Engagement (1)

With the help of our personal attendants, we finished getting ready and were heading down to the living room where the whole family would be.

They were still in the midst of preparing breakfast, so this was the time we habitually spent as a family, having light conversations or reporting matters in the morning.

Usually, Riel would spend this time separately, but this time it seemed impossible.

Well, she’s basically the subject of the report, so she has to come along.

“Wuu… wuung!!”

“Ah… uung!! It’s okay, it’s okay…!”

Perhaps feeling some discomfort while going down the stairs, the World Tree… baby started fussing, and Riel was trying hard to soothe her.

“…Even if it’s the World Tree, it doesn’t seem much different from an ordinary baby.”

“It seems so. I’ve only heard about the birth of the World Tree through legends, so this feels amazing.”

Lilu was looking at the baby with interested eyes.

Her tone was quiet as usual, but I could tell there was a bit of excitement in her voice.

Well, Lilu had originally lived as a guardian of the World Tree.

At some point she thought she had been abandoned by the World Tree, but now she was seeing a newly born World Tree right before her eyes.

I probably can’t even express how Lilu must be feeling.

“By the way, she definitely resembles Riel as Phyllis said. Is it related to her being chosen by Lord Yggdrasil?”

I looked at the baby again at Lilu’s words.

…Indeed, she has an appearance that would likely grow to resemble Riel as she gets older.

Perhaps because Riel still has a youthful appearance, they could pass as an older sister and younger sister, which is somewhat fortunate?

“Ah, Young Master. Everyone is waiting… for you?”

The maid who was waiting in front of the living room cut off her words when she saw the unfamiliar baby.

No, absolutely not.

Don’t misunderstand either.

Thinking that, I passed by the frozen maid and entered the living room.

“Sorry for being late, Father.”

“Yes, hm? Lilu and Lady Riel came too? What in the…”

My father looked at Lilu and Riel, his gaze dropped slightly, and then he froze.

My mother, sitting next to him, appeared relatively calm, but I could see her eyebrows slightly raised.

Kino’s mouth was completely wide open, and Asta quietly stood up from his place and approached me.

“Brother.”

“…What?”

“I did ask how far you had gone, but I never imagined you would advance this much.”

“What?”

Asta placed his hand on my shoulder.

“…So, when exactly did my niece or nephew get born?”

“Die, you jerk.”

I grabbed Asta’s hand that was on my shoulder and threw him away.

It didn’t take long for everyone, including my father, to regain their composure.

In reality, physically, it’s impossible for the baby to be ours, right?

After calming down the family, it didn’t take much time to explain the situation.

“Wuu, kyaa!”

“That’s right, that’s right.”

The baby was now in my mother’s arms.

My mother was properly taking care of the child, who was flailing her small limbs while showing interest in various parts of the living room.

Hmm, I guess it’s because she has a lot of parenting experience, my mother is amazing.

When I try to hold her, she doesn’t refuse, but her expression seems somewhat displeased, but now she’s enjoying herself.

Besides, maybe because their hair color is the same shade of green, looking at them like this, they really look like parent and child.

My father was writing some letter after hearing our story, having called for paper and pen, and my mother was taking care of the baby.

Kino was sitting next to my mother, looking at the baby with a face full of curiosity.

And Asta was sitting across from me, rubbing the spot that hurt from being thrown.

“It was just a light joke, Brother.”

“That’s because you made a stupid joke.”

Riel, probably remembering the joke she had just heard, lowered her bright red face.

“So Brother, what do you plan to do with that baby?”

“That’s the problem. We have to return to the academy in two weeks…”

I gave Riel a look and signaled her.

Riel nodded and carefully got up to leave the living room.

“Wuh… wuaaang!!…Wuang!!”

The baby, who had been playing with my mother, was startled and reached out toward Riel.

And then she started crying sadly, so Riel hurriedly came back and held the baby to calm her down.

“…In this state.”

“Hmm…”

“If she’s not in the same space, she gets anxious like that and cries.”

Earlier in the room, when Riel was about to go out to change clothes, the baby, who was being held by Phyllis, caused a commotion by crying wildly.

In the end, it was resolved by Riel taking the baby to her room, but the problem is what to do about the academy.

We can’t take a baby to class, can we?

“I’ve heard about the baby’s origin, but in a way, Sister Riel could be considered the mother.”

“…We’ll have to find a solution.”

“More importantly, Brother, you got a child before even getting married.”

“Just when we were about to get engaged, I’m about to become a father, huh.”

As I was saying that, suddenly the surroundings became quiet.

Wondering what had happened, I looked around to see my father, mother, Asta, and Kino all staring at me with their mouths open.

“What? Why is everyone like that?”

“Kyo, did you decide to get engaged?”

Only then did I realize what my father meant.

…Come to think of it, I haven’t told them about the engagement yet.

I was going to tell them at this time, but I completely forgot because of the baby situation.

One day, at the Duke Ignis territory.

Andrew, who had been focusing on restoring the duchy as acting duke, put down the documents he had been writing and rested, leaning back in his chair.

“Phew…”

Stretching and sighing, Andrew reflected.

Starting with Gilbert, many acquaintances he had made during his academy days had rushed to help after receiving his letters, and were now working hard.

Thanks to that, security in the duchy and stalled official business were beginning to run smoothly again, and the anxiety of the residents was gradually being alleviated.

And since he had recently received a letter saying his father had been found, he finally felt like things were returning to normal.

At that moment, someone knocked on the office door.

When Andrew answered for them to come in, the door opened.

“Lord Andrew.”

“Lady Alicia, what brings you here?”

It was Priestess Alicia who came to see Andrew as he was taking a short break in his office.

She had a tea set in one hand.

“I thought it was about time for you to take a break, so I brought some tea.”

“Ah, thank you.”

Andrew took a break while drinking the tea Alicia had brought.

Alicia had helped with paperwork at the church during her time there, so she was now helping Andrew.

While drinking the tea, Andrew stared at Alicia for a moment.

Andrew’s heart began to stir at Alicia’s beautiful appearance.

‘No, get a hold of yourself, Andrew. The duke family hasn’t fully returned to normal yet…’

As he was thinking that and trying to calm his mind, someone knocked on the office door again.

With Andrew’s permission, one of the newly hired employees entered.

“Young Master, a letter has arrived.”

“A letter? Who is it from?”

“It’s from Lady Riel.”

At those words, Andrew immediately took the letter.

There were two letters that Andrew received.

One had his name written on it, and the other…

“This letter is for you, Lady Alicia.”

“For me?”

Alicia took the letter from Andrew and opened it.

As Alicia gradually read through the letter, she opened her eyes wide in surprise.

The contents of the letter stated that the World Tree seed, which she had personally gone to the World Tree Forest to retrieve, had hatched.

Alicia felt great joy at the news that a new World Tree had been born and was gradually growing.

Both as a believer and as the person who had brought the seed.

“I’m so glad… truly glad.”

Feeling joy filling her heart, Alicia held back tears that threatened to overflow.

How deeply she had fallen into sadness when she saw the dead World Tree in the forest and heard the story of the World Tree Yggdrasil.

How much she had fallen into despair when she heard that the World Tree had disappeared and that the world was heading toward its end due to problems in the circulation of magic.

This was no time for that.

Thinking that she must urgently go see the new World Tree, Alicia turned toward Lord Andrew.

“Lord Andrew, urgently…”

As Alicia looked at Lord Andrew, what caught her eye was Andrew frozen while holding the letter.

“…Lord Andrew?”

There was no response even when she called him.

Alicia approached Andrew and leaned forward to read the letter he was looking at.

Reading someone else’s letter violates manners, but the cause of his state was…

“Oh my.”

Considering the personality of Andrew as she had observed, she thought he would inevitably react this way upon receiving such a letter.

“Lord Andrew? Please come to your senses.”

Even when she grabbed his shoulders and shook him, Andrew couldn’t regain his composure.

In the end, as Alicia gave up and waited, Andrew regained his senses after a few minutes and stood up abruptly.

“I-I must go to Count Wentos’s territory right away!”

“What? But isn’t this a time when you should be focusing on the restoration of the duchy…?”

“…This is also necessary for the restoration of the duchy.”

…That was a bit of a weak excuse, but Alicia didn’t particularly point it out.

After all, Alicia herself also had a reason to visit Count Wentos’s territory now.