episode_0007

-Really, are you okay?

Aria answered the faint voice coming from the communication port.

“Yes, I want to spend some more time with Eugene for the time being.”

-What the heck made you suddenly show that you don’t like it?

Aria couldn’t answer the question right away, but soon muttered softly.

“I just realized now how precious he is.”

Yes, I found out too late. After I had lost everything.

-Your father would be happy to know. Even though he may seem blunt on the outside, he actually thinks a lot about you.

Her father.

A person who was thought to be cold-blooded and only thought about magic and family.

That person who thought that even his own daughter was a tool for political marriage.

“… Yes, I know.”

The fact that when his daughter was in danger of death, he knelt in front of the palace for several days, asking for forgiveness.

The fact that he loved her so much that he even threw away the family he had cared for so much in order to save her.

As always, she realized it too late.

-Haha, really? It certainly seems like our daughter has changed. Has she matured?

“… Hehe, maybe that’s it?”

-But, to say that, I think about the incident last time when I cried and made a fuss in front of my family, saying I was sorry… .

“Oh, Mom!! I told you not to talk about that! Anyway, I’ll hang up!?”

Aria hurriedly disconnected the communication line, trying to prevent any further mention of her dark history.

She wiped away the tears that were welling up in her eyes with her sleeve and headed to Eugene, who was waiting outside.

***

Inside the carriage heading to the location where the Northern Self-Restraint Conference is being held.

As I was looking at the snowflakes falling outside the window with sad eyes, Aria, sitting across from me, handed me something.

“Eugene, try this cookie. It’s more delicious than you’d think, the chef must’ve put some thought into it.”

“… … Yeah.”

Aria looks at me with a pleased smile as I take a bite of the chocolate chip cookie.

What on earth is so funny?

I furrowed my brows slightly at the sight of her still not adjusting.

“Aria, can I ask you something?”

“Huh? What is it?”

“Why didn’t you stay at the mansion and said you’d follow me?”

Even though I told her that I would not break off the engagement right away, as she had wished, Aria showed no sign of wanting to return home.

Not only that, he made the unexpected suggestion that he would like to accompany me to the Northern Self-Restraint Conference that I was planning to attend.

“You never wanted to go to any gatherings or banquets with me until now.”

“… … .”

“Actually, it was a bit unexpected. Of course, I thought it would be like this again, so I planned to go out alone for a bit.”

This is one of the anecdotes that happened with Aria in the past.

The day when several young ladies, including Aria, held a ball to celebrate their coming of age ceremony.

Since I was her fiancé in name only, I left the front lines for a while and headed to the capital to attend the ball as her partner.

To me, she is like that.

-I’m sorry, but my brother will take care of the partner. To be honest, it’s annoying to suddenly come here and do this.

-Sorry, but then if you could just enter the ballroom together… .

-I’ll be going with you, Dad. Why don’t we just go back like this? It’d be embarrassing to show someone you’re with them.

Well, this kind of thing happened frequently.

Aria, who was like that, refused to break off the engagement last time, and this time she even actively stepped forward and said she would follow me.

Aria, who had been frozen like a stone, barely opened her mouth to answer my question, wanting to know the reason.

“I’m sorry, I’m really sorry. I just wanted to do it together in the future because I couldn’t do it before―.”

He kept spitting out words of apology through his slightly parted lips, then crouched down as if he were a sinner who had committed a mortal sin.

The pitiful sight of the dog, resembling a scolded dog from its owner, pricked my conscience for no reason.

‘I asked purely out of curiosity. I didn’t mean to interrogate you or anything…’

The atmosphere inside the carriage froze in an instant.

Who can I blame? It was my own fault for speaking out loud.

Finally, in order to somehow break the awkward atmosphere, I opened my mouth again.

“Do you know where we are headed now?”

“Ah, it’s definitely the Dustin County… .”

“That’s right, the Northern Self-Restraint Conference, which is held every six months, is held in a different location each time.”

The purpose of this tour is to ensure that no family feels left out by visiting various territories, and also to inspect any possible corruption.

The North, living in a harsh environment and always surrounded by the dangers of front lines and cavalry, was bound to be more sensitive to such issues.

If one family were to become corrupt, there is a possibility that it would cause damage to all other territories.

Whether it’s the production and support of materials, or surveillance networks and troops for frontline defense.

Either way, the ecosystem of the North was one where people helped each other and lived together like cogs in a wheel.

It was a relationship where, whether we liked it or not, we had to cooperate in order to survive.

“Well, thanks to that, the people in the North have become closer to each other than in any other region. I can’t say it’s a bad thing.”

“Huh? People? Not just nobles?”

“Everyone has a role to play. It means that everyone, whether noble or commoner, is in a relationship of collusion.”

Aria looked a little shocked after hearing what I said.

I understand.

The central aristocratic society where she was born and raised must have been a competitive society where people had smiling faces and hidden knives to stab each other in the eye.

If this is the case even among nobles, what about the treatment of commoners?

They will be treated as long-term servants who bring in supplies and taxes, nothing more, nothing less.

“That doesn’t mean the North is a utopia that everyone wants.”

“Huh? Why?”

“That’s right, because it’s a place where the exclusion of outsiders and the outside region is particularly severe, as people are all close to each other.”

Comparable to the elves living in the forest of the World Tree.

“Ah… .”

“But even so, natural resources are abundant, and there is a lot of magic stone left, so there are many attempts from outside to overcome this exclusion. For example… .”

Our engagement or something.

I didn’t say out loud what was on my mind.

I wasn’t so tactless as to bring it up here, so I just smiled bitterly.

“So, if you get a bad feeling at this meeting, I want you to know that it could be because of these circumstances.”

“I see… Yeah, I get it. I’m used to being hated by others. Eugene, if you just stay by my side, that’s enough for me.”

“Oh, really? I’ll be there as much as possible. And I don’t think the kids there are bad kids… If anything happens, I’ll help my friend too.”

He coughed in vain at Aria’s words, who blurted out such embarrassing words without changing her expression.

At that moment, she tilted her head as if in doubt and asked.

“But Eugene, who is that guy?”

“Ah, didn’t I tell you? He’s the successor to the Dustin Counts, our current destination. His name is Julian Dustin. He’s like a childhood friend. ”

“Heh… I see. If you’re Eugene’s friend, I can trust you too. I’ll have to be careful not to embarrass you when we meet.”

I couldn’t look Aria in the eye as she nodded with a faint smile, so I turned my head slightly and looked out the window.

‘Certainly, Aria’s personality has changed a lot compared to before. I still don’t know why, but… .“

I didn’t feel bad about it.

Thanks to this, the atmosphere continued to be a little awkward, but not too bad, until we reached our destination, Dustin County.

***

Arriving at the Dustin Counts’ mansion, they got out of the carriage.

Eugene got down first and reached out to her nonchalantly, and Aria felt her heart flutter slightly at the sight.

I desperately tried to hide the blush that was rising in my face at the small consideration that came naturally like flowing water, and I grabbed his hand and got out of the carriage.

“Eugene!!”

At that moment, someone shouted his name from the front gate of the mansion and started running towards him.

Eugene also confirmed the owner of the voice and showed a bright smile on his face that he rarely showed to her.

“Julian!”

It seems that Eugene’s friend, whom I heard about in the carriage, has come out to greet us.

Aria also turned her gaze towards him.

And then it had no choice but to freeze in place.

‘uh…?’

He was a handsome boy.

Short-cropped light brown hair and golden eyes that shine like jewels.

Although he was relatively short, his thin body and small head combined to create the golden ratio.

An appearance that boasts a neutral beauty, to the point that if you hadn’t heard from Eugene in advance that he was a man, you would never have thought of him that way.

Julian was a handsome boy who could tighten Aria’s loose tension as she had seen countless beauties in the capital’s society snickering.

“Long time no see! Do you know how happy I am to hear that you’re coming!?”

“I’m sorry for suddenly changing my words.”

“What are you talking about? It would be even more disappointing if the Everhart family, who are like representatives of the North, were left out of the meeting among the Northern children!”

While Aria was frozen in shock.

Either way, Eugene and Julian seemed busy reminiscing with their long-lost best friends.

“Still, it’s nice to see your face like this after so long. How many months has it been?”

“Well? The last time we met was definitely at the last children’s meeting… It’s been almost half a year, right?”

“… Is it already like that?”

“That’s right, I told you to keep in touch! Is it because you’re as big as a bear? It’s not like you’re hibernating!”

At that whining, Eugene smiled faintly and held out his hand, and Julian smiled brightly and took his hand.

Surely, that scene would be a heartwarming one, with Aria’s loved one happily meeting an old friend.

‘…Huh?’

The moment I found Julian blushing slightly, almost to the point where it wasn’t obvious, as we held each other’s hands.

‘man…?’

Aria’s keen feminine intuition began to sound the alarm without warning.