Hokuou Kizoku to Moukinzuma no Yukiguni Karigurashi

Chapter 59: Reunion

Volume 2 — The Honeymoon of the Northern Nobleman and the Raptor Wife

The long awaited reunion with Sieglinde! I was so happy that I was so restless during the two days trip on the boat.

At the port, a servant from Sieg’s house was there to guide me.

In the carriage, a brother-in-law told me about the recent interesting happenings in the Wattins’ mansion. I’m glad that Sieg’s healthy.

Three hours later, we arrived at the lush lands that the Count ruled over.

In front of the entrance, Sieglinde’s brothers were waiting for me.

I wonder what’s happening. They all greeted me with bright expressions. It’s not weird if it’s just one, but there were many bulky soldier men lined up.

A strange scene.

“Welcome, Ritzhard-kun, we were waiting for you!”

“Eh? Aa, thank you very much.”

“You do not have to be so polite here! We are brothers, are we not?”

“I see. I’ll try to get used to it.”

I was troubled at how I should react to these soldiers who spoke with such a neat manner. In addition, there were people I saw for the first time. Rather, out the five present, I’m seeing four of them for the first time.

They all had red hair, and faces of raptors. They were all a head taller than me, so it was a little scary to be surrounded by them.

“Brothers-in-law, why are you here though?”

“Eh, no, erm, that is.”

“Ah—, that is. That is because our strong…… I mean, c-cu, cute little sister…… nuo!! I am getting chills here!!”

“Aa, that is because you are saying something that you do not mean for real!”

“Anyhow, Sieglinde is slightly cross!!”

“Sieg is? Hehh, how unusual.”

Suddenly, my brothers-in-law all gasped and stared at me in disbelief.

“Erm, where’s Sieg?”

“To her room, please hurry!”

“U, wa!!”

I was pushed by the burliest brother to Sieg’s room. He opened the door, threw me in and closed the door.

I looked back at the door that was closed with great force, and tilted my head in wonder.

And when I looked around the room, Sieg was sitting by the window. When our eyes met, she stood up from surprise.

“Ritzhard!”

“Ah, long time no see, Sieglin……”

Before I could say her name, Sieg ran over to me and hugged me.

The moment our bodies met, I wondered if this was a dream, but when her red hair brushed my cheeks I realised that it was real.

I savoured the hug.

“……Sieg, I missed you.”

I whispered that into her ears, as Sieg silently nodded. When my lips touched her earlobes, they slowly dyed light red.

For now, I split away from Sieg and made her sit down on the chair beside the window.

“How is your body?”

“Aa, not bad.”

“I see.”

But she says that she still has morning sickness.

“Ritz, you look like you thinned a bit.”

“Is that so?”

I might have lost weight from stress. I didn’t have much time to rest because I had to teach father for a month. I was straining myself without realising it.

My thoughts on living together with my parents are utterly unspeakable. They were travelling for a decade, so their common senses became really weird. I got very tired from taking care of them.

“Really, living with Sieg was the best.”

Sitting down in front of Sieg, I reminisced about our life during the temporary period. I could only remember enjoyable things.

“Sieg, what were you doing for the past month?”

“Well, they said that I can’t do this or that, I had many limits.”

“Sounds tough.”

Mother-in-law and Sieg’s sister-in-law were next to her, keeping watch on her.

“They seem to think that I’ll go out exercising the moment they take their eyes off me. Really, what a rude family.”

Because her family was worried, she was quietly sewing or knitting.

Sieg showed me her works.

“You made a lot.”

“Well, I was bored.”

Woollen coat, gloves, scarf, socks. They all had neat trapezoid patterns.

Sieg put on the scarf on me.

The scarf felt good to touch, being made with blue yarn. The soft feeling healed me.

“This, is this for me?”

“Aa, everything here is for Ritz.”

“Eh, really!? I’m happy!”

Guess what, all the woollen goods are for me.

“Thank you, Sieglinde!”

I thanked her and kissed her on the cheek.

When I split from her, my eyes locked with her grey eyes. Since we were separated for such a long time, I ended up getting embarrassed.

We were staring each other for a long time, but Sieg averted her gaze first. Her eyelashes were fluttering slightly.

Leaning against the wall, Sieg looked embarrassed. When our gazes met again, she tried to escape, so I put up both arms against the wall to capture her.

“Hey, Sieg.”

“!?”

“Can I kiss you?”

“……”

“You don’t want to?”

“……Not really.”

Since she said didn’t dislike it, I took one arm off the wall and wrapped it around her waist.

“Ah, I should have taken my coat off.”

Because of the fluffy coat, I couldn’t feel her. Because my brothers-in-law were waiting outside, I didn’t have time to take my coat off.

However, if I back out now, it might be hard to capture the embarrassed Sieg again, so I continued.

She had hung her head down, so I put one hand to her chin and lifted her head up and kissed her. I wanted to savour this, but the brakes won’t listen so I kissed her lightly.

I slowly split from her and looked into her face. Her cheeks were dyed red, and her grey eyes were moist, that it had a deeper glint than usual.

When I stroked her chin, her eyes were closed. Since I didn’t have this opportunity that much, I kissed her lightly near the mouth and let her go again.

“Now, I have to go to father-in-law.”

“……Aa, that’s right.”

This was Sieg’s house. I couldn’t stay here all the time.

“Where’s father-in-law?”

“He seems to be in the office.”

“I see. Thank you.”

I gently patted her and started to leave, but Sieg grabbed my coat flap.

“Ah, right, my coat. I have to take it off.”

“No, that’s not what I mean.”

“Nn?”

“As Ritz said, living together was the best.”

“Well, with family, we can’t really have each other at the highest priority.”

For some reason, the time we lived together felt like a long time ago. We were split for just a month, it’s weird.

Sieg too made a bitter smile.

“I wish we can go back home soon.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll be able to go back soon.”

I didn’t make the vapid remark of pointing out that this was Sieg’s home as well.

◇◇◇

Then the two of us went downstairs.

“Aa, Ritzhard-kun, nice work!”

“?”

I’m not sure what’s nice, but my brothers-in-law were welcoming so I bowed.

“So, about the ranch.”

“Eh!?”

“Is there anything wrong?”

“You, you are planning to work?”

“Yes, I am, so……?”

I seem to have said something strange, so I looked at Sieg.

“Father is just surprised that Ritzhard-kun is so diligent.”

“Eh, really?”

When I looked toward father-in-law, he nodded in agreement to Sieg’s words.

“You came a long way, you should rest for two or three days.”

“No, I can’t possibly.”

It feels bad to laze around. I pleaded for some work.

“Haa, really, I wish my sons would be a bit like this.”

It seems that my brothers-in-law, who are soldiers, aren’t helping with the ranch. But well, they’re here on vacation, so that doesn’t sound fair.

“Ritzhard-kun, to be frank, it’s a great help. Can you start helping me from the afternoon?”

“Yes, of course.”

Thus, I challenged myself to this new work.