Chapter 38

Promise

Fortunately, things did not escalate to the point of calling the police. Considering Kenneth’s line of work, bringing them in would not have done him much good anyway, and more importantly, he regained consciousness quickly.

That did not mean he looked well. Anyone could see how pale Kenneth was after waking up.

“…”

“…”

For a while, a bizarre standoff continued. Noel kept stealing glances at them while Sisella and Kenneth trembled with bloodless faces.

The Empire’s strongest knight had personally come to visit their home. That alone was enough to make anyone faint from shock, but this was also a household where both father and son made their living through less than respectable professions. It was entirely understandable that Kenneth and Sisella both looked ready to lose their minds.

“This is Sharelphin’s Tears. It is the signature wine of a vineyard that supplies the Imperial Palace regularly.”

“…”

“I heard you enjoy drinking, so I prepared it for you. Is it not to your liking?”

Whether he liked it was hardly the issue.

‘…Couldn’t I buy a house in downtown Imperial City with one bottle of this?’

Kenneth thought that as he accepted it with trembling hands. The fact that she had brought something like this as a simple housewarming gift already made his sense of reality blur, but even more absurd was Noel’s attitude while handing it over.

‘Why is she the one acting nervous…?’

Looking at Noel, he could not help but wonder. She was carefully watching their reactions as though she were the one in the weaker position.

“I am always causing trouble for Mr. Aiden, so I hope you will accept it without feeling burdened.”

“W-well, with the utmost respect, may I ask what sort of relationship Lionheart has with our son…?”

He had probably managed to force the question out only because Noel’s attitude clearly suggested there was some sort of connection between her and Aiden.

“Yes. Mr. Aiden and I have had quite a few dealings with one another.”

“So, if I may ask, what kind of relationship exactly…?”

“We are going to be married.”

“Daaad!”

“…”

It took even longer than before for Kenneth to wake up from his second fainting spell. His face had grown even paler, and the way he spoke as though he were about to stop breathing made even Noel fidget anxiously.

“Forgive my impertinence, but perhaps Lionheart meant that as some sort of joke…?”

“Noel is enough, Father.”

“…”

Apparently determined not to faint a third time through sheer superhuman willpower, Kenneth listened as Noel hurriedly continued her explanation for his sake. She explained how she had kidnapped Aiden and what her purpose had been. It seemed to help. After taking several deep breaths, Kenneth barely managed to answer.

“…Did that brat really have anything impressive enough to be chosen for a role like that?”

“…”

“It feels like you must have had a lot of better options…?”

“…”

Even accounting for the fact that they were family, that level of objectivity was cold enough to freeze solid. Still, Noel could answer that question with certainty.

“No.”

“…”

“If anything, I am the one who is always receiving help from Mr. Aiden. Enough that I would like to keep staying with him from now on.”

“…”

Who on earth is she talking about? Kenneth’s expression made that thought painfully obvious. Putting everything together, he said, “…So, Sir Noel is currently receiving a marriage proposal from His Highness the Prince.”

“Yes.”

“And to create a reason to reject it, you chose my son as the partner for a fake marriage.”

“Yes.”

“And my son has actually been holding his ground against His Highness the Prince…?”

“Exactly.”

“…”

Irreverent as it was, only one thought came to Kenneth after hearing the whole story.

‘That idiot should have looked for a rich family to marry into instead of becoming a con man…!’

He could not even imagine how far Aiden might have risen if he had pursued that path.

“U-um…”

Sisella, however, clearly had an entirely different concern.

“M-may I ask just one thing?”

Having instinctively understood just how extraordinary the person before her was, Sisella spoke in a halting voice. Anyone would react that way in front of someone with enough power to decide whether they lived or died with a single word.

“Yes. Ask anything you like.”

“Then when is Big Brother coming back?”

“…”

Noel’s gaze swept over Sisella once. The girl’s entire body was trembling so hard that she looked like a tiny frightened hamster. Even so, she forced herself to keep speaking.

“…I do not think I can tell you that he will return soon. I am sorry.”

“N-nothing bad is going to happen to him, right?”

A child was gathering every scrap of courage she had. She was speaking to someone who held her life and death in her hands.

“D-did Big Brother do something wrong? Is he being taken away because of that?”

All because she was worried about her family.

“…Miss Sisella.”

“I know Dad and Big Brother do bad things.”

Tears gathered in Sisella’s eyes as she forced herself to continue.

“B-but they only do it because of me. They both had no choice…”

“…”

“If there is a problem because of that, then I will take the punishment too, so please, the two of them…”

“Miss Sisella.”

Noel cut her off and leaned toward her. Sisella flinched backward, and Noel slowly extended one hand. Ki began pulsing at the tip of her fingers.

“I swear upon all my honor.”

The ki she traced through the air gathered into a single shape and lifted into view.

“Mr. Aiden will return to all of you. I promise.”

A pinwheel took shape. The ornament, formed by compressing pure-white ki as delicately as if it were being carved, rested in Noel’s hand while scattering a crystalline glow in every direction. Particles of light drifted around it as it slowly turned, creating a sight more than beautiful enough to capture the eye.

“Would you accept this as proof of that promise?”

Sniffling through her tears, Sisella accepted it. Her eyes sparkled with wonder at something she had never seen in her life. No matter how mature she sounded for her age, she was still a child. Aiden’s advice that children liked anything made for children seemed to have been effective.

“Can you believe me, Miss Sisella?”

At Noel’s question, Sisella sniffled and quietly nodded.

“…Then, since you are making a promise anyway, could you write it down as a contract too?”

“…”

“I-I read in a book that legal obligations only become binding when they are put in writing…”

Even so, she was definitely mature for her age.

❦

Thanks to that, the atmosphere eased, and the conversation that followed was much calmer than before. Sending Sisella out of the room for a while also gave them a better environment for discussing something far more serious.

“That girl really adores her brother. It is impressive that you calmed her down in one try.”

“…Someone like an older sister used to do that for me all the time.”

Noel answered Kenneth with a bitter smile. It was something the Lord Protector had often done for her in the past. Whenever young, inexperienced Noel became discouraged by training, Theresa would give her one to lift her spirits.

“Keep working hard. I will not give up on you until the very end either.”

“Understood?”

A pinwheel made from supernatural power. Whenever something happened, Theresa would give one to her and call it a token of their promise. Now that Theresa was dead, not a single one remained. But the image of her giving those pinwheels still remained deeply engraved in Noel’s heart.

“…She must have been a good person.”

“…”

At Kenneth’s hesitant comment, Noel lowered her head slightly instead of answering and took a sip from her glass. Then she quietly changed the subject.

“The real reason I came here was because there is one thing I wanted to ask you.”

“Yes?”

The question was simple: what was Aiden Kellermain’s origin, and what had happened during the first fifteen years of his life, a period that had vanished from every existing record?

“I do not know.”

Kenneth’s answer was just as simple.

“That brat and Sisella… I actually picked both of them up off the streets. I have never pried into their pasts. Maybe that is why we have managed to live together without much trouble.”

“…”

…Even after coming all the way here, she still could not learn anything about that period. As Noel frowned at the thought, Kenneth continued calmly.

“Still, I can make a guess.”

“…You can?”

“That brat cares terribly about his family. More precisely, once he puts someone inside the ‘fence’ he draws around himself, he tries to take care of them no matter what.”

“…”

It was an accurate description, and Kenneth and Sisella, whom Aiden called family, were obvious examples, but by now Noel had grown accustomed to seeing him throw himself into matters involving her and Katya too, even though they were far more distant from him. As though helping them was something he absolutely had to do.

“When you think about it, it is a little strange.”

Noel narrowed her eyes and asked, “May I ask what you mean?”

She was beginning to feel displeased, wondering if Kenneth meant it negatively, but he quickly waved his hands.

“Do not misunderstand me, Sir Noel. I love my son. I am certain he loves his family too. It is just that… once that brat loses his temper, he stops seeing anything around him.”

“…”

“You could almost call it an instinctive urge. Sometimes it feels like he believes protecting those people is his duty.”

Noel could not argue with that. She nodded and rubbed her chin while Kenneth continued with a sigh.

“There used to be a nasty bastard who bullied Sisella. Tall, strong fellow. He could have handled a weakling like Aiden with one hand.”

“…”

The description made Noel hesitate. A weakling? That man? Still, she thought, ‘…Well, if it was years ago, I suppose that is possible.’

Noel kept quiet, and Kenneth continued.

“Even with that much difference between them, all it took was one nasty thing said to Sisella and that idiot charged right at him.”

“…”

“Of course, one punch shattered his jaw. The hospital told him not to move around for at least a month. No strenuous activity. They said he could die if something went wrong. Do you know what he did?”

“What did he do?”

“The very next day, he put on a jaw brace and went to headbutt the man who broke it. Told him not to bully Sisella again.”

“…”

“That is the kind of person he is. You cannot exactly call that normal.”

“…I suppose not.”

When Noel reluctantly agreed, Kenneth smiled bitterly.

“Just from things like that, I can make a rough guess about his past.”

“And that guess is?”

“That brat has lost someone before.”

And almost certainly in a horrible way. Enough that protecting the people around him had returned as something close to an obsession. Instinct was a form of desire. Desire came from deprivation, and the deepest form of deprivation came from loss.

“If that is true, it would explain why he goes that far.”

“…”

As Noel lowered her gaze and fell into thought, Kenneth spoke again.

“He is usually a quiet brat. If nothing happens, he will not even try to stand out… but please keep him from getting dragged into things like that.”

His voice grew heavy with sincerity.

“Because when it happens, there is no telling what he will do.”

❦

Meanwhile, somewhere else, Aiden Kellermain was proving that assessment correct in real time.

“What did you just say?”

Princess of the Holy Kingdom, sixth in the line of succession, Laila Velod Craven spoke in disbelief. Even as sixth in succession, a royal was still one of the most important people in the nation and someone who would receive the highest respect wherever she went. That was especially true while she was visiting another nation as part of an official delegation. She was not someone who would normally hear words like these.

“You heard me perfectly well, Princess. Do not pretend you did not.”

“Apologize before I beat it out of you.”

“…”

“I will give you five seconds.”

“…”

…If Noel had been there to see it, she might have found herself reflecting on the rule that no one understood family better than family.