episode_0105
by fnovelpia
The Manor House was busier than usual.
Even on non-holiday days, the mansion was bustling with activity, with the butlers managing the mansion and various servants working for the Duke moving around busily, but today in particular, it was full of people moving busily while being restrained.
This was because three rare guests had come to visit.
I need to correct it.
Apart from Louis, who frequently visited the mansion as if it were his own home, two other guests came.
Saint Alana and foreign noblewoman Beatrice de Dahlia.
The odd combination of the Empire’s highest-ranking cleric and the daughter of House Dahlia, a renowned knightly family in the Kingdom of Primira, was enough to draw the mansion’s attention.
However, the members of the mansion have long been devoted to the Manor family, so they put aside any questions and focus on the tasks given to them to entertain the distinguished guests.
Especially on holidays, the restaurant where the peacock personally decorated the simple food showed its true colors because the dedicated chefs were showing off their skills.
A place where the mouthwatering aroma of food wafting from the restaurant fades as you walk down the long hallway.
At the end of a long hallway with large windows and paintings collected over hundreds of years hanging on the walls.
The mansion’s reception room is located here.
Louis, sitting comfortably on the sofa in the living room, muttered to himself in boredom.
“Ha~ Is it because she’s beautiful? Our Countess sleeps a lot in the morning.”
The Duke of Mainer, who was sitting across from me and flapping his newspaper, answered.
Still looking at the newspaper.
“The young lady of the Dahlia family is still a long way from becoming a countess.”
“Ah, it’s still a long way for the Count couple, known as the Twin Swords of Primira, to retire. But still, won’t they inherit it someday?”
“… Well.”
“Well~ If you marry into some wealthy foreign family and get married, your path to becoming a countess will be lost… .”
“……”
Louis said with a huge smile on his face.
The Duke then looked up at Louis, and sighed deeply when he realized that he had been trying to do this from the beginning.
“Don’t guess.”
“I saw it with my own two eyes?”
“Kaldo is a son of a bitch. When his emotions get intense-”
“You don’t hug just any woman?”
“……”
The Duke, who heard from Louis and the saint what had happened the night before, tried to hide his surprise.
It was rare to see him flustered, as he was always so calm, so Louis felt like teasing him even more.
“No, I don’t hug just any woman… .”
“Well, I understand. He’s your son, so I guess he’s a troublemaker.”
“Sheep.Sons.”
“You’re nitpicking in a serious way. Can’t you deny that you’re a troublemaker?”
“That’s not worth refuting.”
The Duke, who was looking at Louis who was smiling brightly, eventually folded the newspaper and placed it on the table.
Again, I took a deep breath and thought back to yesterday.
“I sent you to investigate the rebel recruiting scheme, but I had no idea you would get entangled in a more important mission.”
“That’s right. Alana, I didn’t know I’d meet Lady Dahlia.”
“And as if that wasn’t enough… I never dreamed that you would bring me here and let me sleep.”
“What can I do? The sword stubbornly resists, saying things like he’s a key witness in the investigation into the rebel recruiter and that he can’t leave him behind.”
The Duke was silent for a moment, then said with a heavy expression.
“Lewis, I don’t have the arrogant idea that I can control people perfectly.”
“Ah, so that’s how you mastered the skill of manipulating people so cleverly?”
“… But if you have sophisticated intellectual abilities, I think it’s possible to predict behavior to some extent.”
“Does our great Duke have that level of ability?”
“I realize that I have a little bit of it.”
“A little bit? You’ve become more humble.”
The duke’s face softened thanks to Louis’ persistent puns.
A hollow smile spread across his once serious face.
“I mean, I know that Carl is very interested in women during his prime…”
“I know that much. No, everyone in the world knows. It’s obvious what guys that age are like, right?”
“…You’re also suppressing it because of Alana?”
“I knew that I would be a fool in front of Alana.”
“He should have been intoxicated with the specialness of being my adopted son, attaining the highest status in the Empire, being an agent of the Intelligence Service and chosen by the Holy Sword, but he never showed it off. Not even once.”
“……”
This time, Louis, who had been smiling cheekily, asked back with a serious face.
“Does that sound like it’s not the sword’s original nature?”
“A man can do anything, as long as he is given motivation and purpose.”
Louis nodded slowly.
Because he knew all too well what it meant to endure and change in order to achieve a goal.
“Just like you did.”
“You’re pretending not to know.”
The duke laughed bitterly.
“I knew from the beginning. What kind of feelings Carl had for Alana, how much he struggled with those feelings, and how much he gave up and endured while living.”
“It must have felt like looking in a mirror.”
“…The point is, the actions of the sword that lived like that were somewhat predictable, even if not perfect.”
“I didn’t know he would be so calculating even to Karl.”
“This is how I survived. This is how I will continue to live. You know that, right?“
I know very well. Thanks to you, the two of you were able to rise to the top of the empire together.
Louis headed towards the reception room, hoping to hear the conclusion before more people entered.
“So, you don’t know what Aesong will do now?”
“That’s right.”
The peacock took his time and finished speaking.
“I didn’t know you would treat the target of your mission like that in front of you… no, in front of Alana. Not to mention bringing him here.”
“It was impulsive, though.”
“Unpredictable is not good. No matter how-”
When the Duke was about to say something more, Louis stopped him with a wink.
It was because I noticed a sound approaching the reception room.
“……”
The duke stopped talking and assumed his usual benevolent expression.
“By the way, how did Dahlia’s daughter end up in such a dangerous place?”
“I heard that the academy students fell into the trap of the recruiting policy and the student council took action.”
“If it’s the student council… David?”
“Yeah, that useful guy was there too.”
The two continued their routine conversation as if they had only been talking about work from the beginning—even the talk about the knife was work—so as not to let the person who came to the reception room know about their previous conversation.
Louis, as always, spoke as if it were no big deal.
“And as I said yesterday, the knight I saw in the palace a long time ago…”
“Ah, I just received the information because you gave the order at dawn. He is the mercenary captain of Silver Terdeni.”
“Nothing has changed. I don’t know what magic was used.”
“You’ve managed to acquire a new identity with that unchanging appearance. Well, now that I know you’re a rebel, it’s almost like you’ve become a knight of the royal family again.”
“Not good. He’s dangerous, probably the worst knight I’ve ever met.”
“That article has become the weapon of the royal family again…”
“I’m glad I got there on time. Aesong is a long way from me.”
He hummed it as if it were nothing special, as if it were something that had passed him by, but the content was actually serious.
Because the trump card and the successor with whom he had formed an inner closeness might have lost his life.
As the two continued their conversation, the sound of footsteps approaching the reception room became clearer and clearer.
“…The sword’s impatience will grow.”
The Duke spoke, stroking his chin. He looked uncomfortable, as if he were faced with a difficult problem.
Again- The sound of footsteps finally stopped as they reached the front of the reception room.
The duke continued speaking without paying any attention.
“I might rely on the power of the Holy Sword. It’s the easy way and the sweet way.”
“I can’t even guess how strong Aesongi’s will is. So far, she’s been following my instructions to refrain from using the Holy Sword.”
“There will be a limit to your patience. But the Holy Sword is dangerous if you can’t control it. No one knows the end of its infinite power. Not you, not me… At least not in this day and age.”
“That’s true, but so far nothing has happened that warrants caution.”
The sound of a luxurious door opening, befitting a drawing room, interrupted Louis’ words.
“No, it happened.”
And then a sweet voice intervened.
“?”
“Because I saw that the sword had lost its reason.”
The Duke and Louis both looked at the divine and beautiful woman at the same time.
The woman looked at the two of them in turn and opened her beautiful lips to finish speaking.
“The fallen sword came to his senses and acted as if he had become a different person.”
“What the… I was clearly hugging Lady Dahlia yesterday when I came out of the mansion, looking fine?”
Louis, who rarely gets flustered, asked with wide eyes.
“……”
The saint, dressed casually rather than in a pious habit, exuded an air of nobility regardless of her attire, but that nobility was momentarily shaken when she heard Louis’s words.
A sharp and fierce gaze passed by, but soon a beautiful smile appeared again.
“I couldn’t tell you yesterday because I was busy, Sir Louis.”
“Did something else happen?”
The Duke asked, half interested and half worried.
“While Sir Louis was fighting the terrifying mercenary, Carl woke up outside the mansion. But the atmosphere was completely different. I could tell by the feeling. It was someone else.”
“……”
“I was glad that Carl had come to his senses, but I didn’t have time to feel joy or relief… I could only stare blankly because Carl felt unfamiliar.”
“And? What did that strange-feeling knife do?”
A shadow fell over the saint’s bright face.
The Duke had an ominous feeling. After all, the saintess was also the target of the mission, and she was one of the women the Duke suspected of being the princess.
I was worried that the knife might mess up the job.
“Dahlia’s Young Love… Beatrice……”
“Beatrice?”
“Attacking mercilessly.”
“What!? You attacked Lady Dahlia?”
Louis interrupted, startled.
“It was closer to a brutal and merciless assault than an attack. Beatrice was covered in blood.”
Louis and the Duke looked at each other in silence for a long time at the shocking testimony.
“And then you hugged me…?”
“That’s-”
The duke couldn’t believe it at all and muttered and pieced together the story he had heard.
“He hit me and hugged me. He hit me and hugged me. He got hit and cried in my arms. Until he was covered in blood… He dug into the arms of the person who was rushing at him as if he was going to kill him……”
“……”
The saint’s expression hardened at the simple listing of facts. She seemed anxious and uneasy.
The Duke, who did not miss the fleeting change that crossed the saint’s face, asked Louis a question to change the mood.
“How on earth did you teach that kid, Louis.”
“What? Are you blaming me?”
“How did you lead him to act like such a lunatic?-”
“Your son. A child’s misbehavior is a mirror reflecting the parent.”
“Sheep.Son. On the other hand, you are the true master of the sword.”
“Profit!!!”
To prevent the saint herself from realizing that she was under suspicion.
So, I didn’t even want to let anyone know that I had noticed the darkness and gloom that had passed by just a moment ago, unbecoming of a saint.
“I guess I chose the wrong teacher. Our son.”
I hope the saint can laugh it off without knowing anything.
“This unlucky bastard! Are you done talking?!”
“What can I do if it’s true?”
I will not let you judge by only showing you this pathetic and absurd appearance.
“Stop-! Both of you, stop. It definitely wasn’t Karl. Karl wouldn’t do something like that.”
Finally the saint cried out.
He mutters like someone trying hard to ignore reality.
As if they firmly believed that by doing so they could erase the unwanted reality.
“The sword, the sword… That can’t be… Yes, that can’t be……”
But that appearance only made him look more unstable.
“Hoo, hoo hoo… That’s right. It’s because of the Holy Sword. I know. The Holy Sword made the sword like that. That’s why the Holy Sword is bad. The power of the Holy Sword…!”
He repeats it as if making a pledge in a voice that gets smaller and smaller.
All of that, yesterday’s events were not the will of the sword. It was not the sword that Alana knew.
The worst man ever was the one who hugged another woman – and in front of her – and made her so restless and anxious that she thought she was going crazy.
“So… I’ll let you pass just this once?”
It won’t be a knife.
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