CH 97

“How cruel.”

After seeing the recording, Margravine-sama puts the jewel on top of her desk.

The visuals played to us were rather nasty.

The rude receptionist.

The booing audience.

The cheating referee and opponent.

The surrounding knights who were probably in on it.

To top it off, though I didn’t hear the details, Aria was apparently dropped into the underground waterway by her step-brother.

There she was chased by that powerful slime.

Even children know that you’re not supposed to go near the waterway.

But Aria seemed to be unaware of that.

Her neglect started around the time she was 10 years old, when she could just begin to step outside, so it couldn’t be helped.

“Hmm.”

Margravine-sama once again activates the jewel placed on her desk.

The recording starts playing again when she does that.

“Can you leave this jewel with me?”

“Eh? Yes, Lain said he wasn’t expecting it to come back to him, so it was alright.”

“I see.”

Margravine-sama rests her chin on her hand, and thinks a little.

“It might be possible with this.”

Margravine-sama start explaining.

“He’s the son of a Count family.”

Saying so, she points towards the boy displayed on the screen.

Well, he named himself after all, so there was no mistaking it.

“Sneak-attacks are forbidden I admit, but would a child of nobility be punished for doing it to a fallen aristocrat?”

“No, in case we didn’t have proof.”

“Ah!”

Even if a fallen aristocrat were attacked by an aristocrat, no one would humor them.

But in case there was solid proof, wouldn’t they have no choice but to deal with it?

“Are you going to submit this to the tournament-side and have them approve Aria’s non-participation because of her injuries?”

“No, I can’t disclose all of this. There are too many people involved. Besides, the waterway incident isn’t enough to get her dropout permitted anyways.”

Margravine-sama shook her head.

It seems that my guess was off the mark.

Indeed, the receptionist would have an aristocrat behind her, and the referee would be together with the knights.

Disclosing this would make all of them Margravine-sama’s enemy.

That wasn’t something she could afford as an aristocrat.

“? Then what will you do with it?”

“In exchange for this, I’ll adopt Aria as my child.”

My eyes opened wide at Margravine-sama’s words.

“…Is that possible?”

“He’ll agree, most likely.”

She says while rolling the jewel around.

“But why? Aria being attacked shouldn’t be a problem for anyone, right?”

“I though you were a bright girl, but you still have ways to go.”

“?”

Margravine-sama looks at me and laughs like a girl who successfully pulled off a prank.

“Even if a fallen aristocrat being attacked isn’t a problem, an aristocrat attacking someone is a big one. There are many people in this world who want to pull at other’s feet, after all.”

“…I see.”

No one would make a move over a fallen aristocrat being attacked.

However, the son of an aristocrat ignoring the rules of the tournament and attacking someone would serve as great material for anyone hostile to that aristocrat.

In the worst case, this could even affect the parent and not just the child.

You would want to erase any evidence related to such an event.

If Margravine-sama didn’t publicize it, but gave it to a house that was hostile to Flemia house, they would publicize it anyways.

If the house which had a grudge against Flemia was the one to publicize it, the majority of aristocrats who faced a perfect blow would turn against the weakened Flemia house.

It’s the fault of the ones who showed weakness.

That’s how aristocratic society works.

“In exchange for this jewel, Aria will become my adopted daughter. In that case, there won’t be a problem with me taking decisions on her behalf, is there?”

“I see.”

(Besides, if I adopted Aria, I can make the neutral Flemia house look like it’s coming closer to the 3rd prince faction)

“Eh?”

It felt like Margravine-sama said something in the end, but I couldn’t hear it well.

She stood up as if to end this conversation here, so I couldn’t ask her about it either.

“Leave the rest to me. I’ll take this jewel for now. In exchange, you can leave Aria to me.”

“…Thank you very much.”

Our conversation ended there, and Margravine-sama began her preparations in a hurry.

Most likely, she was planning to enter into negotiations with the Flemia house with this jewel.

Aria’s next match was on the day after tomorrow, so it had to be now or never.

No, Flemia house shouldn’t be aware of the situation yet, so she could be going to make the first hit.

In any case, it’s better if I left it to her.

I can’t do anything on my own.

The only thing I can do, is to cure Aria’s broken heart.

I bowed deeply to her, then leave her office room.

***

“…”

“Margravine-sama, please calm yourself.”

“I know.”

After parting with Milia, I was headed to the Flemia household.

The scenes Aria had to witness were quite tragic.

I couldn’t believe a 15 year old, who’d just come of age, would be made to face such a cruel experience.

The tournament was a tradition of our country since time untold.

For our country which had polished its martial arts, the tournament was something like propaganda aimed at other countries.

That was the extent of my recognition.

But to think such cruelty took place behind the scenes.

I’d heard of cases where fallen aristocrats forced themselves to take part, and died as a result.

In order to hold on to the status of nobility, it was necessary to have a mechanism which removed the stragglers.

In a way, it couldn’t be helped.

But in reality, aren’t those sitting on the sidelines the ones that don’t have a right to be called aristocrats?

“Can’t I, do something.”

“…Margravine-sama, you must not be reckless.”

“…I know.”

Even those supposed aristocrats had a large backing.

Any attempts to eliminate them would be met by strong resistance.

That holds true for the tournament as well.

I didn’t have the strength to resist that resistance.

Even if I tried getting my hands on it, the Floria Margravate would be crushed in an instant.

There may come a time, when it would be necessary to eliminate such aristocrats, but now was not that time.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve gritted my teeth over being powerless.”

“…I feel the same.”

The only thing I could do now, was to save Aria who’s right in front of me.

Feeling regretful, I continued heading towards the Flemia household.