CH 145

Tauro and Aeris decided to stay at “Bacchus Pavilion” an inn recommended by the Garfish Trading Company.

At night, Aeris went to Tauro’s room.

She seemed to want to talk, so he let her in.

He sat Aeris down on the chair provided, offered her some water and sat across the table from her.

“…Thank you, Tauro.”

“Don’t thank me yet. It’s just beginning.”

“I know, but I was worried about the future. No, I wasn’t. I think I was hoping that while I was gone, my mother would change her mind and break up with Uwakin. But she didn’t. On the contrary, he is using the Van Dyne family name with impunity. Once again, I knew that I would never be able to get back together with that man…”

Aeris sighed as she said this.

“Is your mother going to remarry and take over the Marquis family or something?”

Tauro had one question.

He thought that if she remarried Uwakin and Aeris died, the marquis would belong to Aeris’s mother.

But instead of doing so, she’s trying to bring Aeris back.

“It’s as simple as that. My father disappeared in a dungeon and I think he died there, but his body hasn’t been found yet. So if it can’t be confirmed, the death certificate will be accepted only after five years of grace, so they thought it would be easier procedurally to inherit the title and transfer the marquisate to me and remarry Uwakin rather than wait that long.”

“…And you will be their puppet to wield power as they see fit.”

“She is still a marchioness, and her authority as a marquess remains as long as my father is missing, so she can do whatever she wants. Perhaps if a child were born between them, I would be easily eliminated as an obstacle.”

Aeris said ominously to herself.

“No, don’t say things like flags.”

“A flag?”

“Yeah, it’s a bad omen. You know, sometimes what you say comes true, so you shouldn’t say ominous things.”

“Right. I’ll be careful.”

Tauro had to prevent Aeris’s imagination from becoming a fact.

But then a thought occurred to him.

What if Aeris was right and a child was born to her mother and Uwakin? He wondered.

Isn’t there a possibility that they could pretend that the child is the child of the missing Aeris, and make Aeris disappear to keep her mouth shut?

Aeris hasn’t reached adulthood yet, but in this world, it’s not uncommon for a minor to conceive a child, so it’s an excuse that can be used as an appropriate reason for the world.

Tauro felt that he had to take action as soon as possible to prevent this from happening.

The next morning.

A messenger came from the Garfish Trading Company.

He came to tell them that the meeting with Count Connoen, the Commander of the King’s guard, had been decided for noon.

“I understand. The place is the headquarters of the King’s guard. Thank you very much.”

Tauro thanked the messenger and told Aeris about it.

“So, after breakfast, can we drop by the Adventurer’s Guild?”

“Okay, but what are we going to the guild for?”

“I’d like to make a request for an investigation of the Van Dyne family.”

“Investigation?”

“Yeah, even you don’t know the latest information, right? So I thought we’d check on the Van Dyne family as they are now.”

“Yes. It’s been more than a year since I left home, so I think it’s better to find out. Well, let’s go to the guild after we finish breakfast.”

After saying that, they went downstairs to the dining room to eat.

By the time the two of them went through the procedure to discuss the request and contents in detail at the guild, it was almost noon.

“I think we’d better head to the headquarters of the Kings guard.”

“Yeah, let’s keep going.”

The two of them left the guild and boarded a short-distance carriage in front of them, one of the transportation networks in the royal capital, after asking about their destination.

It was like a bus in a previous life.

It had a blue top, and there was always a stop in front of a prominent building in the capital.

There were other people on the bus, so we sat down in the middle of the crowd.

The speed of the ride was only better than walking, but it was certainly a very convenient way to get around in this large city.

“I’m getting nervous, I wonder if I’ll be okay…”

Aeris spoke out in an unusually weak tone as she swayed in the carriage.

“We’re just going to meet and talk, it’ll be fine.”

Tauro soothed and encouraged Aeris.