Ever since Ferdel started tutoring me… I had become somewhat of a champion while having the focus of the empire’s three most wanted men all to myself.

  Caitel, the emperor and my father, Ferdel, the iron chancellor and my tutor, and Assisi, the black knight as my personal guard. There’s no other woman in this world who’s as lucky as I am. Oh… wait, there is another one, Silvia.

  “Is Ferdel teaching you properly?”


  “Yes, surprisingly.”


  Silvia also nodded with a look of genuine surprise. I took a cookie.

  “Well, he is rather intelligent despite how he behaves.”


  However, Sil… it’s understandable when I treated him like that, but shouldn’t she be nicer to her husband? Was this really okay?

  I often had these thoughts that Silvia didn’t have much faith in Ferdel. That’s why he always got scolded.

  …well, they were still a sickeningly sweet couple no matter what, though.

  “By the way, Sil.”


  “Yes?”


  “Uh…No. Nothing.”


  In my response, Sil tilted his head as if wondering.

  Actually, I’d like to ask her why Assisi was so against getting married. It’s questionable whether Sil knew the reason, and whether I deserved to ask. I didn’t have anything to say if Sil asked me again why I was curious about that, so I just kept my mouth shut.

  Anyway, I really should stop being nosy.

  “Oh, yes! How was your family gathering? Did it go well?”


  “Well, yes. It was the same as always.”


  Hmm… I wondered if that’s how all the women married to the eldest son in a family were. I felt so much endurance in such a small number of words… but it’s more amazing how she always seemed to get everything done without a single complaint.

  “However, it appears like my sister-in-law, who had married in the North, is in some sort of trouble. She’s coming to visit us sometime next month… that’s really all I’ve been worried about lately.”


  “How come? Because she might stay for a while?”


  “More than that…”


  Sil quietly closed her eyes.

  Even if I didn’t turn my head around, I could immediately guess what would be at the end of her gaze. Oh, I saw what she meant now. It was because of the twins.

  Somehow, I felt like I could feel Silvia’s sincerity. I felt her pain. I patted her shoulders without saying anything, and Sil sighed.

  Yeah, yeah, I understood what she meant. There, there.