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Note: Not edited. Can’t seem to get a hold of my editor, Rin, so this chapter will be updated later on once I’m able to get a hold of her.
Hi everyone! So if you notice, this is Chapter 2, Part 1. Chapter 1 was also divided into parts. However, just wanted to point out that this isn’t me splitting up the chapters into parts but me following the web novel chapters. So I guess it’s more like Arc 2, Chapter 1 but I labelled it this way because that’s how it’s labelled on the web novel.
If you’re still confused, you can view the table of contents. The chapter titles are kind of spoilers though so watch out. Sorry NU bot for having confusing chapter titles. I don’t know how to fix how you read my stuff.
Please read this. I’ve posted this many many many times (But not on all posts because I sometimes forget plus it is already written on the footer of the website which people apparently don’t read.) but still people end up re-translating from English to another language. Do not re-translate any of the projects on this site from English translation into another language. Feel free to re-translate from the Japanese source to another language though. The reasons for this are: 1) Because this is just machine translation (plus whatever little knowledge I have) and so it’d be bad to re-translate from a poor quality source. 2) I do not think it’d be good to have it go through translation twice. Know the term “lost in translation”? Having it translated once, you already lose a bit of the feeling of the original story since you have to compensate for things that don’t carry over in translation properly. I don’t really want to see a translation done through a second degree (especially with me in the middle). Also, do not repost! This is a free service and I want it to remain that way so don’t repost this elsewhere, especially places that require you to login on a forum or go through ads. On that note, I have no idea if this page shows ads. Probably, because I’m just using a free wordpress website, but note that I do not gain any money from any ads. PS. Join our or if you feel like it.「Oh, it’s just you.」
When he visited Isaak, Isaak responded as if he was troubled instead of greeting him.
「What is with that greeting? Are you disappointed that I wasn’t Claudia?」
「……I didn’t say that.」
Isaak glared at Ralph with a complicated expression when Ralph grinned and smiled at him.
「So, is your body alright?」
Just a few hours ago, Ralph had received word that Claudia unleashed an explosion and Isaak had directly received it. Isaak acted as if it was nothing and merely shrugged.
「As you can see.」
Ralph was glad and grinned widely at him.
「Above all, it is good that you are healthy. As expected, the only person I thought I could entrust Claudia to was you. Recommending you was worth it.」
Recommended. With that word, Isaak’s movements stilled.
「……So then, it was you after all.」
Three days ago, Isaak had returned from the expedition and Alexis’ disappearance was reported to all parties.
And then yesterday, Lord Rosenheim had paid a visit to the Lambertz family. There were discussions of making Isaak, Claudia’s fiancee.
『The eldest son, Isaak, will become my daughter’s groom: is it difficult afterall?』
『No, it isn’t like that. It’s just that, after all, if it is against the will of the person himself――』
『Father¹.』
『Isaak, I already understand. I know that you have no intention of marrying.』
『No. If it’s alright with Father¹, then you may accept.』
『……What!?』
With that, the matter was settled and Isaak went to meet Claudia.
Though there were still other candidates, Ralph never even considered them. As far as Ralph was concerned, it was already a given.
「You can thank me.」
「……Why should I?」
Ralph looked as if he was proud of himself, making Isaak feel like he wanted to punch him.
「You have been thinking about Claudia all this time, haven’t you? As a man.」
「Haa!?」
「It was obvious. But you couldn’t mention it in front of Alex.」
「H-hold on――」
「That’s why I had gone ahead and recommended you to Father¹ and Brother².」
「Wait!」
Isaak had raised his voice towards Ralph, but he was reined back as the inside of Isaak’s head blanked out and refused to start up.
「What’s wrong, Isaak?」
「Ahー……」
「Well, calm down. Don’t be flustered.」
「I-I’m not flustered!」
「By the way, I think Alex noticed. Even though you didn’t say anything.」
「Wh……」
「Before bidding farewell, what did Alex say to you?」
「…………」
Isaak held his breath. He remembered his goodbyes to his friend.
「……I entrust Claudia to you.」
「Isn’t it so?」
「……I told him to stop. He had a fiancé so he shouldn’t mess around. Even so, that idiot――」
「Alex may have seemed quiet, but once he decides something, he will not withdraw. Although I still believe he should have found another way to go about it. Well, Alex is how Alex is.」
「About Claudia, I believe that he thought he could have a peace of mind if he entrusted her to you.」
「……Is it because of me?」
「Ha?」
「Because of me, Alex――」
「What are you talking about? Are you an idiot?」
Haa!? Before Isaak could retort, Ralph continued on talking with a serious look.
「Alex met the saint. Then he choose to separate with Claudia. By no means was it because he was holding back on you. 」
「……I guess so.」
Isaak said with a sigh while roughly ruffling his head.
Ralph saw that Isaak was acting like usual again and grinned broadly at him while his sapphire eyes, similar to Claudia, shone brightly.
「So then, I want to know.」
「……What is it?」
「The reason why Claudia won’t forgive you.」
「You, that, is it normal to ask with that kind of face?」
「Am I not allowed to worry? I’m going to become your brother-in-law after all.」
「……You as a brother-in-law? I’m going to get seriously angry.」
While saying so, Isaak looks back to the past. He immediately recalls the reason why Claudia won’t forgive him.
That was a bitter memory that always left Isaak feeling troubled whenever he thought about it.
TN/EN:
Father¹ ⇒ Chichiue. There are two ways to call one’s parents. Chichiue/Hahaue or Otou-sama/Okasama. You usually use the former when addressing your parents in front of others to sort of downplay their importance as a sign of humility. This would translate to something like “My humble father/mother” versus “My esteemed father/mother”. Brother² ⇒ Ani. Same like above. It’s a more humble form of onii-sama. Also more commonly used by boys (Aniue/Aniki). The forms don’t really matter much in this case but I thought I’d mention it anyways.♦ ♥ ♥ ♦