That evening, I returned to the inn to pack my bags and cancel the rest of my stay before heading back to the Ducal Mansion. Since the Duke and his wife were currently occupied with other guests, I was shown to my quarters ahead of time.
The guest room was, in a word, palatial. It reminded me of the luxury hotel suites I’d only ever seen on TV in my past life.
I was struck by its sheer size the moment I walked in, but then I realized there were two more doors branching off the main area. The first room was a massive living room, while the door on the right led to a private shower and toilet. The door on the left opened into a bedroom. I had been given three entire rooms all to myself. To make matters even more overwhelming, a maid was stationed in a nearby room around the clock, ready to attend to my every whim at a moment's notice.
The family had even been thoughtful enough to ensure that the staff assigned to me would be people I already knew—either Arone, Lilian, or Lulunese. Honestly, I felt completely out of place receiving such treatment, but they insisted that this was the standard for any guest of the Ducal House. I couldn't help but wonder if the gap between us was a matter of culture or simply the staggering difference in our financial power.
As I was pondering this, there was a knock at the door.
"Come in!"
"Pardon the intrusion, Takebayashi-sama. My husband and three of his colleagues have arrived and are requesting an audience. How should I proceed?"
Hughes and three of his colleagues? That had to be them!
"I'll see them. Please, show them in."
"Understood."
Lulunese turned with a graceful flick of her tail and exited with the refined movements of a seasoned professional. I waited near the entrance to greet them, and she returned within minutes, leading the four people I had expected.
"It’s been a long time, Ryoma."
"Hey! Long time no see!"
"Glad to see you've been well."
"It’s good to see everyone safe and sound, yessir."
Camille, Jill, and Zeff. The three of them stood there looking exactly as they had the day we first met.
"Hey now, are you forgetting someone?"
"I just saw you yesterday, Hughes. More importantly, why didn't you mention you were getting married then?"
His silence had left me quite bewildered earlier. I hadn't even understood what Lulunese was talking about at first.
"Well, I intended to tell you... but walking you back to the inn took longer than expected. I thought it’d be a bit tacky to just shout, 'Oh, by the way, I’m getting married!' as I was walking away, you know?"
"I suppose that would have been confusing in its own way..."
"Besides, well... the only reason I’m even able to get married is because you saved my life back then. I wanted to thank you properly again, and I figured I'd give you the news at the same time."
I looked at him closely. Had the atmosphere around Hughes changed slightly?
"Nearly dying gave Hughes a lot to think about," Camille noted.
"That incident was actually the catalyst for his confession," Jill added.
"H-Hey! Jill! Camille!" Hughes barked, trying to shut them up.
"I don't think there's any point in hiding it now... but let's leave it at that, you two," Zeff said, intervening. "Forget Hughes, look at his bride."
The two snapped out of it at Zeff's words and looked toward the door.
"Please, do not mind me," Lulunese said.
She stood by the open door with her back perfectly straight, acting as if nothing had happened. Perhaps it was her pride as a maid, but she maintained a stern, professional expression—even though her face was beet red. It seemed she wasn't particularly good at handling this kind of talk.
"Everyone, please come in. Let's sit and talk."
"Good point! Pardon the intrusion."
"Then I shall excuse myself as well," Lulunese added, following them in.
I welcomed the four of them and led them toward the living room sofas. Then I realized I’d left the table a mess.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to leave things so cluttered."
"We're the ones who barged in on you, yessir," Zeff replied.
"Don't worry about us~"
"Wait, what's with this basin?" Hughes asked, peering at the table.
"Looks like it's full of sand..." Camille observed.
"The room was so luxurious that I couldn't settle down, so I started working on these."
I pulled out several small, human-shaped stones—about the size of action figures—from a container that looked wildly out of place in such a grand suite. They were still unfinished and a bit rough, but they were the prototypes for the god statues.
"And then there's this one, and this one, and this one..."
"There's quite a lot of them!"
"You had that many buried in there?"
"I wanted to hammer out the designs before I started on the final versions for delivery."
"Hoh... You've put an incredible amount of detail into these, as usual," Jill said.
"Though they're all smiling, yessir," Zeff noted.
"Line them up like this, and it's easy to see the difference in the vibes they give off."
"It's only been a few hours since you arrived," Camille said, impressed. "Did you really make all of these in that time?"
"Since these are just prototypes to decide on the design, I created a master mold first, packed it with sand, and used magic to solidify the shapes for mass production. After that, I just refine the details... Oh."
Before I knew it, Lulunese had approached with drinks for everyone. I hurried to clear space on the table.
"I have brought refreshments."
"Thank you. If you'd like, Lulunese, please join us. If there's a statue here that you like, let me know. I'll use your favorites as a reference for the final products."
"Understood."
With a composed expression, she naturally took a seat next to Hughes and began to stare intently at the tiny deities.
"Don't you think this one looks bright and cheerful?" Hughes asked, pointing to a statue of Lulutia with a broad grin.
"I do not dislike it, but I believe a more solemn design would be more appropriate for a wedding ceremony. Like this one," Lulunese replied.
She picked up a statue with a much more serious expression. Just as I thought their opinions might clash, they began to consult each other in hushed voices. There wasn't a hint of aggression in their conversation, but they radiated an aura of intimacy that made it impossible for an outsider to interject. Was it just my imagination? They looked like they were flirting right in front of us.
"There they go again," Jill sighed.
"They've become quite blatant about it since they announced the engagement, yessir."
"It's been like this constantly lately," Camille whispered to me.
"Is that so... Aren't the people around them jealous?" I asked.
"Mostly of Hughes," Jill said flatly.
"Lulunese was very popular among the single men working here," Camille explained.
"His bride is being congratulated by everyone, but our workplace is mostly just a bunch of guys with very few women around, so Hughes is..."
I understood perfectly. Just as I had thought when I first heard the news, there were probably plenty of people wishing he’d just go explode.
"Well, things have calmed down a bit recently," Jill continued. "The jealousy is still focused on Hughes, but now it’s mostly just light heckling from a distance. It’s not like he was ever hated, and his attitude has changed significantly since the announcement."
"He doesn't go out drinking nearly as much, and he's been gunning for a promotion for about a week now," Camille added.
"Is that right?"
When I asked Jill for more details, he explained that while I had met them as "guards," that was only a fraction of their duties. Officially, they were the "City Guards" for the Ducal House. Their primary job was securing the mansion, but they also acted as an escort whenever the family went out.
The City Guards had various ranks and roles. Since Hughes had been scouted from the Adventurer's Guild, he had spent his career as a high-tier combatant on the front lines, but he had always been reluctant to take on more responsibility.
"There had been talk of him taking a leadership position for a long time," Jill said. "But the man who turned down every offer with a single word—'hassle'—suddenly started begging for a promotion the moment he decided to get married. Truly, life is full of surprises."
"I see... By the way, is he actually going to get it? It sounded like he'd turned them down a lot in the past."
"Oh, that won't be a problem. He's currently undergoing training, mostly focusing on clerical work. If he's deemed capable enough, he'll be able to reach a decent rank. At the very least, he'll earn enough to support a wife and children."
Jill's smile turned a bit mischievous. "Of course, there’s some fallout from his past refusals. At most, his instructors are being a bit harsher on him, partly out of jealousy. It would have been easier if he'd studied bit by bit over the years, but he’s just paying the price for avoiding it for so long. It's well within the range of what's acceptable."
"Hughes actually hates writing reports and doing paperwork more than anything," Camille added with a grin.
It didn't sound like he was being mistreated. I was just glad his workplace wasn't like the black company from my previous life.
"...What were you guys whispering about while we were talking about the statues?" Hughes asked, looking over. "Ryoma, why are you looking at me with those incredibly warm, paternal eyes...?"
"No, no, it's nothing at all."
I was simply offering my sincere congratulations from the bottom of my heart.
"By the way, is there anything else you need besides the statues?" I asked. "Like wedding gifts or specific presents?"
Since this was the first time I'd ever actually participated in a wedding, I wanted to learn as much as possible.
"O-Oh... The return gifts for the guests have already been handled, so don't worry about that. Was there anything else? Everything is pretty much set, right?"
"Thankfully, the other servants are all cooperating with us, so nothing in particular comes to mind," Lulunese said. "If you would like, Takebayashi-sama, would you care to join our planning meeting? It starts after the staff finishes their shifts, so it will be quite late, but..."
Apparently, representatives from every department—servants and guards alike—gathered every night to coordinate the surprise wedding. I figured I could learn a lot about the local customs there. I immediately asked to join them starting tonight.
Even if they were his coworkers, the fact that they were going to such lengths for him meant that these two were truly loved by the people around them.
I wondered what had happened to my life after I died. I died of an illness, so did my apartment become a "stigmatized property"? If it did, I really caused a lot of trouble for my landlord. The only people who might have genuinely grieved for me were Tabuchi-kun and... well, maybe a few others. My Section Manager probably just said "Oh, really?" and moved on. Actually, he probably screamed about the unfinished work first. I felt a twinge of guilt for whoever had to take over my workload.
The rest of my coworkers probably didn't care. I’d been serious about my job when I was training them, so they likely hated me. They were probably happy I was gone. Thinking about it that way, the bond these two shared with their friends was truly remarkable.
"You've been blessed with wonderful companions," I said softly. "Make sure you treasure them, okay?"
"Are you our father or something!?" Hughes barked. "Seriously, what's wrong with you!?"
"I wonder what it is," Lulunese mused. "That look Ryoma-sama is giving us... it’s like he’s watching over his children."
"I don't sense a shred of teasing in it, which makes it even weirder..." Jill muttered.
"Honestly, being congratulated this seriously is a little embarrassing, yessir," Zeff added.
"What did happen to him all of a sudden?" Camille wondered.
Until another maid arrived to announce that dinner was served, a strangely warm, tender atmosphere lingered in the guest suite.