Maseki Gurume – 011The “Former” Family At That Time.————

Going back in time a little at the night party held by Viscount Lance…… the place where the second party was held.

If one were to speak about night parties, they were basically venues where only adult nobles participated, but the night party held this time had quite the different vibe.

“Our child has already participated in beast hunting, so his courage has already been tested.”

“Ohh, that’s quite wonderful. By the way, speaking of our daughter, she has an amazing mind…… and she’s incredible at singing.”

It quickly turned into a so-called matchmaking venue.

Every noble worked to make their children more appealing, and plucking out the rivals in order to establish relationships between their child and a child of better status, better talent or better appearance.

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Basically, noble families of lower status desperately tried to appeal to those upper nobles, even thought they were extremely rude towards them. But for everyone, this was common sense, to appeal to others while calling it giving out greetings.

“Grint, what did you think of today’s presentation party? ”

His grandmother, Isis, asked Grint.

Since Isis wasn’t heading to the capital with the rest of the Roundhart family in the morning, she arrived late.

That’s why they finally met at this night party.

However, for Isis, this night party was more important than the presentation party, so this wasn’t much of a problem for her.

“Grandmother! ”

Grint was very fond of Isis.

And completely opposite to her interactions with Ain, Isis always smiled gently towards Grint.

When she went out, she never gave anything to Ain, but always carefully prepared souvenirs for Grint, and was quite doting towards him.

“Oh Mother, you came.”

“Yeah, a little while ago. I greeted a few acquaintances before coming here.”

“Mother-in-law, thank you for your patience in the carriage trip.”

“Not at all Alma-san, I’m sure you’ve had a hard time at these long parties, right? Thank you for your hard work.”

There was a time when Isis was also this kind towards Olivia.

She had placed great expectations on Olivia, whom had married to the Roundhart family for some unknown reason, coming from the great country of Ishtalika.

However, those expectations were shattered by the skills the long-awaited eldest son of the Roundhart family had.

After that moment, the correspondence between the two of them shifted to the point where it came to a stark contrast.

The way she spoke became petulant, the time she spent showing her face to her grandson Ain declined, and besides for when she had some business with Olivia, the time she talked to her got close to zero.

“No, there’s no way that’s the case. After all, this is very important for the future of the Roundhart family…… and Grint’s future also hangs in the line.”

“Fufu…… that’s right.”

In contrast, her attitude towards Alma was visibly better.

Alma was the second wife who came from a Baron family in the Heim Kingdom, so she was basically a concubine.

Therefore, Isis wasn’t particularly cold towards her, but her attitude still wasn’t as good as how she was towards Olivia, the first wife……

However, when Grint was born, and his talent as Holy Knight was known…… Isis started to think that he would be a better choice for the successor of the house.

So now, as she raised Grint splendidly, and cared for Isis, Alma became the best choice even thought she was the second wife.

And even thought she was just the second wife, she was now treated as the de-facto wife.

“By the way, Alma. What is Olivia doing? ”

“Dear……? I told you, didn’t I? Tonight’s party is just about Grint.”

“Yeah, but I feel a little bad for not telling her about this.”

Because his parents were having a conversation, Grint kept to himself and was quiet, but when he heard his father caring for Olivia…… caring for Ain, he couldn’t help but to frown.

“Father…… Am I not good enough?”

Grint’s murmur didn’t reach Logas.

“Logas. You too agreed to it, didn’t you? ”

“……Yeah, but.”

Olivia and Ain were not told about this night party.

The three of them had spoken about it beforehand, and at that time, Alma and Isis had decided not to bring Ain and Olivia here in order to not make them feel humiliated, to which Logas ended up accepting.

Deep down, Logas understood that Ain couldn’t succeed him, and he had refrained from bringing that argument up. Fate and duty were large in the noble society, so there were various emotions swirling inside his head…… but as a result, he was swayed by those words telling him this was so that Ain and Olivia wouldn’t feel shame.

“We also feel a bit bad about it. So, in order to apologize even if a bit…… it might not be much, but we sent some treats to them at the inn.”

The story of Alma sending some treats was actually true.

She thought that if Ain was in a good mood with this, then Olivia, who cherished and doted on her son, wouldn’t get angry for their actions this time.

“If that’s the case…… well, it can’t be helped I guess.”

“I’m sure you know it too, Logas, but if you don’t make your position clear, then Ain will be the one to suffer, right? ”

“It’s just like mother-in-law says, Dear. If you don’t make this clear bit by bit now, in the future it could turn into a big problem.”

“Yeah, you’re right. As a noble, I can’t deny there’s no merit in appointing one with a useless talent……”

In reality, he did understand that his mother and wife’s words were just trying to coax him.

But he could do nothing about it.

As a member of the nobility, he had to think about the prosperity of the territory and the house, therefore, he had to decide on a capable child as a successor.

“I’m glad you understand.”

“Logas has been very capable ever since he was a child, so this is obvious.”

After making sure that Logas finally gave in, Alma and Isis spoke to lift Logas’ spirits.

And then, as if waiting for the proper time to talk to Logas, a young woman approached him.

“Oh my, Isis-sama! It’s been a while.”

“My, my, Naqoura-sama! Long time no see, I glad you’ve been doing well.”

Naqoura of the Bruno Marquis house, who lived in the capital, approached the Roundhart family after noticing them.

The Bruno house was a famous family whom had produced excellently educated civil officials generation after generation, and the current head of the family, Aide Bruno, was the minister in charge of the law.

This Naqoura was Aide’s mother, and a famous woman among the social circles.

“Oh, Naqoura-sama, it’s been a while since the last time we spoke.”

“To be given such words by the renowned general, Logas-sama, and here I was thinking that you might’ve forgotten about me.” ”

“Hahaha, you surely jest.”

Seeing Logas talking with Naqoura in such a friendly manner, Alma then introduced herself with a bit of impatience.

All the while, nervously trying not to come up as rude towards such a famous person.

“I’m pleased to make your acquaintance, Naqoura-sama, my name is Alma, the second wife of the Roundhart family.”

This was the first time Alma was meeting Naqoura.

Unlike Olivia, Alma being the second wife, didn’t know many faces in the social world, so she had plenty of time to greet people.

“Likewise, nice to meet you, Alma-sama. Your name has often reached my ears here in the capital, you know? After all, you’re the holy mother who gave birth to such a great son who’ll become a Holy Knight.”

“Ohh…… How embarrassing, to be called by such a name.”

“I think that’s the true, by the way…… Ahh, pardon my rudeness, I think I was a bit too disrespectful.”

Naqoura, who was lightly mentioning rumors to Alma, suddenly changed topics.

“A pleasure to meet you, are you Grint-sama? My name is Naqoura.”

” ！ ……Ni-Nice to meet you, Naqoura-sama. My name is Grint Roundhart…… I’ve been nominated as the next head of the house.”

“I appreciate your polite greetings, next head-sama.”

Isis smiled, because such a famous person as Naqoura had taken notice of Grint.

So far, Naqoura had always greeted everyone politely…… but she never bothered speaking to growing kids.

“By the way, Naqoura-sama. Is Minister Aide coming today? ”

Since it was strange that Naqoura was alone in a night party such as this, Logas decided to ask.

“Well, actually……Ahh, there he comes. He went to say his greeting to Viscount Lance, after all, it’s rude to come here without greeting the host first.”

“Ahh, so that’s what happened.”

“Grint, are you ready to say hello again? ”

“Yes, Grandmother. I will never do anything that will dirty the name of house Roundhart.”

“Fufufu, what a good grandson you got there, Isis-sama.”

“Yeah, he’s more than I deserve, I’m glad he grew up to be such a great grandson.”

As they were having that conversation, Aide…… Minister Aide Bruno arrived.

Minister Aide was accompanied by a red-haired girl, her strong-willed eyes perfectly fitted her, so in all, you could say she was pretty even above the standards of this evening party.

“General Logas. Is there a war tonight? ”

“What are you saying, Minister of Justice Aide? From the way you’re dressed…… is there a trial being held? ”

“Hahaha! No, pardon me. Actually, since I’ve brought my only daughter here tonight, I want to look cool in front of her.”

“I see, that it’s that. Actually, I’ve also brought my son…… I’ve brought my successor here tonight, so I wanted to show off my dignity as his father.”

“Indeed. Then, you’re saying we’re kindred spirits?”

Although Minister Aide was quite strict in presiding over the law, in his private time he was a person very easy to talk to.

The military and justice departments were not usually very involved with each other, but still, at parties at the Royal Palace, and other parties such as tonight’s one, they met face to face, so they had a close friend’s relationship.

“I’m glad to finally meet you, Minister Aide-dono. My name is Alma, Alma Roundhart. I’m attending tonight’s party even though I’m just the second wife, pleased to make your acquaintance.”

“Oh my…… I’d be troubled if the famous Holy Mother-dono humbles herself this much. My name is Aide Bruno. I’ve been in good terms with Logas-dono here, so I’d be more than happy if Alma-dono could speak to me like that.”

Alma was a bit bewildered.

It was thanks to her son Grint, born with the talent for a Holy Knight, she was able to be praised by such a powerful person.

But at the same time, she felt some sense of superiority, like she was chosen person blessed with a bright future.

“Grint, go ahead and introduce yourself.”

“Nice to meet you, Aide-sama. My name is Grint Roundhart. It’s a pleasure to meet a friend of my father.”

Alma urged Grint to introduce himself.

“Nice meeting you, Grint-kun…… come on, Anon. You too, introduce yourself.”

“Yes, father…… It’s a pleasure to meet you, everyone from the Roundhart family. My name is Anon Bruno, I feel honored to meet Logas-sama who is a renowned General, and Alma-sama, known as the Holy Mother…… as well as Grint-sama, the rumors future heavenly knight.” (TLN: Yeah, she says heavenly and not holy.)

The girl from the Bruno house, Anon, despite being two years older than Grint, courteously praised Logas, Alma and Grint along her self-introduction.

“What an incredibly polite greeting, my name is Isis. I’m the mother of the current lord, Logas, nice to meet you.”

“A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Isis-sama. I feel honored for meeting the mother of a hero.”

“My…… it makes me extremely pleased to hear you say such a thing, thank you very much.”

As one would expect from the child of the Minister of Justice, her manners were nothing short of perfect.

Compared to the eldest son of the Roundhart family, Ain, it felt like she was by no means inferior.

“My child is also pretty good, right Logas-dono?”

“Yeah, she’s brilliant. I felt awed hearing such a splendid greeting.”

Oh, to make the great General feel awed, I’m dreaded to how my granddaughter will be in the future.”

The conversation then proceeded peacefully.

However, soon after, it seemed like Minister Aide remembered something, changing the subject.

“It isn’t good to prolong the small talk this much…… Logas-dono, please allow me to be straight.

I’d like to ask for you that my daughter Anon, and Grint-dono to be engaged.”

“……Are you serious? ”

Honestly, the route the conversation too was completely unexpected for Logas.

Regardless of being government officers, it was obvious she would have a special talent, but he thought the compatibility of the Bruno family and the Roundhart family wasn’t that good.

After all, the Holy Knight, to the battlefield, was a one-of-a-kind talent.

Minister Aide was born with the skill, Veracity, and he could determine if what other people said was true or false.

At first glance it would appear as quite the strong ability, but it had its weaknesses…… setting it up was troublesome.

You need to be one-on-one with the other party, and you can’t judge the truth properly unless you almost cut off almost completely any outside sounds.

It’s certainly a powerful skill, but let’s say you paired Veracity with Holy Knight, when compared with something like Holy Knight and Body Reinforcement, the latter is obviously stronger in the battlefield.

“Ohh, I guess that was lacking, let me explain properly first. I understand that the Civil officer type skills are not quite compatible. However, Anon is different…… Just like Grint-dono, she was born with a special talent.”

“Come to think of it, I never really asked about it. Minister Aide…… what skill would that be? ”

Logas felt it might be quite the special ability, considering that Minister Aide took the trouble to come see him and push for the engagement.

“Anon, please explain it.”

“Yes, father. ……General Logas, the skill I was born with is “Blessing”. It’s something that’ll make the person who becomes my husband even stronger with holy power, turning him into something even more divine.”

＊

In the end, the marriage was settled without problems after this talk.

Isis also happily gave her support. And as for Alma, it goes without saying…… Grint too didn’t complain, since he liked Anon.

After finding out she had the Blessing skill, she wanted to become the wife of a hero…… or so, she said to Grint and the others.

Those words made a great impression.

After this, an emergency messenger bird arrived from the Roundhart territory, and the contents were read by Logas.

The sender was of course, Olivia, the first wife.

Logas showed astonishment and lost his composure due to the mixed emotions, but thanks to his mother and wife’s follow up and the talks about his son’s relationship, it was determined this was for the best, so he recovered relatively quickly.

However, before that letter was brought to him at the meeting hall, the officials of Archduke Augusto confirmed the contents and conveyed them to the Archduke.