Chapter 15: 15

Chapter 15. We are a family

Blan told Altair exactly what had happened in the training ground.

Altair, who had a sour face at the fact that his wife had made sandwiches for people other than himself, also changed his expression when the ‘Manastone Mine’ was mentioned.

“If it’s a Manastone mine, it’s definitely worth a gamble.”

“Right. And if we divide the group appropriately and move, the damage won’t be too big-…”

“No.”

Altair raised his hand and cut off Blan’s words.

“The search must be completed without any damage at all.”

“But the mountains are full of demons. In order to explore a wide range, no matter how elite our men are, they will inevitably incur casualties.”

“Which is why we would need to reduce the scope.”

At Altair’s resolute words, Blan shrugged with a ‘So how?’

The amount of information they had at the moment did not allow them to reduce the scope of their search, but Altair seemed to have an idea.

Altair, who was lightly tapping the table with his fingers, stopped his movements and looked at Blan.

“…With a preliminary survey focusing on those who have lived a long time in Aylesford, especially those who live near the mountain range for generations. They may have heard stories passed down from their ancestors.”

“Ah…!”

“There may not be specific information about the Manastone Mine, but let’s try to collect bits that tell about an unusual corner somewhere in the mountain range… and slowly expand the search from the area around there.”

If there was a manastone mine, there must be a geographical difference from other places. Of course, no one would have thought that the difference was due to the Manastone mine.

“First, I’ll send someone to collect information.”

“Alright. It will take some time for that to process, so I’m going to hunt down the dragon in the meantime.”

“Yes! My lord, the dragon… What?!”

Blan, who was bobbing his head up and down enthusiastically, jumped in surprise.

“I brought up the matter about the Manastone mine so you don’t have to go hunting for dragons!”

“A Mine is a Mine, and a Dragon is a Dragon. There is no guarantee that the search will succeed.”

“That’s…”

At Altair’s calm words, Blan kept his mouth shut.

The Manastone mine was only a possibility.

It was foolish to bet the future of an entire territory on a possibility of less than 100%. And Altair knew that better than anyone.

“I have already sent a letter to Rembrew saying that I will accept the request. It’s irreversible, so I’ll just do what I have to.”

The poor powerless man couldn’t even stand against his lord’s stubbornness.

“…Yes. My Lord.”

Blan bit his lip in helplessness with his head drooped, determined that he would surely find the Manastone Mine.

❈❈❈

Early in the morning, an unexpected visitor came to Nadia. For some reason, it was Pavel with a determined face.

“Is something the matter?”

When she asked worriedly if something serious had happened, he opened his mouth carefully.

“I have something I want to discuss with you, Madame.”

“Alright then. Please feel free to speak.”

“Um… it’s quite shameful… but can you please help us using the dowry you’ve brought to the estate?”

It was indeed something shameful. That must have been why Pavel was hesitant to bring up the matter.

It also meant that the condition of the estate was so bad that Pavel, who was well aware of the meaning behind it, still had to ask for it.

I understand, but…

“I can’t, Pavel. The dowry I brought has a separate purpose to be used on.”

When the Manastone mine’s found, funds to develop it would be needed.

Since there was no way that the Aylesford Territory, where they live on a day-to-day basis, would have such funds, she was planning to pay the development costs with her dowry.

But Pavel, unaware of such circumstances, could be seen confused.

“But the Lord …”

After hesitating for a long time, as if he wanted to ask why, Pavel finally let out a deep sigh.

“The Lord is going to hunt a dragon in the Rembrew territory to earn money.”

“Pardon? Dragon? When?”

“He will probably be leaving in a few days.”

This time it was her turn to get confused, as her eyes rounded big.

There were many rumours about the villainous Duke in the novel, but there was no mention of him being a Dragon Slayer.

As a given, dealing with dragons was mad difficult. If things went wrong, one could lose their life. Of course, she believed that the Lord himself was strong… but it’s still dangerous regardless.

Pavel sighed in anxiety and asked her.

“If it is hard to use the dowry, please stop the lord. If it’s Madame, I’m sure he will listen.”

She thought it sounded preposterous that Altair would follow her request, but Pavel seemed so certain.

If I ask him not to go, I think he’ll just glare at me coldly…

Just thinking of that deathly stare gave her chills, but it was hard to refuse it before Pavel’s earnest eyes.

She weighed both sides in a cold sweat, but in the end, Pavel’s earnestness in front of her triumphed.

“…Alright. Let me talk to him.”

“Really?”

Pavel, with his shoulders drooped gloomily, immediately changed his attitude in a matter of seconds, as his eyes twinkled.

“He must be in the office right now!”

“N-n-now?”

I’m still mentally preparing though… The simulation isn’t working properly…!

However, Pavel just kindly opened the door for her, sending her a look that said ‘Go on then!’

Seeing his eyes were full of anticipation, there was no way she could say, ‘Not now, but later…’

I hate my personality for not being able to say no. Hic hic!

Sobbing inwardly, she got up from the sofa.

❈❈❈

It was the first time Nadia had come to Altair’s office.

Beyond this door will be Altair!

Standing in front of the huge door, her heart was pounding wildly.

She just wanted to run away instantly, but Pavel was behind her back. He balled his fists in a gesture of saying ‘Madame, you can do it!’, so there was no way she could escape.

I suppose I should knock on the door first?

She kept repeating the action of raising and lowering her hand in hesitation, and before she could even notice, the door had been opened wide. Her eyes then met with Altair’s, who was looking down at her with his usual cold apathetic face.

Heek!

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She was so startled that she almost bumped into Pavel as she stepped backward. But the collision was avoided because Altair, who opened the door, reached out and lightly pulled her forward.

“What’s wrong with you? Why did you keep hovering at the door like that?”

As a heavy sigh came out, Altair asked, frowning. He seemed to have noticed that she was standing in front of the door a long time ago.

“You-, you know?”

“Why don’t I know? I can feel signs.”

As a matter of fact, since Altair was an exceptional knight, he could easily sense this kind of presence.

She didn’t even know about it, and just snooped around for the longest time. At that, her face flushed with embarrassment.

“What did you come here for?”

Altair’s eyes were on her hands as if he was looking for something. 

I should have brought a bribe like I did when I asked the knights!

Yet, that thought just occurred to her way too late. By that time, she had already come to Altair empty-handed.

Troubled, she wiggled her empty hands and flitted her eyes around nervously.

“Um…I have something I want to ask you.”

“Ask me?”

Altair raised one of his eyebrows as if surprised at the unexpected, raising his voice.

As expected, how could she ever dare to ask him to do anything?!

However, she had received a lot of support from Pavel, so she could not back down easily. With that, she plucked up a little more courage and straightened the shoulders she had unknowingly shrunk.

“I heard you’re going hunting for dragons…It’s dangerous.”

“So what?”

“Can you not go…”

The fiercer his eyes became, the weaker her voice grew.

Altair, upon glancing at Pavel standing behind her back, sighed as if he had already known where this was heading, and swept his hair in a fed-up manner.

“Pavel, don’t do anything useless.”

“What do you mean? I was just guiding her around.”

“I’m not an idiot, stop spouting nonsense.”

Altair snorted and grabbed her shoulder slightly. Then, naturally, he dragged her into his office.

Huh?

And as soon as she stepped inside, the door slammed shut.

She looked at Altair as if to ask what was going on, but he frowned, dissatisfied.

“Don’t get swayed by Pavel. He’s not a bad guy, but he does annoying things sometimes.”

“I-, I wasn’t swayed.”

“No? He asked you to do it for him, didn’t he?”

“That’s true… but I came because I was worried too.”

That wasn’t a lie.

Of course, she wasn’t worried that Altair would die because of the dragon. He was the main character in the novel, so there was a strange belief that he could not die easily at a time like this.

However, confronting a dragon was very hazardous, and no matter how strong Altair was, it would not be easy.

Altair was still a scary villain to her, but he was a good person who saved her from drowning and gave her a chance to show her potential.

A good person. The fact that she was able to give Altair such an evaluation brought surprise to her own self.

She carefully examined Altair’s expression. His expressionless face and icy eyes still felt cold, but she didn’t think he would threaten her life with a sword over trifles.

“That’s… we’re married… and I’m now an Aylesford… we are a family…”

Altair didn’t say anything as she continued to gibberish with her gaze down. The silent stare on her face felt intense.

“…so I’m worried too. That’s why I’m here.”

“Worried…”

Altair repeated her word to himself. As she carefully looked up at Altair, he was covering his mouth with his hand, avoiding her gaze.

There was strange awkwardness in the air. Not knowing what to do, Altair sighed and bent down as she was clutching onto the hem of her dress.

“You don’t have to worry. I did it because it’s worth doing.”

Altair’s head then touched her shoulder.

She flinched in surprise at the sudden touch, and he lightly patted her on the back as if to appease her.

“So far, I’ve lived content enduring moderately, but now that I can’t do that anymore, I’ve decided to actively make a move on my own. Don’t worry, I’m not going to make you a widow.”

“I’m not worried about me becoming a widow…” 

“I know. You’re worried about me.”

Altair turned and looked at her with his head buried in her shoulder. The intense gaze seemed to pierce her cheek.

“Why don’t you express your care and worry for me more like a wife?”

More like a wife? What’s that?

As she blinked blankly, dumbfounded at his words, Altair just smiled and straightened his posture as if her reaction was predictable.

“Haah. What am I going to do with this innocent wife?”

Altair’s breath tickled the nape of her neck, but soon the force that had been cramming her shoulder was lifted.

As she heaved a sigh of relief inwardly, he tapped her forehead lightly with his finger.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be back as soon as possible. I’ll leave Blan and Cain behind, so there won’t be any danger, but do restrain from going out of the castle.”

“Alright.”

“When guests come, tell them the lord is not present and so cannot greet them and send them all back. Do not let anyone in.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“And… have you thought about what I said before?”

“What you said before?”

“About how should you address me?”

“Ah!”

 He was referring to the conversation they had in the hallway when they ran into each other. She then realised she had dwelled on the matter for too long and was not making any progress.

“I’m sorry, I’ll think about it more.”

“I hope to receive the answer by the time I get back.”

“I’ll try!”

Altair smirked at the sight of her clenching her fists in determination.

“That’s nice to hear, then do try your best, my wife.”

Was it an illusion when she felt tenderness in his touch as he patted her on the head?

Somehow, her heart tickled.

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