ITMWG 88

Chapter 88…

Can’t I close it?

“Get out of my house right now!”

Perhaps there was no longer a need to save face in an all-out war, the Marquis brought in a bunch of sturdy knights and threatened the guests to leave immediately.

This was the situation Nadia had already anticipated when she decided to file a lawsuit.

She gestured at Marie and Anna and brought out her already packed luggage.

She had told them to prepare to leave before going to meet her uncle and Lord Daemon.

I knew that my uncle would try to kick us out right away.

Her uncle’s lips trembled at the sight of them calmly preparing to leave.

“You-, you-, you-!”

It looked as if he would grab Nadia by her neck and push her off her feet at any moment.

Meanwhile, the servants were on edge, not knowing what to do in front of their trembling master.

If Altair hadn’t been here, he would have raised his hands and taken out anger on her right away.

But even her uncle would have a hard time were he to commit physical abuse in front of a man who could defeat a dragon. The presence of a scary strong person was the best cure for intermittent explosive disorder.

Her uncle’s fury, which had always been scary, somehow felt funny and trivial, so she sighed with complicated feelings.

Why was I afraid of this person?

Nadia recalled the past when she was so sheepish that she couldn’t even look at his face properly and would continuously tremble in his presence.

Her uncle hadn’t changed one bit since then.

Then, the reason she was not afraid of him now must be because she had changed.

What’s different about me then and now?

The moment that thought crossed her mind, Altair stretched out his arm and wrapped it around her shoulder.

His gaze was fixed not on her but on the grumbling marquis.

As if he was in stand to protect her if her uncle lost his mind and attacked her.

His consideration tickled her inside, and she quickly spoke to Altair to break the strange atmosphere flowing in the silence.

“Let’s go.”

However, when Altair’s bright red eyes, which had been fixed on her uncle, met hers, her stomach stirred even more.

And with that, the attempt to change the mood was a complete failure.

She turned her head away from Altair and coughed awkwardly.

“I asked Marie to look for a place to stay. Since it was the Silver Jubilee, most of the accommodations in the capital were full, but there was a place that would let us stay if we paid a little more… It’s a bit of a shame, but there’s nothing we can do because the situation is urgent.”

“Hmm.”

As Nadia informed him without making eye contact, a strange reaction came back.

“Marie must have had a hard time.”

Altair briefly praised Marie’s efforts as he led Nadia outside.

“But we’re not going there. I’ve already found a place to stay.”

“You have?”

Nadia looked at Altair in surprise. It wasn’t that strange that he had anticipated her uncle’s actions and had already started looking for a place to stay, but it was odd that Altair, who was not familiar with the capital, had confidently secured a place to stay during this hectic time.

“How did you get a room? Where is it?”

She looked at him suspiciously, wondering if he had found a decent one, and Altair raised one corner of his mouth slightly.

“Duke Viosques’ mansion.”

***

Wow…

Taking a sip of her tea, Nadia inwardly admired the magnificent and splendid mansion.

Whoa…!

The wonderful aroma of the tea she was served made her even more amazed.

Aylesford had been renovated a lot, and the Marquis of Vine was also great, but they were all no match for the Viosques Duchy.

Everywhere she turned, it sparkled. It might as well be comparable to the imperial palace.

“Baroness! We meet again!”

“Ugh!”

While she was leisurely drinking tea, the door to the parlour swung opened wide and the owner of this house, Duke Viosques, entered.

Startled and flustered, her face turned red from his sudden appearance. At that, Altair quietly patted her on the back.

At that sight, Duke Viosques burst into a cheerful laugh and took a seat across from them.

“You two really are a good couple. Such couples are rare among the nobles.”

Sensing that there was a strange subtle hint hidden behind his smiling eyes, her shoulders froze.

The sharp-eyed Duke didn’t miss it and narrowed his eyes as he asked Altair.

“The Baroness really found out the truth on her own?”

“Yes. The Duke must have been watching us as well.”

“That’s true. But I really can’t believe it.”

The conversation between the two people pricked her ears.

What Altair said back then…

That this time she should take care of the matter with her own hands.

If the eyes of those around them were not the problem, she wondered why it had to go through ‘her’ hands.

Sure enough… the Duke…

She turned her stiffened creaking head to look at Duke Viosques, and he smiled with his chin raised, acting all friendly.

“Actually, I didn’t have that much faith in the lady. I wasn’t sure if I could join hands with this gentle and weak-looking lady.”

As the story continued, the Duke’s face became more and more serious, and before Nadia knew it, his smile had completely disappeared.

“Changing the inheritance law is a very big deal. It is changing the foundation of the empire. It’s definitely not easy. If we don’t plan a careful approach, we’ll end up making a huge mistake.”

That’s right.

The conservative nobles would aggressively oppose it. Those who were to be pushed down in the order of inheritance by giving inheritance rights to ‘women’ would also say it’s nonsense.

“If we bring up the discussion and fail to succeed… we won’t be able to bring up this issue for hundreds of years to come. The most important thing here is ‘who’ we put in the forefront.”

The duke’s demanding eyes scanned Nadia as if evaluating.

“We need a pitiful woman. She had to be a pitiful victim of the inheritance law. That way, she wouldn’t be attacked by greedy people who are after the title and the property. In that sense, the Madame passed the test. She’s a beautiful, innocent, pitiful woman who’s easy to sympathise with.”

She felt like her body was frozen by his cold assessment.

However, Nadia tried to maintain a straight posture because she thought she would really end up as a ‘weak person’ if she kept shrinking like this.

The duke, on the other hand, was taking into account even that appearance of hers.

“But at the same time, we need a strong and intelligent woman. If the woman who will inherit the title is weak, she could be struck with the notion that ‘After all, women are not capable of leading the family.’ I need someone who is weak yet strong, feeble yet intelligent.”

Isn’t that like saying, ‘Please give me a hot iced Americano!’?

“The Baron said that his wife is that kind of person. Of course, I couldn’t believe it at first. I couldn’t believe it until I saw it myself.”

“So…”

Nadia looked at Altair with weird eyes.

She thought she could finally understand the strange attitudes he had shown.

“I thought for certain that the Baron would help the Madame from behind. I kept a watch on him myself, but he showed no sign of such movement. The Madame really came to the answer on her own. I have to admit that I still lack the ability to judge people. Haha!”

The oppressive gaze disappeared, and only a truly cheerful laughter rang in her ears.

“I will trust you now, too. You are worthy of being our leader!”

“Uh, leader?”

“That’s right. You are the leader. The star of this mission is Nadia Aylesford, and we are the ants that support the star from behind.” (T/N: meaning she is the big shot in this task while they are just measly support)

“Th-that…”

Who in the world would compare Duke Viosques as an ant?

As Nadia sweated profusely in embarrassment, Duke Viosques thumped the table and burst into loud laughter.

“I really got fooled by this appearance! You pretend to be weak, making your opponent let down their guard, and then get what you want behind their back! You are really the perfect leader!”

Oh, no…

He said she pretended to be weak…

I am truly weak though?!

“Now that I know everything, you don’t have to act like that in front of me! Hahaha!”

Nadia broke out in a cold sweat at the enormous misunderstanding that she had no idea how to resolve.

***

After a long conversation with Duke Viosques, Altair and Nadia moved to the room prepared for them.

According to the culture of the capital, their rooms were separate, and there was a small door between the two rooms so that they could go in and out of each other’s rooms if they wanted.

“Did you see the expression on the Marquis’ face? He’s so shocked when he was told we were going to Duke Viosques’ house! How much has he ignored you and us? He didn’t even give us what we needed. I guess he thought we would be in a difficult situation if he kicked us out.”

“Anna, you don’t need to call him Marquis. Just call him ‘that old man.’ He’s not worth honouring.”

“Then it would be better to call him ‘that bald man’… ”

“He’s not bald yet though…?”

“No! The top of his head was bald. I watched him closely when he was walking around!”

Marie and Anna whispered enthusiastically as they skillfully unpacked the luggage they had brought. Even Marie, who would normally have restrained Anna, joined the chatter, so it seemed like it was to cheer Nadia up after they got kicked out of the Marquis’ manor.

I wasn’t really upset though.

She knew that her uncle was that kind of person anyway.

However, she was grateful for the efforts of the two.

“Thank you. I feel a lot better now.”

“Oh no. We were just telling the truth!”

Anna looked at Marie proudly as she answered, and Marie sighed softly in relief.

It seemed like the two of them had come up with a separate plan to cheer me up.

“It’s really okay now, so you two should go rest. You must have had a hard time moving.”

“We’re fine, but Madame must be tired, so we’ll leave quickly.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

After sending Marie and Anna away, Nadia felt strangely lonely in the silence of the unfamiliar space.

Since she had always shared a room with Altair since they got married, it felt a little awkward that their spaces were separated even though connected by a single door.

At first, I was surprised and scared to share a room with him.

Now, it was funny that she felt empty not doing so.

But the moment she sat down on the bed, giggling at her own thoughts, the small door connected to Altair’s room rattled.

She wondered what was going on, so she hurried over and opened the door. On the other side, there stood Altair in awkwardness.

“…?”

Nadia blinked, trying to figure out the situation, but Altair sighed and ruffled his hair.

“I wasn’t trying to open the door. I was just…”

“In front of it…?”

“… I was just loitering around for a moment.”

“But why… ”

An awkward silence flowed between them.

Did he have something to say…?

Nadia hesitated and was about to close the door again, feeling like she had opened it futilely, but Altair hurriedly reached out and pushed the door wide open again.

“Can’t I close it?”

“… I told you late again this time. Weren’t you offended?”

“Ah.”

Now she understood. Altair was watching her every move.

Whenever he’s pushing forward with something, he would let her know, but he didn’t do that this time.

He’s like a big dog that’s worried he’ll get in trouble.

Nadia felt her stomach tickle again and turned her head away in a sulk.

“What if I am offended?”