Chapter 180: Formal Meeting? (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 180: Formal Meeting? (3)
It seemed that calling him "Father-in-law" had been a mistake.
"Then what should I call you?"
"...You're asking me that?"
Uncle Aeryun looked utterly dumbfounded, but I had no choice.
"You're his subordinate. You should know him best."
"Aside from the man himself, I'm the only one here, aren't I...?"
"Anyway, you two are close. Just give me the right answer."
"...I received intel, but I didn't expect it to be this accurate."
At Duke Jeyka’s remark about his disbelief, Uncle Aeryun replied shamelessly.
"Don't I do my job well?"
"And don't I treat you well for it?"
"...For someone who treats me well, you sure issued a recall order just as I was heading home."
"The Imperial Family did that, not me."
"I'm aware."
Uncle Aeryun stepped aside, and Duke Jeyka took his seat. The way they interacted seemed quite practiced.
"I've put in a word, so go enjoy your vacation."
"There are less than ten days left until the Academy starts."
"You can still rest for a week. Use Teleport to get around. I've spoken with the Magic Tower and cleared the gate schedule."
"I shall serve with all my loyalty!"
"Save your loyalty for the Imperial Family or your wife. You'd better be prepared when you return this time."
I wondered if the Captain and I would look like that when we got a bit older.
Considering Senior Loreliya, I figured her parents wouldn't be bad people, but...
This was more than I expected.
"Now then, I shall have a word with my daughter's lover."
"..."
"..."
Silence fell instantly at the Duke's words.
And in that moment, Uncle Aeryun, whose eyes met mine...
"...Good luck!"
With that, he bolted out the door.
"..."
"..."
With Uncle Aeryun gone, only Duke Jeyka and I remained.
It was Duke Jeyka who broke the silence first.
"Now, shall we begin our conversation?"
No matter how good a person he might be, it seemed a father with a daughter couldn't help himself.
Drain Jeyka
It is often said that humans are social animals.
In a similar vein, nobles are often called political animals.
And as the head of a Ducal House—the pinnacle of nobility and leader of countless aristocrats—every single action Drain took carried political weight.
Drain himself was well aware of this fact.
Therefore, his behavior toward Adam Smith was a deliberate form of pressure.
He believed that by speaking this way, he could fluster Adam Smith, a man who possessed a thicker skin than most high-ranking nobles.
Indeed, just as he expected, Adam Smith was flustered. So far, everything was proceeding according to his plan.
The problem was...
‘Now what do I do?’
As the head of a Ducal House, he had experienced many incidents over the years.
However, even Drain had never had the experience of saying, "Please keep our ancestor's embarrassing secret quiet."
Thus, he had created a serious atmosphere for the time being.
But he hadn't thought about what to do after that.
No, he had been thinking about it ever since he received the Emperor's request and throughout his journey to the Academy.
Yet even the great Duke Drain could not find an answer.
Therefore...
"..."
For now, he maintained his silence.
He intended to hold the atmosphere and observe the other party's reaction.
"..."
However, his opponent was no pushover either.
According to the evaluations, he was a strategic weapon raised by Leon.
A being who had slain numerous Dark Mages and demons in a mere year and a half.
Even Aeryun had said that it would take three experts of his own caliber just to block the young man before him.
The fact that he used the word "block" rather than "defeat" meant...
‘It means he can't even fathom a way to win.’
Aeryun was not a man of ambiguous expressions.
The fact that he had reported such an ambiguous evaluation meant that even someone of Aeryun's stature could not fully grasp his opponent.
Thus, Duke Drain was tense.
He didn't realize that his opponent was currently thinking, ‘He looks like he has some kind of grievance, but what the hell is it?’
"..."
"..."
The strange silence continued.
Since neither had anything to say first, an unintended battle of nerves began.
How much time had passed?
The one who finally broke the strange silence was a Jeyka.
"...What are you two doing here?"
"Loreliya?"
"Senior Loreliya?"
To be precise, it was Loreliya Jeyka.
Loreliya Jeyka
To reiterate, nobles are political creatures.
Thus, from the moment Loreliya became the eldest daughter of the House of Jeyka, everything about her took on political meaning.
When combined with her unique personality, she had already become "everyone's big sister" by the time she realized it.
The leader of a massive faction of noble ladies, commanding countless followers.
As the eldest daughter of the House of Jeyka, it was a role anyone would find fitting.
However, it wasn't something she had intended.
She had simply treated everyone, from the lowest to the highest, with equal fairness.
As a result, those who were moved by her, those who wanted to cling to the name of House Jeyka, and those who naturally gravitated toward a growing group began calling themselves Loreliya's followers.
Her followers formed a faction on their own, and that power was naturally growing even at this moment, without her doing anything.
The reason she appeared as a Villainess in the so-called "Original Work" that Adam Smith had heard about from Violet was also due to that faction—something she neither controlled nor cared about.
—I'm sorry, Sister.
"What do you mean by that, Nea...?"
Among those who called her "Sister," there were some she couldn't ignore.
Specifically, the family of her former fiancé—the Imperial Family of the Empire.
—Well...
It was flustered enough that Princess Nea had contacted her via a communication device that almost no one knew about, but...
"What do you mean by that, Nea...?"
The content wasn't even a short summary.
Perhaps because there was a lot of room for misunderstanding if the explanation was lacking, Nea had explained everything in detail, even the unnecessary parts.
Even so, Loreliya couldn't understand Princess Nea's story.
"So. You and that friend, Adam, entered a secret dungeon in the basement of the Academy library?"
—Yes...
Loreliya bit her lip. Why on earth was there a secret dungeon in the Academy basement?
And why did the Princess of the Empire go in there with him?
However, if she started questioning that now, the conversation would become too long.
"And besides that..."
Loreliya repeated what she had heard back to Nea.
And Nea did not deny her words.
"...So, you're saying all of that is true."
—Yes...
Her head spun.
What on earth was this situation?
"For now... I understand."
—Yes...
Loreliya, having grasped the situation—well, having only grasped the facts of the situation—stood up from her seat.
The first person she sought out was...
"Mr. Aeryun."
"My Lady?"
It was Aeryun, who was just coming out with a beaming face after receiving his vacation.
"I've heard everything."
"About what...?"
"That Father is planning to come here."
At that, Aeryun's face filled with all sorts of agony.
He instinctively realized that if he were held up any longer, even his one-week vacation would vanish.
Therefore...
"He's already here."
"What?"
"And he's currently in the middle of a conversation with that Adam fellow."
Aeryun quickly threw Duke Jeyka under the bus.
"...What are you two doing here?"
Loreliya was able to arrive at the location where the two were immediately.
"No, well..."
Even the great Duke of the Empire was flustered by the situation.
However, even in this situation, the sword of the Leon swordsman was sharp.
"Father-in-law said he wanted to have a talk with Senior's lover..."
At Adam Smith's strike, which aimed directly at Duke Jeyka...
"...Father?"
The Duke of the Empire was flustered.
"No, that's...!"
The daughter of the Duke glared at her father with fire in her eyes.
"Didn't you say you understood everything, Father?"
"No, well..."
Duke Drain could feel cold sweat running down his back.
If he said no here, he would have to explain the reason.
If he did that, he would have to talk about the embarrassing past of not only House Jeyka but also the heroes of the Empire.
But if he didn't say it, he would become the father who called out his daughter's lover.
"..."
Wait... was that a bad thing?
Honestly, wasn't it about time Loreliya got married anyway!
Even if the social atmosphere was lenient toward Academy students...
Hadn't his daughter, who recently broke off an engagement, brought a man home—even if he was a fake!
Having finished his rationalization, Duke Jeyka closed his eyes for a moment.
Drain Jeyka.
A Duke of the Empire and one of the pillars of the nation.
The leader of the Noble Faction, with countless aristocrats beneath his feet.
To repeat, nobles are political animals.
And in the wild of politics, one could not survive without being shameless.
The cold sweat running down Drain's back stopped.
Drain Jeyka, the father of Loreliya Jeyka, vanished.
In his place remained only the Duke of the Empire, Duke Jeyka.
"..."
Opening his eyes, Duke Jeyka spoke in a flat voice.
"I've told you before, shouldn't you bring him home at least once?"
"...Father?"
Loreliya looked even more flustered by the sudden change.
Since her father, who knew everything—that is, the fact that it was a contractual relationship with Adam Smith—was suddenly acting like this, she couldn't help but be quite bewildered.
"That is why I have come."
"Pardon?"
"You. When are you coming?"
His following words were even more baffling.
"You. When are you coming?"
Why did he naturally assume I had to go?
I clearly heard that she had informed the family that we were a fake couple.
Could Senior Loreliya have deceived me?
"..."
I sent her a questioning look, but Senior Loreliya shook her head as if to say absolutely not.
That meant the Duke was saying those things despite knowing everything.
What could be the reason?
A Duke of the Empire suddenly going full throttle.
Well, it's not like he's changing the subject because he's embarrassed in front of his daughter.
After agonizing over it for a long time, I finally realized...
...That no matter how much I thought about it, there was no way for me to know.
So, I spoke bluntly.
"Do I have to go?"
"..."
Was it an unexpected answer? For a split second, he looked flustered.
"You're not coming?"
"No."
"Is that so? That's a shame."
"...?"
With those words, Duke Jeyka said nothing more.
"Sigh..."
Senior Loreliya wiped her face with her hand and let out a deep sigh.
"Junior, go wait outside for a bit."
She kicked me out.
"..."
Hey, I was the one being interrogated here.
Is this allowed?
When I directed that look toward the people waiting outside, they also looked back with awkward expressions, gesturing for me to come over.
—What on earth are you thinking, Father!
—No, I just...
I was able to watch the embarrassing anecdotes of a Ducal family in real-time.
