When they arrived at the mansion, they saw a
group of servants waiting for them in the yard in front of the entrance.
In the middle of them, there are a pair of
figures, a man and a woman.
The man is Valerie's father who visited the
Vandale family the other day.
And the woman is probably his wife.
She was an elegant woman with gentle
wrinkles around her eyes, though she looked a little older than her father.
Valerie seems to be like her mother.
In appearance. In appearance only.
"Father, Mother, I'm back."
"Yes, we've been waiting for you!"
**a
The father looks at Lucas and breaks into a
smile.
"Hahaha! My son-in-law! You're here!
But now that I've met you again, I'm not so sure about it..."
"Father... haven't I told you so from
the beginning?"
"Valerie, you're being rude."
By all accounts he's not a man worthy of
Valery. Lucas couldn't help but giggle.
"No, no, madam, Duke-sama is right.
It's not rude or anything. In fact I'm really not very reliable. And it's not
too late, Duke-sama. Please just say, +My eyes were blind. Let's pretend that
there was no marriage to such a weakling+."
"Hey! You! You call my father's eyes
blind! You insolent man!"
Valerie's voice immediately becomes hoarse
and her mother tilts her head with a blank expression on her face. But just
then, her father's loud laugh echoed through the room.
"Hahahaha! That's funny! You are a very
funny man, aren't you? My daughter, he is just as you said he would be. He's
got a thick skin and as far as I'm concerned he doesn't read the air. This guy could be a big
shot. He may not look like it, but that's good too. I don't have to worry about
him having an affair with some stupid woman."
"Dear, you are talking ruder than
him..."
When the madam rebuked him with a mixture of
exasperation, Valerie nodded her head and raised her voice.
"That's right, father! I've often said
he's a piece of trash, incompetent and useless, but I didn't realize his
appearance was also bad..."
"Hoo, but you like this kind of look,
right?"
"Huh! No, of course not! I just thought
it's not proper for an aristocrat to criticize someone's appearance! And I hate
what's in him, but I don't hate what he looks like... But since I've made up my
mind to be his wife, so I don't want any unjustified slander against my
husband..."
The parents looked blank for a moment as
their daughter's face turned red and she turned her head down at the end of the
story.
But soon after that, Lucas saw Valerie's
parents looking at each other warmly, as if they had seen something smiling.
* * *
"Hahahahaha!"
"F-Father, you don't have to laugh so
much!"
Valerie's cheeks puffed out, and her father
made a funny face.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't expect
to see you behaving like a girl of your age."
"Dear, she's a girl of her age, you
know."
Now, Lucas and the others are now in the
hall, sitting around the table with Valerie's parents, enjoying a sumptuous
meal.
It is a very noisy exchange between father
and daughter. Meanwhile, Lucas shrinks back and reaches for the nearest dish.
Honestly, he feels awkward. He feels out of
place.
He can't help but notice the eyes of the
maids standing by the wall, but no one besides them seems to pay attention to
him.
Looking up slowly, he sees the father's
smiling face, which seems to be truly enjoying himself. His wife smiles
elegantly, covering her mouth with her hand, standing right next to him. And
Valerie, who is flustered when her father makes fun of her, is shouting in a
panic.
Clearly, the family seems to be getting
along very well.
These scenes could be called a family
reunion.
(Well, I guess it's better than being tossed
into an awkward dinner table...)
"However, the more I look at him, the
more I think he is unreliable..."
"Dear.... You're being rude
again."
Lucas jumps involuntarily when he realizes
that the conversation is suddenly directed toward him.
"What's so rude? He is my son-in-law,
and from now on he would be my son. I will say what I have to say. Well, it
doesn't matter if he's a bit unreliable. As long as I train him well, he'll be
able to strangle a bear with his bare hands in a month. What do you think, my
son-in-law? Can you stay here for a month or so? If you want, I can arrange for
you to take a long vacation."
During the carriage ride to the mansion,
Valerie told him that her father had been the commander of the Golden Eagle
Knights in the previous generation.
He is still in his late forties, his
swordsmanship has not declined, and even Valerie was treated as if she were a
child when she crossed swords with him one-on-one, which is an extraordinary
strength.
**b
He seems to be too young to retire, but it
is said that he stepped down at the same time Valerie was accepted into the
Knight's Order.
According to him, his daughter might be
criticized for having the glory due to her parents if he were to stay. So, he
retired without hesitation because he did not want to be a barrier to his
talented daughter's future.
Perhaps, he is quite a parent's fool.
Furthermore, his right hand man, who was
appointed as his successor, also retired as soon as Valerie became a knight,
handing over the position of the commander to her, saying +I'm just a trustee+.
"Eh...uh, no, that's..."
Recalling Valerie's discipline, Lucas'
cheeks twitched involuntarily as he imagined her father's discipline, which was
probably even greater than Valerie's.
Valerie interrupted him, though perhaps not
out of concern for him.
"Father, we will have to leave for the
war in a few days. And tomorrow we must return to the capital."
"Hmm... I see. Okay. Then I'll save
that for after the return from the war. Be loyal to the crown and work with all
your might."
"Of course. As the daughter and
son-in-law of the House of Savignac, whose loyalty is beyond reproach, we will
do our duty without shame."
It may sound like an exaggeration to say
that they are loyal and matchless, but that is what the Savignacs are proud of,
they say.
In fact, Lucas has often seen Valerie
talking about her loyalty to the royal family.
"By the way, what do you think of my
daughter, son-in-law?"
"H-Hmm?"
When Lucas gave an involuntarily twisted
smile at the father's sudden question, Valerie gave him an unhappy look.
"Of course you think I'm a nagging,
strong-willed gorilla. In fact, I heard him complaining about "that female
gorilla" a few months ago."
Well, at that time Lucas really thought she
was going to kill him.
I turned around and Valerie was standing
there.
Lucas turned around and was amazed at his
bad luck.
"Oh, is that so? My son-in-law..."
"Oh, that's just a misunderstanding of
the word, but... she looks very pretty when she is dressed like that, and...
well, you know... she is my favorite type"
Lucas somehow manages to make up a story,
adding in his mind that Valerie is a female gorilla. Even though he really
thinks she is a female gorilla, he cannot say it out loud.
However, Valerie reacted unexpectedly to
this comment.
"Y-Your favorite type... Y-You were
l-l-looking at me likat that?"
She turned red like a ripe fruit and fell
silent.
Seeing this, her father became more and more
happy and started laughing loudly.
"Well, it's good! It's good
Hahaha!"
**c
At the dinner table, the father is the only
one who made a lot of noise.
He was so happy that his daughter brought
home his son-in-law, and he was so excited that it could be said that he had a
great time all the time.
And now, after dinner was over, the father,
in his excitement, said something outrageous.
"My son-in-law, this house is proud of
its bath."
"Oh... a bath?"
"It's a good opportunity to strengthen
the bond between husband and wife. Come in with my daughter!"
"Yes!?"
Lucas leaps up from his chair.
He stole a glance at Valerie, who was
blushing red and glaring at him.
"Kuh.... If this the case"
Lucas couldn't help but tremble at the sight
of her gritting her back teeth.
(She's going to kill me!)
"Well, I want to take good care of the
Commander, so I don't want to talk about that kind of thing right now...
Because I've decided to wait until after we get back from the battlefield.
That's right! That way, I'll be more motivated to come back alive!"
"I see, my son-in-law is an unusually
ascetic man nowadays. But such a man is good man. All right! I see... Then
tonight you and I will strengthen our father-son bond."
"What?"
As soon as Lucas's mouth dropped open, his
father walked up to him without blinking and picked him up by his arm.
"Hey, wait!"
"Hahahaha! Then, son-in-law! Let's have
a naked man-to-man talk!"
"Commander! Do something!"
"I don't care."
"Hahahahahaha"
Valerie whispered, "Idiot..." as
she heard Lucas's screams in the distance.
She had made up her mind to take a bath with
him as a wife's duty, but he had simply refused to do so, as if he thought he
was protecting her.
On the one hand, she is relieved, but on the
other hand, she is not quite sure where to go with the resolve she had made.
The mother's eyes narrowed at the sight of
her daughter's pouting cheeks.
