Episode 34

Reberto had come to the mansion. I watched the scene from the smithy.

A fairly luxurious carriage stopped by the mansion, and I saw a fresh-looking blond man enter the estate.

Well, they’ll handle things over there. Since I’m the current fiancé, if I met Reberto clumsily I might provoke him, so I decided to hole up in the smithy today.

That was the plan, however.

“So you’re one of Alicia’s fiancé candidates, huh.”

“……”

How did this happen?

No, I heard the reason earlier.

Reberto said he wanted to talk to me once.

Alicia was beside me. Presumably to meet Reberto, she wore a rather plain dress.

“Yes, that’s right. Nice to meet you, I’m Faik.”

“I see. I’m Reberto Audota. Pleasure.”

After we shook hands, he stared intently at my hand.

“…Is something there?”

“No, nice hands.”

He gave my hand a little squeeze as he touched it. My cheek twitched a bit, but I couldn’t slap his hand away.

Then Reberto glanced at Alicia. When their eyes met, Alicia, looking a little embarrassed, grabbed the hem of my clothes.

I had to protect her. When I stepped between Alicia and Reberto, Reberto’s mouth relaxed into a small smile.

“Do you love her?”

It was a sudden question. Alicia tightened her grip on my hem.

Looking at her, her ears were bright red.

…I was embarrassed too, but I couldn’t show it on my face. We couldn’t let them suspect our fake relationship.

…Besides, whether you call it love or not—I liked Alicia.

So I… I conveyed sincere feelings to him, not an act.

“…Yes, I love her.”

It was embarrassing, but I couldn’t back down here. When I said it clearly, Reberto nodded as if satisfied.

Alicia dropped her face and, ears still bright red, gripped my clothes tightly—squeeze, squeeze, squeeze! Alicia wasn’t used to scenes like this. Neither was I, but since Alicia was completely flushed and couldn’t speak, I had to handle things.

Reberto bowed slightly toward Alicia.

“Lady Alicia. Would you allow me to speak with him one-on-one?”

“…Faik, are you okay with that?”

Alicia looked at me with concern.

One-on-one, huh. I was a bit uneasy, but I was also curious what Reberto wanted to talk about.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Alicia, please step out into the corridor for a moment.”

“O-okay… If anything happens, call me right away.”

Alicia said that and left the room.

Reberto glanced toward the smithy.

“Mind if I take a look at some of these pieces?”

Reberto pointed at the items I had prepared for the next market.

I nodded, and he immediately grabbed a sword. He drew it from its scabbard and inspected the front and back.

“Irea Magic Ore, perhaps? That’s a rather high-quality sword.”

“That’s right. I processed it using Irea Magic Ore.”

“…I see. Certainly quite the blacksmithing skill. Of course the smithing, and the finishing Enchantment is careful as well.”

Because he also has smithing talent, that’s probably why he could be a candidate for Alicia’s fiancé.

Reberto looked at the sword for a while, then sheathed it.

“What I’m about to say, you can just think of it as me talking to myself and let it slide.”

“…What do you mean?”

“Just a bit of idle muttering.”

Saying that, he now picked up my knife.

“I’m not particularly skilled at smithing, nor do I especially like it. Maybe I’m middling among smiths? And because I’m a noble, that’s why I’m here now.”

…Reberto said this one-sidedly and casually twirled the knife in his hand.

It was a practiced motion.

“To be honest, I don’t feel anything in particular toward Lady Alicia.”

“Huh?”

“Lady Alicia is, of course, an attractive woman. And she’s cute… but you know… she doesn’t arouse me.”

“…What do you mean by that?”

When I asked, Reberto looked right at me.

“I like younger women! Alicia is certainly a beautiful girl. Very beautiful! But… she’s matured!”

Reberto shouted that out as if it were the most natural thing in the world.