SFO CH 18

Extra Episode: The Young Man is Jealous (Part 1)

“Graphite-sama, you’ve changed so much! Now that I see you after such a long time, I can say I’m honestly surprised!”

I look at my husband’s ex-lover, who says that while smiling with eyes as bright as the sun with a bitter feeling.

“Noah, too, I’m glad to see you so happy…!”

My husband was looking at his ex-lover, as if he was overcome with emotion, as if submerged in reminiscence… as if love was seeping out of him.

As the head of the marquess’ family, my husband is obligated to attend the nobility meetings that are held several times a year. Attending these meetings, which are held at the royal palace, may be said to be the most important of the head of the family’s duties. The decisions made at these meetings have a great bearing on the interests of the estate and, by extension, the interests of the family.

The meetings generally last about two weeks, so my husband goes to the palace almost every day during that period. Today was the first day of the meeting, and when I arrived at the castle with my husband, we bumped into Noah, who was at work.

Before, we never went to the castle together, so there was no way for me to see my husband meeting his ex-lover, and even if I had, I wouldn’t have thought anything of it.

But now…

“Ah, I will be the secretary of the Marquess Graphite House, so I think I’ll see you again at the meeting! This is my first time being selected as the secretary of the marquess’ family, but I will do my very best, so I look forward to working with you!”

“I know how hard you work, Noah. I’m sure I can count on you to be diligent. I look forward to working with you as well.”

—

The minutes of the meeting are absolute. Especially for a family with a strong voice, such as a marquess’s family, a very experienced clerk needs to be chosen. Noah has been in the recording department for six years now, so he was an adequate choice.

But still…

It is a well-known fact that Noah is Al’s former lover. Noah is a bit of an airhead, so he doesn’t seem to be questioning it, but… Is this just the personnel officer in the records department trying to get under my skin? Or was it that they decided that since they already have a family and a child, there would be no problem?

“Husband. I have work to do, so if you’ll excuse me… See you later, Noah.”

“Finn…?”

“Sure, Finn-sama! See you later!”

Perhaps I was a little bit nervous because I didn’t want to see the two of them any more? Al seemed to want to say something, but I’d like him to give me some space.

There’s nothing wrong going on here.

Noah did not show any concern for the fact that they were ex-lovers, and treated my husband with the proper respect and courtesy. Him being selected as our secretary was also personnel affairs’ decision, not Noah’s will. My husband only returned his greeting with a certain closeness because he was feeling nostalgic. Nothing more.

But it still makes me feel so… bad.

Because as much as I try to explain it with my brain, the way my husband behaved around Noah stung my heart more than I expected.

For two weeks, you would be staring at Noah with that look on your face. For two weeks, you would be working by Noah’s side…

Noah is right in the middle of your husband’s strike zone. It is no exaggeration to say that Noah is his type. Simple, hardworking, and a smile as bright as the sun. Someone my husband had loved so much he went as far as locking him up so that he wouldn’t be taken away from him.

Noah already has a beloved child and husband, and has a surprisingly cheerful personality, so I don’t think he has any regrets about his past. He was also very happy when I told her that I had reconciled (?) with my husband.

I don’t think anything will happen to him by any chance, but I have no control over other people’s feelings. If my husband finds Noah attractive, there’s nothing I can do about it.

The more he makes that face, the more he seems to still have feelings for him.

I left work that day feeling depressed.

The blurring did not clear up when I returned home, and I put away the papers at the mansion, which were not urgent. It is not unusual for Al to stay overnight at the royal palace at this time of the year, and he has not returned yet today. I know that the parliamentary session ends in the middle of the day and that he is not working overtime with Noah, who is in the middle of raising his children, but I can’t help but have unpleasant thoughts going through my mind.

That day, as expected, my husband didn’t come home.

When I was leaving for work the next day, I saw Noah and the Master talking in the hallway at what seemed to be a bad moment.

“Noah, I’m sorry for keeping you up so late at night. Is everything all right at home?”

‘I have my mother here this time of year, so everything will be fine until the parliamentary session is over. But I can’t just throw my work away and go home. At any rate, I’m also happy I was able to talk to you after so long, Al… uh, Graphite-sama.”

“Al is fine.”

“That’s not how it works! But I’ll probably make mistakes until I get used to it…”

With a giggle, my husband happily puts his hand on Noah’s head.

Huh…?

Were you together until late yesterday? Or rather, you said you could work overtime until the end of the parliamentary session…?

My husband looks at Noah with the same loving face as yesterday. Noah also looks more relaxed and happy than when he is with me and my colleagues.

What’s going on here? Is there even room for me…?

Why are you touching Noah with such an expression on your face?

Was the confession you gave me before a lie…?

I can’t see what’s inside my husband’s heart.

Thinking that, I turned my eyes away from the two of them and walked quickly to my office.

A week has passed since then.

Now, the royal palace is abuzz with rumors.

That Marquess Graphite is secretly meeting with his ex-lover.

That Marquess Graphite is still in love with his ex-lover.

That Marquess Graphite brings his ex-lover into his room at the royal palace at night and does not let him go until morning.

Whenever I walked down the corridors of the palace, not only the civil servants but also the maids would look at me with concern. Moreover, I’ve received advances from large knights whom I had never had the pleasure of meeting before.

“Section Manager Graphite.”

“Ah, vice commander. Can I help you with anything?”

“I’m here about the budget. Is this a good time?”

Incidentally, the previous section chief had accepted the aide’s offer, so I was promoted to Section Manager. I am still not used to being called that, and more often than not I will not respond unless I am called by name.

The vice commander of the Knights of the Order’s name is Hope, who has turned 25 years old just recently, and took office this year as a replacement. In addition to his sword skills, he is good enough with numbers to work as an accountant. And although I do not feel that I am being robbed of our budget, his drafts are so efficient and persuasive that I often agree with them.

His reason for his persuasiveness was the fact that he had been pushed quite hard when it came to studying on account of him being the younger brother of previous aide Orkney, who had taken up the Prime Minister’s seat.

“Then, I’ll look forward to working with you.”

“Thank you for your time. …Um,”

“Yes?”

He was smiling with a face that was screaming ‘should I keep on talking?,’ until eventually he broke out of his silence with something completely unexpected.

“Um, are you alright, Section Manager Graphite? With all those rumors around you…”

“—!”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude… But I have heard that our guys are messing with you just for this reason. I’m taking strict measures about this, so if you hear of anything else, please let me know right away.”

“A-ah, thank you very much.”

“My brother seemed to be very worried about you. …As I am as well.”

Startled, I looked at the deputy commander. He is a little shorter than my husband, and my eyes meet with his, which were hiding behind his glasses. The strange thing about him is that he looks very similar to former aide Orkney, and has the same silver hair, but it’s cut short, which makes him look manly along with his well-trained muscles.

“I don’t mean to cause you any trouble. You can pretend that you didn’t notice. But I can’t pretend that I haven’t seen the sad look on your face.”

“Oliver-kun…”

He and I have been friends since before Aria was born. I’ve met him many times at the former aide’s house. I’ve always thought of him as my nephew, even though he’s only one year older than me. After we started working together, I was impressed with how talented he was, but…I hadn’t noticed him at all.

“Thank you. I’ll try to take care of it myself first. Well, I can’t give you an actual answer right now, but I’m glad to hear your feelings. To be honest, I’m not feeling well about it… I’ll make sure to thank the aide…no, the Prime Minister for his concern as well.”

“…Sure. You can count on me anytime.”

I thanked Oliver-kun again before saying goodbye to him. Well, maybe it’s about time my husband and I have a talk about what’s going on.

…If you keep running away, nothing will get resolved, right?