The banquet has ended.
If I had just shouted, “How can you force me to marry a 37-year-old woman!” or “This is the reward for me who led the war to victory! I’ll escape from here!”
The banquet would have immediately ended, and all the intelligent people of the Kingdom, including Count Winchester, would have grabbed my pant legs to persuade or calm me down.
And then, spies from the Empire would have started to subtly move one by one within the Kingdom.
Already, in the banquet hall, immediately after the King’s marriage declaration, they were busily leaving their seats to report to their home countries, that is, the Empire.
In such a situation, if I had shown defiance to the King?
— Uwoooooh!! Civil strife right after signing a peace treaty! Prepare to escort Sir Wilhelm to the Empire so we can nullify the treaty immediately!
— Gather 100 virgins between the ages of 20 and 25! What? How can you give such benefits to someone who has been an enemy of the Empire for 12 years? Son of a bitch, if you become our ally, you’re our hero from then on!
— Find a way to revive the connection with Sir Wilhelm! Let Sir Wilhelm become the Red Devil of the Empire, not the Red Devil of the Alliance!
The Empire values efficiency.
They can easily let go of grudges held for 12 years for the sake of continental unification.
They were the ones who intended to conquer the continent through war in the first place.
It might be self-flattering, but if I didn’t exist, how long could the Allied Kingdoms withstand the Empire’s magical weapons and masters?
How many people would die by those swords and spears?
One hundred thousand? One million?
“Tsk….”
My head hurts.
It’s not that the carriage rides bumpy on the way to the mansion, making me carsick, but just thinking about it gives me a headache.
‘A dilemma is indeed a dilemma.’
Whether the King or Princess Sylvia planned this knowing my thoughts or if it was an impulsive plan made out of desperation before others could interfere, I cannot yet determine.
But one thing is for sure, Princess Sylvia’s ‘will’ was definitely involved to some extent in the marriage declaration.
It’s my gut feeling, but it’s probably right.
“Welcome, Master.”
As the carriage stopped and the door opened, an elderly gentleman with white hair, dressed in a suit, greeted me.
“Did you hear about the banquet?”
“Yes. I heard it through magical communication. It was reported quickly as breaking news.”
“Let’s talk as we go to the room.”
The dandy butler who manages my mansion in the royal capital, Wilhelm Mansion, and who has worked here the longest.
“What do you think, Butler Robert?”
“Isn’t it up to the Master’s choice? I am a servant who obeys the Master’s command.”
He is one of my few confidants, and even I, a modern person, think, ‘This is true loyalty’ when I see him.
“If the Master decides to take a 37-year-old unmarried knight as the lady of the Count’s mansion, we will treat her as the Countess, and if you decide to become a son-in-law of Grates, I will secure the position of Head Chamberlain of the royal palace.”
“You have considerable ambition.”
“As someone who serves the Master, and for the sake of Madam and children who might come, I need to be in the optimal position.”
He is also highly capable.
Given that a butler working in a Count’s mansion can easily secure a position as Head Chamberlain of the royal capital if he sets his mind to it, there is no need to doubt this old butler’s abilities.
“The Empire?”
“…Are you serious?”
Even that old butler is taken aback by the word ‘Empire’.
“Are you really, by any chance, planning to seek asylum in the Empire?”
“It’s really the worst, last resort. Only if all the people of the United Kingdom remain oblivious to the fact that they are becoming slaves of the Empire, or beings who are demeaned as third-class citizens and exploited for their entire lives.”
Creak.
The main gate opened automatically through a magical device, and as soon as I entered the mansion, I headed straight to my office.
“Robert.”
“Yes, Master.”
“I am of commoner birth, conscripted at the age of 15, and the only thing I know about the world is war. I am a swordsman.”
“You are already sufficiently Count Wilhelm. Just as you were when you first came here and saved me.”
In the past, I eliminated the traitor who was the master of this mansion.
And among the retainers who were under him, I spared only those who were not acting as spies for the Empire, but who were almost purged en masse due to guilt by association for serving a spy as their master, and entrusted them with the management of this mansion.
“My life was saved by the Master. Even if the Master were to suddenly desert to the Empire alone one day, we would follow him to the Empire with our lives or meet death with pride.”
Is that why?
Every time they show such loyalty, I am reminded time and again that I am in a medieval fantasy world.
So.
“Even if I were to seek asylum in the Empire, I will take care of your lives, so I will ask my senior, who has lived twice as long as I have.”
It is natural to discuss the problems I am facing with my own people.
“Command me, Master.”
“If a woman is 37 years old, what about bearing a child?”
“It’s dangerous. Generally.”
Robert replied as he brewed tea.
“As far as I know, a mother can continue having children until around forty.”
“That’s right. A mother can give birth almost every one to two years.”
“It’s not particularly unusual for a 37-year-old to give birth. In noble families, it’s also common for siblings to have a large age gap.”
“That’s true. But…”
“As the Master is thinking—that only applies to the second child and beyond.”
Robert spoke firmly as he offered the tea.
“Even if a woman gives birth at 37, it is at best the third or fourth child. It’s when the mother gave birth from her early twenties, her body adapted to childbirth, and she is so accustomed to pregnancy and childbirth that she could go out to farm the very next day after giving birth.”
“Hmm.”
“It may vary from person to person, but it is generally proven by the times that there can be problems with the child if the ‘first child’ is born too late.”
“Like how all noble ladies look for a man to marry before 20, and marry and have children by 25 at the latest?”
“Yes. Moreover, commoners… excuse me, in farming villages, there is even a movement to have children as soon as they turn 20, to avoid the legal gaze of the country.”
“Ah, I know that.”
Beneath the water wheels of the farmhouses, many histories quietly unfold—
especially in rural areas, where the more human hands there are, the easier it is to build wealth.
“So generally, if you marry a 37-year-old woman, people would assume you just have a preference for widows or older women. Especially if she’s already had children.” (Robert)
“Isn’t that because the times demand children from us?”
“Exactly. Even the idea that, as living beings, we have a duty not to die without leaving descendants—
that belief is especially strong in the Beastman Kingdom.” (Robert)
“Those guys… yeah, they’re definitely like that.”
For beastmen—races with animal traits like cat or wolf ears and tails—not reproducing goes against the very nature of their species.
“Ah. First of all, people might come from the Beastman Kingdom, so let’s prepare a response. If envoys come, treat them politely, as they might object to a marriage with a 37-year-old princess.” (Robert)
“Is it because you’re worried some envoy might say something like, ‘If you’re so eager to get a princess pregnant, why didn’t you get our princesses pregnant too?’ Don’t you think so?”
“No—absolutely. I’m just concerned about who might show up. The Beastman King himself, regardless of marriage, didn’t he once offer up his daughters to bear the Grand Master’s seed?” (Robert)
“Yes. As a stud, you mean.”
This is a medieval fantasy world, and I am a war hero—
a Grand Master.
As such, many seek me from beyond the human kingdoms.
“What a shame—of all places, an incubus had to appear in a kingdom surrounded by the forces of darkness.”
“Hey, Robert. If the incubus hadn’t sided with the Kingdom, would you have come here today? I would have gone to a party hosted by the forces of darkness and displayed the Grand Master’s dignity as an incubus.”
“…….”
Robert is a loyal retainer—and a man who knows me well.
“Robert, if you were in my position, what would you do?”
“My words wouldn’t be of much help. Because I am over 50, and 37 is much younger than me.”
“Hmm….”
“And crucially, Princess Sylvia—thanks to proper care—still looks, at worst, like she’s in her late twenties.”
“……She herself said she sealed away her difficulties with magic.”
It’s not something we can comfortably talk about as men, but…
“So it’s true she hasn’t had her period since she was 27. I know that rumor well.”
“I also remember the Empire launching a full-scale offensive whenever Princess Sylvia was sick in the early days of the war.”
To put it bluntly—
the Empire launched concentrated attacks whenever Sylvia was on her period.
As wicked as the Empire is, if there’s one reason I might even joke about going there…
“Robert.”
“Yes, Master?”
“Do you think Princess Sylvia would understand my ‘hobby’?”
“…….”
I am still young, healthy, and full of vitality.
And Princess Sylvia—she’s quite wary of, and strongly dislikes, my womanizing.
“Even when the Empire tried to deal with me using seduction tactics halfway through the war, Sylvia practically tried to slap a chastity belt on me—tight. What do you think she’ll do next time?”
“…Let’s keep that concern to ourselves for now.”
As Robert clapped his hands, the door opened, and five maids entered.
“Master, please enjoy yourself to your heart’s content.”
All of them are young and beautiful women.
If they were born in modern times, they would have become influencers with their looks alone, and their bikini photos would have circulated on male-dominated sites.
“Yeah. For now, I’ll worry later.”
I opened my arms to the maids who were smiling at me, and Robert bowed his head deeply and went out the door.
“Yes, this is the real reward.”
