"His dignity does reach that level… but I don"t see any particular coat of arms."
"I"d even believe it if someone said that he was the emperor, the highness, rather than a duke."
"No, I had seen the emperor, the highness, when I went to the palace in Vienna, but his dignity didn"t seem to be even close to this person."
Perhaps it was due to the gazes of awe that the gate keeper who was leading me was sensing that he, for some reason, stood tall and walked gallantly. So, I kindly decided to inflate his vanity.
"With you included, every one of the official residence"s soldiers is outstanding. The countess of Niederbayern must be rea.s.suring."
Of course, it was also for the purpose of my own public reputation.
"Thank you for your compliments! Sir Valer!"
"You can call me Lord Valer."
"Yes sir! Lord Valer!"
To be precise, I wasn"t a knight either, but just a country boy from Spandau. However, I was going to ask Walpurgis to t.i.tle me as a knight, so it wasn"t all that inaccurate either. It was just that I was only telling him to call me a lord, a bit sooner. Wasn"t what was good for the goose is good for the gander.
"Please enter this way. The war horse will be taken care of by a servant."
"Thank you."
The interior of the official residence was simple, yet elegant. The building has taken after the master. I was led to a large room on the third floor. I peeked inside as the door was open and saw Walpurgis.
She was in a meeting with the government officials around the desk with a large map on top of it. She hasn"t changed a bit. Even though it was a peace time, she was in the middle of explaining things while fully dressed in an armor suit and holding a baton.
I unconsciously smiled looking at that scene.
"Thank you for ushering me. Since she"s in a conference, I will just wait for a moment."
"Yes sir."
As the soldier left, I stealthily entered the room. As there were many people inside, it wouldn"t cause any issues if I was just to stand in the back, I thought.
Thinking that me being there may cause a commotion, I even turned off the great leader"s dignity spell and waited quietly. It appeared as if some time would be required before the meeting could be adjourned.
However, I wasn"t bored. I should say that I was delighted just by seeing Walpurgis working diligently. On top of that, her G.o.ddess like beauty which I saw that day was overlapping with the view of her in full suit of armor.
No one probably knew. That, underneath that suit of armor, such a face would be hidden.
Hm… But then what kind of curse was it that which was on her face? It definitely seemed to be connected with the great dark army, but even I, who saw the palace of the seven devils, couldn"t tell.
What sort of secret was there in the family of the feudal lord of Bayern? Even having been in this world for a combined time of 100 years, it was the one thing that I wasn"t able to figure out. I felt a sudden silence overtaking the room as I was having such a thought.
"Hm?"
As I looked ahead, trying to see what was happening, I saw many officials as they were looking at me.
I mean, to be precise, they were looking back and forth between Walpurgis and me. There was no wonder as she has been staring in my direction for sometime already.
"Valer….."
As I was about to make uncomfortable smile, thinking that I have rudely interrupted the meeting, she suddenly dashed toward me.
"Valer!"
Pushing aside the officials, the female knight in a full suit of armor ran straight towards me and immediately hugged me.
"Uh!"
As the girl in a metal suit of armor ran straight into me, I momentarily lurched.
"Valer! What"s up! When did you come!"
A voice filled with delight came from behind the visor. Wearing the gauntlet, she moved to stoke my b.a.l.l.s.
"Have you been well? Everything OK? And have you been eating well?"
"Well, Uh…"
"I was so sad when you left!"
"Uh, countess…"
"Are you not hungry? Should we get some food?"
"I really appreciate your pa.s.sionately attending to me, but…"
"Yeah?"
Instead of speaking, I just pointed ahead.
"What is it? There is nothing more important than you at this moment… Ah!"
Walpurgis separated herself from me in a hurry and covered her mouth. No wonder since all the officials, who were gathered in the big room, had faces as if they had just seen a ghost.
Everyone was just simply frozen in place.
I understand such reactions. I know how she was during work as I"ve seen her many occasions during my time as her peer. She was a fair and impartial monarch.
She doesn"t really express her feelings in the public s.p.a.ce to begin with, and as a woman, not wanting to be looked upon as a weak person, that tendency was even stronger. Perhaps, it would be more so in the present time.
It was easy for others to look upon her as someone being weak due to her young age, and without sufficient experience. Hence, not having much leeway, it was possible that she might have been stricter than she needed to be. But then now that she has displayed such emotion…
"Ah…Ah…"
Not knowing what to do, Walpurgis seemed to be lost for words. I whispered to her.
"You really enjoy hugging people. I, certainly, welcome hugs which are coming from cute girls like you, but from now on if you would please do so only when we are alone in privacy."
"Hush, quiet!"
After having screamed loudly, she hurriedly adjourned the meeting and left the room.
"That"s our today"s meeting! Adjourned!"
Then an issue occurred as everyone"s attention was now naturally focused on me.
There was uncomfortable silence throughout the room for a while. Then an older looking aristocrat asked me cautiously.
"Who are you? What sort of relationship do you have with the countess…"
How should I respond. It was awkward. So I just made up things appropriately.
"It"s as you saw."
It was up to the person"s interpretation. Truly, how would the officials of Niederbayern take this? As I was feeling heavy with regrets for, perhaps, inappropriately entering the room and causing such a scene, the same old aristocrat, who questioned me, broke out in excitement.
"Great! The countess is finally getting married!"
With that, every one of the officials, who were nearby, threw their hats up in the air out of joy. There were even some who broke out in to tears.
"Long live Niederbayern! Good thing that we didn"t give up!"
"We have been finally relieved of our worry! Since after the countess had given the prince of Hanover the big boot six months ago, the flow of marriage proposals have been cut off…"
"Uung-uuung-ung! I"m not a man who cries, but I"m tearing up."
I had never expected such reactions. Everyone was tapping each other"s shoulders in congratulatory gesture.
"Hahaha! We did it."
"Now that the issue of the territory"s future has been resolved, the Bayern is only on the solid ground. Lord, do live long. There will only be easy road ahead."
"Ah, yes, of course! Let us enjoy the good days ahead, together."
Why are they going crazy, congratulating each other, and cause so much noise. Soon they locked in shoulder to shoulder and began to sing the Lantzhuit city song in their kindred spirit.
"Let" go! Directly to the ale house!"
"I trust that no one will be going home early today!"
How could I say it… Was it really like this.
Countess Walpurgis. Your minions are so delighted right at this moment.