Ch.186186. The Count’s Family and the Marquis’s Family (2)
by fnovelpia
I caught sight of Eunice Kallia standing in the distance with her knights.
The eldest daughter of the Marquisate of Kallia, believed to be the next head of the family. She hadn’t changed much from when I had seen her in the royal palace nearly half a year ago.
The only difference was that instead of the elegant and expensive clothing she wore then, she now had armor bearing the marks of battle.
And… she had always been renowned as a knight who skillfully wielded sword and shield. True to her reputation, Eunice Kallia was equipped with a broadsword and iron shield.
‘So a knight remains a knight after all.’
That twisted preference for strong men…
Honestly, when I think of Eunice Kallia, all I remember is her sword dance from that day and her strange obsession. My only impression of her was as a strange noblewoman who kept calling for male knights.
But now I finally see her as the eldest daughter of a family and a commander leading the battlefield.
As I quietly observed her, Sione, who was walking beside me, caught my gaze.
Tap tap.
She lightly touched my arm and asked.
“Ray. Who are you staring at so obviously?”
Her voice sounded somewhat displeased.
Apparently, my master wasn’t too happy about her slave openly staring at another woman.
I shifted my gaze away from Eunice and answered.
“Do you see that person over there with the sword and shield?”
“Yes, I see. Oh, she’s looking this way too.”
“That’s Lady Eunice Kallia, the eldest daughter of the Marquisate of Kallia.”
“That person… no, that woman is the daughter of the Marquisate?”
The one who responded to Sione’s careful question wasn’t me or Friel Arielt, but Diolia.
Diolia, who had been quietly following behind us, carefully watching the cotton ball on my head. She finally took her eyes off the cotton ball and looked at someone else.
“Indeed, that elegant brown hair and obsidian-black eyes… she resembles Lord Allen Kallia whom I saw at the Marquisate.”
She was right.
Brown hair is common. Even Diolia, who was speaking now, had brown hair. But not all browns are the same.
Those with the blood of the Marquisate possessed not just any ordinary brown, but a deep, elegant brown like mahogany that exuded a sophisticated aura.
This was true for both Allen Kallia and Eunice Kallia. With those characteristically deep, quiet, pitch-black eyes, she was undeniably the daughter of the Marquisate.
“That’s right. That’s Lady Eunice Kallia. Ray, you recognized her right away? Have you met Lady Kallia before?”
“I just… encountered her once at the royal palace.”
“Oh… for someone who just met her once…”
Friel’s eyes narrowed slightly. Her teal pupils gleamed sharply, creating a cold atmosphere. Yet the corners of her mouth were turned up.
“The lady has been staring at you for quite some time, hasn’t she?”
Yes, Friel was right.
She was looking at me.
Particularly, she was intently staring at the sword at my waist.
‘Well, this sword was a gift from Eunice after all.’
It’s not strange that she would be interested in the sword.
When someone gives a gift, nothing makes them happier than seeing the recipient making good use of it.
As I was receiving Eunice’s somewhat burdensome gaze…
“Ouch…”
I felt a sharp pain in my side.
Sione had pinched my side with her own hand.
“Ray, explain yourself.”
“Explain what?”
“Why Lady Kallia is interested in you. Did something happen between you two?”
“…Haven’t I already told you everything about what happened with the lady?”
I remember telling her everything from being caught by her to having a conversation, and even receiving the sword I now carry at my waist as a gift. I told her everything appropriately, and I recall Sione being a bit upset but understanding at the time.
But now she’s suddenly asking if something happened, and I don’t know what to say.
“Um… could you please let go of my side first?”
“Hmm… Are you sure nothing else happened besides what you told me?”
“Of course. Besides, look at the lady now. She’s not looking at me but at this sword. She’s probably staring because I’m wearing the gift she gave me.”
“…Alright.”
Finally, Sione released her grip on my side.
However, she looked at Eunice Kallia for a moment with a determined expression, seemingly harboring a strange wariness toward her.
Regardless of that.
We were getting closer to Eunice Kallia, and before long, the Marquisate’s group and the County’s group came face to face.
‘The reaction is quite good.’
The knights of the Marquisate welcomed us, strangers and humans who had come to the same great forest as them.
It seems they had been stationed here for some time. They probably wanted to meet people, or more precisely, their own kind.
‘Well…’
Unlike us, who were led here specifically by the High Elf’s oracle, the people of the Marquisate came for different reasons, with less clear purpose and importance than Sione and me.
They must have suffered more easily from the haughty elves’ territorial behavior. Moreover, they were knights stationed at the base.
Having to mingle among the forest keepers must have been quite troublesome.
However, the problem was that unlike the knights who showed welcoming expressions, the leaders on both sides didn’t seem to have a particularly friendly atmosphere.
‘Well, the County and the Marquisate aren’t on the best terms.’
The issue was with their ancestors.
If they were going to fight, they should have done so cleanly and been done with it. Instead, they made an awkward reconciliation, leaving the two families with little interaction and an awkward relationship, with occasional conflicts of opinion even now.
As a result, even those from the County and Marquisate today couldn’t help but feel a subtle distance between them.
‘Sione also showed signs of difficulty after talking with the family head.’
Considering how she whined and tried to cling to me after talking about the suspicious points of Allen Kallia, even though she didn’t show it much, as a member of the Sianella family, she must find it difficult to deal with the Kallia Marquisate.
“So you are… Lady Sione Sianella. I am Eunice Kallia. Pleased to meet you, my lady.”
“The pleasure is mine. But… you recognized me right away.”
Sione, shaking hands with Eunice Kallia, was a bit awkwardly stiff.
“Of course. Your name is quite famous in the great forest.”
“…My name?”
“Indeed. Would it be appropriate to call them the kings of this place? The High Elves have spread word that you are the warrior of the oracle. Your three-syllable name is known to more people than not, probably twice as many.”
“Hmm… I see…”
At the mention of “warrior of the oracle,” a blush began to spread across Sione’s cheeks.
…Indeed, “warrior of the oracle” is a rather embarrassing title.
“Moreover—”
Despite seeing Sione like this, Eunice Kallia maintained her cool demeanor and continued.
“The Kallia Marquisate has been waiting here to welcome you and the House of Allenar, the last remaining team, before the start of the military council.”
“…I’m worried we’ve kept you waiting too long.”
“Not at all. Getting to meet fellow humans after so long among elves makes this wait insignificant.”
As Sione nodded slightly at Eunice’s words, Eunice’s gaze suddenly turned to me.
“However, if I may ask… I would like to have a separate conversation with you later, my lady. Would you be able to spare some time?”
“Time—”
Sione subtly turned her head toward Friel.
She was the one who knew our schedule best today.
Only after she nodded did Sione give her answer to Eunice.
“It seems possible.”
Eunice Kallia smiled with satisfaction at Sione’s response.
She spoke with a slightly more relaxed atmosphere than before.
“Then let’s move to another location. The Houses of Chelnis and Ianet are waiting for us.”
Despite staring so intently at my sword earlier, Eunice Kallia gave me only a calm glance and didn’t engage me in conversation.
We followed her and soon arrived at a fairly large tent.
“This is the place.”
Eunice Kallia stepped aside at the entrance of the tent, and Sione, who had been looking around, along with Diolia and Friel, entered the tent in order.
Somehow, I ended up being the last to enter.
Just as I was about to enter the tent, Eunice’s voice, who had been quietly watching the others enter, came from right beside me.
“…The male knight of Sianella.”
I turned to the side at those words addressing me.
“It’s been a while, Sir Ray. You’ve become… an even more handsome knight than before.”
Eunice Kallia was looking at me with a faint smile.
“I see you’re still carrying the sword I gave you, so I assume you liked it?”
“…The sword is excellent. I can only thank you for your gift, Lady Eunice.”
“Well… it was quite expensive. I’m glad you’re making good use of it. But there’s no need to thank me so much.”
“Pardon?”
“That was the condition, wasn’t it? I would give you a small gift in exchange for having a conversation with me.”
I couldn’t find an appropriate response in this situation, so I remained silent.
As a result, it was Eunice, not me, who naturally created the flow of conversation.
“And… we made one more promise back then. The reason I stopped you now is because of that promise. Do you remember?”
…Of course I remember.
In exchange for the brief conversation I had with her, I would receive not only this sword but also the goodwill of Eunice Kallia, the presumed next head of the Kallia Marquisate, toward the Sianella family.
When I nodded slightly at her words, the faint smile at the corners of Eunice’s lips became more pronounced.
“I have a lot to talk about, but it would seem strange to chat here for too long… so for now, I’ll tell you something that might help the County, as per our promise. I couldn’t mention it earlier because of my shallow acquaintance with the lady and the presence of the Arielt daughter, but now I can briefly mention it away from others’ ears.”
“…When you say something that might help the County—”
Thud, thud.
Eunice approached me with a blank expression.
When she came very close to me, she pointed to her ear with her index finger and whispered in a very small voice.
“…Once you get involved with their stories, you’ll face great hardship.”
Eunice Kallia passed by me and entered the tent.
“Be wary of the elves of House Ianet inside the tent. I’m not sure if you remember, but they are just as I described elves to you before.”
She turned her head slightly to meet my gaze.
And then she whispered so quietly that only someone focusing entirely on her could hear.
“They can be cunning and selfish.”
Ianet.
Eunice warned me to be wary of the pointy-eared ones bearing that name.
With an expression of disgust, no less.
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