Volume 3 Chapter 11: Fianc e Rosetta

When Rosetta awoke- she was wearing sleepwear that she had never worn before.

While she grasped her chest, a maid called out to her,

"Lady Rosetta, is there anything I can do for you?"

She turned to look at the maid,

"Ehh... ah..."

Her voice wouldn't come out.

Why was there a maid in the student dormitory?

As if she could read her mind, the maid provided the answer,

"You didn't look like you were feeling well, so I've been taking care of you. I've already gotten permission from the school to be here, so you don't have to worry about that."

Rosetta silently nodded as if frightened.

Her hair that was usually curled in ringlets was set straight.

"U-umm... can you tell me about the marriage?"

The maid gently explained everything,

"Duchess Claudia has accepted the engagement. After Lord Liam successfully completes his training, the two of you will be bound together in matrimony."

Listening to the talk of marriage, Rosetta still felt confused.

Her house was one riddled with debt.

Their duke status was in name only, and Liam didn't have any reason to help them.

"O-oh yeah, he said that he wanted the status of duke. So all the ridiculous things he's done so far-"

The maid shook her head.

"Until recently the Banfield house has also been shouldering a huge debt, they didn't have any reason to build a connection that would send them back into it. Lady Rosetta, were you not aware of that?"

They were a wretched house that had their court rank in name only.

Rosetta understood how terrible that was painfully well.

"But Liam- I can't understand the feelings of the Count at all. Why me?"

The maid broke out into a small laugh, giggling all the while.

"W-what is it?"

"It's nothing, I was just thinking about what an enviable position you're in. Lady Rosetta, you're the first real woman that Lord Liam has ever wanted."

Hearing that, Rosetta felt her cheeks flush red,

"I-is that so?"

"Yes. In truth, all the vassals in the territory were worried about his lack of interest in girls."

Rosetta, who was being taken care of by the maid, laid down.

Classes were currently suspended because the school was busy dealing with the aftermath of the tournament.

There weren't any plans for when they would resume.

Until then, she was told she'd be able to take her time to rest- and so Rosetta gladly fell asleep.

(If this is a dream, please don't wake me up.)

◇ ◇ ◇

The elementary school meeting room.

I was currently being questioned by the teachers.

Even though it was supposed to be an interrogation, the vassals by my side were refuting everything they said.

Marie in particular was especially interesting to watch,

"You shouldn't have killed him."

To that teacher's words, do you know what Marie said?

"Aren't you misunderstanding who tried to kill who? In an institute where you're supposed to be teaching the students the pride of the nobility, how dare you utter such lukewarm words. Rather than this farce, you should be praising the spirit Lord Liam displayed. Besides, the opponent should've been prepared for death the moment he entered the tournament, we don't need to take responsibility for anything."

In this manner, she continued to talk back no matter what the teachers said.

I silently watched these interactions while drinking tea.

"H-however, the events that transpired out there will bring out all those who have a grudge against the Banfield house."

I was keen on those words,

"What about it? Even if we didn't piss them off one more time, it's not like their grudge would just disappear. On the other hand- what's the point of all this? You should be glad now that Derrick's gone."

Marie quietly added on, "It's just as Lord Liam says."

She truly was the perfect yes-man.

"Lord Liam, your actions will bring problems to the school. Certainly, there were circumstances behind them, but you overdid it. There's also meaning in showing remors-"

It looked like they were trying to say something, but I snorted,

"How much?"

"Eh?"

"I'm asking how much you want. How much money do I have to shove into your incompetent mouths to shut you up?"

Several teachers started to stand up in anger, but immediately sat down after being glared at by Marie.

-isn't this girl actually pretty amazing? The teachers were trembling.

However, I guess I had no choice but to buy off their displeasure now.

"I said too much. That's my bad. However, even if you tell me I need to show remorse over my actions, I don't regret them at all. Instead, I'll double the amount of donations I send next year as punishment."

"B-but even then, nothing is resol-"

"Hey, are you seriously going to start complaining about me making a large donation? Or is that it? Are you going to start saying that the fine I'm paying isn't enough for you?"

The principal raised his hand and silenced the teachers.

"-Count, we got sternly reprimanded the last time this happened. Please understand."

Even the elementary school got warned! Wait, is that their stance on this?

They'll take the money and shut up, but since it's embarrassing to have that revealed to everyone, they'll take a public stance of refusal.

These kinds of subtleties made me want to vomit- but wasn't it cute seeing how easy it was curry favour once money was involved?

Though money was something that could be infinitely reproduced, so I didn't really know if it was worth it.

"That's too bad, but if that's everything, I'm leaving."

When I left the room, the teachers were grasping at their heads.

◇ ◇ ◇

The meeting room after Liam left.

Professor John crossed his arms.

(He was clear with his intentions, but how come we couldn't say anything back?)

If they were a bit more reliable, maybe things wouldn't have gone this far.

That being said, he felt it would've been useless, regardless of what they said.

The principle in seemed to have been hurt by Liam's words the most.

"I swear, I was going to reprimand him."

When one of the teachers said so, the rest of them nodded in agreement.

In truth, Liam had stopped things before they escalated any further.

Although the teachers knew the other party was in the wrong, they couldn't put the blame on them unilaterally.

However, the ones Liam had picked a fight with were Derrick's Berkley family, the Pirate Nobles.

They couldn't afford to not be careful about this situation.

"Now I know why he's called a child prodigy. He's already more capable than most adults."

As the principal said so, he sighed with a tired expression.

Professor John also felt like sighing.

(It's troublesome when the students fall into delinquency, but it's also troublesome when they're too competent.)

◇ ◇ ◇

It was night.

I was out in the dormitory garden wielding an extremely heavy wooden sword.

Since my body was weakened by the school's physical education, I did some personal training every now and then to make up for it.

While I was wiping my sweat, Kukuri appeared from behind a tree.

"What is it?"

"Lord Liam, I investigated the people who were assigned to supervise the Duchess' house, but it looks like their organisation has grown far larger than we thought. It looks like they grasped the weaknesses of various other houses, and blackmailed them into moving against the Claudia house."

"Were you able to get anything else?"

"We retrieved as many documents as we could. What would you like to do with them?"

If anything, these people were experts of running away, I doubt we'd be able to grasp their weakness with just this.

They might just blame everything on the supervisors.

"Send them back to the territory and ask Brian for further instructions. He should know the most effective way to use them."

"Understood."

Kukuri sunk into the shadows and disappeared.

That magic seemed really convenient.

"Now then, let's work up a little more of a sweat. My body still feels dull."

I noticed this when I was piloting Avid, but my body couldn't keep up with the movements of the aircraft.

For a while, it looks like some re-training will be necessary.

◇ ◇ ◇

Around Rosetta, who was visiting the men's dormitory, there were knights of the Banfield house.

All of them were women.

They had a separate purpose other than to escort her- they had to make sure there was no chance of infidelity.

Whenever a boy approached, they immediately pulled out their swords without any questions. Rosetta had come to ask Liam if he could do anything about this.

But he wasn't in his room.

When she asked Wallace, he answered, "I don't know" and just when she was worrying about what to do- Kurt told her where he was.

At the place Kurt guided her to- Liam was there, sweating profusely as he put himself through some kind of rigorous training regimen, but when she tried to approach him, Kurt and the knights had stopped her.

"I-I need to talk to him."

"Right now is no good. It'd be better if you didn't get close."

Where Kurt pointed his finger, a leaf that fell into Liam's proximity was suddenly bisected.

The knights who saw that swallowed their saliva.

Kurt explained,

"If you tried to approach now, you'd be sliced into pieces before you even realised it. You can't get close to Liam while he's this focused."

"W-what is he even doing?"

Even though it looked like Liam was just training his body, the moment that anything approached him, it was instantly cut.

Rosetta couldn't understand what she was seeing.

"Isn't it weird? I was surprised at first too, but Liam pushed himself for many years to reach that level of skill."

Rosetta fell into thought,

(All the times I've trained myself... is nothing compared to this.)

Liam, who she thought gained his position at the top without doing anything, actually worked harder than herself.

Now that she knew that, she couldn't help but feel embarrassed about her ignorance.

(I guess... he is the person who helped me afterall.)

Rosetta was too ashamed to meet Liam at this time, and left.

◇ ◇ ◇

The Banfield estate.

Serena hurriedly contacted the prime minister to report about the documents delivered to them.

"What's the emergency?"

"Minister! These are documents about the people we investigated! It looks like they weren't just monitoring the Claudia house, but they've also been acting as spies!"

When the prime minister confirmed the data, he opened his eyes wide.

Written there, it said his own secrets were being investigated.

"...it looks like I've let them do as they please for long enough. It's about time we settle things. What of the original documents?"

"I made sure to erase the data on you alone."

"It looks like I've got even more work to do now. I'll make sure to thank you later."

"What should I do with the rest of the documents?"

"What was the Count's reaction?"

"He wasn't interested in them."

"...hand them over to the Empire. I'll receive them myself. This is our chance to grasp the weaknesses of a large number of nobility. If they have vulnerabilities, it's only natural that I'd want to know them."

"You're making a bad face again."

"Oops, please excuse me. However, the people mentioned in these documents will be gathered and dealt with on this side. Tell the Count that he doesn't have to worry about this anymore."

"Yes."

◇ ◇ ◇

After a funeral and the closing ceremony, I had finally entered into my fourth year.

And with that, came the long vacation I was waiting for.

"Even after three years, it looks like home hasn't changed that much."

It was nice to be back, but the scenery was practically the same as I remembered it.

A few years ago it used to be in a state of constant change, but now things seem to have settled down.

Wallace looked up at my mansion while holding his luggage.

He was here because- he didn't have anything better to do.

This guy wasn't a prince anymore, so it's not like he could return to the palace.

"Man~ I'm tired from the long trip. While I'm here, I'll need a private maid and an escort. I'd be glad if they were aesthetically pleasing. After that, I also want to have a big meal, the majority of it consisting of meat, if possible."

For an underling, he sure was acting like a big-shot.

But while I was thinking about beating him-

"It's been a long time, Prince Wallace."

-Serena approached us with a smile.

Wallace suddenly started trembling, and his face had gone pale,

"IT APPEEEAAARED!!!"

As he started screaming as if he had seen a ghost, Serena's expression twisted into a graceful smile,

"Oh my, your former-highness, aren't you behaving a bit too terribly? You're acting as if I were a ghost."

Wallace suddenly took shelter behind me,

"Even a ghost would've been better! Liam, why is the head maid here?!"

"Why? It's because I hired her to work for me."

"WHAT?!"

For the frightened Wallace, it looked like it'd be interesting to leave him Serena's care.

After a short delay, Rosetta arrived at the mansion.

In front of me was the current Duchess and her predecessor- Rosetta's mother and grandmother.

"Count, what could I ever do to thank you for-"

"I'm just happy to have finally met you."

Although it was interesting seeing the two act so humbly around me, they still weren't as good as Rosetta.

-like, stop it already. You should try acting more arrogantly.

I raised my chin and sent a signal to Serena.

Serena then proceeded to guide them to Rosetta.

When the three had finally reunited after such a long time- they immediately embraced each other and started crying.

...but isn't this different from what I expected?

I thought their cries would be more like, "I'm sorry for losing our Ducal status! Mother, grandmother, I'm so sorry!", but it looks like they're more happy just to see each other again.

"Well, I guess we're still in the wait-and-see stage."

After leaving the trembling Wallace to Serena, Brian approached me in tears.

"Lord Liam has finally decided to marry- this Brian here is so happy he could cry."

"You're crying right now, stop it already."

"This cold response! As I thought, things just aren't the same when Lord Liam isn't around!"

I left Brian- who seemed to be happy no matter what I said, alone, and called out to Amagi, who was silently standing by.

But what was she doing all the way in the back?

"Amagi, let's go back to my room."

"...would that please you, Master?"

"What would?"

Amagi seemed confused.

◇ ◇ ◇

Wallace was stunned, seeing Liam return to his room.

"So it's true that he's attracted to androids?"

To such a Wallace, Serena coughed before explaining in a somewhat mysterious tone,

"Lord Wallace, if you don't want to die in this household, I recommend you don't refer to Amagi as an android ever again. Lord Liam will never forgive anyone who makes a fool of her. This isn't a joke, your head will be sent flying."

When Wallace heard that, he nodded.

(Kurt told me something like that as well. I need to be careful.)

"O-of course, he's my important patron afterall."

"I'll trust those words of yours. Even so, Lord Liam sure does mysterious things. To even become the patron of someone like yourself, who could be considered neither a poison nor a medicine."

Wallace fell into thought,

(Huh? Isn't Serena's evaluation of me a little low?)

"Serena, your original masters were my family, you know?"

"Yes, but right now I serve Lord Liam. Is there anything wrong with me expressing my opinion on what may or may not be beneficial to the Banfield house?"

"T-there isn't."

Wallace had the dark premonition that his long vacation would be incredibly stifling- and he was right.