It looked like the usual, but for some reason, there was an awkward atmosphere.
At its center were Andras and Amy.
“……”
“……”
With their shabby acting, once again Alfred and Lia made the two sit next to each other.
Unlike the last time, the movements of the two were becoming very unnatural.
Andras rarely talked and took food to his mouth with robotic movements.
The two were conscious of each other, and they could not easily talk to each other.
It was like an atmosphere where something would happen at any time.
Alfred kept a calm attitude, looking at the two from time to time, similar to me, but Lia, an enthusiastic supporter, looked anxious looking at their sluggish attitude.
Her gaze gave me a slight shrug.
I understand her anxiety, but there was nothing we could do now.
I just took care of the children’s meals while waiting for good results.
At a time when each one’s complex thoughts and subtle feelings swirled on the table, an unexpected variable popped up.
“Um… Something’s wrong today…”
– FLINCH!
– FLINCH!
Not only Andras and Amy but also Alfred and Lia trembled at Kaneff’s voice full of doubt.
Before something strange happens, I tried to do damage control by talking to Kaneff.
“Why, boss? Is something wrong with the food?”
“No. It’s not about food. There’s something wrong with the atmosphere.”
“H~uh? Really?”
“Yeah. I don’t know exactly why. Something’s really bothering me.”
“……”
It seemed like Kaneff’s senses were rejecting the sweet atmosphere unconsciously.
He squinted and examined the people sitting around the table.
Kaneff’s eyes went past me, the children, Alfred Lia, and finally toward the two people in question.
“Um…”
“….”
Andras and Amy shook nervously as soon as their eyes met.
Kaneff’s eyes sharpened like a beast who found his prey.
“Eh… Mr. Kaneff. Would you please let go of the knife you have in your hand for now?”
At the words of Andras, who was terrified, Kaneff put down the knife. Instead, a terrible chain came from his wrist.
-CLING! -CLANG!
-CLING! -CLANG!
“Hick!”
“Now, shall we go into detail to see what fun thing little Andras was doing behind my back?”
The sight of Kaneff moving the chain with a grin was a horror in itself.
Someone popped out in front of Andras, who was trembling.
“STOP IT!”
“……?”
“There’s nothing wrong with him, Sir. It was just that I followed him unilaterally.”
Amy sitting next to Andras blocked Kaneff with a bold look.
Everyone was surprised at her action.
No one expected her to move this boldly.
Kaneff also seemed a little bewildered by the unexpected situation.
“And no matter how much Sir. Kaneff is in a higher position, please don’t be rude to the vice chief. If you keep bothering him, I won’t stay still!”
“Amy…”
Wow… Is this the power of love?
I can’t believe she could stand up face-to-face in front of that awful Boss.
I couldn’t help but admire her courageous behavior.
Kaneff looked at Amy, who stood in front of him for a moment, then waved away the chains around him one after another.
” ……”
He sat down with a plain expression as if he completely lost interest and went on with the meal quietly.
Meanwhile, Amy, who forced Kaneff to step down, belatedly realized her bold action and returned to her original position as her whole body started shaking.
Andras talked to Amy, who was shaking little by little even after returning to her seat.
“Amy.”
“Yes?”
“Thank you. For forcing yourself to stand up for me.”
“Oh, no.”
Amy was shy, but the corners of her mouth went up slightly.
Andras’s face, which watched her, also had a soft smile.
The awkwardness between the two disappeared and returned to its natural state as before.
The fluffy atmosphere, which was hard to explain in words, showed that the relationship between the two was now a little different from before.
I was nervous about Kaneff’s unexpected behavior, but it eventually led to good results, and everyone watching it smiled happily throughout the meal.
After the incident in the dining room, Andras and Amy went to work together as usual.
Of course, unlike before, the two always had a sweet fluffy atmosphere around them.
In many cases, they spent their time avoiding the gaze of the surrounding people, and the farm members tried to ignore them and cheered inside.
Kaneff showed signs of displeasure in the sweet fluffy atmosphere but did not interfere.
Amy thanked me for my help.
“Thank you very much, Lord Cardis. I think things wouldn’t have gone well if it wasn’t for your help.”
“Haha, what did I do?”
Honestly, I played a big role even though I said that.
If I had left Andras alone, his conspiracy theories would have run wild.
I spoke carefully to Amy who kept on thanking me.
“Amy, can I ask you a question? It might be a little sensitive question…”
“Yes, as much as you like, Lord Cardis. I’ll try my best to answer any questions I can answer.”
“Hmm, what do you think about being the Successor to the family?”
Amy answered very simply, while I asked her very carefully.
“To be honest, I don’t really care about it.”
“Really?”
“My father and his followers want me to be the Successor, but I’m not really interested in the Successor position. It’s better to work for the Germour Wizardry as it is now.”
She spoke her mind more honestly than I had hoped.
“And…”
“…?”
“If I get married to Vice chief……I can’t, of course, be the Successor to Barbatos…”
“Ah……you’ve already thought that far… “
She looked a little embarrassed thinking about what she said.
Andras was the Successor of the Schnarpe family.
If the two were to marry, Amy would have had no choice but to follow him to the Schnarpe family.
For her, the position of Successor of the Barbatos family would rather be a shackle.
I quickly organized my thoughts and thanked her.
“Thank you, Amy. Your honest answer helped me a lot.”
“I’m so glad it helped.”
Amy and the twins came to the farm as candidates for Barbatos’ Successor, but none of them seemed interested in the Successor position.
Then there’s only one candidate left for the position.
It was Crosel.
Suddenly, what Valerian told me came to mind.
-I think there’s nothing to worry about.
I couldn’t understand what he was saying at that time, but now I thought I could understand the meaning a little now.
“Lord Cardis, I’ve finished everything you asked me to do.”
Crosel came up and spoke to me, who was playing with Griffins.
“Thank you, Prince Barbatos.”
Crosel finished the work without complaining, even though he had been asked to clean up the warehouse.
It was such a submissive attitude that it was hard to think of as a member of a huge noble family.
At first, I thought he was a humble person who wasn’t aristocratic.
It was when I found out the circumstances he was in, I understood why he was like that.
His father, Yaiger tried to stir up a rebellion, and I was the one who helped the Barbatos family stop that rebellion.
In a way, I was the one who changed the direction of his fate.
If Yaiger had succeeded in treason, naturally, Crosel would have become the Successor to the family.
– Biip!
– Biip!
While I was lost in thought for a moment, Grify and Finny whined, pulling my clothes with their beaks.
It was a sign asking me to come to play quickly.
I looked at Crosel while soothing the children.
He felt my gaze and hurriedly turned away from looking at the Griffins.
“Can I call you ‘Crosel’ comfortably?”
“You can call me as you please, my lord.”
“Okay. I’ll call you Crosel then.”
“Yes,”
He said in a relaxed tone while watching me playing with Grify and Finny.
“Crosel.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Do you want to be the Successor?”
When he heard the unexpected question, Crosel showed signs of confusion.
After a while, he regained stability and gave an answer.
“I can’t……”
I sighed softly as soon as I heard the answer.
His answer was not ‘I don’t want to’ but ‘I can’t’.
Now I understood why the Barbatos family left me with this ridiculous task.