A few days after Zenjirou’s debut into high society was decided. Octavia returned to the Márguez Residence in the capital quite near the palace after a long time.

　　The building was built abundantly with white marble and a lot of arches, where even an amateur could tell on a glance that it was built in the same age as the palace.

　　The main residence was located extremely close to the palace and existed just as long as the palace. Of course it didn’t belong to any average n.o.ble.

　　It could be said that this very residence directly represented the standing of the Márguez Family within the kingdom.

　　“Please halt the carriage here. I wish to walk for a bit.”

　　Octavia had pa.s.sed through the residence’s gate in a two-horse carriage and called out to the attendants on the driver seats from within.

　　“Very well.”

　　The middle-aged driver, also her guard, replied curt with that, then quietly stopped the carriage in an accustomed manner.

　　“Please watch your steps, Octavia-sama.”

　　“Thank you. You be careful as well.”

　　Octavia got off the carriage by taking the hand of a young waiting maid.

　　Currently it was the hottest season of the year. Octavia unconsciously squinnied from the a.s.saulting sunlight, but the temperature inside the gate was five degree lower than outside.

　　Artificial ponds were situated all over the garden and the trees were planted so that a breeze would blow over the water surface towards the residence.

　　A resident of modern j.a.pan aside, the heat wasn’t unbearable for Octavia, who had been born and raised in the Carpa Kingdom.

　　She took it for granted that she was surrounded on all sides by guards with short spears and accompanied by a waiting maid while she quietly walked the short path from the gate to the main entrance of the residence.

　　The path was made out of red-brownish paving stone as to reflect the light, flanked on both sides by trees from the southern countries with brightly coloured blossoms. The big blossoms were yellow and red, giving the impressions of a hibiscus.

　　The Carpa Kingdom had a manifold of brilliant colours, not just limited to the nature.

　　The clothes Octavia was wearing right now, were of a brilliant and bright blue, too. This traditional wardrobe of the Carpa Kingdom had a quiet design, barely revealing any bodylines, but in modern j.a.pan this colour hue would surely be considered as “magnificent”. At least no married j.a.panese woman in her twenties like Octavia would wear these on a daily basis.

　　Before long, Octavia reached the front entrance of the residence and the large double door swung open inwards.

　　An elegant man in his forties stood beyond the door, which was pushed open by two muscular men.

　　“Welcome home, Octavia-sama.”

　　The aged butler greeted her with a calm voice as always, whereat the young wife of the Count replied with a smile.

　　“Good to be home, Serlio. My usual room?”

　　“Yes, and the master is awaiting you on the second floor.”

　　The faithful butler respectfully nodded to the mistress’ words.

　　“I see. Then please tell him that I will come as soon as I have changed.”

　　“Yes, very well.”

　　“Thanks.”

　　Octavia smiled softly as to thank him for his respectful bow, then disappeared into the residence with light steps and her waiting maid in tow.

　　Approximately half an hour later. Octavia met face-to-face with her husband, Count Manuel Márguez, in a room of the residence for the first time in half a month.

　　“Welcome back, Octavia.”

　　Count Márguez stood up from the couch, which showed traces of aging, spread his arms and greeted his second wife that was more than thirty years younger than him.

　　He was a middle-aged n.o.ble with a stout physique.

　　Probably in his fifties?

　　As he wasn’t one of the tallest, there would barely be any difference between him and Zenjirou, who was 1,72m tall, if they were to standd next to each other. His stomach had plumped out appropriate for his age, but since his short-cropped head hair and well-kept beard sustained a glossy black colour, he looked a few years younger than his actual age.

　　“It has been a while, Dear.”

　　Octavia showed her husband an austere smile and then accepted his embrace.

　　“…..”

　　“…..”

　　After the corpulent husband and the slender wife embraced each other for a while, they sat down opposite of each other on the seats in the corner of the room.

　　The sun coming in from the windows was as hot as ever, but water ditches were built under the windows, so the breeze coming into the room was surprisingly refres.h.i.+ng.

　　Count Márguez flushed the cold tea served by a waiting maid down his throat, then began to talk with a slightly serious face.

　　“You’ve done well, Octavia. Sorry to have pushed that sudden request onto you.”

　　“No, it is quite the honour for me to serve such a respectable person as a teacher.”

　　“Right. You’ve always been like that.”

　　Count Márguez couldn’t keep himself from making a wry smile to his wife’s response, which had not a single shred of ill intent as always.

　　Generally, women in higher society were quite proficient at obscuring their expressions and words, even in this world, but his young second wife was one of the few exceptions.

　　The Count would surely get a serious distrust of women if the entire conduct she was showing were to be an act.

　　“So, what’s Zenjirou-sama like? Let me hear your honest opinion.”

　　Lady Octavia frankly replied to the question of her husband with an eloquent tone.

　　“Yes, he seems to be a very likeable person with a strong desire to learn. I believe that he can be trusted.”

　　“Mhm, I see.”

　　Count Márguez kept nodding while listening to his wife speaking about the Prince Consort for a while.

　　Apart from evaluating them “too kindly“, her judgement of people could be trusted most of the time. When he exaggerated the bad points tenfold and deducted the good points to a tenth based on what she told him, then he could imagine the person’s character more or less.

　　So Count Márguez made his own interpretation of Octavia’s words, which portrayed the man called Zenjirou as “naively lenient to those under him” and “wise enough to understand his own position” with “no manly virtues such as ambition or aspiration”.

　　To be honest, not really the kind of convenient person for gaining a foothold into the royal family.

　　It was difficult to involve a conservative and rational person with no ambition, in a conspiracy.

　　That said, Zenjirou was actually the only male in the royal family. An existence far too precious to ignore just because it was difficult to meddle with him.

　　After musing for some time, Count Márguez frankly asked for the opinion of his wife.

　　“Octavia, what kind of woman would you choose if you had to a.s.sign a concubine to Zenjirou-sama?”

　　Octavia, too, was a born high-cla.s.s n.o.ble. However, the young Lady widened her eyes once in surprised as she wasn’t used to this kind of topic, then showed a bit of a wry smile and shook her head.

　　“I… would not a.s.sign anyone for a little while longer. While I only saw Her Highness and Zenjirou-sama together a handful of times, it does seem that the two of them are rather intimate from what I have heard from the waiting maids working in the inner palace or from Zenjirou-sama’s daily conduct itself.

　　Even if a concubine were to come up to the inner palace now, she most likely would feel out of place.”

　　Needless to say, an ordinary concubine had an overwhelming lower standing than the legal wife. And even much less in the current pairing of “Queen”, “Prince Consort” and “Concubine” instead of “King”, “Queen Consort” and “Concubine”.

　　The difference in social standings between the legal wife and a concubine was already large to begin with, but a “Concubine” would never be a match for a “Queen”.

　　Normally, a concubine was often of poorer birth and lower standing than the legal wife, so the affection of the King was the only point in which she could win against the legal wife.

　　And in regards to that affection, an a.s.signed concubine would only suffer a cruel fate if the relations.h.i.+p between Zenjirou and Queen Aura was really that insurmountable.

　　“Hmm, is that so…”

　　“Yes.”

　　Count Márguez tilted his head in contemplation as he still couldn’t a.s.sent with the frank words of his wife.

　　He was by no means stupid or obstinate, but as a man from the Carpa Kingdom, he only had a very stereotypical view on things.

　　In compliance with his values, he found it somewhat hard to imagine that there was a man, who could love that “Queen Aura” to such an extent.

　　The ideal woman for a man of the Carpa Kingdom was more or less a woman like his second wife sitting in front of him.

　　Namely a woman, who silently followed her man respectfully without speaking out of line. That was the criterion for a “good woman”.

　　“Wisdom” was desired, but not “intelligence”. “Hardworking” was considered as a virtue, but “a.s.sertiveness” as an immorality.

　　In Count Márguez’s eyes, the human called Aura Carpa was a “virago too good to be a woman” as a Ruler, but not very attractive as a single woman. Of course that impression acknowledged that Aura was a beauty with a glamorous body.

　　Count Márguez asked again as if to make sure.

　　“Are you saying that Zenjirou-sama loves Her Highness Aura with all of his heart?”

　　Lady Octavia’s opinion didn’t waver on her husband’s reconfirmation and she replied distinctly.

　　“Yes, without a doubt.

　　Seeing as he lacks ambition and the desire for power, I would go as far as to say that the only reason that he abandoned his own world to come here, was his love for Her Highness.”

　　To be precise, Zenjirou had two reasons to accept the marriage with Aura. One was his love for her, the other was his urge to quit the company that kind of exploited him. But only Zenjirou himself knew this.

　　Anyway, Count Márguez could only accept that he miscalculated a bit when Queen Aura’s type was to Zenjirou’s liking.

　　The Carpa Kingdom was a large country that ruled over the western part of the southern continent, but Aura was the only one of her kind. Or at least, the Count didn’t know of anyone else. Thus it was impossible for him to curry favour with Zenjirou through the most typical approach of sending a woman of his liking to the inner palace.

　　He became absorbed in thought with a serious face for a while.

　　“Hmm… In that case, it would be better to take the approach of supporting their relations.h.i.+p for now.”

　　The conclusion he finally reached was a rather defensive one.

　　The Márguez Family was already a distinguished family with plenty of influence in the current politics. It was a kind of instinct for high cla.s.s n.o.bles to make intrigues as to enlarge their sphere of influence or family prosperity, but his position wasn’t one, where he needed to make any risky bets.

　　If the relations.h.i.+p between the Queen and her husband was that good, it might be better for him to constantly gain the Queen’s favour by supporting their intimate relations.h.i.+p for the time being.

　　As a matter of fact, the birth of a child between the Queen and her husband took priority over spreading the royal blood by the means of concubines for the husband, from the viewpoint of an important figure supporting the kingdom.

　　“Yes, I believe that to be the best choice as well.”

　　Octavia smiled happily from the bottom of her heart and nodded to the deduction of her husband.

　　She knew, too, that marriages of n.o.bles/royalty prioritized the preservation of the bloodline or bonds between the families over the love of the involved parties.

　　But on an emotional level, she wanted a loving couple to build a happy family without any obstacles, even in light of such a reality.

　　Count Márguez could perfectly read his beloved wife’s thought from her bright smile, showed a bit of a wry smile and muttered.

　　“Still, I just don’t get Zenjirou-sama’s taste in women…”

　　That utterance could have been lese majesty if Aura had heard it, but that statement came from the bottom of his heart.