“Master! Are you sure the client really gave me this to wear? Is that person even sane?”
“Why?”
“What do you mean ‘why’? Just look at me!”
I inadvertently glanced at Lur before quickly turning my head away. I felt like I would burst into laughter if I kept looking.
” *Pffft*… It looks good on you, so what’s the problem?”
“Don’t lie! I can see your shoulders shaking!”
“No, I didn’t laugh.”
“If you really think it’s not weird, look me straight in the eye and say it.”
I pressed my lips together to prove my innocence and looked straight ahead.
A flamboyant shade of pink enveloped Lur.
A pink feathered hat, a pink dress, pink gloves, a pink necklace, and even pink shoes.
It was a concentration of pink that bordered on a lethal dose.
Even a feathered flamingo would be less pink than that.
” *Pffft*, really… it’s not weird at all?”
‘Don’t laugh. It’s not funny at all. Let’s just think of Lur as a princess doll displayed in a toy store. Then it’s not weird at all.’
“When else would you get to wear something like this? Enjoy it.”
“Would you be able to enjoy it if you were me? When the client arrives, I’m going to tell them clearly that I can’t carry out the request in these clothes! Only children would like such a bizarre outfit…!”
“Oh my, it suits you perfectly!”
At the sudden appearance of Marie’s voice, Lur froze where she stood. This was because Marie’s outfit was exactly the same as Lur’s.
‘No, is it a little different? Marie is wearing a bonnet instead of a feathered hat.’
That version had even more destructive power.
Unlike the feathered hat, which allowed glimpses of hair, the bonnet completely covered Marie’s blonde hair, exposing no color other than pink.
“Are you, by any chance, the client, Miss Marie Menzel?”
“Please, just call me Marie. And you must be the assistant, Miss Lur, right?”
Marie clapped her hands and smiled brightly.
“Oh my, Miss Lur. Pink really suits you! You look wonderful!”
“Uh… thank you, Miss Marie. But these clothes are—”
“Ah, those clothes? They’re my favorite! I specially ordered another set just for you, Miss Lur. It was a bit expensive, but it wasn’t a waste at all. They look so good on you!”
“I—I’m really grateful for that, but such clothes are too much for me—”
“Not at all! There’s no need to feel pressured! Miss Lur, you’ve agreed to play the role of my maid. You’re such a helpful person, so I can lend you as many clothes as you want. As many as you need!”
“That’s…”
Lur stammered before falling silent. She had been completely defeated.
‘She’s incredible today as well.’
Looking at Marie’s cheerful attitude, it was hard to believe she was a bride-to-be facing a forced marriage.
However, I couldn’t let my guard down.
‘Last time, she was just as bright before she suddenly broke down and showed signs of hyperventilation.’
“Are you feeling alright, Miss Marie?”
“Of course! Actually, I’m in an excessively good mood. As you know, I didn’t have a single friend other than Sister Elise. Everyone thinks of me as a weirdo, or even a crazy person.”
Lur flinched, perhaps feeling a sting of guilt.
“I was surrounded by people who mocked my hobbies, calling them childish things that only kids would like. But seeing Miss Lur wearing the same clothes as me without any prejudice makes me so happy!”
Another flinch. The pink ribbon tied to Lur’s shoulder shook noticeably.
“I feel like I’ve gained another close friend! Now I have as many as two close friends! And this isn’t even a play!”
Lur closed her eyes tightly.
“I’m so happy that I think I might even forget that today is the day I leave to become the bride of a serial killer.”
“…”
“Oh, by the way, weren’t you about to say something, Miss Lur?”
“…”
In that short time, the expression on Lur’s face changed dynamically. All sorts of inner turmoil seemed to pass over her face, until finally…
“…I just wanted to say thank you for lending me such beautiful clothes.”
She surrendered, raising the white flag—or rather, the pink flag.
“I’m a commoner, but if you don’t mind, Miss Marie, would you like to call me ‘Sister’?”
“Wow! I’d love to. What does being a commoner matter? Who cares about that sort of thing these days? Please, call me Marie, too! Sister Lur!”
Marie grabbed Lur’s hands and hopped up and down.
“It seems we have similar body types. Let’s wear matching clothes all the way to the North! I have so many pretty clothes loaded in the carriage, Sister!”
“…Sure, Marie. That sounds like fun.”
Lur’s eyes seemed to have lost a bit of their light, but anyway, wasn’t this a happy ending?
As I was nodding contentedly, Lur glared at me and seemed to be muttering something.
‘Hmm? What? I won’t die alone…?’
Before I could grasp the meaning of those words, Lur moved.
“By the way, Marie, since we’ve decided to be close, can I ask you something?”
“Of course. Anything!”
“I heard from Master that both he and I will be going down to the North disguised as your servants. To secretly investigate your husband-to-be.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“If I’m in the role of a maid, what is Master’s role? I asked several times at the detective agency, but he wouldn’t give me a straight answer.”
‘Wait, hang on. I really didn’t want to share that!’
I had desperately changed the subject whenever it came up, but was I that obvious?
She must be doing this because she’s certain I’ve taken on some awkward role!
And her guess was spot on! Damn it!
“Could you tell me, Marie? As a token of our friendship!”
“Of course! Detective Hays is—”
I tried to stop her in a hurry, but unfortunately, Marie was one step faster.
“He decided to take on the role of my knight!”
Lur, forgetting her intention to tease me, repeated the words blankly.
“…What? A knight? He doesn’t even have a title.”
“Yes! Mr. Hays is the cool guardian knight who protects me! Not a knight with a formal title, but like the knights from old fairy tales or plays!”
‘Oh, please.’
At Marie’s confident answer, I could only squeeze my eyes shut.
***
Technically, I had brought this on myself.
“The only people I can hire as I please are my maids. My parents handle the rest of the hiring, so I need a plausible excuse to hire you, Detective. Do you have any ideas?”
When Marie asked that question, I had replied without thinking.
“Well. You can think about it without any pressure. For me, as long as I can go down to the North with you regardless of my status, that’s enough.”
A manual laborer, a kitchen assistant, an errand boy—anything was fine.
‘I’m confident I can do an average job in any role, so it’s okay.’
“Is that so…”
However, what I had overlooked was that Marie was a severe theater addict.
Only a few hours after that.
“Father! Please hire this man as my guardian knight!”
I had no choice but to shut my eyes tight as I stood before Baron Menzel.
“This is the hero who saved me from thugs in the slums in the past. If you appoint him as my guardian knight, I think I’ll be able to find the courage to go to the North.”
‘…Is this even a plausible scenario? That a noble lady wandered into the slums alone, got into trouble with thugs, was chased, and then was rescued by some mysterious stranger?’
“Marie! If such a thing happened, you should have told me! When did you cause such an accident again?”
‘…I guess it is plausible.’
It was a reaction that suggested Marie’s past behavior. What Baron Menzel doubted was not Marie’s story, but me.
“You are too naive and don’t know the world well enough. Do you really believe that man saved you from thugs? No! That fellow was probably in league with them from the start! He planned it and approached you! Otherwise, how could he have driven off thugs with those slender arms?”
Of course, I didn’t particularly like Marie’s scenario… but Baron Menzel’s scenario was even more unpleasant. My arms are slender? From where?!
‘Fine. Since it’s come to this, I should cooperate with Marie’s plan.’
It was absolutely not because my pride was hurt by the Baron’s words.
I looked around for something useful. Just then, a steel fire poker lying in front of the fireplace caught my eye.
“As for how I drove those thugs away—”
I walked over, grasped both ends of the poker with my hands, and…
“I think I did something like this.”
I bent it with all my strength.
As the fire poker turned into a pair of tongs, the Baron’s jaw dropped.
“H—How…”
The Baron, thinking I might have used a trick, snatched the poker from my hands and tried to bend it back, but it was no use.
The fire poker remained exactly as it was, neither bending further nor straightening out.
“See! Isn’t he wonderful? He is perfectly suited to be my guardian knight!”
Marie shouted, not missing the opportunity.
Seeing that he couldn’t convince his daughter with force, Baron Menzel changed his strategy.
“I’ve told you time and again, Marie, reality is different from a play. Guardian knights are just stories in fairy tales. In this day and age, you’ll only be mocked if you carry someone like that around. Besides, if you call a fraud—no, a lowlife who doesn’t even have a knighthood—a knight, it could be considered the crime of impersonating nobility.”
‘Calling me a fraud or a lowlife…’
“I don’t know about that. But what’s written here is different.”
As if waiting for this, Marie opened a page of a thick book in front of the Baron.
“Read this marriage law, Father. It says that a bride-to-be appoints a guardian knight, a guardian, to escort her until she meets the groom and receives his escort. If it’s a position I appoint, there’s no need for status requirements, is there?”
“Good heavens. Child, this is a story from more than 100 years ago! In today’s world, a ‘guardian’ is just a term for a bride’s relative who escorts her to the groom at the wedding hall.”
“But it’s not like you’re going to accompany me all the way to the North, Father! I don’t have any other trustworthy relatives, so shouldn’t I be able to choose my guardian as I please? A reliable knight who can protect me.”
“No trustworthy relatives? I’ve already spoken to him. Bernard will be your guardian.”
“Uncle Bernard? That gambling addict? Are you serious, Father? Him protecting me? I’d be lucky if he didn’t use me as a shield and run away!”
“That’s why I said the guardian is just a formality. Your protection will be handled by the people the Grand Duke sent for you, not the guardian.”
“I’m saying I need someone to protect me from them!”
“Are you still unable to let go of that ridiculous delusion?”
The voices between the two grew louder.
Marie expressed her disappointment in her father for not believing her, and the Baron shouted at Marie to let go of her vain delusions and wake up.
Neither seemed to have any intention of changing their opinion. The argument escalated, and it was clear that their feelings were being hurt.
‘Should I stop them now?’
Just as I was contemplating.
The Baron finally spat out words he shouldn’t have said.
“What a huge opportunity this is! Thanks to Lady Elise and Lady Sarah, the opportunity finally came to you, and you’re going to just hand over this precious chance to someone else?”
‘Oof, that’s a bit…’
To say that a good opportunity had come to her thanks to the two people who died previously—was he serious?
Unsurprisingly, Marie was incensed.
“How—how could you say such a thing! You know how close I was with Sister Elise!”
“M—Marie… I didn’t mean it that way…”
The Baron, not intending to say something so harsh, was flustered and didn’t know what to do.
Eventually, cornered, the Baron gave up and threw up both hands.
“Fine. Fine. I’ll grant your request, so let’s stop talking about this. If you really want to make that young man your guardian, do as you wish.”
“Then, what about Uncle Bernard?”
“Take Bernard along as well! Regardless, you can’t enter the wedding hall with that riffraff! Until you reach the North, you can be escorted by that fraud—no, guardian—as you wish, but enter the hall with Bernard. There’s no rule saying there can only be one guardian, so it shouldn’t matter.”
“…Alright. In exchange, I’ll also pick my own maids to take with me.”
“Fine, fine.”
Having reached a dramatic compromise, the Baron dismissed them as if he had a headache.
***
“What. So you’re just a knight in name only, not a real knight.”
Lur exhaled a deep sigh as if disappointed.
“I was expecting Master to wear armor or something.”
“Hey, it’s not the Middle Ages. Why would I wear armor?”
Since Marie kept acting embarrassing by calling me “Knight,” I had kept it a secret because I thought Lur would tease me relentlessly if she found out. Since I wasn’t a real knight, there was no reason to wear such clothes—
“Of course! There’s no need for armor! Instead, I’ve prepared a wonderful knight’s uniform!”
—Right?
“…Hmm, that was a good joke.”
“I’m not joking.”
Marie giggled and pointed toward a corner of the reception room.
There was a suit placed there. A knight’s formal attire, entirely pure white from top to bottom, adorned with gold epaulettes and gold tassels…
“Th—There’s no need for me to wear something like this, is there?”
Marie tilted her head.
“But wasn’t your goal to disguise yourself in an outfit that wouldn’t arouse suspicion as much as possible? If you wear this, no one will suspect Detective Hays’s identity.”
‘That’s true. Because they’ll think I’m a clown out for a performance!’
I tried to refuse somehow, but Lur pounced on the opportunity.
“Of course, Master! When else would you get to wear such clothes? You should enjoy it!”
‘I guess this is what they call karma…’
Surrounded by pink masses on both sides, there was no way for me to escape. I had no choice but to accept my fate with tears in my eyes.
“Whew…”
When I returned after changing my clothes, a round of applause broke out.
“Wow! It really suits you, Master! No, should I call you ‘Sir’ now?”
“That’s great. Sir Hays!”
One side was doing it to tease me, while the other was sincere, so it was awkward to even get angry…
“Since our outfits have a sense of unity, we finally look like a team!”
Marie said, hopping around.
Yes, we did look like a team. A theater troupe performing something like “The Princess and the Knight.”
“I’m sure that together, we can face any danger!”
“I hope so too…”
But at that very moment.
—*Whinny!*
The sound of a horse neighing was heard from outside the door.
Marie hurriedly looked out the window and then turned back to us with a pale face. The cheerful and playful atmosphere from moments ago had vanished without a trace.
She spoke in a trembling voice.
“…The Grand Duke’s people have arrived.”
Lur and I also stiffened and exchanged glances. The time for laughing and chatting was over.
From now on, it was war.