"Hmm... I understand your positions well enough, and hmm... I understand Daniela's position well enough too... hmm..."
His thoughts ground to a halt.
Under normal circumstances, this would have been the point where everyone backed down.
But neither the ministers nor Daniela showed any sign of retreating — or any intention to.
Of course, Daniela and he were something like betrothed, so he had always expected they would hold a wedding ceremony eventually.
But this suddenly?
"It has been delayed far too long, Your Grace! This is truly a matter that cannot be put off any further."
"I have heard your positions."
"Then may we set an appropriate date as soon as possible? Do we have your leave to arrange the schedule?"
He held his silence for a moment at Hexon's words. No matter how long he turned it over in his mind, searching for the right response —
nothing came.
"Could it be that you are unwilling to marry the Grand Duchess...?"
"No, no! It's nothing like that."
"Forgive my impertinence."
The pressure was suffocating.
So this was how the Crown Prince had felt. He would have to ease up on the pressure from now on.
Though the moment he saw that insufferable face, he suspected that resolution would evaporate instantly.
Daniela turned to look back at Hexon's words.
Her gaze gradually lowered, and she knelt before him. The moment Daniela knelt, the ministers followed suit.
"My lord. Do you intend to delay our wedding?"
"No, that's not it. Daniela! It's just that..."
"It is no longer too soon, my lord."
"Has the time truly ripened? Already?"
Haa... A sigh escaped him before he could stop it.
It was not that he found Daniela wanting, nor was it any political concern about the Grand Duchess's position.
Frankly, House Barth interfering in the North's affairs was nearly impossible — he had never once worried about that.
And Daniela.
She was beautiful. What more needed to be said. Her character was good, and though she could be rather forward at times —
"I cannot help but worry, when someone new is coming to House Wintergard."
"You have seen me, have you not? You have spent a day with me, and you spend your nights with me."
"Th-that's true."
"Do you know me well enough now?"
"I cannot say with certainty, but I know you to some degree."
"Please trust me."
Daniela was strong.
She had endured the incident with the Crown Prince at the academy, and even when the marriage she had been promised her entire life fell apart — here she still was.
Coming to the North, adapting to life in the North, earning the approval of the Grand Duke of the North — none of that was easy.
He knew. Daniela was strong.
"Can you become a Wintergard?"
"I am already Daniela von Wintergard."
"So you are. So you are."
He gave a slow nod. His chin had been itching, and he kept scratching at it.
He rose from his seat and helped Daniela to her feet.
Perhaps it was the weight of the Wintergard name — the burden the house carried — that had made him keep others at arm's length.
When he was young,
family members had died, and died again, and kept dying.
Growing up watching that — it may well have left its mark on him.
"Wintergard. Daniela von Wintergard."
"Yes, my lord."
"I'm counting on you."
"As am I. My lord. I'm counting on you as well."
He took Daniela's hand and walked her back to her seat.
Daniela settled gently into her chair.
There was no putting it off any longer. This had been the Grand Duke of the North's failing.
"Hexon."
"Yes, Your Grace!"
"Proceed as you all see fit."
"Y-Your Grace!"
Every minister's head snapped up at once.
Their eyes shone. Even Alfredo, who had let his axe drop to the floor, was staring with wide, bright eyes.
He settled back into his own seat.
He had thought himself accustomed to looking down upon the people gathered in the Hall of Winter.
But seeing them this happy — that was something he was witnessing for the first time today.
"I suppose it is time to set aside my mother's and father's names."
"What do you mean by that...?"
"Properly speaking, one ought to complete the wedding ceremony before relinquishing the names, but..."
His father's name — Ardrno.
His mother's name — Ifela.
The reason these two names were placed within the Wintergard name was simple.
Since he had not yet married, it served as a kind of proof of belonging to a single lineage.
But there came a moment when those names were relinquished —
the moment one married, took a wife, and had children. That was when they were set aside.
It was a tradition unique to Wintergard.
"From now on, I will use only Theodor von Wintergard."
"Do you truly mean that, Your Grace?"
"Once I am married, I would have to relinquish them first regardless. Better to do it now."
Something resembling cheers passed through the room.
The Hall of Winter felt as though it had transformed into a Hall of Spring — bright and clear.
He had not known that a wedding announcement would make people this happy.
"Then we shall proceed with this matter at once!"
"Do so. But keep the current affairs in mind as well."
"As you command!"
Phew. Now he could finally escape the Hall of Winter.
He and Daniela were just about to step outside.
The ministers offered him one final proposal. Less a proposal, really — there was a fair measure of compulsion mixed into it.
"Your Grace! We humbly suggest that you take a brief holiday and go somewhere to rest for a while!"
"Do I not still have a great deal left to attend to?"
"Not at all! We ministers are more than capable of handling it!"
"Even so, there will be matters requiring my decision as you work through things. I cannot simply absent myself so easily."
"Your Grace! There is no need for concern."
Hexon was making every effort to force him on a holiday.
The other ministers were no different. Berdo even offered the counsel that this was precisely the opportunity to rest.
Come to think of it, he had never truly rested — not properly. Not since becoming Grand Duke. Barely once, if at all.
"Even so, there are pressing matters in the North that need to be dealt with. Where is there time to rest?"
"Your Grace, please trust your ministers and leave it to us. We will manage."
"Hmm, still..."
It was not that he distrusted them. Hexon, Berdo, even House de Wintergard.
The newer officials were also remarkably capable — he had already noticed that things were different from the old days, when he had to be briefed on every minor matter.
But still, surely it was more comfortable to have someone with decision-making authority present...
"Go ahead. My lord."
"Daniela?"
"If my lord takes a holiday, I shall have to take one alongside him."
At Daniela's words, the ministers began to murmur among themselves.
This murmuring was as good as being said directly to his face.
*Can you really refuse to go?*
*Your wife is telling you she wants to rest!*
The same pressure, all over again.
Alfredo had already stepped up beside them, ready to offer his counsel.
"I would recommend it, Your Grace."
"But there still needs to be someone with decision-making authority..."
"There are times when ministers need a decision-maker, and times when it is easier not to have one."
"Tch! If I say I'm not going, you'll all be on your knees making a scene again."
This is outright coercion! Outright!
He returned to his chambers.
They had clearly made up their minds.
Under normal circumstances, documents should have been piled high on his desk — but there was not a single sheet of paper to be found.
Had someone done the work in his place?
"Ah..."
"Hexon and Berdo, along with the entire Ministry of Internal Affairs and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, have already stepped in and handled everything."
"How did they handle it? Without my authorization?"
"Hexon set aside only the important matters — and none of those have arrived yet."
"Alfredo! If people have been working this diligently all along, you should have told me sooner!"
"Your Grace is the unusual one."
That was fair enough.
Even someone who held real power was still only human.
He did not know how policy was implemented or how day-to-day affairs were managed in the South —
but it was true that he had been doing far more than any previous Grand Duke of the North.
"Well, I suppose going on holiday wouldn't be so bad."
"Your Grace, if you let us know where you intend to go, we will make preparations in advance."
"I'm not sure. I haven't been anywhere, really."
"Hmm — what about the Northeast? It was once famous as Wintergard's direct domain."
"The Northeast?"
Not a bad choice, actually.
The Northeast was quite a distance from here, but it was a place where the Wintergard name still carried an excellent reputation — a legacy of the old direct domain.
The name of the most developed city in the Northeast was even Von Wintergard. Noble. Wintergard.
"I haven't been to the Northeast since the Wintergard Rebellion, really."
"There will be no difficulties whatsoever."
"It's not exactly a place with fond memories for me."
"Even so, might you consider visiting once? The late Grand Duke's tomb is there as well."
"Hmm... Very well. The Northeast it is."
Ah — but had they decided this entirely among themselves?
He looked over at Daniela.
He had not asked for her opinion.
"Oh — Daniela, what do you think?"
"I am happy with anything, my lord."
"The Northeast is quite far from here, but it is the homeland of the Wintergards."
"Then is it perhaps also my lord's homeland...?"
"Me? I'm..."
It was complicated.
His mother — he had never once laid eyes on her.
His father had passed away when he was young, so he had barely seen him either.
And because of the Wintergard Rebellion, his father had spent nearly everything on the battlefield.
He had almost never seen his face.
"Alfredo? Am I from the Northeast?"
"It is... somewhat complicated, Your Grace. That is not something this humble Alfredo can speak to."
"It's all right. You may say it."
"Honestly, even I..."
"Hmm. I thought as much."
"If Your Grace departs for the Northeast, I will begin preparations at once."
"Let us rest for a while first, and set out when the time comes."
Let me rest for now.
How long had it even been since he returned from the South? And already —
He dropped onto the bed with a thud.
Haa —
"Come here."
But...
There were still things that needed doing...