Chapter 2: Serge

Chapter 2:
Serge

 

BY THE TIME Lelia returned home, it was already almost the middle of winter break. She was living with her fiancé, Emile, and he was worried sick since she had been gone for so long.

“Lelia, what’s this about you adventuring in a dungeon?!” Emile demanded.

Annoyed, Lelia coldly replied, “I told you I would be going to a dungeon during break.”

“But you never told me how serious a venture it would be!” Emile had apparently misunderstood the scale of the operation. Now that he knew how dangerous her adventure had been, he wanted answers. “Why did you do something so risky? You’re living a comfortable life now. You don’t need the money, right?”

“I already told you. I had a good reason for going.”

Lelia wouldn’t tell him the specifics, so naturally, Emile couldn’t accept her actions. While they bickered, Ideal suddenly appeared out of nowhere and floated beside Lelia.

“A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Emile. My name is Ideal. I serve Miss Lelia, as her spaceshi—oh, pardon me. I mean, her airship.”

Emile gawked at the robot. “A-airship? With that tiny body?”

“Oh, no. My real body is elsewhere. I was fortunate enough to be able to venture outside thanks to Miss Lelia when she came to find me with her companion, Mr. Serge. Ahh, truly, I am so grateful to them.”

“Huh? You were with Serge?”

Lelia snatched the floating ball from the air, trying to stop him before he could blabber any further. “Y-you! What are you doing out here?!”

“I simply thought I could rectify the misunderstanding if I explained the situation personally.”

“I-Idiot!” Lelia snapped. “I told you not to show yourself!”

“Pardon? I believe you specifically said I should ‘hide myself for a bit,’ the ‘bit’ being the key part here.”

As Lelia reflected on her mistake and made a mental note to give him more specific directions next time, she turned her gaze to Emile. She hesitated, unsure of how to explain things, which only made his expression turn more severe.

“Lelia, I want answers! Why were you with Serge?!” he shouted.

Lelia was shocked. Emile was always so deferential that she’d never expected he would get angry.

“S-so what? What’s wrong with that, huh? I needed him to get through this dungeon, so I had him help me. That’s all.”

“You never told me you’d be alone with another man! You realize we are engaged, yes?”

These words made her once more recall how she’d turned down Serge’s offer during their trip, choosing instead to be with Emile. That only made her more irritated with Emile for doubting her.

You’re seriously going to suspect me of two-timing when I specifically said no to Serge? Lelia’s voice rose even louder than Emile’s as she shouted, “Nothing happened between us! And more importantly, do you plan on interrogating me every time I do anything? Stop getting so jealous just because I have a guy friend!”

“Of course I’m going to get jealous. Of all people, you really had to go with Serge? Do you think I don’t know how he feels about you?”

Lelia’s eyes narrowed, and her voice dropped low. “What? So you don’t trust me?”

Emile’s shoulders trembled. “N-no. That’s not what I mean.” He could never handle pushback.

Lelia had thought Emile would give up the first time she deflected, but he was being more stubborn than usual. She chalked it up to coincidence and gave it no more thought.

“Anyway,” she said, “this conversation is over. End of discussion. Got it?”

“R-right.”

With that out of the way, she turned her attention back to Ideal. “As for you! Don’t you dare show yourself in front of people again without my permission!”

“My deepest apologies. I didn’t give it proper thought. I assure you, it won’t happen again.”

Lelia couldn’t keep scolding him after that, not when he seemed so repentant. After all, her instructions hadn’t been entirely clear. There was no point continuing the conversation.

“I’m going to my room now,” Lelia announced before marching off, leaving Emile and Ideal behind.

 

***

 

Not long after Serge returned to the Rault estate, Albergue summoned him to his study. As the house head stood in front of his wayward adoptive son, he looked utterly exasperated.

“You could at least send word when you return.”

Serge plopped down on the couch and stared up at the ceiling as he waved his hand dismissively. “Yeah, yeah. I know.”

“No, it’s precisely because you don’t know that I am reminding you like this. It appears you returned to the republic a while ago. Where have you been in the meantime?”

“Eh, you know. Here and there.”

Albergue frowned at his uncooperative son. After his biological heir, Leon Sara Rault, passed away, he had adopted Serge so the boy could eventually inherit the house name. Alas, Serge was obsessed with traveling and exploring and hadn’t even bothered to attend the academy of late.

“Serge, I want you to cut down on your adventures from now on.”

“What?!”

“I agreed you could go during your long school breaks, but you ignored my conditions and set off on your own. Did you really think I would approve of your actions?” From Albergue’s perspective, it was a reasonable demand.

Serge, however, didn’t see it the same way. “And when have you ever approved of me as a person?”

“We’re going to do this again, are we? I have already accepted you as my son. Now you need to be a little bit more—”

Serge scoffed, “I’m only a substitute for him, right?”

“No one ever said that.”

“Yeah, right.”

By “him,” Serge was referring to Albergue’s biological son, Leon. Ever since Serge’s adoption, he’d hated being compared to Leon.

This will make it difficult to introduce him to the other Leon, Albergue thought. But I’ll have to tell Serge about him eventually.

This Leon he thought of was the young man from Holfort Kingdom, the one who so resembled his own son and who had caused an endless stream of controversy during his stay in the republic. Keeping him a secret from Serge simply wasn’t an option.

“Serge, the New Year’s Festival is almost upon us. I want you to take part in it,” said Albergue.

“New Year’s Festival? That’s just a stupid old party, right? I’m not a kid anymore. There’s no point in me going.”

“This time will be different,” Albergue assured him. “You absolutely must attend. There is someone I want to introduce you to.”

“Who?”

If Albergue answered honestly, Serge would no doubt skip, so Albergue opted to keep it a secret for now. “It will be a surprise.”

“Tch.” Serge clicked his tongue and stood up, marching out of the study. Albergue watched on forlornly.

 

***

 

Since Angie and Livia had decided to stay for the time being, we all had to return to Marie’s estate. Why, you ask? Because, according to Cordelia, “This house is far too small for a woman of Lady Angelica’s standing!” Angie was too preoccupied with other things to worry about her living quarters, so she stayed silent on the matter.

As I sat in the dining hall, I let out a sigh. “Why is this happening?”

Julius, who was sitting beside me, elbowed me. “Hey, Bartfort.”

“What is it?”

“Don’t you ‘what is it’ me! Do you really intend to do nothing about this predicament?” he snapped quietly, keeping his voice to a whisper. The other four bozos were also glaring at me, unable to withstand the tense atmosphere that had flooded through the house.

Their eyes all said the same thing: Do something!

I turned my gaze to where Angie and Livia sat. They were utterly silent. Since the disagreement over Noelle, they hadn’t spoken a word to each other. They still seemed concerned enough about one another that they stole glances occasionally, as if they both wanted to speak. Having a traditional Alzerian meal on the table, there was probably much they wanted to discuss about it, but they hadn’t resolved their differences. That left the air awkward, full of unspoken words that nevertheless desperately wanted saying.

Miss Cordelia stood behind me, coughing purposefully as if to draw my attention. “Lord Leon, why don’t you explain what it is we are eating to your fiancées? This cuisine is most unfamiliar to them.”

“What? Me? I don’t know squat.”

Groans erupted throughout the room.

Noelle, ever the considerate one, piped up. “Well, um…this is Alzerian soup. The most important component is the shellfish broth…” She had spoken up because she couldn’t stand the pervasive silence, but in spite of that, her explanation was rather short.

“Thank you for going to the trouble to tell us,” Angie said quietly.

“N-not at all.”

And that was the end of all conversation. Things had been in this uncomfortable state for a while now. Our dinner table was normally a lively one, but today, it was silent save for the clink of cutlery.

Oh boy. How am I going to fix this?

 

***

 

Once the meal was over, I turned to Marie for advice, with Luxion in tow.

“I wanna do something to mend fences between Angie and Livia. And I want you two to help me,” I said.

“It’s refreshing to see how honest you are about your intentions to have others fix your mistakes, Master.”

I glared at Luxion. “And whose fault do you think this is to begin with, huh?!”

“Your fiancées suspecting you of infidelity is completely unrelated to their current argument. I would kindly ask you not to blame everything on me. It’s most displeasing.”

“You little—”

Fine, so it wasn’t Luxion’s fault, but the whole stress from my hypothetical cheating fiasco had only added fuel to the fire of their own disagreement. Even if Luxion wasn’t entirely to blame, he had some culpability.

As we glared at each other, Marie simply shook her head. The expression on her face seemed to say, Neither of you get it.

“Their little tiff doesn’t matter,” she said. “The real issue is Noelle. What do you plan on doing about her? She’s really worried about her future.”

Do you really hate Angie and Livia that much?

“What do you mean by ‘doesn’t matter,’ huh?” I sneered. “From where I’m standing, this is a huge issue. I’m as worried about them as I am about the issue with Noelle.”

Marie scowled and stepped away, putting distance between us. “Do you seriously mean that? Those two are basically having a playground spat. Shouldn’t you be more concerned about Noelle? There’s a limit to how oblivious you can be before it becomes an actual crime, you know.”

“I’m not oblivious,” I insisted.

Marie’s jaw dropped, as if she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

Luxion shook his eye back and forth, exasperated. “We are well beyond oblivious at this point.”

They were both being ridiculously mean.

“Wh-what’s with you two?!”

“Forget it,” Marie said with a sigh. “More importantly, Noelle is seriously hung up on this. You should get in there and say something. Don’t you feel bad for her?”

“Is it really my place to say anything to her? This is her issue. Besides, Noelle is…” The protagonist of the second game, was what I wanted to say, but the words hung unspoken.

Still, with that in mind, didn’t she deserve to have a future in which she could be happy? I hesitated over whether I had any right to meddle.

Luxion and Marie glanced at one another, both wearing looks of disgust as if they could barely stand me.

“After everything that’s happened, you’re really going to worry over the game’s original script?” asked Marie. “Are you stupid?”

“Oh, pardon me, did you not realize already? Master was born stupid,” Luxion replied.

These two really don’t show any mercy, do they?

“I’m telling you, you’re both overthinking this! A-anyway, in regards to the Noelle situation, I’d rather leave it to her to decide instead of risking making things worse by sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong.”

“This whole thing would be resolved if you’d just tell her to come with you back to the kingdom.”

I shook my head at my sister’s entirely irresponsible remark. “This is Noelle’s life. I have no right to make decisions for her.”

“You really are a jerk.”

Me, a jerk? Not at all. If I took Noelle back with me, all that awaited her was life as Priestess of the Sacred Tree. It would be the same thing if she stayed here, but that was exactly why, at the very least, I wanted to respect her wishes.

“Now,” I said, “let’s get back to the original topic of this discussion. What should I do about Angie and Livia?”

“I already told you, that little whatever is nothing. They’ll resolve it on their own soon enough. You should be more concerned about Noelle! Ugh, men really are morons!”

“Indeed, my master does worry about the insignificant while putting off truly important matters. He’s so utterly hopeless that it gives me even more reason to look after him. I couldn’t be more pleased.”

As usual, Luxion was both snide and sarcastic. I had to wonder if he thought he was the real master in this relationship.

Marie dropped her gaze to the floor. “Do you really mean to leave the decision to Noelle? You know, if you’d only say as much to her, I know she would—”

I could already guess what she was going to say, but I still hesitated. If I told Noelle to come to Holfort, I knew she likely would. But would that actually make her happy?

“Don’t expect that from me,” I said, cutting her off.

“But—” Marie started to say, clearly intending to argue the point.

A knock on the door interrupted her. Cordelia’s voice filtered through the crack underneath it. “Lord Leon, you have a guest to see you.”

 

***

 

“Hey there! Have things been well since I saw you last?”

My guest was none other than Louise Sara Rault. She was the villainess in the second game of the series, as well as the daughter of the final boss, Albergue Sara Rault. In the game, she spent most of her time bullying the protagonist, but personally, I thought of her more as a doting and affectionate older sister. She’d even asked me to call her “Big Sis” the first time we met. That would have been a terrifying request under ordinary circumstances, but since my actual sister was such a scumbag, Miss Louise was a welcome change, especially given how kind she was to me. I would have jumped at the chance to have her as my sibling, given the option.

Seriously, why can’t she be my real sister?

It made me think of Jenna, living back at our parents’ home in Holfort Kingdom. Calling her awful was putting it lightly. No one could blame me for bemoaning the desire when I returned home and was last forced to see her face.

Louise had soft, fluffy, golden-blonde hair that fell to her shoulders, and her purple eyes were filled with kindness. She was a year ahead of me at the academy, and she really did act like an older sister. I once again lamented our lack of blood relation, though I managed to force a smile for her.

“Well, despite being stabbed in the back and interrogated by my fiancées for something I didn’t do, I’m just peachy,” I said.

At a loss for how to respond, Miss Louise managed a small smile in return, looking pleased. “If you’re able to joke about it, that suggests you’re doing just fine. We’ll save the details for later, much as it piques my curiosity. Today, I actually came to extend an invitation.”

“To what?”

“The New Year’s Festival hosted by the Six Great Houses.”

“New Year’s Festival?” I echoed. “Ahh, I think I know what that is…”

Marie had mentioned something before. It was one of the events from the second game, which triggered during the protagonist’s—Noelle’s—second year at the academy. If things had gone according to the script, one of the love interests would invite Noelle and the pair would officially declare their romantic relationship at the party, or something like that.

“Oh, you already know about it?” Miss Louise asked, surprised. “Once a year, we pledge our undying loyalty to the Sacred Tree. Or at least that was its original purpose. Nowadays it’s more like an actual festival.”

“In what way?”

“The Sacred Tree has formed something of a cave within its roots, and a monument was erected there. The younger generation like myself go to it to renew our pledge to the tree.”

Luxion, floating beside me, piped up. “You mean to say it’s not a rigid ritual so much as an event for the young people to enjoy? And you are inviting Master to participate in this?”

“Exactly. It’s fairly austere at the beginning, but after the formalities are out of the way, it’s more like a party.”

I was impressed to hear they had such a shindig.

Miss Louise suddenly brought her face closer to mine. “I would like you to attend as my partner.”

“Oh, cool, as your partner. Wait…what?” I nodded along until my mind registered the words, at which point a chill ran down my spine.

Footsteps echoed outside the room, and when the door swung open, Miss Cordelia was standing on the threshold. She stepped away a moment later, allowing Angie to enter.

“You seem to be have an intriguing conversation,” said Angie. “Leon, why not let me join you?”

Despite being on bad terms with Angie right now, Livia followed on her heels. “Mr. Leon, I heard a beautiful woman was visiting you. You really are popular, aren’t you?”

They were both smiling, but either they suspected me of two-timing again…or they’d simply come to sniff out the connection I shared with Miss Louise. I glared at Miss Cordelia, but she didn’t spare me a glance.

Are you my enemy now? Is that it?

“Girls, you’ve got it all wrong,” I insisted. “Th-this woman is—” I hesitated, unsure of how best to introduce her.

Miss Louise pressed her hands together, grinning from ear to ear. Her eyes seemed to light up as she stepped toward the girls, giving each one a handshake. “Are you Miss Angelica? And this girl must be Miss Olivia, then, I presume?”

“Y-yes,” Angie stammered. “That’s right, but…”

“Uh, um…” Livia similarly stumbled.

They were both at a loss for how to deal with Miss Louise’s warm reception. The latter didn’t seem to mind, seeming genuinely overjoyed by their presence.

“I was shocked to hear Leon had two fiancées, but seeing how adorable you both are, I can’t help but envy him, even as a woman. Leon is a lucky man. Oh, I’m Louise, by the way. Louise Sara Rault. I hope the three of us can get along.”

Angie’s initial confusion turned to exasperation, but that soon abated as well, her expression softening. “You’re Duke Rault’s daughter, yes? You sure seem to be on good terms with Leon.”

“Yes, I am fortunate for his friendship—and that’s all we are, by the way. Nothing romantic between us.”

Livia’s face visibly relaxed. “I’m sorry for doubting you.”

“Oh, nothing to worry about. I assume he’s done something to warrant your mistrust?” Louise shot me a look, a teasing smile tugging at her lips. “You have two cute girls from Holfort already. You shouldn’t be messing around, you know.”

“Y-yeah, I’m reflecting on my mistakes,” I muttered.

Miss Louise turned her attention back to the girls. “I apologize for the abruptness of the request, but I would like Leon to accompany me for a bit for this event. I promise not to cause you ladies any trouble.”

Angie tilted her head. “Why Leon?”

I had wondered the same thing.

“I made a promise with my younger brother a long time ago,” said Miss Louise.

 

***

 

After Miss Louise left, Livia flagged me down. “Mr. Leon!”

“Y-yeah?!” I jumped in surprise.

Tears welled in Livia’s eyes. “Please grant Miss Louise’s wish! I beg you!”

“S-sure.”

She was on the verge of sobbing because when Miss Louise explained her request, she had told us that I looked exactly like her younger brother. However, Leon Sara Rault had passed away over a decade ago. We apparently had a similar aura though, which was why Miss Louise had taken such a liking to me and fussed at every opportunity.

“I want her to be able to keep the promise she made to him,” Livia continued. “So please help her do that.”

“If I’m good enough to be a stand-in, then I’ll do it,” I said.

Ultimately, that’s all I was—a proxy for someone who wasn’t here anymore. If I was being entirely honest, it was a heavy burden to take the place of someone I didn’t even know. I had agreed to do it, but there were more important matters on my mind.

“That aside, are you and Angie going to make up soon?” I asked.

Livia’s shoulders jumped. Her cheeks colored as she awkwardly averted her gaze and stared down at the floor. “I-I want to apologize, I really do. And I want us to mend things, but…I can’t agree with how she wants to deal with Miss Noelle. What about you? What do you think about all of this?”

“Me? I think Noelle should decide.”

Air filled her cheeks as she pouted. “You’re being a meanie.”

“How do you figure?”

“I get that you’re trying to be considerate of Angie and me, and I appreciate that. But I don’t want to see Miss Noelle’s happiness suffer because of it. Besides, I do understand where Angie is coming from.”

“Livia?” I stared at her in surprise.

“I get that Miss Noelle’s different from me—that she’s special.” She was still staring at her feet, not meeting my gaze.

Part of me wished I could reassure her that she was way more special (character-wise, anyway), but that wouldn’t really solve anything in this situation. So I settled for something close instead.

“Well, you’re plenty special in my book.”

Livia lifted her chin. Her entire face flushed, all the way to her ears. She opened and closed her mouth repeatedly, trying to find words to respond. She finally put a hand to her chest and took a deep breath, her eyes growing misty as she stared at me. “You’ve become a real smooth talker since coming to the republic. You’re not saying that kind of line to other girls, are you?”

“What? Do you really have so little faith in me?” I laughed, trying to play it off, but she grabbed me by the arm.

“Angie is at a loss. Please talk to her. I’m positive she’s just waiting for you to say something.” Livia’s clouded expression made clear that she was just as lost as Angie, but she still insisted that I prioritize my other fiancée.

You two really do love each other.

 

***

 

When I visited Angie’s room, I found her sitting on her bed. I told her about my conversation with Livia, and she collapsed onto her side. It was almost frustrating to see her leave herself wide open and defenseless even though I was right in the room with her.

“I see,” she mumbled. “So that’s what Livia said, huh?”

“Why not mend fences?”

Angie shot upright. Her skirt shifted and let me get a glimpse of what was underneath it—but that’s information strictly for yours truly, thanks. “Excuse you! I want to make up with her as quickly as possible too, you know! B-but it’s just… I don’t know how to put it. All I thought about were the benefits we’d reap, which was why I tried to push Noelle on you. I didn’t even consider her as an individual. That’s an undeniable fact.”

“Not a soul out there doesn’t want to get their hands on the Sacred Tree to benefit from it.”

Anyone who saw a mountain of gold coins in front of them would be eager to pocket it for themselves.

Okay, logically speaking, seeing millions of dollars just lying there on the street would actually be kinda terrifying.

Since I was a greedy coward, however, I had no license to find fault with Angie for what she’d said.

“Besides,” I continued, “you recognize it would be in the best interest of the majority, right? You say you didn’t consider Noelle as an individual, but you were trying to help the people of the kingdom, right?”

Livia and Angie were always thinking of other people. It was something I could never do.

“You’re being too generous with me,” Angie said. “Yes, I did think about Holfort and our people, but what I sought most of all was personal gain.”

“Personal gain? Like, you want to increase the Redgraves’ power or something?”

If Holfort did get its hands on the Sacred Tree, it would bring with it an enormous level of influence. It held too much power itself not to cause an impact. From a nobleman’s standpoint, it only made sense for Angie to prioritize what would benefit her own house. I didn’t share the same views though, personally.

Angie shook her head. “No. You were my primary concern. The more power you hold in the future, the happier I thought you would be. But you wouldn’t desire that power at the cost of Noelle’s happiness, would you? I only realized that after the fact.”

So her primary thought was how it would benefit me?

“You were worried about my happiness?”

“I was blinded by greed,” she said. “Forgive me.”

“Uh, there’s not really anything to forgive. But in that case, all the more reason you and Livia should make u—”

“Th-that’s a completely separate matter! H-how…do you think I should go about apologizing to her?” Angie had seemed cool and composed a moment ago, but the moment Livia entered the conversation again, she turned into a cute but insecure little girl.

“I dunno. The normal way?” I said with a laugh.

Angie jumped to her feet to lightly beat her fists against my chest.

“D-don’t you laugh at me! I’m seriously worried about how to handle this!”

“You’ll be fine,” I assured her. “Once the two of you go out sightseeing… Actually, scratch that. You might get wrapped up in trouble if I leave you to your own devices. That settles it! I’ll show you around the republic.”

“Y-you really mean that?”

“It’s a promise.”

Angie finally stopped hitting my chest, instead wrapping her arms around me. “I expect you to be a proper guide then. I had completely blanked it out, but I was really looking forward to sightseeing this time. Also… Ah!” She froze, suddenly remembering something. Her cheeks colored. “Leon, I’m sorry. So much happened that I forgot to tell you…”

“Huh?”