Chapter 32

Mother was actively recommending people who didn’t interfere with what I was doing. I wonder if these were the feelings of a mother, who has a daughter of marriageable age. It can’t be helped.

“I’ll go down.”

Aurin said her brother is within the normal range, so it should be fine.

“Hello, Lady Hardland.”

When I showed up, Nus Xuen, who was sitting in the parlor, got up and greeted me calmly. He certainly belongs to the more normal axis than Lili Xuen.

“Excuse me for this morning. My father wanted to come too, but he was late at the palace, so unfortunately I’m the only one who came.”

“It’s okay.”

I don’t even want to see Marquis Xuen anyway.

After taking a sip of the tea the maid left, Nus Xuen immediately brought his point.

“I understand that Lili, the youngest member of our family, has done many wrongs to the Lady. She was rude.”

“Well, it’s hard to deny.”

Nus Xuen, who smiled bitterly, still had many impressions from his childhood. But he was a full-fledged adult now. He seems to have been more shy in the past.

“Forgive me.”

Seeing him bow down again, he seemed to know manners.

“Lord Xuen has nothing to apologize for.”

“You can call me Nus.”

The man smiled softly and continued.

“It is a mistake committed by a member of my family, so I feel it is right for me to apologize.”

I couldn’t help but ask back at the confident words of the next family head.

“What about Aurin? Didn’t she say she would come with you?”

“My sister extends her apology to the Lady as she could not come. There is a situation here, can I tell you a story?”

“Yes.”

“As the Lady inevitably knew, Lili knew that she would become the Empress. Of course, His Majesty didn’t mention it. Perhaps, well, maybe because my father cared for her too much, she tended to think about it on her own.”

Marquis Xuen has educated her, ‘You are the future Empress.’ But never really put it in his mouth.

“However, the Lady, famous for being His Majesty’s friend, has appeared. Lili was visibly agitated. She sensed an uneasiness. It was clear that she was about to cause an accident, so Aurin warned her over and over again…….”

It’s obvious without even looking at it.

From the looks of things, Nus Xuen seems to have established himself as the next Marquis in the Xuen family, and Lili Xuen seems to have been raised as the Empress.

The Marquis tried to push Aurin as the Emperor’s friend when she was a child. But it didn’t work out, so it’s clear that he pushed Lili Xuen as the next player, and Aurin was now the leftover.

So the smug Lili Xuen probably didn’t even listen to Aurin’s words.

It was something befitting of Marquis Xuen. To treat his daughter as an abandoned thing.

“I heard about what happened that day. At the same time that she did a disrespect to the Lady, she also did wrong to His Majesty. The Emperor who was there is trying to punish Lili directly for her sins.”

“I heard that.”

“Precisely, Lili did wrong to His Majesty, but Father thought that if the Lady pleaded with His Majesty, Lili’s punishment would be lessened. That’s what happened in the morning.”

“I see.”

“I apologize again for Lili’s fault and Father’s rudeness.”

Seeing Nus Xuen bowing politely again made me feel strange. Should I tell him that I heard a reassuring answer from the Emperor, ‘Actually, he won’t cut your sister’s neck today?’

No, let’s not. Because rumors might circulate that the Emperor is influenced by personal words or that I have influence over the Emperor.

“A little while ago, Father’s messenger came and I heard that the Minister of the Internal Affairs was strongly opposed to it. So His Majesty seems to have eased it quite a bit.

“That’s fortunate.”

Tess must have listened to me.

“I respect the Duke for being fair and just in everything without personal feelings. Also the Lady.”

You mean you respect me for not taking a personal grudge against your family, who didn’t say a word to you when our family was kicked out 14 years ago?

I think that was too far, but I have to be careful because this is a pretty headache-inducing world.

“It’s hardly a thank you, but if the Lady participates in a party or gathering, would it be okay for me to escort you?”

“What?”

“If you ever need it. In recent years, it has become common practice for a partner to participate unless there is a written statement stating that only a lady must participate.”

“Really?”

It is a very different manner from what I knew as a child.

“Yes. If you don’t mind, Lady, I’d like to inform you about the rumors of social circles these days, and about the changing trends like this one. Of course, if you feel that my family’s reputation has been damaged by this incident and I am not good enough, you can refuse.”

Nus Xuen politely suggested. However, this polite suggestion was, in fact, something I had no choice but to accept.

For he did me a favor by informing me of the social trend that had changed so that I would not embarrass myself. After that, he mixed the sneaky offer and humbled himself at the end. So if I decline this man’s offer, I will be sarcastically admitting that the Xuen family’s reputation has been damaged.

What is this? I thought he was just a small boy when he was young, but he’s pretty good.

Perhaps Lili Xuen will be released with a light punishment, so there will be no problems with the Xuen family. For me, who is not familiar with the trends of the capital city, this might be better than just being a vague person.

I’ve already asked Aurin about this and that, so I’m sorry if I’m going to ask more things. Unfortunately, after the exile, there was no one to contact other than Aurin or Ethyl.

“Alright.”

After readily agreeing, Nus Xuen smiled broadly.

“If you tell me the date of the meeting you want to attend, I will make sure to spare the time.”

“I heard that you work at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, aren’t you busy?”

“There is nothing that can stop me from being with the Lady.”

Oh, a blush appeared on Nus Xuen’s face. It’s been a long time, so I’m glad to see it.

“I know it’s courtesy, but it feels good.”

“What do you mean courtesy, I mean it.”

I headed to the front door to see Nus Xuen off.

“And next time we meet, call me Nus.”

The young man, whose cheeks were red, added a word and left.

As expected, Lili Xuen was sentenced to a light prison sentence and a fine. The fine was the confiscation of part of the Marquis Xuen family’s fiefdom, but the confiscated area was where the diamond mine, the main source of income for the Marquis Xuen family, was located.

“…… Your head is working fine.”

It weakened the power of Marquisate Xuen and at the same time enriched the imperial coffers.

Judging by his various achievements, Tess seems to have become a smart Emperor.

I went through all the records I could find, including newspaper articles from the past few years, to find any traces of my childhood friend. Those alone showed how much Tess had strengthened the imperial power.

“I was a fool for worrying.”

Unfortunately, my childhood friend who became an adult was no longer the crybaby of his childhood.

“I have to work hard too.”

As luck would have it, an offer to participate in a project came in. I entered the Concium, but the opportunity for a newcomer like me to enter a professor-oriented project was extremely small, so I immediately accepted.

Not to mention, it’s a project related to mana pooling and storm symptoms! It is said that they study things related to the appearance of monsters, but the essence is movement from world to world, so it cannot be left out.

Certainly, unlike Varen, where I got discouraged from going back because I had no material to speak of, Alin motivated me.

I was so busy with work that I never had time to go see Tess.

“Ha.”

Tess came to mind, but I was so busy that I couldn’t even come home. I even forgot to write him a letter.

When I remembered that I had forgotten to go see Tess, he was already out of state and there was no contact from him.

I guess everything’s fine. Tess is also busy, so he might have forgotten too.

The only time I had time was the weekend of the following week, which was the day I had promised with Nus Xuen. The first meeting I decided to attend was the tea party at the Hyacinth family.

Nus came to Hardland.

“Hello, Lord Xuen.”

“It would be better if you call me Nus.”

“It’s a little burdensome.”

Even so, when a man and a woman call each other by name, it means that they are quite close. It could be because they’re really close, or it could mean that there’s a subtle air flow between men and women.

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