"This is the Chamber of Heavenly Splendor.
We'll prepare the meal now, so would you mind waiting here for a little while?"
Led by Margaret, Yuri stepped into the Chamber of Heavenly Splendor.
Its high ceiling was crossed with exposed beams, and the gold leaf peeling away in places told a faint story of how magnificent it must once have been. The paintings of heroic legends on the walls had faded, their damage plain to see, and an air of melancholy hung about them.
The Chamber of Heavenly Splendor was the most ornate room in the palace.
It was a pitiful sight now, but it was easy enough to imagine that it had once been a room worthy of that name.
Yuri turned his eyes toward the raised dais where a throne had likely once stood.
There was nothing there now—only emptiness, as though the dais itself mourned the throne's absence.
Perhaps the first emperor had once sat here, passing elegant hours with his consorts.
But now, all anyone could do was imagine it.
Celine swept her gaze around the room, then spoke to Margaret with a gentle smile.
"You repaired this much in only three months, Margaret.
Thank you, truly.
I know funds and manpower were both scarce, so I'm grateful you did this much."
"You honor me with your words.
There is still much beyond my ability, and I am sorry for the inconvenience."
Margaret bowed her head and answered modestly.
"It's all right. I doubt any royalty or high nobles will be coming here for some time.
I'm truly grateful."
At Celine's gentle words, Yuri nodded at once and added his own.
"She's right. Just having a place we can live in is something to be thankful for."
"I'm very glad to hear you say so."
A relieved smile rose to Margaret's face.
Just then, the voice of a girl rang out from somewhere far away.
"Maaargaret!"
It was a loud, urgent shout, coming closer by the second.
Before Yuri could react, another voice came chasing after it.
"Fiona, wait!"
A different girl's voice.
Apparently she was chasing after someone named Fiona.
"What exactly do you think running in there is going to solve?
I told you to wait a second."
A third voice joined in almost immediately.
"Ch-Chloe, wait for me too!"
Fiona, Chloe, and one more.
Judging by the direction of the voices, all three of them were rushing this way in a panic.
"B-but what am I supposed to do...? I messed up!"
The voice that echoed out sounded utterly panicked.
"Honestly... those girls..."
Margaret rubbed at the crease in her brow and let out a sigh tinged with a wry smile.
There was exasperation in it, yes—but also a note of worry, almost motherly in its warmth.
"Apologizing is one thing, but what do you think barging in there is going to do?
My lord husband is here, so at least try to be a little more careful!"
The girl called Chloe sounded like she was sharply lecturing Fiona.
"If you rush in like that, you'll only make things worse!
Calm down, Fiona!"
The third voice seemed to be doing her best to soothe her.
"Haha, sounds like something happened. I wonder if they're all right."
Listening to Fiona and the others from across the room, Yuri smiled.
At that moment, the sliding doors by the dais flew open, and a beautiful girl in a maid outfit came dashing in, her golden hair flying.
She was probably the Fiona the others had been calling for.
"M-Margaret, I'm so sorry!"
With that cry, Fiona burst into the room as though she had thrown herself through the air—and landed in a magnificent diving prostration.
Her forehead was pressed against the floor, and her voice shook a little.
"I'm really sorry!
I messed up, and... I didn't know what else to do!"
Still bowing to the floor, Fiona went on apologizing in a tearful voice.
Her panic rode straight into her words and rang through the whole room.
The next instant, two shadows fell on either side of her.
Two beautiful girls sank to their knees at the same time, placed their hands on the floor, and lowered their heads.
One was a girl with deep crimson hair and a cool, composed air about her.
Her movements were quiet and polished—so perfect they looked almost ritualistic.
The other was a girl with pale pink hair.
She dropped to her knees in a rush and bowed a little awkwardly, only to slam her forehead into the floor with too much force.
A dull thud echoed out, and she let out a small cry.
"My lord husband, I sincerely apologize for this disturbance."
The crimson-haired girl kept her composure as she offered the apology in a steady voice.
There was something in her tone that suggested concern for Fiona as well.
Fiona, meanwhile, lifted her face in surprise and cried out to the crimson-haired girl.
"Ch-Chloe, what are you doing!?"
"M-my apologies.
This isn't Fiona's fault alone."
The pale pink-haired girl, though obviously in pain, hurried to add words in Fiona's defense.
Awkward as she was, her kindness came through plainly.
It was obvious she was doing everything she could to shield Fiona.
"L-Lily too!?
It was my mistake, so both of you, please lift your heads.
Your beautiful hair will get dirty."
With tears in her eyes, Fiona called out to them in a flustered voice.
Her voice trembled, and the tears threatening to spill from her eyes looked ready to fall to the floor at any moment.
"N-neither of them did anything wrong.
If someone must be punished, then please let it be me alone!"
Still worrying about the other two, Fiona turned back toward Yuri and bowed deeply again.
Yuri hesitated for a moment, unsure what he ought to do, and glanced at Celine.
Noticing his look, she only smiled and gave him a quiet nod, as if to say, It's all yours, my lord husband.
Yuri pointed at himself with one finger as though asking, Me?
Celine answered with a radiant smile and a firm nod.
Letting some of the tension leave his shoulders, Yuri took a small breath, stood, and walked toward the three girls.
Perhaps they heard his footsteps, because he could see Fiona and the others' shoulders jerk taut.
They looked as though they had stopped breathing altogether, and that tension spread through the room.
Bending slightly so as not to loom over them, Yuri spoke as gently as he could.
"There's no need to panic that much.
Will you tell me what happened, slowly?"
At the sound of his voice, all three girls lifted their faces in surprise.
His gentle words gradually began to ease the rigidity from their bodies.
"M-my lord husband..."
Fiona opened her mouth in a trembling voice, then fell silent for a moment as though searching for the words.
At last, as if bracing herself, she forced them out.
"I... I spilled the food...
I ruined all of it. I'm terribly sorry!"
As she said it, Fiona bowed her head deeply once more.
Her voice was thick with tears, and her expression made it painfully clear how serious she believed her mistake to be.
Fiona squeezed out the rest of her words.
"After I worked so hard to make it..."
At that, Yuri gave a short nod.
He could feel how hard she must have worked, and how crushed she was now.
Taking a deep breath, he did not blame them for their mistake.
Instead, he offered words of comfort.
"Thank you, Fiona. You really did your best.
But everyone makes mistakes.
If the food was ruined, we can simply make it again.
And more than anything, I'm happy that all of you worked so hard for us."
Yuri spoke to her gently, but even after hearing those words, Fiona still could not lift her head.
"N-no... we can't..."
Large tears spilled from Fiona's eyes, dropping to the floor as though being swallowed by it.
"Hm? Why not?"
Yuri asked in puzzlement, but Fiona only bit her lip in silence.
Seeing that, Chloe calmly took over.
"We can't, my lord husband."
Chloe's steady voice rang through the room.
"Can't? Why not?"
Yuri frowned slightly and asked again.
"We don't have any ingredients..."
This time it was Lily who spoke up apologetically.
Her eyes, too, quivered with unease.
"Um... what exactly do you mean?"
Tilting his head, Yuri turned to Margaret.
"The truth is... we are short on food for a number of reasons."
Margaret answered with a grave expression.
"Is it just this household? Or the whole territory?"
At Yuri's question, Margaret gave a heavy nod.
"The whole territory.
Meat prices have been rising lately, and we can no longer buy enough of it.
If there were a little more magical beast meat in circulation, things might stabilize, but the number of adventurers coming here has also fallen...
And because farmers have been leaving ever since the previous governor's time, we have almost no wheat reserves left either."
"I see..."
Yuri fell silent for a moment in thought, then spoke.
"I think it'll be all right.
At least for the meat, I can probably do something."
With that, Yuri gave them a small, confident grin.
For a brief instant, alarm had flashed through him, but there was no point in frightening them, so he did not let it show on his face.
At those confident words, the three girls looked up at him in surprise.
Fiona's tearful eyes were still trembling with worry, but there was a hint of relief there now as well.
I had no idea the whole territory's problems had gotten this serious...
If I leave this alone, the people here are going to be in real trouble.
...All right. First, I need to deal with the problem right in front of me.
"Would you take me to the kitchen?"
Yuri stood and gently held out his hand to Fiona.
"Ah—y-yes..."
Wiping her tears, Fiona took Yuri's hand with a bewildered look on her face.
"This way."
She rose, said that, and began leading him out.
Yuri followed after her, with Chloe and Lily naturally falling in behind.
Then even Celine and the others rose and started after him as well.
"Huh? Celia, you're coming too?"
When Yuri asked in surprise, Celine answered with a mischievous smile.
"Of course. It sounds interesting."
Her eyes shone with curiosity, bright and unmistakably amused.
"And Kokuyou...?"
When Yuri glanced back toward Kokuyou, the black cat seemed to have decided to remain in the Chamber of Heavenly Splendor, lounging by the window in the sunlight.
As if to say, Off you go, Kokuyou gave his tail a light swish.
"Then keep an eye on things for us, all right?"
Yuri gave Kokuyou a wave, then left the Chamber of Heavenly Splendor with a faint smile on his face.