CH 45

I undressed and boiled water for four people. After we freshened up in our own rooms, we head to the dining room for dinner. Our supper is salted boneless rib meat (wild boar), lentil-like bean soup, unfermented bread and wine. Well, that’s because there’s a lot of people at home right now.

But, will it suit Diana’s taste?

“I’m sorry I only have this much. I hope it suits your taste.”

I thought she would timidly put it into her mouth but Diana put it in her mouth without hesitation.

“…How is it?”

Seeing that, rather than her, I was the one who got nervous.

“It’s delicious!”

Diana replied with her amber eyes shining. But, perhaps she noticed that the people around her were surprised,

“Ah, S-Sorry …”

She looked dejected right away.

“N-No, it’s good if it fits your taste. We were just worried whether it would fit young lady’s taste.”

“That sort of… calling me young lady is a bit…”

“Err… Well, it’s best to eat delicious food. If the food is bad, you won’t feel like doing anything, you see.”

I told the truth. Even when I had a hard time working in the previous world, it would have been better if I could eat delicious food.

“Eizou, have you ever eaten something like that too?”

Samia gets on this topic.

“Well yeah, many times.”

“Is that so? I thought that Eizou had only eaten delicious food all this time.”

“That’s not really the case. For example…”

I started talking about the previous world without realizing it. In this way, our dinner today was lively with the topic of “what were the unpalatable foods we’ve eaten”. Diana also heard that there’s a “delicacy” and ate it without knowing what the meat was, she was excited to talk about how bad it was.

At the end of such a fun dinner, I started the conversation. I was a little hesitant whether or not to ask her about the details, but it will be better if I ask here.

“Well then, can you tell us why Diana-san was forced to leave the city?”

Diana was a little hesitant, but soon,

“I understand. Then…”

She talked about it haltingly.

Diana (and Marius-shi’s) parents’ home is around the territory next to ours. Count Eimurl governs that territory including the area around the town we goes to. Count Eimurl has three sons and one daughter (of course Diana). The three sons are Rion, the eldest brother, Karel, the second elder brother, and Marius, the third son.

Naturally, it was supposed to be the eldest brother, Rion, who will succeed the Count’s reign. About a month ago, Count Eimurl and Rion went out with their private troops to subdue a swarm of monsters that allegedly appeared near the border.

Originally, Rion aside, even the Count didn’t have to leave but it seems that the Count was going to retire completely and let Rion take over all of his authority. And it seems that some demonstration would be meaningful. Putting it the other way around, they must have assumed that the subjugation of the monsters that appeared would not be a big deal even if the army was not moved out and only the private soldiers with the Count and the successor himself went out…

However, such expectation was completely betrayed. Both the Count and Rion were killed, and the private army was also annihilated and some fled. According to the information of the one who barely escaped alive, “a strong monster has defeated everyone”. However, when Marius returned after receiving the bad news, there were some suspicious points. From the perspective of Marius, who has seen numerous “hacked” bodies as a guard, neither the Count nor Rion seem to have suffered any claws or fangs, and in the first place, “Was the monster outbreak itself true?”. From that point of view, Marius judged that there’s something fishy.

On top of that, Karel is the most suspicious one when that happened, but of course he won’t show his true color that easily. If they kept still, the right to succeed the family would naturally go to Karel… However, there is a big problem. Examining the records, Karel and Marius had a reverse order on the succession. Since Karel is concubine-born and Marius is a child from the main wife, the order of succession changed when Marius was born. The fact was recorded by a registrar, but all four were raised as children of the main wife in the house because the woman who was Karel’s mother died when she gave birth. Since it became like that, Karel tried to lay the blame on this and that on Marius in order for him to have the right to succeed. But, of course, Marius was a guard in another town before and after that.

It would be very difficult for him to take command if there is such scheme. So for now, their standoff continues, and the current situation in the Capital is that Karel sometimes makes a mess with Marius. However, if this takes too long and if the Count of Eimurl is absent for a long time, that title will be deprived. Well that’s probably it so it seems that it is about time for one of them to start moving.

Diana was targeted because she is also a child of the main wife, so if for example, she takes a nobleman from somewhere to become their son-in-law. Her inheritance rights may change at that point so it seems that the plan is to eliminate that now. So Marius (probably) left her to me. He tried to keep her safe until he managed to get rid of Karel but it was just that when he sent her out, Karel sensed that so he also sent someone to attack her. Well, that’s the gist of all of this.

“Hmm…”

I thought about it. With that being the case, keeping Diana here will not only be a week or two. It’s fine with me but I wonder if Diana can bear it. Both Marius and Diana are members of the Count family after all. However, now I understand why Marius-shi has skilful judgement for a mere guard and as to why he is familiar with the inner workings inside the city walls.

“Capital huh… How should I put it? Uhm, I understand Marius-san and Diana-san’s situation. Furthermore, it’s okay to keep Diana in my house but, will that be okay for Diana-san?”

Since I knew that she is a noble, normally, it might be better to lower my back but it’s too late to change my posture now so I’ll leave it as it is.

“What do you mean by if it’s okay with me?”

“Ah no. After this matter is over, if they found out that you, the daughter who is of a right age is at a blacksmith’s house, even though there are other women who come to live with you, wouldn’t that be inappropriate for a noble?”

“My brother handles that area well, so Eizou-san don’t need to worry about that.”

“Well, after that, this lifestyle may last for a week or two, would that be okay?”

“Even in such a very short time, I came to know that both Samia and Rike are good people so I’m not worried. Of course, Eizou-san too.”

“Hmm…”

In that case, she doesn’t mind being kept in the house huh.

“Then, the rest would be if you’ll really be fine to be kept at home.”

“I realized that when I came here. I don’t think that there is a better place to hide than here though, so there’s no mistake about it.”

“Well, in that case, tentatively then.”

It’s not that I’m unwilling but, if it’s in a different place, it’s almost the same as kidnapping.

“If only there was something we could know…”

I murmured that then Diana responded to my words.

“Ah, by the way, I was keeping a letter for Camilo-san.”

“If we read it, will we understand…?”

“Yes, maybe.”

“But I don’t want to look into a letter addressed to others.”

“No, it’s about me, so it’s fine. I’ll go get it.”

Diana-san quickly stands up and goes to the guest room. As I look at it, I thought that she might like the life here and so on.