Next Life – Chapter 143

“I want to play around,” Marius suddenly declared, stunning all the women present except El.

“We do play around, don’t we? In bed,” Lovisa said bashfully.

“That’s right. Being licked, tossed around, and screamed at,” Barra chimed in.

“You could at least restrain yourself a little,” Marius retorted to Barra’s bluntness. His wife, it seemed, still had no sense of shame.

“Oh, but I restrain myself in front of any man besides Marius,” Barra replied with an affronted expression, causing Marius to get a headache.

“I prefer someone more reserved,” he muttered, and Barra immediately shut her mouth. He was beginning to understand how to handle women, no longer needing El’s assistance.

“So, what are you going to do?” Sophia prompted.

“I was thinking we’d do our playing around one by one,” Marius said.

“Wait a minute. Why now of all times?”

“Yes, I protest!” Lovisa and Barra exclaimed in a panic. They were both in absolute confinement after giving birth.

“I plan to do it with you two as well, what’s the problem?” Marius parried, as he hadn’t forgotten them.

“Um. If that’s the case, then it’s fine.”

“Y-yes. As long as you don’t exclude us…”

His wives were instantly defeated.

(If that quick wit could be applied elsewhere, he wouldn’t be called the Ornamental King.) Emma thought critically to herself. She remained Lovisa’s personal maid, and therefore couldn’t say anything too presumptuous to Marius, who had become her mistress’s husband. The title “Ornamental King” wasn’t meant maliciously, but it was indeed a dishonor to Marius. What troubled Emma was that El seemed to pretend not to know about it. She felt she understood El’s thought process to some extent, given their considerable time together.

(How can she, who should prioritize Lord Marius above all else…?) Perhaps not interfering had a greater advantage than the indignity of being treated as an ornament. Considering the current situation, things were admittedly proceeding more smoothly than expected. Far more smoothly than one would expect a ruler, who had arrived as a refugee of unknown origins, to manage. Marius was perceived as being useless “except for fighting and at night.” He wasn’t looked down upon, but rather with affection.

(Is that considered an advantage…?) Emma understood that people who could do everything easily tended to be kept at a distance. She herself, and her mistress Lovisa, had a similar tendency. As a princess and her maid, it hadn’t been much of a problem, but it would be difficult for a king. Was that why the Scheming Succubus was intentionally leaving it as it was? For her mistress to be loved by the people. Emma felt there were other ways to achieve that, but she couldn’t fathom what they might be. El was far more cunning than Emma to begin with. If she had judged it best to leave things be, it was probably best not to interfere.

(It is going well.) Who would believe that the Kingdom of Tubant, including its former autonomous territories, had only been established for less than a year? Emma was confident that anyone unaware of the facts would certainly not realize it.

Marius chose Emma as his first partner for their “playing around.” He felt his mistress’s resentful gaze,

“Hey, what about me?” someone out of tune with the atmosphere grumbled. Nevertheless, Emma was up first.

(Wh-what should I do…?) She, who was known for her composure and was called the perfect lady’s maid, was utterly flustered. To be precise, she had never dated before. She had never even been on a date.

(I-I can’t go before Lady Lovisa first… B-but I can’t go against the decision of the King of a nation.) She didn’t even understand what she was thinking herself.

(Come to think of it, that Scheming Succubus seemed uncharacteristically surprised too? No, I was the most surprised of all…) She fretted, pacing in front of the mirror, repeatedly taking deep breaths.

“Lady Emma?” The maids looked at her, half with suspicion and half with concern. Emma was also the daughter of a noble and outranked the other maids, so they were expected to attend to her. There were some countries on the continent destroyed by Tindalos that did not follow suit, but…

“Um, let’s see.” Emma snapped back to attention at the maids’ voices and remembered her current position. “This light blue dress, the silver necklace, and then…” She could easily choose her own style, but the maids stopped her.

“Lady Emma, that would be no different from usual.”

“This time, you are the main character, Lady Emma. There’s no need to play the supporting role to Queen Lovisa.” That was right, she was the king’s date this time, so she had to be the main character. Emma had forgotten that.

(It seems I’m far from being in a normal state of mind…) This was a mistake the usual Emma would never make. … In the end, it would take half a day to decide on her outfit.

The cause of the normally composed lady’s maid’s unusual fluster was her usual attire. This was not because Marius looked down on Emma.

(If I put in all my effort for the first one, there are eight more afterwards…) He didn’t have the confidence to think of nine different outfits. Normally, one would distinguish between the queen and the others, but Marius unfortunately didn’t know that “normal.” Since Emma, who was supposed to point these things out, was in a state of confusion, no one else did. Or rather, there was one other person who could have pointed it out.

(Master, does he know about these customs?) El was watching the date unfold during her patrol. It was highly likely Marius didn’t know, but she wouldn’t point it out. It would be impossible to wear extravagant clothes or go on an expensive date to see the queen who was recuperating. For a fleeting moment, she wondered if that was why he brought it up now, but Marius didn’t seem to have thought that far. He probably just felt like “playing around.”

(To have no bad moves without thinking about anything… is astonishing in a way…?) El evaluated her master, while acknowledging her own favoritism.

“Thank you for waiting.” Emma ran up, out of breath, to Marius, who was already at the meeting place.

“It’s fine, I just got here,” he said, taking out a handkerchief and wiping the sweat from Emma’s brow.

“W-well, if you say so.” Though she was likely unaware of it, her ragged breathing was quite alluring.

“Your flushed face is beautiful and sexy too, Emma. I feel like I got a good deal,” Marius whispered sweetly in her ear. Emma turned bright red, lowered her gaze, and fidgeted.

“What are you two doing fooling around in the middle of the street?” a resentful gaze was directed at them, but the sender immediately recognized who it was. Then, a look that seemed to say, “Can’t you at least try to be discreet?” was sent, and they hurried away. It was unprecedented in history for a ruler of a nation to openly fool around with another person in full view of the public in this manner. Because of this, the public didn’t know how to react. If he were trying to be discreet, they would pretend not to notice… Ignoring the bewildered onlookers, Marius took Emma’s hand and began to walk.

“I’ve never seen you in a blue dress before, Emma, but it suits you beautifully.”

“D-do you think so? I thought a more subdued color would be… ”

“No, no, while muted colors suit you too, this vibrant dress is also very fitting. You’re beautiful to begin with, so you can pull off various styles.”

“Th-thank you.” If she listened closely, Marius wasn’t offering specific praise. But Emma, completely captivated, didn’t notice. Meanwhile, the Scheming Succubus, who had been watching secretly, felt nauseous and retreated.

“I guess someone in your position as a lady’s maid needs a good sense of fashion, huh?” Marius asked. Emma nodded.

“Yes. One of my duties is to select clothing for the Princess. If I make a mistake, it could cause the Princess great embarrassment, so I polished my skills with all my might.” Marius, who was unusually uninterested in clothing, showed rare interest in the matter, so Emma answered enthusiastically, thinking it a fortunate turn of events. She hoped this would lead to Marius developing at least a little interest in clothing. The outfitters and dressmakers who had poured their hearts into their work, and the maids in charge of costumes, shed tears in secret day after day. They wished for their creations to receive recognition. It was indicative of Emma’s nature that she would think of such things during a date. More importantly, it was precisely because of this that Marius was captivated.

“I kind of know there’s a hierarchy among ladies’ maids, but you’re top-tier among them, aren’t you, Emma?”

“Yes. By job title, I suppose I’m just below the Head Maid and the Chief Steward.” She was hastily promoted because they couldn’t possibly have a mere lady’s maid attending to the King and Queen, but she didn’t mention that. Normally, it would be unthinkable for the King of a nation to be unaware of such things. However, the King before them was extraordinary in every sense of the word. The conclusion reached by those around him was that things would go more smoothly if they didn’t try to force him to conform to common sense. This was because he hadn’t yet made any fatal mistakes. If he had committed a major blunder, he would undoubtedly have been provided with ample time to learn about being a king, regardless of his own wishes. After discussing clothes and maids at length, Emma finally remembered something she ought to mention.

“Um, in public, please call me Emma. It’s unbecoming of a king of a nation to add honorifics to a mere lady’s maid.”

“Ah, sorry. I forgot,” Marius said, scratching his cheek. His old habit had slipped out.

“Emma.”

“Yes.” A somewhat ticklish atmosphere flowed between them.

“Em-ma.”

“Yes.” They looked at each other and giggled.

“Emma.”

“Yes.” The awkwardness faded, and they shared smiles.

“Emma, Emma, Emma.”

“Yes, yes, yes.”

“This is nice,” Marius said with a sigh, and Emma nodded emphatically.

“Yes. I feel like we’ve finally moved forward.” The two, holding hands in the middle of the road, looking into each other’s eyes and sharing their feelings, were viewed with annoyance by others. But since it was the King of the country, they couldn’t complain. Thus, the troublesome couple continued to spread a sweet atmosphere around them.

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