"It's not political. I simply… wish to see it with my own eyes."
Charlotte's eyes sparkled slightly.
"I wish to walk through reclaimed Londinium with you, my savior."
*
The palace's discreet rear gate.
Instead of an ostentatious ceremonial motorcade, we headed out accompanied by only the bare minimum of Intelligence Bureau agents led by Sydney.
Queen Charlotte wore a plain, thick coat over her ornate uniform, and a wide-brimmed hat that slightly obscured her face. The dignity of a monarch itself could not be hidden, but from a distance, she looked like nothing more than an elegant noblewoman.
"You went out first, Director."
As we stepped outside, Sydney approached, having been keeping watch over the surroundings.
But beside her sat an unexpected creature, planted firmly in place.
Grrr! Woof!
A large military dog with dark fur and a fierce appearance.
It was the ferocious fellow that the enemies had abandoned when we swept through the Weymouth city area.
The creature tried to approach me, wagging its tail so hard it seemed about to fall off the moment it saw my face. But due to the taut, worn leash, it could only whine and pace in place.
"Oho."
I smirked, looking back and forth between Sydney and that old leash.
"He's put on quite a bit of weight. Is he earning his keep?"
"Yes. His tracking abilities are exceptional, more than I expected. Even before we breached the southern defensive line, he found the enemy's trail twice."
Sydney reached out to pet the military dog's head, as if to show off.
However.
—Grrr.
The dog growled lowly as Sydney's hand tried to touch him.
"……."
Sydney's expression turned bewildered.
"Have you given him a name?"
"Yes. We are calling him 'Buster.'"
Watching Sydney fix her grip on Buster's worn leash, I let out a light laugh.
"You handle Intelligence Bureau agents well, yet you seem to have absolutely no talent for taming a single dog, Director."
"People and beasts are different, Colonel… no, Brigadier. Military dog training was never my area of expertise to begin with."
It was as Sydney replied.
"Did you say Buster? What a gallant child."
Queen Charlotte, standing behind, approached with an interested air.
"Your Majesty, please be careful! He might bite…!"
Sydney panicked, but Charlotte stopped her with an elegant gesture. Then, without a moment's hesitation, she lowered herself to Buster's eye level.
Grrr….
The moment Buster bared his teeth in wariness. Charlotte, without hesitation, stretched out her hand and stroked down from the bridge of his nose to the scruff of his neck.
"Good boy. What a good boy."
Weee—.
A miraculous sight unfolded. Buster, who had bared his teeth so fiercely at Sydney, was now lying on the floor with his belly exposed, spinning his tail like a propeller after just a few strokes from Charlotte's hand.
"Huh…?"
Sydney froze with a dumbfounded expression.
'So bloodline cannot be deceived, after all.'
Since ancient times, hunting has been the foremost hobby of royalty. Charlotte, too, had experiences of traversing her estates with fierce hunting hounds deeply ingrained in her bones.
"Sydney. One must not hesitate when handling beasts. You must imprint upon them the fact that you are their absolute sovereign, firmly yet gently."
Charlotte chuckled, scratching beneath Buster's ears. Sydney could not muster a response and was left speechless.
"Now, shall we go?"
Charlotte rose from her spot. We stepped out onto the street beyond the rear gate.
Myself, Queen Charlotte, Sydney, and the military dog Buster.
The four of us walking through Londinium's night streets made for quite a peculiar group.
Step, step.
"……."
Charlotte silently took in the street.
A bank building with its outer wall collapsed from shelling. A clock tower pockmarked with bullet holes like a beehive. The streets still bore deep scars of war.
But the very air was different from Elancia or Soissons, which had been painted entirely in ash-gray.
Even at this late hour, citizens carried torches and gas lamps, hauling broken bricks and boarding up shattered windows with planks. In the eyes of Londinium's citizens, despair had been replaced by vitality.
"Thank goodness. Londinium's heart still beats on."
Charlotte's voice grew tender.
"Your Majesty. Their tenacious vitality is the true strength of the United Kingdom."
Sydney chimed in with an emotional voice. The two women were steeped in an atmosphere of patriotism and moving sentiment, but…
'Status analysis.'
The scenery of this street reflected in my eyes was interpreted somewhat differently.
[Target: Bank building]
[Status: Multiple shelling damages, reconstruction required]
[Target: Road]
[Status: Infrastructure recovery required]
A calculator began to turn automatically in my head.
'Every single brick stacked means money poured into my company.'
Ten-year exclusive rights to Londinium's restoration business.
The sweat drops shed by those citizens and the United Kingdom government's reconstruction budget would be converted entirely into solid gold in my shell accounts.
They can have the patriotism; I'll take the substance. What a perfect win-win.
As we walked, a small shop with its lights on at the mouth of an alley caught my eye.
It was an old leather workshop from which came the sound of a crude hammer.
"Let's stop by for a moment."
I took the lead and opened the workshop door. With a jingle of a bell, the smell of burning leather wafted out.
"Welco… h-urk!"
The old craftsman repairing saddles late at night jumped back in fright upon seeing a group in expensive coats and a terrifying military dog.
"Please rest assured. We have merely come to look at some goods."
I calmed the startled owner and looked around the shop. Displayed on the shelves were crude-looking but sturdy leather goods.
My gaze naturally turned to the leash Sydney was holding for Buster.
She had apparently had no chance to change it, and he was still using the one the enemies had used. Grease stains remained here and there, and the metal decorations were rusted and a mess.
Buster was a symbol of the victory at Weymouth, yet he looked terribly shabby.
I picked up the sturdiest-looking, highest-quality large dog collar from the display shelf.
"Shopkeeper. I'll take this collar."
I pulled a single silver coin from my pocket and placed it with a clink on the workbench. It was quite a large sum, worth more than one hundred thousand won.
"A-A silver coin? Oh my, ten copper would be enough for this item… but the change…"
"Keep the change. Times must be hard; put it to good use."
The craftsman repeatedly bowed in gratitude. I turned to leave holding the collar, then paused and looked back at him.
"Ah. Come to think of it, I shall need one more."
"Y-Yes, yes! I'll give you the same one!"
I took two of the same top-grade leather collars and left the workshop.
Sydney and Charlotte, who had been waiting in the night air, looked at me with puzzled eyes.
"Here, Director. Remove that dirty Red collar from Buster and put on this new one."
When I handed over a new collar, Sydney nodded and unfastened the old one. Once the new leather collar was fitted, Buster barked loudly, seeming pleased, and wagged his tail.
"Thank you, Brigadier. However…"
Sydney's gaze turned to the remaining collar in my left hand.
"Why did you buy two?"
It was a natural question.
"Do you have another military dog left with the brigade? I have never heard that you personally keep a dog, Brigadier."
Sydney asked, tilting her head. Queen Charlotte beside her also looked at me with interest.
"How unexpected. I did not know Lord Max had such a disposition to cherish animals."
Under the two women's gazes, I lightly wrapped the end of the remaining leather collar around my finger. The leather made a stiff, creaking friction sound as it tightened.
I smirked, staring straight into Sydney's lavender-colored eyes.
"Ah, I do keep one. There is a dog I have been raising for several months now."
"Is that so? What breed…"
"Extremely fierce, stubborn, and prideful."
I took a step closer and rattled the silver ornament on the collar in my hand.
"There was a time it frequently bared its teeth and barked, trying to bite its master. Lately, it has become somewhat docile, wags its tail fairly well, and fetches objects on command."
"……."
As I expounded on my personal experience, the two women listened quietly.
"But it still seems to have many shortcomings, so I intend to properly train it this time."
"……I see."
"You seem to handle dogs quite well."
The two women simply smiled lightly.
"I would like to introduce her to Your Majesty sometime, if the opportunity arises."
"Yes, by all means, show me whenever the opportunity arises."
I stowed the collar and wrapped up the short night stroll.
"It is late. Your Majesty must be tired as well, so please return to the residence. I shall take my leave first."
I bowed politely. After confirming Charlotte nodded gracefully, I turned away without lingering.
*
After Max's back completely disappeared into the darkness.
Charlotte and Sydney began walking quietly toward the palace with Buster.
Though Londinium's night air was cold, the two women's expressions were brighter and more relaxed than ever.
"He is truly a peculiar man, is he not?"
Charlotte opened her mouth with a gentle smile.
"I had thought him merely a cold-blooded soldier. I did not know he had such a tender side, cherishing beasts so much as to buy collars with his own hands."
"……Yes, Your Majesty."
Sydney nodded, struggling to manage her expression.
'A tender side, she says.'
The memory of Max's meaningful gaze from moments ago surfaced in her mind.
'Fierce, stubborn, and prideful. Lately, it has become somewhat docile, wags its tail, and I intend to train it.'
The tips of Sydney's ears burned red.
'Don't tell me he was talking about me….'
No, if it were Max Yeager, he was a man who would be more than capable of such a thing.
But strangely, she was not displeased. Her past self would have trembled with humiliation, but now, she felt a peculiar tickling sensation in her stomach instead.
"Sydney."
Sydney snapped back to her senses at Charlotte's call.
"Going forward, your relationship with Lord Max will become even more important. He is a powerholder of the Empire and the benefactor of our Kingdom. We must tie him firmly to our side."
"I am well aware, Your Majesty. Even at the Intelligence Bureau level, we are already contemplating how to cooperate with him and solidify our partnership after the war."
"That is a good approach. He has already proven himself a man who thoroughly keeps his promises… There is no more reliable ally for our future."
Deep trust suffused Charlotte's voice. Sydney strongly agreed inwardly.
The miracle Max Yeager had bestowed is what allowed this peaceful moment. The two of them felt this more keenly than anyone.
As they walked, enjoying such pleasant conversation—
In one corner of the shopping district slowly regaining its vitality, a boutique with its candles lit late at night caught Sydney's eye.
"……."
Sydney's footsteps halted abruptly.
Though one window had been broken during the war and boarded up, inside the intact side of the display window stood fully dressed mannequins.
They were likely high-class uniforms supplied to the noble estates of Londinium before the war.
In other words—
A voluminous black skirt with rich folds.
A pure white lace-trimmed apron.
Even a frilled headdress to wear on the head.
It was.
In the hotel at Badenburg, inside the train heading to the front lines, and in Elancia under the newly occupied provisional government.
It was a maid uniform, exactly like the one she had worn.