82. A Small Sprout (4)
As my fist crashed roughly onto the table, the fools who had been giggling shut their mouths and turned into statues with their hands clasped together.
Someone else’s first date? Someone else’s date location? Someone else’s date course?
Yeah. They must have thought that their own rules could be applied as they wished.
In the case of a meeting between a noble man and woman.
“Isn’t it laughable? That a meeting between me, who belongs to the Vagrant Duke’s family, and Harnié, who belongs to the Theresa Marquis’s family, should follow your rules exactly.”
However, the enforcement of rules is limited within the scope of being a noble.
If a family name is brought up, and if it’s the name of a duke’s family, then the enforcement will be broken very easily.
Deception and insult that go beyond reason and education.
From Noble mtl dot com
Their behavior could be interpreted completely differently from our perspective.
“Why is everyone speechless? You spoke as if you knew better than Harnié and I.”
“…”
The nobles present had no choice but to stay silent under the pressure of having their family names mentioned.
It would definitely be good to take care of this.
“You there.”
“Y-Yes?”
“Go ahead and tell me. Who made that rotten rule? I’ll grab him right here and ask him the same question.”
“T-That’s…”
The man with thick makeup on his face stuttered and took a step back.
He seems rather loud in this place, so I took a wild guess, but it seems like I made the right choice.
If you want to live in a situation like this, you tend to sell out others. Even more so if you’re a high-ranking noble in this place.
However, this man doesn’t mention anyone’s name.
That means.
The one who made this rule is this guy.
I spoke clearly in front of him.
“Tell me. Who was the one who told you to follow that boring rule? Shouldn’t you hear how great of a date course it is if the Vagrant Duke’s family and the Theresa Marquis’s family are going to follow it?”
Then, Harnié suddenly interjected.
“Carsein. The person you’re holding is the mastermind who made this rule.”
“Ah, Lady Harnié…!”
“Oh? Is that so?”
“Yes. He’s the one who told us that seeing the same scenery every time is considered an artistic location, that listening to an opera at the same theater and then walking on that pathetic bridge called the Cloud Bridge and having a campfire in the middle of the night is common sense for a first date course.”
Nice timing.
By explaining the problems with the so-called common course one by one, I was able to step in and lay out my own date course.
“How utterly useless. I’m supposed to take Harnier on our first date to that course? I’d rather spend my time enjoying the sights of other nations’ cultures in the festival streets.”
“I would hate a cheap campfire like that too. The sky bursting with colorful fireworks is much prettier.”
“Instead of walking on cloud bridges, it’s a hundred times better to get another prize in the festival streets and make your beautiful face shine.”
“Th-that old-fashioned opera is too outdated! It’s supposed to be educational, but─”
After that, Harnier and I ruthlessly broke those rules.
Harnier kept on ogling, so I signaled to her to stop, and it was kind of fun to tease her.
So.
To summarize.
“Tsk. Don’t even mention such a trashy course in the future.”
As I said that, the noble couples had to shut their mouths and lower their tails.
***
I left the party, covering the venue with greasy and oily comments, taking the rotten nobles’ expressions as a consolation prize.
Of course, there was one problem.
“Ugh…”
My fiancée was also hit with splash damage and was showing similar symptoms to them.
“Carsein. It feels like my limbs are still going to shrivel up because of you. Where on earth did you learn such a thing…?”
“…I didn’t learn it.”
“Ha, well of course not? No one would teach something like this in any sense. Then did you read some kind of strange book? Or maybe an etiquette book about strange things…”
Excuse me, Miss Fiancée. Are those things to say to your fiancé?
As I glared at her, Harnier gave an affected cough.
“Anyway, thank you for your help. Thanks to you… I don’t think I’ll have to worry about that group anymore.”
Harnier told me that she had always pretended to have a fiancé after that.
It was to fend off men, of course, and it was the best way to avoid being sold off in a political marriage.
She could actually use signs of having a lover to shake off the men who approached her, but when the social circles relentlessly dug into her and asked her to respond in the way that noble lovers would, she was gradually driven into a corner.
She had called it old-fashioned, but I agreed that it was a truly old-fashioned rule.
“That harassment is over for today. Since it’s been revealed that you have a fiancé.”
She let out a sigh of relief.
I could feel her relief just from her voice.
“Now then, I should pay you properly for your help. Would it be alright to do that in the carriage?”
Harnier asked, holding out her hand.
I took her hand, readily accepting her suggestion to go back to the carriage.
“I’ll escort you.”
.
.
.
Unlike when we came to the party venue, the horses didn’t run wild because of Telumos’ lungs.
It would be right to think that the sub-episode progressed in the right direction, and the three men listened to my words and left.
The coachman also had an injured arm, but he was able to hold the reins without any problem because he had recovered nearby.
Every result matched the game.
In the end, my guess that I would be able to pull the episode forward was completely correct.
With this, my preparations will become much clearer.
I was thinking of asking Harnié a favor, given that she had also ruined my image earlier.
However, that thought quickly disappeared.
“…”
Harnié, looking exhausted, was nodding off while looking at the documents.
She rubbed her eyes, trying hard to stay awake, but it didn’t last long.
Soon, her eyes closed.
Her violet pupils were covered by her heavy eyelids.
And slowly, I was losing my balance and falling forward.
‘Oh no.’
I had even used a sub-episode to prevent the carriage from shaking, but I couldn’t hit my head on the floor here.
I gently grabbed her shoulder as her body seemed to lean forward while she was dozing off.
“Ugh…” A voice came out, but fortunately, it seemed like she didn’t wake up.
Come to think of it, Harnié seemed to be lacking sleep despite having spent a day at the Duke’s residence away from the eyes of the Marquis’s family. She had yawned and said she had work to do.
She must have been pushing herself too hard.
Looking at her holding onto the documents even while being this sleepy.
‘I also used to secretly study and reduce my sleep in order to desperately get out of that house.’
Although it wasn’t at the level of life and death like this world, I could understand her feelings.
But what should I do?
I couldn’t just leave her like this. But when I thought about whether there was something to prop her up with… it didn’t seem like there was.
I couldn’t help it.
I moved next to Harnié and slightly opened the window that allowed communication with the coachman.
“Coachman. Listen quietly. I’m going to change the route.”
“Where are you going?”
“The destination is the same, but go slowly through the crowded city streets.”
“Oh… Young Master. If you do that, your return may be delayed. Are you sure it’s okay?”
“It’s fine. I’m asking you to slow down on purpose.”
The coachman nodded in understanding and slowed down the carriage as I requested.
As the carriage slowed down, I moved carefully and made Harnié lean her head towards me.
I ended up pulling her shoulder again unintentionally, but let’s just consider this unavoidable skinship, just in case.
It wouldn’t be very comfortable, but this was the best I could do in terms of something to lean on right now.
And then I playfully complained.
“What if you fall asleep with a strange man staring at you shamelessly? Tsk.”
Of course, it was all just a joke.
The only thing left was those documents.
If I could just take away those documents that she was still holding, she would be able to sleep for about an hour or two before we arrive at the Marquis’s residence.
-Clang.
‘Alright. I’ll do that later… Huh?’
Reports related to a territory, along with various information such as the approximate terrain and products, came in at once.
However, for some reason, the name of the territory sounded quite familiar to me.
[Shatran Territory Report]
When asked if he had slept well, Harnier yawned.
He said it was because he had work to do.
Harnier had held this document in his carriage all day today. It would be safe to say that he had been organizing it the whole time, except for when he had entered the party hall.
He had been holding onto it until just a moment ago. The document he had been holding until his eyelids closed is this very one.
And.
Immediately after getting into the carriage.
“Look, I’ll definitely repay you properly. Huh. Just wait a little bit. I’ll bring you something that will satisfy you.”
That was what he had muttered.
‘…Could it be this?’
I stared blankly at Harnier, who was half-asleep, and before I knew it, I was bewildered.
My thoughts didn’t really extend any further.
No matter how I looked at it, this was the satisfactory thing that he had promised to give me.
I had the feeling that he had worked hard to prepare this while sacrificing his sleep.
‘To think that I would receive such kindness from this woman, when I hadn’t even received it from my family…’
Really.
I can’t adjust to it.
***
The sun is setting.
The weather had warmed up enough during the day that people weren’t breathing out visible puffs of air, but as the sun set, it became chilly enough for people’s breath to become visible once more.
Even so, a young girl had come out of the mansion.
She stood there blankly, looking up at the main gate of the Duke’s residence, standing there with the moon beginning to rise.
Watching the girl, her family’s hearts ached, and they brought out a fur to drape over her shoulders.
“Why are you still out here, Flora?”
“Sister Arina.”
Her younger sister’s head turned slightly at her older sister’s touch.
However, her gaze soon moved back toward the main gate.
Arina sighed and took Flora’s hand.
“Flora. Winter is almost over, but it’s still cold. Let’s go inside and wait. Okay?”
“…I’m fine.”
“If you just keep waiting here, your legs will ache.”
“They won’t hurt. Sister. I’m really fine.”
“Hoo.”
Eventually, a heavy sigh escaped her lips.
Flora had been staying here since the middle of the day, for some reason.
She just stared blankly at the same spot. Even when the maids told her to come inside, she didn’t budge from her spot.
During mealtimes, she only briefly went into the dining room, but her head was turned toward the direction of the main gate the entire time.
The reason was one person.
Carsein.
‘She’s never been like this before. What on earth did he say to make Flora act like this…’
Before Carsein left, Flora had reportedly visited his room and talked to him.
I couldn’t make out the details of their conversation, but it’s clear that this has been happening ever since.
‘I can’t overlook this any longer.’
Isn’t it going too far?
Arina returned to the mansion, thinking that she would have to say something once Carsein returned.
“…”
While big sister Arina turned away.
Flora still kept her eyes on the front door.
“It shouldn’t hurt… Carsein…”
It was just a scratch.
Even without applying ointment, it wouldn’t be a big problem if the bleeding stopped in a few minutes.
If anyone heard her, they might laugh at her for making such a fuss.
But every time she saw the red liquid, Flora couldn’t calm down.