CH 48

Chapter 48: I meet my new family

There was a carriage waiting at the entrance of the Academy.

The servant accompanying me in the back of the carriage and the Duke Svald’s servant waiting at the side of the door are both from the Duke Svald household, but Katie, who will officially be working for the Duke Svald family, is there waiting.

“My Lady, I have been waiting for you.”

Katie shows me a shining smile and just seeing it makes me feel like my heart has been washed clean.

(I want to protect this smile)

Even though the gazes from the surroundings haven’t changed from before, Katie is energetic because she now has a solid foundation under her feet.

Not only was Katie able to transfer to the big Duke household, but her salary also apparently increased. With an excess of staff, Katie’s days off and rest time have also increased, and her health has improved and her cheeks have become radiant.

Even if I were to leave Lars-sama’s side, I secretly think that I should ask to keep her from continuing being employed by the Duke Svald household.

“Thank you for coming to meet me, Katie.”

I also smile and take Katie’s hand to get on the carriage.

Calva-sama was sitting inside.

“I’m sorry, but I get drunk(sick) easily, so I have them let me sit on this side.”

Calva-sama told me that he was sitting facing the direction of travel.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m fine either way as long as it’s not a long ride.”

Fortunately, I am not prone to motion sickness. But I thought it would be rude not to consider a woman, so Calva-sama probably said that.

(Oh, I wonder if…)

I suddenly thought here.

Maybe the slightly sullen look he had when we met the other day was due to motion sickness, and he tends to look scary.

I’d like to see Calva-sama not after the carriage ride.

He might be a more approachable person.

“Um, if you don’t mind riding in a carriage at all, would you like to take a break somewhere?”

I thought I should ask if he gets motion sickness, but Assistant High Priest Calva waved his hand and shook his head.

“No, it’s okay. My older brother is a person who is in a good mood when you can act on time. It’s gotten better thanks to his wife, but it’s always better to be on time.”

“…”

My new foster father seems to be strict about time.

I realize that I decided to become a foster child without knowing such information.

(I was just thinking that I want someone, anyone, to rescue me from that house…)

There seem to be many people who are better than that father, and it doesn’t seem to be a big deal to be strict about time.

(He seems to treat his wife and daughter properly, and he accepted my request to take me in as a foster child, he is a kind person with a wide heart)

For that alone, Count Radin is a saint.

He is willing to take in the daughter of the Count Elvasti family, who no one wants to be involved with. Even if the place where she lives is the Duke’s house, and the guardian is a priest who is his younger brother, and they don’t interact much as a family.

In fact, it was me who said that it would be better if we didn’t interact as a family.

(I want to avoid getting involved with the Count Radin family and being the target of strange rumors and insults)

If I lived in a different place, I could make an excuse in case of an emergency. Moreover, if I am staying in the Duke Svald’s house, it is even more difficult to speak ill of me.

I was relieved to have received such consideration from Count Radin, but the Count Radin house I arrived at did not have a front garden like the Duke Svald house.

It was a formal house where you arrived at the entrance gate a few steps after getting off the carriage in front of the gate.

I think there is a small garden behind the building, but a mansion facing the road with an entrance is a normal house for middle-class nobles in the capital.

If you want a somewhat larger site in the crowded capital, you have to have a mansion in the suburbs. My house, the Elvasti Count’s house, is also located in a slightly suburban area. However, it was a mansion with no particularly large garden and vines covering it.

The neighboring mansion seems to be either another Count’s house or a Baron’s house that has been bought.

However, when I stepped inside the mansion, the walls with bright colors and the white-ish furniture were bright in the light of the lighting.

It’s an unimaginable feeling from the exterior of gray stone.

Count Radin and his family came out of the reception room nearby when they were informed of my arrival.

Count Radin is a man with wavy light brown hair, like Calva-sama. He wears glasses, so he seems to have a little bad eyesight. He looks at me with a crumpled expression.

(I wonder if he really didn’t want to adopt me as a foster child…)

I was a little relieved to be surprised by myself.

I should have been thinking about living on my own because I thought there was no one on my side…

But maybe I had come to feel that, in this environment where I could continue to eat sacred flower sweets as I wished, as a foster child in the status of a noble young lady, there might be others on my side too.

But maybe I shouldn’t be in such a spoiled mood.

However, Countess Radin with her copper-colored hair tied up is smiling at me, and the 10-year-old girl who must be her daughter and the small 5-year-old girl are looking at me with interested, sparkling eyes.

(Do they not have a bad impression of me…?)

Children are honest, and their parents are everything in the world to them.

If their parents even slightly dislike me, it wouldn’t be strange for them to reflect that dislike.

As I am filled with (???), Calva-sama says beside me.

“I am grateful to you for fitting in with my schedule today, Brother. She is the person I was talking about.”

Count Radin heard the words to introduce me.

“na-dafu~”

He let out a strange word and held back his mouth.