Chapter 315: Taken to the Mainz Cathedral (2)

Then the Countess put a hand to her cheek.

"Nmy! My!"

Her face went red and she made a sound. Seeing that, the Count asked his wife the circumstances. Then from the stiff smile of a moment ago the Count suddenly turned a soft smile on me.

"Ambassador Marie, forgive me. I am Mike Norfolk, a count of the Mainz Kingdom. This is my wife, Anne Norfolk. Even though I did not know, my greeting was late. I am sorry. To meet that hero in a place like this is the greatest joy."

He put force on "that," but I do not think it is that grand. I am not high enough to be called lord in that way. And not saying it clearly was consideration for the Duke, perhaps?

"It is the first time I have seen Lord Marie in person, but you are the splitting image of Lord Robbie Merry on the stage!!"

I flinched a little at the Countess’s heated comment. I am weak against heat.

"Um, did you see the stage?"

"Of course!! I saw it yesterday, but I never thought I would meet the person himself, the one the royal capital is talking about, today! Aaaah, I came to the cathedral, and before I even offered faith I already received God’s grace."

The Countess was in a serious state. The Count was laughing at his wife. If meeting me is grace, I do not think what God does is that great.

"No. I am not so grand a person, so being lifted up like that sits heavy..."

I looked to the Duke and Duchess for help, but the Duke still had a bitter face, and the Duchess looked glad.

After that the Countess talked on and on about her impressions of the play, and the Count nodded yes, yes. Now and then the Duchess put in a word, the Countess’s telling powered up further, and the Duchess poured oil on it again. Compared with the surroundings, only here the heat was strangely huge.

Even in the wealthy commoner line a little apart,

"That person is..."

voices could be heard. The play’s effect is large. I was recognizing that in a place like this. This world does not even have newspapers, so I think word of mouth is the only means, but word of mouth is something.

The Countess was talking with the Duchess, then suddenly turned back to me.

"Lord Marie, could you take a pose with a sword? At the end, in front of your lover the young lady, could I ask for the words where you show martial might?"

An impossible request. I am sorry, but that is a line in the play, and I did not say a single word of that.

"I am sorry. That is what that actor says. I did not actually say it..."

At my words the Countess said my! again.

"But you said some words to the young lady, did you not?"

She asked with a straight face.

"You seem to have a misunderstanding. I am not in a love relation with the young lady of that count’s house who was the model. That is invention for the stage. In fact there is nothing love-related."

It felt like breaking a dream, so I explained with a little pain. (Why do I need to feel pain?) The Countess looked surprised, looked at the Duchess’s face, looked at the Duke’s face. When the Duke shook his head and denied it, she made a face of unbearable disappointment.

"That is what I said. There is no love relation between Count von Kirchhoff’s daughter and Ambassador Marie. Lord Marie has surely never even met the young lady."

The Count said. Nice assist! But even though the Count was passing the truth, the wife had trusted the stage. How to put it. Believing fiction as truth is frightening. You get pulled toward the side that is more interesting, more convenient for you. And Count von Kirchhoff would absolutely not want me to meet her.

"Then what about the woman archer on the roof? She exists, does she not? Is it a lie that she held love for Lord Marie as well?"

The Countess struck a sore place.

"That... is true... yes."

I could not lie, so I affirmed it.

"Eh!" "My!" "Is it true?" "What!"

Everyone seemed not to have known, and was surprised. Before I knew it the wealthy commoner line had bent this way and they had been listening to my talk.

"Kyaaa!"

some people were making noise. Do many people here have a "listen-in" ability?

"Then, Lord Marie, how is it? Can you take that person’s feeling?"

The Countess asked with a frankness that was frightening... Someone stop her. Count, your wife is running wild! Can you do something?

My wish was empty. The Count’s face was full of interest too, and the whole surroundings had gone quiet. Somewhere someone was explaining,

"Lord Robbie Merry is talking about his relation with Lady Agnes Eisleben!"

"There is no relation with Lady Agnes Eisleben. I heard her talk at the theater, but in fact nothing will be done. Lady Agnes Eisleben seems to be searching for a husband, but I am of House Marie, so I cannot enter the Eisleben clan."

At my words,

"My, poor Lady Eisleben!"

"Good! Lord Robbie Merry belongs to no one!"

the reactions split. Enough! Do as you like! The Duke and I both wanted this talk to stop already, but the Duchess had found a fan of the play in an unexpected place and could not wait to talk. The Countess too had found someone who could talk the play down to the details and was glad, glad. It had become a conversation of two complete otaku.

A daughter in a family standing in the commoner line said to her mother, on purpose so I could hear,

"I want to talk with Robbie Merry somehow!"

They had come closer, but there is no way a commoner can speak to a noble directly. But she was staring at me, and if I left it this would not settle, so I said, loud, as if to myself,

"If you want to talk with me, contact the embassy."

The Count was laughing. The Countess had been talking with me one to one, and seemed to feel gawkers had cut in. Her face was a little sour.