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I picked up the teacup I had set down and took a sip.

The room had windows wide open, and the cool spring breeze continued to blow in, yet the heat boiling within me showed no signs of settling. No matter how hard I tried to cool down, the gaze of Ken, who was silently watching us, made my temperature rise again.

I wanted to say something, but there were no words in me. Even if I managed to speak, with just one word from Ken, I would have no choice but to shut my mouth.

Fortunately, Ken did not open his mouth again. He merely stood there with a content smile, watching us with warm eyes. As time passed, I began to grow somewhat accustomed to this.

I should be grateful that he wasn’t a chatterbox.

If it had been my father instead of Ken, he would have rambled on about what just happened until my face was close to bursting. Thinking that way, I felt more at ease, and I was even grateful that it was Ken standing here now.

At least Ken wouldn’t tease me.

“Sweet, isn’t it?”

At first, that seemed like something he said to mock me.

When I looked up at Ken, he wore a clueless expression while smiling. It felt as if he subtly urged me to do something with his eyes. I responded to Ken’s gaze with a resolute look of denial and took another sip of tea.

The situation seemed to have calmed down somewhat, and it felt like it was time to get to the main point. But looking at Ken, he seemed completely absorbed in observing both me and Elena. Eventually, I called out his name first.

“Ken.”

“Yes, Young Master. Is there something you would like me to do… Oh, it seems we’ve run out of the stick cookies. I’ll go to the kitchen and bring some more. It might not be enough with just one stick cookie, so adding some whipped cream ‘sweetly’ wouldn’t be a bad idea.”

No, this old guy…

“That’s not what I meant. Ken, don’t you have something to tell me?”

There was no way Ken came to my room without a reason; my father had likely sent for both me and Elena.

I thought we would have some time to enjoy the refreshments, but things were moving faster than I anticipated. Ken arrived shortly after the snacks, so perhaps he had spoken to my father immediately after meeting him.

By the way, I had almost forgotten to think about why Noel and Orcus came to Sarham. Well, it doesn’t matter now. I would soon hear the reason from my father anyway.

It’s just a simple guess, but if what I thought was correct, it sounded like they had something quite important to discuss. Do we really have the luxury to chill out right now?

But contrary to my thoughts, Ken pulled out a watch from inside his pocket and smiled brightly. He then looked at me with a reassuring expression.

“You don’t need to worry too much, Young Master. You have plenty of time to enjoy the refreshments with the young lady.”

“Ah, yes…”

I forced a smile at his reply and looked back at Elena. She reflected Ken’s words lightly and smiled at me with a strange look, as if she had sensed my gaze.

“Nom~”

Elena, whose face had only moments ago been flushed red, had returned to normal as she cut a piece of cake and popped it into her mouth.

Well, there’s no way to escape this situation now.

I felt that if I could leave this place as soon as possible, I might manage to get away from what just happened, but Ken showed no openings. After hearing Ken’s words, Elena seemed to have realized something, and she no longer blushed like before.

She had seen Ken’s words and how I reacted to them, so the previous atmosphere around her faded. Instead, Elena seemed happy about having a great weapon in her arsenal and appeared to be contemplating when to speak up. Or perhaps she was just enjoying seeing me tense up.

The tides had completely turned.

I had gone from the one teasing to the one being teased, while she had shifted from the one being teased to the attacker.

“Hehehe…”

Though she remained silent, her eyes seemed to say, “Brace yourself!”

I averted my gaze from Elena and took another sip of tea.

But did she realize why I was so tense right now?

In the past, I wouldn’t have felt this way, but to be honest, seeing Elena prepare to launch her attack was just adorable.

If it were just the two of us in this room, I might have purely enjoyed that gaze. The problem was that there were others present.

I wasn’t usually the kind of person who cared about what others thought, but Elena was an exception. When we were alone, I could behave freely, but now that someone else might be watching, my face felt heated.

The trembling I felt came from that very reason.

Behind me stood someone who knew our relationship better than anyone else besides us: Ken. Yet, I found that gaze overwhelming.

Somehow, I felt like I had to get Ken out or leave the room myself, but today Ken was siding with Elena, leaving me unable to do anything.

With a sense of desperation, I glanced at the empty plate and asked Elena, “It seems the snacks are running low, should I go get some more?”

“Oh, it’s fine. Damian. Dinner time is approaching soon, and I don’t think we’ll need any more snacks. However… if you genuinely want something ‘sweet’…”

“No, thanks.”

I surrender!

*

Elena seemed to be enjoying herself teasing me, but that didn’t mean we could stay locked in this room forever. After a while, the time Ken mentioned approached, and Elena and I followed him out of the room, headed to where my father was.

The familiar route I followed with Ken gave me a sense of where we were headed before we even arrived. We arrived at the banquet hall as expected.

Though it was still a bit early for dinner, we already knew why we had come to the banquet hall, where the food wasn’t even ready yet.

“It’s been a while since we’ve all been together. So, how was your life in Merohim?”

As we entered, the first thing I saw was my father’s face. It seemed like he hadn’t trimmed his beard, as it was noticeably longer than when I last saw him.

Elena and I nodded slightly at my father’s question, and I answered.

“It was okay. But I think Sarham suits me better. By the way, Father, have you been growing your beard? You seem to look older than before.”

“Really? Then it seems I’ve succeeded. I’ve been young for so long that I wanted to feel what it’s like to actually age.”

“If your friends heard that, I think they’d be furious.”

Like Duke Joachim. As expected, my father smiled at my words, nodding lightly.

“Exactly. That’s why I’m growing it.”

Just like my father. He hasn’t changed at all.

Well, one week isn’t enough to change a person.

My father pulled out a chair and sat down, gesturing for Elena and me to take our seats. The chair that usually belonged to my father was completely removed. The rectangular table, which had lost the seat of honor, had chairs arranged so that everyone could face each other. I noticed two chairs across from my father. Naturally, I sat next to my father, and Elena took the seat next to me.

With one chair left on our side, I knew that was Alphonse’s seat. My father glanced at the temporarily empty seat and then back at me before speaking.

“Alphonse will be here soon, so you don’t need to worry too much.”

“That’s a relief. But can I ask you something?”

As I glanced at the two chairs in front of me, my father answered with a light smile.

“Of course. It should be nothing difficult. But first, let me ask you something. Is that alright?”

“Yes.”

“What exactly happened in Merohim?”

At that moment, my father’s eyes shone sharply.

His eyes, which matched mine in a golden glimmer, were like a dragon soaring in the sky, looking down at the ground. But even facing those dragon-like eyes, I felt no fear. I only saw the worried look in my father’s eyes, standing at the center of a tremendous tide shaking the world.

In reply to my father’s question, I calmly recounted what had happened.

“Two days after I arrived, the duke held a banquet. Thanks to that, I had to practice dancing with Elena for those two days.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“I think I actually danced quite well at the banquet. Right, Elena?”

“Didn’t your legs give out at the end, and you ended up leaning on me?”

“Let’s just say that was part of the performance and move on.”

My father’s expression began to shift oddly as he listened to me.

Perhaps this wasn’t what he expected to hear. But honestly, what I experienced in Merohim was just an ordinary routine similar to what I could encounter in Sarham. No, it might have even been more peaceful, as I had never encountered monsters.

Anyway.

I talked about meeting the Archmage of Twilight, going on a date at Merohim’s night market, and everything else I could share. I didn’t mention my meeting with Teia, but even if my father heard about it, it likely wouldn’t be what he wanted to know.

“In the end, I fought the Knights of Edelweiss and returned home. It seems Sir Wilhelm’s guidance was excellent; everyone was quite skilled.”

“If it’s that old wolf from the North, it’s no wonder. He was definitely among the strongest knights in the Empire when I was young. Of course, your grandfather was… No, no. Is that really all?”

“Yes. After that, Duke Joachim sent me home by teleportation, just like before.”

“Wow…”

Having heard all my story, my father let out a sigh. I sent a glance towards Elena, but she nodded in agreement with what I had said.

“Well, it’s not my place to say, but all of a sudden, the world feels so unfair.”

“Why are you saying that out of the blue? It seems like you’ve got no conscience at all.”

“You’re in no position to talk, you rascal. At just twenty, to already be at the ‘brink’? I didn’t understand the way my father looked at me when I was young until it hit me like this!!”

Laughing heartily, my father then shouted out that this time, too, Kraus was victorious.

However, I couldn’t join in with my father’s enthusiasm. After all, I knew very well who would inherit the title of the continent’s youngest Sword Master.

Of course, it is a story that would come about after a significant series of events had unfolded, but I was also well aware that this “brink” my father mentioned was a considerable distance away from “transcendence.”

So perhaps right now, that guy was eyeing the same spot as I was. I, on the other hand, at least had previous life experiences. Strictly speaking, I shouldn’t belong to the realm of absurdity my father was talking about.

Reinhardt Cromel. The current lesser house of Cromel and the future strongest sword on the continent.

That guy truly embodied the pinnacle of absurdity. He reached mastery just after turning twenty, solely through talent, without anything resembling my case.

Did the thought of him came from my father? Just thinking about him made me uneasy.

Before I considered him a competitor, it wasn’t a big deal, but now he’s become a potential variable. He might be an ally, but he could just as easily turn into an enemy; that’s what Reinhardt represented for me, and suddenly the world seemed unfair when I considered that he was aiming for the same goal as I was.

No. It might be better this way.

If not, his situation would imply that he simply paused at the “brink” before immediately attaining mastery. It sounded like some kind of protagonist from a novel; how can one leap over such a level like it’s nothing?

“Ha! Why is my body suddenly itching? It’s been a while since I’ve had a chat with this father of mine. I heard you already fought and defeated that Gwen fellow.”

“Uh… that…”

It seemed that my father had started to gather his thoughts, as there was a different glint in his eyes now. I turned my head toward Elena, but she was looking at me with the same expression as when we were at the training grounds today.

Realizing that she answered with a “no” in her gaze, I had to turn down my father’s proposal with a disappointed expression.

“I’m sorry, Father. I’ll challenge you after I gather my senses a bit more.”

“Well then… understood.”

Though my father’s mouth was close to turning into a frown, the size of his disappointment seemed to grow greater. After all, there might be things I could see that I hadn’t before due to this development.

Regardless, this opportunity was not something to be taken lightly, so I decided to obediently follow Elena’s words. Rest is also crucial.

As our conversation seemed to wind down, I turned back to face my father and opened my mouth.

“Then, Father. May I ask my question now?”

“Go ahead.”

“What brings Her Highness the Princess and His Highness the Prince here? Has something occurred while I was away?”

This was what I had wanted to ask from the start.

What could possibly be so important that both the only prince and princess of the Empire would come here? Their status as royals was significant enough, but they were also the primary heirs to the throne.

They were the individuals that should be prioritized right after the Emperor. Surely they wouldn’t visit Sarham for no reason. I couldn’t help but be concerned about a potential military problem, but it didn’t seem to be the case, considering the peace within the Knights Order.

My father answered me in a very casual tone, just like he had mentioned at the beginning.

“It’s nothing of great importance. They have merely come to congratulate your engagement. There’s really no particular reason.”

“Excuse me?”

Is that really the truth?

As I looked at my father in disbelief, he scratched his head and said,

“Um, well, that’s just the surface reason.”

As I thought, there must be some other underlying reasons. I immediately opened my ears, eager to catch every word my father said.

“It seems the Emperor is concerned that the Princess and Prince have been cooped up in the palace for too long. While it’s a congratulatory visit, don’t you think this is a chance for you and Elena to meet as well? So they’re probably here to encourage the two of you to make some friends.”

 

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