Chapter 264: I Want to See the Duke, But…

After working her nose with a kun-kun, the Queen let out a single haa of a sigh, made a face that said Just as I thought, and then:

"Lord Robbie, I’m so glad you came. It seems quite a few things happened along the way."

She welcomed me even while speaking those meaningful words.

"Please accept this."

I handed her one glass.

"I shall."

She drank it down in one gulp. The initial sense of aversion seemed to have already vanished.

"Lord Robbie, from next time I will not send anyone to fetch you. Please come by yourself. Today I specially allowed you all the way to my rooms, but from now on it will only be as far as the gate. Understood?"

"Understood."

"Anouk, come in."

When Anouk entered through the window, the Queen said:

"Anouk, you smell."

and slightly furrowed her brows. So she did smell after all... from where?

"Then I look forward to the night after tomorrow."

When the Queen said that, I could only reply:

"Hah?"

Had I made some promise with the Queen for the day after tomorrow?

"My, you hadn’t heard? Ufufu. Then tomorrow you will surely receive a summons from the Duke. Good night, then."

With that she closed the window and drew the curtains.

From her tone just now, the punitive expedition the Duke had spoken of would take place the night after tomorrow. If I did not have to be the one moving at the center of it, that would be fine. Whatever the case, I would go to the ducal residence tomorrow. It was not a medicine-delivery day, so it might turn into another free service for the Duchess... I had not even promised to come, yet because I had shown up I would feel the pressure of You came to our house, so of course you should give it to me properly!

The next morning Lily was giving off a slightly cold atmosphere. Was it because today was a heavy day for her? Or had last night’s outing been discovered? Well, even if it had, I had not done anything particularly shameful!

I asked Rudolf to prepare the carriage and went to the Vélez ducal residence.

As expected, the Duke was out, and as usual the Duchess was at home. Because she assumed that if I came I would certainly be bringing medicine, she was in an extremely good mood. After all, she had been drinking it regularly, so the effect was visible to anyone.

"The Duke should be back soon, so please wait."

When the Duchess said that I had no choice but to wait. Naturally I gave the medicine to the Duchess, but I did not give any to Elle. Of course not to Annie either.

The two of them occasionally showed their faces with expressions that said they wanted to say something, but if I handed it out so freely it would become a problem! I had received 140 gold coins when Lady Scarlett visited, so today I provided it free only to the Duchess; if Elle needed it, it would be paid. And the Duchess would not cover Elle’s and the others’ fees. Trading it for the body was not something that could normally be done in the middle of the mansion in broad daylight. So I waited alone with nothing to do. Someone once said that a noble’s work is waiting. The ability to kill time is also required.

Just when I thought it must be lunchtime, the Duke finally returned. I was summoned at once.

"Ambassador Marie, I’m late. I heard you were waiting. Perfect timing—I was just about to send for you."

He must have heard that I had been waiting the whole time, yet there was not a single word of apology. Perhaps that was simply how it was for someone of the Duke’s rank. He could not bow his head to people so readily.

"I’ll get straight to the point. Tomorrow night, after dinner, come here. At last we will carry out the long-awaited punitive expedition! No—perhaps we should go directly to Count von Kirchhoff’s residence."

"Um, about this ’punitive expedition’... could I hear a more detailed explanation?"

I asked as humbly as I could, yet for some reason the Duke seemed on the verge of snapping.

"What are you talking about?! It’s a duel with Count von Kirchhoff! I already told you that!"

A few simple comments counted as an explanation? Was there no plan document? Was everything just inside the Duke’s head?

"Even if you mentioned it before, I only heard it once and have received no detailed explanation since then..."

When I asked timidly:

"Eh?! Is that so? That was my bad... no, that was my bad. Then I’ll explain about tomorrow night."

He flipped like a pancake. Was it because he sensed the Duchess’s presence behind him?

"Please do!"

At that moment the Duchess raised her voice.

"Honestly, you!!"

She seemed to be angry that the Duke had explained nothing to me.

The Duke and I both felt the ominous atmosphere. We felt the pressure. Yet we pretended not to notice. If we did that, it would clear up eventually... or so I thought. Such optimistic predictions almost never come true. The Duchess was standing there in an extremely foul mood.

"Come over here! Don’t leave me out of the group! I hear even the Queen will be coming to watch! And yet I, one of the parties involved, don’t know the details—what am I supposed to do?!!"

The Duchess raised her voice while applying strong pressure. She had not been angry that I had received no explanation—she had been angry that she had received none... Please stop! I felt I was the victim, yet simply by standing on the Duke’s side I was catching the splash. I wished the Duchess would hurry and learn how to limit the target of her pressure.

"N-no, that’s not it. I was going to talk about it. But I’ve been busy, arranging things with Count von Kirchhoff, completely absorbed in that. And His Excellency the Prime Minister has been grilling me as well. It’s troubling. Why is everyone so interested in this? Ahahaha! It’s strange... I haven’t done anything suspicious at all, ahahaha."

The Duke kept licking his lips as if his mouth were dry. My own throat was parched too.

"Then say it quickly!"

Faced with the looming Duchess, the Duke muttered in a tiny, tiny voice:

"This is why they say Marie Kingdom women are frightening."

"I agree."

I muttered back so that only the Duke could hear. Hearing that, the Duke grinned. Comrades!

Regaining his composure, the Duke said:

"Then I’ll explain. The place is Count von Kirchhoff’s residence. We attack, the Count defends. We will field Ambassador Marie plus two others, and seven from my house, for a total of ten. Count von Kirchhoff will also field ten. The Count will be in the garden of his residence with the Kirchhoff family banner raised. If we seize it we win; if they hold it we lose."

Like the pole-toppling game at a school sports day?

"My, this time it’s quite full-scale, isn’t it?!"

The Duchess said happily.

"Is it usually different?"

When I asked, the Duchess answered:

"Usually we do three-on-three elimination matches and the like."

"That’s right. We usually keep it small, but this time the pride and honor of the Marie Kingdom are at stake, so I made it full-scale! That’s why Their Majesties the King and Queen will also be coming to watch."

"That’s amazing, dear!"

The Duchess praised the Duke.

"No, it’s not that much. It’s nothing special."

The Duke modestly declined, but I asked:

"Forgive me, but what will Your Grace be doing?"

"Me? I’ll be in command."

"Command?"

"Yes—where to attack from and how to move whom."

"Haa..."

"Oh? Ambassador Marie looks listless. I planned all sorts of things for your sake, you know. Count von Kirchhoff showed reluctance, but I intend to give him a good hard lesson here. I won’t let that man act any more arrogant!"

The Duke spoke proudly, but I wished he would bark after winning.

"Um, what about Your Grace’s side’s fighting strength?"

"Ours? Our side will center on the bodyguards. They all know how to handle themselves, so there’s no mistake! They’ll definitely pull it off. Don’t worry—Ambassador Marie and the others only need to watch."

"That’s amazing, dear!"

The Duchess’s eyes sparkled and the Duke’s breathing was rough with excitement! Would it really go that smoothly? An alarm was ringing inside me. I had experienced many times in Japan that this kind of groundless optimism led to tears once you actually reached the site. There was nothing more dangerous than the words "It will definitely be fine."