CH 31.2

Another few minutes passed, and then another dozen.

But Ren, sensing her feelings, didn’t try to force her to talk. He waited patiently for her to open up on her own.

After a few minutes, she shook her body.

She opened her mouth for the first time in a long time.

“……Hey, Ren…”

She surprised Ren by unexpectedly calling out.

“Yes, what is it?”

Ren hid his surprise and said without pointing out the change in the way she called him.

His tone of voice was as gentle as possible, slow enough not to rush her into continuing.

“Why? My father worked so hard all these years, why is this happening to him?”

“……It’s because Viscount Givens was the culprit.”

“No, that’s not what I mean….”

Licia said.

She knew that Viscount Givens was the culprit.

“My father has done so much for Leomel, why should he be treated like this?”

“That is —-“

“What have we done ……? It’s true that I may have been young and foolish. But my father doesn’t deserve to be treated like this.”

Licia’s shoulders tremble in front of Ren’s eyes.

“Viscount Givens’ aggressive behavior is strange, no matter how one looks at it. It shouldn’t be reasonable, but how can he be allowed to behave in such a way that doesn’t make sense….?”

Even the repeated words showed weakness.

But.

(—- Naturally)

Licia who is with me is still a young girl.

She’s not the Saint Licia of the legend of the Seven Heroes. Absolutely.

“I don’t understand what nobles mean anymore…….”

Finally, Licia’s shoulders shook and she burst into tears.

The tears dripped onto Ren’s arms, which were turned to hold the reins and along with her trembling, she never stopped telling him how sad she was.

It was a painful and sad sight.

But Ren didn’t have an answer to Licia’s question.

Still, he didn’t want to ignore it.

So, almost subconsciously, he let go of the reins and patted Licia on the head.

Not in the way a lover would do it, but in the gentle way a brother would do it to his sister.

“……Ren?”

The hair is still dirty from not being bathed in hot water, and there’s no trace of the silky sheen it used to have.

For Licia, she didn’t want her hair touched like this.

In the first place, it’s not something that should be easily touched even in normal times.

“If anything….. Please stroke it properly”

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

The next morning, shortly after sunrise, Viscount Givens arrived in the town of Clausel.

At first glance, he appeared to be a man of mature years, a gentleman with carefully coiffed gray hair and beard.

However, despite his appearance, he’s a man of great talent and even great ambition. As a member of the aristocracy belonging to the Heroic Faction, he’s determined to expand the power of this faction.

“Viscount.”

His knight called out to him as he rode his horse down the main street of the town.

“It’s time.”

“—-Yes. For the sake of the future of our heroic faction, we must surely bring down the House of Clausel.”

“When we have accomplished this, I’m sure that all who share our ambitions will rejoice.”

“Exactly… This territory is the place between our heroes and the royalists. By conquering this land, we are certain to expand the power of our heroic faction.”

“If that opponent is the Clausel family, then we’ll be able to control the territory near the imperial capital as well.”

Viscount Givens nodded in reply.

“If it were possible, I would have liked to embrace the Clausel family as well.”

“You’re correct. But they’re the ones who have refused to budge no matter how many times the viscount has tried. We’ll have no choice but to suppress them by force.”

As they exchanged words, the viscount suddenly thought back.

He brought his horse slightly closer to the knight and said to the knight in a stealthy voice: 

“In order to rebirth the declining Leomel, we must drive out the royalists. And I will punish those foolish traitors who call themselves neutral. Such opportunism is the bane of the aristocracy.”

The knight felt a sense of reassurance as he looked at Viscount Givens, who had said these words strongly.

“But still, Viscount.” 

“What is it?”

“…… why are you so obsessed with Ren Ashton? He’s a promising boy, but I don’t think he’s worth all that trouble.”

Viscount Givens chuckled and looked up to the heavens.

“Viscount, I hope you don’t mind my asking, but how could Ren Ashton be worth more than a saint —-“

“It is what it is.”

“—-!”

Beside Viscount Givens, who said this in a biting tone, the knight opened his eyes.

The overwhelming confidence in his voice, which never seems to be a deception, gives a clear sense of reason.

“The presence of the saint is no different and is material for my later negotiations with Baron Clausel. But did you think that would be enough for me to make a strong stand?”

Viscount Givens said with a smile on his face.

“I only want one person, Ren Ashton. The Clausel family is just an incidental matter. It’s enough just to pressure the parent.”

“Why? He may have a promising future, but he’s only the son of a country knight!”

“Everyone will say that. But I, only I, know that it is wrong.”

His voice is more confident than before.

It was even more powerful and promising.

“If we take the Ashtons, our House of Givens will rise among the heroes. No, not just the heroes, but almost all my subjects will praise me.”

The true meaning of the implied words was not said, but only made the knight expect it.

But one thing did bother him.

He wondered why the Viscount had changed his words to the Ashton family instead of saying Ren Ashton…..