My eyes opened on their own.
The hour hand was pointing at 4 AM.
To think a mere week could change a person's biological rhythm.
It was truly astonishing.
After a quick wash of my face, I swept my hair back.
"Kyu, you could've slept a little longer today."
Ignis spoke up.
"Forget it. I need to clear my head anyway."
"Kyu kyu, that's a good habit."
What an obnoxious bunny.
But the curriculum's results were undeniable, so I didn't voice any complaints. I only furrowed my brow instead.
I went out to the back garden.
But what do you know?
Someone had gotten there first.
"You have come?"
It was Freyja.
In the dark dawn, her silver hair was scattering a resplendent light.
"What brings you here at this hour?"
"Lately, I have seen you come out at this hour every day, my lord husband. Are you running again today?"
"Yeah, I'm just going to run about twenty laps, nice and light."
"......Is that really light?"
Freyja looked at me curiously, then took off the fur garment she had been wearing.
"Would it be all right if I ran with you?"
"Of course."
After stretching, Freyja and I began running side by side.
As befitted the North's greatest warrior, Freyja's running form didn't have a single wasted motion.
"Johannes was terribly delighted."
Freyja said, without disturbing her breathing in the slightest.
"Right. Who would've thought a middle-aged man with a wrinkled forehead could light up his eyes like that?"
"It was the first time I had seen him like that, too. ......I understand. Johannes must have had many grievances. After all, a prodigy who used to handle Briton Academy's cutting-edge facilities had to rack his brains in the barren North without any equipment. It must feel as though the frustration he had bottled up for over 20 years was resolved all at once."
"I heard House Wolf has been solely in charge of the Grand Ducal House's intelligence network for generations. Even if it's not up to the capital's level, they must have had some equipment of their own, right?"
"It was an intelligence network in name only, at the level of racking their brains a little more than other people. Johannes was an unusual case. Had he been born in the capital, he would probably be holding an important post."
I nodded.
Johannes was certainly a talent better suited to the capital than to the North.
"Was the information Johannes brought to your liking?"
"Yeah, I think I'll be able to put it to good use."
"I am glad."
How much longer had we run?
Freyja opened her mouth again.
"Lady Justitia will by no means be an easy opponent."
"I'm sure. She'll be a troublesome one."
"It is shameful to say, but in my negotiations with Lady Justitia, I was dragged around the whole time."
"Wasn't Johannes there beside you?"
"Lady Justitia wished to talk with just the two of us. She said it was the basics of a deal."
"Hmm, she blatantly tricked you."
It was a detail that showed just how meticulous Justitia was.
She had taken precautions in case a capable retainer pointed out the deal's blind spots or offered favorable advice.
On top of that, she'd probably also meant to add a sense of psychological indebtedness.
Freyja's martial prowess was on a level that no merchant clicking away at an abacus could handle.
That alone would have been enough to unconsciously give Freyja the impression that she held the upper hand over her counterpart.
"So I was deceived, after all."
"That's just how merchants are. After all, they're a breed that toys with people using their three-inch tongues for profit."
"It is not a battlefield I should be jumping into."
"Leave today to me."
"That is my intention."
The corners of Freyja's mouth faintly curved.
"Well, it's my first time dealing with a merchant too, though."
"At the very least, you are not someone who gets dragged around by others, my lord husband."
I couldn't readily agree with that.
After all, until I left the Imperial Palace, I had always fallen victim to Cassandra's schemes.
Of course, it had been an environment that no amount of effort could overcome.
Even so, there was no denying that I had been helplessly dragged around.
"You are surprisingly self-deprecating, my lord husband."
A single remark from Freyja broke my bitter train of thought.
I chuckled.
"So are you."
"I am merely aware of my own shortcomings."
"And you have overwhelming martial might and potential that can make up for those trivial shortcomings in one go, with plenty to spare."
"The same goes for you, my lord husband."
Freyja's gaze and mine crossed.
It was the moment we finished exactly our twentieth lap around the garden.
We stopped running and began catching our breath.
"For the past week, I have been watching what you do, my lord husband. And I thought you truly are hard to figure out. A mage who suddenly takes up physical training, who willingly opens the manor to house the destitute territory residents, and who, even in the middle of all that, schemes with Johannes."
Hm, seen through a third party's eyes, I'd been spending some truly busy days.
If I hadn't learned Qi Circulation, I might have collapsed from overwork long ago.
"But one thing, at least, was clear to me. That when you set a goal, my lord husband, you are someone who charges ahead looking only forward, so madly it is frightening."
"Is that a compliment?"
"To me, at least, it is."
"If you only look ahead too much, you might trip, though, right?"
"If you ran alone, in solitude, that would surely be so. That is why I find you curious, my lord husband. For even as you run like mad, you have a strange power to gather people who will match your stride and run with you before anyone notices. And people strive somehow to keep up with your pace."
Freyja gazed at the towering snowy mountains far off in the distance.
The sun was rising between the snowy peaks, lifting the darkness of dawn.
"I think you are remarkable for that, my lord husband. So I hope you will not belittle yourself. Because you are remarkable enough."
Trust, flying straight at me.
I wiped my sweat-beaded forehead with the back of my hand.
"When you put it like that, I don't know what to do with myself."
"Are you embarrassed?"
"A little."
I gazed at the snowy mountains as well.
As the sunlight grew stronger, it began erasing the traces of the blizzard that had raged through the night.
"Then let me ask you one thing too. Freyja, I'd like you to stop belittling yourself as well."
"I—"
"You're not going to say embarrassing things to me and then just pretend you don't know what I mean when it's your turn, are you?"
I looked at Freyja.
"Freyja, you're someone better suited to being a general than a leader."
"I cannot deny that."
"But you're someone who has to be a leader."
"......What is your reason for saying that?"
"I'm saying I know the position of Grand Duke weighs on you."
Freyja's eyes went wide.
No one had probably ever said anything like this to her, so it was a natural reaction.
"But you can't set down the position of Grand Duke. Even though you know yourself that you're not suited to it."
"That stings."
"Right. So you have to change."
"Pardon?"
"Because it's your fate to lead the North, no matter what."
I didn't say anything as empty as that it was okay to run away from responsibility and duty.
Given Freyja's personality, such advice would be close to an insult in the first place.
"From now on, you'll have to study how to be a lord. You can't just keep building up your martial might like you have been."
Raising the North's foundation through pay-to-win was possible.
But for the North to prosper on the foundation built that way, the Grand Duke's capability was absolutely necessary.
"Wear your mask thoroughly and hide your own weakness. The side of you that blames yourself for not suiting the position of Grand Duke is something only you keep."
"......That is rather overwhelming advice."
Freyja let out a sigh.
Silence settled heavily.
"In exchange."
It was I who broke the silence.
"When it gets too hard to bear, I'll listen to you."
"Pardon?"
"Well, you know, right? If you're always wearing a mask, even the toughest person is bound to get sick at heart. When that happens, you'll need someone you can complain to comfortably, even if only once in a while."
"That role...... you are saying you will take it, my lord husband?"
"To be precise, it's a role only I can take."
Words that could be said only because we were in a relationship of sharing each other's weaknesses and weapons, matching our stride side by side toward a single goal.
Going over it like this, it really was an ambiguous yet dense relationship.
"As a bonus, if you grow as a lord, I'll cleanly stop belittling myself too."
"......That is underhanded of you."
Only one corner of Freyja's lips twitched.
"Still...... thanks to that shamelessness of yours, I feel some resolve."
"So you accept?"
"Because of what I have seen over the past week."
"Hm?"
"If I were in your position, my lord husband, I would have been too busy focusing solely on the deal with Lady Justitia. But even in the midst of that, you did not neglect to worry for the North or to train yourself."
"It was tough, I'll admit."
"And it was not without results, either. As you are now, my lord husband...... you could probably subdue middling knights even fighting without magic."
It was thanks to my aptitude as a Sorcerer.
As my body grew, my magic power grew with it.
And the grown magic power aided my body's growth and recovery.
It had kept creating a synergy.
Even to the naked eye, my body had clearly gotten better, but....... Enough to subdue knights?
That was a bit unexpected.
"You have proven more than enough enterprising effort to have the right to lecture me, my lord husband. I, who have made no effort except to hone my martial arts, cannot argue against it."
"So you're going to try learning something new?"
"Yes. First...... I would like to learn how to speak well."
Freyja's mind was flexible.
On top of that, it was paired with an excellent drive to act.
As a result, an intense zeal burned in her red eyes.
"It made me want to win a war of words against you, my lord husband."
It seemed Freyja had perceived the conversation just now as a fight.
Whether a duel or a war of words.
The means or form of the fight didn't matter.
All that mattered was the fact that Freyja herself had lost a fight.
The drive for improvement born from the humiliation of defeat seemed more than enough to swallow the shadow of self-deprecation lurking in her heart.
"For that reason too, I should engrave today's deal between you and Lady Justitia into my mind."
"Give it your best."
I shrugged.
"If, as you said, my lord husband, the position of Grand Duke is my burden......."
Freyja took a step closer.
She didn't smell of sweat.
If anything, a fragrant scent tickled my nose.
"I intend to become a leader who can run without minding such a burden."
Just like when she had bared her weakness instead of trying to persuade me.
Freyja had chosen a third option once again.
"Spoken like a true heir of the Barbarians. Tough."
"Are you calling me savage?"
"It's a compliment."
"You have become quite smooth-tongued."
"I've always been like this."
It was just that my brakes had come off after going through Ignis's curriculum.
And this way of talking would probably suit the North better.
"Then I will see you in the drawing room shortly."
Freyja gave a brief bow and was about to leave the garden.
I spoke to her retreating back without thinking.
"By the way, you know. Are you going to keep calling me that?"
The word 'lord husband' was embarrassing to have in my mouth.
"If you're going to divorce me anyway, you could just call me Abel—"
"That will not do."
Freyja shook her head.
"Until we divorce, it is only proper to treat you accordingly. Temporary though it may be, right now I am your wife, my lord husband. So I must fulfill a wife's duties."
"You called me Sir Abel just fine the other time, though?"
"That was only once."
I let out a hollow laugh.
Freyja raised the corners of her mouth.
"Northerners through and through, I swear."
"A pleasant compliment, then."
I wasn't the only one growing in real time.
In the brief time we'd talked, Freyja had made my way of speaking a little bit her own.
My partner in an ambiguous relationship gave another polite nod and disappeared.
"Geez."
My first impression had been that she was a woman like a sheet of ice.
I'd been wrong.
Freyja was a flame.
A deep blue flame, burning very hot.
"......I'd better be careful not to get burned."
***
At the same time.
There was a carriage heading for the North.
"How is the ride, Cattleya?"
The woman with short lilac hair, Justitia, asked.
The maid girl sitting across from her answered with an expressionless face.
"It is good."
"......Is that the only assessment you can give? This is the carriage I'm ambitiously releasing starting next year, so give it a proper assessment."
Cattleya turned her head.
Where the coachman's seat would normally be, there was only an ornament symbolizing the Violet Trading Company.
"It is convenient that there is no need to hire a separate coachman."
"......You're stating the obvious. After all, it's an automatic carriage that runs on mana stones alone. And that's an assessment you could make without even riding in it."
"The ride is good."
"Forget it, what's the point of talking to you......?"
It was the moment Justitia shook her head.
"Hm."
Cattleya swiftly threw herself out of the carriage.
Bang!
The door was flung open roughly.
From beyond it came the cries of goblins.
It seemed to be a sizable horde.
Yet Justitia calmly folded her arms without the slightest agitation. The moment she leaned back against the comfortable seat.
"Kreeeeek—!!!"
The sounds of slaughter rang out.
How many times did she hear the bursting sound of a sharp edge slicing through flesh?
Cattleya returned to the carriage, her whole body soaked in blue blood.
"......Didn't I tell you to wipe off the blood before getting in?"
"Ah, I forgot."
"When I'm with you, the biggest expenses are laundry and food."
"I am sorry. I butchered the goblins and loaded them into the luggage compartment."
"......Well done."
Cattleya was the one who had fought the monsters.
Yet for some reason, the fatigue fell to Justitia.
"Lady Justitia."
"......What?"
"Do you intend to keep trading with the North?"
Cattleya went on, looking out the window.
"I see several ominous signs."
Cattleya was a girl with excellent intuition.
But she had no talent for explaining that intuition logically to others.
All she could manage was bluntly spitting out exactly what she felt.
"I can't give up on trading with the North."
Naturally, such a vague warning couldn't persuade Justitia.
"You know it too. Right now, I need results. ......Results good enough to beat my elder brother."
Justitia began biting her thumbnail.
"Trading is fine, but there is no need for you to go in person."
"No, I have to do it. If I leave it to someone else, who knows how things will turn out?"
Nibble, nibble.
Ever since her 'elder brother' surfaced in Justitia's mind, the speed at which she chewed her nail had picked up.
"Ugh......."
A sudden pain.
Soon, the metallic scent of blood filled her mouth.
"Dammit......."
"Please hold still."
Cattleya skillfully gave first aid to Justitia's finger.
"Do as you wish, Lady Justitia. After all, all I do is protect you."
"......Right."
After that, no conversation passed in the carriage.
Whenever it sensed a monster, the carriage automatically stopped and Cattleya went out to dispose of it, and only that process repeated.
How much time had passed like that?
Around the time the blizzard began to rage, the carriage reached the Northern front.
"Strange."
Cattleya's intuition kicked in.
And this time, Justitia also noticed what that intuition was about.
"What's that? The Black Tiger Wall......?"
A wall boasting its grandeur even within the blizzard, which was like a hazy curtain.
Justitia frowned.
"No....... It's a little different."
She had never seen the Black Tiger Wall in person, but she knew at least that it was a wall the color of pitch-black darkness.
But the wall guarding the front now was pure white.
Which meant they had built a new wall.
'How on earth?'
Justitia had a thorough grasp of the North's circumstances. And she was well aware that Freyja's management skills were terrible.
So it was hard to believe the reality before her eyes.
They should have lacked both the funds and the time to construct a giant wall.
So how on earth?
"You have arrived?"
The moment she stood frozen in doubt.
A middle-aged knight came out to greet her.
"Sir Johannes, it has been a...... while."
"Yes! It has been a while."
The Johannes she met again after a month was, unlike before, full of vigor.
Before, his complexion had been so steeped in fatigue that he looked as if he might collapse at any moment.
But the Johannes of now was not like that.
His dark circles had noticeably faded, and his light brown eyes were full of life.
It didn't seem to be...... just because the wall at the front had been rebuilt.
"The two of them are waiting for you."
The two of them?
She didn't even have time to voice her doubt.
Bringing Cattleya along, Justitia followed after Johannes.
The moment they drew close to the Grand Duke's manor, Cattleya opened her mouth.
"There are people."
She didn't mean the sight of territory residents miserably huddled together so as not to freeze to death.
Many territory residents were gathered in clusters in front of wooden houses, going about their day.
"Those buildings...... aren't made from Northern conifers?"
A merchant's eye analyzed the houses in an instant.
Even without looking closely, it was obvious they were sturdy buildings constructed with high-grade timber.
"They're better built than middling houses in the capital......?"
And there were twenty such high-grade houses built.
Not content with a new wall, they'd even built a residential district?
What on earth was all this......?
"It'th Big Thith Cattleya!"
The moment they set foot in the manor, a little girl missing her front teeth came up to them cheerfully.
"Hello, Anna."
Cattleya returned the greeting with an expressionless face.
Anna pattered over and whispered something in Cattleya's ear.
Justitia was reluctant to deal with children, so she unwittingly took a step back.
'No, wait a minute.'
Why was a child running around inside the Grand Duke's manor?
It didn't seem like she had snuck in, either.
'In every room...... there are people.'
Unmaintained as it might be, it was still a noble's manor.
It wasn't a place where ordinary people would set up house.
Confusion was piled on top of confusion.
'No....... Get a grip, Justitia Violet.'
To a merchant, variables were a troublesome thing.
But even when unexpected variables came crashing in, it was a merchant's destiny to factor them into the calculation in an instant and draw out a profit.
'Stay calm and get your brain turning....... Ugh.'
But she couldn't control the throbbing in her head.
Throb.......
Even the thumb she had chewed began to sting.
Justitia squeezed her thumb hard for no reason.
Blood seeped into the tightly wound bandage, but only for a moment.
Knock, knock.
Johannes knocked on the door of the drawing room.
At the same time, Cattleya quietly stepped in front of Justitia.
Cattleya still kept her expressionless face, but a single bead of cold sweat was running down the girl's cheek.
There had been only one time Cattleya had reacted this sensitively.
When she first came face to face with Freyja Berg.
'Surely not.......'
Did that mean there was a stranger inside the drawing room with power on par with Freyja's?
The moment Justitia's pupils wavered.
The door opened.
At the same time, a subtle scent of tea pleasantly tickled her nose.
"Oh, you've come just in time."
Inside the drawing room was a familiar man.
The man with dark red hair set down a teacup at Justitia's seat.
"Please have a seat, Miss Justitia."
Abel Draco Whitelion.
The deposed crown prince, about whom the only rumors were that, not content with having the position of crown prince stolen by his younger brother, he had been miserably exiled to the North under the pretext of a state wedding.
But the moment she laid eyes on Abel.
Justitia judged that the rumors circulating in the Empire were all false.
The figure smiling calmly in front of her was far from an 'incompetent deposed crown prince.'
What on earth had happened?
She didn't understand a thing.
Her head was spinning.
But one thing was certain.
This deal...... was not going to be easy at all.