Stellaria Neumann
I was invited by Okaa-san to go and watch a play.
I have no reason to refuse after all, or rather, I would very much like to try watching one. I checked Stellaria’s mother’s condition, and after confirming that there was no problem, we headed to the theatre in a small ship, accompanied by the three maids and Tsukikage-nee-sama.
That theatre is at the town square, near the Royal Castle. The theatre’s façade is, without saying, that of a medieval European theatre, and it has a slightly squarish castle-ish feeling.
Our seats are the second-floor balcony seats, so it’s a shape where we look down on the right side of the stage. The seats are in a room, and Stellaria and Veronica are standing guard at the entrance.
It seems that only me, Tsukikage-nee-sama, and Okaa-san would usually be seated, but because two of the maids are noble daughters, we made all three of them sit down in the end. Low-rank nobles and commoners are packed tightly on the first floor.
The manager goes onto the stage before the play begins and introduces the famous noble audience who have taken their seats on the second-floor seats. And finally, we were introduced.
“Last but not least. The Princess of the Nemophila Kingdom, Her Highness, Armeria-sama. Followed by Tsukuyomi-sama of the God’s clan that everybody knows and who is touted as the Saviour, and Tsukikage-sama, the shrine’s chief priest, had come to our very theatre”
“Uwaーh!”
“Saviour-samaー!”
“Tsukuyomi-samaーa!”
“Tsukikage-samaーa!”
The rambunctious cheers and applauses of the audience, don’t quite settle down. I’m a bit surprised.
“Tsukuyomi and Tsukikage’s popularity is amazing huh!”
I, reluctantly, waved my hand with a smile.
“Okaa-sama, what is the theme of today’s play?”
“It is a new work that is currently popular; the King’s youngest daughter fell in love with the Royal Palace’s Knight, but the King, who wouldn’t approve of that, forcefully wed her to the Prince of a neighbouring country. Although they were separated once, the two, who wouldn’t give up, took advantage of the chaos of the war that broke out afterwards and eloped”
“AhーI see……”
“Tsukuyomi. Do you know of it?”
“No. I do not know of it, but I was thinking that it sure feels like a story that a play would have huh”
“Were there plays in your previous world as well?”
“Eeh, of course! There were tons of them”
“Then, please have fun today, alright”
“Yes. Okaa-sama”
I went, ‘as I thought huh’, when the play started. It seems that all the performers are female.
A tall woman is playing the man’s role. And it looks like she comes off as an incredibly handsome man to the audience. The married ladies, they’re folding their arms in front of their breasts with a handkerchief in their hand and watching her attentively with a serious expression.
It’s a given for Okaa-san, but when I casually glanced at Onee-sama and the maids, they were similarly watching the stage engrossedly. And when I turned around, Stellaria and Veronica also forgot about standing guard and whatnot and were watching the stage attentively. Well, it can’t be helped. I shall keep an eye out on the vicinity.
At the end of the play, just when I thought it would end in a tragedy, it was a grand finale where the love of the two protagonists came to fruition. The married ladies, it looks like they were all touched. There were both people who were smiling and people who were crying.
I tried asking about the play on the ship on the return trip.
“Okaa-sama. Are there only female performers?
“Yeah. There are no male performers”
“Does that apply to the play in this theatre? Or is that how it is everywhere around the country?”
“They are all female in Nemophila. Were there male performers in Tsukuyomi’s previous world?”
“Of course, there were”
“Eh! Then, can’t they not do a theme like the one just now?”
“Like the one just now? No, there were countless of them though?”
“Tha-, that is……then, what do they do about the ki-, kissing?”
“Eh? They do it”
Ah! I wonder if they only pretend to kiss for plays? But they do do it in movies and dramas.
“Eーーーh!”
All of them raised their voices together.
“Do they really do it? The performers are not spouses, right?”
“Of course, they are neither spouses nor lovers. It is just a kiss; that much isn’t a problem, no?”
“Eーーーh!”
They harmonised again.
“I-, in the world Tsukuyomi was, you kiss even when you are not lovers or spouses?”
“N-, no, it is part of the play’s performance. I mean, they are getting fully into character after all”
“Th-, that might be true, but……nevertheless”
“Everybody, sure is conserved huh”
“Tsukuyomi is fine with something like that huh……”
Uーn. I wonder if I somehow ended up being thought of as unchaste…….
I was doing swordsmanship practice in the morning of the following day.
I had already started practice-swinging and sparring with the wooden sword. Since Forlan is still far from it, my opponent is Veronica.
As expected, I still can’t take a round from her, but I became capable of playing around with her at least.
As I’m taking a short break after finishing a round of training, my eyes stop at one of the female knights who are sparring for some reason. It’s a fuzzy sensation of something bugging me.
I then realised and went, ‘Ah!’. I called out to the Stellaria sitting beside me.
“Stellaria! The woman over there! Please make her stop training right away!”
“Eh? Which knight?”
“That one at the right corner. Now, she just swung her sword”
Stellaria stands up and shouts.
“Sheila! Stop! Come over here!”
“Yes!”
She stops sparring and tries to run over here.
“Don’t run!”
“Huh? Yes”
She stopped running and started walking when I shouted.
“Tsukuyomi-sama. What is the matter”
“Please come over here. Stellaria and Captain as well, please”
The four of us left the training grounds, entered the barracks, and entered a room that is seemingly the dining hall.
I made Sheila sit on the seat and used See-Through Vision on her body. It’s the inside of her belly. As I thought, that’s what it was. She’s pregnant. Furthermore, it’s the initial stage of pregnancy at about the fifth or sixth week.
“Sheila. Was it?”
“Yes”
“Are you married?”
“No”
“I see huh. You are pregnant”
“Eh! Is that for real! I conceived huh!”
“Eeh, the heart has already formed as well. But because it is still the initial stage of pregnancy, you have to rest quietly for about another 2 months. You must not perform swordsmanship or whatnot no matter what”
“Sheila. You, bought baby seeds huh”
“Captain Webber. I did not buy them. I requested from an acquaintance”
“Aah, that’s what it is huh. So what will you do?”
“If possible, I want to continue being a knight even after giving birth”
“That will be something we will decide after discussing. You are to rest until then”
“Yes!”
“Please immediately get into the bath and keep yourself clean, alright”
“Understood. Tsukuyomi-sama. Thank you”
“Tsukuyomi-sama. How did you know?”
“Why, something bugged me when I looked at her. She said that she isn’t married though”
“Sheila wants to have a family not with a male, but with a female partner”
“Aah. That’s what it is huh”
“You are not surprised huh”
“Well, there are more women after all. It is nothing strange. They exist in this world too huh”
“Did they exist in Tsukuyomi-sama’s previous world as well?”
“Eeh, they did. There are even cases between fellow men”
“Between fellow men huh. I have never heard of that before”
“Then, won’t Sheila be unable to raise her child if she does not continue being a knight?”
“I guess that will depend on her partner’s job”
“This is not the first time. There are instances between fellow female knights as well after all, so I think it will work out somehow around those parts”
“I see huh”
It looks like the Chivalric Order Captain will go on to make her report as is. I return to the training grounds with Stellaria.
“Is Stellaria not going to get married?”
“I think I will not be able to get married”
“May I ask the reason?”
“I am so big and unfeminine after all, and I ended up receiving the title of ‘Sword Saint’ as well, so none of the gentlemen even try to approach me”
“Stellaria is unfeminine? Who said something like that?”
“Tha-, that is. My father……he said, ‘nobody will take you as their bride with that body of yours, so go and be a knight or something'”
“He said something so horrible? You say ‘big’, but you are not much different from my Okaa-sama, aren’t you. You’re a beauty with gorgeous facial features, and your hair is beautiful as well……wait, ah! Does this, count as ‘hitting on’?”
This is bad. I ended up doing it again. Stellaria’s face is turning beet red before my eyes.
“U-, unn! I-, in any case. Stellaria is an attractive woman. There is no way you are unable to get married. Please be confident in yourself”
“Ye-, yes. Thank you……”
“Could it be that, Stellaria’s hair is the same ‘strawberry blonde’ colour as Mira’s?”
“Yes. That is correct”
“Your eyes are red as well huh. Your skin colour is also pale……wait. Ah! Again……”
“……”
“Well then, I will go and take care of Ar. Next time!”
I headed to the barn like I was running away from Stellaria.
That night, I was told by Okaa-san that there was a call from House Laurel.
“Okaa-sama. It means that Marquis Laurel is now able to take a rest day huh”
“Eeh, it was written in the letter that his father is helping out with the official duties, and he has come to spend 1 day a week with his family members relaxingly”
“I see; I will have to go and instruct them then huh. Please schedule a date that is convenient for Okaa-sama”
“Got it. I will contact them beforehand”
“By the way, Okaa-sama. Do you know how old Stellaria is currently?”
“Stellaria? Since she is the same age as me, she is 21 years old”
“Aah, the same huh”
“Is something the matter with Stellaria?”
“Today, I coincidentally found a knight who was pregnant while I was on break from swordsmanship training. And after we talked about marriage, Stellaria said that she couldn’t get married”
“Aah, Stellaria’s father, ‘Marquis Frank Neuman’, is an incredibly strict individual”
“Nevertheless, do you not think it is cruel to say something like ‘you’re unfeminine, so be a knight or something’ to his daughter? Being strict and hurting a woman’s dignity are two different things though……”
“My! Tsukuyomi. She will end up falling for you if you say something like that in front of Stellaria, you know”
“Ah! Actually, I might have already ended up running my mouth and said something that would get misunderstood”
“Ara. What did you end up saying?”
“Why, I heard those words of her father, ended up getting annoyed, and kinda said, ‘Stellaria is a beauty, and your hair is also beautiful, so you will be able to get married’……”
“That is a cut-and-dried marriage proposal. Furthermore, Tsukuyomi saved Stellaria’s mother, didn’t you. It would be weirder if she didn’t fall for you after all this. How do you plan to take responsibility?”
“N-, no, I am still 5 years old, you know? Stellaria, too, does not take it as a proposal!”
“We don’t know that. I mean, Tsukuyomi is older than Stellaria and me on the inside after all. I, too, would want to marry you if I wasn’t Tsukuyomi’s mother after all”
“Eehー! Even if you tell me something like that……but, but, you know. It will take another 10 whole years until my body turns into an adult’s after all”
“Yeah. It’s true that Stellaria will be 31 years old if she waits 10 years after all. As expected, she probably can’t wait? But Mira is 15 years old after all. If it is 25 years old, then she can wait, can’t she?”
“Eh? Mira? Why did Mira come up here?”
“Both Stellaria and Mira, they have the same hair and eye colour, don’t they. Tsukuyomi probably likes girls of that colour. You end up subconsciously complimenting them like that after all”
“Ah! Tha-, that is……I wonder if that is the case……”
“It probably is. It is better to be careful from here on out. Though it might already be too late”
E-, even if you tell me it’s too late; how very troubling. Let’s be careful.
The next morning, I head to the shrine for Stellaria’s mother’s examination.
“Good morning. How are you feeling?”
“Tsukuyomi-sama. Good morning. I am in very good shape. I no longer have any bleeding, and my dizziness is gone as well”
“I am glad to hear that. I will try having a look then”
Un. The place where the womb was is already shrinking, and I don’t find any inflammation or blood clots either. She’s probably already fine.
“Yes. You are making very good progress. It looks like you are already fine. You can return home if it is like this”
“Really? Thank you”
“Ah! Tsukuyomi-sama! Good morning!”
“Ah! Stellaria. Good morning”
“Tsukuyomi-sama. This here is my father, Frank Neumann”
“Nice to meet you. I am Stellaria’s father, Marquis Frank Neumann. Thank you for saving the life of my wife, Marcel, this time around. How should I ever express my gratitude……”
“Nice to meet you, I am Tsukuyomi. There’s no need for gratitude or whatnot. This is my job after all. And, about Marcel-sama, it is alright for her to go home since she is already fine”
“Tsukuyomi-sama. My mother can already go back huh! Thank you very much”
“Tsukuyomi-sama. If you would like, I want to offer you this daughter of mine as gratitude”
“Huh?”
“Otou-sama!”
“Aah, that’s right huh. Stellaria seems to adore Tsukuyomi-sama as well after all……”
“O-, Okaa-sama!”
“N-, no, ple-, please wait a minute. ‘Offer your daughter’, you say. Rather, your daughter is not an offering, you know?!”
“Of course, I am well aware of that. You can take her as your bride, or even as your chamberlain is fine”
“N-, no, in any case. You cannot ignore your daughter’s will and decide on such things!”
“Stellaria. What do you think?”
“I-, I, uh. D-, do not mind……”
“Eh! You don’t mind? N-, no. I mean. Something like that won’t do!”
“As I thought, I would be an inconvenience huh……”
“Ah! No. That is not what I mean. It’s just that, look. As you can see, my body is still 5 years old. It takes another 10 whole years until I become an adult. I cannot make you wait that long, right?”
“Tsukuyomi-sama. I am alright with not being made your wife. I am satisfied if I could just follow and serve by Tsukuyomi-sama’s side for the rest of my life”
“Eh?”
“That’s right. My daughter is saying she is fine with being a chamberlain, you know. That she does not have to be your bride”
“Huh?”
“Yes. If my daughter is happy with that, I do not mind either. Stellaria. You have to be happy”
“Yes. Okaa-sama”
This is bad. I’m stuck. What’s with this family.
