Ā Chapter 02
The First Night**
The doll princess’s beautiful silver hair.
The wind gently swayed her long hair. It looked like her hair might tickle her face, but she didn’t seem to mind.
How long had she been waiting?
Standing there must have made her legs sore.
But she showed no sign of that either.
“Are you Sir Cliff?”
His gaze, which had been stolen by her, shifted.
It was an old man standing by her side.
A neat black suit and a red bow tie.
He was dressed in the very image of a quintessential butler. Seeing him, Cliff immediately got a feeling.
Overlapping with the girl’s face, he could tell just how rigid this man would be.
*’Ah, I smell a geezer.’*
He could already hear it.
From the depths of his memory, the voices of the geezers from historical dramas saying, “Your Majesty, you must not do that.”
He had been asked a question, so he needed to answer.
“Yes. I am Cliff.”
Just as he had received the girl’s portrait, they would have received a description of his appearance.
He had also sent a messenger ahead of his arrival.
Hence why they were here to greet him and herself.
“You have traveled a long way, you must be tired. This is Lady Priscilla Elimeas, the daughter of Baron Elimeas.”
“I am Priscilla. I am delighted to be able to serve my master up close from today onward. I am still lacking in many ways, so I look forward to your guidance in the future.”
With the old man’s introduction, he finally heard the doll princess’s voice.
Contrary to her words, Priscilla showed no sign of delight.
Nor did she seem nervous, which was strangely fascinating.
And her choice of words.
*’Wow. I never thought I’d actually hear someone speak like this.’*
As mentioned before, for nobles, marriage is a big deal, especially for women.
A relationship closer to master and servant than husband and wife.
The husband is the wife’s master, and he guides her. This was the traditional noble view of marriage.
And naturally, ‘guidance’ here meant corporal punishment.
For your information, even central nobles were recently moving away from this tradition.
*’Is change slow here because it’s isolated?’*
Perhaps this tradition was still the latest trend in the Elimeas territory.
This wouldn’t do.
Cliff decided he would establish a new marital relationship in this territory.
“Though we are not yet married, it seems the Lady does require guidance.”
He deliberately furrowed his brow and pointed it out.
Priscilla’s eyes, which had been hard to read, widened slightly.
This was the first sign of agitation he had seen from her. But there was no further disturbance.
Instead, she modestly bowed her head slightly.
“I am sorry. My learning is shallow and I am inexperienced, so I have committed a great rudeness from the start. Please do provide your guidance.”
“…Here it is.”
To reiterate, ‘guidance’ meant corporal punishment.
To make matters worse, the old man produced a switch from somewhere and presented it to Cliff.
*’Old man, weren’t you from Priscilla’s household?’*
As expected, he was indeed a geezer.
At the appearance of the switch, even Priscilla’s fingertips trembled minutely.
Cliff shook his head.
Naturally, he had no desire to hit her on their very first day.
“It’s understandable to not know. Raising a switch for a mistake made out of ignorance is the behavior of uneducated barbarians.”
“I apologize.”
The old man, now a barbarian, bowed his head, looking embarrassed.
Good.
He’d landed a blow on the old man first.
“Teaching people with words, not switches, comes first.”
“I will listen carefully.”
Priscilla’s attitude was surprisingly eager.
Finally, their eyes met properly. She immediately lowered her gaze as if a wife should not meet her husband’s eyes, but her eyes were undeniably beautiful.
“A wife should greet her husband with a kiss when he comes home. She should also see him off with a kiss when he leaves.”
“Eh?”
A slightly larger disturbance came from her.
She looked up at him with wide eyes, unable to look away this time.
*’Really?’*
She looked like an innocent girl asking just that. A reaction completely opposite to her quiet, composed demeanor just moments ago. Now that a little life had returned to her, the corner of Cliff’s mouth turned up.
He puckered his lips crudely.
“Now, go on. Mwah.”
“S-Sir Cliff! In front of everyone, this is tooā¦!”
Finally.
The old man’s nagging.
He expected to hear it soon, but not this soon.
“Precisely because they are watching, you must do it. Nobles must be an example and a role model for those around them. We have a duty to show people the correct image of a married couple. Oh my. You shouldn’t be unaware of this.”
Of course, this was complete nonsense.
But this was an isolated territory anyway.
The lord’s word was law.
And although Baron Elimeas was still technically the lord, Cliff was essentially the lord here.
*’Our Iron-blooded Prime Minister said not to worry about my father-in-law.’*
He could trust the Duke’s handling of matters.
So he implemented it. It had just been a personal fantasy of his, but now it was the epitome of etiquette.
Since his words weren’t entirely without basis, the old man backed down.
“Th-thenā¦”
Priscilla even stammered, glancing around at the others.
Deciding that the atmosphere left her no choice, she steeled herself with resolve.
As she came closer, the scent of flowers wafted from her.
It was probably flowers used as a bath additive.
*Smack.*
Standing on her tiptoes, she kissed him in front of everyone.
The fleeting, moist sensation of her lips touching his and then pulling away.
*’So this is a kiss!’*
He was pleased, even if it was just this.
Even better was Priscilla’s flushed face.
“Weā¦”
She was broken.
“Well done, Lady Priscilla. Next time, you can say ‘Welcome back’ or ‘I missed you.'”
He was already enjoying teaching her the ‘correct’ etiquette.
“W-welcome back.”
The embarrassment was her share.
“Ahem.”
And the awkwardness belonged to those who witnessed it.
The old man cleared his throat, drawing attention.
“Please come inside. We have prepared dinner, accommodations, and bathwater for the Acting Lord.”
—
* * *
It’s often said that medieval hygiene was terrible, and that’s not entirely wrong.
But nobles were different.
Nobles enjoyed bathing.
Most noble houses had bathtubs and had slaves heat water to fill them.
And they added flowers as bath salts.
However, the flowers used by women and men were different.
Women added fragrant flowers to scent their bodies. And the flower that noblemen used as a bath additiveā¦
“Normally, I should attend to you myself, but since I am still young, I have prepared a different flower. Please enjoy your bath.”
Priscilla gestured to the maid beside her, who bowed to Cliff.
“She is called Anna, my lord.”
There it was.
The bath additive that went into a man’s tub was, in fact, a woman.
“Stop!”
Even when Cliff was in the Duke’s family, he had never received such bathing service.
He was the Duke’s half-son.
A bastard, not a pure-blood noble.
Cliff had just stolen the girl’s first kiss as if deceiving her, but even he was embarrassed to show his bare skin to an unfamiliar woman.
“I prefer that the first flower to bathe with me be my wife. I can wash myself, so you may leave, Miss Anna.”
“Oh my.”
The maid was surprised by his suave-sounding words.
After the maid truly left, Cliff got into the tub alone.
“Haa.”
Sinking into the steaming hot water, he felt his travel fatigue dissolve and his body grow languid.
For your information, soap did not exist in this world.
Instead, something else served that purpose.
*’This sticky, itchy feelingā¦’*
Whether for a man’s bath or a woman’s bath, there was another bath additive besides flowers.
Namely, slime!
To be precise, Blue Slime.
A harmless slime with weaker toxicity than the common Green Slime.
It primarily lives in water and is sensitive to water temperature. So, if placed in hot water like this, it will melt and die.
*’While it’s still alive, it removes waste, dead skin cells, dirt, etc. from the body.’*
Blue Slime, starting to melt in the hot water, becomes even less dangerous.
It’s perfect as a soap substitute.
“Heukh.”
Sometimes, when it slithered over sensitive areas, it sent shivers down his spine, but it was a grateful creature that kept his body clean.
He soaked his body and even washed his hair with the dying slime.
No bubbles formed, but his hair felt refreshed.
And so did his body.
“Yaaawn. Should I get out soon?”
He was so relaxed, a yawn escaped him.
If he stayed any longer, he might actually fall asleep. Determined not to, he got out, put on light clothes, and followed the maid’s guidance to the dining hall.
The dinner that was prepared for him.
*’ā¦They put more thought into it than I expected?’*
It was true that calling it a ‘dinner’ felt a bit shabby.
Especially since he had lived in the Duke’s household, it felt even more so.
Still, he had already seen the state of the territory on his way here.
“What a feast.”
“Thank you for saying so.”
Priscilla, whom he met again at the dinner table, had returned to her initial state.
Her doll-like expression.
*’To change that expressionā¦’*
Cliff looked at the table where they were seated.
Like many noble houses, it was a long rectangular table.
He was guided to the head of the table.
Come to think of it, this was the first time he naturally sat at the head of the table for a meal.
*’But one of my fantasies involves the table itself.’*
He and Priscilla were sitting a bit far apart.
“I truly like the food, butā¦ the table is a bit disappointing.”
*Flinch.*
This time, it was the old man, not Priscilla, who reacted first.
“If the table displeases you, what wouldā¦?”
“Yes. How about we make our table round from now on, for a more refined look?”
“Pardon?”
“A round table, round. It is only natural for a family to live together in harmony.”
The old man’s face showed bewilderment.
His flustered expression.
Cliff, who had been eating, spoke.
“Of course, I don’t mean to prepare a round table immediately. It might take time. But if possible, I would like to have meals with my wife at a round table before she comes of age.”
*Squirm, squirm.*
“Acting Lord, that isā¦”
“I didn’t ask, and I don’t care.”
“Huh?”
The old man questioned the strange word.
Seeing his very troubled face, Cliff couldn’t help but laugh.
*’Ah, I shouldn’t do thisā¦’*
Truth be told, this was his true nature.
In the Duke’s household, as a bastard, he couldn’t act presumptuously and had suppressed it.
But now that he was here, his pent-up mischievous nature was unstoppable.
Because it was allowed here.
*’I love this. Power is wonderful.’*
Cliff was enjoying himself.
*”Puh.”*
He heard a stifled laugh from beside him.
Cliff turned his head.
He saw Priscilla, her face slightly red, as if she had been caught making a mistake. She wore her usual doll-like expression, but her eyes were trembling anxiously.
As if she had something she shouldn’t be caught with.
The corners of Cliff’s mouth curled up.
*’I really do think this territory and my bride suit me perfectly.’*
And so the first night after dinner concluded.
In this world, there is no separate wedding ceremony.
A man and woman promise marriage before coming of age.
Then, when the man becomes an adult, he goes to the woman’s house and takes her. Though it’s said a woman under 18 is not an adult, that doesn’t hold much practical meaning.
Usually, a woman leaves her family to live with her husband at 16 or 17.
*’In other words, the moment I arrived here, our marital relationship had already begun.’*
Thus, the first night.
Sleeping with the shy-faced Priscilla was already a predetermined course of events.
However, even in this world, there were youth protection laws (?)
What do I mean?
ā¦They held hands and slept.
But since a while ago, I’ve been seeing something strange. Am I already dreaming?
