04 New Home
"We're here."
The place where the crown prince's horse stopped was at a dead end at the back of the street around the dormitory house area with refined stone paving laid out on the road. The square with a water fountain was blocked by the other buildings, yet the black mansion's presence was so emanating as it stood towering over its surroundings.
It seems to be my new dormitory house.
It's a two-storied building with half wooden frame structure resembling a small castle, and if one were to include the high attic part, then it would seem like a three-storied building. It is about the same size as the golden hill mansion.
"This… is it…?"
"Yes, this is it. It seems to be called as Gerda's mansion."
"Gerda's mansion?"
"Yes.
Us, the royalty and our attendants are living in an imperial villa within the educational institute which is different than the dormitory house district, but… 160 years before that, there was a royalty called Princess Gerda who hated to live together with the other royalty… or rather, I thought that she didn't want to divide her life within the academy and with the other nobles as much as possible.
And that was the history on how this mansion was built."
In front of the crown prince who helped me to proceed with my transferal procedure to the dormitory house, I tried to suppress the cramped laugh that was about to rise for a moment with all my power.
Even the dormitory house that I previously inhabited, taking into account that it was the next tallest building after the crown prince's resident in the current academy, it was excessively huge and elegant. Furthermore, it was also spacious and luxurious. There's no way I didn't have any facial cramp.
"…Well, there was a slight resistance as to how this building was able to be used by the likes of general students and the likes of you."
The crown prince smiled bitterly as if to soothe the situation.
I wonder just which part of me was considered not the same as the general students? Isn't it just how I took a temporary absence from school in order to carry out my duty as a noble and my obligations towards the territory and the country…? At the very least within the educational institute, I'm supposed to have done almost nothing that could cause a blunder.
With the exception of my confrontation with Eric.
"For the time being, won't you take a look inside? If there are more necessary things, then we will take charge to provide them."
"Huh? –Ah, no, so you won't be just in charge for the transferal procedure and boarding expenses?"
"Obviously. Since you're required to move to this dormitory house due to our one-sided circumstances, so that's a matter of course, right?"
The crown prince's strained laugh intensified even further.
When I took a look at the interior, Gerda's mansion's structure was such a wonder. Except for the kitchen, dining room, entrance hall, and the employees' rooms, the interior was perfectly divided into two buildings.
According to the crown prince, there seemed to be a structural alteration of the building several ten years ago when a duke's children, which were a pair of a male and female twin, enrolled here.
Going back to what the crown prince said about if there are more necessary things… The interior of Gerda's mansion's furnishings, everything was of a high-grade goods prepared by the royal family's purveyor. Aside from the baggage prepared, there was nothing else that needed to be prepared.
…This was originally a mansion arranged for the sake of the royalty, huh? My head has been hurting ever since earlier from the difference in money sense. I think I will be pretty depressed if I were to accidentally damage or break the things here.
"Will I really be living here…?"
To be frank, I felt like wanting to say, 'please spare me', but such were the words that spilled from my mouth reflexively in front of the crown prince who was guiding me around.
"Sorry, it was such a sudden thing."
"No, I didn't mean to reproach Your Highness Crown Prince, the royal family, and the other upper house of lords. However, this is way beyond my position… Aren't you going to explain it to me soon? About why I have to move to this mansion?"
Because the crown prince was moving around, I postponed asking about the reason, but I should be hearing about it soon, right?
So I thought and decided to cut and carry it off, and the crown prince turned his gaze out of the window for some reason.
"That's right, I think it will come soon."
…What's coming?
At the exact moment I got suspicious of it, there was the sound of a carriage coming closer. The voice gradually slowed down and stopped at this mansion's carriage porch. A little while later, a knocking sound could be heard.
"It looks like they've arrived."
…Like I said, who is it?
The crown prince only answered, "It's faster for us to meet them," and went to go down to the entrance hall.
There was no way I would let the crown prince to be the one to welcome the guest, so I gave a signal to Claudia to overtake him and open the entranceway.
…Ah, I see.
It was certainly like what the crown prince said. It would be faster for us to just meet them. There was no need for a complicated explanation.
There, Emilia stood with an uneasy expression.
"U, uhm… how do you do, Your Highness Crown Prince… and Earl Einsbark?"
Towards Emilia who hesitantly said her greeting, I sighed in my mind. More or less, since her status on paper was an exchange student, she's supposed to take a more dignified attitude. At least her attitude shouldn't appear to be withering in all directions, since it could make Arxia to be falsely accused of treating her unjustly.
"How do you do, Emilia-dono. …You've ever met with Claudia before, haven't you? There is no need for introduction anymore, right?"
Whether it was because of Emilia's stiff attitude, the crown prince tried to affirm it anxiously. Although Emilia nodded, the crown prince turned around to me just to make sure of the situation, and I nodded at him.
And I softly whispered a frank confirmation to the crown prince.
"…The king's order was to make sure that she won't experience any kind of discomfort in the educational institution, right?"
The crown prince slightly nodded and affirmed.
In other words.
It seems that I will have to live under the same roof with Emilia.
Since the interior was divided to two parts, so rather than living a life together with her, it feels more or less like sharing a room or sharing a home with her, but…
"How did it turn this way…"
I whispered my complaint so that nobody could hear me.
Despite the fact that I just adopted a child this year.
Aah… come to think of it, I also need to think of a name for that child. Thankfully, the Einsbark household members wanted me to be the child's godparent.
I deviated my thought to that topic so that I could completely escape from the reality.