Chapter 119

Before leaving the castle to visit villages and towns that had previously been part of the ducal territory,

They first had to select personnel who would remain at the castle.

This was because there needed to be employees at the castle, as well as people to receive communications that frequently came from the merchant groups that had leased the mountain range.

Leandros was excluded as he was essential combat personnel.

He was excluded to serve the role of keeping Leandros from going mad.

That left two people: Arndt and Amelia.

"Of course I should go, right? I'm the only one who can assist Your Grace."

"Worshipper. Human male shows off again. Say something. Noisy. Shut up."

In the office where they had all gathered.

Arndt paid no heed to the snowman's rebuke and cleared his throat, tapping his chest.

Amelia glanced at this and continued reviewing the castle wall repair budget proposal she was reading, without saying anything.

Arndt, seemingly excited, talked enthusiastically.

"It's my first time patrolling the ducal territory, but I'll work hard. Well, with Sir Leandros and me there, Your Grace has nothing to worry about."

"At this rate, he'll soon say he'll catch demonic beasts by himself."

Of course, how nice it would be if this task went as smoothly as Arndt expected.

As always, letting one's guard down in this world setting was forbidden.

He casually asked the confident Arndt.

"You seem somewhat excited."

"If it's something we have to do anyway, isn't it better to think positively? It won't change anything to just sit gloomy like that knight over there."

"Who's gloomy?"

Leandros said irritably.

Arndt winked at him.

"You see, Your Grace. The knight is always gloomy."

Leandros's expression might be stiff, but to tease him like that was a bit...

As he inadvertently chuckled at the glib Arndt.

Amelia quietly rose and placed only the budget proposal on his desk before leaving the room.

As soon as he saw this, he dumped the snowman on Arndt and followed her out.

"Just a moment,"

Having left the office, Amelia had already traversed half the corridor connected to the office.

"Lady Arnold!"

"Y-Your Grace."

She turned around, wearing a calm gray shawl.

Still skinny, but she looked much better than when she had first arrived at the ducal residence.

"Is th-there s-some important m-matter I n-need to h-hear?"

"No, that's not it. I was just curious about your thoughts on the ducal territory patrol."

"W-well, it's His H-Highness the C-Crown Prince's s-suggestion. It's m-much better than f-flatly r-refusing the r-return. I d-don't know how it w-will turn out, but if w-we spread r-rumors that d-demonic beasts have c-crossed over..."

"That's not what I meant; I'm curious about Lady Arnold's thoughts. Don't you want to come along and look around?"

Amelia seemed to be listening quietly to what he was saying, but a faint, complex expression was glimpsed.

After carefully choosing her words for a moment, she gave a slightly polite smile.

"I'm j-just a g-guest. A w-woman like me accompanying you would j-just be a b-burden."

"Please don't say that. I know you have sufficient skills to protect yourself."

"Did the f-former Duchess t-tell you th-that?"

To be precise, he had seen it in the north.

She had moved him to safety and single-handedly fought and defeated a winged demonic beast.

Even now, just thinking about it gave him goosebumps.

Amelia confessed as if she had no choice.

"The D-Duchess r-recommended it and p-provided a t-teacher... Then, I b-became interested and l-learned it well."

"It must have been difficult when your illness deepened and you couldn't get up."

"N-not really. A-anyway, I'm n-not as good as I w-was then. So I'm a-afraid I'll be a b-burden."

"I see."

Amelia had come to the castle strictly as a guest.

It would be strange to insist that she come along.

He nodded with a bitter smile at her firm refusal.

"It can't be helped. Lady Arnold supported my mother and the ducal family well. You're still helping a lot. I should be grateful for just that, but I think I expected too much."

"Th-that's."

"When I was young, I couldn't leave the castle, you know. At that time, my mother described the landscapes of the Hartmann territory to me."

"L-landscapes?"

"A wide blue sky. Land where lush golden wheat fields waved. Things like the green curves of gentle hills."

Of course, he had never heard such words directly from the Duchess.

How could he hear such words from a Duchess who was already dead?

It was only written in the Duchess's diary.

He continued to brazenly quote descriptions from the diary he had stolen and read.

"It's all lost land now, but I still wanted to see it with my own eyes. How beautiful must the scenery be?"

"I... see."

"Arndt has no experience touring the territory. I have no one to trust but Leandros. I thought perhaps the Lady might know the geography in detail, but it seems it's become a burdensome request."

A deep sense of guilt overwhelmed Amelia.

He carefully observed her face, which was gradually darkening, and her eyes that didn't know what to do.

Starting this iteration, he had added a few variations.

One example.

The current Amelia thought that he didn't know about the crime she had committed.

He hadn't said anything from the time he recovered the horn until now.

It wasn't that he had a goal like finding another weakness.

He thought it would be better for her to feel guilty, contemplate, and decide for herself than for him to exploit her guilt to draw her in.

Look at the previous iteration.

She fell head over heels for Arndt at Schützenfest, and thanks to even developing a paranoia related to Arndt in the north, he couldn't consider using her anywhere afterward.

What could he ask of someone who would call for Arndt for every task?

If he was going to meet Amelia in this iteration too, he needed to firmly establish the trigger and center that she harbored.

Of course, this was only possible because Amelia was the only one among the four individuals who had betrayed the ducal family who had a sense of guilt.

He took a step closer to her and carefully wrapped her shawl with a gentle hand.

"I'm sorry. I had expectations because I thought you were someone my mother trusted. I'm afraid you're disappointed to see how weak I am."

"N-no, n-no! Y-you d-don't need to b-blame yourself l-like that."

"But sometimes I think. Arndt and Leandros are already doing well enough. But how reassuring it would be if someone with more experience helped me."

"Th-that's."

"In that respect, I think my mother was truly fortunate. I should follow in her footsteps, even if just a little. Sometimes I'm afraid that I can't..."

He paused momentarily, then exhaled as if with a sigh.

"I'm scared."

Amelia closed her eyes tightly.

A child who looked at least ten years younger than her,

Coming back to a castle that had completely collapsed due to her mistake, struggling to revive it, and diligently managing the castle,

Now quietly approaching her and showing a vulnerable side.

If her conscience didn't prick at this, she wouldn't be human.

As soon as his hand slightly lifted from Amelia's shawl, her thin hand swiftly grabbed his departing one.

"Lady Arnold?"

"Y-Y-Your G-Grace, I m-m-might be s-saying s-something v-very r-rude. B-but if y-you n-n-need my h-help. I m-might not kn-know much b-because it's f-from the p-past. But still."

"Does that mean... that you'll help me?"

"W-well, this is j-just because I p-p-promised to h-help the c-castle, s-so, since I m-made a p-promise!"

"Wow."

He grasped Amelia's hand and shook it vigorously up and down.

"Thank you, Lady. I'm truly grateful. I feel like I'm actually causing you trouble each time. I don't know how to repay you."

"N-n-not at all."

"Then I'll tell Arndt when we return. That the Lady will go instead. And Lady Arnold should eat a lot to build up stamina before going."

"Y-yes, I will."

Amelia's expression wasn't entirely bright as she was shaken while being handshaken.

Well, that wasn't his concern.

Who could she blame when she had willingly taken the bait?

Arndt wailed loudly as soon as he heard that he would be excluded and Amelia would go.

When that continued not for an hour or two, but for days, even he found it somewhat irritating.

At first, he explained one by one to the sobbing Arndt, who kept asking why it wasn't him, about the importance of this matter and the high probability of combat occurring...

Later, tired of talking, he bluntly told him that if he could match Leandros, he would take him along.

-You need to be able to protect yourself to avoid being a burden, right? Lady Arnold knows the geography of the territory, and she's learned self-defense sufficiently.

-But Your Grace!

-Leandros won't have the luxury to protect anyone other than me. If you really want to go, have a bout with Leandros first.

-What? Are you serious? Are you really serious? How could I win?

-Who said you had to win? I said to have a bout. Prove that you can protect yourself?

In the end, Arndt chose to stay at the castle rather than get beaten by Leandros.

Of course, Arndt's lip was still protruding.

He'd probably be in a better mood after they returned from the trip.

Since they were visiting a royal direct territory, there was no special permission procedure.

Instead, before leaving the castle, he and Amelia had to handle as much internal castle business as possible.

Especially since he had many things to check regarding the demonic beast business.

A few days later, when they were about to leave the castle.

"Knight. Did my worshipper die? Won't live to old age at this rate. Taking measures."

"He's not dead, so why don't you get off the Duke's back?"

Employees and Arndt who had come out to see them off as far as outside the castle could witness Leandros leading Amelia and him, who were exhausted from overnight work, mounted on a horse, along with the snowman.

It was a rare spectacle that would never be seen again in the Hartmann ducal family.

* * *

"If I had known you were this tired, it might have been better to bring a carriage."

"B-but a c-carriage would be t-too n-noticeable. If p-possible, it's b-better to give a m-modest impression."

"That's true."

In the middle of their journey, traveling on ordinary horses.

They were wearing dull-colored cloaks that could be obtained anywhere.

Inside the hood of his cloak, the snowman was dozing off.

Before leaving the castle, Arndt had recommended good quality, warm clothes, saying it would be a rough journey, but Amelia had strongly dissuaded him.

The people they were about to meet were all ordinary people without titles,

And her opinion was that wearing expensive clothes while conducting relief activities in front of such people would do no good.

"A-and do you kn-know how to t-treat commoners? Y-you can't t-treat them like y-you do the e-employees in the d-ducal family!"

"I know very well. You don't have to worry so much. But don't we have an issue to address first?"

"W-what is it?"

"The issue of how to address each other. If both of you call me the Duke, everyone will think it's strange. They'll feel a distance too."

"Th-that's true. B-but then how sh-should we..."

Amelia asked, not knowing what to do.

Oh, that's right.

Normally, it would be convenient to pretend to be family, but the three people here didn't resemble each other at all, from hair color to overall impression.

"Then Lady will be my cousin sister, and Sir Leandros will be my nephew."

Hmm, this seemed excellent.

If they were cousins, it wouldn't be a problem even if they looked quite different.

But Leandros and Amelia, who heard his suggestion, stared at him blankly.

"What is it?"

"W-well, Y-Your Grace. That."

"If Your Grace calls me and the Lady your nephew and sister with that face, wouldn't it be a bit strange?"

"Ah, p-perhaps because Y-Your Grace is too y-young. Y-Your Grace, h-how old are you th-this year?"

"He had just passed the age of majority right before his restoration."

"Oh m-my. You're v-very young. Then w-wouldn't Sir L-Leandros be the u-uncle?"

"Not to that extent. It's my personal opinion, but I think..."

The two whispered to each other, ignoring him, and then looked at him.

"Y-Your Grace will be my y-younger cousin from a m-merchant family."

"Me? The Lady's?"

"A-and the Knight will be my e-escort mercenary."

"Leandros? The Lady's?"

"O-originally, if the m-main traveler is a w-woman, she r-receives less s-suspicion."

"I understand, but none of my opinions were reflected."

"Th-then shall we all sp-speak casually to e-each other now?"

"As I'm a mercenary, I don't need to speak casually to my client."

"I s-see. Then I a-also... Oh, Y-Your Grace. Y-you can speak c-casually to me!"

"No, I said none of my opinions were reflected."

To be treated like this just because his face value was young?

He had been playing the role of the eldest all along, but now he was being treated as the younger sibling?

But regardless, Amelia was pondering the detailed setting of her cousin brother, and Leandros said nothing.

As he looked up at the sky and sighed, a low laugh was briefly heard.

This guy. So he knew how to laugh too.

"Don't laugh."

"I didn't laugh. By the way, you shouldn't show such a sulky expression, Young Master."

"It's up to me!"

"It's your first time setting foot in what used to be the ducal territory; you can't keep a frowning face forever."

He was even changing how he addressed him.

When he glared at him with wide eyes, Leandros nodded toward the horizon.

On a bright day, a small village visible like a dot in the distance.

Leandros said.

"We've finally arrived. It's Glico."