Chapter 83
Elber must have really disliked that lady. Fine, I’ll make sure to completely destroy all those ridiculous dating rumors! And you, go and get closer to Seraphina!
…You should rely on the heroine, not some amateur little brother like me.
While I was getting my resolve together, Elber, for some reason, looked a little embarrassed and fidgeted with his hands.
Why does someone with such broad shoulders act so cute? I wish he’d only do this in front of me.
Soon he spoke up.
“Sol, are you really okay with this?”
“Ahaha, what could possibly be not okay? I have no reason to try to impress the nobles.”
“But… um, if… if a troublesome rumor spreads about me—”
“…Hm?”
A troublesome rumor?
“What do you mean? What are you thinking right now?”
Misunderstandings need to be cleared before they pile up.
I grabbed Elber by the shoulder. He, realizing there might be some misunderstanding between us, responded in a panic.
“No, I just said it. Father’s gossip disappeared after he proposed to Mother.”
“…Right.”
“I thought you were… going to accept my proposal—”
“Does that make sense?”
My hand moved from Elber’s shoulder to his collar. What terrifying nonsense is this?
“You’re talking about burning down the entire house just to catch a flea!”
A Korean proverb slipped out unconsciously. But Elber, caught in this collar-grabbing situation, roughly understood the meaning.
“Of course! I didn’t mean an actual marriage! I meant something like you disguising as another woman and accepting my proposal!”
“Dismissed! That’s supposed to be convincing—proposing to some random person who appeared out of nowhere?”
“But it’s the fastest way besides arranging a marriage with someone else…”
“Rather, if you just smashed the Silver Dragon’s head in General Pine’s family, everything would be solved. Easy, right?”
“What if another lady comes after removing General Pine? Besides, there are women who sometimes leave flowers in my name in our knights’ corps!”
“Ah, that’s not the problem!”
I shook Elber violently by the collar. Is my little brother some kind of omnipotent Doraemon? Pretending to be proposed to by another woman?
‘I guess I spoiled you too much,’ was on the tip of my tongue.
After shaking him for who knows how long, a cold wind suddenly blew from behind me.
“Huh?”
Standing there was the Duke, small snowstorms swirling around both his hands. He strode across the room and positioned himself at Elber’s bedside.
“How much punishment would be appropriate?”
“…Excuse me?”
“Sol, seeing you so angry, I assume your brother did something wrong.”
He hasn’t done anything wrong, really. Just being shaken like that might be punishment enough. Elber had just been innocently spouting nonsense, as usual.
“It’s fine. My brother just said something a bit—”
“…Yes, Father. I misspoke.”
What an idiot.
“Hoho, what did you say to your sister?”
Don’t tell him!
I tried to cover Elber’s mouth, but he dug his own grave faster.
“I asked her to accept my proposal—”
…A tiny hill of ice poured over Elber’s head.
The Duke’s movements were precise.
It took him less than three seconds to trap his unconscious son in ice, smash the window frame, and prepare to throw him outside.
I desperately clung to the windowsill.
“Sol, move. This will be over quickly.”
“Wait! My brother did say nonsense, yes, but it’s not the kind of story you’re thinking of! Don’t kill him!”
“Schleiger descendants don’t die from something like this.”
“This is the third floor.”
“Do not underestimate the bloodline of the Schleigers.”
“…Even nonsense that can’t be ignored seems to be hereditary.”
…Anyway, while the Duke and I bickered, Elber came to his senses.
I desperately tried to stop the Duke, and we barely moved to the next room to have a somewhat civilized conversation. I, of course, explained the situation.
“…So my brother wants to resolve this burdensome matchmaking. I want to help him.”
“I see.”
“Doesn’t it bother you, Father?”
“As I’ve said, in youth, everyone faces such approaches. There were even rumors that I would marry a young lady I had never spoken to.”
“Ugh, wouldn’t that cause problems for the family?”
“…Sometimes, foolish people claimed, ‘If you don’t want to tarnish the Schleiger honor, accept this matchmaking.’”
Sounds scary.
“They calmed down once I told them I’d leave only a gravestone as proof of their family’s existence.”
“….”
“Well, even if General Pine’s family tries to court the Schleigers, that prideful general won’t openly interfere and ruin my reputation.”
“So we’ll just wait for Lady Pine to get tired and withdraw.”
“Yes.”
The Duke glanced at his son.
“I don’t know what you see in him.”
“Why, he’s handsome!”
“….”
The Duke looked at me as if asking, “Are you serious right now?” No, why treat his own son this way? Besides, if not for the hair color, he looks exactly like you.
“He’s as handsome as Dad!”
“….”
Even Elber looked at me with a frown. Why, humans?
I thought only siblings would say, “Ew, gross!” when told they look alike, but maybe it applies to parent-child too.
Amid all this, the situation itself was so amusing that I burst out laughing.
“Ahahaha!”
“Sol, why are you laughing! I’m serious!”
“No, I imagined having Benen brother here.”
“…Do you want to see him, little brother?”
“No. But imagine if Benen was here, it would have been even funnier. He’d be the most annoyed of the three.”
“Sol! Why is that funny?!”
Because it’s really fun. I can really feel that all these people are ‘family.’
…And I also feel really happy to be the closest witness to the moments when the Schleiger family lives like a ‘family.’
After laughing until tears almost welled up, the three of us huddled our heads together again.
The Duke thought for a moment and seemed to conclude that he must act as well.
“General Pine may have taken you as a disciple for this reason. You’re not ruthless, and before you realize it, you might get caught.”
“Father…”
“I’ll help you too. I don’t want strangers suddenly barging into the house claiming to be family.”
“Father, there’s the ordinary solution of moving the son and his spouse out of the house.”
“No.”
“Yes, Elber will die single, then.”
“If only he had even half the courage of his sword skill.”
Elber’s lips protruded.
“It won’t go the way you think. Absolutely not!”
“I hope so. Anyway, is this Lady Pine always at General Pine’s mansion?”
“Yes. She debuted in society, went to a few parties, but then lost interest.”
“You know a lot… Sol, do you have an idea to separate that lady? Last time too, you seemed good at schemes.”
Hmm… I feel a little guilty projecting my own desires.
“As expected, sometimes childish but straightforward, royal-style methods are best.”
“What do you mean?”
“At a place with lots of eyes, like a banquet! Stick a stunning beauty onto Elber as a partner. Then Lady Pine might withdraw on her own.”
“I can arrange an invitation to the banquet, but there are two problems. One, where do we find such a beauty? Two, if Lady Pine withdraws and that lady clings to Elber?”
“I know a lady who can solve both problems at once!”
Of course, my answer was Seraphina.
After sending Sol back to her room, Latiger dug through some investigation documents he had previously received from his subordinates.
Seraphina Tillun
16 years old, only daughter of the Tillun Count family.
Despite financial difficulties, the Tillun Count couple wanted to enroll their daughter in the Central Academy.
However, Seraphina wanted to serve God and enrolled in the Gruner Vant Academy.
No criminal record, no matchmaking, no scandals.
Spends most of her day doing volunteer work at the temple.
Highly regarded by temple members.
However, due to her extreme and upright personality, her circle of friends is narrow.
When Sol heard, “A beauty who doesn’t obsess over Elber and would make other women step back,” she immediately said, “I know someone like that—her name is Seraphina!”
This wasn’t unexpected.
When she first returned home after enrolling at Gruner Vant, she raved about how kind and beautiful Seraphina was.
“Actually, it seems Sol is the one obsessed with Seraphina…”
Latiger asked his son, Elber, who had been called back to the office.
“What do you think? When Sol said the name ‘Seraphina’ earlier, you seemed to recognize it.”
“Yes, I do. She introduced her as a really kind and beautiful friend.”
“You emphasized ‘kind and beautiful’ to you as well?”
“Did you do the same to Father?”
“….”
Elber sat seriously in front of Latiger.
“Even if it’s a first friend, Sol seems too obsessed.”
“Elber, have you met Seraphina?”
“Yes.”
“What did you think?”
“…She’s blonde.”
“Not that.”
“Hmm… seeing how all the men turned to look, she seems like a noticeable beauty.”
Now that I think about it, even the fool who fell into the lake seemed distracted by Seraphina.
Latiger nodded.
“If your first friend is a beauty who draws all the attention, it would definitely affect Sol’s self-esteem.”
“That’s troublesome. Sol’s beautiful too.”
“Yes, truly troublesome. If he’s a Schleiger child, he could act like the world belongs to him and it wouldn’t be arrogance.”
They nodded to each other. One conclusion could be drawn.
“When you attend nearby banquets with Lady Seraphina, I will accompany Sol. I’ll make sure our paths don’t overlap.”
“Understood. Father, please take good care of Sol.”
“Of course. I will find the best designer and jeweler.”
Latiger immediately pulled the bell rope to summon the housekeeper.
“We must make sure Sol knows that she is the most beautiful.”
