tenma for the ducal family."
Duke Sanga didn't seem to be opposed to Amour and Jeanne either, and the same went for his wives. Well, he was supporting Primera's proposal while framing it in terms of the ducal family's interests, but the real reason was probably that if Duke Sanga rejected Amour and Jeanne here, it would also mean rejecting Lady Camilla and Lady Grace, who could end up in the same position. That was something even I could figure out, so Duke Sanga surely understood it as well.
"Well... I'll do my best. I'm sure I'll cause trouble in various ways going forward, so please look after us. Father-in-law. Mother-in-law."
"Yes, we're counting on you as well. Son-in-law."
As for Amour and Jeanne, I still hadn't fully made up my mind, so my reply came out halfhearted. But Duke Sanga and his wives—
father-in-law,
,
mother-in-law—
that's what I called them. Well, setting the mothers-in-law aside, I'd probably keep calling father-in-law "Duke Sanga" as before, and I didn't think I'd ever call Albert and Eliza—
brother-in-law,
,
sister-in-law—
much at all... Wait,
"Oh, right — I forgot about Albert and Eliza..."
Before we came to the waiting room, Caesar-sama had stopped the two of them who were trying to tag along, and I had completely forgotten about that until just now. On top of that, almost the entire Sanga Ducal family — the hosts of the event — were present here, which was probably not a very favorable situation for a party.
Duke Sanga and my sisters-in-law seemed to have noticed the same thing I did and started to panic, so the whole group hurried back to the venue. When we arrived —
"Albert... that smile is looking pretty strained."
"My sister-in-law seems... like she's having a great time, though."
Albert was being bombarded with questions from the party guests and looked thoroughly overwhelmed. His partner Eliza, on the other hand, was happily chatting and laughing with Amy over tea at a table where pastries had been set out.
"Hmm. There are a few noisy guests — or rather, they seem to have complaints about how the Ducal family is running things, but since Caesar is having such a good time, nobody dares say a word."
"It certainly looks that way. We should thank Caesar-sama later."
Duke Sanga said this, then headed off with his wives to sort out the situation.
After that, Albert was finally freed and made his way over to us, where he proceeded to complain to me about how we had abandoned him. But as it turned out, after the party ended, it was this very Albert who got thoroughly teased by Duke Sanga and my sisters-in-law over every little mishap that had occurred during the event.