#3 Harvest Festival (1)
The meal ended without adding anything to it.
This is because handing over an apology does not mean that the relationship will improve immediately.
The two of them were still strangers, and as they knew nothing about each other, the conversation they had was not appropriate.
In the end, the atmosphere became awkward again, and after eating like that, I fell asleep and it was the next morning.
“Bocchan, did you cough?”
“Wake up.”
Elric got out of bed feeling the cool temperature.
When I woke up while washing my face, it was the last night that passed by.
A bitter smile appeared on his lips.
Now that I have decided on my destination, I also feel refreshed.
“Okay… .”
I pulled my uncomfortable leg and stood up.
I decided to leave when my leg healed, but it was clear that the time would not be short.
At least it had to last through the winter. If I had a little extra time, there was a high probability that I would be here in the spring as well.
Whatever it is, during that time, you will have to help Tyria.
It wouldn’t be that much of a thing to do with a body like this, but didn’t you notice that you didn’t do anything?
“I will go in.”
Aldio opened the door.
Behind him was a maid holding a basin full of cold water.
“It’s washing water.”
“Thank you. Go and work.”
Still, I wasn’t used to the life of someone telling me something when I opened my eyes.
Elric waved his hand off the maid and washed his face.
The cold aura awakens the spirit completely. After roughly washing my hair, shaking off the water, and changing to my clothes, I was finally ready to go out.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes, the madam is waiting for you.”
“You must be busy.”
“Eating together as a family is the master’s iron rule, isn’t it?”
Elric chuckled.
It was. My father was the one who insisted that the family eat breakfast face-to-face. As someone who is morbidly obsessed with managing schedules, if Elric broke the routine and missed breakfast, he would starve all day.
That culture must still be in the mansion.
“Come on down. This will leak me.”
Elric left the room using a cane.
Upon arriving at the restaurant, Tyria briefly bowed her head.
“Did you cough?”
“Good morning.”
In an instant, the two’s eyes met.
Tyria narrowed her eyes, and Elric smiled shyly.
It’s really hard to treat him as usual since he had something to do the day before, but it’s difficult because he can’t show a different face.
“Sit down and eat. There will be a lot of work to do.”
“yes.”
Breakfast, as always, was bacon, bread, and eggs.
It was a menu that satisfies the stomach without feeling burdensome, in other words, it was a menu that would quickly free us from this awkwardness.
Start eating with a clatter. I’m going to clean it up and find out about the change of the heir of the inheritance.
It was such a thoughtful moment.
“… It is time for the harvest to begin soon.”
Tyria opened her mouth.
“I think it will take about a week to finish.”
“Oh, is that so?”
“yes.”
Why do you bring up the topic in the first place? A little startled, she raised her head and found Tyria chewing on her food.
Elric felt a strange pressure.
‘What should I answer here?’
For some reason, since she raised the topic first, the thought that I had to answer didn’t leave my head.
If I cut off the conversation like this, I felt like I would become a very bad person.
A cold sweat broke out.
“Um… .”
it’s harvest
Focusing on that word, what Elric did ended up being a memento.
“… It reminds me of the old days.”
“Which one?”
“Aren’t all grown-ups working together in the wheat fields during harvest time? Then what will the rest of the kids do together? I played pranks that I couldn’t usually notice because I was not paying attention to adults.”
joke… He said, but he was doing something quite dangerous.
Exploring the back mountain where demon beasts often appear, or going out of the territory and playing war games.
Thinking back, it was something that made me think no one had died.
“You’re in trouble.”
Suddenly, Elric was stabbed in the stomach.
-You troublemakers!
It felt like I was reminded of the cry of the restaurant owner who gave me snacks every time I visited.
Naturally, the head is lowered. I don’t know what to say, so I only move my hands faster.
In the meantime, Tyria could be seen hesitating.
Maybe it’s a hesitation. I couldn’t think of any other way to describe the thought of staring at the plate while nibbling at the food.
“… Do you have anything to say?”
“ah.”
I can see the power going into the tip of the hand holding the knife.
Immediately after, Tyria opened her lips, and then spat out the words.
“bump… .”
“bump?”
“… May I ask you a favor?”
What kind of request are you saying so carefully?
Elric nodded in wonder.
“Tell me. I will help as much as I can.”
“It is related to the harvest festival.”
“It’s a harvest festival… .”
It was something in my memory.
Yubin’s Harvest Festival was a four-day festival starting from the end of the wheat harvest.
It is an event to praise Yeong Ji-min for his hard work over the past year by pouring wine and grain on the territory, and it must have been his father who supervised the event.
I didn’t have very good memories.
This is because, in Elric’s memory, Harvest Festival was a time when his father’s interest in it was particularly distant.
“Is there a problem with the harvest festival?”
“If it is a problem, it is a problem. Weebin’s Harvest is still hosted by Portman. On the last night, Portman’s owner has to give a speech.”
“I must have such a memory.”
“Last year, the former head of household passed away, so I took over the role. But this year… .”
Elric was then able to understand Tyria’s words.
“Do you want to ask me to give a speech?”
“… yes.”
Tyria’s hand was completely still.
Elric pondered for a moment. Is it right to play the role of a family head at the time you decide to leave? Maybe I should leave that role to her.
Even if you think about cancer, your thoughts tend to that direction.
However, refusing her request was also not very reluctant.
“Um… .”
Could there be a compromise?
Thinking, Elric soon came up with a plan.
“How about this?”
“yes?”
“Actually, I don’t have confidence in things like speeches. However, I know that it would be strange to become Portman’s person and not show his face. So you give the speech, and I stand by.”
It’s a pretty nice room, isn’t it?
Portman’s real power could have given the impression of Tyria, and he could grant her request to some extent.
One thing I’m worried about is whether the stubborn-looking girl will allow such a thing… .
“… If you want to do that, for now, this year.”
Fortunately, it seems to be allowed.
The proviso of ‘once this year’ was attached, but this year was enough.
“Then don’t do it. If you need anything else related to the Harvest Festival, tell Aldio. You must know more than me.”
“yes.”
Tyria nodded.
*
Something different. weird.
Tyria was immersed in such thoughts.
It had to be.
At the first reunion, there was a point where he made a disliked expression and still considered himself a fool, but other than that, Elric’s attitude was really gentle.
In other words, it was an attitude that made people have ‘expectations’.
That’s what I said when I left everything else and apologized for the past 10 years.
I was surprised how much he sincerely apologized for leaving, saying that he was sorry for leaving, and that he did not leave because of him.
It was such a shock that I forgot to manage my expression at that moment.
Looking back, my heart beats again.
It feels like heat rising on your face.
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It is unknown whether his words are sincere, but he is greedy nonetheless.
Maybe it’s because he doesn’t really hate me.
That kind of thinking never goes away.
Asking for the work of the harvest festival was an extension of that anticipation.
Obviously, the title was ‘I have to show my face as the head of Portman’, but I couldn’t say that there was no personal greed in it.
What I inadvertently recall was the event that would take place after the speech.
‘… Huyaze.’
On that day, a huge campfire burns in the town square.
Villagers dance around it.
It was a festival that I had seen quite a lot since I was young, and it was a festival that I looked at while thinking of Elric as my opponent.
Maybe now I can make that dream come true.
If he didn’t hate it, it was something he wanted to do.
Of course, I can’t dance because my legs are uncomfortable. I don’t want that.
I just want to be with you.
Thinking of it, Tyria gently pressed her cheek with her hand as she felt the fever grow hotter.
It was fortunate that I was sitting alone in my office.
If I had been outside, I would have had to spend all my strength to put up with these feelings.
“Whoa… .”
I was exhaling and dispelling the heat.
smart-
“Madam, may I come in?”
Aldio’s voice.
Tyria’s face immediately turned expressionless.
“… come in.”
The voice also regained its original tone at once.
She was a woman who did not show her feelings to others.