Episode 138

“Alicia, isn’t that a bit too cold toward Big Brother?”

“If my brother takes it seriously, I’ll be a little kinder.”

“Oh? Specifically, how would you be kinder? Will you call me ‘big brother’ like in the old days?”

So Alicia used to call him ‘big brother’.

I imagined Alicia when she was little; I would have liked to have actually seen it.

Sir Rigard’s eyes lit up, but Alicia furrowed her brow and made a sour face.

“That’s absolutely impossible.”

“Ugh, Faik. My sister’s being cold. Could you, as her fiancé, say something?”

I’d be at a loss if you ask me to say something.

I gave a wry smile and recalled the speech from earlier.

“But you worked hard on that speech earlier. You were cool; let’s tackle this with that same feeling.”

“Do you want me to tell you what state of mind I was in when I gave that speech, Faik?”

“…If I hear it, will the feelings I had be trampled on?”

“Who knows? Well, at that time I basically said something like that under the feeling of ‘if everyone does their best, my work will be reduced!’”

Sir Rigard shouted proudly and thrust his thumb upward.

…I shouldn’t have listened.

The cool leader Sir Rigard had completely vanished.

As if in response to Sir Rigard’s declaration, the carriage began to move.

Sir Rigard sighed, shifted toward the window side, and took a seat.

Then he quietly returned to his usual composed expression.

I wondered what that was about. For now, only those who know Sir Rigard’s true nature are aware, though.

As I thought that, Alicia tugged at my sleeve.

“If you stay too close to my brother, Faik will become a target too.”

“A target?”

“Look out the window a bit.”

Alicia briefly pointed at Sir Rigard.

Sir Rigard, as if he had no choice, turned his gaze out the window.

What on earth is about to happen?

After the carriage had been moving for a while and eventually proceeded into town.

It was noisy outside.

I could faintly hear voices.

I slightly opened the curtain on the opposite window and looked outside.

There were a lot of citizens out there.

They were being kept from getting too close to the carriage, but they all looked like they might rush the carriage at any moment.

Everyone’s faces were bright, and their voices reached us.

“Lord Rigard! Please do your best!”

There were a lot of high-pitched cheers from the women.

Sir Rigard, shown at the window, waved his hand flutteringly toward them.

On his face was a smile so pasted-on that saying he had ‘plastered a smile’ would be accurate.

“Ah… I’m so gloomy…”

Sir Rigard waved his hand with a pleasant smile, but his expression and words didn’t match at all.

Still, Sir Rigard’s voice didn’t carry outside, so from out there one could hear the citizens’ voices that sounded almost like joy.

I see.

So that means it’s better not to sit with Sir Rigard.

Indeed, if we sat on Sir Rigard’s side, we might be seen from outside.

Right now, aside from the guards, no one else was seated.

“Being a lord is tough, huh…”

When I spoke to Alicia beside me, she answered with a wry smile.

“From the subjects’ point of view, the lord’s work is hard to see. You have to make a good show when you can.”

“I see.”

The curtain on our side remained closed, so we weren’t conspicuous.

That said, it still seems like there’d be various issues.

Sir Rigard waved for a while, but once we left the town, that interaction ended.

Sir Rigard slumped back in his chair and sighed.

“Honestly, I wish Alicia or Faik had waved outside for me.”

Sir Rigard sulked and looked at me.

“If I did that, it’d be like I’m off to clear a dungeon or something.”

“That’s better. In the end, if Faik is deemed fit to be the lord, I won’t have to do the lord’s work! Honestly, I wish I had family with ambition—my younger brothers have no motivation! A noble family like this is normally impossible!”

Sir Rigard, perhaps imagining the other family members who weren’t here, grumbled angrily.

I don’t know any of the Barnast family’s children besides Alicia and Sir Rigard, so I asked Alicia.

“…What are Sir Rigard’s younger brothers like?”

“…My brothers. Simply put, they’re playboys and free spirits… There might be other problems arising from them eventually.”

Alicia sighed, perhaps remembering her brothers.

…That sounds like it’d be quite troublesome.

I’ll have to deal with them someday too, won’t I? I wonder if I’ll be okay.

“Where are there noble kids who’re happy to be born second? Honestly!”

Sir Rigard said that and glanced outside.

We were already quite far from the town, and he seemed relieved.

“There won’t be any dealings with the subjects for a while, so that’s nice…”

“Good work.”

“I’m really tired. I wish Faik had taken over.”

Sir Rigard sulked, puffing out his cheeks.

“I can’t do that — it’s the lord’s noble duty, after all.”

“It’s not that I particularly want to take on that role…”

“…Is that so?”

“Because it’s tough, isn’t it? There are not only the subjects but various dealings with other domains. Social obligations are hard too… Ah, just thinking about it gives me a stomachache.”

Sir Rigard rubbed his stomach.