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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Bobto
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Upon hearing the Marquis’ words, the Duke spoke in a thin, hoarse voice before long.
“Raise your head.”
In line with those words, the Marquis and I, who were kneeling on one knee, raised our heads to look at the Duke’s face.
The Duke’s face, which looked well over 60 years old, had deep wrinkles, his eyes were slightly hazy, and powder was scattering a little, as if he had applied powder, or perhaps he had actually applied powder.
It seemed he had deliberately done such a ridiculous powder makeup to hide his poor health condition.
Looking at such a Duke, the Marquis spoke in a slightly choked voice, full of concern.
“Your Grace the Duke, you must recover soon. After that, you should go to the battlefield with me, holding a lance, just like in the old days, shouldn’t you?”
Hearing those words, the Duke chuckled with a phlegm-filled voice and replied.
“I miss those days. Yes, at that time, you struck the enemy’s helmet with a mace, but it missed and you almost died.
I saved you then, didn’t I?”
“That’s right, so that night, didn’t I come to see you with the wine I cherished the most?
I brought that wine again this time.
I hope you can regain your strength soon so we can drink it together.
Your Grace the Duke.”
“Ha, to think the day would come when this young lad would say such admirable words.
When you live a long life, you experience all sorts of things.”
Hearing those words, the Marquis bowed his head again and quietly said,
“It is an honor.”
And the Duke patted my shoulder behind the Marquis and said,
“Are you Paul’s son?”
“Yes, that’s right.
Ciel von Kreutel, the son and successor of Paul von Kreutel.”
“You’re polite, that’s how a young man should be.
When your father came with your grandfather, he also shouted loudly, ‘Yes, I am the son of Helmut von Kreutel!’
That wasn’t bad either, though.”
“Is that so? Your Grace the Duke.”
“That’s how it was. Well, anyway, do your best as a vassal of our House of Nantes, just like your father.
Since my son is about your age, get along well with him. You may leave now.”
Following the Duke’s order of dismissal, I carefully stood up and left the audience room to move to the quarters assigned to me.
**
Duke Nantes and Marquis Kreutel were very close.
As we saw even during the audience just now, they were close enough to have ridden horses side by side and fought on the same battlefield.
Moreover, on that battlefield, Duke Nantes had saved Marquis Kreutel, who was in a life-threatening situation, so that says it all.
Perhaps because of that, despite the fact that in an official summoning and audience, they usually try to talk about only official matters as much as possible, the two of them were having a private conversation.
And judging from the fact that the Duke indirectly told me just a moment ago that “the Duke’s son is about my age”…
Although there is actually almost a 10-year age difference…
Well, anyway, the Duke will now wipe off his makeup, hold the Marquis’ hand, and say this.
“I have become so frail, and all I have left is my youngest son.
Please take good care of him, and since your son happens to be about the same age as him, couldn’t they become close like us?
If it’s the successor of the Kreutel Marquis family, no, your child, who has faithfully served me for years, I can trust and rely on him more than anyone else.
I ask this of you.”
Then the Marquis will now reply while crying.
“How could there be any objection?
Since my child happens to be more excellent than me, if he joins forces with the young master, he will surely show a splendid appearance while Your Grace the Duke is still alive.
Don’t worry and just live a long and healthy life.”
After having such a moving conversation, they will stay up all night talking and drinking the wine the Marquis brought.
In a normal case, it would be a good choice for both the Duke who makes such a request and the Marquis who accepts this request, but…
Along with a knock on the door, someone’s voice was heard from outside.
“Sir Ciel von Kreutel.”
“Yes, who is it?”
“I am Knight Pence Striker.
The young master personally wishes to see you, so could you come out?”
As expected, this strange friend, who is well engraved in my memory, is doing strange things again.
Usually, unless I am a peasant or of some lowly origin, since it is our first meeting, if he is a noble with a decent amount of common sense and reason, he would call for me during the day.
Because in this era, traveling by carriage is an extremely tiring task that requires rest, and here, it is common for everyone to sleep when the sun sets.
Even modern people who never sleep before 10 p.m.
rarely send messages after 10 p.m. unless it’s unavoidable.
However, even if the young master who called for me did something strange, I cannot refuse from the position of a vassal.
“I’ll go. But I’m in my sleepwear right now, so could you wait a moment?”
“Of course.”
**
I changed my clothes and headed to another mansion where the Duke’s son was waiting.
It was about a 30-minute walk from here, so on the way there, I asked Pence, who was guiding me, about the Duke’s son, and as expected, he told me a story almost identical to the information I already knew.
He values manly duels and bravery as a knight, and as someone who respects honor, he is quite passionate about chivalric literature.
He has the complete collection of “The Tale of Knight Cuirassier,” which is said to be popular in the current Elaine Empire, and even had his own armor made in the exact design worn by Cuirassier.
Moreover, since chivalric literature does not consider it a flaw at all for knights to be fond of women, this person is also quite fond of women.
In addition, he cannot resist delicious food such as meat, wine, various snacks, cakes, and bread…
It’s really the worst.
To be precise, if he enjoyed such things while keeping at least a minimum line, I wouldn’t despise him to that extent, but the problem is that even though he does that…
Knight Pence, who had been talking with me like that, suddenly stopped walking in front of a luxurious mansion and said,
“Here in the drawing room, Young Master Schwein is waiting.
Please enter through the main gate and follow the maid’s guidance.
Thank you for responding to the call at such a late hour, Sir.”
“Thank you, Pence.”
With those words, the main gate opened and a maid came out to guide me.
After walking for a while following that maid, the drawing room where Schwein would be waiting soon appeared.
The maid knocked on the door, waited for a moment, and said,
“Young Master, Sir Ciel von Kreutel has arrived.”
In time with those words, the door opened, and I entered through that door, knelt on one knee in front of the man I saw, lowered my head, and said,
“I pay my respects to Young Master Schwein von Nantes.”
Normally, even if he is the son of Duke Nantes, my liege lord, it goes against propriety to show such respect to someone who has no title yet, but…
Schwein, who was in front of me, said with a smile,
“Very polite indeed.
Yes, I am Schwein von Nantes, the person who will become your liege lord in the future.”
“It is an honor to meet you like this.”
“Raise your head.”
I raised my head in time with those words.
His appearance, which I saw after raising my head, was truly a sight to behold.
As if the only physical activity he did was womanizing, it was difficult to find any trace of muscle on his body, and his neck and face were simply one, as if they were originally connected.
So much so that his cheeks were buried in his eyes.
His hands also looked round with fat fingers, like a rat from The Nutcracker.
The buttons on the clothes he was wearing looked as if they were screaming, “Save me. I think I’m going to burst and fly off soon.”
For a moment, I almost burst out laughing, but I held it in as much as possible.
Then Schwein smiled and offered me wine poured in a glass.
“When other sons of marquis families or influential knight families first see me, they don’t show this level of politeness, so I felt a little displeased, but you are very well-mannered.
I’m in a good mood.
So let’s drink some wine.
How about this wine? It’s a 15-year-old.”
“It will be an honor.”
I drank the wine in the glass Schwein handed me.
A deep aroma of grapes, sourness, and a slight bitterness entered my mouth and tickled it.
It tasted much better than I expected and had a deep aroma, so I unintentionally blurted out my impression.
“It’s delicious.
This is the first time I’ve tasted a wine with such a deep aroma and rich flavor.”
Hearing those words, Schwein said with a smile,
“Judging from that reaction, it seems you haven’t had much wine of this level. Have a lot.”
“Thank you.”
After drinking like that and continuing the small talk for an hour, Schwein’s face had already turned bright red as if he was completely drunk.
He occasionally burped while drunk, and the way he burped was like a pig from some game.
While burping like that, Schwein said with a serious expression,
“So, by the way, do you have a woman you like?”
For a moment, I almost fainted from the absurdity, but I managed to hold on to my senses and replied,
“Haha, there is a child I cherish in the territory.”
“I see. That’s a pity… *burp*… I brought a nice girl from the brothel…
I was going to give her to you if you liked her…”
If he weren’t my future liege lord, I would have wanted to tell him to his face to please install something called common sense, but I tried hard to hold back.
I couldn’t afford to clash with this person in front of me yet, and the time had not yet come.
“No matter what, isn’t it troublesome for a noble to have such a relationship before a marriage engagement?
Even if it’s an introduction from you, Young Master.”
As I said, ordinary nobles usually do not have relationships until “before the first child is born from marriage or before marriage” unless it’s unavoidable.
Because in this world where contraceptive technology is not developed, if something goes wrong and a woman happens to become pregnant, it can lead to complications in the succession of the heir.
Hearing those words, Schwein seemed to think my words made sense, so he nodded and said,
“Hmm… Well, it’s not wrong.
Alright, go and rest now. If there’s anything you need, think about it slowly and tell me.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
As I said that and was about to leave, I heard Schwein mutter to himself as if muttering to my back.
“There must be giving and taking to be able to trust.”
He lives immersed in food, women, and alcohol, and on top of that, he is very suspicious, so how can one trust such a person as a liege lord?
**
I stayed in the County for a week.
During that week, I often met the marquises and their successors under Duke Nantes.
Sometimes we drank alcohol and enjoyed food at banquets, and occasionally we visited each other’s assigned quarters to have tea and share our ambitions and plans.
The majority answered, “I will do my best as a vassal and knight of Duke Nantes,” and I also answered with the same words to match the atmosphere.
And finally, the day came when the Duke’s summoning of his vassals was lifted and everyone returned to their own territories.
At the last banquet before returning to the territory, when the banquet was winding down, the Duke called the attention of all the vassals of the families and said,
“I, Ripenheim von Nantes, hereby declare that as of this moment, I will pass on my title to my son and legitimate successor, Schwein von Nantes.
Although I have not yet received His Majesty’s approval, I command all my vassals to serve him as the legitimate Duke of the County of Nantes from this moment on.
Also, if there is anyone with objections, come forward with integrity.”
Of course, no one directly stepped forward to raise an objection to these words.
And as of that day, the lord of this land and my liege lord changed from Ripenheim von Nantes to Schwein von Nantes.
According to my memories from my previous life, this territory begins to sink into a quagmire from this point on.
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