“This… This makes no…”
The shock was so overwhelming that Tronios Ether couldn’t even keep himself standing.
The indomitable Archmage had crumbled in an instant.
“Well now.”
Breaking the silence at that miserable moment was Rascal Ether.
“I always knew something like this would happen someday. Brother, get up.”
“R-Rascal.”
“Yes, Brother.”
“From today onward… you’re the head of the family.”
“No, you can’t just leave things like this and dump everything on me…”
Despite what he was saying, the corners of Rascal Ether’s mouth refused to come down.
How should I put it? There was something oddly familiar about him.
Why was that? We weren’t alike at all.
If anything, he was someone driven by power, while I was the complete opposite.
“Ahem! So, starting today, I’m the Duke? Brother, clean this up.”
“……?”
“That’s an order from the head of the family.”
“…Very well.”
The moment Rascal Ether seized power, his expression changed.
I guess people really do grow into their position. He already looked dignified.
Maybe someday I’ll have to become someone like that too.
“Ahem! Allow me to introduce myself again. I am Duke Rascal Ether.”
There was unmistakable pride in the way he emphasized that single word.
He was so transparent that it was actually entertaining.
“Count Johan D. Gospel. The duchy is in quite a state today, so how about we arrange another meeting on a different day?”
“Another day? Again?”
“Ahem!”
“Oh… Yes, I’ll do that.”
I guess he was just saying it.
I don’t have to come back next time. What a relief…I won’t have to witness another disaster like this.
“Is my original sin truly this great? If only I had educated her properly from the beginning…”
Well, who knows? Maybe the next time I come back, it’ll be another complete disaster.
Judging by the state Tronios Ether was in, I had a feeling he’d be retiring into seclusion before long.
Good grief, Father-in-law. You aged ten years in the span of a few minutes.
“Well then, we’ll be going, Uncle.”
“Y-Yeah. Take care.”
“Let’s go, Johan.”
With her face burning bright red from embarrassment, Ariel tugged gently at the hem of my clothes.
It was understandable. She had sacrificed herself to bring this whole situation to an end.
She had even taken the blame upon herself just to protect me.
I almost wanted to cry.
“I’ll do better, Ariel.”
“I think I’ve heard you say that at least ten times already. You really mean it this time?”
“Of course.”
I’m a man who keeps his promises.
***
After meeting with Pierce Robinhood and Tronios Ether…
I came to a realization.
This was an inescapable fate.
With three beautiful and capable fiancées, this was simply a trial I was destined to endure.
Now then, let’s think about it.
Wasn’t there still one person I’d overlooked?
Wasn’t there still one beating I hadn’t taken yet?
“So… you want to see my mom?”
“That’s right, Yuna.”
“I think my mom will be fine.”
“You never know.”
To be fair, I never imagined Tronios Ether would end up that utterly shaken.
As for Pierce Robinhood… well, he was even worse than I’d expected.
In any case, you never really know with people.
Even someone you think you know well can have a completely unexpected side to them.
Who was to say Olga Hermod didn’t have a few peculiar quirks herself?
“Hmm. All right. Then should we go right now?”
“…Okay. Let’s go.”
Steeling myself, I headed off to see Olga Hermod.
***
The Headmistress’s Office.
The first thing I did was drop to my knees.
“What exactly are you doing?”
“If there’s anything about me that you’ve found lacking, I ask for your forgiveness in advance.”
“Ah. I see. I think I understand. I’ve already heard the rumors.”
Doesn’t news travel a little too fast in the Empire?
I’d come here only a day after causing that huge commotion at the Ether Duchy.
How did she already know about it?
If she’d heard it directly from Yuna, she wouldn’t have called it a rumor, so it really must have spread throughout the Empire.
People really do love gossip.
You’d think they’d be too busy just trying to get through each day.
“First, please stand up. I have no desire to become the headmistress who makes students kneel and lectures them over matters unrelated to the Academy.”
“Yes.”
Olga Hermod was the type to draw a clear line between personal and professional matters.
Judging by the slight lift at the end of her brow, though, it was obvious there was something she wasn’t pleased about.
Still, compared to certain people who suddenly pointed a gun at me or unleashed their mana, she had an excellent temperament.
“They’re all doing their best. Doesn’t that just show how much they care about their children?”
“I suppose so.”
Pierce Robinhood certainly cared to an excessive degree.
Tronios Ether, on the other hand, was practically a hands-off parent.
He hardly paid any attention to Ariel no matter what she did, and even back when she was little more than a lifeless doll who merely breathed, he never truly looked after her.
He only ever did the bare minimum. Even the little extra attention he’d started giving her was a fairly recent development…
And even that had nearly gotten me killed.
Setting emotions aside and looking at it rationally, I really must have seemed like complete trash.
“On the other hand, I don’t cherish Yuna to that extent.”
“Mom, you really know how to stab your own daughter in the heart so casually.”
“You won’t die just from a few stabs. Especially you.”
“Johan, did you hear that? Mom just sexually harassed me. She said a dagger wouldn’t even go through me because my breasts are too big.”
“Yuna, be quiet.”
Sexual harassment, seriously?
That interpretation had never even crossed my mind. How on earth did she manage to take it that way?
“…In any case, Yuna is the kind of child who’ll do well even if I don’t fuss over her. So I have no intention of making a spectacle of myself like everyone else. I trust her.”
“Mom…”
“It’s too late to pretend you’re touched now. What an utterly unfilial daughter.”
“No, I really was touched.”
“Enough.”
“Puhihi.”
Yuna who was grinning happily wrapped her arms around Olga Hermod from behind and clung to her.
Even from my perspective, she really was an outrageously unfilial daughter.
“So there’s no need for you to kneel before me. Whatever Yuna chooses to do is her own decision, and I have no intention of interfering.”
“You heard her, Johan.”
“…….”
I silently nodded.
“The only thing I have to say is that I hope you live well. That should be enough, don’t you think?”
“Yes, Mother-in-law.”
“I find that deeply unpleasant to hear.”
***
Fortunately, everything with Olga Hermod was resolved without any trouble.
Perhaps because she was such a composed person by nature, she was remarkably understanding.
“So? Doesn’t my side of the family come out on top?”
Delighted by that fact, Yuna clung to me as she usually did.
Come to think of it, she really seemed to adore Olga Hermod.
She looked genuinely happy, as if it were her own achievement.
“So? Feeling like making me your first wife yet?”
“You’re still competing over something like that?”
“I may have compromised on a lot of things, but I won’t give up first place.”
“Why don’t you all work it out among yourselves?”
“Are you sure? I might really settle it my own way.”
“…….”
What exactly was Yuna’s way?
Could she possibly mean assassination?
That was the only thing that came to mind.
Terrifying.
“Yuna, I’m tired.”
“I could make you even more tired, you know?”
No seriously, she was terrifying.
“Please have mercy.”
“Fine, I’ll let you off today. You’ve been running around these past couple of days, so I’ll make a special exception. But Johan, you should remember one thing.”
Yuna, still clinging to my back, leaned in and whispered into my ear.
“You can’t keep running away forever. Got it, my love?”
Her love was awfully heavy.
***
Somehow, I managed to shake Yuna off.
At long last, I finally had some precious time to myself.
Back then, wandering around alone had been the norm.
It wasn’t until I lost that time that I realized how valuable it had been.
I enjoyed being with the girls, but it could also be exhausting.
Would it have been different if there had only been one?
Was I only feeling this way because I’d somehow ended up engaged to several people at once?
I honestly didn’t know.
By the time I experienced my first real romance, I was already engaged to two people.
Alice was the exception.
Back then, I was still a child and didn’t even understand what love or dating meant.
In any case, I finally had some free time.
That meant now was my chance.
“Professor Georg. Are you in?”
“Hmm? Oh, Johan? I thought you’d be swamped these days. What brings you here?”
“I wanted to ask if your offer from last time is still on the table.”
“Oh?”
Once I graduated, I’d be leashed to the Imperial Palace almost immediately.
To be honest, I wasn’t thrilled about it. I knew it was inevitable, but this was the busiest period of my life, wasn’t it?
Even if I couldn’t avoid it, I wanted to put it off for as long as possible.
I’d wager working for the Imperial Palace would be even more grueling than going straight into university.
“You’d be making quite a handsome salary working for the Imperial Palace.”
“I’ve got three highly capable future wives, so money honestly isn’t something I have to worry about.”
“You really are a piece of trash, aren’t you?”
Professor Georg clapped his hands as if in admiration.
Even so, I couldn’t believe he’d just called me trash to my face.
To the Empire’s hero and a count, no less?
Man, if it weren’t for my university application…
“Anyway, since that’s how it is, I’d appreciate it if you’d put in a good word for my application. You said you’d write me a recommendation letter.”
“Ah, about that… Sorry, but I’ve already used it.”
“What do you mean you’ve already used it, you piece of trash?!”
“So you’ve gotten a little authority, and you’ve already forgotten how to respect your elders?”
“I am the elder here!”
“You really are an extraordinary piece of trash.”
Coming from someone who used to work with Under Chain?
“…Haah. Fine. If it’s gone, then it can’t be helped. I got carried away for a moment. Please forgive me.”
“Why does that sound like an order?”
“Because I’m the senior one.”
“…Jeez, whatever. It’s not like I don’t know your situation. I’ll let it slide. You must’ve been pretty desperate.”
Professor Georg looked at me with the eyes of someone pitying a poor soul.
Don’t look at me like that.
You’re going to make me cry.
“So who did you write the recommendation letter for? It couldn’t have been Senior Jabir… He’s already in university, so he wouldn’t need one.”
“Obviously. I gave it to someone else.”
“Who’s studying alchemy these days, anyway?”
“You little punk. Watch your mouth.”
Professor Georg could overlook being insulted himself, but the moment someone insulted his field of study, he wouldn’t let it slide.
Then again, maybe that was exactly why he was still teaching alchemy at the Cradle after all these years.
I’d better be more careful from now on.
“There’s a student named Cindy. She specializes in metallurgical alchemy. She’s a good kid….polite, hardworking, the whole package.”
“Metallurgy instead of pharmaceuticals? That’s unusual.”
“Well, she’s definitely a bit different. Want to meet her?”
“Sure. Let’s see what she’s like.”
An alchemy student specializing in metallurgy.
That certainly sounded unusual.
What kind of eccentric person would choose something like that?
“Cindy, could you come here for a moment?”
“Yes, Professor. I’m coming.”
I tilted my head at the familiar voice coming from inside.
“……..”
“……..”
The moment I saw the face of the person who walked through the door, I froze.
It was Princess Cynthia, the one who had supposedly disappeared.
Her hair was black now, so I hesitated for a split second, but no matter how I looked at her, it was definitely her.
“Prin—”
“Haha! It’s been a long time, Johan. How long has it been?”
The Empire’s ruthless Second Princess immediately clamped a hand over my mouth.
Why was she here?
“What are you doing here?”
“I thought I’d learn a little alchemy.”
“And what are you planning to do with that?”
“What else? Work at a forge.”
“Hmm…”
It seemed alchemy itself wasn’t her real goal.
She was here to pick up the techniques that alchemy required.
Damn it. If Princess Cynthia was the one who’d received the recommendation letter, there was no way I could take it from her.
I’d love to report her to the Imperial Palace, but if I did, Lobelia would find out about my own plans as well.
No matter what I chose, I lost.
“You know what to do, right? Act naturally.”
“Act naturally?”
“That’s right. Around here, I’m just an alchemy student named Cindy. So play along. You’re supposed to be good at that, aren’t you?”
“…Very well.”
If I were truly a terrible person, I’d drag her down with me right here.
Fortunately, I wasn’t.
Besides, I was a pretty good actor, so Princess Cynthia could consider herself lucky.
Why not do her this favor?
“How dare a commoner lay those filthy hands on me! Get away!”
“?????”
So I acted the way I normally would.
Last time, she called me ugly, didn’t she?
I remember that very well.
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