NOVEL NEXT #60
#60
Despite the many events since dawn, Jersian’s daily routine had to continue as usual.
After lunch was the time to receive various reports related to the family from Merheim.
There was a sound of parchment being turned. Then, at some point, his gaze paused.
Jersian stopped looking at the document in his hand and asked,
“…Are we increasing the hunting competition budget by this much?”
“…The Marchioness was very adamant about the amount. Would you believe that this is the level I managed to lower it to after pleading?”
Merheim, wearing a monocle, scratched his chin as if troubled and spoke. Although he had revised the entire plan according to Marchioness Elmerila’s sudden order, they had never spent this much money on sponsoring a competition before.
“Well, the Imperial family will be pleased, I suppose.”
“Why do they hold this useless event every year?”
Jersian said with a sigh as he put down the document of estimated costs for the hunting competition that Merheim had prepared. Merheim nodded slightly while trying to rationalize the work he was doing.
“…But there must be a reason why it’s held every year.”
“For the sake of harmony among the families in the empire? They probably don’t intend to harmonize anyway. It’s long since become an event where everyone just shows off and observes formalities.”
Moreover, the position of the Gerold family was the most ambiguous among them. The Imperial family has been favoring the Gerold Marquis family over other families for hundreds of years. Because of this, Gerold wasn’t on good terms with other families in the empire.
“Where will you be staying with Kain Starchis during the competition? Would the accommodation provided by the Imperial family be alright?”
“What… Oh.”
Jersian, who had been leaning back in his chair discontentedly, straightened up. He mumbled while rechecking the document he had thrown on the desk.
“…I had a companion to take care of this year.”
His voice sounded surprised that he himself had forgotten about Kain. After checking the location of the competition’s accommodation, Jersian said. His eyebrows furrowed slightly.
“This accommodation will be too busy for Kain. We don’t necessarily need to stay at the lodging provided by the Imperial family.”
“Yes, then I’ll look for a suitable place.”
“Somewhere quiet, and preferably with a forest nearby.”
At those words, Merheim glanced down at his young master sitting in the chair. Jersian’s expression had softened, perhaps thinking of Kain Starchis. He had thought it was just a nominal engagement, but observing Jersian and Kain, one could occasionally glimpse moments that seemed like they were newly formed lovers.
“Yes, leave it to me.”
Merheim nodded vigorously. Finding accommodation wasn’t such a difficult task.
“…”
Jersian was fiddling with his quill pen, his lips tightly sealed. Merheim pushed up his monocle and asked,
“Do you have other concerns?”
“Well, not concerns exactly.”
…But you seem to be quite preoccupied? As Merheim leaned in as if to say ‘tell me,’ Jersian put down his quill pen on the table with a thud and said,
“Just… I wonder if Kain Starchis will be able to endure the hunting competition.”
“Ah…”
Merheim nodded as he heard his concern. Elves were a race that never took life. But the hunting competition, as the name suggests, was a collection of violence, killing, and the smell of blood.
“Hmm. It will be quite difficult for Kain.”
“But I can’t leave him alone at the mansion either. The Imperial family has the right to summon all members of families within the empire. If they’re a member of the family, that includes my fiancé. I don’t want to hear excuses like being sick, so I’m personally arranging accommodation.”
“Would it be too much to ask for him to only participate in the opening and closing ceremonies of the hunting competition?”
“I’ve seen the Imperial family occasionally grant that level of leniency, but…”
The image of Kemirun Del Claude’s hateful and contemptuous gaze flashed before Jersian’s eyes. The Imperial family, which disliked his very existence from the start, was unlikely to show any leniency. Merheim seemed to think the same, as he said with an awkward face,
“That might be a bit difficult to expect…”
Probably so. Instead of answering, Jersian just shrugged his shoulders once.
“Besides, it’s a hunting competition. It’s an event where everyone takes up bows, so how much expectation would they have for an elf?”
“…Actually, I’d like to see that myself. I heard Kain shot a bow in the training grounds here. I’m so sad I missed it.”
“Merheim, you’ve never even held a bow, have you?”
What would you do by seeing that? At Jersian’s disdainful look, Merheim retorted heatedly,
“Seeing an elf handle a bow is something one would want to see at least once in their life, even if they’re not a warrior. Just like everyone wants to see a fairy playing a harp.”
“…A fairy? Why are you being so childish? I’m sorry, but I’ve never had such thoughts.”
“Well, young master Jersian, you’re always so cynical.”
“…”
As Jersian’s gaze sharpened at the somewhat unpleasant remark, Merheim cleared his throat once with a ‘ahem’ as if trying to change the atmosphere, and then said,
“I’ll… find accommodation right away.”
“Yes, everyone will start preparing in earnest next week, so there should be good places available now. If the Gerold family budget isn’t enough, use my personal funds.”
“Yes, young master.”
“And you can stop the work on the documents found at Baron Basiz’s house.”
“We’ve almost finished analyzing them, don’t we need to report to the head of the family?”
“No, Marchioness Elmerila came to me directly and said that Baron Basiz’s charges have all been resolved through confession, so we should conclude it.”
“I understand. Seems like we exerted effort for nothing this time.”
“And…”
Jersian took out a key from his bosom. What’s that? Merheim paused for a moment at the unfamiliar key. He already knew the key to the safe that he usually used, and this key was certainly not that one.
It was much smaller than a regular key, at first glance it could be mistaken for a pendant or brooch. Jersian, still seated in his chair, turned to the side and inserted it into a bird-shaped decoration by the window.
For decades I thought it was just a decorative item, I didn’t know it was a personal safe of sorts. Merheim thought this but quietly stood at attention without making a fuss. Showing this in front of him was proof of how much young master Jersian trusted him, and Merheim didn’t want to betray that trust until the day he died.
Creeeeak- As it wasn’t something to be opened and closed frequently, the bird-shaped safe made a noise as it opened.
Inside was a single letter. Jersian took it out and handed it to Merheim.
“I’d like you to compare this handwriting.”
“Yes. Is it a letter?”
“The content is short, but I think it should be fine for handwriting comparison as it contains all the necessary letters. What do you think, Merheim?”
“…”
What Jersian handed over appeared to be a fragment of a letter. Merheim carefully received it from Jersian and read it.
━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━
I apologize for burdening Your Majesty and the Imperial family. I will accept any punishment.
Loving you forever, Cynthia Gerold.
━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━
Merheim’s eyes widened at ‘Your Majesty’, ‘Imperial family’, and the name ‘Cynthia Gerold’ at the end.
“…This is.”
“Yes, it’s my mother’s letter. Don’t ask where I got it from, I can’t answer anyway. There should still be many documents directly left by my mother in the Gerold mansion. Just compare the handwriting itself.”
“Hmm, I see. Understood. Before I start… to answer your initial question, this is sufficient length for handwriting analysis. For the handwriting expert, we can scatter the letters so the content isn’t discernible, right?”
He had handled handwriting analysis of letters a few times before. However, it had never been for a letter this important, so Merheim swallowed hard and carefully folded the letter, storing it in his bosom.
After confirming Merheim’s resolute response, Jersian nodded and said,
“Yes, that will do.”
“What about the timeframe? I assume the sooner the better?”
“Rather than speed, it’s more important to show it to as few people as possible.”
“Yes, I’ll do that.”
A strange light swirled in Jersian’s red eyes as he nodded.
If the authenticity of this letter is verified, he would know whether the hypothesis about Elmerila Gerold that he had been pondering since dawn was just needless worry, or if, as Kain had said, she had been lying all this time.
Until now, there weren’t many times when he hoped his own thoughts were wrong while doing something.
But this time was an exception.