NOVEL NEXT #22
#22
After saying ‘This way’, Medis led Jersian and Kain to the central office of Marquis Gerold’s mansion.
The central office was located in the left wing of the mansion where the Marquis resided, after climbing two massive facing staircases.
It’s quiet, Kain thought as he moved his legs, deeply hooded in a black robe behind the two.
Although three people were moving, no footsteps could be heard.
Thick carpets covered the floor, and among the three, one was the experienced butler deeply familiar with this mansion, another was the boy leading the knighthood, and lastly, an elf who had lived in rugged mountains.
There was no one among them likely to make amateur footsteps.
Ding, ding.
Medis cleared his throat once, then rang the bell attached to the front of the office.
Shortly after, as if saying to come in, the bell on the side moved left and right, making a clear sound.
Hearing this sound, Medis bowed his head and said to Jersian:
“The Marquis says you may enter.”
“…”
After a moment of contemplation, Jersian snapped his fingers to call Kain Starchis. Then he pointed to the ground with his finger. No matter what, he couldn’t bring an outsider guest into a meeting with the Marquis.
It meant to wait here.
Kain, covered in the robe, understood the meaning and stepped back slightly to stand in the corridor.
Two walls were filled with multi-tiered bookshelves, a plush purple carpet on the floor, and extravagantly ornate statues. Despite it being daytime, countless candles were lit, too many to count by hand.
Jersian walked past all this with an indifferent expression. At the far end of the office sat an elderly woman wearing small glasses, occupying a large desk and deeply engaged in work.
It was Marchioness Elmerila Gerold of the Gerold family.
“Greetings, Lady Elmerila. It’s been a while.”
Jersian bowed his head lightly in greeting to her.
In response, Elmerila, seated at the office desk, let out a short sigh, then took off her glasses perched on her nose and returned the greeting.
“Yes. Jersian, it’s hard to see your face. Where have you been wandering around that you haven’t been seen in the mansion for a while?”
Although her voice was low, as someone who had long been involved in state affairs and held a key position, her presence was extraordinary.
Elmerila put her glasses down on the table.
Immediately, meow~ A black cat that had been napping with its eyes closed on the office desk stretched out its tail, then curled up again and opened its mouth wide. Elmerila stroked the cat’s back a few times while looking straight at Jersian’s face, who was standing right in front of the desk.
“I suppose staying still doesn’t suit my nature.”
“Is that so?”
“What did you tell the butler?”
At Jersian’s words, Elmerila Gerold’s hand stroking the cat stopped abruptly.
“Ah, did Medis explain it that way? So that’s why you’ve come to my office.”
She removed her hand from the cat and picked up a wine glass that was right beside her. Then Elmerila spoke in an indifferent voice as if it was nothing:
“Your engagement ceremony will be held next month, so prepare for it.”
“Pardon? Engagement… ceremony?”
Jersian’s voice, surprised by the sudden proposal, echoed through the vast office.
It was a sharp voice, as if he had heard something he shouldn’t have. But despite this sharp reaction, there was no change in the expression of Marchioness Elmerila, who wore a smile spread across her face.
Jersian Del Claude, who had not yet reclaimed his name, was treated as Jersian Gerold by everyone. And Marchioness Elmerila was Jersian’s aunt and the person who treated him as a Gerold more than anyone else.
She rather brought the wine glass she was holding elegantly to her lips, took a sip, and only then opened her mouth.
“Well, it’s not impossible to say. An engagement will bring stability, and if it’s really not suitable, there’s always a way to cancel it later… You won’t be uncomfortable either, Jersian. It’s not like you have anyone particular in mind, right? The Tesena royal family is more than sufficient, so after the engagement ceremony, you two can just get along well. I’ll provide all the support you need.”
“…”
Listening to Marchioness Elmerila’s words, it seemed like many things had already been arranged and decided behind the scenes. And all without the person in question knowing anything about it.
After quietly listening for a moment, Jersian raised his gaze. In the eyes of the Marchioness, whom he had been close to for a long time, he could feel a hardness that had been thoroughly tempered.
At that moment, Jersian sensed it.
The fact that Elmerila Gerold was the very person who had sent the maid to Kain’s room.
“…So that’s why you openly checked. To find out who my personal guest in the annex was.”
Jersian muttered, pulling one corner of his lips.
The rumors about the guest room in the annex, the maid who openly checked, and the butler who said everything should be reported to the Marchioness.
It had been strange from the beginning. If it had been sent by the Imperial family, they wouldn’t have inquired about information so crudely and amateurishly. The Marchioness of the Gerold family didn’t need to go to such lengths to hide her identity.
Elmerila immediately admitted to being the culprit in response to Jersian’s accusation.
“Yes. No matter how many times I asked you, I knew you wouldn’t answer, so I had no choice but to find out myself.”
There was no need to hide it particularly.
Elmerila swirled her wine glass with a brazen face, having already obtained all the information she wanted to know.
Although she hadn’t yet identified who exactly the guest was, she knew that Jersian had brought a guest who occupied one of the rooms in the annex from a certain day, and that at least one knight from the knighthood was guarding it all day.
In fact, she couldn’t determine whether the knight was guarding the guest in the room or confining the guest so they couldn’t leave. Well, she had obtained all the necessary information anyway. If he had been Jersian’s lover, there would have been no reason to keep it so tightly hidden until now.
The red wine swirled clockwise in the glass.
Jersian looked at Elmerila Gerold, who was momentarily lost in thought, and then spoke.
“…Marchioness, I’m only fifteen this year. It would be more appropriate to urge marriage much later. Wouldn’t rushing from our side only spread rumors that there’s something wrong with me?”
Elmerila Gerold chuckled and shook her head.
“Wrong? How amusing. Who in the world would say that you, Jersian Gerold, are lacking as their son-in-law?”
“…”
Probably no such insane person exists.
Elmerila examined the face of Jersian standing right in front of her office table.
The face of the child she first saw had become sharper with each passing year, and now he had become a fine hunting dog of the Gerold Marquis family that anyone would want to sink their teeth into.
Fifteen years old this year… If he had been born in an ordinary family, he would have been at an age where he would have grown up only receiving love, not knowing the darkness of the world.
But ten years ago, on that day, when her emaciated younger sister knocked on the door of the Gerold mansion with her small hands, holding this child, it foretold that his fate would continue to be treacherous in the future.
“You still haven’t given up on that vain hope.”
“…It’s not in vain. Once I find evidence, everything will be resolved.”
“You’re still too young to get fully involved in the imperial succession struggle. You’ll just die quietly without a sound. Do you think I accepted you into the Gerold Marquis family for you to die so meaninglessly?”
“…”
“Stop arguing and just get engaged. Don’t you need backing too? Tesena is the kingdom closest to our Arkner Empire. Once you’re engaged, they’ll provide support without hesitation.”
They would provide support, that’s true.
But he wouldn’t be able to freely go on missions with the knighthood and communicate with informants like he does now.
Moreover, it’s not easy for a royal family of another country to get involved in this succession struggle. What Elmerila was saying was tantamount to telling Jersian to completely abandon the name ‘Claude’. And she, the Marchioness of the Gerold family, knew the meaning of this better than anyone else on the continent.
“The engagement ceremony will be held next month in the Kingdom of Tesena. Considering their personalities, we’ll need to prepare much more extensively.”
“Aunt.”
“That’s enough. You may leave.”
I’ve taken up too much time.
Having said everything she wanted to say, Elmerila Gerold dismissed Jersian. Jersian, standing in front of the office desk, bit his lip once, then paid his respects to the Marchioness and left the place.