Duke’s POV.
He was quite a cheeky child, wasn’t he?
I remember my wife saying that she had met the brother of the newly hired maid.
The new maid is a commoner with an artificial hand that Alice had bring home with her. We usually won’t hire someone with commoner status as a maid, but we had our circumstances, so we decided to take her in.
One of those circumstances was Chris’s marriage, and the other was her brother’s existence.
According to her background check, her brother’s character is serious and a little distant, but he had good relationships with people and never had any significant troubles.
He has a good track record and no other relatives. He is not the type of loner who prefers solitude, and he can maintain a moderate level of human relationships. However, he has a particular dislike for the nobility.
–Except for that one point, I think he’s quite an ideal child.
He was the best candidate to support Chris (who has no social skills) in the future. One other point that needs to be noted is that the man in question is quite cheeky.
The main problem is, he doesn’t like nobles, but the noble family that caused this was found to be trafficking human beings and was destroyed a few years ago, so I believe I can clear his doubt if I take my time. My belief is also thanks to our King, who loves his people.
My little girl knows this, which is probably why she allowed Hayato’s sister to serve our family, even though she knows Hayato’s unfavorable impression of us.
Thankfully she’s still young. If I were to bring her into my family right now, she still has time to adjust and keep up with the changes in her environment. We could just make a story to attach her noble status later.
Though I think it will be a bit harder for Chris to charm that maid-samurai-girl, let’s just wait and see for now. Right now, I plan to let Chris marry the new maid, Lav, and later he would have her brother support him from behind. Good, very good, this is an excellent plan.
Though it’s a pity, I cannot force them to marry using political marriage cards since they are not noblemen.
It’s a bit roundabout, but it’s better not to flaunt your power as noble when dealing with this child.
We should keep our distance and take our time to deepen our relationship with them until we find an opportunity to take advantage of them.
–As I was carefully planned this, I heard Chris had asked the maid to marry him, and she had accepted. I was so surprised at how easily it went; I was speechless.
Even with Alice’s support, it was a move that Chris initiated on his own. As a parent, how could I not be happy?
As I looked at the two of them cuddling a little shyly, but happily, I remembered how my wife had said to me before, when I was trying to arrange a marriage for Chris, she said, I should try to understand Chris better.
[I don’t want a daughter who doesn’t try to understand Chris more.] I finally understood why my wife keeps saying it.
Anyway. with this, we succeeded in bringing the siblings into our family.
All that was left was to use her sister, Lav, as a reason to get her brother to accept a knighthood and join the noble society so that he could support Chris and his wife in the future.
When and at what timing to propose this idea? – I aim to do so is at the discussion about Chris and Lav, but when the conversation flow turned to Alice —
“Did something happen?” {Hayato lines from ch.31}
–This child showed an unusual interest in that particular topic about Alice.
Wait, maybe I can catch him with this?
Not only as the brother of my daughter-in-law, but I could have him as my son-in-law also.
The stronger the bond, the better. I’d feel safer if it was my daughter who would be his mate someday. It might make his world a little narrower, but it’s a significant advantage to have Chris surrounded by people who understand him. I might be overprotective, but I have been worrying about Chris for a long time.
After the fiasco of the broken engagement, Alice had become a chestnut in the fire, and she hadn’t received any proper marriage proposals for a while. Most of the houses that are applying for her now are famous for being despicable.
–then, why not?
So, it’s all up to you, my daughter.
Suppressing a grin on my face, I saw Alice in the garden, we just about to end our conversation, and I deliberately pointed my finger at Alice.
Despite his discomfort, he went straight to Alice, and the two of them started talking in the garden. I squinted my eyes at this bright prospect.
–It’s nice to be young.
I couldn’t help but think so.
After that, Alice said she would live as a commoner in the city, and I think she was probably conscious of Hayato. My wife also agreed.
Normally, I would never let her do such a dangerous thing as sending her to the commoner district, but I thought it was a good chance. Hayato, who tends to draw a hard line when it comes to socializing, would probably get closer to Alice more easily if he got his chance in the name of a job.
When I asked him to be her bodyguard, he took the offer as expected, and at this point, I was almost sure that my [fishing] plan would be successful. There was only one thing that could happen to a man and a woman of this age living together, but it would be an excellent excuse to pressure them into marriage when that happened.
Oh… Why is it so much fun to keep promising young people playing in your hand?
My wife said it was a bad hobby, but I prepared a title for Hayato anyway. All that left is to wait for things to move.
Three months later, Alice contacted me. She said she will come together with Hayato because there’s an important matter concerning both of them.
–Finally.
Ah, finally, my problem children were taken care of.
That was the first thought that came to my mind.
There’s one more to go, but those two are the hard ones.
And about Hayato, I think he has done great so far.
Despite living in an unfamiliar environment, managing his schedule, and spending all his time studying, a life that was the complete opposite of what he had been used to, he never complained and did things at a level higher than what we expected.
In the examination He took when He transferred to the academy, I was surprised to find that the his score was perfect in every subjects, and he did it like it was natural for him to do so.
–He never had the chance to study for this… right?
…I wonder what’s inside this child’s brain. Isn’t his ability is a cheat on par with his physical features?
“…Keep up the good work, and don’t be conceited.”
He nodded with a mysterious look on his face when I said that.
I’m not that smart, I can only guess what he was thinking at this moment, but I’m sure he was thinking of things that most people would never think of.
He is a fearsome child. How reassuring it is to know that he is on our side.
I’ve made a good find.
And I owe all of this to Alice; now I can welcome my retirement with a sense of ease and comfort.
That’s why I was caught entirely by surprise when this case hit us.
Hayato had received a request a few months ago, and it was said that a divine entity had entered his body. The goddess said that the reason he hadn’t noticed it before because he had been so preoccupied with Alice. So much that alien divinity couldn’t sneak into his mind. The guild leader also testified to this.
How is that possible?
How much does this child love Alice?
How frightening. Hayato, the terminally lovesick child…
How can you suppress the will of a god with your love brain? It seems ridiculous. It almost sound like a classic love story.
Since ancient times, it has always been the power of love that rescues heroes from danger —
—Okay, stop it. There’s no use trying to escape from reality. It won’t solve the problem, so I focused my mind back on the problem at hand.
The guild leader’s encouragement didn’t seem to have much of an effect on Hayato, and he kept replying with an absentminded vague look on his face.
It was painful to see him not hiding his shock, and I couldn’t think of any good words to encourage him.
I know that this child is really serious and diligent. His love brain and cheekiness just some part of his charm.
At first, I really wanted to bring him into the family for Chris’ sake. That was all. But before I knew it, we started to feel like a real family. We didn’t spend a lot of time together, but he took good care of my daughter, made honest efforts to help her get ahead in an unfamiliar environment, and relied on me when he needed to; I like his natural honesty.
Watching him up close, I couldn’t help but become attached to him.
My wife told me that we had a particular thing in common, but I don’t know what it is. I don’t know what she meant by that, but I think she was referring to the fact that I am always the first to cry whenever we go to the theater to see a drama together.
Anyway, when Hayato said that he was going on a journey of no return, I couldn’t stop him.
Not even in my wildest dream can I imagine that he will choose Ridill as his final destination. Maybe he was afraid that staying in the capital city would dull his resolve.
It’s not right for him to feel responsible, but I understand how he feels. The thought that someone might die because of you simply existing is unbearable for a normal person.
Yes, he’s an extraordinary child, but he still a human, and Even though he has divinity inside him, his heart and eyes are still as timid as ever.
After that, I discussed this matter with the guild leader over the comm; apparently, Hayato had said something about Alice, [One day Alice will forget about me and be happy with someone else.] he said.
Personally, I don’t think that’s wrong, because time always heals a wound caused by goodbyes.
I’m sure she knew that very well. His parents, his friends, and the adventurers he knew. I have no way of knowing how many goodbyes he has seen and experienced himself, but I’m sure his beliefs are because he’s recovered from each one.
After discussing it with him, I made an agreement not to tell Alice the truth. However, I still can’t help but feel that he will suddenly come back as if nothing had happened.
Maybe it’s not just Hayato, I’m probably one of those people who can’t really accept the absurdly of this situation.
There is a report on my desk that summarizes the information I’ve gathered on the mutants. According to the report, all of them were indeed much stronger than the original, and many of them had seriously injured people. The number of casualties could increase at any time.
Moreover, the scope of the attack seems to be gradually expanding.
I made a promise to that child, [leave the safety of Capital city to me] , because I know, should there any casualties from the mutants, he wouldn’t be able to come back.
I may say that amazing one-liner, but I still don’t know how to deal with the divinity that dwells inside his body. At that time, the door slammed open.
“Father~…. What are you doing here so late at night? I’ve been able to sleep with Lav tonight, but ……. woah! What is this!? What is this pile of material?”
“Chris… I’ve made up my mind.”
“Huh? About what”
“As of this moment, my family will no longer be banned from developing weapons and armor as magical tools.”
This is the most I can do.
