"Hey wait a minute, Luca-san. Duke Inglacia? What's going on?"
Luca inadvertently pulled away when Rebecca was drawing closer to him. He got up from the chair and glimpsed at Elsa who was breathing calmly in her sleep. If she was sleeping then she would probably recover a lot by tomorrow.
However since she was sleeping, it meant that Luca couldn't expect her to help him out. Luca felt down when he thought about how much he relied on Elsa.
"Hey, I'm asking you something here."
Rebecca said in an angry tone, but it wasn't like she was actually angry. Her eyes showed that she was amused. It was harder for him to answer when she asks so curiously like that.
"…… She just retaliated when I got ahead of myself."
Despite omitting the details, Rebecca nodded as if saying, "Ah, I thought so".
"It's because you did something like that to a sick person."
No, a sick person wouldn't normally do that now, would they?
"Anyway, don't you have gynophobia?"
Gaius asked in confirmation and Luca nodded.
"Ah, but if it's Elsa then I'm fine."
Luca said as he turned towards the sleeping Elsa and stroked her hair. Rebecca and Gaius looked perplexed.
"…… I think I can spit out sugar right now."
"Me too."
Luca became dubious at the two who were saying such strange things.
"Humans can't spit out sugar, you know?"
Marquis Toraetta and his wife screamed, "Aaaaaaaaah" at Luca's extremely valid point.
"We meant something different! It's different!"
"Look, there's also that kind of meaning, isn't there? When you see something so sweet you want to vomit up sugar."
Luca who was listening to Gaius and Rebecca's desperate explanation said, "Oh".
"Is the current situation something like that?"
"You're too aloof from the affairs of the world!"
Rebecca relentlessly rebuked Luca. Rebecca was also like Elsa and said things in a straightforward manner. Therefore Luca was also fine around Rebecca to a certain degree.
Luca indicated that he understood what they were on about and Rebecca asked him with a sigh.
"Luca, do you like Elsa after all?"
"Ah, well I wonder if it's like that."
Rebecca must have not liked his reply because she said with an angry look on her face, "These two……!"
There was a knock on the door. Rebecca replied with "Yes" on behalf of everyone.
"Excuse me."
The head maid of the residence, Aleshia peeked into the door. She then entered the room and bowed.
"Is Elsa-sama…… Asleep?"
She confirmed and turned to the three guests.
"The Madam has asked if you would like to join her for tea."
For some reason, Luca felt an intimidating aura coming from the smiling Ashia. Well, even if he wasn't being threatened he wouldn't have refused an invitation from the Duchess Lombardini, Palmyra. Therefore, the three of them went to the salon where she was.
"Thank you for coming to visit Elsa while she's sick."
Palmyra said while smiling. She didn't look much like Elsa, since Elsa took after her father.
"It's fine. We were free anyways."
Rebecca replied. By the way Luca who was positioned at the court didn't have that much free time, he had made time to visit Elsa, but he didn't want to tell them that. It was redundant.
"I never thought that Elsa would come down with a fever."
Rebecca said. It was an awful thing to say but Palmyra smiled and answered.
"That's true. She's always fine even though everyone around her is sick with the cold. Was she tired from doing something she wasn't used to?"
…… Her mother was also cruel. However everyone's impression of Elsa was mostly like this.
"Mhm ~, mother."
Daniele, the youngest child of Duke Lombordini, quietly came into the salon. He, who was going to be studying at Fillure University when the social season opened, was so handsome that it made one think that he should have given some of that beauty to Elsa. No, Elsa was by no means ugly. She looked very intelligent and had good features but she was nowhere as good looking as Daniele.
Well, even if she was somewhat lacking, Luca felt as if he preferred her like that.
"Ah, you're here."
Palmyra beckoned at her son. Luca thought that those two looked very alike.
"Thank you for visiting us, Duke Inglacia, Marquis and Marquess Toraetta."
Daniele thanked them while bowing at the perfect angle. As expected of someone from Duke Lombardini's household. Manners were perfectly drilled into them. Even Elsa had perfected her mannerism even though she didn't appear in front of the high society much. Well, everything except for her personality.
"Thank you for having us, Daniele."
Luca greeted him with a smile on behalf of everyone. He had the highest social position out of the group.
"I wonder if my son can stay? He will be debuting in this year's social season."
"Of course."
Luca nodded. Aristocrat children mostly debuted around the ages of 15 or 16, but after they enter a higher education establishment they rarely appear in front of the high society. As a result, high society debuts often happened around the ages of 18, when higher education has been completed.
"Marquis Toraetta. Is your father well?"
Palmyra asked Gaius. Gaius wore a guise while in front of Duchess Lombordini.
"Yes. My mother gets disheartened every time he's busy so he turned the title over to me, but now he's saying that 『It might have been too early』."
"I'm glad he's doing fine. I'm on good terms with your mother so I was worried when I heard he'd retired."
"You are also close with the Duke, are you not Palmyra?"
"Fufufu, I wonder?"
It's hopeless. Palmyra laughed amusingly and Luca couldn't tell what she was thinking. Is this what they mean by an older person's wisdom?
"Rebecca-san, your children are well… Are they not?"
"Yes. They are very energetic. I wonder if I'm disciplining them wrong."
For some reason Rebecca started asking for advice with a serious expression on her face. Palmyra laughed and answered.
"It's a child's job to play."
She was truly a mother of six. A strong woman.
"Duke Inglacia. Are your parents well?"
Luca thought that it would be his turn soon and it really happened. For the time being, Luca nodded.
"Yes. It seems that my parents are living their lives leisurely in the territory."
He received a report with that information. Luca rarely visited the territory so he didn't know.
"Is that so……? Will they not be appearing in front of the high society this year either?"
"…… I'm sorry. I also can't predict what my parents would do."
They changed plans often, sometimes when he went home from the royal court they would be there and sometimes they had already gone back to the territory by the time he got home. There were also times when they didn't tell him that they would attend the evening parties and he would see them there.
"That's true…… We were going to have an evening party here so I was wondering if they would attend."
Palmyra sighed. Luca had an unpleasant premonition but he couldn't explain it well so he remained silent.
Still the territory owned by Duke Inglacia was a distance away from the royal capital. Luca had already received the invitation but he doubt that he could make it in time if he departed now.
"Well, there's always next time."
Luca answered and Palmyra said, "Next year would be good, wouldn't it?"
By the way, during that time Rebecca and Gaius were having an entertaining conversation with Daniele.
Luca was relieved that it looked like Elsa had recovered and returned to his residence in the royal capital. Then he noticed that the inside of the mansion was noisy.
"What's going on?"
When he called out to Clarissa by chance, she said, "Oh, the Master has returned". He had thought this before but Master of the house didn't receive good treatment.
"Actually ―――."
"Ah. You've returned, Luca."
He heard a strict voice and looked towards the top of the stairs. A woman who looked to be in the same generation as Palmyra, the Duchess of Lombardini who he had just met, stood with dignity.
"Mo-mother."
"I heard that you went to the Lombardini household. You didn't mess anything up, did you?"
"I didn't…… Why are you here mother?"
"Your father is also here."
His mother, Lorena said casually. She was a slender woman who was as strict as she looked but she was a loving mother.
"…… Aren't you leisurely enjoying your time at the territory?"
At least that was what Luca had heard. Lorena nodded.
"Yes. But my son who is afraid of woman and doesn't feel like getting married is going out with a woman."
Luca was surprised that the rumour that he and Elsa were 『dating』had reached that far. He was really surprised.
She received an invitation for the evening party by chance from Duke Lombardini while she was worrying over Luca, so she headed over. Palmyra had already struck a deal with her.
"Elsa, the second daughter of Duke Lombardini, is a talented woman who teaches at a university and even presented a paper at the academic conference. She's a little bit older than the other young ladies but she's a reliable person. So she might be just right for you."
"…… It's as if you are saying I'm not reliable."
"You're saying you are?"
Well, Elsa might be more reliable. Wait a minute.
"So does that mean that mother and father will also be attending Duke Lombardini's evening party?"
"Of course."
Lorena nodded firmly and Luca became troubled. Even though Luca had sown the seeds himself, he felt as if other people were laying out the groundwork.
I’ve been so busy with work lately, sorry for the late chapter! I think I’ll be behind schedule for awhile… Also I will be dropping Wordmaster. I just can’t seem to find the motivation to translate it. It was a very hard decision but probably for the best….
If you want to join me on and chat <3