Wednesday afternoon of the second week of February.
Wilton didn’t have class this week. He had decided to take a week off, saying he needed permission before using poison.
Reluctant to waste the free time, I used the Stealth technique Wilton had taught me and hung from a tree. I planned to see how many hours I could endure like this.
I suppressed my presence, stilled my mind, and surrendered myself to the quiet solitude. A bird chirped in the distance. Unmindful of me, insects rubbed their wings at my feet. I calmly quieted my troubled heart.
I took the longest breath I could and tried to take in everything around me.
How long had I spent like that? Just as the shadow of the tree slowly lengthened, I heard footsteps. One set of footsteps was nimble, betraying martial arts training, while the other lacked depth, indicating no such training.
I didn’t expect anyone to come this far into the secluded area, so I remained still. But the footsteps grew closer and closer until a man and a girl stood beneath the tree where I was hiding. My eyes widened.
One was Matt Nico, and the other was a girl I didn’t recognize.
I don’t know how they ended up in this spot when there are so many trees in this academy and so many Martial arts training ground. I had no desire to get involved in Matt Nico’s love life.
Matt Nico was a First-rate Martial artists, and he would notice me if I even breathed too loudly. This was an extremely awkward situation. As I wondered what to do, Matt Nico spoke.
“Your mother is alive.”
Out of the blue?
“…Ah.”
The girl’s face flushed instantly. She clung to Matt Nico’s chest desperately and asked again, “Really… Really? She’s alive? Where is she? What is she doing now?”
“I’ve confirmed it properly. So you should learn here…”
Too flustered, my hand slipped on the tree branch. Matt Nico immediately looked up.
I released my Stealth technique, and our eyes met. I… released my grip and dropped to the ground.
Matt Nico, who had been reaching for his sword warily, confirmed my face and gaped.
“…I didn’t mean to eavesdrop.”
“Uh… Well, I guess not… Because it’s you…”
I was relieved that I wasn’t the only one flustered.
Matt Nico, the unfamiliar girl, and I endured a moment of silence. The girl, who had been about to bury herself in Matt Nico’s arms, paused, unsure of what to do, and wiped away her tears with her sleeve.
I felt like there was another moment as awkward as this… Was it that night when I chased after Walter, who had run away with Calypse…?
Embarrassed, I tried to suppress my desire to flee. The girl, awkward and hesitant, greeted me first.
“Hello, Ernhardt-sunbae.”
“…Yeah. Hello.”
Since she called me “sunbae,” she must be a lower-grade student.
I awkwardly returned the greeting and looked at Matt Nico. After all, I was more comfortable with the familiar guy. I focused my gaze on Matt Nico and cleared my throat a few times. Nevertheless, the end of my question trembled uncontrollably.
“Is this… young lady the child you have to take care of?”
“Uh… I never thought I’d have to introduce her like this…”
Neither did I.
The girl’s eyes widened, and she grabbed Matt Nico’s sleeve and looked at me. I sensed a strange déjà vu as I saw the girl’s flushed cheeks.
“Did you tell Matt about me?”
“…Um, just a little. I didn’t say anything important. Don’t worry, Wendy.”
“…Is he your lover?”
At my question, Matt Nico laughed loudly and shook his head.
“No, she’s a relative.”
A sharp intuition flashed through my mind.
Matt Nico’s mother was from the Grimbsbein ducal family, and his father was from the Nico baronet family. And if this child’s parents were unknown, perhaps… The Grimbsbein had been searching for their missing heir for 14 years.
I closed my mouth tightly and said nothing. Matt Nico knew I had figured it out and smiled.
“Uh, I trust you’ll keep the secret.”
“No, how can you be so careless about something like this?”
“Who would have thought someone would be hiding in a place like this…?”
That… was true. Wilton Roberts was a man who liked secluded places. The Martial arts training ground where I trained with him was hidden in a remote corner. I was dumbfounded and closed my mouth. As I glanced at the girl, who was cautiously watching me, Matt Nico quickly introduced her.
“She’s using the name Wendy right now. Say hello.”
“…Yes. What grade are you in?”
“First year this year. Fifteen years old.”
Matt Nico was a guy who was hard to see because he went out every Friday and weekend, saying he had busy things to do. Seeing him standing in front of me with a relaxed expression, after running around like crazy whenever he had a spare moment, made me think that he fit together like a matching key and lock.
“Was the reason you’ve been so busy, sunbae, perhaps…”
“Uh-huh. Playing with Wendy and taking care of her meals. Ah, this is great.”
“…What is?”
“I was worried about what to do since I managed to hide it well until she entered the academy. Now that you’ve found out, can you help me out a little? Huh?”
“…Me?”
I was beyond dumbfounded. I remained silent. I looked once at the girl, who was pacing anxiously with a nervous expression, and then at Matt Nico, who was laughing cheerfully.
After hesitating for a while, I let out a deep sigh.
“…Explain it to me first.”
“Wow!”
Matt Nico chattered away.
The Grimbsbein heir competition began when the previous head of the family and his wife died early in an accident 14 years ago. Wendy, whose real name was Vivian Grimbsbein, was the only daughter of the previous head of the family.
She was the legitimate heir.
Grimbsbein was a region that mined jewels and refined iron. In the Shierun Empire, most weapon-forging techniques were passed down through a master-apprentice system.
But how could a one-year-old child have learned any techniques?
Many collateral relatives, who believed their skills were the best, rose up, claiming they had the qualifications to be the duke.
Afraid that the child might be harmed in the process, Matt Nico’s mother, who was the dead head of the family’s younger sister, quickly picked up the child, hid her under her skirt, and successfully smuggled her out.
Last time, she kidnapped Matt Nico’s father and eloped with him. I thought she must be an amazing person.
“…I heard in class that it was a huge mess.”
“Of course. Grimbsbein also follows the principle of bloodline succession. How can they fill the duke’s seat when they don’t even know if the legitimate heir is alive or dead?”
“How… have you hidden her until now?”
“My mom is really good at that.”
“…”
I calmly calmed my mind and asked something else.
“How and why did she enter the academy?”
“All heirs must study at the academy to be qualified as heirs. Only after graduating can they inherit the duke’s title without risking their lives. So, she’s disguised as a commoner right now, ta-da.”
“…”
“I was planning to stay by her side for three years to protect her, but no matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t find a way to create a connection between her and me. Everyone knows that my mom is from Grimbsbein. So I was worried.”
I was speechless. I thought it was just a love problem, but this was even more serious… After thinking for a while, I asked.
“…So, what exactly do you want me to do?”
“So, what I was thinking was, let’s try a fake relationship.”
“What?”
“Didn’t you have a commoner girl as a friend? Could she somehow… be acquainted with her and introduce her to me, or something like that?”
“Excuse me?”
I was so dumbfounded that I couldn’t speak. Matt Nico and this girl were cousins… Was it okay to do something like that?
In the Central Plains, children with the Namgung surname did not marry even if they were more than eighth cousins. It was a matter that was beyond my ethical standards.
Marriage was possible from cousins in the Shierun Empire… But in reality, almost no one did it…
Wendy’s face was bright red, and she grabbed Matt Nico’s sleeve, saying, “Uh-huh.”
I opened my mouth, closed it, opened it again, and closed it again.
I couldn’t answer right away because I was worried about involving not only myself but also my friends in this political strife. Matt Nico shrugged and added.
“We’re on the same side anyway, Michael.”
“…What does that mean?”
“You and your friends are already supporters of the Second Prince. Are you going to hand over the Grimbsbein dukedom to Richard?”
Ah.
I realized that I had no more time to hesitate.
I sent them away that day, and the next day, I called Jenny, Wendy, and Matt Nico together at the time I had to train with Marianne to coordinate our stories.
Jenny was initially taken aback, then chuckled a few times, and later added details to the story with great enthusiasm.
It was the beginning of the semester.
Wendy said she hadn’t told her friends about her hometown yet. Jenny grabbed Wendy and began to explain her hometown.
Wendy would claim that she had admired Jenny, who lived in the same town as her and was doing well at Shierun Academy, and had studied hard.
Jenny’s role was to take Wendy around the academy and introduce her to Matt Nico, who was with me.
Nothing should happen to Jenny, I grabbed Matt Nico and told him firmly. Only after receiving his promise several times did I feel relieved.
Marianne, who saw Matt Nico and Wendy walking away harmoniously, poked my side with her elbow.
“…Did you see?”
“…See what?”
“That girl, no matter how I think about it, she…”
“I don’t want to think about it anymore because it’s too complicated. Let’s just… leave it at that.”
I was just flustered and troubled, making it difficult to find a place to rest my mind. Jenny joked that she would definitely get a good price for this favor later, and then acted cute, saying that I could ask her for this kind of favor anytime.
I didn’t know what was going on when my own situation was already difficult. I just sighed.