SADGM 11

Chapter : 11

The Bachelor Noble Is Taken to the Mansion

After returning from the Eastern Forest, I went to the Adventurer’s Guild to deliver the materials.

I received the completion reward, exchanged the black boar materials for money, and began my journey home.

“Dinner will be grilled fish, I guess.”

As I walked, thinking about a dish that would go well with the fish I had caught at the lake, I spotted my apartment.

“Huh?”

But today, there was a carriage parked in front of the apartment.

Was it just a regular shuttle carriage? Probably a resident had requested it for pickup.

“You finally came back, big brother!”

Just as I thought that and passed by, a woman with chestnut hair called out from the apartment entrance.

“…Ilia, huh.”

The person who had suddenly called out was my younger sister.

Twenty years had passed since then, and Ilia was now twenty-five.

Her hair, once tied in two braids, now reached her waist and the ends were curled.

She had grown tall like our mother, with a good figure, fully matured into an adult woman.

Of course, unlike me, Ilia had married properly and was now a mother of one.

“You came all the way here by yourself?”

It seemed she hadn’t used our house carriage.

Although it wasn’t far from the Luren mansion to the royal capital, it was still dangerous for a noblewoman to travel alone.

“I came in the shuttle carriage. Gilliam is in there too.”

When Ilia explained, an elderly man came out of the carriage and bowed.

He was a butler working at our mansion and also acted as a bodyguard.

“Why go through the trouble of using a shuttle carriage?”

There was no need to pay extra for a carriage when the mansion already had one.

“If you came in the house carriage, big brother would sense it and run away.”

“……”

Am I some kind of prey animal?

But, indeed, if a carriage with the family crest had arrived, I would have immediately turned around.

My sister was still sharp in the small details.

“So, what’s this about?”

“It’s not ‘what’s this about.’ It’s a letter for a family dinner! Haven’t I sent it many times?”

“Oh, right, that was something.”

A family dinner. In our household, these gatherings were held regularly at the mansion.

“I’m not going.”

I liked living alone, so why would I have to attend a dinner at the mansion?

“No. You’re coming with me.”

I tried to pass by and enter the entrance, but Ilia grabbed my arm.

“I said I’m not going! I’m busy with work right now.”

“You’ve been refusing for a year like that, haven’t you? Just show up for once. Especially since mother is worried, and father said this time you must come.”

Hmm, I didn’t expect even my mild-tempered father to say that.

“The family at the mansion is concerned about you, Master Jilc. Could you spare a little time for us?”

Gilliam added, pressing the matter further.

It was hard to refuse when even Gilliam, who had cared for me since childhood, was asking.

“…Fine. I’ll go, but stop calling me ‘Master.’”

I was already twenty-eight. I might be a child in Gilliam’s eyes, but it was embarrassing to be addressed that way at my age.

“Thank you, Jilc.”

When I resignedly said that, Gilliam smiled happily and rephrased it.

Damn it, I had planned to have grilled fish for dinner, and now that plan was ruined.

“I’ll get ready, so wait in the carriage.”

“Huh? Isn’t this your place? Why don’t you just let me come in?”

As I headed to the entrance, Ilia tried to follow.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t let others into my home.”

A home is a sanctuary for oneself, a place to cut off relationships and stress. Why let anyone else in?

“I’m family, though!?”

“Even family. Especially you, since you once came into my room and broke my magical tools and artifacts, you’re banned.”

Long ago, Ilia had entered my home and touched the artifacts in my room, almost destroying them.

I was also at fault for not taking safety measures, but the room nearly got blown up.

I had decided I would never let Ilia, who had a habit of messing with other people’s belongings, into my room.

“So, wait in the carriage.”

With no room for objection, I said this and unlocked the entrance to go inside.

Ilia watched in disbelief as I went in, and I headed upstairs to my room.

“That was more than fifteen years ago! Banned? How dare you!”

From outside came such shrill protests.

Sister, please stop yelling unnecessarily; you’re disturbing the neighbors.

Once back in my room, after preparing myself, I rode the shuttle carriage with Ilia and Gilliam to the Luren mansion.

“Ah, Jilc! Has it been a year? How have you been?”

My father, Resta, welcomed me as soon as we entered the mansion.

He was over fifty, so there were signs of aging, but he was still very energetic.

His black-rimmed glasses and gentle smile were unchanged.

“A year doesn’t change much.”

Especially since I had received a healthy body from the Lone God.

I didn’t get sick or bedridden like in my previous life. Being healthy was natural.

“Indeed. Jilc resembles your mother and stays youthful no matter his age.”

“Father, you probably have lots to catch up on, but let’s continue in the dining room.”

“Ah, right. Well, everyone is waiting, so let’s go.”

When Ilia stopped Resta from continuing to talk endlessly, we finally moved to the dining room.

Even though a year had passed, the mansion was mostly unchanged.

Only the carpet on the floor had been replaced, and some furniture had shifted.

Walking down the hallway on a carpet so soft it felt like sinking in, we reached a double wooden door.

Gilliam and the maid opened it, and we entered the dining room.

“You’re late, Jilc.”

My mother, Mira, greeted me with a slightly annoyed expression.

She was in her fifties, like Resta, but hadn’t aged much.

Her hair was now semi-long instead of long, and her indigo hair remained beautiful.

She looked no older than someone in their early thirties.

Had she somehow succeeded in developing anti-aging magical tools? Her youthful appearance made me wonder.

“Being called suddenly takes time.”

“You knew today was dinner from the letter I sent, right?”

“Brother, if I hadn’t come to pick you up, you wouldn’t have come again. Listen, mother! I went all the way to the capital to pick him up, but…”

Ilia sat next to mother and began speaking dramatically.

She just wanted to complain about not being allowed into my apartment, so it was best to ignore her.

“Finally, you’re here, Jilc!”

A man with silver hair and glasses spoke to me warmly after we sat down.

“Ludwig’s here too, huh.”

“Of course, it’s a family dinner. It’s only natural to show up.”

He had worked with me as an alchemist due to materials and was also my sister Ilia’s husband.

Since Ludwig kept complaining about wanting a girlfriend, I introduced him to Ilia. Things progressed quickly, and before we knew it, they were family.

Even though Ludwig was from a baronial family, I didn’t expect them to get together.

“Don’t pretend just because mother is here. You were probably lazy too.”

“What are you saying, Jilc? That’s not true. Stop saying weird things.”

I revealed Ludwig’s true feelings, and he laughed it off as if joking.

Not long ago, he had complained about family dinners being a hassle.

He probably wanted to act like a good husband in front of mother.

Marriage brings more family and complicated relationships. That’s one downside of marriage.

“Look, Sarah’s happy to see Uncle Jilc too, right?”

Trying to change the topic, Ludwig turned to someone sitting across.

A silver-haired girl, the same as Ludwig, was sitting on the chair.

She was Sarah, the daughter of Ludwig and Ilia, probably four years old this year.

She looked at me with bright green eyes and asked,