LIGHTNOVELWORLD Episode 60
Chapter 60
“Good thing. It would have been embarrassing if I were wrong,”
Alshade said with a relieved expression, though her accuracy and precision made it sound ironic.
“Can you really only read emotions?”
“Just being able to read emotions is enough.It gives you a sense of the direction of their thoughts to some extent. Now, let’s move on to the main topic. It’s quite late, and you must be somewhat tired too.”
I couldn’t help but feel that I was skillfully diverted, but Alshade was right.
This was usually my sleeping time, and if we prolonged this conversation, it would affect my training and study time for tomorrow.
“…Well, that’s true. So, I’ll ask without reservation, why have you been so overprotective of me lately?”
“Huh? I thought I’ve been the same as always.”
Alshade tilted her head with a puzzled expression in response to my question, but I couldn’t be fooled by that.
After all, the number of guards assigned to me when I wasn’t with Edward had conspicuously increased.
Furthermore, according to Edward, there was even a covert operations unit that I hadn’t seen. It was clear that there was a significant increase in security regarding me under normal circumstances.
In a normal situation, what would you call this if not overprotectiveness?
Moreover, it was strange that the reason for increasing my protection wasn’t communicated to me.
If it concerns me, shouldn’t it be the first thing they tell me?
“Alshade…”
“Sigh… I guess I can’t really avoid this.”
When I called her Alshade instead of Al, she sighed as if she had resigned herself to something and gave a wry smile.
It seems she realized it was a difficult position to maintain.
“So, you wanted to know why I’ve become so overprotective?”
“Yeah, especially if it has to do with my mother’s belongings.”
Upon hearing my words, Alshade’s wry smile disappeared, and she looked at me with a serious expression.
“I see… You’ve figured it out to that extent. Would you mind telling me why you think that, just for reference?”
“My mother wouldn’t have kept just that stick in there. There must have been something that would explain it. One reason is that whatever was supposed to come out of the box never did, but the main reason is that my mom relying on the box’s contents itself seemed like it would lead to trouble. If there were obvious increases in guards after giving the box to Al, it’s something anyone would naturally think of, right?”
“Since I don’t know much about your mother’s personality, it seems I messed up there. Well, I was prepared to be suspected when I increased the guards so conspicuously.”
Saying so, Alshade got up from the sofa, retrieved a book from the bookshelf, and brought it over.
“Let me explain it step by step. First of all, that black stick—I had a rough idea of its true identity. It’s a familiar magical tool for nobles.”
“…What kind of magical tool was it?”
Well, I thought there might be something there, so it’s not really surprising that I had an idea of the magic tool.
The important thing is what kind of magical tool it was.
“The function itself is quite simple. It’s a tool used to determine whether two people are related by comparing their blood. That stick is designed to split in the middle when mana flows from both ends, and there are depressions on the split surface. When you put blood in those depressions, and then combine the two halves and open it again, the closer the blood relation, the more vivid red ink is generated.”
I see, it was a magical tool for proving blood relationships. It would indeed be useful for nobles.
And having a magical tool for proving blood relations in the box was already a sign of potential trouble.
“…Let’s move on to the next explanation. As you suspected, there was a piece of paper in the box besides that magical tool. In short, its contents are a proof of your blood relation to the head of a certain noble family.”
“Which noble family is that?”
I knew that my mother and I had lived in the slums, not in some mansion, but I still wanted to know about my father.
In response, Alshade handed me the book she had brought earlier.
It was a book my mother had, and I had heard it was famous in the northwest region of the Rient Kingdom from Vivian.
Did that mean I had a blood connection with a noble family from the northwest?
“The origin of that book is the great achievement of the founding ancestor of the Belford Marquis family. And, the one you have a blood relation with… is the current head of the Belford Marquis family.”
“What?!”
A name much more significant than I expected had come up, so I couldn’t help but widen my eyes and stare at the book she handed me.
The Belford Marquis family was one of the three major noble families in the western region, as I had learned in my studies with Vivian.
Even though I was told that the head of such a family that could be considered a great noble in both name and reality was my father, it was too unrealistic.
“So, about the head of the Belford Marquis family… he’s quite the philanderer. He’s notorious for having dalliances all over the place. He has a legal wife, concubines, and even mistresses, totaling over twenty wives and at least fifty children. Moreover, he even cheats on them, so it’s just unbelievable.”
“Wow…”
Judging from the way Alshade spoke with a frown on her face, it seemed she truly despised the man for his promiscuous behavior.
I don’t want to believe that my father is such a morally loose person that he could be compared to a deity of indulgence.
I was halfway regretting knowing this information.
“So, what’s the reason for hiding the paper from me?”
“Well, that’s one reason, but there’s another. That paper, even if someone else saw it, it would just look like a certificate of blood relation, but it had a mechanism that, if you took some action in response to it, it would send your location to a certain place.”
“…Is it possible to do that without magic?”
“You’ll understand it if you learn about magic. Besides, it’s quite common to put such mechanisms on items given to the children of mistresses. Looking back, I think I should have told you, but when I saw the family crest on the back of the paper, I got a little carried away with my feelings… From there, it became awkward to bring up, so I decided to tell you after the investigation was over… I’m sorry?”
She fidgeted nervously and her gaze wandered, then, like an abandoned puppy, Alshade apologized to me.
…Using those puppy-dog eyes is cheating, and I wonder if I’m just being too soft for not scolding her here?
“…Ahem, it seems like you were thinking about my well-being, so as long as you’re more careful from now on, it’s fine.”
“Yeah, I’ll be more careful next time! Thanks, Rio!”
“Whoa!”
Alshade suddenly brightened her expression and, seemingly overwhelmed with emotion, jumped onto me.
The scent of soap mixed with her sweet fragrance, a reminder that she had just taken a bath, but before I could dwell on that, something else caught my attention.
(Huh? Was Al always the type to jump at someone like this?)
“Hey—”
“Hey, don’t you want to know why I decided to assign guards to you?”
She whispered in my ear before I could inquire further, redirecting my thoughts.
I couldn’t help but be intrigued by her question.
It was understandable that Alshade would investigate the Belford Marquis family. If we were to marry, it would be necessary for the Marquis to acknowledge my existence, but a preliminary investigation made sense.
However, I couldn’t fathom the reason for having guards. Well, I didn’t want to understand it.
“In fact, the Marquis didn’t name a successor, and there was a behind-the-scenes power struggle even while he was alive…”
“Wait a minute, even while he was alive?”
“Yeah, your father, the Marquis, died with his legitimate wife’s eldest and second son a year ago. They died in an unfortunate accident on their way from the royal capital to their territory. A simultaneous accident involving the top two candidates for the successor and the head of the Marquis family—it’s quite unusual, isn’t it?”
I heard a strange voice saying, ‘Huh~? That’s weird~’ but I deliberately ignored it.
While Alshade spoke casually, it was tantamount to saying that there was a full-blown succession struggle happening.
Moreover, the fact that the head of the family had been assassinated indicated a significantly dangerous level of succession strife.
“After a year, there are now only ten children left out of more than fifty, and many of the Marquis’s wives are missing or have died of illness. What do you think would happen if it became known that you were in Baltzfeld?”
“…An assassination, perhaps.”
The Baltzfeld Count’s family, although slightly lower in rank than the Belford Marquis family, still held considerable power among the western three major nobles.
Given the power they wielded, there’s no doubt that some individuals might try to eliminate them or use them as leverage before they got embroiled in the succession struggle.
“Don’t worry; I’ll protect you.”
“That’s supposed to be the other way around.”
“Let’s protect each other. Well, it’s getting late. Shall we go to sleep?”
With that suggestion, Alshade strengthened her hold on me.
“Can you let go now?”
“…Would you please carry me to bed like this?”
“…Yes, yes.”
Using mana to enhance my strength, I managed to get up and move to the bed.
But even then, Alshade didn’t let go, so I had to struggle a bit to get under the covers and lie on my back.
“Rio, goodnight.”
“Goodnight Al.”
I closed my eyes, feeling drowsy, and within a few minutes, the urge to sleep that I had been suppressing overcame me.
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?????? “Haa… Suu…”