CH 69

It was Thursday afternoon, and the sun was slowly sinking in the west…

At dusk, the three who left the restaurant were headed by Lou, while Fran and Nadia were walking side by side on the street.

“If we make that much noise, we might be banned from that restaurant.”

Caught by Fran’s wry smile, Nadia also opened her mouth with a sly smile.

“But, Francesca-sensei, I don’t regret it. I’m sorry to have bothered the other customers, but…it made today a special day for me.”

Nadia followed Lou’s figure with moist eyes.

Seeing her reaction, Fran was happy too.

“Yes. It’s not that I didn’t try to mold Lou, so I owe it to you, Nadia.”

“Uhahaha…”

“And now that we’re here, you can call me Fran outside of school. And when you call Lou, maybe you don’t need to address him ‘Sensei’ outside of school.”

“So…can I call you elder sister Fran? I only have a brother, so it’s new for me. I’m so happy to have a great sister!”

“Hahaha, nice to meet you. My lovely sister!”

“Actually, I omitted Sensei when I called Lou a little while ago. I-I’m sorry!”

Nadia confessed her feelings honestly and bowed meekly.

Fran felt suddenly attached to Nadia.

Lou was also glad to hear the two talking.

“Hey, you look like you’re having fun.

“Oh, Lo-Lou, I’m sorry about today. It’s just something, you know.”

“Un, forgive us. I didn’t want you to, you know, abandon us. So I just…”

While Fran and Nadia were clamming up, Lou smiled calmly as usual.

“No, I’m the one who’s sorry.”

“Huh? Lou?”

“W-Why are you sorry?”

Lou said, looking at Fran and Nadia who were confused.

“No, I didn’t really understand my feelings until now. But now that you guys have told me, I feel much better. For me, you guys are irreplaceable, precious ‘treasures’.”

“Your precious … treasures?!”

“Lou, how could you?! We’re going to cry if you say something like that to us.”

Lou said he was sorry he had to hear that from a woman.

Fran and Nadia heard that even in the village of the Arlv tribe where Lou grew up, it was common for a man to tell a woman that he loved her.

When Fran heard the Arlv word, she suddenly began to worry about Kelturi.

“Hey, Nadia … speaking of the Arlvs, I’m really worried about the Vice-Principal.”

“Un~ Sister Fran, I was just thinking about Giselle, too.”

Fran and Nadia looked at each other and let out a deep sigh at the same time.

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After sending Nadia to the dormitory of the Girls Magical Academy where she stayed…

Lou and Fran returned to the Count of Dumer’s residence.

Zeimon must have been thinking about the weekend’s ‘game’ all weekend.

Because they greeted him, who was wearing a toothy smile, when they got home.

They went to Adelaide, where she was holed up in her study.

Fran stood in front of her mother’s study, exhaled lightly, then knocked.

When she heard a voice giving her permission to enter, she opened the door and entered.

Adelaide seemed to be working at her desk in her study. She smiled and stood up, telling Lou and Fran to take a seat on the couch.

“Mother, I have something to report! It’s very important.”

After sitting, this was the first thing Fran said.

Adelaide saw her daughter speaking seriously, so she straightened up.

“Oh, Fran. What’s up? Fufufu, what’s going on with you and Lou?”

“Ew…”

Fran gave an inaudible yelp when her mother was right on target.

Adelaide had been watching over her beloved daughter all her life and wasn’t only a mother.

She was also a person of the same gender, so she could understand how it felt to be in love.

“So, are you guys getting married? I don’t mind. In fact I might even be all for it.”

In response to her mother’s surprising reaction, Fran clammed up.

“Well, we’re not going to get married yet, but…”

Adelaide laughed as Fran muttered sadly.

“Yeah, it’s pretty normal. You shouldn’t get married out of the blue…Then you should get engaged.”

“Yes! We’re engaged!”

For a change, Adelaide responded to her beloved daughter’s nodding with a smile.

But the matter didn’t end there.

“Actually, Mother, there’s one more thing…”

“What’s wrong?”

Adelaide asked quizzically, seeing her beloved daughter clamoring for words.

It was Lou who offered a helping hand here.

“I’ll explain it to you, Adelaide-san.”

He patted the slightly downcast Fran on the shoulder, looked Adelaide in the face, and began to speak.

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Even after Lou’s explanation was over…

Adelaide’s smile never faltered.　

“So … that Nadia is engaged to you as well?”

“Yeah, without a doubt. I want to protect both Fran and Nadia, they are both women I love and care for.”

Lou said to Adelaide firmly.

This was the expression of a man with an unwavering determination.

Adelaide stared at Lou.

With her superior insight and magical eye, she immediately recognized the situation.

Perhaps…

Lou didn’t approach them on his own.

With Fran and Nadia, he must have been ‘forced’.

But he had said that he wanted Fran and Nadia to be his spouses.

If he was unwilling to get married, she would have refused outright.

Adelaide was relieved and happy that her beloved daughter realized her love.

“Lou, this country allows polygamy. I’m pretty sure this is the same for the Arlvs.”

In response to Adelaide’s question, Lou gave a small nod.

Adelaide nodded as well and continued her speech.

“And that’s why I have no ethical problem with it…”

Adelaide smiled wickedly, “But,” she said.

“There are still some issues we need to clear up. Including what might happen after this.”

“Problems?”

“Yes, there are still problems.”

Adelaide remained smiling.

Her smile was a pep talk that said, Such a ‘problem’ should be easy to solve.

“The first being… persuadingErnest Charlois Nadia’s father, Viscount Ernest Charlois.”

“Convince Nadia-san’s father…”

“Yes, he might object because of your status as a commoner.”

“I understand. I’ll do my best to persuade him.”

“Good! And secondly, this kind of thing could happen again in the future.”

“What? Mother? This kind of thing will happen again?”

Fran was the one who reacted to her mother’s words.

Adelaide, on the other hand, looked at Fran and said.

“Yes, there’ll definitely be others. There must be others who could be like you or Nadia.”

“Ah!”

Hearing her mother’s words, Fran exclaimed.

Adelaide was right…

Fran recalled the events in the school, and gleaned a lot of ‘ideas’.

As Fran’s thoughts and feelings ran through her head, she became depressed and her expression became cloudy.

Fran turned gloomy, but Adelaide was as calm as could be.

“Oh, Fran, there’s no point in worrying about it now, is there?”

“We-Well…that’s true.”

“Lou is sincere. He would never neglect you or Nadia if he had more wives.”

“…”

“He’s a very talented wizard with a very promising future. He’s also a worthy man. I’m sure you’ll be just fine when it comes to that.”

At this point, Adelaide began to laugh as if she remembered something.

“Hahahaha, I heard that some ancient kings had a hundred wives, but I wonder…How many people do you think Lou will get?”

Adelaide continued chuckling happily beside Fran, who had a complex expression on her face…

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“Mother.”

“What is it, Fran?”

“I-I still have to talk to you about something else…”

Fran seemed to have remembered George.

She signaled Lou with her eyes.

She was not present at the scene.

She was signaling Lou, wanting him to explain everything to Adelaide.”

Lou nodded…

He said that he met George during the day when he was with Nadia.

And that he saved him from being roughed up by a street thug.

And then shared the subsequent events.

When Adelaide heard the incident…

She bowed to Lou, thanked him profusely, and sighed heavily.

“He’s, you know. He has a bit of magic power, but not much sense. He’s pretty average as a wizard.”

Adelaide was very clear with her own child.

No matter how close they were…

She was uncompromising when it came to magic and had a strict no favoritism attitude towards her son.

“That boy, George, is aware that his talents aren’t special. That’s why I suggested other paths besides wizardry for him… But he got more and more stubborn…”

From what Lou had heard, George was a noble and proud boy.

But as Adelaide let out a sigh, Lou’s usual ‘words’ echoed.

“Leave George to me.”

“Huh?”

“If I marry Fran, he’ll be my brother. Anything I can do to help, I will.”

“T-Thank you!”

Adelaide stood up involuntarily and shook Lou’s hand.

Fran also thanked Lou and hugged him from the back.

Adelaide smiled and said, “But Lou, if you could, could you just say it like you always do?”

Lou smiled and said, “Well, I’m on it!”

I hope that the encounter with Lou will open up new possibilities for George as well as Fran…

Adelaide uttered a ‘small wish’ when she heard Lou’s powerful promise.