14. End of lingering – 02
It was the time when the warm spring was about to end and the hot summer was about to heat up the mountains and streams. The full-fledged summer hadn’t even started yet, but the sun was radiating hot heat to its heart’s content, rising high in the sky, as if it was in such a hurry.
In the sweltering heat that makes people go crazy, while many people in the Duchy of Estel were philosophically pondering whether it would have been better in the middle of summer when there was sleet, a guest appeared near the main entrance of the duchy.
It was clear that the guest who appeared out of the blue without any prior notice or contact was an unusual person whose suspiciousness could not be described in words. At least, it only seemed that way to the gatekeeper guarding the entrance to the castle.
That’s right.
If the person wearing a hood that comes down to the bottom of the face, as if the heat was none of my business, in the middle of the day when the heat was so hot, there would be no suspicious person in the world.
“…It’s been a while since I’ve been here. No, should I leave the impression that I am visiting for the first time in my life?”
The gatekeeper was taken aback by the suspicious guest muttering to himself as if he had a new feeling while looking at the true nature of the Duke of Estelle. What surprised him was that the voice coming from under the hood was the first beautiful and pure voice he had ever heard in his life.
Of course, the suspicious guest, who had no interest in the gatekeeper’s impressions of himself, threw a question at the gatekeeper, smiling gently at the corner of his mouth that was the only part exposed outside the hood.
“Um, excuse me. This is a question just in case, but are you sure this is the Duke of Estelle?”
To her question, the gatekeeper involuntarily nodded as if something spilled.
“…Yeah, that’s right. How did you come to the Estelle duchy?”
“Walk hard.”
At the answer that came back as if it were natural, the gatekeeper unknowingly looked at the suspicious guest with an absurd gaze.
“…Then, who are you here to meet?”
“Yes, of course I came to see the Duke. Does anyone try to visit someone else’s house for reasons other than meeting the landlord?”
Come to think of it, stray cats would prefer their owner to be absent,” he said as he looked at the giggling guest, realizing that he could not get the answer he wanted from the suspicious guest in front of him by ordinary means.
It was easy to notice through the experience accumulated while working as a gatekeeper. That guest is not the kind of person you can talk to.
“For what purpose did you come to meet the Duke?”
“I do not know. It’s a bit personal, so it’s a bit awkward to confide in someone who has nothing to do with it. By the way, I’m not such a light-mouthed woman.”
Sure enough, an answer came back that did not help in the slightest to understand the situation. An ominous premonition that he might have to exchange Zen dialogues with that unidentified guest all day seized him.
“…The Duke is in the present, but he is not someone who casually meets with unknown people. At the very least, if you don’t tell me about your business to see him, I will never be able to open the door for you.”
Apparently, the other person seemed to be a woman, so I softened the words and said, “Stop talking nonsense.” At those words, the unidentified guest just smiled meaningfully.
“is that so? This is a bit embarrassing. I thought that the duke and I could never say that we were strangers.”
Saying that, the moment the unidentified customer pulled up the hood she was wearing-
The next moment, the gatekeeper looked at the face of the ‘guest’ and involuntarily swallowed his breath.
The appearance of the woman who revealed her face was simply beautiful. That too, very much.
The gatekeeper had seen many beauties while living in Estelle’s family. From Aria, the exclusive maid of the Duke of Estelle, to Princess Bianca, who is rumored to be engaged and married, and to Ariel, who is called the next saint, there is only one woman who is not beautiful among the women living in the Estel family. Not a single one existed.
…However, the woman in front of them was different from them. Simply beautiful, the word alone could not describe her appearance. It didn’t mean that superiority or inferiority existed. There was something about her, something special that no other woman had.
The scent of fragrant forest grass fills this place. Two green eyes, fresh and gentle, twinkled. Crucially, she-
“…Ears, ears…?”
Her ears were very long and pointed. It was the most certain proof that the customer standing in front of her was not a human at all.
In an instant, a passage from a children’s book he read as a child popped into the gatekeeper’s mind. Because they live together in the Great Forest where the World Tree exists, they do not reveal themselves well in the human world, and all members of the race have a beautiful appearance incomparable to humans. The name of the half-fairy race, which is said to be clearly-
“Elf?”
At the muttering of the gatekeeper, who seemed to have already lost his mind, the elf standing in front of him, Kirie el Denaris, giggled and opened his mouth as if he was just having fun.
“Now, then, can you obediently call the duke? If you are the only elf who came to this world after about a hundred years, do you think you are qualified to meet the duke?”
A very beautiful and fresh smile goes to the gatekeeper. The gatekeeper nodded his head involuntarily at the extremely cold smile, which was full of his intention not to allow any further objections.
****
A drawing room located in the middle of the Estel duchy.
“…Uhm. The taste of the tea is very clean. From the temperature of the teacup to the blending of deep and harmonious fragrance. It must be clear that this is clean workmanship with a first-class touch.”
“Go, thank you.”
Looking at Kyrie, who was sipping black tea in a state of perfect manners that could easily be believed even if she was a lady of a noble somewhere, Sara, who could be said to be the one who made the tea, bowed her head in praise for herself.
She was brought here with her just because she was talking to Duke Estelle about a budget-related issue.
If you don’t wonder why the elves, a race that doesn’t go outside the Great Forest except for the occasion, came to the human world and why they visited the Duke of Estelle, then it must be a lie.
No matter how Duke Estelle and Sarah were looking at her, Kirie herself was just sitting on the sofa and sipping black tea with a comfortable expression as if this was her own home.
…Well, in fact, it was a familiar place that I had visited a few times in the future, so there was a familiar aspect to it.
Duke Estelle, who had been staring blankly at Kyrie drinking tea with an elegant attitude as if she were a princess somewhere, coughed a couple of times as if she had come back to her senses, and then opened her mouth to Kyrie with a solemn attitude befitting the owner of a duchy.
“Hmmmm, even though it’s a shabby place, I sincerely welcome you to the Estelle duchy. Hello Elf Kyrie. I am the owner of this place, Duke Estelle. During your stay here, Duke Estelle will recognize you as our guest and promise to warmly welcome you.”
“Thank you, Duke. I, too, swear firmly that I will not forget the hospitality the Duke bestowed on me until all the leaves in the green forest are gone.”
As Kyrie put the teacup down on the table and replied in an extremely polite manner, Duke Estelle made a subtle expression as if she was uncomfortable with something and spoke.
“…Well. It’s okay if you don’t have to show respect to me. you are an elf I am not an inflexible person to the extent that I dare to apply human laws to someone from a place where the dynamics of the human world do not apply. Crucially, the elves-”
“…Certainly, what is it?”
With Kyrie in front of her head while tilting her head at Duke Estelle, Duke Estelle had no choice but to open her mouth in a timid tone towards Sara, who was sitting next to him and who seemed only about the same age as his daughter Elena. .
“According to what I have heard, the elf race lives for nearly a thousand years, and by human standards, it is a race that enjoys a life that is no different from immortality. So Kyrie, since you must also be a woman much older than me, how could I carelessly talk to you?”
Due to Duke Estelle’s careless remark, Kyrie, who was unable to control her emotions for a moment, had a very small thread of blood drawn on her forehead. To be honest, the elf named Kyrie wasn’t a woman who was very merciful and broad-minded towards others, but she wasn’t stupid enough to display her full personality in front of a possible father-in-law. I mean.
…As Duke Estelle said, the experience accumulated over many years was not wasted.
“It can’t be. That’s really misleading. Duke.”
Kirie made an effort to ease her expression and continued speaking in a tone that was as caring and supple as possible.
“As the duke said, it is true that an elf’s lifespan is approximately ten times that of a human. But, duke, wouldn’t it be extremely unreasonable to compare the ages of two races with different lifespans in the first place? Can we really say that the ten years spent by humans and the ten years spent by elves are the same? They are two races with different lifespans in the first place?”
“…?”
What kind of weird noise is this? If a human or an elf lived ten years, wouldn’t both of them equally age ten? Duke Estelle couldn’t understand at all why this was an irrational method of calculation.
“Wrong. Totally wrong. I think that the two races with different lifespans should also have different ways of calculating age. okay. If the elves are about a hundred years old, the correct calculation would be to convert them to ten years in human years. If so, I’m about two hundred this year, so in human years I’d be about twenty. Yes, I was a young elf, only about twenty years old in terms of human age.”
“…..”
In fact, her physical growth stopped around the age of 200 when she was appointed as the guardian of the World Tree, so Kirie felt no shame in saying that she was 20 years old.
“Duke, how old would you be if you converted it to the age of the elves?”
To Kirie’s surprise-like question, Duke Estelle gave an answer with a puzzled expression.
“…I think it’s about 4,500 years old…”
After answering Kyrie’s questions meekly, Duke Estelle couldn’t help but admit that his values were gradually faltering.
“Look at that. Whether you look at your age or your position, the duke was a senior citizen who stood in a much higher position than me. Duchess, you don’t intend to use respect for a young woman who is only about 20 years old, right? Yes?”
“…..”
I couldn’t quite understand how the story had gotten to this point, but I knew for sure that it would be unwise to mention Kyrie’s age any further. Anyway, it was a moment when the duke was a bit uncomfortable using his respectful belt towards Kyrie, who seemed only about 20 years old on the outside.
“…okay. If that’s your opinion, I won’t bother using honorifics from now on.”
“Thank you, Duke.”
At Duke Estelle’s remarks, Kirie smiled brightly as if she was genuinely happy.
“Then is it okay if we get to the point now? Kyrie, I remember that you haven’t revealed why you visited Estelle Duke’s family yet.”
“Oh, come to think of it, I haven’t told you why yet. This is an obvious mistake on my part.”
Kirie picked up the black tea that had been placed on the table with a relaxed expression that did not seem to be a mistake at all, and said this while sipping tea in a truly elegant manner.
“I visited the Duke of Iri to meet my lovely fiancée, who only exists in my lifetime, father.”