One week after the other two husbands learned of Earei's disappearance, Syureuseu said this before the Queen:
“General Earei is said to be shut in his room, refusing to come out. The servants have said they occasionally hear sounds of weeping from within.”
“…….”
“Your Majesty, before this incident occurred, the control that Mabin and this humble subject exercised was too severe….”
“Control?”
The Queen's eyebrows twitched.
“Is that so? My two husbands have been controlling me?”
“That is not what I mean. For the stability of the succession… I meant that we were too focused on various restricted aspects of life related to that.”
Syureuseu made an excuse that did not even hold up to his own words.
Mabin, who had kept his mouth shut as asked, inwardly sneered at him.
“What of the letter?”
“Pardon?”
“I speak of his letter.”
“I understand that his heart has been deeply wounded by this incident, and that he covers himself with his blanket, weeping in silence.”
At that, Mabin snorted from beside him.
“Hmph! For a man to be so feeble.”
“That feeble man repelled the barbarians and the alliance, and drove away detestable kin to make me Queen. If you have the confidence to cross swords with my husband on the battlefield and survive, I shall overlook your remark.”
Immediately after, the Queen covered her lips and feigned surprise.
“Ah! You are the treasure of Dereubek, so you have never been to the battlefield. I misspoke. How could one confront the form of a ghost they have never seen? Let it be as though it never happened.”
“I—Your Majesty….”
Mabin could not hide his displeasure at the Queen's blatant insult.
But before Mabin could argue, the Queen's expression darkened.
“Then you have insulted him as feeble without knowing him on the battlefield? This is the same as insulting me for having a feeble husband.”
“Your Majesty! Mabin merely thought the General's actions to be disloyal for causing you worry, so please be merciful.”
Syureuseu, sensing the Queen's great displeasure, stepped forward to ask for forgiveness on Mabin's behalf.
“Disloyal? If you speak of disloyalty, were you yourselves not disloyal from the very first night, restricting my freedom?”
“Please show mercy!”
Syureuseu bowed at the waist and begged for forgiveness.
Though displeased, Mabin also bowed.
“Please show mercy.”
“Mercy or whatnot, I merely asked if there is a letter from him.”
Both Syureuseu and Mabin gauged the Queen's mood.
“…It seems the General's wounds are especially deep this time. How about sending gifts to console him, as before?”
“I already sent gifts nearly every day until then. And yet there was not a single letter. You would have me resume a useless endeavor?”
“Your treatment of him has become even worse than before, so his sorrow must be greater. If you grant me the opportunity, I shall meet the General myself, convey Your Majesty's intentions, and bring back a sincere letter.”
The Queen refused Syureuseu's proposal with a twisted smile.
“Nonsense. If I sent the likes of you, who knows what slander you might speak to my husband?”
“Your Majesty!”
“Dare you presume to pressure me!”
When the Queen stomped her foot on the floor, guards and knights poured into the room in a rush.
“Your Majesty! This is an insult to a husband!”
“Is that so? Then if I couple with all the men here, they will all become my husbands, so if I make it a quarrel between husbands, there is no problem, is there?”
“How can you say such…!”
Even Mabin, who was protesting, flinched at the Queen's venomous retort.
But Syureuseu instead pressed his advantage here.
“It is precisely such remarks that have caused General Earei to close his heart.”
“What?! How dare you…!”
“Your Majesty, this humble subject does not know, but can you be certain that in your conversations with the General, you have never spoken such cruel words?”
“…!”
Seorin had lived with much pent-up resentment, and in her anger she had uttered dangerous words capable of ruining relationships.
At her words just now, even the knights and guards were bewildered, their eyes wavering.
Earei had endured this verbal abuse while assisting her right up until her ascension, and Seorin too had been moved by this, belatedly opening her heart and falling deeply.
Syureuseu drove this point home at the opportune moment.
“Though this humble subject has no right to say this, someone must intervene, so I speak. Your Majesty, you must restrain yourself. The General is fighting a solitary battle, enduring alone.”
They were truly words that should not have left Syureuseu's mouth, but the situation was urgent.
These words also served as an opportunity for the Queen to once again recognize Earei's plight.
In the meantime, Mabin signaled with his eyes and dismissed the knights and soldiers.
“…I shall send gifts and provisions again. But I cannot allow you to meet my husband directly.”
Both Syureuseu and Mabin inwardly let out sighs of relief.
At least they had avoided the Queen's direct visit.
Since she said she would send gifts again, the discontent of the servants at Earei's mansion would also subside.
“However, you must obtain my husband's letter before the debut ceremony of the social ball.”
One letter. If only she could receive just that one letter, she would have no further desires.
Earei would have been happy if he had known of Seorin's earnestness.
Because he would have known that he was not the only one waiting so anxiously.
But still, blocked by countless obstruction schemes, they could not even see each other's silhouettes, and because she had not yet searched actively, Seorin still did not know the fact that he had been forcibly transformed into a woman and kidnapped.
“Your Majesty, this is impudent, but unlike Mabin, I was unable to receive your grace from the beginning.”
So when Syureuseu slyly angled for his own gain, the Queen could not refuse again, and that night, she embraced her third husband.
With the sensitive body of a woman, the Queen did feel pleasure, but the guilt growing uncontrollably in a corner of her heart was uncomfortable.
Already, though she had given Earei countless wounds, she felt that regarding this matter of succession, she had crossed a line even by her own reckoning.
“Hah! Hah! Hah! Hah!”
Thus time passed swiftly like a river, like an arrow—fast and unstoppable by anyone—and the debut ceremony of the social ball drew near.
In broad daylight, without even accompanying attendants or servants, Syureuseu was running on foot toward Earei's mansion.
“What has become of the letter! How is it that my husband—though I reached out first—there is no response!!!”
The reason was that the Queen's patience had reached its limit.
On top of that, a cardinal sent by the current Saintess and next Holy Seat—the brat—arrived from the church.
The Saintess asked this through the Cardinal:
“'At the debut ceremony of the social ball, I shall finally be able to see General Earei standing by Your Majesty's side. We have not been able to see our Holy Knight since Your Majesty's coronation and wedding; I dearly hope we may see him now. This is what Her Holiness the Saintess and next Holy Seat, Lady Jenau, has said. Your Majesty, you must give an answer to this humble shepherd. May the sheep and shepherds finally see the Holy Knight this time?'”
Not only the people but even the church had caught the scent.
Syureuseu and the Queen turned pale, but Mabin as usual grinned stupidly and prattled on.
After barely glossing over it and sending the Cardinal off, the Queen's fury turned toward Syureuseu.
As a result, Syureuseu was now running like this.
To personally find out the situation at Earei's mansion.
“Wow~ isn't this jade?”
“My word! The one who used to call turquoise and lapis lazuli just pretty-colored stones now has an eye for gems?”
As expected, the servants at the mansion were making a mess.
They had laid out the Queen's gifts that arrived today in the yard, evaluating them and dividing them among themselves.
While they were at it, Syureuseu approached gasping for breath, and the wary stable keeper recognized him and rushed out in shock to greet him.
“Your Grace, the State Duke! Have you come? You lot! Hurry and bring some water!”
“None…! None needed! Wh-where is General Earei…?”
The servants and maids made awkward expressions at Syureuseu, who refused even water and asked.
The stable keeper, unable to stand it anymore, organized his words as best he could and answered.
“Yes, well… we were just about to search for him.”
“What? Just about to? It's been nearly three months already, and you say just about to?”
Another servant replied impertinently to the dumbfounded Syureuseu.
“Oh, we wanted to search too. But Her Majesty's gifts keep arriving, and we have to sort those out, don't we?”
“And we have to make up for our losses from all this time too.”
A scrawny maid bluntly took up the impertinent servant's words.
At the maid's complaint, everyone nodded with faces that said, “That's true.”
Stunned senseless, Syureuseu unknowingly spat out a curse.
“Have these bastards gone mad….”
“Huh? Your Grace, the State Duke, why such harsh words all of a sudden?”
As the lower ones banded together to argue, Syureuseu could not hold back and shouted.
“You lowly bastards! Do you not know that Her Majesty, the church, and all the people of the realm are in an uproar asking why General Earei cannot be seen? Her Majesty has issued a furious decree asking why she has not received a single letter, and she is poised to come here herself at this very moment!!”
“Whaaat?!”
“There are limits to how much you should line your own pockets! These ones stole honey thinking the master was away, and now think the honey jar itself belongs to them! Do you not know that all the gifts bestowed until now belong to the General?! If Her Majesty comes and sees this mess, you and I are all dead!”
Syureuseu stomped his foot on the ground and shouted.
“What do you think will become of my neck, along with those who intercept gifts bestowed by Her Majesty and who have not even served a meal to this nation's First State Duke, neglecting him as you have!!”
Only then did the lower ones realize the situation was grave and began to panic, not knowing what to do.
“All of you! Calm down! Please calm….”
The stable keeper tried to stop them, struggling.
Syureuseu drew his sword unnoticed and approached.
“What was your name again?”
“Yes, Your Grace. My name is… k-khck!”
Before he could finish speaking, the sword was plunged into the stable keeper's neck.
Syureuseu kicked aside the stable keeper's corpse, which had fallen pouring blood over the gifts, wiped his sword, and sheathed it.
“Consider that one to have paid for all wrongs up until now.”
Syureuseu's voice was hoarse but clear.
“You men, find the General. You women, among the gathered letters, bring me those with the cleanest envelopes.”
Finally, Syureuseu pointed at the corpse and let out a sigh.
“If you do not, we will all end up like that before Her Majesty.”
The lower ones rushed out as if a fire had landed on their feet.