CH 88

Words : 916 Updated : Sep 12th, 2025

Ms. Claire’s father was coming Ah, now that I thought about it, I hadn’t picked up the clothes I ordered from the tailors… We had been busy exploring the forest, and had no time to go… Still, in spite of what Ms. Claire said, I could not think of anyone that fit the description. It was then that her face became even more serious, and she told me who it was. …Oh, even Sebastian looked very serious now. Who could it be!? “…Today…my father is returning to this house.” “…Huh?” “My…father.” “Mr. Takumi, Lady Claire’s father… His Grace the Duke of Liebert.” …Ah. Well, this house would belong to her father, the duke. So it was hardly odd that he would come here. And that would explain why the maids were in such a rush. They were preparing to greet their master. That was all fine. But was it really necessary for Ms. Claire and Sebastian to look so somber? “Uhh… But why are you so serious?” “Mr. Takumi… My father is coming… He is bound to bring countless marriage proposals with him.” Ms. Claire looked like she was in pain, and Sebastian had a far away look in his eyes. Indeed, I had heard that Ms. Claire and Tilura found it very troublesome to keep turning such talks down. However, was it really as serious as they made it sound? “…And you mean to refuse all of them?” “Of course! It’s too early to be discussing such things with Tilura! And even I…” “Cough… Lady Claire.” “Ah!” What was this…she seemed so tense. I understood why she would refuse for Tilura, but she had then trailed off and then glanced towards me before blushing. Was there something on my face? Regardless, Sebastian had coughed loudly and Ms. Claire was able to compose herself. “In any case, you will have to meet my father, Mr. Takumi.” If there was a sales agreement, I would have to speak to the person who ranked the highest. However, I wondered if I would be all right, going out in front of Ms. Claire’s father… I hoped that I wouldn’t do anything rude. “It’s just that I… I have no knowledge when it comes to manners towards nobles…” “As for that, you need not worry. My father isn’t very sensitive about such things.” “To put it simply…His Grace is a very…hearty person… Some might even say, crude. …As for me, I do wish he would put more effort into behaving like a duke…” According to Ms. Claire and Sebastian, he was not sensitive to manners, and would not scrutinize me in that way. Hearty…what kind of person was he…? When Ms. Claire had confided in me in the forest, he had sounded like a good father. She said that he doted on them, and was clearly not a bad person. But then, I wasn’t sure why he would keep bothering them with talk of marriage. “Ha… I wonder how many times I’ll have to refuse him this time…” “Considering how much time has passed, I predict that the number will be quite high.” Both Ms. Claire and Sebastian looked quite gloomy. Refusing a marriage proposal did seem very troublesome… And since it was coming through her father…she might have to think of ways to do it without tarnishing his reputation. And the more there were, the harder it would be… I suppose it was then understandable that Ms. Claire and Sebastian were not looking forward to it. However, why was he coming here so suddenly? I suppose I should ask about that. And so I turned to Ms. Claire. “Is there a reason that he is coming here today?” “That…” “Allow me to explain. Early this morning, a messenger arrived from His Grace, telling us to prepare the mansion in order to welcome him. The message said that he would arrive shortly after lunch.” Hmm. When important people traveled, they needed to give people time to prepare, and so they sent a message ahead of them. I didn’t know if it was normal to do this with your own villa, but I suppose there were preparations that needed to be made here. The maids had looked very busy…so there must have been things to do. “It is about one week to journey here from the main house… I believe His Grace’s purpose for coming here is to see that Lady Claire is safe.” She had been so worried about Tilura, that she left the mansion by herself and went to look for herbs in the forest. Thinking back now, there were quite a lot of orcs in that forest, and so her actions seemed even more reckless. But it also showed how desperate she was to help her sister recover. “As we servants were forming a search party of soldiers, we also sent a message to His Grace.” “Hmm.” “Really, Sebastian…” Ms. Claire said admonishingly, but I felt that he was in the right here. They were obviously worried about her. And as their butler, it was his duty to send a report if she went off into a dangerous forest on her own. However, Ms. Claire seemed to be aware of this as well. And so she sighed and looked down in resignation. Perhaps she knew that if she pushed it any further, Sebastian would be the one to admonish her.

CH 88

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