70 – Her Her (3)
The man was as shabby and miserable as I used to be.
Melancholy drips from her sagging shoulders. The shadows scattered below sucked up all the energy of the mansion, turning the pure white marble gray. He was a very old and pitiful old man compared to the beautiful Duchess and Yuna.
But strangely, it didn’t occur to me that his appearance didn’t suit the mansion. On the contrary, the moment he appeared, there was even an illusion that the appearance of the mansion was changing to match the appearance of the owner. Even the sunlight shining through was already obscured by clouds and fading away without a trace.
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Standing in the middle of such a surreal landscape, the fallen knight called out the name of his beautiful wife in a voice heavier than the weapons on his waist.
“Catherine.”
The Duchess flinched in horror at her own name. She then poured out what seemed like nice words, as if she was making excuses.
“Uh… Welcome, you. Why did you come without any notification that you were coming? I didn’t even know you were coming…”
“It’s been a while since I heard that Yuna stopped by the house. There was some bad news recently. Fortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any problem. It’s been a while, Yuna.”
“Ah…Yes. It’s been a while, father.”
“The last time I saw her was definitely a year ago. It seems like she’s grown into a full-fledged lady since I haven’t seen her in a while.”
Although it was clearly a compliment, no emotion was revealed. It was as if an elaborately made doll was reciting certain lines. Yuna must have had a similar impression as she bit her lip the moment the Duke’s hand touched her shoulder.
“Thank you.”
“That’s a hard answer. It’s only natural since we’ve been away for a long time. But I guess it’s that difficult to give a warmer welcome to my father who has been on the firing line for a year.”
“…I’m sorry.”
“Don’t say things like that. In fact, it’s nice just to see her face. The same goes for you, Catherine. Returning to her family after such a long time feels like all the accumulated fatigue has been relieved in an instant.”
He put his hand firmly on Yuna’s shoulder and then walked away from her again. My wandering steps with the past soon stopped in one place. And the smile on the duke’s face stopped for just a moment.
“…But there’s a face I’m seeing for the first time. Who are you? I don’t think you’re a new servant.”
“I…”
“He’s my friend, father. His name is Ellen. I brought him here today because I wanted to introduce him to your mother and father.”
“Introduce.”
When Yuna stepped forward, the duke pondered her daughter’s words for a long time. Then he opened his mouth in a slightly lighter tone.
“That’s a happy thing. Eren-kun? Let’s sit down and talk first. Let’s sit in each other’s seats.”
“Ah, yes. I understand, Duke.”
I immediately jumped up from my seat at the euphemism. The duke watched my steps with his eyes and indifferently placed his hand on my waist. And then, he released the huge sword that was hanging on it and cut it away.
“…!”
The moment the duke grabbed the sword, his shoulders flinched and trembled without realizing it. Although it was a subtle movement, I sat down as quickly as possible, hoping he wouldn’t notice. Of course, there was nothing I could do as my whole body stiffened from the tension.
“I see.”
The duke muttered something unintelligible and slowly sat down. Then he naturally leaned towards me. His eyes, like a clawed wolf, turned towards me.
“Yes. It’s Eren-kun.”
“Yes.”
“Do you attend Erendel Academy?”
“Yes. I’m in the same class as Yuna.”
“Probably the same goes for the friends who came with me. A beastman and an elf. It’s an interesting composition. Oh, I don’t mean to criticize you. The advantage of the academy is that you can build relationships with people from various classes. So from now on, your beastman friends will be turned into servants. “It’s better to stop disguising it. In this day and age, no one has such speciesist prejudices. And that guy’s acting was poor.”
“Ah…Yes.”
“The name is Guero. It means albino in the language of the beast people, I guess. It’s a fitting name. It’s my first time seeing a beast person with white skin like that. And that friend, Illya, uses a quite unique sign language. The Empire’s “I didn’t think it was true, but the more I think about it, the more interesting they are.”
Did you even have a conversation in that short amount of time? I tensed even more and straightened my back. The duke looked at me with an expression without a trace of a smile and let out a gentle breath in the air.
“Well…Okay, I’ll stop chatting here. Unlike you, young man, I don’t have a lot of time. So I’ll skip the obvious question about what your relationship is with my daughter. And even the stupid question like “Why are you here?” Let’s skip it.”
“…”
“But there are some things that should not be omitted. Should we start by shaking hands? This is our first time meeting.”
“Ah…Yes. I understand.”
At the unexpected suggestion, I tilted my head but held out my hand. Could it be that they are trying to use force for the purpose of harassing me? That irrational fear dominated my thoughts.
But he just held his hand and shook it normally. The small scars drawn on his trained hands grazed the lines of his palms. He may have held the sword with strength for decades, but his care was evident in his gentle hands. Of course, that didn’t mean I wasn’t nervous.
“Nice to meet you, Ellen.”
“Nice to meet you too, Duke.”
“You said you were an academy student, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Yes, I guess so.”
He nodded his head and withdrew his hand. Then he played with his fingers for a long time, as if he was savoring the feel of my hand. Yuna and I looked at the Duke with anxious eyes.
“Eren-kun.”
“Yes.”
After quite a long time, he finally opened his mouth. I answered hastily, anticipating what questions would be asked.
But the question asked the next moment completely missed my humble expectations.
“Are you, by any chance, an elf?”
“Yes?”
“Or perhaps they are demons disguised as humans? Are they dragons who have come to enjoy entertainment for the first time in thousands of years?”
“…What on earth are you talking about…?”
“I’m asking who you are.”
He answered my question with an even more ambiguous question. At first, I thought he was joking, but his expression was too serious for that to be the case. I hesitated and repeated the answer I gave earlier.
“I am… As I said, a student at Erendel Academy. I am a classmate of Miss Yuna.”
“The habit of telling meaningless lies is not good, especially for someone who has been in the same situation as you for decades.”
He shook his head. Then he opened his mouth with a calm expression.
“When the other person puts their hand on your waist, does your body react without realizing it? And you check to see if there’s something sticking out of your inside pocket, and don’t you reach for a weapon that isn’t there?”
“…”
“There may be times when you try to walk normally like everyone else, but suddenly you feel awkward and your steps stumble. When you go to an unfamiliar place, you will keep checking the entrance and your eyes will be drawn to a weapon that you can use right away. All the actions you showed in the past ten seconds are “These are actions that only soldiers who have been on the battlefield for years would do. Not the behavior of a fifteen-year-old student.”
“But I’m really just a student.”
“Yes, but you are a student. For someone who shows such behavior, your hands are surprisingly soft. Of course, that does not prove it. You may have received a donation from the Ennesic Order, and you must have rehabilitated it somehow. “There is a possibility that you may have received it. So I will change the question. Where were you before? The border with the land of the demons? Or the border with the foreign people?”
“I…”
“Where on earth do you come from and who are you? Are you trying to love my daughter with a cross-eyed expression?”
A word from an experienced knight pierced through my hidden memories. Even if I didn’t pursue the truth, I felt like if I retracted the tip of the spear, my true nature would come out thick at the end.
Even Yuna did not expect that the Duke of Richmond would discover a secret that she had not discovered for a long time in just one day. I was lost in thought for a long time and finally slowly opened my mouth.
“It didn’t come from any of the places the Duke mentioned.”
“What does that mean?”
“…I am from Erendel Academy.”
“…”
From the look in our eyes, the same scars of memories passed by. He stared at me as if he could see right into my soul, and then he said one word.
“Did you say that to Yuna too?”
“That’s…”
“I guess you told me more than you told me.”
The old knight’s intuition was more fearsome than anyone could have imagined. Now I was starting to wonder if he was using mind reading.
“Anyway, you are just an ordinary student. I won’t say anything else now.”
“Yes, that’s right, Duke.”
“Yes.”
The duke leaned back on the sofa for the first time. Then he opened his mouth in a light tone, as if he was throwing something out.
“Then I can’t even allow you to marry Yuna.”
“Yes?”
But the content was by no means light. I clenched my fists, foreseeing a difficult future.
“When I first saw you, I suspected that you were the seed of a hidden royal family. When I looked at your eyes, which seemed to have a deep story for your age, I thought that there must be some kind of secret. But you said it wasn’t like that. That’s true. “After all, doesn’t that mean you are just an ordinary commoner?”
“Yes. But…”
“Then is there any reason to accept you as the son-in-law of our family?”
It was the same logic as the Duchess. But his words felt heavier and more realistic.
“Actually, I also heard Catherine’s story outside the door. It may be a bit heartless, but that’s the reality. Our family is falling. We can’t even find the honor and glory we had before. “Because of the accidents, my knighthood is actually in jeopardy.”
“…”
“As Catherine said, the only chance to rebuild our family is Yuna. Why do you think we enrolled Yuna into Erendel Academy? It was to establish a relationship with the crown prince from the beginning. That is how the imperial family and in-laws “It’s even better if we have a relationship.”
“But doesn’t the crown prince already have a fiancee?”
“That’s right. But thanks to you, the engagement was canceled. In a way, it was like taking a golden opportunity. But under these circumstances, is there any reason to allow me to marry you? What will you bring to our family? “Can you give it to me?”
“Duke…”
“No matter what happened in the past. No matter how resourceful you are, in the end you are just a commoner. At the very least, what are your advantages compared to the sons of other noble families in the capital?”
“…”
“Is there even one reason why we should accept you into the Richmond family?”
A harsh word fell on my head. It was like the blade of a guillotine, and it felt like my throat was going to close. I couldn’t even sigh out of frustration and cast my gaze over the duke’s shoulder.
…
After the mother, the father comes next.
…Wow. It’s hard to love once.
I felt like I wanted to scratch my head. Even my mothers. Brother too. At least the academy didn’t teach me how to persuade my lover’s parents.
There was no room to refute the Duke’s words.
That’s why I couldn’t say anything at this moment.
“There is a reason.”
But then Yuna’s voice came down like salvation. Although she may be a little trembling, everyone’s eyes turn to her powerful and clear voice.
“There is a clear reason.”
“Iyura. What is that?”
“…Is it Yuna?”
I called her name with the shape of her mouth. Then Yuna looked at me with a strangely confident expression. But she didn’t feel reassured or anything.
Rather. An uneasy feeling came from somewhere.
“I didn’t come today to ask for permission or anything. Because I have no choice but to marry Ellen. That’s why we both came to say hello.”
“Yuna, what kind of habit of speaking to the Duke…!”
“No. To be precise, it’s not two.”
At that time, Yuna’s hand bit my wrist. She slowly lifted my hand without even looking at me.
Then, she placed her hand on her own stomach and opened her mouth.
“The three of us came to say hello.”
“…”
“…”
“…?”
At her words, time in the room stopped for an instant. Me and the Duchess. Even the Duke of Richmond looked at Yuna with her mouth gaping open. It felt like everyone suddenly became as stupid as me.
Only Yuna was looking straight ahead at her with eyes full of confidence. After some time passed, I slowly began to realize the meaning of those words.
“That means…”
“…”
Suddenly, a sentence that Ilya had shown before her appeared in her mind. Even then, they were definitely talking about marriage. How can I connect the crown prince and Elise? At a time when everyone was silent like now, Illya caught everyone off guard with just one sentence.
[Let’s get her pregnant.]
“Yuna, you…!”
The moment I looked back at Yuna in shock, the Duchess was also shocked and let out a word that was like a moan. However, Yuna answered with a strangely calm nod of her head.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“I’m pregnant.”