I Am a Ruined Noble of a Ruined Kingdom

Chapter 8: Charles Milote (2)

It was a difficult situation.

I didn't know why, but I was the accused and they were the judges. Tea and refreshments were quickly prepared on the table, but the atmosphere in the drawing room was heavy.

Iruealfi and Charles were sitting close to me in front of me, and Iruealfi seemed quite tired.

"So... Miss Milote?"

"Charles. I don't like being called by my last name. And drop the 'Miss'."

"Isn't that being a little too sociable?"

I didn't know the etiquette of this world very well, but was it really right to call someone by their first name at first meeting...?

"Nephi, just do as you're told."

Iruealfi advised in a resigned tone. Charles raised her voice as if she had witnessed an earth-shattering event.

"Ne~phi!? What's that supposed to mean, Elfi. Why? Are you already on a first-name basis with each other, something like that?"

"...That's not something Charles should be saying."

It was an unlike Iruealfi-like complaint. It was a truly rare sight.

"I'm special, so it's okay!"

"Haa..."

Iruealfi sighed, holding her hand to her forehead. I asked Charlotte, who was glaring at me with a sharp look.

"Yes, Charles. What you're curious about is that I'm interfering with Iruealfi's marri-."

"Yustiha."

Charles's eyes flashed fiercely.

"...What do you mean you're interfering with Marchioness Yu.sti.ha's marriage path?"

At my words, Iruealfi was noticeably embarrassed and waved her hands.

"N-Nephi! You don't really need to know that-."

"Alteon."

"...Marquis Al.te.on doesn't need to know."

'Is the countess in this country more powerful than a marquis or a Ruined Noble of a Ruined Country?'

It was such an incomprehensible sight that I even had such an illusion. Charles's gaze towards me was still as if she was looking at vulgar filth.

"Listen, Marquis. I don't know how you seduced Elfi with that handsome face, but there's a limit to spreading scandalous rumors!"

"I'm handsome? Really?"

"Neff...Alteon, that's not the point right now."

"Ah, yeah. That's right."

I lost sight of the essence because I was distracted by the unexpected thrilling compliment(?). Anyway, scandalous rumors...

"Me? With Ir... Yustiha?"

Would there be anyone who would spend their honeymoon with the Godzilla monster who tore their body in half? I felt the urge to ask outright.

"Charles, it's obviously a misunderstanding. I'm not in that kind of relationship with Neff... Alteon."

"Of course. But the world already sees you as a prospective couple!"

"No, I can't follow the story. Is it something that people would be so interested in?"

I'm not even a celebrity...

Charles stared at me in disbelief. It was a look as if she was looking at a barbarian. She slammed the table and passionately exclaimed.

Bang!

"What kind of woman is Elfi? The Empire's White Knight, the Lake of the Moon, the White Sword Beauty, etc., she has countless nicknames, uh...!"

"Please stop it, Charles!"

Iruealfi, who was covering Charles's mouth, looked as if lava was flowing instead of blood. Her bright red cheeks were contrasted with Iruealfi's snow-white hair, emphasizing them more than necessary.

I had to twitch the corners of my mouth because Iruealfi's appearance was funny and the nicknames were funny.

"In other words, the problem is that a faaa~mous White Knight is living with me."

"I'm not a White Knight!"

Iruealfi, who was desperately denying it, was a little cute. In fact, if she wasn't a trauma machine, wouldn't I have always stared blankly at her too?

Iruealfi was such a beautiful woman that such an assumption was possible. It was certainly not unreasonable for the public's attention to be focused on her.

"Yustiha. How far can I talk about this?"

I deliberately asked outright.

"I don't know either. This seems to require consultation in many ways."

In short, it meant that I needed to reconcile with the Emperor again. Of course, Charles noticed that there was something going on.

"Elfi, is it difficult for you to tell me?"

"Charles."

Her eyes were like dewy eyes like a rain-soaked puppy. Iruealfi hesitated a little, but eventually averted her gaze.

"Okay. I won't ask. I know that Elfi isn't a promiscuous woman and that she's a cold woman who doesn't open her heart to just anyone."

"Cold woman... Pfft..."

Sreung-

A silver sword that appeals to the sense of presence in my sight, where laughter almost burst out outright. Then, I felt a throbbing pain in my waist.

'I can't even laugh because I'm scared.'

Even while shaking my head, I was worried about Charles. It was because she was still trying to get a hold of me and was staring at me with challenging eyes.

Charles crossed her arms and asked in an overbearing tone.

"Then let's move on from Elfi's situation. But Marquis Alteon. What exactly do you do?"

"What do I do... huh."

I recalled the month after my first audience with the Emperor. I always woke up when the sun was high in the sky and followed Iruealfi's work as a person under surveillance.

It wasn't like I helped with anything. I remembered the days I spent doing nothing, just standing there blankly. Even a useless sack of barley would do its job.

"I'm... maybe I'm a human being who is less than a roadside stone..."

"Huh?"

Just when I was falling into self-disgust, Charles stabbed me in a sharp and painful spot.

"What I'm asking is what merits you received the title or this grand mansion for. This question is a hot topic in high society these days."

I didn't have an answer.

It was a body that had only committed sins, let alone merits. Even if I didn't commit the sins, who would know?

The Emperor, who reads emotions and good and evil, might know.

"That's... I'm sorry for being a marquis."

I'm sorry that the mansion is mine too.

I couldn't say anything, so I eventually bowed my head. This was unexpected even for Charles, so she asked Iruealfi for an answer.

"I'm sorry, Charles. This is a little difficult to talk about too."

"Ugh. Okay, Elfi. I'll stop questioning you here. Let's just talk happily now."

"Good thinking, Charles."

Charles smiled closely to Iruealfi. Looking at the two of them, it felt like I had become an uninvited guest.

I stood up from my seat.

"Marquis Alteon. Sit there. Don't think about going anywhere and just listen."

At Charles's overbearing words, I sat down again with a thud. Iruealfi was just busy averting my gaze.

"Haa..."

The tea party led by Charles ended only after a three-hour journey.

It was a bonus that Charles declared that she would visit like she was coming and going from her own home in the future. The pretext was an unannounced inspection on scandalous rumors. There was no reason to oppose it because she was an acquaintance of Iruealfi.

It was because I had promised that half of the mansion belonged to Iruealfi earlier.

While seeing off Charles, who was disappearing in the carriage, I said.

"By the way, Miss Whi.te.Swo.rd.Beau.ty, Charles isn't just a simple countess, is she?"

"I told you that I really won't let you get away with it if you call me that one more time."

Iruealfi sternly warned. She organized her thoughts for a moment and slowly explained.

"Charles is... the Empress's hidden daughter."

"If she's a daughter, what's a hidden daughter?"

"It means that she was born before she married His Majesty the Emperor. So she's not an imperial princess either."

"Does the Emperor know this?"

"Yes. The disguise family and the status as a countess were all given by His Majesty."

"Hoo."

In other words, the Empress was pregnant before marriage. Even with a child of a man other than the Emperor.

Even knowing that, the Emperor loves the Empress passionately, and the Empress also sincerely loves the Emperor. I didn't want to dig into what the circumstances might be.

However, it just seemed like there were many forms of love in the world.

What kind of love will Iruealfi have?

"Well, it's not something I should be deeply involved in. Shall we go in now, Lake.Of.The.Moon?"

I said that and ran away.

"I told you that I really wouldn't let you get away with it!"

Iruealfi shouted and ran into the mansion. It was a good-looking expression, even though it was stained with embarrassment.

Thump! Thump!

...After that, everything was a mess and it was regenerated.

◇

In a desolate alley, there was a shabby door. Even the pale moonlight bypassed it, and the deep darkness that evoked a sense of fear was a place that even vagrants avoided.

A man wearing a hood entered the place deep in the alley without hesitation and knocked at a constant rhythm. Not long after, the door opened and orange light briefly illuminated the surroundings.

Only for a moment, as the alley was plunged back into darkness and was only quiet as the hooded man entered.

"Yo, long time no see."

The man who opened the door greeted the man warmly. He was a middle-aged man with an impressive eyepatch on his right eye. On the other hand, the man who had just entered was still hiding his presence with a hood.

"How far has the work progressed? Did you gather the materials?"

"Needless to say, I prepared them with the best quality. I'm still planning to prepare more, so there will be enough quantity. Thanks to this lucky friend, I wonder where you got such rare information!"

"You wouldn't know even if I told you."

"Don't act so important. I'm keeping up with your absurd plan."

The hooded man turned his head slightly towards him. Then, the man wearing the eyepatch flinched and averted his gaze.

"Woah, don't look at me, friend. I'm not confident that I can handle it."

At that reaction, the hooded man lowered his head again and warned.

"We need to gather all the manpower we can. Even to buy more time for just a fleeting moment."

"Oh, are we already being treated like meat shields? But do we really have to go that far?"

"...What do you mean."

The aura coming from the hooded man began to engulf the space. It was a heavy and eerie... but also overbearing aura. The man with the eyepatch sweated as he stopped him.

"Ugh, stop it. I was just wondering if the White Knight was a person who had to go that far. She's famous for being pretty, but she doesn't have any plausible achievements!"

The hooded man slowly managed his energy and calmed down. The man with the eyepatch finally came to his senses after coughing up blood-soaked coughs.

"The Nelphrugia Knights, where she is the commander, have been the imperial family's bodyguards for generations."

"I know that, but most people evaluate them as being no different from a ceremonial guard."

"...Hmm, that's not wrong."

The hooded man also understood his feelings. A commander of a knighthood who's no different than a ceremonial guard with no achievements. A woman who is even famous for her appearance. That was how the world saw Iruealfi Yustiha.

In fact, not only the common people but even influential nobles questioned Iruealfi's military function. However, the hooded man had no intention of being swayed by such appearances.

"Iruealfi Yustiha is an exception. The reason she has no military achievements is because the Empire is peaceful. What military achievements would there be in 200 years of peace."

"Okay, I got it. I believe everything because of what you showed me. So... give me, give us confidence in the future too."

The man knelt down and kissed the hooded man's shoes. The hooded man accepted the series of actions indifferently.

"If you give us confidence, we will all sacrifice our lives for you. If you tell us to die, we will die, if you tell us to kill, we will kill. For you and our purpose."

"...Yeah. If you believe in me, I will definitely destroy the Eld Empire."

As the hooded man declared, he took a bottle of alcohol and drank it all the way down, then asked with a reddened face.

"Keuh. So, what orders are you going to give today?"

"I need to bring someone."

"If it's the head of a powerful family, I'm going to be terrified."

"Don't worry, it won't be difficult."

The hooded man rummaged through his pocket and took out a piece of paper. It was a portrait of a woman standing demurely.

She was a beauty with neatly pulled-back blonde hair and olive-green eyes that gave off a youthful charm.

"Charles Milote. She is the person who will be the starting point of the Eld Empire's doom."

Leaving those words behind, the hooded man disappeared into the darkness. Only Charles Milote's portrait fluttered in the place where the man had been.