chapter 19
19. Siblings
1.
“Heh heh.”
Charles Lus looked at his daughter standing proudly in front of him and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
It didn’t hurt to put it in her eyes, it was her own pretty daughter.
It must have been like that, but when Adele returned from the island, she was possessed by some guy and took her heart away. When she hears the business that came to her, she feels as if her daughter has already married her, bringing her to tears.
Yes. The terrible moment that all fathers who have daughters themselves go through someday has arrived. That moment when he loses his place as the most important man in her daughter’s life.
Seeing Adele’s eyes asking if she wants to take care of her future man, she wants to send herself to the Isvant estate in the name of support so that she can help him. I just found out that it was.
Looking at his eyes full of determination to head to the Isvant estate if he didn’t get permission, it was Charlus who hated him even more for making his beloved daughter go away.
He was a child who was gifted with exceptional swordsmanship to the extent that it was thought certain that he would leave his name in history. Before, I couldn’t be too happy that Adele was born with such a talent, but now I resent her talent to the point of madness.
If Adele’s level were still below her own, she would have bluffed that she would never allow it until she defeated herself with her sword. Unlike herself, who had never reached the level of a master, her daughter, who felt that she was not even worthy of being called a genius, had reached the level of her master at the age of only twenty-one.
She said, ‘If you want to see that thief named Luke so much, take me down and leave!’ She might suffer a bitter defeat by her son in a single stroke. No matter how much Charles Luce loved his daughter, he wanted to avoid suffering such a disastrous defeat to her daughter, who was well over 40 years old.
“If you allow me to go to Isvan, promise this father one, no, just two things.”
“Just tell me.”
Seeing Adele with a smile on her face already, Charles Ruth thought, ‘But if she’s the kind of person my daughter likes that much, wouldn’t she have at least one corner?’ I ended up holding on to her even for a very brief moment.
“First, make sure to come back safely.”
“Ah, that’s natural, isn’t it?”
“And the second. That dodu… Kuhum.”
While she was talking, Charlus, who received Adele’s cold gaze directly, cleared her throat and secretly avoided her eyes. Really, wasn’t it wrong for her to say that there was no point in raising children?
“Ha, if things go well, bring him to our territory. She must look at that face at least once to see if my precious daughter can’t live after dying like this because she’s so handsome, won.”
“Oh, Dad! She’s saying who the hell can’t live…”
Charlus looked at Adele with a small grumble, her earlobes slightly stained in red, with a puzzled expression, then shook her head. Yesterday, she said that if it wasn’t for him, she wouldn’t be able to do it.
Charlus, determined to investigate Luke’s whereabouts, prayed earnestly, very earnestly, that his daughter would have eyes for men.
2.
It was about two days later that the duke of Isvant, or more precisely Luke, sent me a reply saying that he would gratefully accept the helping hand from Ludmeyer, and that he would allow my dispatch.
In fact, this would have been impossible if it had been in my 1st or 2nd playthrough. The distance between Isvant, located in the eastern part of the empire, and Ludmeier in the south, would have taken at least three weeks even with a carriage that traveled 60 km a day.
However, thanks to the help of the express delivery service that opened a few years ago at the Imperial Mage Tower and is still enjoying a great boom, it only took two days for letters from both sides to travel that distance.
As you can guess from the fact that it did not exist in previous installments, the express delivery service was a post office business that Luke devised and started targeting the wealthy, based on the teleport gates that the Mage Tower had been operating for a considerable fee.
Of course, in order to avoid excessive checks considering the existence of the upper ranks, at this point, delivery of goods was excluded, and only letters were delivered.
Today, it’s been only three days since I met my family for that reason. I set foot in the imperial mage tower Ryudmeier branch to use the teleport gate to leave for Isvant territory. Not only Loggia, who will leave for the Isvant estate, but also Sien’s brother who followed me to see me off.
“You didn’t express it, but even my mother couldn’t completely hide her melancholy at the fact that you, whom she hadn’t seen in a while, were leaving so quickly.”
When my older brother said that, a bitter smile formed on his lips. Anyone who hears will think I’m blinded by love and leave my family completely behind, brother.
Of course, I can’t say that I have no selfish desire to see Luke, but the main reason I want to go to Isvan is to stop the 2nd Apostle Tauros and the 7th Apostle Libra. I can’t help but feel heartache when I hear such words.
“That’s right, my brother should have been kind to you normally. How could you rot her mother…”
So he got a little grumpy.
“…Yeah, I’m glad you’re always the same. Looking at you from yesterday, I wondered if that might be someone else wearing my brother’s skin.”
I forgot one thing, but my older brother has a rather spicy mouth. As we were talking, the thought of stitching up that mouth came to me all the time.
“What did you mean by that, my dear brother…?”
“What did I tell you? I don’t know.”
“Hey, that’s it. I shouldn’t talk.”
Ha, I’m really dumbfounded.
After giving my brother a snort, I turned my back and started to kick his feet in the direction of the teleport gate. Loggia, who was watching the conversation between the two of us with an awkward smile, bowed her head to her older brother and greeted her, and then I heard the sound of someone following me with their steps.
“…Take care of yourself. Well, I’m not saying this because I think you’ll listen to me.”
I always feel this, but he’s a very disingenuous person. If I had to argue, it’s the same for me and my brother for not being honest with each other, but since I was born as a brother and sister like that, I can’t help it.
“Poop, okay. Oh, and my brother?”
“Hmm?”
“Serina will want you to not be stuck in the past.”
“Adele, what do you know now…!”
The older brother, who had been stabbed by the wickedness, puts a blood clot around his neck and yells at him, gnashing his teeth to calm his anger. It was loud enough that it wouldn’t be strange even if it drew attention, but there weren’t many people nearby, so it didn’t cause a fuss.
“…No, yes. As you said, it may not be so.”
Since he took a deep breath, Sien’s brother’s words, which had a slight sincerity, showed a strong sense of resignation and bitterness.
I know that it is useless wandering, but it is still wandering for a reason.
Until about a year ago, Sien’s older brother had a lover named Serena Winters, from a small baron family.
But the two of them were secretly dating, so no one except me knew that my brother had a lover. My brother hid his relationship with Serena thoroughly enough that even her parents wouldn’t notice.
It was purely by chance that I found out about the relationship between my older brother and Serena, who had been enjoying a secret relationship for over a year. I had no way of knowing what incident led to the development of such a relationship between the two of them, but I have a memory of accidentally obtaining very valuable blackmail material and using it in my own way.
However, Serena suffered from an unknown disease and passed away, and her brother was greatly shocked by her death.
Seeing that my older brother, who was devastated by the death of his lover, even hid that fact with only one thought that he did not want to cause trouble to his family, I also thought that family is family. Seeing that I have no intention of revealing the fact that I have gone through two futures and returned to the past to my family from now until now and in the future, wouldn’t it be that we resemble each other in a very strange corner.
Returning to the starting point, there is a valid reason for my remoteness.
In the first episode, the older brother refused even the courtship of the second princess, who was known for being kind-hearted and beautiful, because she could not get out of the shadow of her lost lover for several years to come. Even though he himself had feelings for the princess to some extent.
When my brother belatedly admitted that fact, it was already after the second princess’s engagement ceremony schedule had been announced, so it couldn’t be anything other than unusual love luck.
As much as I can’t change what has already happened, I can change what will happen in the future, so I have no choice but to wander in the hope that my older brother’s second relationship will be successful.
No matter how much my brother and I argue and quarrel with each other all the time, after all, family is the most precious thing.
So please, don’t turn her back on her own happiness this time, brother.
3.
The air I breathed in from the Isvant branch of the Imperial Mage Tower was surprisingly ordinary.
“I have been waiting for you, Princess Ludmeyer. I am Carlos, the butler, who has been appointed as the guide for the young lady under the command of the current duke’s deputy, Master Luke. The wagon is ready, so if you don’t have any other work to do, I’ll take you to the inner sanctuary right now.”
Like most of the Imperial Mage Tower branches, the Isvant branch was also located not far from the castle. Could it be that the introduction of the teleport gate was assumed from the beginning? It is a position selection that fits perfectly enough to raise doubts.
For me, who prefers to ride horses rather than long rides in a wagon, it was truly fortunate.
The streets of the outer city centered around the resistance observed from the inside of the carriage before and after riding the carriage, with a little exaggeration, showed a lively appearance that was not swayed by the system. I like the overall bright expression of the villagers, as it seems to represent how good Isvant is to live.
Just by looking at the gently paved roads and cleanly maintained streets, you can tell how much the duchy cares about the residents.
Of course, at first glance, it seems like an ideal city full of positive aspects, but no city can completely dispel the darkness that has been cast in it.
Does Isvant know that such a livable city is permeated with a cancer-like guild that smuggles slaves?
It didn’t take long to arrive at the inner sanctuary, which was built hundreds of years ago thanks to steady maintenance and expansion, and looks as clean as if it were recently built.
As I followed Carlos, I passed a side aisle in a courtyard beautifully decorated with flower beds.
I was fascinated by the flower beds that anyone could see that they had been carefully cultivated, so I stopped and admired them for a very short time.
“It was her mother’s favorite place when she was alive. The image of her mother playing the violin while surrounded by flower beds that she personally took care of… Even now, five years later, it remains as a beautiful memory that I will never forget.”
From right next to me, I heard a soft, low-pitched voice that embracing nostalgia.
When I turn my head in the direction the voice came from, I see a face that I haven’t seen in just two weeks, but I miss it heartbreakingly.
“Long time no see, Luke.”
“Welcome to Isvant, Adele.”
Still, when our eyes met, I felt that my face brightened a little, and my mood improved as well.
“Carlos? It was a lot of work.”
“Thank you, Bocchan. Then.”
The butler, who had forgotten the existence of the flower bed while he was distracted for a moment, lowered his head and returned to the direction he had passed.
Thanks to the distraction of the butler’s departure, I was able to take my eyes off Luke with difficulty, and then my eyes landed on the knight standing next to him.
It’s such a familiar face that the corners of the mouth naturally roll up.
“Ah, this is Sir Julius Fritz, the head of our knights.”
“…Huh, to think that someone really reached the level of a master at such a young age. After all, I realize that the world is wide.”
Julius Fritz. Yes, it must have been that name.
“Oops, I was so shocked that I ended up committing rudeness. It is an honor to meet you, Princess Ludmeyer.”
Am I a little glad to meet you like this?
“This is Adele Ludmeyer. I’ll take care of you while I’m here, Sir Julius.”
The 11th Apostle, Aquarius.