Summer Vacation – 6

“I’m-bo-red.”

Cordelia whined, dragging out her words. She rummaged around the carriage interior, chanting “I’m bored” like some sort of spell.

“It’s annoying, so please sit still.”

Seol-ah, who had been quietly keeping her eyes closed, chided her, but nothing could stop Cordelia.

The House Deneb carriage that had come to pick up Cordelia and us was practically a modern camper van. In terms of being completely free from any shaking, it was even better than a camper van in some ways. Thanks to this, Cordelia could stand up and walk around without any fear of falling or bumping into anything. Though now that had become a penalty in the form of annoyance.

“But I’m still bored.”

“How did you endure it when you first came to the Academy?”

How did you manage without us to whine to about being bored?

“Back then, I just slept. I’d sleep, wake up, and sleep again. I had a hard time fixing my day and night cycle afterward, though.”

Answering my question, Cordelia added, as if telling us not to even dream of it:

“Don’t even think about telling me to sleep this time. It’s difficult to adjust my day and night cycle, and I have absolutely no intention of sleeping.”

“We’ve already tried everything we can do inside.”

Hestia was right. As I mentioned earlier, what we were riding in was closer to a camper van than a carriage, and we had spent time playing every possible indoor game without worrying about motion sickness.

Chess, Othello, card games like Go Fish. Surprisingly, everything needed for these games was prepared inside the carriage. Since only the Duke and Duchess of Deneb would use this carriage besides Cordelia, they must have been their belongings. It made me think that even a duke couldn’t escape boredom.

“Playing with you guys isn’t fun anyway.”

Cordelia said. What’s there to say? In the games the four of us took turns playing, Seol-ah and I suffered absolute defeats. It was a natural result since I only knew how the pieces moved in chess, and for Othello, I only knew that taking the corners was good. Conversely, when playing with Hestia, she was so overwhelmingly strong that games weren’t even competitive. From her perspective, there was no worthy opponent.

“It was unexpected. I didn’t think Mikhail and Miss Lily would be so weak at games that require thinking.”

“It’s because I’m not familiar with these kinds of games.”

At Hestia’s words, I awkwardly scratched my head. Seol-ah also had an uneasy expression. Coincidentally, it seemed that neither Mikhail nor Lily had enjoyed these kinds of games, so our hands didn’t move naturally.

“Even so, I never thought you’d be this bad.”

Cordelia looked at Seol-ah and me with a smirk. Did she have something pent up against us?

“Umm…”

I groaned. In all my life, I never thought I’d be teased by Cordelia for being bad at games. And since I had indeed lost without putting up a fight, I had nothing to say. I’d love to invite her to the top lane, but unfortunately, Summoner’s Rift doesn’t exist in this world.

“Don’t be so harsh. Cordelia, you lost to me too.”

“Ugh, that was because I was feeling motion sick…”

“Motion sick? It’s not shaking at all. When we first got in, you bragged that the carriage had a shock-absorbing magic spell that made it no different from a bed.”

At Hestia’s fact bombing, Cordelia trembled without being able to say anything. She had tried to tease me a bit but ended up worse off, so she hastily changed the topic.

“Anyway! I’m bored! I’m tired of chess, Othello, and card games. Isn’t there anything else?”

“We’re practically there. Just be patient a little longer.”

As Hestia said, the endless fields were gradually being replaced by impressive buildings. Windmills were turning here and there, and the shadows of children chasing the carriage stretched long. Perhaps because it was summer and the days were long, the sky was still quite bright despite it being nearly dinner time. Smoke rose gently from chimneys throughout the streets.

It’s the kind of peaceful scenery that comes to mind when thinking of a fantasy world. I was newly moved and blankly gazed outside. How long have I been here that this world feels like my hometown?

“Hehe. Impressive, right?”

Seeing me absentmindedly admiring the outside scenery, Cordelia spoke with an excited voice, seemingly pleased.

Her shoulders were raised high, thinking I was impressed by the scenery of the Deneb territory. Since I was actually impressed, and the peaceful scenery was indeed quite appealing, I enthusiastically agreed.

“Yes, it’s impressive.”

“Right? Our territory was also listed among the Empire’s top 10 best places to travel!”

“Is there such a thing?”

It sounds like a ranking list hastily created and distributed by some magazine. Who decides these things anyway?

“I just made it up.”

“Just in case, where are the other 9 places?”

“I haven’t decided yet…”

Cordelia’s voice gradually grew quieter. Intimidated by the incredulous gazes of Seol-ah and me, Cordelia received support fire from Hestia.

“Don’t look at her like that. Well, such a top 10 list doesn’t exist, but it’s undeniable that the Deneb Duchy’s territory is actually a good place to travel.”

“Th-that’s right! The night view you’ll see later in the evening is really beautiful, you know? Especially the view from my room is absolutely stunning, so I’ll show you.”

Wait, how can a room have a night view? I just smiled and brushed it off, thinking Cordelia was just getting excited and saying strange things.

“Ta-da! What do you think?”

“Wow, wow. What. Wow.”

I couldn’t close my gaping mouth. Seol-ah beside me seemed to be in the same state, her mouth hanging open.

There really is a night view from the room.

“Isn’t it awesome?”

Cordelia boasted with her nose high in the air.

The Deneb Duchy’s castle was so large and luxurious that I couldn’t take my eyes off it. When she said there was a night view from the room, it wasn’t an exaggeration or a metaphor, but the literal truth.

I had felt it earlier when riding the carriage, but the Deneb family seemed to have an unbelievable amount of money.

I had thought that the Sirius Grand Duchy’s castle was luxurious enough to not lose face anywhere, but the Deneb Duchy was on a completely different scale. No matter how much mining industry or being the continent’s best warrior family, it seems they can’t compare in terms of population and land size.

“Yes, yes. It’s impressive.”

I barely registered Cordelia’s words. The buildings I had seen earlier looked like toys from here. Street lamps placed throughout the streets beautifully illuminated the night.

It was a beautiful sight. But I was too shocked by the sheer scale of the castle to even notice the night view properly. She’s literally living in a world heritage site.

“Miss Cordelia, let’s go to dinner now. They’ll both be waiting.”

Hestia, having seen this several times already, didn’t seem particularly interested in the night view. Instead, she was unusually anxious about the Duke and Duchess of Deneb, whom we had left behind saying we’d just unpack our luggage.

No wonder, since Cordelia had dismissed the butler who said dinner was ready and had dragged us to her room, saying the Duke and Duchess were waiting.

After hearing Hestia’s words, she finally nodded, saying “Mm-hmm.”

“Then let’s go eat. Mom and Dad must be really looking forward to it.”

She hummed a tune, satisfied with our shock. This is genuinely something to brag about.

“Oh, by the way, make absolutely sure you don’t lose track of me and Hestia, okay? You’ll really get lost.”

Cordelia, who was humming ahead of us, turned back to give us this advice.

Thanks to this, unlike Hestia and Cordelia who moved through the complex castle interior without hesitation, as if familiar with the paths, Seol-ah and I had to worry about possibly getting lost. It would be too embarrassing to get lost while visiting a friend’s house.

After walking for quite a while, we finally reached the dining hall. I had thought the bigger a house, the better, but this was a precious moment to realize there are also downsides.

The dining hall was likewise large, magnificent, and clean. A long table covered with a spotless white tablecloth was placed in the center, and delicious-looking dishes adorned it.

And at the head of the long table, the Duke and Duchess of Deneb made their appearance.

Duke Deneb was a middle-aged man with neatly combed-back hair that was speckled with white. His build was as large as a bear, and even his neatly combed hair couldn’t hide his wild aura. His eyes were piercing, and his gaze was intense. To put it briefly, he looked quite intimidating.

The Duchess sitting beside him had a face that made me think this is what Cordelia might look like after aging 10 years. With fiery red hair and lanky proportions identical to Cordelia’s, she was the spitting image. Unlike Duke Deneb, she had a gentle and benevolent expression. Ironically, I’ve never seen Cordelia make such an expression.

Duke Deneb, already intimidating in appearance, also had an unpleasant expression. I froze up, unnecessarily tense. Seol-ah beside me was even clicking her teeth together. Perhaps because of what she had done to Cordelia before, she seemed even more scared.

At that moment, Cordelia stepped forward. After a brief silence, Duke Deneb opened his mouth.

“Codieeeeee! Come here and give your daddy a hug!”

“Seriously, Dad! How embarrassing, saying that in front of everyone?!”

Cordelia shrieked in disgust.

What in the… I was considerably taken aback by his behavior, which was completely unpredictable from his first impression.

This is quite, quite different from what I expected. From the Duke’s first impression and hearing about his laissez-faire parenting, I thought he might be a very stern, cold type, but he’s just a doting father with a daughter going through puberty.

“Kuk, my daughter no longer wants to hug her daddy. I’m sad, so sad.”

“Dear, please stop being so childish.”

Duke Deneb covered his face with his pot-lid-sized hand and made crying noises. The Duchess pinched his side, scolding him.

“Ahem, it’s been a while, Duke.”

“Ah, yes. Hestia. You’ve grown a lot since I last saw you.”

Hestia, seemingly familiar with this situation, greeted them naturally. The Duke also naturally accepted her greeting. Then his eyes turned to Seol-ah and me.

Seol-ah bowed first in greeting.

“Pleased to meet you. I am Lily von Adamas, the seventh daughter of the Adamas Baronial family.”

“Adamas? Ah, so you’re the one…”

It was just for a moment, but I didn’t miss the Duke’s eyes narrowing.

“Yes, nice to meet you. You can think of this as your home and feel comfortable during this week.”

And then, as if it had never happened, he responded to Seol-ah’s greeting with a hearty laugh.

“Then you must be that Sirius fellow’s son.”

“You know my father?”

“Of course! Ever since the Academy days, he was such a quiet, dull friend that I wondered if he’d ever get married properly. I don’t know where he managed to snag such a beauty.”

Duke Deneb excitedly began to explain about Grand Duke Sirius.

This is a problem. I don’t know about this. The Duke, apparently happy to see his friend’s son, started spewing TMI.

“Originally, I was thinking of engaging you with Cordi instead of that thundering naked bastard Wilhelm. He begged and pleaded, saying there’s only Cordi as a daughter in a Duke’s family.”

“Dad!”

Duke Deneb continued speaking, disregarding Cordelia’s call. As his story continued, the expressions of the four of us became grotesquely distorted. Cordelia’s face turned red, and she shrieked.

“If I had known you’d grow up to be so dependable, I would have said never Wilhelm, even if he beat me to death…”

“Dad, if you say anything more, I’ll consider never speaking to you again.”

“Alright, alright. Anyway, rest comfortably during your stay.”

I’m not sure what expression I should make.

Saying “rest comfortably” when the current fiancé of the person he originally wanted to engage to his daughter, and the person who tempted Wilhelm to deliver the final blow to Cordelia are both present—is this something the person who brought up such a topic should say?

In the end, the meal ended in a suffocating atmosphere. Is it really possible to spend a comfortable week here?