The Damn Family Is Back Again

411. Buying Time

The atmosphere had been ripe for ages.

Drenched and longing within the sweet kiss, they anticipated only what came next.

Clearly, yesterday’s events were set to repeat.

Gazing deeply at one another, they were just about to begin again with another kiss.

But then.

A sudden intruder shattered the moment.

She hadn’t intended for it to go this far, but it had been an opportunity that fell into her lap!

A precious interlude whose return was uncertain!

She had been looking forward to it as much as their monumental first night together!

And now the entire time slot was gone, all because of some meddling nuisance.

“…Infuriating.”

It would be strange *not* to be on edge.

Abnormal to remain calm.

Her nerves, already frayed by the interruption of happy-happy time, left Harnia nonchalantly muttering as if unbothered by the fact that the source was the Peselos Imperial Family.

“Should I just barge into the Imperial Palace and protest? Maybe flip a table or two? Tell them never, *ever*, to send anyone again. No, I need to give them a proper warning, that’s what I’ll do?”

The maids surrounding her shuddered at her ominous words.

“H-Her ladyship is going to protest against the Imperial Family…?”

“Oh, what do we do…? Is our lady going to cause some incident?”

“Sir Karsein. Please, please come back…!”

The heart of a maiden, finally requited after a long and unreturned love, was now far too dangerous.

Couldn’t they see? She didn’t care who the opponent was; her eyes had completely flipped.

The maids clasped their hands and prayed.

Only Karsein could resolve this situation!

The only way to suppress Harnia’s rage and restore her to her former self was for Karsein to appear and calm her down!

“Hm? What are you all doing, huddled together like that?”

Just then, Mina spotted the gathered maids and asked.

“Mina! It’s a disaster!”

“The Lady. The Lady is…”

It didn’t take long to explain everything.

“Mmm. So that’s what happened.”

Having understood the situation, Mina more or less grasped Harnia’s state.

She was spending sweet time with her beloved man when an intruder barged in and stole that time away.

For that reason, Harnia was on the verge of exploding.

‘Mmm. Understandable.’

Harnia, who had been making waffles since she was in the Duchy, had put in her utmost care.

As if aiming for something, as if she had a plan.

That plan was to selfishly fill her desires for Carsein here in this hotel room, so of course she’d be furious to be disturbed.

Moreover, seeing how fierce her eyes have become… it’s possible that she was on the verge of something more important than just laughing and chatting.

“Sob sob. So please bring Young Master Carsein back quickly…”

“You know where the Young Master is, don’t you…”

“Our Young Lady is going to cause an accident at this rate!”

The maids clung to Mina one after another.

Mina, however, smiled as if it was nothing of consequence.

“Accident, what accident? Nothing like that will happen.”

“M, Mina! Where are you going!”

“You’ll die if you touch the Young Lady right now…!”

“Goodness. What a fuss. I said it’s fine.”

As if having lost all fear, Mina walked into Harnia’s room.

The maids trembled, praying that Mina wouldn’t incur the wrath of their enraged Young Lady.

‘Wow. Seeing it up close, it’s more than I imagined.’

She had served her for a long time, but this was the first time she had ever seen her make such an expression.

Looking at Harnia’s face, which she had never seen before, Mina could tell just how on edge her mistress was.

Mina calmly cleared her throat.

“I just heard. Young Lady. That something came up for Young Master Carsein and he had to go down to the territory?”

“…”

Those words, as good as throwing wood into a fire, put Harnia’s nerves on edge once more.

“Hey, hey, don’t be so angry. There are good things about having time, too.”

Harnia exuded an unspoken pressure as if asking what could be good about it, but Mina parried it with ease.

“Looks like you don’t need that much time anyway. Then I’ll ask. Is everything prepared? There’s only one thing left, right?”

“…What in the world are you saying?”

“See? I knew it. Not prepared at all. And after all that, you’re the one getting angry? You should be thankful for the extra time.”

Mina groaned, shaking her head. Harnia still looked utterly clueless.

So Mina drove the point home.

“Honestly. Milady. What else could it be, if it’s the only thing left? You have land to live on with the Duke now, and you’ve received your Grand Duchess title. There’s only one thing left! The wedding!”

“Ah…?”

Hearing those words, Harnia snapped back to reality.

“Have you thought about where you want the wedding to be held?”

“N-no…”

“Then what about the makeup style you want for the wedding?”

“That…that either…”

“Good heavens. Then what about earrings and bracelets? Did you consider the height of your slippers and shoes? How will you coordinate the frills with the color and material of the carpet?”

“Th-that’s…”

“What is it! You haven’t prepared anything at all. You probably don’t even have a dress ready for the wedding day, do you? Do you?”

“…”

Harnia’s lips pressed together tighter and tighter, as if they were shrinking.

Now that the focus had shifted to the wedding, she couldn’t offer a single response.

The tables had turned.

Now, Mina was the one delivering the scolding.

“And then you say your time was stolen? That day is the day any woman should want to look the most beautiful to her man in the entire world! Even the undergarments worn beneath the dress require meticulous consideration! That’s! The! Wedding! Dayyyy!”

“S-stop! I get it, I get it…!”

The mention of undergarments seemed to press a button, and Harnia clapped a hand over Mina’s mouth.

Amid the torrent of nagging, the fiery passion that had consumed Harnia had transformed into the innocent excitement of a bride-to-be.

“Wedding…wedding…right. Preparation…must be done.”

“Milady. If you want to look your best for the Duke at the wedding, you’ll have to start preparing now, you know?”

“Ah, I know! First…”

Realizing there was no time to dawdle, Harnia began to draft a plan for the most important event of her life, her cheeks flushed a delicate pink.

*

She had thought she would be back quickly.

After all, it was estate business, something she had experience with. She thought it would be resolved in a snap.

I thought, just finish this up and I can go back to living a normal day with Harnie.

But… I was clearly too naive.

“…”

Looking at the mountain of documents piled high, only a sigh escaped me.

The paperwork I thought I could handle in half a day remained unfinished even after half a day had passed.

It was even steadily increasing, showing no sign of disappearing!

That turned into more than a day, then two, then three!

…Right. I couldn’t go back in the first place.

Even if I wanted a normal day, I was already too late.

A fiefdom was born, and I became a lord.

And this time, it’s not just about being the owner of land.

Duke Wederos.

This impossibly heavy title was grinding away at my time endlessly.

“…I promised Harnie I’d be back within three days and spend the whole day with her.”

Spend the whole day, my foot.

I’d be lucky to get back on time.

I was already dreading what I was going to say when I got back.

“But… even putting that aside, there’s one strange thing.”

Yes. This is definitely strange.

“Why is there so much work, anyway? This is far too much.”

I’m aware that it’s a different beast than just receiving reports for two fiefdoms.

But, even taking the sheer size into account, I can’t shake the feeling that it’s excessive.

I paused my work and started looking through the sorted documents one by one.

“Huh. The entire western tribes, Shatren and Russmeier as well. Even the Waglu area? What’s going on?”

The westerners may not have fully integrated into the Empire, but their perspective has changed significantly since the past, so there shouldn’t be that many elements causing conflict. A few complementary systems, and a couple seats made available for cultural exchange, would be enough to resolve things.

Yet, the constant conflict, even with some adjustments, just didn’t make sense.

The same goes for the other places.

Shatren and Russmeier aren’t particularly demanding fiefdoms, either. After all, I did a lot back then.

And the Waglu area isn’t a fiefdom that requires constant frantic activity. Since the faction there collapsed, they need a central figure, so their dependence on the new lord should be even greater.

“…And yet, there’s so much to take care of?”

A bit… unsettling.

Like the work was being deliberately conjured up, poured out with purpose, almost to the point of suspicion.

Just as that unsettling feeling settled in, someone cautiously opened the door and stepped inside.

“Hey, you really busy?”

“Harnie?”

It was the very person I wanted to see most right then.

I rushed to greet her, but a wave of guilt washed over me.

“Uh… well, see… I wanted to get back on time, but it seems like the work just keeps piling up…”

“It’s okay! More importantly…”

-Thump.

“I thought this might help, so I organized some things…”

How about we work on the rest together? She suggested.

“No way. This is my job.”

How could I pass my work onto my girlfriend? I couldn’t allow it.

Then Harnie snatched the documents right out of my hands.

“How can you do all this alone? I’ll help.”

“No, you really don’t have to…”

*Whisk!*

This time, she whisked away what I was trying to take back.

“Are you going to keep doing that? Making me feel bad.”

“…Making you feel bad, you say?”

“Huh? Ah… Yes! I feel bad! Yeah. So… well, I can do these things too, and if I’m just watching from afar and letting you work alone, isn’t that kind of bad? Not to mention it’s been on my mind lately, and I feel uncomfortable being the only one at leisure…”

“…”

Harnie rattled off a rapid-fire explanation. Was it really such a cause for guilt…?

As I scratched my cheek, Harnie blushed slightly and exclaimed,

“Ah, anyway! Uh… Leave a little something for your girlfriend to do, okay?”

…So it goes.

Alright, I get that she wants to help.

But, what is it? This feeling.

Something about Harnie seems different from usual. This is the reaction of someone hiding something…

‘Come to think of it…’

These documents. To say I’ve organized them because they might be helpful… this feels a bit too prepared, doesn’t it?

Could it be…

Surely not?

*

With Carsein heading down to the territory and having things to do, somehow time was being made, but who knew for how long.

And yet, to complete the wedding preparations within that time?

There was no way that would work.

A wedding, a once-in-a-lifetime event, had mountains of things to prepare, and there was no way it could be resolved in just a day or two.

No matter how I thought about it, it was a tight squeeze.

He was such a capable man, though. He overturned all existing formulas and upended common sense, approaching things from a completely different angle, so it wouldn’t be surprising if an unpredictable result popped out.

Therefore… I had to buy time, somehow.

Even finding a suitable helper, I had to somehow keep Carsein tied up with work.

“Lady Harnie!”

“…!”

A signal was given from Claire.

Thankfully, it seemed the time earned was sufficient.