61 – Ball – 1
I arrived at Count Trevor’s territory ten days after leaving the Stein estate. It was a long carriage ride for him, but neither I nor Lucy had such a hard corner.
Because he was a good coachman and he could rest in the middle village.
Of course, it wasn’t that nothing had happened in the meantime. There were people who were flirting with Lucy’s beauty, and there were monsters on the road and encounters with thieves.
Of course, he wasn’t particularly dangerous.
I slayed the rude guys, and I got quite a bit of travel expenses from the thieves.
This would be a very harmonious and peaceful trip.
That’s why I was satisfied…
“Why is that?”
Lucy’s expression hasn’t looked so good since she met the thieves who helped her with her travel expenses again yesterday.
Still, I put some chi in her hand, but was it cruel in her eyes? Maybe he was afraid of me again.
“I think the number of thieves has increased recently.”
“Ah. I see. I thought you were afraid of me again.”
“No! It can’t be!”
Stunned, she grabbed my hand and said urgently. Judging by the wide open eyes and the expression of not knowing what to do, it seems that he was genuinely perplexed.
“hahahaha. I’m glad then. Then why are you so dark?”
“Hmm. As I said before, it’s because of the recent increase in bandits. The increase in bandits is proof that the whole country is in chaos.”
“Hmm… What’s happened to the country lately?”
“I heard that His Majesty’s health has deteriorated a little. Other than that… Nothing special happened. That’s why I’m curious. The fact that the number of bandits is increasing even though the country is fine is for some reason.”
“What could be the reason?”
“Well… I don’t really know that far. But I hope those bandits don’t raid other territories. Not to mention the Stein estate.”
It’s not uncommon for bandits to gain power and attack the territory. Especially when the country was shaken, it used to happen more.
Should I ask Count Estal later? If so, I think he knows something.
“The inspection begins.”
Unlike the last time I went to Count Estal, I was able to inspect while riding in a carriage this time. As the front carriage moved and our carriage moved forward, the soldier gave a light salute and tapped the carriage door.
“May I open the carriage door?”
“Of course.”
Because there is nothing to take. I opened the door and the soldier looked inside the carriage and looked a little surprised to see Lucy. Well, Lucy is so pretty that his eyes go round when he first sees it.
“Kuhmm. What brought you to Count Trevor?”
But I didn’t keep staring at her rudely. As expected, they are the soldiers of the county.
The soldier who started the inspection turned his eyes to me, not Lucy, and asked, and I showed Lucy an invitation.
“Ah. You must be from the Stein estate. There were a lot of rude things. There is nothing special to worry about, so you can go in.”
After a while, the door closed and the carriage moved. Sitting in the rocking wagon, Lucy gave a small smile.
“This is the first time the inspection has ended so quickly.”
“Hmm? Isn’t that what it used to be?”
“It’s not like that. Actually, it’s going to take longer. But the reason it ended so quickly… Maybe it’s because of our relationship with Count Estal.”
It was already a widely known story in the social world that Count Estal sent us gold, food, and soldiers. I don’t know how this fact was transformed, but it seems that Count Estal has recently become Cecil and Lucy’s guardian. Rumors were even spreading.
From nob le mt l dot com
Neither Count Esthal nor Cecil said anything about the rumor.
Esthal Countess kept quiet because there was solitude in her heart, and Cecil thoroughly exploited this rumor.
Anyway, this is a story related to the strongest nobleman in the kingdom.
If you do it well, it can be of great benefit.
“I don’t know if this is okay. I wonder if Count Esthal would be angry if he knew…”
“It won’t happen, so don’t worry.”
You can ask him to be your real guardian if you need to. If so, I wonder if he would be willing to listen to my request.
“Is it really so?”
“I’m sure it is. By the way… It’s quite a busy place here too.”
It wasn’t as much as the Countess of Estal, but I could see the bustling interior of the Stein estate. There were quite a few forges here and there, befitting a place where wealth was accumulated through mining. Lucy, who was examining iron equipment and daily necessities for sale in the market, shouted urgently while holding my arm tightly.
“Look at that! That! Wow. You can do such delicate work with iron…”
“The skills of the blacksmiths are amazing. I think the star, Youngji’s blacksmith’s, needs to improve their skills a little more.”
“Hmm. That’s true, but blacksmithing isn’t easily taught…”
I guess so. Lucy, who looked full of regret, let out a small sigh with his slightly sullen face.
“It is said that the blacksmiths of our estate were also very skilled in the past. But since the vein dried up, most of them left, so I heard that the remaining blacksmiths are not very skilled.”
It’s a pity.
It would be great if they came back, but it’s been a long time, and there won’t be any merit for them to come back to the star estate.
But what can I do? This is something i can’t do
“I wish I could negotiate with Count Ortlan.”
Even if you don’t get a skilled blacksmith, if you learn the blacksmithing technique, you wondered if the blacksmith of the star estate would be able to acquire quite a bit of skill. But those skills aren’t easily passed on, so you won’t be able to acquire them unless you put a knife to Earl Ortlan’s throat.
….Should I talk to you?
“…Just in case, I hope you don’t do anything rude to Count Ortlan.”
“Well, as long as they don’t touch you, it’ll be fine. But why did you invite the young lady to the ball?”
“I mean… She’s not even an older sister, so there must be a reason why she invited me…”
Are you saying that you need to bump into this part to know? The place they arrived at by moving in such a swaying wagon was a huge mansion. Perhaps it was a mansion as big as that of Count Esthal, so Lucy shrank quite a bit.
“Hey, I’m nervous.”
“Don’t be so mean. Now, let’s get off.”
I got off the carriage first and held out my hand. The tension on Lucy’s face as she looked at it disappeared quite a bit. When I went inside her with her holding her hand lightly inside her, the person who seemed to be her butler was checking her invitation.
“Lucy Stein, acting lord, and escort knight Cheonyeong have entered!”
With the butler’s loud cry, some nobles inside turned their eyes towards us. In the whispers, as expected, there was a story related to Count Esthal.
“Welcome back.”
It was when I went inside and was looking for a seat. A stout old man came towards us. Upon seeing him, Lucy hurriedly bowed down to greet him.
“Lucy Stein, acting lord of the Stein estate, meets Count Ortlan Trevor.”
Is this the Count?
An angular face and broad shoulders. Just looking at the muscles on his arms, he looks more like a worker in a mine than an aristocrat.
“I am Chunyoung. I am working as a vassal of the Stein family…”
“And strong.”
I raised my head at the voice I heard then. Standing there was another old man.
He is wearing a sword and clearly looks languid. He strode forward and stood in front of me.
“I heard that my pupil owes a lot to you.”
“hahahaha… Who are you talking about…”
“Lebotan Litran. I heard he properly trained him at the academy…”
Lebotan… Lebotan… Ah. Him?
Wait a minute. If it’s her teacher…
“I’m late to introduce you. It’s Lewdran Trevor who has the false name of the capital city.”
I saw Lucy. She looked at Lew Dran Trevor with her eyes wide open, as if she too was surprised.
“It’s embarrassing, but my older brother. I didn’t know that he would ask his younger brother a favor like this after he abandoned Trevor’s last name.”
“hahahaha. I think it would be much better to leave the family affairs to the head of the family.
“Grunt.”
So, Otlan Trevor is more talented as a lord, and Lew Dran Trevor is more talented at nothing, so he left the house with his younger brother?
Since such a person returned as a capital city, it could be called a golden homecoming, but Ortlan Trevor was just grumbling.
“Anyway, I’m glad you came here. There are so many things I want you to do, so don’t think about running away after the ball.”
“Ha ha ha.
He looked me straight in the eye and said seriously.
“I want to ask for a lesson. Can I learn a lesson?”
That’s not difficult, but…
I saw Lucy. She looked quite worried, probably because Doseong was proposing a performance for me.
So I held her hand.
“I will give the victory to the lady.”
“…It’s a victory, I hope it doesn’t get hurt.”