149 - - Art. 149. I Can'T Put It Into Words, But I'M Just Wet With Tears.
Liko has finally entered a stable period and started coming to work at Agartha a few days ago. He has been coming to Agartha once every three days so far, but he has been mostly not involved in business activities but just to show his face, as I asked him to do. Well, I heard later that he was helping her a lot of work without my knowledge.
When I found out that Liko was pregnant, I was prepared for her administrative work to be delayed. However, my fears were unfounded and the staff, led by Ferris and Ruara, have been filling in the gaps with great success.
Among them, Marnois, Theodhar, and Wellne have distinguished themselves.
Marnoa is one of the women kidnapped by the full-figured man. She was deeply traumatized, but as she helped Ferris and Ruara with their work for rehabilitation, she found that she had acquired tremendous abilities. Now, they have recruited him to work for them. They are capable of mental arithmetic, and can complete calculations with an unbelievable number of digits in an instant. Moreover, they are extremely accurate.
Theodore is a man who has strong personal connections with the people of the city, has no self-interest, and picks up the voices of the people of the city and reflects them in his policies. He is the kind of man who makes the members of the Diet of any country want to drink from his fingernails.
And Werne is the daughter of the Count of Saracenia. She came to the capital as if she had run away from home, despite her father\'s protests. 16 years old, she is fearless and very active. When she suddenly asked me to meet with her, what she said was very manly.
"Please let me work here for a month. I don\'t want your money. If after a month you don\'t think I\'m any use to you, I\'ll go back to my father. In return, please give me food and a place to sleep.
Her words were so uncharacteristic of the daughter of a nobleman that even I was a bit nervous, but she seemed quite interesting, so I hired her for a month. Like a "Moretsu employee" of the Showa period, she eagerly learned her job. Perhaps because of her aptitude for clerical work, she is now the younger sister of Ferris and Ruara. Above all, she is well versed in the affairs of the lower nobility, and gives them advice on their ways of thinking and preferences. Eventually, I hope that she will be the point of contact for the nobles who do not yet follow me.
As for the affairs of the country, these five are practically running the country, and the lords who come to me from time to time are helping me in various unexpected ways.
"I didn\'t think Ferris and the others could do so well".
One day Rico saw them working and let slip to me.
"Ferris and the others said they were just copying what Rico was doing, right?"
"I couldn\'t handle that amount of work."
"No, Rico brought them up. Without Rico, Ferris and the others would not be here today. We owe it all to Rico."
"Oh, no. But I guess I\'m retired now.
Rico muttered sadly.
"What are you talking about? From now on, you have the job of raising children. Will you do me a favor? Just make sure you have a strong baby, okay?"
"Yes, you\'re right. I\'ll do my best!
With a big smile on her face, Rico patted her belly lovingly.
Now that she has reached a stable period, Rico\'s job is to discuss the interior design of the guest house. With her first-class taste, the interior of the guest house is becoming chic and sophisticated. Rico seems to be having a lot of fun as he meets with the contractors and carpenters in town.
At the same time, Rico is also starting to discuss the new palace where his new wives will be housed.
Both Princess Considine and Soleil are coming to the palace with several attendants, as expected. In particular, Princess Considine brought as many as 20 attendants, led by Minsi, the head of the courtesan\'s household. Soleil, on the other hand, is planning to bring 10 siluses, led by Astes.
Minsi and Astes have already arrived at the capital and are having various discussions while looking at the guest house under construction.
I thought it would be a burden for Rico alone, so I asked Quena, who is now the general manager of Hotel Krumphal, and who was one of Rico\'s closest associates, to support me. She gladly moved to Agartha.
After much discussion, it was decided that Quena would be appointed as the head of the palace ladies, and some of the staff of Hotel Krumfalu would be brought into the palace. Currently, Quena, Minsi, and Astes are leading the meeting about the manners and etiquette.
As for Considie and Soleil, they will have their own bedrooms, but will basically live in the imperial residence. In short, they will live a life like businessmen who go to the guest house in the morning and return to the residence in the evening. In order to hide from the outside eyes, we decided to set up a transfer warding in each room, and basically only three people, Quena, Minsi, and Astes, would know about the warding.
Minsi was indeed opposed to the idea, but I told her that Considine herself wanted to do so, and she agreed to see how it went.
I kept busy, and before I knew it, I had turned 21 years old.
Some of them said, "It\'s the boss\'s birthday, let\'s load up a keg of sake, call some geisha and have a good time! He made an economical proposal, which I politely declined. Instead, we decided to let them have a good time at the completion of the guest house.
Then one night, when we sat down to dinner, everyone had a surprise for me.
"Happy birthday, Linos!"
Rico\'s words were followed by everyone\'s congratulations. Rico then handed me a small box.
"What\'s this?"
When he opened the box, he found a necklace with a bright white stone embedded in it.
The shining stone in the middle is a stone called a die stone.
"Deist?"
The stone is found in the far north, near the crater of the Dagoi volcano on Strange Island. Strange Island is said to be the place where the creator god Hilm descended from, and it is said that the dyestuff from there possesses sacred power.
"If the stone is so valuable, it must have been very expensive."
No. It didn\'t cost me anything.
"Then what\'s wrong with this?"
Geneha picked it up.
It seems that Geneha, the general harpy, went out of her way to pick them up for us. Come to think of it, I hadn\'t seen him recently, and when I asked Ilimo about him, he said he was out hunting, so I didn\'t pay much attention to him, but I was surprised that he was doing this.
What is more surprising is that it would normally take a person a year to get to Strange Island, but Jeneha made the round trip in 10 days.
"...Geneha, that\'s amazing."
"You just noticed that?"
Ferris rolls his eyes in amazement.
"Jeneha can fly more than twice as fast as a falcon, and for a longer period of time.
I didn\'t know he had that kind of ability. I\'ll bring Jeneha plenty of treats.
The stone that Jeneha had collected was polished by May\'s hands and made into a necklace. May told me that she had made three other smaller necklaces from the extra stones, which she wanted to give to Considie and the others for their new wives.
"Thank you, May. I will wear them always, not only at the ceremony.
With that, I immediately put on the necklace.
"Mei, do you still have some stones left over? Then you can make one for Rico and Mei whenever you want. We can all wear matching necklaces.
May looks at Rico and replies with an apologetic look on her face.
"I am sorry, Master. I don\'t know when that will be.
"Why? Yeah, Mei\'s busy too. I\'m sorry, I\'m sorry. Forget I said that.
"Linos, even if May wanted to, she couldn\'t."
"Yes, Mae, what\'s wrong? Are you hurt?"
No. May already has one.
"Oh, so all that\'s left is for Rico. So, Rico... when you have a baby and you\'re done raising it? Yes, it is. If I wear the necklace now, it might get tangled around my neck, and if I wear it right after the baby is born, the baby might tear it off. Mae, really, anytime. Anytime."
"I\'m already in the right place."
Rico smiles. I nod my head, not understanding what he is talking about. Mei looks at me and opens her mouth apologetically.
"Master, I could do that, too.
"So..."
"You\'re not very perceptive, Linos! Mei became just like me."
Rico patted his belly gently.
"Hmm? Is that... I don\'t think so..."
"The other day, Mr. Roni came to see Liko and examined her. He said... he\'s almost three months old."
"Uh... uh... eh... ah..."
I can\'t find the words.
"Congratulations, sir!"
"Congratulations, master!"
"Congratulations, master!"
"Congratulations!"
"Congratulations!"
Everyone is overjoyed and congratulates me. And they congratulate May in the same way.
I was so happy that all I could do was hold my face in my hands and cry.