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Trevor’s POV*
I’m looking for Lucy because she’s a bad guy. At those words, the red-haired boy frowned and tilted his head.
“What? Geese’s older sister is a bad guy. . . What do you mean? Certainly, I don’t like her either, but it’s not enough to say she’s a bad guy.”
“Ahaha~. Brian-sama doesn’t like Lucy-ojousama, does he? Why?”
“Hmm? Because I don’t like her eyes when she looks at Geese. I don’t know why, but I hate it. Huh? Come to think of it, who are you?”
“Ah, I was late to introduce myself. My name is Ursch Schniever. I look forward to working with you.”
“Oh, nice to meet you. Ursch, I’ll remember it. My name is Brian. Somehow, I think it’s better to get along with you, so we’ll be friends from today. That’s why you don’t need to use honorifics.”
A mysterious friendship (?) is growing in front of me, but now is not the time for that. I want to know as soon as possible why my fiancée Lucy is being looked for by them as a bad guy. I want you to tell me what the hell is going on.
Did you notice the appeal in my heart? His Highness Christopher returned the flow of the derailed conversation.
“. . . . In order for Lucy to kidnap Geese. . . . . She helped the culprit get into the Royal Palace. . . . and. . She just kidnapped Ursch’s fiancĂ©e Isabella-ojou. . . I’m looking for her. . . . because. . . . Isabella-ojou is Alice and my. . . best friend. .”
Your Highness Christopher, thank you for your explanation. But I heard that earlier, so please tell me why. Why did Lucy kidnap Isabella? I don’t know the motive. About Geese. . . It’s not that there isn’t any motive at all, so I don’t want to believe it, but I can’t deny it. I ask His Highness Christopher to give me the details.
“Is that real and reliable information? I don’t think Lucy has a reason to kidnap Isabella. Can you tell me more about it?”
In response to my question, His Highness Christopher shifts his gaze from me to Ursch-kun.
“. . . . I’m not good at talking. . . . Ursch, you explain. . . ”
So, Ursch-kun, who was entrusted with the explanation by His Highness Christopher, began to explain step-by-step in an orderly and precise manner that didn’t seem like it was coming from a six-year-old. I was stunned by what I heard.
What I’ve been doing so far, was it useless after all? Lucy was cornered and I didn’t make it in time to take action.
“And, well. . . This is what’s happening now. The only thing I don’t understand is the reason why Lucy-ojou hates Geese-sama so much that she is aiming for his life.”
Ursch-kun, who summarized the story, looks at me while I’m stunned. Brian-kun, the red-haired boy who was silently listening to Ursch-kun’s explanation, put his hands on his waist and looked up at the ceiling.
“That’s true. Why does she hate Geese so much? And I didn’t know until now that His Highness Christopher was so good at eavesdropping. It’s a special skill to collect information from various people. That’s great.”
“Brian, let’s call it intelligence, not eavesdropping. As expected, prince Christopher is good at eavesdropping will give people a bad impression of him, won’t it? So, Trevor-oniisama, do you know what Lucy-ojou’s motive is?”
Yes, Ursch-kun asked me.
I start slowly talking about the cause of the darkness in my fiancĂ©e’s heart that she once told me about.
I was reluctant to tell them about it without her permission and she probably won’t forgive me, but as things stand now, I won’t be able to hide it forever.
In addition, somehow, there was an expectation that they would have a way to overcome the situation that I pathetically couldn’t do anything about. If someone else asked, it would be pitiful to expect from children, but I was at a loss of how to move now, and I felt like holding on to these children.
The pressure Lucy continued to receive when she was a child and her bloody efforts. And the existence of a mother who comforted and encouraged Lucy when those efforts were about to be wasted. The sadness of losing her mother, who was the only support of her heart. And the distrust and hatred of her relatives who celebrated the birth of Geese at the expense of her mother’s life.
The children listened to it all silently.
“I kept snuggling up to Lucy to relieve her suffering and hatred even a little, but apparently I didn’t have enough power to heal her heart.”
Brian-kun raises his voice to me as I’m laughing at myself.
“No, I know she was sad, but it has nothing to do with Geese. Isn’t the bad one Geese’s father? If you hold a grudge, if you’re going to kidnap someone, make it Geese’s father!!”
“. . . . . No. . . I don’t think that’s right either. . .”
Brian who got mad when he said that, opened his mouth to curse the Magic Division Commander.
“Why is that?! I know he was happy that Geese was born, but it’s strange to leave his dead wife alone. It’s bad that Geese’s father didn’t do both properly!!”
“Actually, the commander couldn’t be there. He couldn’t go home, so he left everything to his relatives, such as attending to his wife’s childbirth. The relatives only reported to the commander that a boy was born. By the time he was able to go home three months later, his wife’s funeral was already over, and there was an unfixable gap with his daughter Lucy. It seems the commander felt that because he didn’t even know about his wife’s death and didn’t attend the funeral, he couldn’t get along with Lucy.”
“Huh?! Geese was born and his wife died, there’s now way he couldn’t go home!! What’s more important than that?!”
Angry with honest feelings, Brian-kun’s child-like innocence is unbearable to those who have grown up while letting go of that innocence, and even though my feelings were pushed, I started explaining like and excuse.
“Was it about 5 months before Geese was born? I was still about 15 years old at that time, and I don’t know the details, but there was a big crack somewhere in the capital, and a lot of ‘power’ flowed in from there.”
The Royal Capital fell into chaos.
Various speculations flowed in the capital, and some of them were rumors that the Demon King, which is said to have been contained in a gap in another dimension a long time ago, was real.
However, after its power stagnated in the capital for about a month, it suddenly disappeared one day.
What is the identity of the ‘power’ and why did it disappear? What dimension did the crack in the capital lead to, and why was it made?
In order to find out who it was, the Magic Division at the time devoted themselves to investigating for a long time.
“Of course, since the commander is the head of the Magic Division, he had take the initiative to continue the investigation, receiving reports, summarizing, and submitting it to the country. He wasn’t in a situation where he could go home because he wanted to witness the birth of his child.”
Alice-sama, who had been silent until now, reacted to the story by pointing the fork at me.
“Well, I heard that story from my mother. In the end, I heard that they didn’t find out anything.”
Yes, why was the crack made, where was it made, and is there still a crack? Was there really a crack in the dimension in the first place? And the identity of the ‘power’ that is said to have flowed from the crack and why it disappeared or went somewhere, everything has not yet been figured out, and it is considered to remain a mystery.
“Ah, they didn’t learn anything at all. But at that time, the commander had a position and obligation to investigate even if he left his family behind. Even if it ended in vain. After I got engaged to Lucy, I decided to join the Magic Division to fill the gap between Lucy and the commander. I want them to get along with each other better even if it’s only a little bit.”
I was able to go to the Magic Academy, but the amount of magic I had was barely enough to enter. At the academy, I met Lucy, got to know her, gained enough knowledge to make up for my lack of magic, and joined the Magic Division as a laboratory researcher. After joining the Magic Division, I devoted my time to research and shortening the gap between Lucy and the commander.
Even if I can’t repair the relationship between her and her father, if I can make such a big discovery that no one can ignore it and make my name known to the world, wouldn’t I be able to be adopted as a son-in-law of the Toland family, a prestigious magic family?
And isn’t it possible to make her the head of the Toland family?
With that expectation, I was able to continue to show results and steadily climb up to the position of head of the laboratory.
“Time is up. I didn’t have the power to save her heart. I couldn’t heal her heart and drove her to a violent crime.”
I’m about to be crushed by guilt and regret, and I drop my gaze down.
Silence fell in the dining room that had become like a ruin. The conquered and detained staff and members who were watching us were also quietly holding their breath and waiting.
It was a laugh that broke the silence. It was cold but kind. As the laughter soaked into the dining room, the temperature gradually dropped and the feeling of coldness seeped into the body.
When I looked in the direction where I could hear the laughter coming from, it was Geese with a kind expression on his face.
Geese laughed until he was satisfied, then quietly opened his mouth.
“Hehehe, in other words, my kidnapping and the kidnapping of Trever-niisama’s younger sister, Isabella-ojousama, happened because of my family. If that’s the case, I’ll finish what my family did properly.”
On the other hand, Brian-kun raised his voice in surprise.
“So you can talk about things other than trivia!! Talk on a regular basis!! Also, what are you going to do to finish it?”
Geese smiled.
Either I don’t have a heart, or the temperature in the dining room is dropping.
No, it’s not just my imagination, it’s going down!!
“I’m amazed by my sister. I don’t think that my precious mother, who gave birth to me in exchange for her own life, would think so lightly of killing me.”
Around Geese, the floor began to freeze, and the floor, walls and ceiling became covered in ice, making a cracking sound.
As the room’s temperature kept going down more and more, Alice-sama began to tremble, and His Royal Highness Christopher put a jacket on Alice-sama.
“Hehehe, my sister, who made such a big fuss just because her efforts didn’t pay off, doesn’t agree that I am suited to be head of the family, right? If so, let’s let them know. I will crush all of the magician organizations that my sister cooperated with, condemn them, and prove I’m better. I am the most suitable for the head of the family, not my sister. It’s annoying to think that I became head of the family just because I’m a man.”
The blizzard physically blew around Geese who had a big smile.
Begin rant:
Geese got mad but I can’t say I blame him. Even if Lucy is good at magic, she doesn’t have the attitude or the mental strength to be head of the family. Her being female is not the problem. She could have continued to work hard to become head of the family, or decided to support Geese. She could have even just been happy with becoming the next Duchess. Instead, she decided to just sit and wait, and when things didn’t go how she wanted, she threw a fit like a child and decided to kill her 6-year-old brother. That doesn’t sound like something a good head of family should do.
End rant.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you for reading!