Whether I spat my tea everywhere or not, Yuliana just looked delighted.
“Right. His Majesty said, what was it again? Something about him become a fan of Duchess Giselle Kalinos, who doesn’t care about honor or money, and devoted herself solely to the empire.”
This… something has gone seriously off the rails.
“The commoners feel the same way, apparently. Thanks to you, our family’s reputation is shooting up along with it.”
“What?”
When people talked about the Kalinos family, the image had actually always been something like that terrifying, unknown entity that mindlessly hacks monsters to pieces.
“People say we’re better than the hypocritical Reshaniel family. You’ve done something huge. Something we couldn’t pull off even after hundreds of years of preparation on the northern border.”
The unexpected praise made the tips of my ears burn.
Seeing my face flush, Yuliana leaned in, voice sparkling with excitement, like she was about to share one more juicy secret. “Oh, and there’s one more fun thing. They’re even making a children’s biography about you. The title is <The Hero Who Saved Our Empire, Duchess Giselle Kalinos>.”
No matter how I looked at it, this was getting more and more out of hand. It was true I saved the empire, but I did every last bit of it for my own selfish desires!
I’m screwed. All the things I did purely out of greed are about to be forcibly repackaged by the emperor and spread all over the empire! With the political climate in chaos, the imperial family needed a hero, and there was no one else with a hero narrative as convenient as mine.
Seriously, I’m going to lose it. What am I supposed to do about this? But do what, exactly?
“Either way, there’s no way I can skip it…”
…Guess I’ll just slap on a brazen face and go.
* * *
The first part of the festival they’d prepared for me began in the outdoor garden. On a small platform set up in the garden, the emperor held his hand out to me and declared, “As a reward, I intend to grant the duchess the Ice Peninsula!”
Just the Ice Peninsula! Sure, it was a huge stretch of land, but it was infamous as a useless frozen wasteland. People all stared at me with pity, but I only shrugged.
That peninsula is packed full of ore deposits. I insisted on getting it on purpose. In other words, it was the single most valuable piece of land in the current empire. If this were Earth, it’d be like being handed a chunk of Saudi Arabia packed with oil deposits. The problem is that nobody has a clue what that land is actually worth.
Once everyone gathered, the emperor and empress praised me so much that they eventually became teary-eyed.
“How can Duchess Kalinos be so free of greed?”
“I knew you were like that already, but still…”
“You’re so young, yet so deep and mature. You’re admirable. Truly admirable.”
…If I’d known it would turn out like this, I should’ve just bared my fangs and demanded they fill the entire empire with gold. Then they wouldn’t have given in to me. The Ice Peninsula really is the best! Let them whisper all they wanted. I’d satisfied my own selfish greed, so I couldn’t care less.
The moved emperor suddenly grabbed my hand in both of his hands and murmured, “Listen, Duchess Giselle Kalinos is the hero who saved our empire, a great figure in troubled times, the guardian deity of our empire…”
By the time I’d listened to him heap praise on me without end, it felt like my ears were about to start bleeding. Thankfully, even this had an end.
After I finally escaped from the emperor’s prison of compliments, I strolled through the garden, greeting people. Thanks to the emperor’s consideration, anyone even remotely connected to me had been invited to this gathering.
Coocoo and Krrr, the dragon and the bird, who’d been nodding off beside me like students during the principal’s speech every time the praise started up again, finally woke up and fluttered their wings.
“Coo. (Come to think of it, this dragon form is hanging on the banners. I’m thrilled.)”
“Krrr. (And they didn’t forget me either! I’m right there by your side!)”
The tiny dragon and the little willow warbler perched on my shoulders flapped their wings with all the dignity in the world. What the heck, they’re cute.
I patted their wings and said, “I’ll give you lots of mana later.”
Maybe they were really excited because Coocoo’s wings wouldn’t stop twitching. But my adorable entourage wasn’t limited to the ones on my shoulders. They were also clustered neatly on either side of my dress.
“Riwes, Ivanka. This is your first big festival, right?”
Both Riwes and Ivanka had received formal invitations.
“You two look all dressed up like flower children.”
“I’m embarrassed…”
“Lord Riwes! You have to stand up straight! We need to be confident so we don’t make Madam Giselle look bad!”
“T-Then teach me how to do it! I want to be Giselle’s pride!”
Bickering, Riwes and Ivanka wandered off. Since they seemed to be heading toward the dressing room, I quietly sent a maid to trail after them. Such cute little kids.
I was watching their retreating backs when a lady holding a wineglass approached. “Cordelia?”
It was Cordelia Inferna, the illusion master, who had given me the dragon. She leaned in and whispered, “Having such an amazing friend got me invited here too.”
I froze for a moment. In Giselle’s body, I’d never once had a friend.
“We’re friends, aren’t we?”
“Are we?”
“Yes. You’re my very first friend, Duchess.”
Seeing her bright, straightforward smile, I couldn’t help but smile back. Come to think of it, I owed Cordelia a lot. And she’s the first friend I’ve had who’s actually my age. From now on, we’d be able to meet without any complicated calculations in the back of our minds.
Nodding at Cordelia’s radiant smile, I said, “Then let’s see each other often.”
Now that there was no one left who could really get in my way, I was going to start building relationships, slowly but surely. It’s great not having to do villainess work anymore.
Cordelia gave me a light nod and whispered, “I’ll send you an invitation.”
And then… In the spot Cordelia vacated, Count Florette appeared. Pressing at the corner of his eyes, he muttered, “You only live once, so you’ve got to live it up, Giselle.”
“I am already living it up.”
“W-Well, that’s true. Anyway, what I mean is, don’t let this whole hero thing pile too much weight on your shoulders.”
It felt like I could see straight into his heart. Smiling gently, I took his hand in mine. “I’ve never really felt anything like pressure to begin with.” Well, except when I was dealing with the truly insane Duke Kalinos…
At that, Count Florette beamed at me, then grabbed a wineglass off a nearby table. “Of course, of course! Today is a happy day, so let’s have a toast!”
…And then he proceeded to down an entire bottle of wine by himself and started wandering around with a bright red face. The moment he did, the people who’d been lurking and waiting for a chance to talk to me all surged forward.
I’m just standing here, but everyone keeps closing in on me. So this was what it meant to be officially recognized as a hero by the emperor.
“Giselle!”
The one who managed to snag a turn talking to me this time was the former Duke Garno.
“Giselle, why haven’t you been coming by lately? I baked a pie for you.”
“I’m pretty sure I was there just yesterday…”
“Ahem, ahem. A day is long. For an old man like me, I mean! I just couldn’t wait. I baked it really deliciously, just for you.”
The tiger-like figure I’d first met was nowhere to be seen. Now he was all warmth and cuteness. Somehow, his shoulders looked like they’d stooped a lot in the meantime too.
I stared at his white hair and smiled. “Hmm, let’s see.” Stroking my chin, I lost in thought. “Then how about this: after this party’s over, why don’t we have a little pie party tonight, just the two of us?”
Garno’s face lit up in an instant. Seeing people smile just because of a single word from me made me feel happy too.
I leaned in and murmured, “You know, Grandpa.”
“Hmm, Grandpa?”
I remembered how he’d flown into a rage the last time I’d called him grandpa, but now, when I said it, his cheeks flushed and he let out a small laugh.
“Hehe.”
“…”
Ah, this is overwhelming. But he took it even further.
“The title ‘Grandpa’ sounds nice. Well then, you can call me that for the rest of your life.”
Isn’t this attitude a little too different from when we first met?
Under the silent pressure of my stare, Garno flinched, scratched the back of his neck, and muttered, “What, am I too excited? I’m just happy. That’s all. That our family’s finally found this kind of happiness.”
I snorted softly and shook my head at him. “You’re allowed to be excited. I was laughing for a different reason… When you bake your pies, try raising the oven temperature by exactly three point five degrees. I think they’ll taste even better that way.”
His eyes went wide. “Oh, really?”
“Really.”
“But you know…” Garno stroked his chin, looking thoughtful. “That way of talking, ‘When you bake your pies, try raising the oven temperature by exactly three point five degrees.’ It’s exactly like your husband.”
No, absolutely not! He’s saying I sound like that engineering nerd? Is that going too far?
I shot Garno a resentful look, and he just muttered, “Well, they say couples start to resemble each other. Isn’t that a good thing?”
That is not a good thing, Grandpa.
After I finished talking with Garno, the person who claimed the spot at my side this time was…
“…Your Grace?”
It was Duke Kalinos. He quickly grabbed my hand, almost anxiously. “You are far too popular. Up to now, you’ve spent an average of ten minutes and forty-five seconds talking with each person, and every single one of them has been expressing with their whole body that they want to talk with you longer.”
At this point, isn’t he basically rapping?
Honestly, I only understood about half of that. But the meaning behind his words was perfectly clear.
“Yes, yes, I get it. You’re jealous, right?”
His eyes widened in surprise at how neatly I summarized his feelings into a single sentence.
Looping my arm through his, I teased, “Still, no matter what party I go to or who I talk with, the person I like best is you, Duke. That doesn’t change. So, are you still jealous?”
At that, his earlobes turned bright red. I liked the way his whole face flushed scarlet.
At that moment, he murmured softly to me, “I want to kiss you. May I?”
“Nope. Next time.”
I let out a small laugh. It was just too cute, the way his heated gaze instantly drooped. No one else would ever know what it felt like to see a man who’d always seemed like a wild beast look at me with such gentle eyes, just waiting on my every word.
The arm wrapped around my waist tightened. “Then I’ll save it for tonight. As a goodnight kiss.”
I chuckled and buried my face against his chest. “Mmm, sounds good.”
Another noisy, lively day was passing by, just like always. And I found myself loving this special, warm afternoon celebration more than anything.
[The end of Epilogue]
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