NOVEL NEXT Chapter 11 - Promise
“Is the food to your liking?”
“Yes, of course.”
“I’m glad. If there’s any food you’d like to eat or anything you need before departure, don’t hesitate to let me know.”
Wydro Hanson was being very considerate and kind to me, more than I expected.
Despite undoubtedly having heard the negative rumors about me that had been circulating in the territory for a long time,
he was treating me without any particular sign of it, truly as his daughter’s fiancé.
‘Is it a case of spilled milk? He’s a frighteningly calculating person.’
His natural and comfortable expression, casual tone of speech was actually making me tense.
Who would easily spit in a smiling face?
Even though I was a well-known good-for-nothing who had only recently given up my idle life,
it was natural that I didn’t want to show an unworthy appearance to such a kind father-in-law (even if it was an engagement destined to be broken).
“Have you heard about Turkun, where we’re going, by any chance?”
As I was enjoying the meal, cutting into a thick steak and sipping on an exceptionally fine wine, the knights and I briefly paused our chewing and exchanged glances.
Well, he wouldn’t just let us comfortably drink and eat meat…
“We’ve more or less finished the background research.”
“Hmm… background research…”
A rather dubious expression flashed across that benevolent face for a moment, but unfortunately, I didn’t miss that moment.
“Is there something you’re worried about?”
“Ha… haha… what is there to worry about, with five knights from the Castillo family accompanying… besides, we’re not likely to run into any particular trouble…”
“You’re worried about the fallen knights, aren’t you?”
At my sharp question, Hanson briefly frowned in surprise, but then quickly regained an interested expression and met my gaze again.
“It seems you’ve done quite thorough background research?”
“I tend not to do things halfheartedly.”
It was a statement that nine out of ten people in the territory who had heard about my pathetic life story would likely laugh at.
But
My quite serious expression seemed to be warning them not to laugh carelessly.
I naturally cut another piece of meat and put it in my mouth, savoring the taste.
There were still more words that needed to come out of my mouth,
but by deliberately cutting the meat and putting it in my mouth, interrupting the flow of conversation, Hanson’s side became somewhat impatient and words flew out.
“Since you seem to have looked into the fallen knights, I’ll ask frankly. Was five men the best you could do?”
Cough cough
Raymond, who had been busy just chewing his food without any intention of joining our conversation, unknowingly let out a cough.
It was a criticism, if not a criticism, suggesting that I might not have much power within the family.
It seemed to be an inevitable expression of his heart, wishing that the son-in-law engaged to his daughter was at least someone more successful than this.
“Was the ring not to your liking?”
A ‘what are you suddenly talking about’ expression from Hanson
But I put down my fork and knife, leisurely bringing the wine glass to my lips, and this time turned my gaze towards Luna.
Pffft
Was it because of the unexpected timing, an unexpected attack?
Luna spit out all the little bits of meat she had been chewing for a while in her mouth, startled.
Hanson looked at Luna for a moment with an expression half surprised, half reproachful, and then shifted his gaze to the servants
The servants who received his gaze started to clean up around Luna in an orderly fashion.
‘She’s quite fun to tease…’
I had intended to use Luna briefly just as an icebreaker, but when a bigger reaction came from her than I had expected, I couldn’t help but let a smile escape.
After a moment, I resumed the conversation, looking back at Hanson.
“The family knights of the Castillo family are all elite experts. I understand your concern since you haven’t seen these friends’ martial prowess with your own eyes, but I assure you that there’s nothing to worry about. I will never let my fiancée be put in danger.”
Pffft
This time it was Luna, who had been trying hard to avoid my gaze, putting water in her mouth.
Poor thing, even that water she had just put in her mouth was now spraying out.
Was it when the word ‘fiancée’ came out of my mouth?
She sprayed out the water in shock and then immediately buried her head, her face turning bright red.
Having his daughter make a scene at the dinner table not once but twice, Hanson’s expression twisted as if to say, ‘What on earth is wrong with her?’
But soon, perhaps thinking there were more important matters to conclude, he started to press me again.
“Fiancée… haha, yes, our Luna is your fiancée… It’s nice to hear. But if you think that way, wouldn’t it be all the more disappointing from my position? No matter how you look at it, a number of five isn’t enough to intimidate others…”
It was a perfectly reasonable thing to say.
For this trade journey, the Wydro family would have wanted to show off the backing of the noble Castillo family here and there.
However, I didn’t yet have the leadership to command a larger force than this.
With the incident with Team Leader Aiden, I might have lightly stimulated the loyalty or awe of some knights,
but in fact, there wasn’t such a tremendously big difference from before.
The bad image of myself that I had built up was something that had been solidly constructed over quite a long time, so it wasn’t easy to break in a day.
“Ah… Father… Since this is a meal, wouldn’t it be better to have this conversation separately later, to avoid any discomfort…”
With a bright red face, Luna, who had been staring at the floor as if trying to bore a hole in it, very cautiously but bravely interjected into the conversation.
Perhaps because of the food she had spit out earlier, her expression couldn’t hide her embarrassment,
but feeling that she was trying to be considerate of me, I couldn’t help but be quite touched.
So I had no choice but to say all my remaining words to Hanson again.
“Our force is not five.”
“Huh?”
After hearing my words, Hanson immediately looked over the knights one by one.
Perhaps wondering if he had miscounted
Although he didn’t count on his fingers, he seemed to be mentally recounting the numbers one by one.
“What do you mean? Are you saying there are more forces that haven’t arrived yet?”
Hanson’s eyes sparkled quite brightly as he waited for my next answer.
And then
Seeing my finger pointing at myself, he frowned deeply.
‘Does this half-witted young brat think this situation is some kind of joke?’
That was exactly the expression on his face.
Of course, it was understandable that such an expression would come out, given that I was a dullard among dullards who couldn’t properly wield a sword,
and a pathetically lazy young master who had never shown any prominence despite reaching this age.
“It should never happen, but if Wydro family’s trade journey… no, if a situation arises where Miss Luna might be in danger, I will protect her safety even at the cost of my life.”
Hanson was showing an expression he had never shown before, as if the words from my mouth were quite surprising,
and Luna had her head buried, but judging from how her neck and ears were completely red, it was clear that her face had heated up as if it might burst again.
“Our young master possesses swordsmanship skills above the team leader level within the family knight order. He won beautifully in two duels he had recently. The knights’ assessment of the young master’s swordsmanship skills could be said to be top-notch.”
As the saying goes, one’s own flesh and blood comes first,
Raymond spoke in a quite serious voice, as if trying to add a spoonful of help to his friend’s bluff.
Unlike the other four knights who were quietly eating, Raymond seemed unable to contain himself as my friend in this situation.
“Oh ho… duels… duels… Is that so? If that’s the knights’ assessment, I suppose I have no choice but to believe it.”
Perhaps the knights of our family were more daunting than my existence,
Hanson answered Raymond using honorifics, and so the meal could be wrapped up somehow.
Of course, I couldn’t meet Luna’s eyes until the very end of the meal.
Because she was just trembling, unable to raise her head even once.
If it was going to be like this, she shouldn’t have greeted us so haughtily wearing that flashy dress.
She seemed to be a person quite unfamiliar with social life.
Luna’s mind was full of confusion, to the point where she couldn’t even properly remember how the meal had ended.
Jumping onto the bed in her room, burying her face in the pillow, she couldn’t help but chew over that sentence that had come out of those red lips on that white face several times.
‘I will protect her safety even at the cost of my life.’
Thump thump
Thump thump
Thump thump
Was she trying to burst the pillow?
For some reason, her fists were busily pounding her pillow, and incomprehensible words were leaking out of her mouth along with flustered laughter.
“He must be crazy, really… what life… he must be crazy, really… to say such things so casually… he must be crazy, really…”
And so, repeating the same words, she couldn’t sleep a wink,
and the next day, she had no choice but to board the carriage with dark circles under her eyes.