Epilogue
The news of me appearing in front of my parents with pacifier and baby bottle in hand had spread throughout the estate, and not only the servants but even Eleanora had all been completely put off by my actions. The next day, we decided to return to Dolkness County.
Including this final day, we’d stayed in the Royal Capital for a total of six days. The first day had been spent getting my measurements taken, as well as taking a peek inside of the fragrance shop. On the fifth day, I had been a baby, so...all the events related to the Archiam family and the Lord of National Affairs had started and ended within the span of three days.
Count Archiam and his daughter Dorothea came to the Dolkness estate to see us off. The expression on both of their faces was relaxed and refreshed.
“You were a great help to us, Countess Dolkness,” the count said warmly. “Once various small matters are settled, our entire family is planning to move to Archiam County. Since we aren’t too far from Dolkness County, I hope you’ll keep in touch with us.”
“Of course,” I assured him. “If any monsters show up I’ll fly right over... Oh, in case there are monsters, it might be best for you to level—”
Though the Lord of Leveling had turned out to be a nonsense position, I nevertheless wanted to work hard at spreading the good word of leveling. I thought Count Archiam would be an easy target, since he was going to be a provincial aristocrat, but Eleanora jumped out in front of me and interrupted my evangelizing.
Eleanora addressed Dorothea happily. “I’ll be able to visit you easily from now on, Dorothea!”
“I’ll make sure things are prepared to welcome you.” She smiled shyly. “Um, if it’s all right, I would also like to visit Dolkness County...”
Eleanora turned around and looked at me. Despite how often she barged in on others, Eleanora could choose to be polite at the strangest times, like now when she was asking for my permission. I nodded yes, naturally.
“Of course. You’re welcome to visit, Dorothea.”
“Yay!” Eleanora exclaimed. “When will you visit? You could also just come with us now!”
She shook her head. “I’m sorry; my visit will have to wait until after we’ve moved and settled in.”
We wrapped up our conversations and our goodbyes before Patrick, Eleanora, and I boarded the carriage.
“Did anyone forget anything?” Patrick asked as he shut the carriage door behind us.
“I’m good,” I said, full of confidence. It was always when someone was confident that it would inevitably turn out that they’d forgotten something, but I definitely hadn’t forgotten anything. I didn’t bring that many things with me, and I even remembered to take the baby bottle and the bib too.
I couldn’t think of anything else I might have forgotten, and so the carriage began to move. I waved back at the count and his daughter, and eventually they disappeared into the distance.
As I stared out of the window at the Royal Capital, a blond head of hair suddenly invaded my view. The townscape was passing by slowly, but between the view of the buildings and the window was a blond head—someone was running alongside the carriage. I stuck my head out of the window and saw Prince Edwin, trying his best to keep up with the carriage.
“Oh, hello,” I said.
“If you’re going to leave the Royal Capital...” The moment he spoke he decelerated, and the carriage started to leave him behind. He rushed to speed up and caught back up to the carriage. “...tell me,” he panted.
What level are you? I’d understand if you were a civilian, but is it okay for the second prince to be struggling to keep up with a carriage that’s not even going that fast?
Oh wait, I remember now. I forgot to thank him.
“I’d like to thank you for what you did at the court conference.”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s the least I could do... Could you call Lady Eleanora for me?” he asked, his gaze focusing on her.
Eleanora crouched down at once so that she would no longer be visible through the window, covered her mouth, and emphatically shook her head. Okay, got it.
“Lady Eleanora isn’t here,” I said archly to the prince. “I got rid of her and left her under a bridge. Goodbye, then.”
I shut the window. All right. I thanked him like I meant to. Now I can leave without any regrets.
Eleanora was still hiding below the window. She had accidentally said she hated Prince Edwin when she’d been upset, but I certainly didn’t mind if she ended up actually disliking him.
“Are you okay with this?” Patrick asked her quietly, so as to not be heard from outside of the carriage.
“It’s fine, it’s fine,” I reassured him.
Perhaps Prince Edwin had something important to tell Eleanora, but if a mere carriage could stand in his way, then it must not have been that significant.
Prince Edwin was one of the few people in this kingdom who was actually skilled and had power. There were plenty of ways he could have stopped or caught up with the carriage.
Oh, the background sounds of travel have changed. Did we leave the walls of the Royal Capital and make it onto the country roads? I shut my eyes and listened to the noisy creak of the wheels and the comforting clop of the horseshoes.
Then the sound of the second prince broke through the other noises.
“Lady Eleanora! Regardless of whether I’m a member of the royal family or not, I’ll always do what I can! Thank you for reminding me!” He was loud, and the words he’d ended up saying felt flimsy in comparison to his volume, but the prince was definitely a prince.
I couldn’t exactly describe his shout as a pleasant sound, and it jarred me into opening my eyes. I saw Eleanora at the carriage window. She opened it up and yelled back at the prince.
“I don’t hate you after all, Sir Edwin!”
There was one yell from a distance, and then one up close, which made for two yells. I didn’t hear a third. All I could hear was the sound of the carriage wheels scraping against the stone path.
The next voice I heard was a quiet one. “Do you think my words reached Sir Edwin?”
I thought about being mean and saying he probably hadn’t heard, but I stopped myself before I actually said it. I have a bit of a debt to repay with Prince Edwin, so I’ll pay it off now by choosing to be kind.
“His Highness said he’ll be doing what he can,” I said.
“What...?”
“What he can... In other words, he meant that he’d chase after the carriage until he heard your response. If he isn’t following us anymore, he must have heard what you said.” The way I described it actually makes him sound like a creepy, persistent stalker. It made a chill run down my back, but in contrast to my sudden discomfort, Eleanora seemed happy.
“I see, that makes sense,” she responded warmly.
I couldn’t imagine a future in which Edwin and Eleanora ended up together—or rather, it seemed a near impossibility. I gave Patrick a look that asked, “What should we do?” Patrick seemed just as troubled as I felt and simply shrugged his shoulders.
Still, we didn’t know the future. After this trip to the Royal Capital, I realized that Eleanora had countless possibilities before her. If she were to really throw herself into producing fragrances, she would probably be incredibly successful. That was an accomplishment she could achieve through her own skills, and because of the kind of person that she was, everyone around her would support her with everything they had.
The church was also ready to welcome Eleanora at any time. If anything, they might extend an offer to her.
Eleanora had endless potential, so perhaps ending up with Prince Edwin was actually possible for a girl like her. She might even end up having a fated meeting with someone else (or even marry me).
The girl had many possible paths ahead of her, but for the moment, she was seated in a carriage heading to Dolkness County. She opened her mouth and said, “I must train for puttara when I get home.”
Oh, I guess she’s decided to set off on the path to becoming a menko champion. It’s difficult to make a living off of menko. After saying goodbye to the man she loved just moments ago, Eleanora was already making plans for what she’d do when she got home, and she seemed to be looking forward to it.
“There’s also going to be the roasted potato contest,” she went on. “I’m going to be very busy.”
“Oh, right,” I said. “I remember you mentioning something like that.”
Well, she seems to be having a good time, so I think it’s fine for Eleanora to stay the way she is.
She’d inspired me to also think about what I was going to do once I arrived at home. I needed to check if there had been any problems while I’d been gone, look through all the documents that needed my approval, tell Daemon about anything related to the county that had happened in the Royal Capital... I guess I should tell him that we now have a relationship with the Archiam family. What else happened? I tried to think back to what had happened over the past few days.
“Oh! I wonder if Ryuu would use this,” I said, pulling out the pacifier. I guess he’s already three, so he might be too old for it.
Patrick seemed horrified by the pacifier. “Throw that away! Don’t bring it back!”
“But that would be such a waste,” I protested.
“Don’t tell me you brought the other things with you.”
“They’re all packed up. I have the bib and the baby bottle... Oh, I have a rattle too.”
“I can’t believe there was another thing that I didn’t know about,” he groaned.
I’d ended up not using the rattle in front of my parents, but it had been a great purchase. I hadn’t expected it to make such a lovely sound. It was going to be a gift for Ryuu. He was a dragon that appreciated art even more than I did, so he would probably enjoy it.
“If Ryuu doesn’t want it, you can have it, Lady Eleanora,” I offered magnanimously.
“That’s not necessary,” she declined firmly.
“It makes a beautiful sou—”
“That’s not necessary.”
I see. She doesn’t want it. I turned to Patrick, but he stopped me before I could say anything.
“I don’t want it either.”
“I see...”
When I’d returned to Dolkness County (though I would clearly be listening to the beautiful sound of the rattle all by myself), what awaited me were busy but peaceful and fun-filled days. If I had the time, I could even engage in silly banter with Patrick or go watch Eleanora play in a menko match.
Although I had been in the Royal Capital for less than a week, I missed my home. As I listened to the noisy, clattering sound of the carriage wheels, I impatiently waited for us to arrive at Dolkness County—my precious home.
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