Episode 89
A wedding here, at this late hour? All while prattling on about some ridiculous family tradition.
But despite Isaac’s scorn, the count seemed, just as Sasha had said, quite sincere. Since the time left was absurdly short, Isaac had expected they would simply invite a few family members and hold a modest ceremony. Contrary to that, the count was preparing a wedding that was, in its own way, properly furnished.
And despite having said at first that he had wanted to see Sasha, not Isaac, the count had not sought Sasha out separately afterward. As though seeing the two of them together on the first day they arrived had been enough.
‘Pretending to be a generous father now? Don’t make me laugh.’
Isaac snorted inwardly as he thought that.
The bedrooms prepared for Isaac and Sasha were placed side by side in the center of the second floor of the mansion. They were rooms where honored guests had stayed whenever they visited the count’s estate. It was clearly an arrangement made in consideration of the fact that the two had not yet, in a manner of speaking, held the ceremony, but Isaac found it strangely embarrassing.
In any case, perhaps out of consideration for the fact that it was their first day after arriving, the count left the two of them alone to rest comfortably and wander around the mansion as they pleased.
The true hell—by Isaac’s standards, of course—began the next day.
“Goodness, this is a first for me. How are you supposed to hold a wedding within a week? Of course, the even more preposterous part is making someone waltz within a week.”
After breakfast, as soon as Isaac followed the butler’s guidance down to the hall on the first floor, the person who greeted him was a middle-aged woman he had never seen before. The moment the woman saw Isaac, she looked him up and down with a lukewarm expression and said that, then glanced at the pianist as if seeking agreement.
The pianist was busy sitting at the piano, setting up sheet music and the like. At the all-too-obvious situation, Isaac rolled his eyes. They had said the ceremony would be simple, but who could have known they would even hire an instructor for the couple’s first dance at the wedding?
“I’m sorry I’m late.”
At the sound of a welcome voice, Isaac reflexively turned his head in that direction. Sasha was entering the hall, trailed by three maids behind her like ornaments on a string.
The middle-aged woman’s face brightened the moment she saw Sasha, as though someone she could actually communicate with had finally arrived. Isaac could only stand there blankly and watch as the two women politely introduced themselves and engaged in what could be called an actual conversation.
“Practicing steps from the morning takes me back.”
Sasha muttered with a composed face and approached him, holding out her hand. When Isaac only stared at her vacantly, she took his hand herself without much reaction, as if she had expected as much, and placed it around the upper part of her waist.
“Mrs. Sheffield says she first needs to see what sort of ‘condition’ the captain is in.”
“……Dancing, now? It’s absurd.”
“They want to make things proper. And I was already planning to call an instructor in the capital anyway. You can just think of it as learning in advance here.”
“……You mean I’ll have to dance there too?”
Isaac asked sullenly, unable to hide his dismay, and Sasha only blinked as if to say, Of course.
From a distance, where she stood beside the piano, Mrs. Sheffield muttered, “Their height difference is fantastic.”
Isaac pretended not to hear and continued asking Sasha.
“Where did you go? Did that man make you uncomfortable again, by any chance?”
“Not at all. I just spoke for a bit with the woman who’s apparently the head maid. She asked me to choose the colors for the curtains and tablecloths.”
At Mrs. Sheffield’s correction of, “Stand a little closer,” Sasha answered while stepping toward him without hesitation.
When Isaac reflexively tried to step back, Sasha held his hand firmly. Then she whispered quietly so only he could hear.
“It’s all right.”
It was not all right at all.
They were too close, and more than anything, he was despairing over the certainty that he would soon show her a thoroughly pathetic side of himself.
As if she knew nothing of what was going on inside him, Sasha spoke kindly. She said she would lead on her own, so he only needed to follow along as best he could.
Her pale, long eyelashes fluttered right in front of him. When she looked up at him as if waiting for an answer, her green eyes, lighter than usual in the sunlight, fixed directly on his face.
In a voice barely above a crawl, Isaac managed to answer, “……Yes.”
It was truly not all right at all.
“Lift the tips of your feet…… One, two, three. One, two, three. ……Captain. Look into your lady’s eyes. Don’t look at the floor.”
The first few beats were awkward. Isaac leaned too far toward Sasha, as though unable to control his own weight, and as a result, their directions went out of alignment and they nearly fell. Each time, Sasha explained in a calm, gentle voice without showing much of a reaction and told him the proper movements.
He struggled only for the first thirty minutes or so; soon, Isaac picked up the movements quickly. The steps themselves were not actually much of a problem. It was simply this excessively intimate distance that had broken him. Unaware of his inner state, Sasha praised him, saying that perhaps it was because he was a soldier, but he learned movements quickly.
Of course, Mrs. Sheffield thought differently.
“There isn’t even a speck of mood. What are we to do when no dance teacher could fix that? His entire body is announcing, ‘I am a soldier.’”
At Mrs. Sheffield’s harsh criticism, Isaac clenched his teeth so hard one side of his jaw bulged. He had to suppress the urge to throw everything aside according to his usual temper. He could not show such an unsightly display in front of Sasha, of all people.
Because he was more tense than usual, sweat began to seep from his palm. Isaac was terribly conscious of the hand he had supporting one side of her waist. What if she noticed? Anxious at the thought, he glanced at her as if trying to read her expression.
“Fine. What comes after dancing? They’ll put me in some ridiculous tuxedo and make a laughingstock out of me. I wouldn’t be surprised if they told me to learn a magic show within the week.”
With his nerves on edge, Isaac muttered gloomily without realizing it. Naturally, this monologue reached Sasha’s ears as well.
Listening to his grumbling, Sasha raised her eyebrows as though she found it a little amusing.
“Don’t be so regretful about it. Once you receive the countship, Captain, you’ll be mingling with refined people from now on whether you like it or not. You’ll be invited not only to simple dinner gatherings, but often to balls as well. Dancing is merely one of the useful social skills for those occasions.”
“…….”
“Try moving ahead of time in the direction I gently push you. So that, from the outside, it looks as if you’re the one leading.”
Even after hearing her advice-laced comfort, Isaac’s gloomy expression did not easily ease, but soon he responded at once to the subtle signals Sasha sent him.
When Sasha tilted her body slightly to the right, he moved that way after her; when pressure gathered in their clasped hands and she seemed to turn a little to the left, he quickly followed.
Mrs. Sheffield’s sighing grumbles grew a little less frequent.
“Good. The movements are much cleaner for both of you. Much more than before.”
Isaac let Mrs. Sheffield’s praise pass by and was busy looking at Sasha, who was right before him. Then, when Sasha smiled up at him at Mrs. Sheffield’s praise as if to say, See? he abruptly turned his head away as though he had never been looking and stared hard at the wall beside them.
Soon, he whispered softly so only Sasha could hear.
“Later, could you spare me…… a little time?”
“Of course. I suspect people will bother us again as soon as dance practice is over, but I should be able to make the smallest opening.”
＊＊＊
It was only around four in the afternoon that the carriage carrying Caroline arrived at the count’s estate. As it had been a sudden request to visit, just as it had been for Sasha and Isaac, Caroline could not hide her disgruntled expression as she stepped down from the carriage.
“You know perfectly well I don’t come here at this time of year.”
“Because it’s hotter here in summer than elsewhere.”
“……You know that is not the only reason.”
Caroline sighed as she took the hand of the count, who had come out to greet her with an unruffled face. The count glanced once in the direction of the mausoleum, following Caroline’s gaze, then naturally escorted her into the mansion.
It was indeed the time of day when the sunlight was at its sharpest and hottest, so the air itself was sweltering. Caroline took a handkerchief from her bosom and wiped away the beads of sweat gathered on her forehead.
“More importantly, what is this about a sudden wedding?”
The count answered as he led his mother to the coolest room on the second floor of the mansion.
“You know, don’t you? Apart from the ceremony in the capital, here as well…….”
“Of course. I only mean the order is unexpected. I thought they would hold the ceremony over there with the ducal family’s people, then hold another one here at a leisurely pace.”
“…….”
“Why? Were you worried that once your son held the ceremony there, he would think all was settled and never come here at all?”
The count did not respond to Caroline’s pointed words.
“To be honest, I was worried since she was a daughter of that house, of all houses, but once I actually met her, the two seemed to rely on each other quite a bit.”
At the count’s sly change of subject, Caroline snorted and raised her eyebrows.
“Well. The last time I saw them, it seemed more like my grandson was the one floundering.”
“That’s different from what you told me in your letter. Back then, you said Miss Grayson was the one being proactive toward him.”
“Well. You’ve seen them now too, haven’t you. ……Though I suppose young people these days may court in that sort of way.”
The count silently looked at Caroline’s profile as she let the matter trail off ambiguously instead of giving a clear explanation. Whether he did or not, Caroline stood in front of the room and looked at the count as if to say, Open it.
It was a moderately sized room. When the large window was opened, the well-tended garden in the back came into full view. Caroline immediately leaned toward the window, cooling the remaining sweat with the bit of breeze that came in.
Then she swept an indifferent gaze below, and soon, as though she had discovered something, she called the count. The count, who had been pushing the curtains aside after opening the window, followed her gesture and looked down.
Anyone could see that the man with that build was Isaac Pinscher, the count’s second son. And the small woman seated in front of him was Sasha Grayson, the fiancée he had brought with him.
“Those two are—”
“Be quiet. I can’t hear what they’re saying.”
At the sight of the very person who had taught him as a child that eavesdropping was improper leaning far out the window, the count silently closed his mouth with a strange look on his face.
Isaac had one hand in the inner pocket of his jacket and had been fidgeting awkwardly for quite some time. Yes. He was clumsy. And the face above that large body was slightly red, as if terribly embarrassed.
He looked shy.
As if Caroline’s impudent wish had been granted, the gardener who had been trimming a tree nearby climbed down from his ladder and disappeared, and when the maid who had set down a teapot and cups nearby left the room, the room quickly grew quiet. Their conversation below could faintly be heard.
“……It’s nothing much. It’s just that what we talked about last time has been on my mind…… I hope you’ll accept it without feeling burdened.”
Isaac’s deep voice came through in fragments. Sasha’s voice, seated opposite him, could not be heard well.
“It seems he’s going to give her a ring.”
As Caroline murmured, the count unwittingly moved closer to the window and watched them.
Soon, Isaac took something from the inner pocket of his jacket with a solemn expression and handed it to Sasha.
“……It’s a gun.”
He said it was a gun.
“……I considered a self-defense pistol as well. It may be convenient to carry, but it’s close to disposable and can only really be used for intimidation. ……Its range is short too. This has a much longer range and can fire repeatedly.”
Caroline fell silent, and the count had already stepped away from the window and was drinking tea as if he had never eavesdropped at all.
“……That’s right. In a situation like last time, you could easily blow off a head or so. Of course, such a situation must not happen. So…….”
Isaac continued to add hurried explanations, stammering. Then came the sound of Sasha murmuring something, followed by the sound of the two laughing together.
“In a certain sense, they are very well suited.”
As if that was enough, the count said so and closed the window.