Crassius - 1
After Father’s sudden confession, a heavy solemnity and silence settled over the club room.
It was the kind of silence that made me half-tempted to applaud, as if someone had cast a Silence spell. Had Father not been a pure swordsman after all, but a magic swordsman? As expected of an Imperial Count—he really was cut from different cloth.
When I finally stopped that strange little flight from reality and looked around, the faces of everyone who had overheard the conversation were just as complicated.
The shock must be pretty severe.
Erich, in particular, looked as though he had seen a ghost. It was almost pitiful.
It made sense. I had managed to mend things with Father—or rather, I had finally opened a heart I had been keeping shut on my own—but Erich still sat in that awkward space with him. And the image of Father that my fiancées remembered was the stern figure from the New Year’s Audience or the one they had glimpsed in the fief.
Hearing something like “I got kicked out” under those conditions was bound to cause cognitive dissonance. Honestly, I was still pretty confused myself.
Prejudice really is terrifying.
And I realized all over again just how thick the prejudice I had carried for years had been.
What exactly about this man had made me decide he was strict and cold? He was simply a man of few words who was clumsy with his feelings. Strict and cold were a long way off from that.
“Doesn’t he take good care of his own people? At the very least, among Wilhelm’s classmates and juniors, I’ve never met anyone who disliked the man.”
Suddenly I remembered something from last year—more precisely, during the first-semester practical exam of my first year. While touring the training grounds with the headmaster, Father’s name had come up.
At the time I had taken it as “he looks after his noble faction well.” Looking back now, it had probably just meant he was a simple, decent man who genuinely cared for the people around him.
Prejudice… truly terrifying…
— Hmm?
While I sat there keeping silent because I had no idea what to say, Father made a puzzled sound.
— Karl, are those children with you as well?
Ah.
At his words I lowered my gaze a little and found the pink hair and golden hair still resting on my knees. Their faces weren’t visible, but enough of their hair must have been caught by Father’s communication orb.
“Yes, they’re all here with me.”
— …I’ve shown a rather embarrassing side of myself.
The sincerity in that line was so raw I almost laughed. Having his authority as a father-in-law crash and burn right in front of his daughters-in-law was, indeed, plenty embarrassing.
“Ah, Father, it’s been a while. Good to see you.”
Embarrassment or not, once you had entered the father-in-law’s line of sight, greeting him was a daughter-in-law’s sacred duty. Irina, the first to regain her composure, leaned into view and bowed her head. Father’s expression brightened a little.
Thank goodness. The joy of seeing his daughter-in-law seemed to have helped him suppress the mortification.
— Yes, it’s been a while. Have you been well?
“Yes, thanks to your concern I’ve been fine. Are you all right, Father?”
At the reciprocal greeting, Father’s eyes gave the tiniest flicker. It was so minute Irina probably missed it, but I caught it.
To his ears it must have sounded like “You got kicked out of the house, but you’re doing okay, right?” People with guilty consciences flinch at the smallest things.
“I heard you also went on campaign…”
— I’m fine. How often does a marshal get injured?
Coming from a man who had personally fought on the front lines even as a marshal, it was a dubious claim, but Irina—who knew nothing of Father’s eccentricities—nodded in understanding. Common sense said a marshal, unlike a knight or ordinary soldier, had no business getting hurt in combat.
Of course, Father and the previous Count Horpfelt had cheerfully shattered that common sense. Had that been why he was kicked out? The previous Count Horpfelt had certainly been driven out after his fighting was discovered.
— And when you have the chance, please tell your father-in-law that we received the ring he sent safely. I ought to thank him myself, but he seems busy lately and I haven’t been able to reach him.
You’ve got to be kidding me.
The word “ring” nearly dragged a string of curses out of me by pure instinct.
If it was a ring gifted by the fourth father-in-law, it had to be one of those half-rings. Father had received one too? Did that mean I now had to watch Mother and Father wearing matching half-rings as well?
“Ah, yes. I’ll be sure to pass that along.”
— Good. I’m counting on you.
While my insides burned, Irina answered with perfect poise. Father gave her a faint smile, then turned his gaze elsewhere.
— Luise, it’s good to see you after so long as well.
“Ah—y-yes! It’s been a long time, Father!”
Luise, who had been watching for the right moment to greet him, hurriedly bobbed her head the instant Father spoke first. She didn’t stop at one bow, either—she kept dipping again and again, clearly nervous out of her mind.
Unexpected. Even a friendly little capybara like her shrank in front of her father-in-law?
— I’ll end the call here. I’d like to greet the others as well, but it seems I’ve already interrupted a pleasant time.
“No, it’s fine. Please feel free to—”
— That’s enough. I’ve already been kicked out by my wife; I can’t afford to get on my son’s bad side too.
Whether his authority had already crashed so thoroughly that he had decided to just go for it, the self-destructive remark made me bite my lip hard. If I had let my guard down, I would have burst out laughing right in front of him.
— Instead, I hope all of you will come this weekend.
“Yes, we’ll do that.”
With that, the storm of a conversation ended. When I glanced sideways, I found Erich wearing the vacant expression of a man whose soul had left his body.
A pitiable sight.
I had something to say, so I blew the soul back into him.
“You’re free this weekend, right? You’re coming too.”
“Huh?”
The method was a bit forceful, but the effect was immediate.
“Me too?”
“You too.”
I nodded firmly at Erich, who was still blinking as if to ask what on earth I meant. That look of his was probably full of “Why do I have to go to a gathering of my brother and his future sisters-in-law?”
But it couldn’t be helped. He absolutely had to come.
“I already told Mother you’d be coming.”
On the evening of the triumphal return, I had reported my safe homecoming to Mother. She had worried about me every bit as much as my fiancées; even if heading straight to the fief was too much, at least a message was only proper.
And while giving that report, I had casually mentioned that I would visit the fief together with Erich. No special intention—just the thought that since the family head and the heir had returned from war, it would be nice for the whole family to gather. An ordinary family reunion, nothing more.
Of course, I had said it before asking Erich’s consent. Honestly, did a guy who never left the Academy even need to be asked? If his older brother said they were going, they were going.
“Hyung, I’ve been busy with training lately, so—”
I cut off Erich’s futile excuse with a gesture, and he approached with a sullen face.
It hurt my heart. A younger brother refusing to attend a gathering of the whole family was the same as the entire family ostracizing him. As the older brother, I could not stand by and watch.
“I’m a titled noble myself now, so I don’t even need the Tailglehen countship. Should I go ahead and recommend you as heir in a place where you’re not even present?”
“This weekend, right? I’ll get ready right away.”
Fortunately, the whisper packed with sincerity made Erich fold at once.
Still, it was a little annoying. What was so wrong with the Tailglehen countship? Other people would kill for an Imperial Count title and still never get one.
I hadn’t particularly wanted to go to the fief. It wasn’t that I disliked the place, but anyone could see this was a visit where my older brother and his six prospective sisters-in-law would be paying their respects to our parents. If I forced my way into that kind of gathering, I could already see myself spending the entire time walking on eggshells and coming home exhausted.
But I had folded under my brother’s vicious threat.
Heir?
A terrifying word. Far too heavy and frightening a burden for a mere younger brother to shoulder.
I had grown up watching the family head and my brother crushed under work. Only a madman would want to walk that same path. I just wanted to inherit something like a barony and live quietly.
Besides, becoming heir while my brother was still perfectly healthy meant every single thing I did would be measured against him. Even when he was the heir I had already drawn endless stares; me as heir? The next Imperial Count? I’d rather bite my tongue and die for the sake of my mental health.
Damn it.
Common sense said no one simply handed a title over to a younger sibling. A title symbolized a noble’s wealth, honor, and power. And this wasn’t just any title—it was an Imperial Countship.
But my brother was a being who regularly violated common sense, so I couldn’t let my guard down. If I dug my heels in and refused to go, I could already vaguely see tomorrow’s headline: “Erich, Heir of House Crassius.”
“If going alone feels lonely, take Sera with you. She should see her family again after all this time too.”
At those words my eyes drifted to Sera without thinking.
Sera… Sera. Having her come along would certainly be better than sitting there alone looking awkward.
“Wouldn’t it tire Sera out—”
“It’s fine! I’ll go too!”
Her bright, energetic answer put me at ease. If she was okay with it, then great.
“If the two of you come as well, that means the entire Crassius family will be gathered, doesn’t it?”
“We just finished something big. Of course the family should gather.”
My brother nodded at the words of the young lady who was growing used to the title of first sister-in-law.
Hearing it put that way left me feeling a little uneasy. Bringing Sera into a gathering made up only of people who already were—or soon would be—members of House Crassius… wasn’t that just my own selfishness? Wasn’t I making her uncomfortable just so I could feel more at ease?
…It’ll be fine, right?
Yeah. It would be fine. Mother already treated Sera, the nanny’s daughter, like one of her own children. As for the family head—
Yeah, better not think about that. The image of the family head inside my head had completely collapsed.
I feel like I’m going to explode. Watching my younger brother’s pathetic display is something no ordinary mental fortitude can endure.
I told him to bring Sera to the family gathering, and Mar even said, “With Erich and Sera coming as well, the entire Crassius family will be together.” Not only I but four of his sisters-in-law were throwing him a lifeline, so why…
Is he doing this on purpose?
I was starting to suspect it wasn’t simple denseness but a deliberate decision to look the other way.
Surely not, right? If my own little brother turned out to be a complete bastard, it would be too sad. Between a rotten personality and zero social awareness, I’d still pick the latter.
It wasn’t even that hard to understand.
I barely managed to hold back the sigh rising in my chest.
If I had been dropping complicated hints and he simply failed to catch them, that would be one thing. But Sera, glued to Erich’s side, was staring with sparkling eyes and a thoroughly flushed face. She had clearly understood every word Mar and I had said.
This won’t do.
The whole reason I was pushing Sera forward was to give her an advantage over Count Horpfelt, since her conditions were less favorable. Looking at them now, though, there was no advantage to speak of between Sera and Count Horpfelt. They were both just equally disadvantaged.
No—if anything, Count Horpfelt, who was farther away from Erich, was at an overwhelming disadvantage.
I should invite Count Horpfelt soon as well.
If Erich was pushing both of them away because he simply didn’t want two people, that was one thing. But pushing someone away without even realizing they liked him was far too tragic.
What is wrong with the Crassiuses…
A father scolded by his wife, an eldest son with six lovers, a second son whose social awareness had gone extinct.
It was almost wondrous how only people like this had managed to gather in one family.