Ch.11Festival (1)

After our conversation in the garden that day, I could say that my relationship with Irene had improved quite a bit.

For one thing, she obviously wasn’t treating me harshly anymore, and I didn’t have to do training I didn’t want to do just because I was avoiding her.

Sir Chris would occasionally scold me for being lazy, but I wonder if something that involves trying to stick a knife in someone’s throat can really be called training.

As time passed, the greenery turned bright yellow and the sky rose high.

The maids of the duke’s residence began moving busily.

This was because the Empire’s Foundation Day was approaching.

This year was especially busy as it was the year for the festival that was held once every five years in the capital.

Because of this, Irene, as the acting head, was taking care of administrative duties that would normally be handled by the duke.

Naturally, her mood began to sink. According to Rofena, one should absolutely not disturb Irene right now.

Indeed, that seems to be true.

Irene’s gaze as she looked at the documents was so cold it seemed like frost would form.

Rofena, standing beside her, shivered slightly and looked at me.

‘It’s cold.’

I looked at Rofena with pity as she slightly opened her mouth to send me a request for help, but then I smiled bitterly and shook my head.

Perhaps she was feeling cold because it was actually cold.

Although not an Expert, Irene had awakened to mana, so her mana was probably moving unconsciously according to her mood.

Irene picked up her teacup for a moment, then looked at the cooled tea and spoke.

“Rofena, the tea has cooled again. Bring me another one.”

“Yes!”

“…Why does the tea keep cooling? It hasn’t been that long since it was poured.”

I wonder if she still doesn’t know it’s because of her mana. Although her swordsmanship was at quite a high level, her ability to understand and handle mana was surprisingly below expectations.

Well, even in the original story, her level only reached the entrance of Expert. Perhaps mana truly is a realm of talent.

In that sense, the talent possessed by this body of Evan Fried was at an indescribable level.

The talent to feel mana just by breathing in.

Although I had been completely ignorant about mana until now, just from the dialogue in the novel, I could tell this wasn’t normal.

So, was it something the crown prince said to the female lead?

When she began to faintly feel mana after just a week of learning magic, the crown prince praised her as a “genius of the century.”

Of course, those words came from someone blinded by love, so their credibility was quite low, but even considering that, the talent of this body to feel mana just by breathing could be considered extraordinary.

However, whenever I became aware of this talent, there was always one question that came to mind.

Why have I never seen Irene’s knight, Evan Fried?

He was said to be a famous genius. I could feel that, and it was a talent that could easily reach the level of Master with effort.

But why wasn’t the name Evan Fried mentioned in the timeline of the novel when the female lead appeared?

It remained a mystery in many ways.

But there was nothing I could know right now, so I just had to keep my mouth shut and live my life.

I hadn’t even found a clue about how to return to my original world.

If only there was a status window like in other novels, that would have been better. Unfortunately, I couldn’t see anything like that.

I could only feel those subtle changes bit by bit through training.

“Evan, what are you thinking about?”

But my thoughts were soon interrupted because Irene looked at me and spoke.

Perhaps she was quite bored too; with cloudy eyes, she rested her chin on her hand and stared at me. I wonder how long she had been watching.

“Just thinking about the upcoming festival.”

“…This insufferable festival, you mean.”

She looked back at the documents, then sighed and tilted her head back.

Irene, looking even more haggard due to the dark circles under her eyes, took a sip of the tea Rofena had brought back and spoke to me.

“Count Glaskan will be visiting shortly, so after he leaves, let’s take a break. You must be bored as well.”

“Thank you for your consideration.”

“…It’s not consideration. I’m just uncomfortable. You’ve been standing there for hours.”

“Don’t you usually take shortcuts?” she asked, and I just tilted my head in confusion.

Shortcuts? How could someone who’s only been a knight for a month take shortcuts?

Anyway, after clearing up the misunderstanding at the tea party, Irene had been treating me quite well.

I don’t know if she was concerned about how harshly she had treated me before, but this attitude was apparently something her previous knights had never experienced, as Sir Chris gave me strange looks.

-Evan, what exactly did you do to the young lady? I’d understand if it was a maid, but to treat a knight like this too. Did you perhaps find a weakness, or heaven forbid, did something improper…!

-If I did that, my limbs would be hanging from the castle walls. Torn apart, piece by piece.

-…That’s true.

As I recalled that conversation, the corners of my mouth twitched slightly. Just then, Rofena, who was eating a cookie, seemed to remember something and looked at Irene.

Seeing Rofena’s gaze, Irene sighed lightly and spoke toward the door.

“Prepare to receive our guest.”

It seemed that it was time for Count Glaskan to arrive.

#

Count Glaskan was a man of good stature.

Although he appeared quite robust, he looked like a good-natured person, and he had the dignity befitting his title of count.

The problem was that his dignity was nothing more than an ant in front of the name Yuris.

“How rude.”

Those were the first words Irene spoke upon meeting Count Glaskan.

As the count’s face turned pale at those cold words, I covered my face with my hands and sighed.

I could clearly picture in my mind how this would unfold.

At the words of Irene, who was much younger than him, Count Glaskan’s face, who appeared to be well past forty, turned bright red.

Claiming that his honor had been greatly wounded, he roared at her, and Irene continued.

“You should bow your head lower.”

“How can this not be an impertinent attitude! Even if you are the acting head, I cannot overlook such behavior-“

“And what will you do if you don’t overlook it? Surely, you’re not thinking of challenging Yuris?”

“That’s not what I meant!”

“If you don’t like it, lower that raised head of yours. We can discuss business after that.”

The count’s hands trembled as he clenched them so tightly they turned white, then he gritted his teeth and bowed his head.

A sigh escaped through my teeth at the pitiful sight, but on the other hand, it was necessary, so I had no intention of saying anything to Irene.

Right now, she was the one directly authorized by the duke to act on his behalf.

At this moment, she was not just the future shield of Yuris but the shield itself.

This was merely an action to imprint that fact on everyone’s mind.

Although the position of Count Glaskan, who was sacrificed for this purpose, must be quite embarrassing.

“Now I feel a bit more inclined to talk.”

Irene spoke without even looking at Count Glaskan, then turned her attention to the documents.

“Remember that this is Yuris, and I am currently the head of Yuris. Count Glaskan.”

“…I understand.”

With that, the situation was settled, and the original purpose of Count Glaskan’s requested audience, a business deal, began to proceed.

The sapphire and mana stone mines owned by Count Glaskan. These were the subjects of the deal with the vast capital of Yuris.

While sapphires are one thing, mana stones are the foundation of magical items, so they must be quite expensive.

As I was watching with anticipation to see how Irene would handle this, I couldn’t help but sigh dejectedly at the ensuing conversation.

So it ends up like this after all. This is practically not a deal but something close to blackmail.

“If the mining rights for that area are permanently transferred to Yuris, I wouldn’t mind giving you money.”

“…But if I do that, I won’t be able to maintain my territory. How about renewing the contract every five years?”

“How long would it take for me to lead the knights and trample all over Glaskan? Three days? I think everything would be over by then.”

After saying that, Irene twisted the corners of her lips into a cold sneer.

Claiming it was just a suggestion, she slightly raised her hand and spoke again.

“So, what is your answer?”

On her raised hand, on her index finger, was the symbol that only the head of the family could possess.

Count Glaskan’s answer, with his face turned deathly pale, was all too easy to predict.

“I will… give it to you permanently.”

Only then did Irene smile as if pleased, and for a moment, I stared blankly at her seductive smile.

When her red lips curved into an arc, it was like a beautiful painting. She really does look much better when smiling.

“Now that’s more like it.”

Unlike Count Glaskan’s dejected face, Irene’s expression seemed more satisfied than ever.

#

“…Count Glaskan must be deeply hurt.”

As I spoke to her, who was now reviewing documents with sparkling eyes unlike before, Irene replied without taking her eyes off the papers.

“Do you think he’s pitiful?”

“……”

“When you do something for your territory, there’s a lot to care about. Money, the people of the territory, and besides that, there are dozens of people affiliated with the duke’s residence. It’s already overwhelming just to care for them, so should I also care about someone else’s territory?”

“No.”

She took her eyes off the documents and looked at me as she continued.

“It’s fine if someone calls me a villain. The mana stone mine has always been important, and this time, we needed to own it completely.”

Because we’ll need to use more for this festival.

I could only nod at her additional explanation.

I never had any intention of criticizing this deal, which was for her territory.

The Empire’s Foundation Day, a week-long festival, is held not only in the imperial capital but also in the Yuris duchy, one of the five great families.

To illuminate the dark night as bright as day, an enormous amount of mana stones would be needed.

“But aren’t you interested in the festival?”

When I asked her this, as she seemed to care so much about the festival yet showed little interest in participating herself, she frowned slightly and spoke.

“It’s not that I’m not interested, but I’m in a situation where I can’t participate. I wonder if I’ll even be able to leave this room during that week.”

Irene looked at the symbol on her finger, laughed bitterly, and turned her gaze away.

Had she resigned herself to it? But I heard that the Foundation Day festival is held in Yuris territory only once every five years.

Could even someone like her not be interested?

After looking at her for a moment, I carefully spoke.

“I think it wouldn’t be bad to go once.”

“It wouldn’t be bad, but the situation…”

“Won’t the duke return on the last day of the festival? Couldn’t you go then?”

The duke was currently in the capital for the Foundation Day event, but if he returns, Irene’s role as acting head would end.

As I stared at Irene, she narrowed her eyes and spoke.

“…That’s true.”

Her eyes, visible through those narrowed slits, sparkled so brightly that I couldn’t help but laugh.

Had she wanted to go that badly? Well, even when she went to the bookstore last time, she seemed quite interested in her surroundings.

Perhaps because I stared too intently at the sparkle in her blue eyes, Irene, who seemed to notice my gaze, flinched and turned her head away, responding indifferently.

“Anyway, I don’t have time to worry about such things now. Let’s think about it again later.”

“…Understood.”

It seemed she was quite embarrassed that her true feelings had been revealed.