Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 85
Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 85
She had been arrogant.
A human cannot live alone just because they possess great power. People are meant to support one another, to live holding each other up.
Clarentia knew that better than anyone.
‘But when did I begin to forget it?’
Hadn’t she, this time again, thought only as a lord, not as family?
‘Lion Asteri… you even go so far as to wake me.’
From now on, she would lean a little more on those who were like family to her.
Thinking that, the room she had found chilly now felt quite warm.
A very small smile settled on the corner of Clarentia’s lips.
“Nothing happened. Thank you.”
“…!”
It was Jasper who was startled by those words.
To be precise, it was because of the marquis’s smile.
Our young lady… no, the marquis made that sort of expression?
It felt unfamiliar, but when he thought about it, hadn’t she often given a tiny smile like that long ago?
She had never been an openly affectionate person to begin with.
And yet the reason Jasper and the other servants in this castle had remained was precisely because of that small smile.
Because they knew it was the fullest expression of thanks Young Lady Clarentia could give.
His heart ached with a poignant warmth.
‘I wondered if Young Master Lion was pushing too far…’
He didn’t know the reason, but it seemed the marquis had put a full stop to a very long growth pain.
‘This is truly, truly wonderful.’
If this had been the old days, he might have burst into a sobbing mess of tears and a runny nose on the spot.
But he was not the same as the old days, not the same!
Was he not the proud head butler of the great House Bydantis!
“Not at all. It was simply… something I had to do, of course.”
Jasper answered a little incoherently, holding back tears that threatened to overflow at any moment.
That was the best he could do.
“Ah, the earthquake just now has been confirmed to have been caused by the avalanche. Fortunately it occurred in an uninhabited area, so no casualties are expected.”
“I am relieved the residents are safe.”
“Yes. But the conversation from a moment ago…”
Before Jasper could bring up the previous topic, the door swung wide and Elvia entered.
“Ah. Elvia.”
She looked far too immaculate to have driven off every demon beast on the snow mountain.
The witch truly was remarkable.
“You’ve returned. Are you all right, Elvia?”
“Yes. I am perfectly fine.”
Elvia smiled as she answered Lion.
“Young Master Lion. Let us postpone the matter we were discussing until tomorrow.”
Perhaps because Elvia had appeared, Clarentia put off his earlier proposal.
“As you wish. Next time, I would like to meet elsewhere.”
“Elsewhere? Where would you prefer?”
Lion considered for a moment, then pointed a finger at Nature.
“The snowy mountain would be best. I want to show this little one a few more places. It’s still a baby, you see.”
“The snowy mountain.”
Lion had many places he wanted to visit.
For instance, places like the herb fields said to exist only on snow-capped mountains.
‘If not that, winter camping is also wonderful.’
Lighting a campfire in a place softly blanketed with snow, grilling and eating all sorts of things…
And gathering herbs at the same time.
‘Wouldn’t it also be good for the Marquis of Bydantis?’
Nothing restored a sense of ease quite like camping.
But if he said that plainly… he thought it might be a bit awkward.
He was already giving off a strong vibe of wanting to stake a claim, so his hidden plan was to smoothly transition things in a wide-open space.
Meanwhile, Clarentia looked at Lion.
More precisely, at the pet bird perched on Lion’s shoulder, dozing off.
‘A baby?’
Certainly, its appearance did resemble an ordinary baby bird.
But… its abilities were anything but ordinary.
Hadn’t he just used that creature to warm the chocolate a moment ago?
Lion observed Clarentia’s expression and added casually.
“This little one is like family to me as well.”
“…I see.”
Perhaps he wanted to hide the fact that this bird possessed a special ability.
But since he called it family…
‘I must keep its secret.’
“Then we shall meet again when time permits. I will inform Jasper of the location.”
Before anyone realized it, Lion had reached maximum trust with her.
“Then I will take my leave first.”
With that, Lion said his farewell and quietly left Clarentia’s room.
“…Phew. Thank you. I nearly ended up in a difficult spot.”
Lion said to Elvia as he walked down the empty corridor.
“It was nothing.”
“Your body is all right, isn’t it?”
“Heh. On the contrary, it was a good stretch since it’s been a while.”
Elvia genuinely seemed to have enjoyed herself.
To say it was no more than a light stretch even after driving off that many monsters—there was nothing else to say except that she was truly remarkable.
“Is the avalanche truly all right?”
“Yes. The tremor felt in this room seems to have spread outward and caused an avalanche, but when I checked, there were no casualties at all.”
“That’s a relief.”
Lion stretched his arms.
At any rate, the major issue was resolved, and since he had time ahead, he could propose to the marquis later that she become Rickshel’s partner.
So until then…
He ought to enjoy a proper vacation.
* * *
Lion truly spent his days at Bydantis Castle in peace and comfort.
He leisurely enjoyed fragrant tea and pie before the fireplace where firewood crackled, and from time to time when it snowed, he went out to the terrace with Nature to watch the falling snow.
Moreover, the head butler Jasper, seemingly deeply moved by Clarentia’s change, even paid especially attentive care to Lion’s comfort.
And yet…
“…”
A problem had arisen.
Lion wore an uncharacteristically grave expression.
It was the tremor that had occurred when Clarentia received her emotion back from the sword.
The avalanche caused by it!
As Elvia had reported, it hadn’t struck any homes or caused casualties.
The problem was that the scale of the avalanche was larger than expected, and because additional damage might have occurred…
“Access has been restricted?”
“Indeed.”
For the time being, entry to the snowy mountain was completely blocked due to danger.
Which meant that all the herbs that could only be gathered in the Bydantis territory had gone down the drain— no, down the snow.
‘No!’
Lion fell into a rare, deep sense of loss.
“…It won’t be sorted out within three days, will it?”
On top of that, he only had three days left to remain in the Bydantis territory.
“Indeed not.”
Clarentia cut down his remaining hope entirely.
“…”
Fine. He knew it.
He’d heard that even an ordinary avalanche normally took at least a month to fully recover from.
Even so, he’d waited just in case there might be a special method.
And yet, it had truly come to nothing.
“Sigh.”
Lion exhaled deeply.
Yes. It was better than danger.
“Is it because of the herbs?”
“I may as well tell you now—gathering herbs is a hobby of mine.”
He had also meant to show her the true joy of camping as a bonus, but that had become difficult.
“All the herbs of the Bydantis territory are stored in the warehouse. If you wish, I can give you as much as you want. If you were to remain in my territory, I could put all of those herbs under your name…”
“…”
Lion stared blankly at Clarentia.
The second problem lay here.
Namely, Clarentia still hadn’t given up!
‘I never imagined she’d make the offer every single day without fail!’
No matter what topic they discussed, the conversation always ended in recruitment.
At first, it was fine.
He’d simply thought she needed someone to talk to.
It was a time when she still needed more people to converse with, after all.
Hadn’t she kept her heart closed for years!
He understood well enough.
As the dam of her emotions came down, she must have had so many things she wanted to say.
In fact, they had grown quite a bit closer as a result.
He’d also gotten to know Clarentia’s character better.
But upon closer inspection… this person still had the look of a headhunter searching for talent.
Lion shook his head from side to side.
“Marquis. I am sorry, but I like my own home.”
“Would it suffice if I made it as cozy as your home?”
“I am not that remarkable a person.”
“That is not for you to judge. It is for others to judge.”
“…”
In the end, Lion once again deployed his so-called “preemptive strike” today.
“I like spending time with my family.”
“Hmm.”
Clarentia once again stopped the conversation there for today.
‘At this point, it’s practically a comedy routine.’
She probably knew full well that Lion intended to return.
The more Lion thought about it, the more he suspected that Clarentia continued to make the offer because she wanted to hear that reply.
The words about how he liked being with his family.
When she heard that sort of statement, it likely helped to settle her disorganized emotions one more time and made them easier to accept.
In any case, if her heart could be put at ease by something as simple as a comic routine like this, there was no reason not to do it.
“Ah, now that you mention it, I do have a proposal.”
“Very well, I shall accept.”
“…Do you even know what I was going to say?”
“I assume you won’t say anything frivolous.”
“Thank you?”
He found himself wanting to nag her a little, too.
He wanted to ask what made her trust him enough to accept so readily, but his opponent was the sword-master marquis of a renowned swordsmanship house.
She was the sort of person who could set things right again with her own strength even if things went wrong…
“Even so, you really shouldn’t place too much trust in others.”
In the end, Lion couldn’t hold back and said a word.
“Hm.”
Of course, it didn’t get through at all.
Clarentia pretended not to hear as she crunched on the confection Lion had brought.
“…”
And watching that, the head butler Jasper wore a deeply contented smile.
‘It truly is wonderful to see you getting along with someone your own age.’
Perhaps this was the ideal situation Jasper had imagined.
The marquis actually looking after her own life and making friends!
‘He really is a remarkable person…’
Jasper’s favorable impression of Lion Asteri was soaring sky-high in his heart!
Truthfully, he hadn’t seemed all that reliable at first.
Surely he had an ulterior motive.
The young master of a prestigious mage family coming all this way on the pretext of delivering clothes?
For a brief moment, Jasper had wondered if Lion was approaching her because he was in a situation where he couldn’t win the succession war.
But, no!
‘How could I have misjudged someone so harmless.’
Clearly, the reason he’d traveled here was because he couldn’t ignore the state of the marquis’s heart. Hadn’t he been as roundabout as possible, saying he “came to deliver the clothes,” showing the utmost consideration when he came to visit?
‘All the rumors were lies.’
He’d heard many stories calling Lion an eccentric, but now that Jasper saw him, wasn’t he a truly decent person?
Warm-hearted, mindful of others’ dignity, unpretentious…
He was really a perfect match for the young lady.
And since he wasn’t the official heir either, if things went well, perhaps somehow…
Jasper burned with excitement all by himself.
Regrettably, truly all by himself…
Absolutely all by himself.
‘Goodness.’
Lion gazed at Clarentia and sighed inwardly.
It felt like he had gained another younger sibling.
But a strangely trouble-prone, willful one at that…
He found himself thinking that Rickshel was the mild version.
“Then I will explain.”
“Let me hear it.”
“I heard the Emperor’s birthday celebration is coming up. Please attend as Rickshel’s partner.”