Only two days remained until the Coronation Ceremony.
I had been in a state of gloom since morning. Of my seven days of vacation, only two were left. Even lying on the chaise longue, I couldn't find a shred of peace.
At the desk across from me, Clarice had already returned to work, systematically clearing the backlog of correspondence that had arrived during the holiday.
"Only two days to go..."
"You mean we still have two days. I’m already back at it, you know."
"Then go do it somewhere I can't see you. Watching someone else work makes me feel like I’m being rushed too."
"And how do you think I feel, working right next to you while you just sprawl out there?"
"You started that on your own, didn't you? I tried to stop you."
"Lady Lydia has been at the training grounds with Raisa since dawn. As a guest officer, she said she wanted to get to know the territorial soldiers first."
"What a tireless worker... Do members of ducal houses die if they take a break?"
"Why don't you ask Duke Eldran that yourself?"
"He'd just start lecturing me again. I'll pass."
◇
At the training grounds, the dry clatter of wooden swords clashing echoed through the air.
Lydia stood with her arms crossed, watching the soldiers who had finished their morning run. They were currently practicing their swings in pairs. While their footwork and formations weren't as polished as those of the Kingdom Knights, not a single man had his hands on his knees in exhaustion. The sheer mass of their shoulders and backs was evident even through their armor.
"Raisa... Are these men truly former bandits?"
"More than half of 'em. The rest are failed mercenaries or young guys from villages that hit hard times."
"But their physiques... they hardly pale in comparison to the regular infantry of the Kingdom Knights."
"They used to spend their days running through the mountains, so their legs and hips were strong to begin with. If you make them train every day and give them full bellies, they’re bound to bulk up."
When the noon bell rang, the soldiers put away their wooden swords and headed toward the cafeteria in a disciplined group.
"Are they taking a meal now? They ate this morning as well, did they not?"
"Yeah. In this domain, we do three meals a day. Morning, noon, and night. Doesn't matter if it's a training day or a guard shift."
"Every single soldier, three times every day...?"
Even the soldiers of a ducal house would have their rations reduced if a campaign dragged on. To provide three full meals a day even to former bandits...
"Does Count Razgrim not object to spending so much on food expenses?"
"The Master's the one who insisted on it. He says there’s no point in training hungry soldiers, and that if injuries increase, the cost of treatment and replacements ends up being higher. He's a strange master, through and through..."
The scent of stewing meat wafted from the cafeteria, and the soldiers happily quickened their pace. Without ever mentioning mercy, and while citing only profit and loss, Vain ultimately fed his people better than other houses and ensured they weren't used until they broke. Lydia began to understand, if only a little, why her father had left her here.
◇
Shortly after noon, a company flying the royal flag entered the territorial capital.
Scouts on horseback secured the highway and woods, followed by about fifty Royal Guards and soldiers directly under the royal family. If Alecia traveled such a distance with only a small escort before her coronation, she might as well have been inviting an assassination attempt.
Only Alecia, her chamberlain, and a few Royal Guards entered the manor.
I threw on a coat and waited in the drawing room along with Clarice, Raisa, Mylene, and Serena. Lydia, in her capacity as guest officer, was also present.
When the door opened, I placed my hand over my heart and intentionally bowed low.
"Well, well, if it isn't our future Queen. I am profoundly honored that you would visit such a remote region on the eve of your coronation."
"I am not the Queen yet. And you can stop using that repulsive tone."
"I was merely showing proper respect to the next sovereign."
"You're just mocking me. Raise your head. It's irritating."
As I straightened up, Alecia turned her gaze toward Lydia.
"You really did stay, Lady Lydia. I heard it from Duke Eldran, but I didn't think you would actually go along with that man's whim."
"I will be in his service as a guest officer for six months... to see this domain and Count Razgrim with my own eyes."
"I see. Well, I doubt you'll be bored. Common sense from the royal capital doesn't do much good here."
"Why are you looking at me when you say that?"
"Who else would I be talking about?"
Alecia took a seat but didn't reach for her tea immediately.
"...I still haven't forgiven you for fleeing the royal capital without a single word to me."
"I just went home because the job was done! It would have been more reckless to stay at an inn in the capital right after Regnard glared at me like he wanted me dead."
"I know why you went home! I'm angry that you didn't even leave a message!"
"That... completely slipped my mind."
"At least you're honest. I'll consider the time I spent searching for you in the hall as a debt you owe me."
"Don't go manufacturing debts on your own!"
After my retort, Alecia’s expression softened into something more serious.
"But before that, there is something I must say. I heard it from Duke Eldran. It seems you went to see the Duke without saying a word to me either."
"...Did that old man have to blab about every little thing?"
"It wasn't an 'every little thing.' If the Duke hadn't declared his support, the lords of the West wouldn't have moved. So, let me say it properly."
Alecia stood from her chair and gave a quiet, sincere bow.
"Thank you, Vain. It's because you supported me until the very end that I was chosen as the next monarch."
"Stop that."
I cut her off immediately, and Alecia looked up.
"Someone who is about to become Queen shouldn't bow so easily. Some fool might get the wrong idea and think I'm above you."
"It's before the coronation... Right now, I'm just expressing my gratitude as an individual."
"You'll be Queen in two days. Get used to the role now."
Alecia exhaled, looking exasperated.
"Tell me... why did you go so far for my sake?"
A hush fell over the drawing room.
"That's obvious. If you didn't win, my dream would never come true."
"...Your dream?"
"Retiring to my domain to drink wine, eat the best meat, and leave all the bothersome work to competent people. If Regnard became King, I wouldn't be able to live like that. That's why I chose you. That's all there is to it."
Alecia stared at me for a long moment, then let out a small laugh.
"...You really are selfish to the very end, aren't you?"
"You're only realizing that now?"
"No... I think I already knew."
Returning to her seat, she took a leather pouch stamped with the royal seal from her chamberlain and placed it on the table.
"I will provide your formal reward at the Coronation Ceremony. Consider this an advance payment."
When I untied the leather cord and spread out the contents, thirty gold coins spilled out.
"This is just the advance?"
"For the person who worked the hardest during this selection, it's actually a bit low. I have two other things prepared for the day of the ceremony."
"Oh? Well, that's something to look forward to."
I gazed at the gold coins spread across the table.
Thirty coins. It would be easy enough to just pocket them all. I could expand the wine cellar, or replace the manor's beds with even more luxurious ones, and still have money left over.
However, it seemed the formal rewards were being handled separately for the Coronation Ceremony.
"...Hmm."
—In that case, there's no need for me to hoard this money right now, is there?
I looked up and scanned the four women gathered in the room. Clarice, Raisa, Mylene, and Serena. Some I had taken to the royal capital, and some had held down the fort here. I wasn't the only one who had put in the work.
Besides, I usually do nothing but increase their workload. I'm not so dense that I think I can keep people working with only the whip. If I give them a large piece of candy once in a while, they'll be in a better mood to work for me next time.
I counted out the gold coins and slid ten of them toward Clarice.
"Clarice. Ten for you. I worked you to the bone in the royal capital."
"...Eh?"
Next, I took eight coins and pushed them toward Raisa.
"Eight for Raisa. That's for managing the territorial soldiers and the hundred men from House Eldran."
"M-Master... What on earth is this?"
"A reward for your work, obviously. What? Is it not enough?"
"I'm saying it's too much! This is the money the Princess brought for you, right!?"
"And I’m the one deciding how it gets spent."
I placed seven coins in front of Mylene.
"Seven for Mylene. For running the manor without a hitch while I was away."
"F-For me...? Master, for a mere lady-in-waiting like myself to receive seven gold coins is far beyond my station...!"
"Your station doesn't matter. I'm giving them to you because you kept this place running. Take them."
I lined up the final five coins in front of Serena.
"Five for Serena."
"Master... I only did what was required of me as a guard."
"You fulfilled that role in a dangerous city until the very end. This money is for that. If you have a complaint, I can always reduce the amount."
"Received. Reduction unnecessary."
Ten, eight, seven, five. Thirty coins in total. Not a single one remained in front of me.
The drawing room became deathly quiet. Clarice was frozen, and Raisa's mouth hung half-open. Both Mylene and Serena were looking back and forth between the gold and me.
"What's with the lot of you? You all have the most idiotic looks on your faces."
Clarice pressed a hand to her forehead.
"No, no... anyone with common sense would be shocked! Who in their right mind receives a personal reward from Lady Alecia and immediately distributes the whole thing?"
"The man standing right in front of you."
"That's not what I meant!"
Even Alecia looked on with her eyes slightly wide.
"...I'm impressed. To think you'd reward your vassals so readily."
"What? Even I pay the people who work for me."
"It's not that... I just didn't expect you to give away the entire sum right then and there."
"I didn't win the Royal Selection alone. There will be other rewards at the ceremony, right? Then I might as well pass this on to them."
"Why so suddenly?"
"It's because I usually give them nothing but the whip. If I don't give them candy once in a while, they’d start to look a bit pitiful, wouldn't they?"
All four of my subordinates made identical, baffled faces.
"...Vain. The pay here is high, we get holidays, and the domain covers all medical costs... From our perspective, it’s nothing but candy all the time."
Raisa scratched her head, looking troubled.
"We get three full meals a day and top-tier gear... if this is the 'whip,' I’d hate to think what my old employers were..."
"Master, you have already treated us far better than we deserve!"
"Treatment: excellent. Recognition of 'whip': non-existent."
Is that so...? It seems there's a significant gap between my perception and theirs.
"...Well, whatever. Just consider today a very large piece of candy. I have no intention of taking it back."
Lydia watched the scene in silence.
He provided three meals a day to the soldiers she had seen that morning, and now he was distributing his own personal gold to his vassals. He claimed it was just to ensure they worked for him again... but a lord who thought only of his own profit would never do such a thing. Lydia remained quiet, reflecting on why her father held this man in such high regard.
Alecia also stared at the gold coins and at Vain, who acted as if he had done nothing special.
He had supported her to the end because his dream depended on her success, and he shared his reward because the victory wasn't his alone. Though he claimed to desire money and power, he refused to hoard them for himself.
—With this man...
Alecia decided then and there on the person she would place by her side after she became Queen.
◇
Once the carriage for the return trip had cleared the Razgrim domain, Alecia reached out to her chamberlain.
"Give me the document for the rewards to be proclaimed at the Coronation Ceremony."
Two rewards were already listed on the parchment.
One thousand gold coins. The elevation of House Razgrim to a dukedom.
Alecia took a quill and added a new clause at the bottom. The chamberlain gasped as he read the addition.
"Lady Alecia... are you certain?"
"I am. Perfectly certain."
"But a royal marriage will provoke many opinions from the other lords. Besides, Lord Vain hasn't been told a thing—"
"That's why I'm keeping it a secret until the day of. If I told him now, he'd just run away, wouldn't he?"
The third reward: Vain Razgrim is hereby designated as the fiancé of the next monarch, Alecia Valsein.
Gold coins could be given to vassals. A domain could be entrusted to a steward. But this—this was the one thing he couldn't force onto anyone else.
Alecia gazed at the script and narrowed her eyes with satisfaction.
"Besides, he hasn't been punished yet for leaving the royal capital without saying goodbye, has he?"
Only two days remained until the Coronation Ceremony.
On that day, Vain would receive a third reward that would set the entire kingdom ablaze.