Chapter 52
Chapter 52
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: Aria Learns -5 Leonardo's Mother
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Ren left the village on a commission around the time Leo turned from nine to ten.
She boasted that this one job would let her kick back for months, and trusting his mother, Leo quietly watched over the house.
After a month had passed, he figured it was tough work commensurate with the pay. Mercenary life had hardships that couldn't be fathomed just from hearsay.
After two months, worry rose right up to his chin. Had she been hurt so badly she couldn't return, or had she... abandoned him?
Once three months elapsed, Leonardo recalled his promise with his mother.
If there was no word at all for three months, it was as good as her being dead. So don't cling any longer.
That was how the boy remembered the promise.
"I'll be back."
He set out to find his mother, who had vanished without upholding that promise.
He was still just around ten years old at the time.
Ariasfil's jealousy, and even her anger toward Eirin, had completely subsided.
It wasn't due to any merciful emotion like forgiveness or magnanimity.
There was an undeniable, irrefutable absolute truth that left only raw despair in Ariasfil's heart.
'...Leo's parents...'
She had heard everything from Village Chief Anus. She knew why Leo had left the village and what he had endured over those three years to become who he was.
"I apologize for investigating your family matters and personal life without permission. But this proposal is sincere."
With a slightly stiffened expression, Leo asked in a cold tone.
"Are you saying we should make a deal using my parents?"
"I have no intention of denying your scorn and contempt. It's an issue that inevitably comes across that way, regardless of my intentions."
But Eirin had already steeled herself for that. It wasn't solely because she was ambitious.
"Still, I genuinely wanted to help you. For someone not even twenty yet to acquire such ability and power, I can't even imagine what you've gone through."
Ariasfil had simply thought Leo's strength and efforts were impressive. She truly believed the toil it took to gain that power was valuable.
But
Aria realized it now.
That there are people who aren't even permitted to live without power and effort.
That she had just giggled away in love, all while keeping such a person constantly by her side.
"That's why I didn't make connecting with our house a prerequisite. As an adult, I want to respect your choice."
Thus, she couldn't pull Leo away from Eirin. It wasn't because of petty emotions like love or guilt.
She had no right to meddle in this from the start, and Leonardo had every right to choose.
Despairingly, she closed off her heart.
She even grew afraid to listen, so the aura in her ears and eyes gradually faded.
As the sounds slowly dimmed,
"I'm sorry, but I'll have to decline the proposal."
Her knight had made his choice.
"As expected... Did it offend you?"
"No. I know favors and proposals like this don't come easily. But even if someone who knew my family history proposed it directly, I still would have refused."
Somehow, her senses refocused.
"...May I hear the reason?"
Leonardo answered without hesitation, as if there had never been any need to waver.
"Because that's how I keep my promises."
"Do you place great importance on loyalty to your house?"
It was a judgment befitting an ambitious schemer—rationally speaking, that would be the logical conclusion.
"It could be that, but it's also to keep the promises I've made with my people."
But Leo was a tactician, not some ambition-fueled schemer.
"The promise with the Family Head, the promise with Lady Chris—even the servants working for the house are precious people who've shown me kindness and shared bonds with me. I can't betray them."
The boy now cherished those who had made him who he was.
"What about finding your parents? I could consider changing the terms if you want..."
"And I have to keep my promise with my mother too."
Leonardo's mother, Ren, always made one promise before heading out on mercenary work.
-Three months—at most, confirming someone's death takes exactly three months. So if I'm not back after three months, assume I'm dead.
It was a blunt, unfiltered notification to a child, yet Leonardo had nodded and made the promise.
Because Ren had always returned within a week.
"After leaving the village, I spent a year wandering in search of traces of my mother."
He first checked the mercenary guild. If she had been declared dead, they would have notified any family, so he inquired about it.
-...Lady Ren has been listed as missing since two months ago. We haven't found a body, but...
At the time, that was enough. Without a confirmed body, there was still hope to cling to.
"On the second anniversary, I gave up. The world seemed afraid I'd get angry, so it kept using polite euphemisms instead of giving me a straight answer."
His mother's body never turned up, and her acquaintances had long since given up on her.
Leonardo was too young and too exhausted to cling to such faint hopes.
"Only then could I keep my promise to my mom. It took far too long to accept it."
"..."
Eirin, Aria, even the Sage—and Leonardo himself—fell silent for a moment.
"If I borrowed House Temperius's power and we at least found my parents' bodies, that would surely be a blessing. I want to lay my mother to rest properly myself."
Leo's eyes were tinged with an indifferent sadness. He couldn't fathom a parent's pain at losing a child, but that didn't mean a child could easily send off their parents.
The boy was immersed in sorrow.
"But... if my mother is truly still alive..."
A bubble rose in that sorrow. The calm surface of indifference rippled from it.
"I wouldn't know how to face her. If it's true that she really abandoned me, then all these hard years and the love I've held would turn into resentment... and I don't think I could ever forgive her..."
Thanks to his regression, he knew his mother was dead. He had no intention of denying that.
But the longing and attachment for his parents had foolishly twisted deep into his heart long ago.
"...I'm sorry. I made your wounds even worse with my clumsy approach."
"It's fine. I'm not joining House Temperius anyway—I plan to stay with House Reinhardt till the end."
Saying it was fine while throwing a straight pitch like that drew a clear line and greatly eased her guilt.
"Your loyalty to the house is profound. It's a shame I can't recruit a talent like you."
"Loyalty to the house, sure, that's part of it."
Leonardo grinned as he spoke.
"I can't leave Lady Aria all alone."
A bright smile, the complete opposite of before.
"I want to be by the lady's side."
It was a pure, beaming smile free of worry or sorrow.
The distant Ariasfil blushed at his words. When their gazes overlapped, she hastily hid her face.
But from that distance, Leo couldn't see the flush she tried so hard to conceal.
"...The heavens are truly heartless. If I'd met you first, House Temperius would surely have prospered."
"Then I should thank the heavens. They granted me the fortune of being by Lady Ariasfil's side."
Her ears now red as well, Aria hastily withdrew the aura from her ears. He was so lovable that she stopped even beholding the boy's face.
"What an infuriating man."
"I hear that a lot. Then I'll take my leave first."
"Wait, I still have something to say."
Leonardo looked a bit flustered at that. Did she still have some card left to play?
"Don't worry. It's not an attempt to persuade you."
She drained the last of her cold tea and left a small request.
"The Magic Tower Lords and I will handle this corruption case at the Magic Association. The punished mages will face the same. It's the first incident of this scale for the towers."
There were countless cases of discipline for corruption and crime, but with crimes of this magnitude piled up over years and reported all at once, a massive purge was inevitable.
It would be complicated and troublesome for both the houses and the towers.
"Sounds pretty chaotic."
"Yes, chaotic. And chaos like this tends to breed even greater turmoil."
With that, she shared one more fact.
"Recently, the number of disappearances around the Magic Towers has spiked. Few victims so far, but since the targets are mages, it's a bit suspicious."
"...A Black Mage?"
Eirin looked at Leo with slight surprise at his quick deduction. But she soon smirked, as if it was nothing to be shocked about.
"That's the guess. Normally, I'd handle the investigation myself, but with this mess, I can't return right away."
"Meaning the Black Mage might rampage in the meantime?"
"...Can't say for sure, but it's possible. Crime rates naturally rise when Tower Lords are away for disciplinary proceedings."
Still, no single other Tower Lord could be spared to guard a tower—the scale was too vast. If something happened at a tower under her watch and her defense or explanation was delayed, she'd bear the full responsibility.
"This is just a word of caution. You and your lady don't seem like easy targets anyway."
"Thank you for your concern. If any leads come up, I'll let you know."
"Infuriatingly grateful."
With that, Leo stepped out of the café.
[Are you okay?]
<...No guarantee a body even remains.>
<It's about time I overcame it.>
[I see. Good enough.]
A truly bland and boring exchange.
Which made it all the more comfortable.
[Isn't that Aria over there?]
"...Huh? Yeah, it is."
Ariasfil was walking through the nearby streets, apparently searching for him after his disappearance.
"Lady!!"
Leo ran toward her happily.
"Huh? Leo...?"
But Ariasfil looked weary. Even more fatigued than Leo, who had been in the thick of battle.
"...A... are you okay?"
"Huh...? Y-yeah..."
She clearly wasn't. Her breathing was ragged, her gaze unsteady—symptoms akin to mana exhaustion.
'...Did she push herself because of me...'
Had she strained herself like this just to find him? Wasting mana to this extent... all for his sake...
"...Lady, let me carry you. In your current state..."
"No, I'm fine. You overdid it earlier too..."
And the reason for Aria's fatigue was something else entirely.
'I consumed too much mana focusing on that conversation earlier...'
Aria had simply overused her aura to peep more clearly and thoroughly.
"Don't... Huh...?!"
At that sound, Aria looked at Leo.
A blatant moan.
Too lascivious to call a groan of pain,
Too erotic to call a scream of fear,
It was a moan of lust.
"...Leo...?"
"S-sorry. I slipped up trying to support you too forcefully..."
Leo hastily pulled his hand away from her chest. It seemed like an accidental brush while catching her as she nearly fell.
"Hnn~"
A leisurely smile came naturally. Seeing the ever-thorough and composed Leonardo flustered made her pent-up fatigue melt away.
"Yeah? I'm fine, though~"
A playful, seductive smile like a little succubus. With that, Aria grabbed Leo's arm.
"Huh? What are you...?"
She then wedged his firm forearm right between her cleavage. She locked arms, completely binding Leo's limb.
The feel of soft skin and plump flesh—a sensation that went beyond mere fluster into momentary ecstasy.
"Wa...! Wait a second...!! This is...!!"
"Why? Can't you support me like this?"
A question so nonchalant it bordered on brazen.
This wasn't support... it was far beyond that...
The massive peaks pressing in on both arms stimulated every nerve in the boy.
The young girl had, in just a few years, developed a figure rivaling that of a full-grown lady.
Enough to move even a boy as stoic as stone.
That was when Aria learned it.
The heart of this insensitive man.