Ikemen ni Tenseishita kedo, Cheat ha Dekimasenshita

39.1　Monologue of A Certain Marquis 5

We moved to a separate private room that Duke Lilac had specially prepared so we could keep the topic of our conversation a secret.

Duke Lilac whispered to his chamberlain for a bit before he ordered him to leave the room, leaving only Bates-dono, me, and him by ourselves in the room. However, we did not immediately start our conversation. Instead we waited. Sure enough, a while later, his chamberlain came back, bringing with him, Count Sphene and Count Greenwell.

As expected, these two were related to the matter we’re going to talk about.

“Is something the matter, Duke Lilac? For you to suddenly summon us out of nowhere like this…” Count Greenwell asked, causing me to sweatdrop.

And~ Count Greenwell was the same as ever, even when he was asking the duke normal questions, his manner of speech still looked as if he was complaining…

“I heard we’re about to talk about something important.” Count Sphene, on the other hand, had a worried expression etched on his face when he was asking his question.

“For now, take a seat.” Duke Lilac said, showing us the chairs. Then, after his chamberlain prepared our beverages, he ordered all his servants to leave the room once again.

◇

“I don’t know where I should start talking about this, but perhaps… Saint’s Revelation may be the best description to summarize this conversation.” The duke stated, opening the meeting in that way without preamble.

Hearing his words, Count Greenwell frowned while Count Sphene looked towards Bates-dono questioningly.

“He’s serious. The moment Miss Katrina heard my name, she said ‘Please be wary of a certain person or accidental discharge of magic tools or edged tools. Especially in your store.’ to me.”

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The counts’ expression immediately changed into that of shock at Bates-dono’s revelation, and I couldn’t blame them. After all, I was also shocked when I heard her words.

“I have yet to tell her about this matter, and I have no reason to tell her either. After all, this is our kingdom’s topmost secret with only a small number of people knowing about this matter… including that one in the congress.”

“What’s more, Miss Katrina does not seem to recognize Bates-dono’s appearance and only reacted after she heard his name. She behaved quite normally until Your Grace called Bates-dono’s name.” I added, supplementing them with my observation to support the duke’s claim about Miss Katrina being completely oblivious about the research.

“My daughter has never known about Bates-dono being a researcher, much less knows about him researching the Saint’s Ornament.”

“Maybe she came to know about this matter from Luke.” Count Greenwell muttered with a serious voice.

“She also gets along with your son, right?”

“Indeed, but Luke will never tell anyone about that. I can vouch for him. After all, that boy isn’t an idiotic boy who will talk carefreely about the content of the research to a girl. Moreover, Luke has no idea about the real reason we are trying to restore the Saint’s Ornament. He only knows that we’re researching it because it just happened to be returned. Naturally, I also did not tell him about the ‘basement’ either. I just wanted to ask his opinion.”

“Children’s opinions are trivial. Nothing but hindrance. I guess I’ll tell him to stop coming to your store starting tomorrow.”

“You really―― why are you doing something like that? Personally speaking, I don’t mind him coming to my store. That child really loves magic tool research, you know.”

“We aren’t supposed to show this important research to children.”

“How irresponsible…”

“Calm down you two. We are straying from the topic.” I spoke up, unintentionally entering their argument as their arbiter.

Really, I hope that they can act more composed in this situation and not argue like children. I thought, inwardly shaking my head before focusing back on the situation.

“Bates-dono, Count Greenwell has no intention to prohibit his son from visiting your store forever. He is just preventing his son from visiting for a while to keep his son away from the danger that might befall your store. Please understand that point. After all, if the Saint’s Revelation holds true, something might really happen to you or people around you. As a father, it’s only natural that he will worry about his child for fear that something might happen to his son, hence the prohibition.

“… Sorry. You’re right, knowing that something is going to happen to me, it’ll indeed be much better for Luke to not visit my store for a while. My apologies, Count Greenwell.”

“No, I’m also at fault for talking in a way that will cause misunderstanding, like usual.”

Bates-dono heaved a sigh in silence before apologizing to Count Greenwell, who also returned the apology back.

“Anyway, I suppose, we can now be sure that Miss Katrina has never heard anything from Luke.” Count Sphene stated, confirming the fact out loud with no doubt in his tone. The duke nodded his head, agreeing with Count Sphene’s final conclusion.

“So, now, supposing that the oracle we received is correct―― Bates, are there any abnormalities with the people around you?”

“There’s―― something that I have been wondering about.”

Everyone’s expression immediately straightened upon hearing Bates-dono’s words, attentively listening to what he was about to say.

“Today, Luke’s friend, Theodore―― or in other words―― Lord Goldberg’s son visited my store. And even though they entered carrying swords with them, the alarm wasn’t activated at all. That’s why, at first, I thought that Lord Goldberg had already told his son about the research… So, I had no qualms sharing with him about the Saint’s Ornament’s research.”

“That’s…”

“Naturally, I only talk about the general situation, so don’t worry. I did not tell him about in-depth situation. Anyway, I think that the information I dispense to him is just right. After all, he, Luke, and the other three lads will know about it sooner or later.”

Sure, I had to tell Theodore about this matter as well, but… wasn’t this a bit too early for him?

“Ah, I did tell Theodore to visit my store whenever he has a question about magic tools, but knowing what is about to happen in my store, I guess, like Luke, we have to stop him from coming to my store temporarily.”

“I agree. I’ll tell my son to not visit your store for a while.” I said, nodding my head in gratitude to Bates-dono for his consideration for my son.

“So, have you examined the installed alarm?” Count Sphene asked his little brother, hoping there were some clues to be found, but Bates-dono shook his head seriously.

“Of course I did. However, even after checking it over carefully, I can’t find any abnormalities in the alarm system.”

“How can that be?!” The duke exclaimed in a low voice, tilting his head with a puzzled expression on his face. Alas, since Bates-dono himself had no idea about it, how could others – especially me –  have any?

“Maybe we should increase the number of your escorts…” Count Greenwell suggested.

“I guess we have no other choice but to do that for now. In addition, we should also strictly limit the number of visitors as well. Furthermore, we should not forget to tell the children to not approach his store for now.” Count Sphene added, eyebrows furrowed together in concern.