Late at night, I was busy writing in my room at the inn.
Even while I was away from the imperial capital, state affairs moved forward through joint deliberations between Henry and Oscar. Still, issues requiring the Emperor's personal authorization cropped up from time to time.
Official dispatches arrived on occasion, meaning I had to spend my nights reading through them, weighing the options, and writing out my decisions.
That was precisely what I was doing now, cutting into my sleep to pen my replies.
Knock, knock.
A reserved knock sounded at the door.
"Peiyu? Come in."
"It's John."
"Hm?"
My pen came to a halt.
Raising my head, I looked toward the door.
A man's voice, not Peiyu's, had announced himself.
I searched my memory for the name... John.
Before long, the image of a young man surfaced in my mind.
"...Ah, it's you. Come on in."
"Thank you very much!"
Following his reply, the door slowly swung open.
Still kneeling outside the room, he pushed the door open, rose to his feet to shut it carefully behind him, and then reverently dropped to his knees once more, bowing low before me.
"May it please Your Majesty—"
"There are no outsiders here. Informal etiquette is fine."
"—Yes, sir! It has been far too long, Master."
"Mm. Have you been well?"
"Yes!"
John looked up and answered with a broad grin.
There was a time when the late Emperor's First Prince, Albert, had been involved in dealing illegal slaves.
I had crossed paths with that illegal slave merchant in the streets, rescued the children who had been forced into slavery, and taken them in.
John was one of the children from back then.
For several years afterward, he had handled odd jobs around my estate. When I ascended the throne, however, I sent him out to the provinces to serve as a magistrate.
I looked at John, taking in his appearance.
"You've filled out a bit. Looks like you're eating well."
"Sorry about that! Lately, I've been hooked on lard rice."
"Oh? Lard rice?"
"It's just rich, heavily seasoned fat dumped over a bowl of rice, but the flavor is downright addictive!"
"Hahaha, a manly meal, indeed. Aren't you having anything better?"
"I've been invited to banquets by merchants a few times, but the food they served was way too fancy for my liking. I could tell it was high-class, but it just gave me diarrhea."
"Your peasant palate is thoroughly ingrained, is it? Even so, you should get used to fine dining bit by bit. If you still have that peasant palate when I call you back to the imperial capital in the future, it'll limit the kinds of rewards I can give you."
"Y-Yes, sir! I'll do my best!"
Though looking sheepish, John bowed his head, clearly thrilled.
"So, what brings you here?"
"Right! Hearing that Master was staying here, I brought some soldiers along to serve as your escort."
"Soldiers?"
Tilting my head slightly, I strained my ears.
Sure enough, I picked up a subtle presence.
Outside the inn, there hung an armed tension that felt entirely unnatural for the dead of night.
"Aren't you overdoing it a bit?"
"Not at all! If anything happened to Master in a place like this, it'd be a complete catastrophe. Besides..."
"Besides?"
"Since leaving the mansion, my chances to serve Master have dwindled. Please let me handle things at times like this, at least."
John looked at me with eager, earnest eyes.
Knowing how deeply he revered me, I couldn't help but feel pleased.
"Haha, all right. I'll leave everything in your hands."
"Thank you very much!"
Beaming with joy, John bowed briskly.
Right at that moment—
Though there hadn't been a whisper of noise when I listened closely a moment ago, the situation suddenly shifted, and the sound of raised voices arguing outside reached our ears.
"What's going on?"
"Might just be some drunks. Don't worry, I gave strict orders to the men downstairs not to let anyone in."
"Make sure you let the paying guests through. It's not as though I've rented out the entire place."
"Y-Yes! As expected of Master! Mary's always telling me to be considerate like that, but it totally slipped my mind!"
With that, John gave his own head an affectionate rap.
Having gone from a simple farmer to a slave before arriving at my mansion, John's manners and speech were, at a glance, quite rough around the edges.
That roughness was on full display now, but since many of my retainers came from slave backgrounds, I made it a point to simply laugh it off in private settings.
Thinking about it, Evelyn really was an exceptional case—or so I mused, when...
The sound of clashing steel blades cut into the commotion.
"Mm?"
"What the hell are they doing? Excuse me, Master, I'm going to check the window."
"Go ahead."
I gave a nod, and John stood up to head over to the window.
"Master?!"
Peiyu came bursting into the room.
I had told her she could sleep first since I had work to finish, but the racket seemed to have woken her up.
"Don't worry, everything is fine."
"Y-Yes... Ah, Lord John..."
John was a familiar face from my mansion.
Seeing him, Peiyu looked caught between bewildered surprise and the fond nostalgia of reuniting after so long.
Meanwhile, John reached the window and threw it wide open in one swift motion.
The muffled sounds of the struggle instantly came through loud and clear.
"What the hell do you bastards think you're doing?!"
John bellowed from the depths of his lungs.
Back when I was an imperial prince stationed at the Ministry of Military Affairs, I had frequently dealt with hot-blooded commanders of his type, so I was well accustomed to it. Peiyu, however, was not; she flinched and shrank back.
"Hah?! What's all this? Why are soldiers brawling among themselves?! Whose jurisdiction are you bastards under?!"
"W-Well, well, if it isn't Lord John! Please forgive us, we had no idea Lord John was here!"
At John's roar, one of the men downstairs responded with fawning deference.
"Master, that voice..."
"Yeah. John."
"Yes, what is it?"
Still standing by the window, John turned his whole body toward me.
"Do you know him?"
"Yes, well, he's a checkpoint gatekeeper under my command... basically a nobody."
"I see. That fellow is likely after me."
"After Master?"
John's eyes went wide in sheer disbelief.
I quickly brought him up to speed on what had transpired earlier today.
"So that's what happened."
John's shock subsided.
Hearing the story, he likely understood that it was just the sort of thing I always did.
Now fully aware of the circumstances, John turned back to the window.
"Get your ass up here alone, you piece of trash!"
"Y-Yes, sir!"
Right after the man's frantic reply, accompanied by the thudding rush of heavy footsteps, the fellow from earlier today came tumbling into the room in a blind panic.
He dropped straight to the floor, prostrating himself before John.
"Forgive the wait, Lord John! My deepest apologies, I had no idea Lord John was here, so I was late in paying my respects!"
"I don't give a damn about your respects to me."
John strode forward and planted a kick square into the man.
"Your master's Master is sitting right there! Greet him!"
"M-My master's Master?"
The man cocked his head, looking entirely lost.
John jerked his chin in my direction, prompting the man to look at me.
It was only then that he finally registered my presence, and he gasped.
"Ah, you! You've got nowhere left to run!"
Flaring with sudden rage, the man lunged forward to grab me.
Peiyu let out a shriek.
I remained seated, not moving a single inch.
John cut in from the side and sent the man flying with a vicious kick.
Crashing hard against the wall, the man stared at John with absolute bewilderment.
"W-Why...?"
"I told you, he's your master's Master!"
"Huh?"
Perhaps the impact finally shocked some sense into him, allowing him to think things through.
The man looked timidly toward John.
"Master..."
"Yeah."
"...Master?"
He then turned his gaze toward me, muttering the word aloud.
The moment he did, every trace of color drained from his face.
John was a servant from my days at the Thirteenth Imperial Prince Mansion.
In other words, he was a retainer of the Thirteenth Imperial Prince—the Emperor himself.
That was a fundamental fact known to anyone holding an official post.
Knowing which retainer served which master was critically important; claiming ignorance was never an acceptable excuse.
Naturally, this man was well aware of who John was.
And if this was John's Master—
As the pieces fell into place, the man began to tremble uncontrollably.
It seemed he had finally grasped my true identity.
"You bastard, looks like you've been thoroughly disrespectful to His Majesty."
"M-My sincerest apologies! I had no idea you were His Majesty!"
"You think playing dumb gets you off the hook?!"
"No, 'I didn't know' is sufficient."
I cut into their exchange.
Picking up the cup on the desk, whose tea had gone completely cold while I worked, I took a quiet sip.
"Your Majesty?"
"It is clearly stipulated in Imperial Law. Lese-majesty does not apply to actions committed before I reveal my identity."
"Well, that might be true, but... Hey, you bastard, count yourself lucky His Majesty is the strictest observer of the law in imperial history."
"H-Haha. H-Heeh..."
The man's strength deserted him, leaving him a spineless heap on the floor.
Meanwhile, John turned back to me.
"As expected of Your Majesty. So, what are you actually going to do with him?"
"Heh."
A faint smile touched my lips.
That was John for you—truly one of my longest-serving retainers.
He understood exactly how I operated in situations like this.
"Extorting toll fees far beyond regulations at the checkpoint, and committing acts of violence against the common folk. Dismissal from office and a lifetime ban from public service—that should about cover it."
"As expected of Master."
John gazed at me, his eyes brimming with genuine reverence.
He then turned back to the man still cowering on the floor.
"Did you hear that?"
"Y-Yes?"
"You're fired. Be grateful you're walking away with your life."
"Y-Yes, sir! T-Th-Thank you for your immense mercy!"
The man frantically bowed his head to me.
He stayed flat on the floor in a frantic kowtow, slamming his forehead down again and again, until—
"You're getting on my nerves now, so get lost."
With that, John kicked him straight out of the room.
John followed him out, barked a few orders to the subordinates waiting in the corridor, and then returned, pulling the door shut behind him.
In the meantime, a simple glance from me was all it took for Peiyu to quietly close the window.
"I am truly sorry, Master. This was an utter failure of oversight on my part."
"Don't let it trouble you. There are always people like that, no matter where you go."
"Yes, I'm really sorry. Ah, that reminds me, Master."
"Hm?"
"Since there's no telling if other scoundrels might come trying to pick a fight with Master here, won't you come stay at my place? To be honest, Mary was saying she wanted to see Master, too. Naturally, I'll have her whip up the dishes she learned back when we were at the imperial prince's residence."
"Is that so?"
I chuckled softly and rose to my feet.
"In that case, I'll gladly impose on your hospitality."
"—! Thank you very much!"
"Shall we head out, Peiyu?"
"Yes!"
☆
Leaving the inn under the protection of John's soldiers, we soon arrived at his residence.
"It's quite spacious."
Dismounting from my horse, I murmured my impression as I took in the estate before me.
Bonfires burned brightly at the entrance of the sizable compound.
They formed an illuminated path that stretched from the front gate all the way to the inner buildings, guiding the way.
"This is an official residence. It's provided free of charge, so I'm gratefully taking full advantage of it."
"I see."
"It saves us a whole lot on rent and expenses, so Mary's thrilled about it, too."
"Heh."
With a warm smile, I walked down the torchlit path and stepped inside.
John's official standing was fairly prominent.
At the very least, he was in a position where he could command nearly a hundred soldiers with a wave of his hand and kick checkpoint officials around at will.
Truth be told, he was hardly in a station where he needed to worry about "saving on rent."
Even so, he was likely... maintaining a life of honest poverty, refusing to dirty his hands with bribes.
Many of my retainers were that sort of person.
While part of it was certainly an attempt to cater to my personal preferences, the reality was that many of them genuinely lived by those principles.
"Being frugal yourself is all well and good, but don't force that standard onto your subordinates."
"Huh? But if I set a good example, wouldn't it encourage the people around me to stay clean, too?"
"Heh, human beings cannot survive on ideals alone."
I gave John a knowing smile.
"You suffer from the very same affliction as Evelyn."
"The same affliction as Big Sis? W-What's wrong with me?"
John's face paled instantly.
The moment I used the word "affliction," he had panicked.
"Don't lose your head, I'm not blaming you. Both you and Evelyn judge ordinary people by your own standards and end up overestimating them."
"Um...?"
"You would gladly work for me even if you weren't paid much."
"Of course! Master is the savior of my life, the savior of my entire existence!"
"But if you don't offer a decent wage, do you think you can attract capable talent?"
"Uh..."
"Consider someone who feels no personal debt of gratitude toward me. Given the choice between your meager wages and, say, a wealthy merchant offering high pay, which one will they choose?"
"Ugh..."
John was completely at a loss for words.
"Most people—especially the more capable they are—naturally believe they deserve to earn more given their skills."
"W-Well... but..."
"Besides," I added with a mischievous chuckle, "even I make sure to reward you all properly when you do good work, don't I?"
"!!!"
"Kicking around those beneath you is fine, and there are times when you must use the whip. What I'm saying is: never forget to offer the candy as well."
"Y-Yes! I understand now! I'll handle things properly!"
My smile softened into something gentler.
Knowing John, once the lesson was laid out clearly, he would adjust his course without fail.
"As expected of Master..."
"Hm?"
"To be honest, I've been struggling to recruit capable people lately. Now I see that was the reason all along... Thank you so much!"
John spoke with a hint of bashfulness.
"I see. Keep applying yourself diligently."
"Yes, sir!"
I decided to observe how John handled things for a while.
If this allowed him to gather capable talent around him—I would promote him another rank or two.
Such were the thoughts that crossed my mind.