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"What? You\'re talking to me outside my room. Come on in."

As I called out to him from my chair, he opened the door roughly and came in, a small but darkly tanned man who looked like a strong-armed craftsman.

"Oh, General, I\'m so sorry!

"Hi, Gen-san. You look good. What are you doing here in the middle of the day?

Entering the room was Gen-san, a master carpenter. He is one of the most skilled carpenters in the capital, and he moved to Agartha a few months ago with his apprentice to make a name for himself in the city. With the construction boom in Agartha, Gen-san is inundated with orders, which keeps him quite busy.

"Hey, General, did you hear? I hear you\'re getting a new wife?"

"Well, yeah."

I reply with an indescribable look on my face.

"I\'m doubly happy for you and your wife\'s pregnancy. So, we carpenters got together and decided to present a gift to the general.

Gen-san looked pleased with himself and leaned in close to me.

"I don\'t mind. Gen-san is busy too, so don\'t be too hard on yourself.

"No, that\'s the big idea! General, have you found a place for your new wife to live?"

"Ah."

I stared at the sky.

"Now you\'ve got two wives, two daughters and a brother Gon, but if you\'re going to get a new wife, you can\'t keep doing what you\'re doing, can you? We\'re going to have a new baby. We\'re talking about setting up a house for the general.

Gen-san has a twinkle in his eye. For now, I\'m keeping my shifting wards a secret from the people of the capital. That\'s why they think our family is living in this building of the former headquarters of the Royal Army.

"So, General. There is no place for a king in this city. Can\'t you let us build a palace for the king? I can\'t build something as big and stupid as the Juka Kingdom, but I\'m confident I can finish something reasonable, okay?"

"That\'s very kind of you, but I\'m sure you\'re busy, aren\'t you, Gen-san?"

"No, it\'s Lord Tome of the Imperial City, Tomeirail! You don\'t know? Lord Tome is coming to Agartha. If he\'s coming, I\'m going to leave my job to him. I\'ve talked with the other masters, and we all want to make something big with our own hands. General, let us build a castle as a celebration!

It sounds both gratifying and ungrateful, but I think Gen-san has a good point. I decided to leave the matter in my hands for the time being, and I would reply to him later.

"I\'ll be waiting for your answer!"

With a grin and a white tooth smile, Gen-san left the room.

At night, when I returned to the Imperial Palace, I immediately told everyone about Gen-san\'s proposal.

"Hmmm. I\'m very attached to this house..."

That\'s what Peris says. No wonder. The kitchen of the house is almost entirely filled with the utensils and dishes selected by Peris. She is probably more attached to this house than anyone else.

"You\'re going to college, so I don\'t think you\'ll be able to go to Agartha..."

It is May who is worried about Peris. She is worried, too, because the mansion houses a large amount of tools and materials used for May\'s research. It would be a lot of work to move them.

I asked Gon, Ferris, Ruara, and Feri, but they seemed to be fine with it either way.

"You have a good point, Gen-san."

It was Rico who spoke out firmly.

"After all, we need a castle. It is a place to protect the king and his family and a symbol of the power of the nation. Agartha is a newly founded country. The bigger the castle, the more pressure it will exert on neighboring countries.

Everyone fell silent. Rico has a point. I cross my arms and think.

"... Do we need a castle?"

"Linos, what are you talking about? We need it!"

"I think Rico has a good point. But would a castle really help? The castle in Juka was also big and had a strong defense, but in the end, the king\'s family was destroyed by Kargi\'s rebellion. I think that no matter how great a castle you build, it is meaningless if no one protects it in the end."

"The wards of Llinos are enough to protect us."

"Yes, that\'s true, but... If I die, the wards won\'t work. If there is a revolt inside the castle at that time, it will be the end of everything, won\'t it?"

"Only those who live in Agartha would not..."

Rico, you can\'t be so sure. We may be all right, but what about our children and grandchildren? Besides, if we build a large castle now, we will have to mobilize a lot of people, won\'t we? Wouldn\'t this be a burden on the people living in Agartha? I don\'t think we need to force ourselves to build a castle now."

"Linos..."

"But Lady Considine and Soleil are sure to come, so we\'ll have to make room for them.

"Huh? Matkal...?"

"Yeah, Matkal wants to have a long talk with you once. If she doesn\'t like it, I\'d like to think about it."

Rico looks down with his eyes downcast.

"No, you don\'t have to feel responsible. It\'s my problem."

"I shouldn\'t have... I shouldn\'t have done that."

"Rico, it\'s okay. It\'s just that if we build a castle, we\'ll have to put up all those wenches and soldiers, won\'t we? I want to keep it as simple as possible. If possible, I\'d even like Considine and Soleil to come here alone."

"That\'s not... I\'m sure he\'ll bring at least one or two ladies with him."

"I knew it... I guess so.

"Madame Considine and Monsieur Soleil are both noble ladies. One is a princess and the other the daughter of a chieftain. It would be impolite not to receive them in a proper manner.

"But the fewer people know about your husband\'s skills, the better.

"Gon has a point. Okay. I\'ll think about it.

I put off my conclusion and decided to take a bath and go to bed.

Riko, Mei, and I take a bath together today. Ever since we found out that Rico is pregnant, we have been taking a bath together as much as possible. Rico\'s belly has not swelled noticeably yet, but we are half anxious and half excited to see how it will turn out.

The three of us take a bath together, and we remove our fatigue. It is a blissful time.

"It feels so good to take a bath, doesn\'t it?

Mei couldn\'t help but let out a squeak.

"Yes, it is. It\'s paradise, isn\'t it?

I reply in a noisy voice.

"Even if we move to the castle, I\'d like to take a bath like this.

"Yes, that\'s right~"

While we were having this conversation, Rico came up next to me. I hugged Riko from behind and gently stroked her stomach with both hands.

"I hope we can take a bath together after the baby is born," I said.

Rico looked very happy.

Then Rico and I go to bed. I have been sleeping with my hand on Rico\'s stomach for a while now, and I try to sleep with my hand on her stomach again today. But Rico gently brushes my hand away and nuzzles his face into my chest.

"What do you want, Rinos?"

What is it?

It\'s about the castle.

"I... I like my life the way it is. I don\'t think I\'d fit in if I had to live like an aristocrat. I don\'t think I need a big castle either. If the people of Agartha give up on me, then no matter how splendid a castle I build, it will all be for nothing. I would rather have a relationship where I protect the people of Agartha and they protect me. That\'s better than building a castle. It may sound insane and naive, but that\'s how I really feel."

Rico squeezes my chest. I hugged her back gently, too.

The next morning, when we were eating breakfast together, Rico opened his mouth.

"About yesterday at the castle..."

"What is it, Rico?"

"I\'ve been thinking about it, and I think the castle should be built."

I nodded slowly.

"But I don\'t think we need a big castle. Linos is right, the most important thing is to gain the trust of the people of Agartha. But we should build a dignified and prestigious building...yes, a building to welcome and receive the lords and emissaries of the nations. That\'s enough."

"Rico... where are we going to live?"

You can live in this house as it is now. When I\'m done with work, I\'ll come back to this house. I think that\'s good. We can build a new place for Lady Considine and Soleil to live on the vacant lot. We\'ll talk to them once and if they don\'t want to live in this house, they can have a room in the new building. That way, we will have enough room for all the maids and maidservants that we will bring with us.

"That\'s a good idea..."

"Sister Rico, you\'re right! I agree!"

Everyone seems to agree with Rico\'s idea. Rico stares at me.

"What do you think, Linos?"

I agree with that idea.

"Thank you, Linos. Come to think of it, I like this place the best too. And I would like to raise the newborn in this house.

"Okay. Then we should build a Western-style house in Agartha, not a castle.

"Yo-kan?"

It\'s a building in the palace that is used for balls and such.

"Oh, you mean the guest house."

"Yes. They are going to use a good idea, and I am sure they will make a fine Western-style building.

With that I headed for Agartha to talk with Gen-san.