It's late afternoon at the mansion, time to relax after finishing office duties.

　In the living room, I was being touched by Erica as I relaxed.
　Erica's tongue is now familiar to me.

　It's scary what you can get used to.
　I'm not going to let her do what she wants to do, I thought.

"...Hey darling.
What's going on?

　Erica asked as she suddenly remembered.
　She was sticky with me, but she let go of my body and stared straight at me.

　The tone of her voice is more serious than ever, and her eyes are quite serious.

　What's going on?

Doesn't your darling hate being the center of attention?
"...why is this happening all of a sudden?
Are you sure about that?
Well, yeah.

　I nodded quietly.
　It wasn't something to hide, and in fact, if you've been watching me for a while, at least Erica, you'd know it, even if you didn't want to.
　So I nodded normally, not trying to hide it.

"Why?
That's the trouble with all that attention and power, isn't it?
Is it too much trouble?
Yeah, it's a pain in the ass. It's a pain in the ass.

　It's a real pain in the ass.
　I can say this with confidence, because I've already experienced it.

"I mean, it's still better if it's just troublesome. They know you're powerful, and then they rely on you, and then they rely on you, and then they make you say, 'You're the only one who can help us,' and then they make you work until you're on the verge of death from overwork, often.
Well there are cases like that, aren't there?

　Erica slumped.
　She was wilting somehow.

　It wasn't like her usual girlfriend, she thought.
　The usual Erica would have said, "That's the duty of a powerful man! Or, "Darling would not die of overwork because it's just one little finger and a little bit of a little bit," or something like that.
　I thought they would say that kind of thing.

　But Erica didn't say that.

　I wondered what was wrong with her, and she looked up - looking very complicated, both sad and proud.

'Hey darling, you know what?'
Huh?
Master Rika, you know, actually died of exhaustion.
What.

　I was startled.
　Surprised as hard as I could, I looked at Erica with wide-eyed vigor.

　Rika Kalamba.
　A person that Erica believed in and even "borrowed" her name.
　She was the woman who was called the greatest wise king in the history of the Kalamba Kingdom.

　Erica laughed and continued with a more complicated expression.

'Of course, you won't find that in the history books. But the more I study it, the more I can only assume it's so. He's bold and strict. He's tough on others and on himself. Every day and late into the night, he would read through hundreds of governmental affairs with his own eyes and just shovel in some richly flavored food at intervals.
I'm afraid I'm going to die prematurely.

　Even after listening to Erika's story briefly, she already sounded like the type to die prematurely.
　So that's the type of person you were, Rika Karamba.

''But I officially deny that a famous monarch died from overwork because it's bad news to the outside world. The greatest great monarch in history has to be deified.
I know.
'But I can only assume that's the way the situation is, and people who know eventually know, and a secret is something that will eventually leak out if three people know it.
You said that before.

　I smiled at Erica's top-notch expression.

　But that's exactly what it is.

　When a person is known to be powerful, they are swarmed with work.

　The slowest people in the world are the incompetent aristocrats.
　The less busy people are the common people.
　The able-bodied aristocrats are forced to work from morning till night without a break....

　So I wanted to hide my power and live quietly.

Well, that's good news.

　I shrugged my shoulders, smiling, and said to Erica.

'That's why I don't want to show off,'
'Yeah, that makes sense. I wondered why, but now that I know my darling thinks that way, it makes sense.

　As she says this, Erica looks depressed and thoughtful.

　You understand.
　If so........thank you.
　I wonder if for the first time in my life, Erica will be the child who cooperates with my "I don't want to be serious", Erica.

　That Erika huffed up and gave a big smile.

''Then........it's okay if you don't show off, right?
What do you mean, you have to keep a low profile?
Hang on, darling, Erica, I'm gonna go for it!

　Erica said, standing up quickly and walking out of the room.

'Oh, hey,'

　I'm late to the party because of the suddenness of the situation.
　My outstretched hand to keep him back cuts off the sky.

　...Trying to do what?
　What are you trying to do, Erica?

　I've got a bad feeling about this.
　I've got a really bad feeling about this.
　I've got a bad feeling about this.

　I couldn't help but have a bad feeling, but I knew that making a move on my part would only make the situation worse, and Erica's line about not being "inconspicuous" was a stopgap.

　Just like in the office, it's fine if you stick to that concept - or is it?

　I thought to myself.

　　　　　☆

　A few days later, after office hours were over, I was in my office.

　My sister came into the room, replacing Mimis and the others.

"You look tired, Hermes.
Sister, yeah, maybe a little more than that.

　I stretch out in my chair.
　Even though I'm slouching, office work is office work.
　Eventually I get tired and my shoulders get stiff.

　I stretched and rotated my shoulders, wrists, and a few joints here and there to relieve myself of the lump.

'I wonder if anyone's here today?'

　My sister grinned at me as she said this.
　She tends to be happy that I'm getting along with other girls.

　These days, Erica has been goofy to me in her passive-aggressive wife state for a long time now, so she's always in a good mood when she sees that.

'Well, yeah.'
Isn't Erica-sama here?
I haven't seen her in a few days. Well, she's probably busy.

　After all, she is the Queen of Kalamba.

　Erica is not the kind of woman who neglects her duties because she's obsessed with me.
　That is the same as her follower, Rika Karamba, who devoted all her time to her duties and to the man she liked.

　If you can't come, I guess that means you're too busy for that.

'I see. I see you're busier than I expected.
Huh?　What do you know about it, sister?
'Yes. Erica-sama, rumor has it you've been busy with the Kakeru ceremony.
Calling?

　What the hell is that?

Don't you know, Hermes?

　My sister gave another little "grin" like that.

　........oh, I have a bad feeling.
　That feeling I had a few days ago came back.

"Hang on, sis.

　I held up my hand and held my temple with my other hand.

'What's up, Hermes?'
What's this shit you're talking about?
'No wonder the men don't know about it. It's a ritual passed down among the nobles of the five great powers--especially royalty.
Ritual.
'It's something we do when the head of the family becomes a woman and, for various reasons, doesn't want his son-in-law out in public.
...Heh.
Everyone has different circumstances. When you're in love with someone of a different race, you know?
I see.

　It's a common story in plays.

"The Kakeru ceremony will be performed in such a way that the woman's husband will have a mate he doesn't want to reveal to you, but he has one. It's a secret.
In secret.
When it comes to royalty, it's a lot tougher than it used to be, and the person who leaks it can be put to death if they're not good at it.
...is that so?

　I nodded and got the point.

　I see, so this is what Erica was talking about when she said that last thing that day, 'I'm going to go for it'.

　If it's so severe that the person who leaked it would be put to death, it would be quite effective.
　Erica is particularly unforgiving.
　She could seriously put the person who leaked it to death.

　That person is... well, probably me, and the idea of having me as a companion is a bit tricky, but I thought, okay, this is good.

　I thought...................but for some reason she was grinning.

I'm sure you'll be able to find out more about this. What's going on?
It's nothing. Come to think of it, I just remembered that she said this too.
You mean like this?
'A secret isn't a secret if the three of us know about it.'
Oh...
'Uh-huh. It's going to be extra hard when you try to hide something in your humility and they find out.

　I held my head up.
　That's what my sister said before, and it's been proven.

　Does that mean that what Erica said is also...?

　Oh no, it's not just bad, it's beyond bad.

　Not just three, but at least four, five, maybe ten people know about this story.

　There's no reason for this to spread and if they find out about it, it's going to be even worse.

"...Ohh...