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Translator: Nonon
Proofreader: Silavin
“You don’t have a family name?”
“Yeah.”
After we were briefed on how to participate in the arena, we had a conversation with Chartreuse while waiting for our turn to be given the tools. His Highness went off somewhere before the explanation started.
“Due to a lot of things happening, I don’t have anyone I can call family. That’s why I abandoned my family name.”
“So when you wrote only your first name on the application name it wasn’t a mistake, and when you wrote Apricot Heartfield later it wasn’t a fake name…”
“That’s right. I’m not adopted, but I’m technically under guardianship. In situations like the one before, I go by Heartfield. Though, it was an oversight from my side to not realize that I would need a family name.”
Due to certain circumstances, Apricot has no biological parents.
I tried to adopt her like Gray, but Apricot refused and she currently lives alone. She makes a living by occasionally hunting monsters that have bounties on them and selling handmade magical tools. Since she’s not an adult yet, I have her use my family name, Heartfield.
“However, I have heard that the Baron’s butler is also adopted… Excuse me for asking, but does the Heartfield family not say anything? It might be different now, but if an unmarried man adopts many children, it wouldn’t look good to the public.”
Chartreuse’s question was reasonable.
While titles can be bought, and unlike my previous life, they can also be bestowed for military achievements such as defeating monsters, the ranks beneath Barons are quite crowded, but nobles place importance on birth and bloodline. Even if somebody receives a title because of their talent, there are many nobles who believe in lineage.
Although, people can be promoted for subjugating monsters, at the same time… they can also die in the line of duty, so adoption itself isn’t rare, but it’s still frowned upon.
“Yes, to be honest, my parents and siblings aren’t very happy about it. They often scold me for doing whatever I want. I’m already a disobedient son who always causes troubles as it is.”
“In other words, you have no pride as a noble?”
“I did what I could in my current position. Even if it wasn’t noble-like, I didn’t want to throw out Gray and Apricot.”
“… ‘Didn’t want’, huh?”
I don’t know what Chartreuse thought of my words.
Did he take me for a fool who was too in his emotions or a disgrace with no pride as a noble? I hope he’ll take my stance favorably, just like my friends did during my school life, but I shouldn’t hold too much high expectations.
I don’t have to worry about my reputation in the capital at this point, but I just hope that Apricot won’t be looked down on for not having a family name.
“… How should I put it, you remind me of her and Nephrite, Baron.”
“Her?”
“Oh, sorry. I meant…”
“Are you talking about Mary Sue? I’ve met her once.”
“Yeah, that’s right, I’m surprised you guessed it, La—– ha—- Apricot.”
“… Well, you’ll have to get used to calling my name gradually. And, about Mary Sue, I’m sure it’s embarrassing to call the name of your beloved anyway.”
Puberty, huh? Well, I guess it is puberty, but that can’t be–
“Kuh, how could you tell…?!”
Chartreuse’s eyes widened as if he was shocked by Apricot’s words.
Is this guy for real? Now that I think back on it, he only said ‘to protect her’ or ‘for her…!’ even when he was in Shiki and didn’t call her by name. Surely he wasn’t avoiding calling her name because he was embarrassed? What a loser… was he like this in Ring of Fire too?
In fact, what did he mean by saying that I, Ms. Mary and Ms. Kriemhild are similar? Neither of them are nobles and it’s not like I would be any similar in appearance to those beautiful girls.
“I won’t say anything about you being embarrassed because you like her, but at least call the woman you love by her name. She’ll think you hate her.”
Huh, that’s surprising. Knowing Apricot, I thought she’d call him pathetic, but she’s actually not denying his thoughts. I don’t hear much about Apricot’s love life, so I thought she had no interest in it, but she does seem to take feelings like that into account. Maybe she’s not denying his thoughts exactly because she has no interest in love,
“But then, what should I do? She does tell me to call her by name, but when I do, my lungs tremble and I can’t get any words out. This has never happened even when I was against strong enemies…!”
“Just call her by her name once casually. Then the path should open up. You will be able to take a step forward by releasing animism.”
“Is that how it is? Ma–… Lady Ma— okay, let me take a deep breath.”
“Are you carrying some kind of karma related to names?”
“All I’m carrying is True Love.”
“Shut up.”
His Highness said that those two were actually close, but maybe he was right in a sense. Chartreuse isn’t good with pushy girls like this, but it doesn’t seem like he hates them.
Thinking back on, Ms. Kriemhild is also the type to approach people herself, which is probably why they talked so familiarly. In that case, Ms. Mary is also—
“Wow, it’s rare to see Char talk to a girl like that.”
— Ms. Mary is also the type to get into somebody’s space herself, so maybe that’s why things are going well.
“Is that so? I’ve only ever seen Sir Chartreuse talk with Ms. Kriemhild and Apricot over there so I don’t really know.”
“It’s very rare. He’s usually quiet with girls.”
“Is he like that with you too, Ms. Sue?”
“He started talking to me a lot after about 2 months of knowing me. Please call me Mary. You don’t have to use honorifics with me or talk politely.”
Ah, this is really troublesome. Despite her prominent presence, I hadn’t noticed her until now, and Apricot and Chartreuse are also so engrossed in their conversation that they didn’t notice her arrival either.
The people around – are all focused on something else, and no one is looking our way. It’s almost like this place has been cut out from reality.
“Please forgive me for talking politely and keeping the honorifics. I am more comfortable speaking this way.”
“That was certainly how you talked with Violet too. Is that how you talk with her usually? And not just in public?”
“Yes, after all, she was from a Ducal family. At first, I was doing it to show her respect, but in doing so, I have missed my timing to switch to more casual terms.”
“Fufu, you are an unusual person. For somebody who’s both a Baron and a feudal lord, one would think you would not use polite language normally.”
“… There are many different kinds of nobles.”
“You are right, I’m sorry.”
Well then, what was Ms. Mary’s purpose in coming to speak to me right now?
Did she come to check on me or did she come up to me just because she happened to see me?
According to Cyan, she has ‘no ill will’, but just because she doesn’t have malice, it doesn’t mean that she can’t do harm. As long as I don’t know what kind of a person Ms. Mary is, even the word ‘unusual’ sounds suspicious to me, as if she’s trying to sound me out.
“Mr. Clo.”
“Yes?”
However, it would be unwise to be strangely on guard.
If she’s a reincarnator, she might consider me as a friend, or she might see me as an enemy, who might drive her out from her current position.
If she’s not a reincarnator, then my caution is just suspicious and rude.
It was not easy for Ms. Mary to establish her current position. In that case, whether it’s the former or the latter, I must keep my cool.
“I have a suggestion. Would you mind hearing me out?”
“A suggestion?”
“Yes.”
Ms. Mary smiled mischievously and somewhat suspiciously. If His Highness or Silva were to see her now, they would likely be very suspicious.
… Although Cyan had expressed that she had no ill intentions, that didn’t mean that she had none at all. Seeing her devilish expression,
“――――――――”
And hearing her ‘suggestion’, I realized that I was right to be wary.
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