There is a legend about giants in this world. Long ago, the great giant Batu was walking across the endless earth when he missed his step and fell. The shock of Batu's fall caused a piece of the earth to break off, and that became the world we live in. And the water that flowed into the crushed marks where Batu fell became the sea.
That's why people used the expression that the days passed as if a giant had leaped over the land when an event was fast approaching. Just like that saying, the date of the ball came upon us as if a giant had leaped over the land.
The day of the ball. I once again boarded the carriage to the capital city. Cellu was pouting as she waved, and Sieri was still hesitating, as if she still felt sorry toward Eve. Eve pushed Sieri on the shoulder, making her walk toward me. It seemed the two of them had a conversation, but I couldn't hear it.
"The dress is pretty."
To stop Sieri from looking back at Eve, I praised Sieri's dress. If Sieri in her nun's habit showed off the beauty of an innocent nun, Sieri in a dress showed off the beauty of an innocent nun in a dress.
The dress itself was in calm tones of black and white, as if tailored to Sieri's nun image. There was a pearl necklace around Sieri's neck, and seeing as it was an item Erina had paid for, it was clear she had gifted it to Sieri for helping her so diligently.
It's my territory budget, so why the fuck is she spending it as she pleases? I'll let it slide since it's pretty and suits her, but there will be no mercy next time.
"You look like a princess."
I praised Sieri's attire and escorted her to the carriage. I deliberately stepped down and helped her into the carriage as if I were escorting a princess. Sieri seemed uncomfortable with my attitude, waving her hands and declining.
"I-It's really alright, My Lord!"
"Sieri. You don't want to hold my hand?"
"Ah, no, it's not that, it's just..."
After refusing for a while, Sieri finally boarded the carriage with her head bowed low. I waved to the party that had come out to see us off. Eve said with a smile.
"Come back quickly. It'll be tough without Sieri here."
"I will. I'll be back soon."
The carriage door closed. Robin rode his horse and stopped beside the carriage. He also dismounted and bowed his head to Eve in greeting.
"Then, Wife. I will do my best as the escort!"
"Escorting is my job, so I don't know why a knight is doing it."
Elsi grumbled. But it couldn't be helped. If I took Elsi to a neighborhood that held a slave arena with beastfolk, there was no telling what kind of reaction she would get. No matter how much I explained that she was an escort guard, I could get into a troublesome quarrel over accusations of having a slave, and I could also foresee fights being picked with Elsi.
All things considered, taking Robin was much cleaner than taking Elsi. Robin looked completely frozen at the thought of going to a ball attended by many nobles. He finished his greeting with a stiff attitude, mounted his horse, and then spoke to me inside the carriage.
"I will do my best! Please take care of me!"
"Robin. You don't need to be so tense. It's just a ball. Nothing much will happen even if we go."
"No, sir!"
Robin suddenly began to repeat my words in a soldierly manner, like someone with PTSD from his days as a new recruit. According to the lore, Lusius was a territory local who had spent his whole life as its lord, so it was clear that Robin, who served under him, had almost never left the territory. Perhaps this was his first time visiting the capital city itself.
The coachman grabbed the reins and shouted.
"We're departing."
This coachman, an older man who had come from the northern region to our territory and settled down, seemed very satisfied with being my coachman. According to what I heard, he liked it here because the salary was higher, the work was less, and the weather was warmer. His face, which had been so ruined that I suspected he'd caught a northern endemic disease, was also returning to normal after encountering the warm air of the southern region.
Next to the carriage, which moved smoothly thanks to the coachman's excellent skill, Robin rode his horse at a walk. I asked Robin.
"Is this your first time visiting the capital, Robin?"
"Yes! That is correct!"
"No, Robin, tone it down a bit and speak calmly. Okay?"
"The Knight Order is always! Full of discipline!"
"If you shout one more time, I'm leaving you behind, understand?"
"Understood."
Robin calmed down as easily as he had gotten excited. Was this bastard shouting on purpose? When I looked at him with suspicious eyes, Robin subtly avoided my gaze. It was clearly his way of telling me to rest assured because he was highly disciplined.
I looked at Sieri again. She, too, seemed to have a fluttering heart at the thought of heading to the capital for the first time, and was smiling brightly as she looked out the window. I asked Sieri.
"Sieri. Is this your first time in the capital?"
"Pardon?"
Sieri, on the contrary, looked at me with a somewhat bewildered face. She looked at me with a strange expression before speaking.
"My Lord, the place we stayed at during our apprenticeship was on the outskirts of the capital, wasn't it? That, that large church."
Fuck. Was that so? I didn't know the exact location of the apprentice priest training center since it wasn't mentioned, but it seemed to have been located at the Archdeity Church Headquarters. I decided to avoid this topic. The relationship between Sieri and Lusius wasn't explained much in the original story, only as much as Lusius's part, so there was nothing for me to pretend to know.
If Sieri were to bring up a memory from our childhood friend days, I would have no choice but to pretend to know and muddle through it. I spoke to gloss over it.
"Was that so? It's been so long, right. It was on the outskirts of the capital. I asked a foolish question. So, how do you feel, it being so long?"
"Pardon? Um... I don't know. How about you, My Lord? It's your first ball too, isn't it? Th-that, are you perhaps forcibly going to the ball because of me..."
"Because of Sieri, you say?"
Sieri had the disadvantage of spiraling endlessly into darkness if not stopped. To stop her from rapidly becoming depressed again, I began to soothe her in a gentle tone.
"Listen, Sieri. I'm not going because of you. It's because a lord has to show his face at a ball at least once. I'm going because I have to."
This was a fact. I had no intention of going to the ball until Erina carelessly signed and sent back the invitation. Sieri became a little more sullen at those words and spoke.
"Then, th-that, you don't want to go..."
"I don't dislike going, either. Because I can show off our pretty Sieri to everyone, can't I? When Sieri arrives at the ballroom, everyone will let out an exclamation and envy me. For having such a beautiful wife like Sieri."
"...But, Ms. Eve is more beautiful."
"Who compares beauty? Sieri has her own beauty, and Eve has hers. Comparing the two and saying who is right or wrong is a meaningless act. Sieri. Do you want to be compared like that? Do you want me to belittle you by saying Eve is prettier than you?"
Sieri hurriedly answered.
"Ah, no! I-I wasn't thinking that."
"Then you should enjoy it. Smile. Sieri. Right now, Sieri is my wife, and the most beautiful person at this ball."
"I-Is that so? Is it okay for me to be? Hehe..."
Sieri scratched her cheek and laughed. It was a habit I'd never seen since she became a nun. It seemed a childhood habit had popped out. I grinned and patted Sieri's head. Sieri wrapped her arms around my arm and leaned her head on my shoulder.
"Sieri?"
"Then I'll just stay like this for a little while. Today, My Lord is mine, isn't he?"
"...Go ahead."
With Robin right beside us and the coachman in front, I probably can't have sex in the carriage. I brought a spare change of clothes, but it was still a waste to ruin such a carefully prepared attire with sex.
During this journey to the ball, I intended to finish the trip as cleanly and wholesomely as possible. Because if I did some foolish act at the ball and got on someone's bad side, I'd really be stuck. Lately, ominous rumors had been circulating next to my name, things like I practiced bestiality, or that I'd fuck anything with a hole, and there was no need for me to step forward and spur on these lewd rumors.
In fact, the biggest reason I didn't want to go to this ball was because I was afraid of what the nobles would whisper about when I went.
I looked at Robin again. Robin, with the appearance of a man in his mid-30s, had long sideburns, giving him a look that seemed to depict a portrait of Abraham Lincoln. His protruding nose and firm jaw in particular gave the impression of a man who had returned in costume after filming a sequel to Planet of the Apes.
Come to think of it, Robin was unmarried. When the hell is this guy going to get married? From my perspective, it was better in many ways for Robin to get married. Because an unmarried knight commander wandering around a mansion swarming with women made me a little uneasy.
"Robin. You're not married yet, right?"
"No. That is correct."
When I brought up marriage, Robin shuddered and nodded his head. He seemed like someone who had a fear of the word marriage. I asked.
"Is there a woman you like?"
If he says she's in our territory, then the problem becomes a bit serious. It'd be a waste of Robin, but if I'm aiming for an NTR angle, I have no choice but to send him far away. Robin scratched his head and spoke.
"Ah, yes. Well... there was a woman I liked."
"Who was it?"
"Would you like to hear the story, starting from my first love?"
"Yes. Go ahead."
It was a long way to the capital. Behind my carriage, a porter with attire and various travel tools was following in a separate carriage. Robin confirmed there was nothing wrong with the carriage and continued speaking.
"My first love was the tavern owner, Ms. Molly."
She was a woman in her 50s. A woman famous for being very fat and ugly, though she had large breasts. I also remembered seeing her a few times whenever I went to inspect the village.
"But she was already married. So my love could not be fulfilled."
"That's a shame. It can't be easy to meet a man like you, Robin."
"And after that, I liked Sister Molinda at the Archdeity Church."
Sister Molinda was the head nun of our territory's Archdeity Church, a fat, large-bodied, married woman. My thoughts went that far before I flinched and looked at Robin.
"They're all married women?"
"...It's a misunderstanding."
"A misunderstanding, right? Right?"
"It is."
Looking at his preference in women, I suppose I had nothing to worry about.
Fat married women were not in my range.