Something Terribly Easy to Misunderstand

I think I just said something that could be terribly misunderstood.

When I came to, I was lying in pitch darkness.

I couldn't have said how much time had passed. Slowly, as my eyes grew used to the dark, the shapes of the room resolved around me. I was on the bed in the guest chamber of the ducal mansion where I had been staying. The room was black, and not a sliver of light showed beyond the window. Night, then, as far as I could tell.

"Nngh...!"

I tried to sit up, and a sharp pain wrenched a groan from my throat before I could stop it. Looking down, I could just make out the pale gleam of bandages wound around me in several places.

"Ah..."

Right. I had been wounded. There were clear signs of intensive treatment around the shoulder the rapier had punched through, the leg the dagger had slashed, and the abdomen the dagger had struck cleanly.

The elf woman had still been able to move after being stabbed, and she had lunged at Riel. She had charged as if she were ready to die—and Eve, arriving in the nick of time, had sent her flying. If Eve had made it there, then Riel had to be safe.

"Hah..."

I managed to get my thoughts in order, and the relief that followed, mixed with exhaustion, dropped me back onto the bed. Everything ached.

"Haah..."

The martial arts I had drilled into myself through relentless training in the barren North—skill enough to take runner-up at the Martial God Festival. The magic I had learned well enough to use as support in a fight, after Mother told me I had a fair bit of talent for it. And what had it amounted to? The instant the enemy became two, I had been reduced to barely holding them off. Worse, if things had gone even slightly wrong, Riel could have been in real danger.

"I've still got a long way to go..."

I had been arrogant. I had been so sure no one in my year could touch me. So sure I could protect Riel. And look at me now. Which meant I had to get stronger. Strong enough to always protect the person who mattered to me. Strong enough to always protect Riel. I made that vow as I surrendered to the fatigue and drowsiness washing over me.

When I opened my eyes again, bright sunlight was pouring in through the window. Wrapped in the thick, warm air of summer, I sat up. A sharp twinge ran through me, but it was bearable.

Just then, I heard the door open.

"Ah...!"

Riel's scarlet eyes trembled with shock. Luca, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the maid behind her, had gone wide-eyed as well. Seeing moisture well in Riel's gaze, I gave her an awkward smile.

"G-good morning, Riel..."

She hurried over in short, quick steps and threw her arms around me. A stab of pain lanced through the shoulder the rapier had holed, but I swallowed the sound and endured it.

"Hic... Thank goodness... I'm so, so glad..."

Watching her sob against me, I stroked her back and bore the pain that rose with every breath. I had worried her. Of course I had—I had worried Riel. I held her tight while she cried, feeling her warmth, and swore to myself once more that I would become stronger.

Time passed. Once Riel had finally calmed down enough to tell me everything that had happened that day, I let out another long breath of relief. Thank God Eve had arrived when she did.

The three elf attackers, she said, were currently locked in the underground cells of the ducal barracks. The elf who had fought Rillu had bruises and fractures, but was otherwise unharmed. The older of the elf sisters had taken a direct hit from Riel's magic. She had thrown up a barrier, but it hadn't fully blocked the blast, leaving her with full-body burns and mana exhaustion—she had simply passed out.

The problem was the elf who had made that final charge. Like her sister, she had been covered in burns and drained of mana, and on top of that she had been hit by Riel's magic, Rillu's arrow, and Eve's kick during that last desperate lunge. Her life had been in genuine danger. Eve had been about to finish her off when her subordinates stopped her, insisting they needed to uncover who was behind the attack, and they had managed to keep her alive.

If it had just been us, we would have had to put an end to her before things got worse. But with knights present, taking her into custody and extracting the mastermind was the right call.

Riel and I were talking about this and that when the door opened and two people came in. Phyllis, my personal maid, and Luca, who had gone to fetch her.

"Young Master, I'm so glad you've come to."

"Yeah. Sorry I made you worry, Phyllis."

"No. I should have accompanied you. I can only apologize for failing to protect you, Young Master."

"Don't. I'm the one who told you to stay behind. You don't need to feel guilty about this."

That day, I was the one who had told Phyllis to remain at the Duchess's side. I can protect Riel well enough on my own. That arrogance of mine was what had gotten me injured. Phyllis had no reason whatsoever to feel guilty.

"So don't look like that, Phyllis."

"...Yes."

Seeing the darkness in her expression ease a little, I smiled.

Soon after, another person entered as if following the two maids. None other than Riel's older brother, Young Lord Andrew. His brow furrowed slightly at the sight of Riel clutching my hand—then the expression vanished as if it had never been there.

...I suppose that kind of emotional control really is a requirement if you're going to be the next Duke.

"So you've come around."

"Yes. Thank you for your concern."

"......"

After a brief silence, Young Lord Andrew stepped in front of me and bowed his head.

"...I heard from Riel. Thank you. Truly. For protecting my little sister."

"No—if anything, I nearly put Riel in danger."

"But in the end, you protected her. That alone, I believe, is worth my bowing my head."

The suddenness of it left me flustered, but he continued.

"As the next Duke of House Ignis, I am deeply grateful that you protected my precious family."

"......"

When he put it like that, keeping up the modest refusals would have been the ruder choice. I quietly accepted his thanks.

After Young Lord Andrew left, Eve and Princess Aine came in. Eve conveyed her gratitude for my protecting Riel until she arrived, but Princess Aine...

Whack!!

"Gah!!"

A light knuckle-rap landed squarely on my head.

"You had us worried sick!!"

She snapped at me, temper flaring. I shot her a look of protest, then withdrew it. Because when she bowed her head after rapping me, I could clearly feel the joy and relief in her eyes.

Her way of showing it was a little clumsy, but she had always been a deeply affectionate person. Even if her idea of sparring had always bordered on bullying. Still, if I so much as caught a cold, she would stick to my side and nurse me, even bringing me porridge she had made herself.

...The porridge had tasted truly awful, though.

Anyway, she was practically an older sister to me, and I understood perfectly well that what she had just done came from worry.

"I'm sorry."

"......"

Princess Aine was silent for a moment at my apology, then shook her head from side to side and spoke.

"...I'm the one who's sorry."

"Pardon?"

"It was as good as a mistake in my command. I should have seen that it was a diversion."

I had no words for that. Her violet eyes were steeped in guilt.

"That's not true, Your Highness."

"...But—"

"In that situation, splitting your forces because you suspected a diversion would have been worse than throwing people in fast to cut down the damage."

In the end, a building had taken some damage and there had been a few minor injuries—but no one had died, and no one had been seriously hurt. All of that was thanks to the knights' rapid deployment, and to the command of Princess Aine and Young Lord Andrew.

"You made the right call, Your Highness."

She said nothing in reply.

Having met the young master of House Ventus—the one who had been wounded shielding his little sister—Andrew sat in his own room, lost in thought.

The household servants who had been lying comatose had suddenly gone berserk. And after the knights had moved to subdue them, the intruders had appeared. According to Rillu, the elf who had remained at the mansion, the invaders had been three elves and five fairies.

When they interrogated the elves who had regained consciousness, the elves had insisted they knew nothing about their client. But given that fairies had been mixed in among the attackers, there was almost no doubt Saint Belia was involved.

He recalled the interrogation. The one who had taken charge of it was his younger sister Eve, who had only just arrived at the mansion and had volunteered herself. The look in her eyes had been the look of someone ready to tear the prisoners apart, so Alicia and he had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠stepped in to restrain her. The three of them had interrogated the elves together.

Bring back everything Alicia was carrying? Hearing that, Alicia and Andrew had looked at each other. Was Saint Belia's goal the new Seed of the World Tree that Alicia had brought with her? Riel was currently carrying that against her heart. Andrew had guessed as much, but once they left the interrogation room, Alicia had rejected the idea.

"There's no way Saint Belia could know about the new Seed of the World Tree. Lady Yggdrasil herself denied it."

Then Alicia had taken out something else. It was a small orb she had once even entrusted to Andrew.

"I believe this is what Saint Belia was after. A jewel that holds a fragment of Lady Yggdrasil's power."

"So that's what it was."

"Yes. Which is why I think it's fine to keep leaving the Seed in Lady Riel's care."

Andrew had nodded at that, but his face had still been clouded with worry.

"But then... doesn't that mean you're the one in danger, Lady Alicia?"

"...If Saint Belia is after this, then yes. That's how it would be."

"......"

Watching Alicia answer as if it were nothing, Andrew had fallen silent for a moment. Then he had lifted his head, walked over to her, and spoken as he faced her.

"Lady Alicia."

"Yes?"

"...Pardon?"

Alicia's eyes had flown wide.

"You are the savior of my life and my mother's. I will protect you with every power I possess."

"...Ah... Ahh!! I see!"

"...?"

Alicia's face had gone scarlet, and she had ducked her head.

It was then that he had received the report that the injured Kyou Ventus had regained consciousness, and he had gone straight there—but now, sitting in his own room and thinking it over again, embarrassment crashed over him after the fact.

"...I think I just said something that could be terribly misunderstood."

Andrew Ignis had reached his present age without ever having been in a relationship. His father and mother, he had heard, had been a love match—something rare among the nobility—and he himself had once declared, loudly, that he would follow his father's example and marry for love. As a child, however, he had been too busy with the studies required of an heir, and though he had made many friends at the Academy, he had never once courted a woman. All that big talk, and nothing to show for it.

A fair number of young women had pursued him in his school days, but Andrew was good at reading people, and he had seen clearly that they had all come flocking because of his position as the next Duke. Perhaps that was why he had kept women even further at arm's length. And perhaps that was why he had already passed the kingdom's usual age for marriage, and why his sense for such things seemed to have gone entirely numb. Which, in turn, might have been why he had let something so easy to misread slip out of his mouth.

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in."

"Pardon the interruption."

It was a member of the knight order.

"What is it?"

"Young Lord Andrew, you have a visitor."

"A visitor...? Ah! Don't tell me—"

The person the knight brought in was a man with reddish-brown hair. About Andrew's age, perhaps? His clothes looked to be made of expensive material, but they were modest in cut.

"Andrew! I came as soon as I got your letter."

Andrew greeted him warmly.

"Good to see you, Gilbert. The situation is as I explained in the letter. Can you help?"

"Haha... Well, it's not like I'm inheriting the family, and I'm just sitting around at home doing nothing anyway. No reason I can't help."

The young man called Gilbert scratched the back of his head and laughed. His name was Gilbert Reyme, a son of Count Reyme—but as a third son with no ambition to inherit, he spent his days loafing at home. His talent, however, was the real thing. Andrew, who had been his Academy classmate, gripped Gilbert's hand firmly.

"I'm counting on you, Gilbert. For the sake of saving our ducal house, if nothing else."

"Well, just make sure you cut me a nice fat share someday."

Then, as if something had occurred to him, Gilbert added:

"Hey. I ran into your little sister in the hallway just now. She's gotten a lot prettier, hasn't she?"

"I don't know which one you mean, but if you lay a hand on either of them, I'll beat you to death."

"Haha, relax. My type is the older-sister kind."

That's exactly why I'm worried...

Andrew muttered that inwardly, thinking of his eldest younger sister, Eve. Eve was so mature for her age it was almost concerning. If he ever said that in front of Eve, he might get burned alive, but still. Then he thought of Alicia as well, and nodded to himself.

Yes. He would have to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠be careful to keep this guy from meeting Alicia as much as possible.