Chapter 428: The Sun Still Sets (4)

It was disheartening. I thought I had come up with a perfect, flawless idea that no one could object to. Even the person in question seemed satisfied, so I felt a small sense of pride that my brain was still functioning well.

That was why I shared this joyous news with my lovers in the capital. After all, joy shared was joy doubled.

— It’s not great.

But I was wrong. From the perspective of a third party who wasn’t part of the discussion, it wasn’t flawless at all, but rather riddled with flaws.

— What’s ‘Lou’? Did you nickname her that because she cooks?

I felt both indignant and aggrieved after seeing Eli shake her head.

No matter how crazy I might be, would I choose a lover’s nickname like that? I genuinely thought ‘Lou’ sounded good.

— If you’re going with ‘Lou’ anyway, why not just call her ‘Cookie’? That’s more familiar and better.

“Okay, I get it, so stop…”

Hearing that made me cry inside. Being told ‘Your idea sucks’ in rapid-fire succession was harsher than I expected.

Let’s admit it. My idea was terrible. Louise probably just smiled out of politeness because her lover gave her the nickname.

I haven’t come up with any nicknames myself, have I?

Suddenly, I reached an uncomfortable truth. Mar, Trixie, Rin, Eli, and Pene. None of these five nicknames were my original creations.

Mar, Trixie, Rin, and Eli were nicknames already used by others that I adopted, and even Pene was a nickname heavily influenced by Eli’s help. There wasn’t a single purely original nickname from me in this world.

Except for Lou.

…

“Then, how about ‘Lise’?”

— Yep, that’s fine.

I quietly bowed my head at her response, which seemed to ask why I was even asking about something so obvious. From now on, I should leave it to my wives if I needed to come up with nicknames for our children.

After finishing the call with Eli, when I told Pene that we decided on ‘Lise’ as Louise’s nickname, she praised it as a really good name.

I felt even more miSarahble.

I couldn’t help but smile whenever I let my guard down since yesterday. I found myself grinning several times even during class, leading to awkward eye contact with the teacher.

But I couldn’t help it. It was my first-ever nickname, and one that oppa came up with himself. Of course I’m happy.

Lou.

I discreetly covered my mouth with my hand and looked out the window. Others might catch me grinning embarrassingly if I lowered my hand.

That won’t do.

I nodded slightly, making a firm resolution internally. Yes, that’s not okay. While I can’t deny my happiness, my personal joy shouldn’t be a reason to show an unseemly face.

I’m oppa’s lover. I’m the future wife he personally nicknamed ‘Lou’. If I don’t conduct myself properly, it won’t just be a blow to my personal honor—it could also affect his reputation.

“No one would dare to directly insult Carl. But they might target those around him, like his lovers or subordinates.”

A long time ago when I first became oppa’s lover, Marghetta unnie said something like that to Irina and me.

She said that if a wife behaves strangely in high society, the husband also gets criticized. Since they don’t have the courage to directly criticize Carl oppa, they’ll try to insult him indirectly by targeting us, his close associates.

It’s unacceptable. I can endure being insulted for my own faults, but I can’t bear the thought of oppa, who’s perfect and wonderful, being criticized because of my inadequacies.

Such petty people.

My smile faded. They’re jealous of oppa, but lack the courage to say bad things to his face, so they target those around him like jackals. I can’t show any weakness to such jackals.

I’m a titled noble, too.

So, I steeled my resolve once again. Strictly speaking, I’m still just an heir, not yet a titled noble, but I will be a full-fledged titled noble someday. Even if it’s just a barony, the lowest rank, I’ll be one of the very few titled nobles among all aristocrats.

As such, no one will be able to insult oppa if I act perfectly without showing any weakness. No, I might even be able to punish those who envy him.

My future self will have that power. The title of a baroness and the name of the Mage Duchess’s only disciple will enable many things in the Empire.

It’s a bit embarrassing that it seems like I’m using others’ power rather than my own, though.

“You’ll remain my only disciple. Those who fear my name won’t be able to see you as just a simple baroness.”

If it were Teacher—no, Beatrix unnie, she’d be happy that I’m making good use of what I have.

So, let’s do our best. Let’s become someone who can properly support oppa, not his weakness.

I swear by the nickname oppa gave me!

I swear by the name Lou!

But when I arrived at the club room with this new mindset, I immediately heard unexpected words from oppa.

“Thinking about it, ‘Lise’ sounds better than ‘Lou’. Besides, ‘Lou’ seems like I just lazily took the first syllable.”

I flinched at those words.

Did I swear by the nickname too quickly? Is that why it’s changing…?

“Don’t you think ‘Lise’ is better too, Louise?”

I was about to say that I didn’t mind either ‘Lou’ or ‘Lise’ since they were both nicknames he gave me, but oppa’s eyes strangely looked somewhat sad.

What should I do? How should I react? It feels like choosing either ‘Lou’ or ‘Lise’ might hurt oppa.

“Ah, yes. I think I prefer ‘Lise’ too.”

After quick deliberation, I chose the latter. It seemed like oppa’s expression was leaning towards ‘Lise’.

“Right, ‘Lou’ isn’t great. Someone might think we’re talking about making soup.”

It’s strange. Oppa is clearly laughing as if making a joke, but he somehow seems to be crying.

“I’m sorry, Lise. I made you change your nickname after just one day.”

But seeing oppa smile and open his arms, the worry and anxiety in my heart melted away like snow.

Right, I was overreacting. There’s no reason for oppa to be sad. I must have misunderstood because my heart was racing over the new nickname.

Thinking that, I fell into oppa’s embrace. He hugged me back and kissed my lips.

…This really is nice.

I feel like I could fly to the sky.

I quietly started preparing for the vacation after the nickname incident.

“Promote this to a bishop, too.”

Of course, just because I said I was quiet didn’t mean the club members were, too.

They fortunately weren’t causing trouble outside, but it seemed like they were determined to spill inside what they couldn’t spill outside—the club room was noisier day by day.

“Oh my. Looking at it now, there are four bishops again.”

“…”

I heard a provocative voice that would irritate even a third party, and the sound of teeth grinding fiercely, but I tried to ignore it while eating cookies baked by Louise.

Cruel bastard.

I cursed the heartless redhead inside while chewing on the cookie.

Recently, the club members have chosen indoor activities over outdoor ones like foot volleyball. It was a natural choice given the cold winter, but the problem was that one of the main indoor activities for the confectionery club was chess. This created an environment for Rutis to unleash his madness of 5-knight strategy and 4-bishop tactics again.

And the main victim of this madness was usually Lather, or Lather, or Lather. While all other members avoided Rutis, only Lather stubbornly faced him while showcasing a losing streak that made onlookers feel sorry for him.

“Where did the chess player go?”

Eventually, a classic—and most certain—provocation came out of Rutis’s mouth. Even I, who had been ignoring them, instinctively looked over.

Oh dear.

But as soon as I turned my gaze, I saw Lather trembling and looked away again.

If he had lost normally due to lack of skill, Lather might have accepted it and moved on. But losing to the eccentric 4-bishop play had scraped Lather’s pride raw, and his competitive spirit was through the roof.

After all, having four bishops implied that you could finish off your opponent but was going easy on them.

And then to hear such words in that situation? Even Tannian would want to smash the opponent’s head with a bible for that.

“…You damned—!”

Not long after, something started flying through the air along with Lather’s angry voice.

In the end, the normal person tormented by eccentricity rage-quit.

It was truly a pity.

There was a moment of silence after Lather’s all-out table flip, but the atmosphere quickly returned to normal.

Rutis had provoked his opponent too much and was at fault, while Lather had done the ungentlemanly thing of rage-quitting. So, it seemed like they decided to call it even.

Some strange kids these were.

It was confusing to watch. Should I call this broad-minded and generous, or just simple-minded?

It’s better than fighting, I suppose.

After a brief consideration, I came to a neutral conclusion. Yes. This was better than the princes of the second and third-ranking countries on the continent getting into a physical brawl.

I looked at the male club members who had gathered to play poker, then turned my gaze to the female members. Despite the commotion of chess pieces and boards flying through the air, the female members were peacefully focused on making snacks.

Surely, there was a time when they too were startled by the ruckus caused by these problematic members. Two years was enough time to develop nerves of steel that could brush off any incident.

No, to be precise, even one year was enough.

They’ve grown strong.

Surprisingly, even Sarah, of all people, had developed nerves of steel. She simply glanced at Lather’s shout before quickly losing interest.

It was awe-inspiring. Was this really the same Sarah who had no social experience and used to get nervous in front of royalty? For even Sarah to view these royals as casually as stones rolling on the ground… these club members truly WEre legendary.

Of course, it wasn’t something to be particularly proud of. What a bunch of fools.

I’m glad the member from the imperial family is relatively normal.

With mixed feelings of bitterness and relief, I looked at Ainter as he played poker. At least Ainter was normal among them. Other than joining the confectionery club because he fell for Louise, he hadn’t really caused any trouble.

Indeed, domestic products are better than imported ones.