The day after the mechanic sisters soothed my mental fatigue, we decided to head to Elmaâs family home, the Viscount Willrose House estate.
ăHave a safe trip, Master.ă
ăSorry to leave you behind again.ă
ăPlease donât worry about it. A mechanical intelligence like mine isnât very welcome in the Imperial Capital anyway.ă
In response to my apology, Mei shook her head and answered like that. Since Neve still couldnât walk out of the medical pod, someone with medical knowledge needed to stay by her side. That left the suitable candidates to either be Dr. Shouko or Mei. One of the reasons we were going to visit the Viscount Willrose House was so the crew could meet the people of the Willrose family, so it was better if Dr. Shouko came along, which naturally made Mei the one to stay behind.
ăBesides, you will compensate me later today, right Master?ă
ăAh, yes.ă
It seems that when we return to the Black Lotus today, Iâll be pampering Mei⊠no, itâs more like Mei will be pampering me.
ăCome on, if youâre ready, letâs go. Mei, take care of things while weâre gone.ă frŃewebnoŃ”el.Æoàč
ăSee you later!ă
ăYes, Elma-sama. Mimi-sama. Everyone, have a safe trip.ă
Mei saw us off with a bow, and we headed to the Viscount Willrose House estate in the Imperial Capital.
ââ â
ăScoundrel targeting the young lady! Prepare yourself!ă ăI will claim the position of Serenaâs partner! Prepare yourself!ă ăYou fake noble, how dare you! Prepare yourself!ă
ăI thought we might be attacked by people spouting that kind of nonsense, but surprisingly, nothing like that has happened.ă
ăI doubt anyone would dare to act so recklessly against you now, Hiro-dono.ă
Elmaâs father, Viscount Eldmoore Willrose, responded with a wry smile. Next to him, Elmaâs brother, Ernst, sipped his tea with a stern expression.
After safely arriving at the Viscount Willrose House estate, we quickly completed our introductions and split into male and female groups for a friendly exchangeâthough my side doesnât look so friendly.
ăWhat do you mean by ânowâ?ă
ăYour deeds have spread among the nobles. They say you mercilessly decapitated the stupid heir of the Earl Ixamal House with his own sword, and with that single sword, you wreaked havoc against dozens of fully armed private soldiers. Only a fool would pick a fight with a man who, once angered, wouldnât hesitate to behead the heir of a noble house.ă
ăUh⊠wasnât that supposed to be classified information?ă
ăItâs likely that the information was intentionally leaked by someone on the inquiry committee.ă
ăThat person, huhâŠă
A smiling, handsome face flashed through my mind. It was likely the work of Serenaâs father, Mr. Laurentz, but I canât fathom his intentions.
ăIn essence, he wants to spread the word that he has such a fierce pawn under his control. It is also a warning: âDo you understand the consequences of meddling with my pawn?â The Marquis Holz House is a prestigious martial family with immense influence, strong connections with multiple military manufacturers, and great power in terms of authority, military might, and financial resources. Theyâre one of the top powerhouses in the empire. If anyone dares to provoke them recklesslyâŠă
At this point, Eldmoore shrugged his shoulders. I had vaguely considered the Marquis Holz Houseâs power to be formidable just because they are a marquis house, but hearing this directly from Father-in-law, a real court noble, makes it clear just how dangerous they truly are.
ăThe Viscount Willrose House is part of the Marquis Ettingen faction⊠well, Marquis Ettingen and Marquis Holz arenât exactly on bad terms, so it should be fineâŠă
Despite his words, Eldmoore rubbed his stomach. Uhm, sorry about that, really.
ăBy the way, who is this Marquis Ettingen ?ă
ăIn short, heâs the leader of the faction of nobles located in the Imperial Capital that supports the Imperial Family. The Marquis Holz House, on the other hand, is a land-based noble family with vast territories but also leans towards supporting the Imperial Family. Hence, the relationship between the two houses isnât bad.ă
Ernst answered my question. Despite his stern expression, he kindly explains things to me, he really is Elmaâs brother, huh? At their core, they are kind and considerate, always looking out for others.
ăBut still⊠you canât keep it in your pants, can you?ă
ăThatâs not it!ă
I tried to explain myself to Ernst, who was giving me a side-eye.
ăWe Elves wouldnât be able to endure that⊠weâre not that vigorous.ă
ăThatâs not it. I mean, if you look at the facts, it does seem that way, but itâs not. Please listen to me.ă
Even Eldmoore chimed in, so I desperately tried to defend myself.
ăEven if you say you didnât intend for this to happen, how many women are you involved with? Just over there, there are six. And thereâs also the maidroid, right? Arenât there others as well?ă
ăâŠNo, there arenât. At least for now.ă
I might end up having that kind of relationship with Neve in the future, but Linda might change of opinion. As for others⊠there arenât any, right? Huh? Tinia? No, Tinia is definitely not an option. Unlike Linda, she has no reason to come out into space.
ăYour eyes are darting around.ă
ăItâs not like that. Please listen.ă
I desperately tried to defend myself. I told them it was inevitable. I explained that since the entire crew, except for me, are women, it wasnât feasible to add male crew members now. That would only create trouble.
ăGiven that itâs all water under the bridge now, I wonât say much⊠but you do understand what would happen if you neglect my daughter, donât you?ă
ăThereâs no way I could or would ever neglect her.ă
If I did, Iâd likely have my neck snapped, and besides, Elma is an irreplaceable partner for me. Elma might get fed up with me, but the opposite isnât possible. She can probably live without me, but I would be completely lost without her.
ăGood. As for the formal engagement ceremony, it involves the three families, so weâll handle the discussions on our end. Weâll inform you once the details are decided, so be prepared.ă
The đźost uptodatđ novels are pubđĄished on freeweÉnovÄl.coɱ.
ăSo there really is such a thing.ă
ăOf course there is⊠did you think you could just casually marry three noble daughters without any formalities?ă
ăIâm quite ignorant and not well-versed in the Empireâs general customs.ă
ăMercenaries⊠This is one of the reasons why they are no goodâŠă
Ernst let out a deep sigh, looking genuinely exasperated. Well, I donât know anything about these kinds of things what can I do about it? I suspected there might be some kind of formal procedure, but I just didnât know the specifics.
ăThat aside, it looks like theyâre having fun over there.ă
ăMilfi and Elfin are both quite talkativeâŠă
When I looked over to the womenâs side, they seemed to be having a great time, enjoying a tea party and chatting away.
ăShall we also engage in some light conversation? Brother-in-law, why donât you start a topic?ă
ăDonât call me brother-in-law⊠Well, I suppose I will become your brother-in-law. In the end, thatâs what it is. SighâŠă
ăThatâs a huge sigh.ă
ăAnd whose fault do you think that is⊠well, never mind. So, tell me about how you met the Marquis Holzâs daughter. From the very beginning.ă
ăFrom the beginning? Thatâs going to be a long storyâŠă
Even as I said that, memories of meeting Serena in the Termaine star system came flooding back. Now that I think about it, she was actually the first one that I met.
ăThe first time we met was in an interrogation room at the Termaine star systemâs port authority.ă
Both Eldmoore and Ernst listened intently, clearly intrigued. I began recounting the long story of how I met Serena and everything that had happened since. Itâs definitely going to be a lengthy tale.