Translator: Nox

Chapter 29

Following the footsteps of the two utterly oblivious men, a path leading to the super-large private airfield came into view.

We climbed back into the car prepared there. Perhaps finding it amusing that I kept glaring at the back of his head, Lu asked the moment he sat down.

“What’s got you so upset, our viscount?”

I answered as if I’d been waiting for it.

“That you’re too pretty is what’s bothering me.”

One of Lu’s eyebrows twitched as he glanced up at me sideways.

For an instant, I nearly stopped breathing.

It was because it felt like I was facing Lu the gardener and cook—the brazen, arrogant, ill-tempered one whose hobby was teasing other men—not the Lu transformed into Morian.

I wanted to sew my lips shut for blabbering nonsense like calling him pretty.

Even so, my grievance was crystal clear. I had to voice it to clear my chest.

“You didn’t have to be that pretty.”

Unnecessarily drawing everyone’s eyes.

The coachman kept his ears plugged and focused on driving, but his eyes couldn’t hide that he thought it was quite the sideshow.

Lu, silent for a while, warned in an eerie tone.

“I told you not to fall for me.”

“I told you not to spout nonsense.”

“It’s fine if you flirt with me. But don’t do it to other women. I’ll be watching with both eyes wide open. Don’t pout your lips either. Or glare at me with those fierce eyes.”

“Should I stop breathing while I’m at it?”

In the meantime, the carriage carrying us arrived at the private airfield.

After stepping out, I couldn’t help but gasp in admiration, however briefly.

‘This too.’

It was like a gala banquet.

The lush green lawn was crowded with tables, each one waiting for its owner with sweet desserts and champagne.

People clustered in twos and threes looked busy chatting away, savoring the leisure just before boarding the airship.

And beyond them, a massive airship poised there like a painting.

‘Black Ragal Ho, right?’

It was black, at least. Floating in the sky, it would look like a plump crow in flight.

The sheer girth of its thick oval hull made the descriptor “super-large” instantly comprehensible.

“Noble Assembly members, please board first. If you’d follow me. We’ll transport your luggage separately to your cabins.”

I wasn’t used to this level of deferential treatment.

Lu, however, seemed utterly at ease with it. He even waved at the men gaping stupidly at his face. You’re really incorrigible.

‘With this many people around, someone like me should blend right in.’

If only Lu weren’t so pointlessly stunning.

“Please, I beg you, by all means stay out of trouble and return safely. As long as you don’t stir up any incidents, the Weatherwoods Mansion will be that much more peaceful. I’m pleading with you like this.”

Me, Daisy.

The brave little soldier thrust onto the front lines in place of a nonexistent master.

Recalling the Head Maid’s entreaty as she rubbed her hands together beseechingly, I meticulously scanned each of the dozens of prominent figures filling the airfield.

‘Hmm.’

I don’t have a clue who anyone is!

I could’ve sworn I’d memorized <Noble Assembly Members Worth Remembering> over the past few days. But of course something like that wouldn’t stick.

‘And there are more non-Noble Assembly folks than Assembly members.’

Plenty of wealthy commoners in the mix too.

Call it the Noble Assembly, but at this scale, it was little different from a grand upper-crust mingle.

The stairs ascending to the airship entrance were long and precarious.

I carefully steadied Lu, who was in high-heeled shoes, as we climbed. Dozens of heads down below were fixed on us.

“Who’s that?”

“Young fellow. Any Noble Assembly house recently take on a new family head?”

“Indeed. A couple that eye-catching—we couldn’t possibly have missed them.”

At the entrance, the man who’d been guiding us announced to the crew member.

“Viscount Weatherwoods and his wife.”

It was right as they confirmed our identities and we entered the cabin.

“…Viscount Weatherwoods?”

A man who’d passed us in the aisle turned back. A face handsomely etched with the weight of years addressed me.

“Really the Viscount Weatherwoods?”

There was no way I couldn’t recognize that stately middle-aged visage.

The man who was Viscount Weatherwoods’s great-uncle by marriage.

A comrade-in-arms who’d swept battlefields alongside the Allied Forces, and a mentor who’d helped hone my swordsmanship to profound depths.

He was Count Rosebell.

My heart pounded wildly, urging me to rush over and greet him at once.

‘Hold it in. You have to hold it in. You’re not Anderte. No reason to get chummy all excitedly.’

Joy welling straight from the heart could be this dangerous.

I slowly drew down the corners of my mouth, which had crept up nearly to my ears, and replied.

“Yes, I’m Gray Weatherwoods. You’re Count Rosebell, aren’t you?”

“I’d half hoped otherwise… Yes, I’m Count Rosebell.”

Up close, a long scar marred Count Rosebell’s forehead. Once so stark it seemed eternal, it had faded considerably now.

“I’m sincerely delighted to meet you like this. Haha, it brings to mind how my late aunt often spoke of you. To me, Count Rosebell was like a hero straight out of a fairy tale.”

Count Rosebell accepted my proffered handshake with faintly uneasy eyes.

“Thank you for the praise beyond my station, Viscount Weatherwoods. But… have we met before? You seem familiar somehow.”

Sharp as ever, and we’d barely exchanged words.

A battle-hardened veteran’s instincts were no less formidable than a Sword Master’s. Old adages never miss the mark.

“No. We’ve never met. If my presumptuous familiarity offended you, I apologize.”

“…No. We’d simply lost touch over the years, but Weatherwoods and Rosebell remain close kin by marriage.”

Count Rosebell’s tone was clipped. His expression struck me as twice as frigid as when I’d first encountered him as Anderte.

‘The guy who scarfed down his daughter’s inheritance without ever showing his face—small wonder he’d be prickly.’

I got the sentiment, but it wasn’t my affair.

I wasn’t Viscount Weatherwoods, after all.

“I’m the one pleased to cross paths with the viscount like this. The lovely lady at your side is….”

“My wife, Morian Sereniye.”

“Married, then? Learning of it only now renders that ‘in-law’ mention rather hollow.”

“My apologies. There were circumstances.”

Come on, circumstances, he says—soften that icy glare a bit. What if the heir turned out to be an egg? What then? What if it was some magic artifact beyond even an egg? Huh?

“Gott Rosebell of Rosebell.”

Thank goodness Count Rosebell wasn’t the sort to menace some poor woman.

Even amid brutal warzones, he’d been dubbed the ‘Gentleman’s Sword.’ At the very least, when exchanging names with Lu, Count Rosebell was far warmer.

Lu responded with a bright, girlish smile.

“I’m Morian Sereniye. It’s a joy to meet the Allied Forces’ famed general.”

“Sereniye, you say?”

“From Astrosha Kingdom. My father is Count Sereniye.”

“Astrosha? One of the North Continent United Theocracy states? You’ve journeyed from afar.”

“For the man I love, I’d travel even farther.”

A faint smile tinged Count Rosebell’s eyes with bitterness. No doubt his late daughter came to mind.

With a brief sigh, he fixed his gaze on me.

“Viscount, everyone has their circumstances. But not everyone will understand them. At any rate, it’s a relief the Weatherwoods line endures. That said, not all will share that view—so tread carefully.”

“Thank you for the counsel.”

Count Rosebell turned and departed.

‘No hostility—good.’

That was plenty.

The cabin to which the crew escorted us was spacious and cozy. Bedroom, parlor, study—it felt like checking into a quaint villa.

After only transport airships, riding a luxury cruiser had me gasping in awe at every turn. And what’s more….

Knock knock.

“Ah! Such a pleasure to finally meet you, Viscount Weatherwoods.”

“My apologies for the unannounced visit, Viscount Weatherwoods. I’d been dying to meet you and couldn’t resist the impropriety.”

Why were so many people lining up to make introductions?

‘Is this the clout of a storied noble house?’

I did my level best as Viscount Weatherwoods to respond graciously and usher them out. Wonder if I pulled it off.

About then, the airship lifted off.

This vessel would make stops at three cities over the week before looping back to Ragal.

Peering at Ragal shrinking away amid spring’s fluffy white clouds stirred a peculiar mood.

How on earth had I wound up playing Viscount Weatherwoods?

‘The maid’s life… truly defies prediction.’

Knock knock.

The ninth knock.

I swung open the door, hospitable smile at full beam.

Thankfully, this visitor was a crew member.

“Good day, Viscount Weatherwoods. A Noble Assembly banquet is scheduled for this evening. Will you be attending?”

Noble Assembly banquet.

‘Viscount Weatherwoods’s first public appearance at the table… No harm in planting a favorable impression.’

I nodded at once.

“Of course.”

“We’ll come to escort you in four hours. Enjoy your time.”

Once the crew member left, I stretched out long. Hours of nonstop travel had left my body thoroughly fatigued.

Better catch a quick nap. Heading to the bedroom, I called to Lu.

“Wake me for dinner.”

Lu, who’d been mutely gazing out the window, nodded.

Perfect. Today, I’d shelve my maidly duties and snag a carefree snooze?

When I woke from that deep slumber.

It was the next morning.