CH 72

Chapter 72 – The merchant’s identity and swimsuits (Nazelbert’s Point of View)

After solving the case in the town of Cattena, Nazelbert and the others returned to their residence in the center of town. After the various matters had been dealt with, Count Apeau and Baron Quiggionne were stripped of their nobility and placed in a felon's prison in Sutrena, along with those who had been involved.

The Count of Apeau would be succeeded by his young son, and until he grew up, he would be assisted by the second prince, who was sent at the king's request. There may be another trick to the prince's manipulation of the situation.

Meanwhile, the Quiggionne family, which is made up entirely of daughters, has no heir, and since the title is only for one generation, the remaining family members have no choice but to go out to work. All the ill-gotten gains have been confiscated, and the baron's lavish house has been sold to Belle.

It is hard to imagine what the future holds for the three girls who came to interview for the maid position, but they are well educated as aristocrats, so if they change their minds, they will have no trouble finding work.

The noble sons and daughters of the minor nobility who had gathered at the baron's mansion had been lavish with their parent's money, but they had not been directly involved in any wrongdoing. Although they were not captured, the crimes of the other nobles came to light one after another as they investigated Baron Quignonne's extra crimes, and the heads of the families were captured one after another.

Their families generally followed the same path as the barons.

Among other things, Nazelbert, Agnes, Torre, and Tony's measures against magical beasts were successful, and the number of magical beasts in the town of Cattena was greatly reduced.

Since then, Lilianne was also sent to a facility for petty criminals and began a life of working like a commoner.

Since the facility allows visitors freely, Torre is already fidgety and restless.

He wonders if he should warn Torre later so that he does not bother her too often.

After busily traveling back and forth between the town of Cattena, the fort, and the mansion, the day finally came when he could take a rest.

Nazelbert had decided to rest at all costs for that day. Recently, he had not been able to spend much time alone with his wife, Agnes.

Sutrena, located at the southern tip of the Desnim country, has a slightly different climate from other areas with four distinct seasons.

The climate was warm throughout the year and was divided into a dry season with fine weather and a rainy season with heavy rainfall in the morning and evening.

The dry season has now ended and the rainy season is just around the corner, and the temperature is higher during the rainy season.

Nazelbert sat on a chair on the terrace, looking at the sunny garden after the rain.

Agnes was letting Jenni, a wyvern, play in the pool that the former lord had built in the garden.

A fenced-in Dunk watched from a short distance away.

Dunk, the Grani, seems to have gotten used to Agnes and is occasionally given carrots and treated well. However, he was still wary of Nazelbert, who had captured him.

"Lord Nazel! Have you finished your work?"

Agnes noticed him and ran up to Nazelbert with a smile.

Seeing her, or more precisely, her attire, Nazelbert stiffened as he sat down.

The breast part of her blouse was soaked with pool water, and her undershirt was showing through.

"Agnes put this jacket on!"

"Yes? But Lord Nazel's jacket will get wet."

"Of course! Kelly, get Agnes a swimsuit as soon as possible, and make sure it's not too revealing."

These days, it is the norm for the nobility of the royal city of Desnim to play in swimming pools, and swimsuits are especially popular among young people.

Kelly, waiting quietly in a remote location, replied perfectly, "The swimsuits have been measured and ordered, and will be delivered tomorrow."

Agnes is not interested in the aristocratic situation, she probably just wanted to let Jenni play. Once Dunk gets used to it, they may start playing in the water together.

"Wouldn't you like to bathe with us, Lord Nazel? It'll cool you down, won't it?"

His lovely wife gives him a sparkling look. Nazelbert caved in in a second.

"Let's go!"

Let's bathe!

And so Nazelbert spent a fulfilling rest day at the pool with Agnes.

The next day, Agnes, whose bathing suit had arrived safely, began to let Jenni and Dunk play in the pool. It was slightly different from the way it was supposed to be used, but Nazelbert was fine with it because his wife seemed to be enjoying it.

※

The next day, an incident shook Nazelbert's calm in his office at the mansion when he heard that Belle had come to deliver Agnes's swimsuit.

Kelly had told him she had placed the order, but he had no idea she had asked him to do it.

Even though there were few merchants on the frontier, he felt that the person they were having dealings with was a bit too overrepresented.

Nazelbert considers that there seems to be a rather thick connection between Kelly and them.

"There are no swimwear stores for the nobility in Sutrena, though, so the merchants we deal with are limited. But still..."

Nazelbert was curious about Belle.

He was a merchant, but he looked a lot like someone he had met a long time ago.

The more he thought about it, the more likely it was him.

Therefore, after returning from the town of Cattena, Nazelbert confirmed the fact with a mutual acquaintance. And――

"...... I didn't realize it was him."

It turned out that the merchant Belle was a temporary disguise for the first prince, Bertrand, in the royal capital.

In the first place, the first and last time Nazelbert and Bertrand met was when he went up to the castle for his royal education. Bertrand, who was frail, was very ill and rarely left his room.

These days, he is bedridden all the time and cannot even go in and out of his room, except for his wife, with whom he had a political marriage. I heard that his condition was that bad.

So, he was not involved in the struggle for the throne and was forgotten by many of the people.

"Was this all a lie?"

The prince was disguised as a merchant and was making a good living on the frontier. In particular, he was in charge of handling the aftermath of Baron Quiggionne's affair, so he must have made a considerable profit.

At the same time, we could guess that he was the person behind the second prince.

Leonardo, the second prince, is indifferent to others, thinking that as long as his life is safe, nothing else matters. Although this was part of his survival strategy since he lost his backing as soon as he was born, he was very unreliable as the second prince.

However, Leonardo has recently started to form a faction.

Nazelbert has felt uncomfortable ever since he was invited to Alard's house by the second prince.

So today, he is thinking of catching Belle and asking her what is going on.

He is also concerned about Agnes' swimsuit, but first, he wants to know why he is in Sutrena as a merchant.

As soon as he got up to go and check, the door to his office was knocked on.

"Lord Nazel?"

Nazelbert heard his wife's voice coming from the other side of the door, so he made a short run for the door.

"What's the matter, Agnes?"

He was about to say something when Nazelbert's sanity and reason almost flew beyond the stars.

Agnes, standing in front of him, is wearing a brand-new swimsuit. Moreover, it is a very revealing type of swimsuit, with the cloth divided into upper and lower sections.

"How do you like it, does it suit me? It's not the one I bought, Belle gave it to me as a gift. He told me to have Lord Nazel take a look at it......"

"That bastard."

Nazelbert's words make Agnes look uneasy.

"Do you not like it?"

"I like it a lot! Agnes is pretty no matter what she wears."

After hugging his wife tightly, Nazelbert took her to Belle, who was currently in the guest room.