A few months later.
"No no, that lord is marrying an legal wife!"
"All along he didn't even have interest in women"
I was going to marry the lord as his legal wife.
Today was the day the marriage ceremony was held.
I was robed in a splendid kimono, waiting to be called in the room.
At the time I was going to be the legal wife, there was intially much antipathy from around the lord.
ー…Just a town girl…
ー…Moreover, that person seems to have always been a vagrant…
ー…I wonder if something like this is fine…?
However, people immediately stopped saying those things.
Rather, people has now started to say, "We'll be counting on the lord!"
That seemed to be the reason the lord was called a foolish lord.
As I have been away from this town for ten years and did not know, but the lord seems to be rather no good.
Firstly, he hates disputes.
Even if a problem arises, the punishment is light.
At any rate, he is too kind.
By other means aside from war, when it is about to become something like that, he would earnestly apologize himself and evade war.
Because of that, his territory seemed to have lessened.
He is indeed hopeless.
However, that personality is something that originated from my father's teaching.
"'No matter what it is, put yourself in the shoes of others. What is it that people do that makes you happy and what is it that you are subjected to that makes you miserable. The things that make you happy someone does it to you, please do it to others as well. Conversely, something when done to you that makes you miserable, you must never ever do it to others. What should you do to make the other party pleased. If you live while bearing that in mind, everything will surely go well.' ー…That was my father's teachings.
Since young I have heard that countless times and empathized with those teachings even when I was young.
Wanting to make someone delighted, wanting to bring someone happiness and not wanting to impose sad memories on someone. Finding it unpleasant because someone dying is sad and finding war unpleasant. …All the while I have lived while thinking like that.
Indeed even if I am called a foolish lord, it is inevitable.
However, I'm fine even with that. I'm even if I am called a foolish lord.
I don't want to live while not understanding others' pain and causing others to cry. No matter the extent I am said to be soft, said that I am not suited to be a lord, I want to live as someone who can understand people's pain. I want to be that kind of lord who can get close to people.
I don't know when I will be taken down from this seat due to being a foolish lord.
Because of that, perhaps I may be exiled to somewhere. To be honest, that is not a very good situation.
…Even despite that…if you are fine with me…will you, come along with me?"
The day I decided on getting married, the lord said that to me.
"Of course."
With that, no matter what kind of matters happen to this person, I made a resolution that I would be together with him.
The lord was certainly not suited to being a lord.
But, he was liked by the townspeople.
Finding me was not the only reason the lord disguised himself and wandered around town.
I heard that it was for the purpose of integrating with the townspeople and knowing the town's state of affairs.
However, it seems like the lord was the only one who had thought that he had integrated. After the wedding was set, when you heard from the townspeople, "The lord? Ahh, he went as far as disguising himself and coming to the town to visit, he's a good person. He also often comes to my soba shop to eat. When he thinks that there is something inconvenient in the town, he would immediately improve on it. …Ahh, I had noticed. But, when I think that he is coming because he's concerned about us, I could't say it out. I was just pretending that I hadn't noticed." They were saying.
You were totally exposed, Lord.
I think that you should bring out a little more of the common people way of thinking.
You are a bit too gaudy.
According to other stories which I also heard,
If there was a famine, he was fine with reducing his own portion and distributed the castle's rice to the townspeople. If wild boars descend from the mountain, causing the fields to be damaged, he would deploy the punitive troops from the castle and even then if there was no progress, he would personally depart for the front and capture them (despite certainly not departing for the front in real wars. By the way, I heard that he turned the wild boars into boar stew and treated the townspeople).
When someone died he would be present as the lord and apologise for being unable to protect while crying his eyes out. (It seems like these times he went as the lord. Didn't he disguise himself in order to not get exposed…?) Conversely, there were also cases where he troubled the townspeople. They're troubled when the lord apologises to the earth while postrating himself even if the person had died of old age…
Anyway, he thought of the townspeople and was creating the kind of town where people can don't suffer and come to live freely.
Because he is that kind of lord that I thought again that I wanted to support him.
It's fine even if he is a foolish lord and a hopeless lord.
He is very kind, thinks of people, understands people's pain, cry for other's sake, I am fine if he is that kind of person.
I heard a voice calling me from far away.
I headed towards the hall which was the venue where the marriage ceremony was held.
There, was that hall, the place where the verdict that my father was going to be decapitated was pronounced and that was also the place where I was called out by the lord.
According to the lord, he was going to repaint enjoyable memories on top of the memories of that hall.
In actual fact, from now on when I think of that all, it will probably be the happy memories of the wedding and not that sorrowful incident.
ー…Father, Mother, are you watching?
I stopped my feet halfway through the passage and looked up at the clear blue sky.
ーI am already fine. I no longer have hatred and pain.
As I shifted my gaze back, the lord was waiting for me with a smile at the opposite of the passage.
I walked towards where the lord was.
ーFrom now on I will be living together with this person. I will definitely become happy.
ーThat's why, please be relieved already.
I smiled and laid my hands on top of the palm of the big hand held out to meー…
The End
Translator corner:
So we have come to the end of this novel! It was a short read, but I hope you all still enjoyed it. 🙂
Do check out the other novels I’m translating if you like. I would also like to do a shout out for some help, especially for editing. I am quite skeptical about my proficiency in English. Please drop by the page if you don’t mind helping. I’ll really appreciate it.
Now that one novel is completed, I am thinking of picking up a new one and I am opening up to requests. If you are interested, please check out the post. Thanks! ^_^