First Meeting (8)
Yuki’s mother.
The current head of House Kastel. Elena von Kastel.
A war hero who had carved through thousands of demons from the front lines in the war against the demon race.
I registered the gravity of the situation through the tremor traveling from Yuki’s wrist into mine.
The same Yuki who could stand before crowds without so much as blinking, that arrogant young lady who ruled the world with her chin held high, was shaking.
“...Why would someone like her come all the way to a backwater place like this?”
“The rumor that you torment and molest a boy in the forest every night finally reached her. She called it a disgrace to the family and demanded to see your face at once.”
“It is a disgrace. The family’s most promising heir has been harassing a man to satisfy her filthy desires.”
“Th-that’s not true!! It was training!”
Yuki’s face flushed scarlet as she shouted, but the words had already escaped. The moment the reception-room door opened, an overwhelming pressure flooded the space.
The woman seated on the sofa wore her silver hair long, just like her daughter, yet the aura radiating from her was like a blade forged from frost.
If Yuki was an unbloomed rose, her mother was a rose hammered from cold steel.
“...Explain yourself.”
Elena’s gaze as she sat on the reception-room sofa reminded me of a starving predator. She flicked a crudely printed sheet onto the table.
“A rumor has reached even my ears that my daughter is tarnishing the family’s honor with such shameless behavior. Is it true?”
“That’s…! I was simply spending passionate time with Ian… Ah, no! That’s not what I meant!”
The more Yuki stammered in panic, the deeper the crease between Elena’s brows became.
“I sent you here to recuperate, yet you were tormenting someone else.”
“Mother, it’s a misunderstanding… I never tormented…”
“A misunderstanding? Are you saying the commoners howling in front of the main gate, reeking of eel and screaming that they would rescue a boy from a witch, are hallucinations?”
Elena’s voice was a cold blade. Her glare, which had been fixed on Yuki, suddenly swung to me where I stood beside her.
“Are you the victim? What is your name?”
“...Ian, Your Grace.”
“Indeed, my daughter does have an eye for beauty. He is quite delicate…”
“M-Mother! I was only training…!”
“Training? I know your skill. What sort of training could you possibly gain from facing a frail boy like that? At least be honest and admit you were indulging your lust.”
That was when it happened.
“Your Grace! Please spare Ian!”
Crash!
The reception-room window shattered as a black shadow burst inside. It was Kara.
She had her blacksmith’s hammer strapped to her back and a headband that proudly declared “Ian Protection Squad” tied around her forehead.
Right behind her, Mili and several other village girls tumbled in like a string of linked candies after climbing the wall.
“This young lady… No, this witch has been torturing our Ian every single night! Look at that pale face!”
Kara pointed at me and wailed. Elena’s eyebrow twitched.
“Is this story true?”
“Yes! She drags him into the forest every night, beats him, forces him to eat meat, and even undoes his buttons…!”
The temperature in the reception room plunged below freezing at Kara’s explosive testimony. Elena rose slowly from her seat and approached Yuki.
“Yuki von Kastel. Tell me why you have fallen into such a sadistic hobby at the cost of your honor.”
Yuki hung her head, biting her lip.
“Mother, this is also a misunderstanding. I was simply…”
“A misunderstanding? The village girls are protesting in front of the mansion and even brewing tonics for this boy. How brutally must you have treated him for commoners to dare oppose a ducal house!”
Elena slammed her hand on the table.
Bang—!
The teacups rattled.
“Men are beings who must be protected and cherished, yet you commit such atrocities under the Kastel name! Look into this boy’s eyes. Are they not filled with terror!”
Ah, that’s because of you, Duchess.
“If everything I have heard is true, this is a grave crime that cannot be overlooked.”
“N-no, Mother! The truth is, it was just… an efficient training method…!”
“Training? What kind of training involves a boy? Yuki, you are a knight aspirant. Do you truly believe a civilian could serve as your training partner? That boy, of all people?”
Every word from Elena drove another nail into Yuki’s heart.
She trembled with injustice, lips quivering, but she could not bring herself to say, “The truth is that this boy who looks so frail is far stronger than I am!”
That was the one sentence I hated most, and besides, in this atmosphere the Duchess would never believe it.
“......”
“No answer. Does your silence mean consent?”
At last Elena slowly placed her hand on the hilt of the sword at her waist.
“You are a disgrace to the family. Yuki, you will be escorted back to the capital today. As for this boy, the family will offer him enormous compensation and a formal apology…”
“Your Grace. One moment.”
I stepped forward, slicing through the heavy air. Every gaze in the room snapped to me.
Elena, radiating a freezing aura; Yuki, on the verge of tears; and even Kara and Mili, who had smashed through the window and were now waiting for their victory.
“Ian! Stay out of this!”
Yuki desperately grabbed my sleeve.
How do I resolve this?
Telling the truth—that I was stronger than that woman—would be insane. Elena would immediately draw her sword to test me, and my peaceful life as a frail young man would come to a permanent end.
But if innocent victims were created because of this… that was no longer something I could dismiss as mere annoyance.
Especially since the misunderstanding had originated from me.
“I will set everything right.”
My voice cut through the heavy air of the reception room. Elena’s hand froze on her sword hilt.
“A commoner boy dares to interfere with a ducal decision? I am saying this out of consideration for you. I will personally clean up the mess my daughter has made.”
“Mess? Your Grace is laboring under a great misunderstanding.”
“Misunderstanding? Are you trying to shield my daughter, or did she threaten you?”
Elena’s hand tightened on the hilt once more.
That single motion alone seemed to thin the oxygen in the room.
Yuki clutched my sleeve so tightly she nearly tore the fabric, shaking her head.
A silent plea for me to stop.
But if I backed down now, Yuki would be dragged back to the capital and I would be trapped in the village for the rest of my life, forced to drink eel tonic every day.
That would truly be the worst ending.
“Your Grace. It is true that the young lady summoned me to the forest.”
“Ian…!”
Yuki’s voice trembled. Kara clenched her fist. “See! I was right!”
At the same time, Elena’s eyes narrowed.
“Continue. Are you saying you will personally testify to my daughter’s crimes?”
“However, the young lady did not torment me. On the contrary…”
I paused for a moment.
Then I slowly picked up one of the scattered sheets of paper from the floor.
It was the crudely printed tabloid Elena had thrown earlier.
“It is true that the young lady told me to go ‘harder,’ and that I begged her to ‘please stop.’ But the context is completely different.”
I met Elena’s eyes without flinching.
“Because I was far too strong, the young lady had to use every ounce of her power to attack with greater force… and I pleaded with her to stop because I feared she would injure herself.”
For a second, the reception room fell into a strange silence. One second. Two seconds…
“Puhahahahaha!”
Kara was the first to double over, clutching her stomach.
“Ian! You should at least know when to stop joking! You, stronger than the young lady? Even a passing wild boar would laugh!”
Mili looked at me with pity in her eyes.
“Ian… the torture must have been truly terrible. You’ve lost your mind. Young lady, you really are a horrible person!”
But Elena’s reaction was different.
She did not laugh.
“You would spout such an obvious lie even in front of me. There is not a single trace of sword training on your body. Your bones are slender, your shoulders delicate. What possible talent could someone like you possess?”
“What you see is not everything, Your Grace.”
Instead, a strange light began to flicker in her eyes.
“...How amusing. Either my daughter has driven a commoner boy insane, or I am facing a deceiver the like of which I have never seen in all my years. It must be one or the other.”
Elena drew her sword with deliberate slowness.
The sharp ring of metal filled the reception room.
“Prove it. If your words are true—”
Yuki leaped in front of me and screamed.
“M-Mother! No! Ian is really just an ordinary commoner!”
To her, this was the worst possible scenario.
She knew I was hiding my strength, but the opponent was her mother—the hero of the empire. In her eyes I must have looked like a fragile boy who would be shredded to pieces by a single swing of that legendary blade.
“Yuki, I told you to step aside. I must confirm whether the man my daughter protects so fiercely is nothing but a madman or the teacher who instructed her.”
“T-Teacher?! Mother, what are you saying…!”
“Yuki. Have you forgotten how to read the flow of battle? The moment this boy opened his mouth, the atmosphere in this room completely changed.”
I let out a quiet sigh. Peaceful resolution had already sailed away. All that remained was to resolve the situation in a suitably flashy manner.
“Your Grace. This room is too small. I’m sure you wouldn’t want the mansion damaged.”
My voice had grown lower and calmer than before. A strange, excited smile curved Elena’s lips.
“Very well. Let us move to the training grounds.”