Ch.174174. Sister, Please Be Honest With Me Alone.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

“…Yeah, you too. Must have been tough hitting me.”

“What do you mean tough hitting you? I was merely training with you, brother.”

Leonard plops down on the grass with a sigh.

“I really was trying to go easy on my knights…”

After sparring with Leonard, I realized he wasn’t lying.

Whether it was the effect of the Thousand Circle technique or not, he had changed remarkably since our last match.

And on top of that.

“You’ve been training steadily without me, haven’t you?”

“Yeah, as my swordsmanship improved, I strangely started enjoying it.”

Now that he trains on his own, I feel like I won’t have to worry about Leonard at all anymore.

I also sat down on the grass.

“Even so, you still need to hide your skills. Isn’t there a big difference in strength between the knight order you lead and the one led by brother Evander?”

“Y-yes, that’s true.”

“Therefore, rather than competing with brother Evander in terms of power, it would be much more advantageous for you to build merit for the family.”

Leonard startles at my words and opens his mouth.

“Then why have I been training in swordsmanship all this time?”

“As a candidate for family head, shouldn’t you at least have basic swordsmanship skills?”

“Does that mean I’ve reached a decent level of basics now?”

“That’s right. However, you must continue your sword training consistently. We never know what brother Evander might do once you secure an advantageous position for the family headship.”

After my blunt statement, Leonard waves his hand with a good-natured expression.

“Come on, brother Evander would face me fair and square—”

“As I told you before, with that mindset, you have no chance at becoming the family head, right?”

“Ah, I get it!”

I raised my eyebrows as I watched Leonard trying to brush it off.

“Do my words sound like a joke to you?”

“That’s not it…”

I had a strong feeling that trusting this frustrating guy would lead to serious trouble someday.

With the mindset of giving him a preventive shot, I lowered my voice.

“Leonard, I’ll say this one last time, so listen carefully. The reason I gave up the position of family head is because in the future, many troublesome situations could arise.”

“…I know that you have no desire for the family head position.”

“But what if troublesome situations arise despite my concession? What do you think I would do then?”

“You’d try to claim the family head position.”

With a short sigh, I straightened my back while sitting.

“So, please come to your senses. Understand?”

“I understand… but how do I build merit?”

Does this guy need me to scoop rice with a spoon, put it in his mouth, and even digest it for him…

At this rate, he’ll ask me to wipe his ass when he takes a dump.

I crossed my arms and looked at Leonard with disdain.

“First, consistently hunt monsters in the Alphonse territory and think daily about what would benefit the people of the territory.”

“I always think about it, but nothing comes to mind.”

“There’s no need to be hasty if ideas don’t come to you.”

“What if they never come?”

“Then we’ll have to wait for brother Evander Alphonse to make a mistake. And then pounce on it.”

“A mistake?”

Politicians’ fights are the same.

In the past, they say people competed fairly by promoting their own pledges, but now it’s different.

People now know that those are just eloquent lies.

That’s why they’ve started using strategies to find flaws in their opponents.

“Brother, there’s a saying that doing nothing still gets you halfway there. Just don’t cause trouble and keep up with your sword training. Understand?”

“…Yes, I understand.”

“If I hear any strange rumors, I’ll summon you to Lake territory, so keep that in mind.”

After emphasizing this several times, I went to my bedroom to rest a bit.

But an even greater ordeal was waiting for me.

There was Miria Alphonse lying on my bed.

One fortunate thing was that she was fully clothed.

As I let out a sigh of relief, she looked at me, propped her head on her palm, and beckoned me with her other hand.

“Come here.”

“Sigh… Would you mind leaving so I can rest?”

At that, Miria Alphonse sat up, perching halfway on the bed, and spoke.

“When did I ever ask you to get me married!?”

I pulled up a chair from the corner, sat down, and looked at Miria Alphonse.

“Our parents have both given their permission. Brother Leonard is already married, so shouldn’t you be next, sister?”

“I’m asking why you suddenly brought this up!!”

“When did you find out?”

“Father told me today! When I tried to go out, the knights were all blocking me from leaving!”

I could understand Baron Byron’s thinking.

If he had told her in advance, she would certainly have refused.

And if he had pushed the matter, she was the type of woman who would have left home without hesitation.

So his only option was to secure the promise first, then restrict her movement before telling her.

I raised my head with a serious expression.

“Sister, be honest with me.”

“What do you mean…?”

“Could it be that the reason you don’t want to marry is because you’re interested in women rather than men?”

“W-what?!”

“If that’s the reason, it might be difficult to understand, but as your brother, I’ll try my best to be supportive.”

“What are you saying?!”

WHACK!

Clearly, I’ve become much stronger than before, but why is Miria Alphonse’s punch still so hard to dodge?

Could it be that my body automatically freezes from being hit so much before ‘Selden Alphonse’ was possessed?

“Ugh!”

As I touched my reddening cheek, Miria Alphonse’s expression suddenly changed and she began to tear up.

“W-what… are you okay, our Selden?”

At this rate, she should have rightfully claimed the position of “crazy woman” in the novel “The Youngest Son of the Illustrious Family”…

I shook my head slightly and spoke.

“So, please tell me.”

“I told you before. I’m not thinking about marriage yet because I’m worried about you—”

“I’ll soon have my coming-of-age ceremony. Shouldn’t you get married first, sister?”

“…Are you saying you haven’t found someone to marry because of me?”

Tears welled up in Miria Alphonse’s eyes.

In times like these, I felt I needed to be even firmer.

“Yes, that’s right. And you don’t need to worry anymore. Don’t you believe in me after seeing how I exposed brother Jason Alphonse’s crimes?”

“That may be true, but I’m still very worried about you!”

“Sigh… Sister, at this rate, you’ll really end up alone.”

“Why don’t we just live together then?”

Miria Alphonse linked her arm with mine as if she had never been crying.

I coldly detached her and continued.

“Whatever the case, the families have already made an agreement. Even if you don’t like it, you should meet them at least once. Who knows? You might find someone you truly like.”

Initially, I sought a husband for Miria Alphonse to separate her from me.

But as time passed, I grew fond of her.

Perhaps due to some unknown blood connection?

I’m not sure.

One thing is certain: I can’t stand seeing her not living her life properly because of me.

That’s why.

Even if these husband candidates don’t satisfy her, I’ll keep finding more and knocking on the firmly closed door of Miria Alphonse’s heart.

Eventually, it will open.

Miria Alphonse stared at me intently, then sighed as if giving up.

“Fine, fine! But what if I don’t like either of them?”

“You can politely decline. There’s nothing to lose by trying, right?”

“Hmm… I doubt there will be any man more handsome than our Selden…”

“Look at me. Being handsome only gets you so far. You should look at their personality.”

Miria Alphonse puffed her cheeks as if annoyed and got up.

“Whatever, I like handsome men!”

SLAM!

With those final words, Miria Alphonse left the bedroom without looking back, apparently upset.

“Sigh…”

Could I finally get some rest now?

Just as I flopped onto the bed, there was another knock at the door.

“Who is it…”

Creeeeak!

Pedericks entered with the knock, wearing his familiar urgent expression.

“Young master!!”

“What now? Did one of the husband candidates suddenly cancel the meeting?”

“N-no, that’s still scheduled to proceed without issues tomorrow.”

“If not that… don’t tell me brother Leonard has already caused trouble right after I just met with him?”

“A-actually, I have an urgent report about Jawill Wilson.”

My heart suddenly pounded loudly.

If something had happened to Jawill Wilson, the same would likely be true for Lucien who went with him.

With anxiety, my eyes darted around as I raised my voice.

“What on earth happened?!”

“Well, in the Cataria territory…”

“In the Cataria territory!! Tell me quickly!!”

Startled by my booming voice, Pedericks flinched, then continued with a sigh.

“In the Cataria territory, Jawill Wilson has become a hero for saving people.”