In my residence's tiny reception room, Claudia and I, the two noble teenagers that we just captured, and Oscar, who's also taken on the role of gathering information for me, were all crammed in together. It's an overwhelming situation for Feria and Freche's son.
The young couple is so stiff, as if we're threatening them or something. Feria's face is ashen. ……Well, although I'm calling them young, I'm actually even younger than they are, technically.
I held out my hand as if to say give it to me, that's when Freche's youngest son who had been chewing his lip all this time finally lifted his head with a glare aimed at me.
Oh? Come to think of it, while Feria does know who I am, I still haven't formally introduced myself yet to this boy.
I nodded in confirmation, and the young Freche's mouth was wide agape in astonishment. Then, he lowered his face again with a scared expression. Oi, you can't show me a permit?
It can't be helped, let's turn to Feria, she was biting her lips as well, although she opened her mouth to talk even as she was trembling.
For the time being, I'm going to ignore the part where she introduced Cornell Freche. Ogren? This is a name I never thought I'd hear Feria say, so I tilted my head.
Maybe she's realized she can't hide it anymore, she admitted that she didn't have a permit to leave school and nodded.
I don't know what Viscount Ogren thinks about this entire situation at all, so I vented my frustration as I told her my purpose. Now that she's told me directly about Ogren when she's kept silent all this time before, I feel like there's no need for me to hide my task given to me by the church from her.
Feria was covering her mouth with her hand as if she couldn't believe what was going on. Maybe it's an unconscious reaction, I saw her weakly grabbing onto Cornell Freche's sleeve.
Did he gain strength from Feria's fingertips I wonder, Cornell Freche who had been drooping his shoulders all this time, suddenly cut in with a soft voice.
It's difficult to hear him clearly. I couldn't help but furrow my eyebrows, I've wasted the time frame in which he was afraid. My place is no House of Lords, where even the small things can threaten and scare people. ……Besides, I think that it would be a miserable thing to be scared of a child more than five years younger than he is. Quite pitiful, really. I would prefer it if he could stand up straighter.
He suddenly started shouting. Suddenly going from soft-spoken to shouting angrily in a show of unstable emotions, is he really okay, I wonder. I couldn't help but start worrying.
The following is the story that Cornell Freche told me.
Originally, Cornell was a childhood friend of Feria and her fiancé, Ista Ogren. They all grew up together, being neighbors in the noble district. The three of them hung out together, even after entering noble school.
However, when Ista Ogren became a third-year student, and Cornell and Feria became second-years, the relationship between them changed slightly. The reason was because Ista liked a noble girl other than Feria. When Ista began spending more time with that girl, the natural outcome was that Cornell and Feria started being together more often. And after that, the relationship between them developed as I expected.
During the time that Ista was about to graduate from noble school, the three of them had a talk with each other about their futures. Ista said that he definitely agreed to canceling the engagement with Feria, and that he wanted to get engaged to the girl he liked instead, swearing that he would return to the Ogren domain to persuade his father, Viscount Ogren, after graduation.
I listened silently throughout all of Cornell Freche's long story that he desperately tried to explain clearly to me. He's obviously not used to having to clarify things for others.
……Just what should I say in this type of situation? Am I supposed to be surprised, or amused? Cornell and Feria looked at me with such serious expressions as I thought about what to say.
I wonder if he's said everything he wants to say, after Cornell Freche finished his story, he lowered his head again. Is he trying to gain sympathy from me by acting modest?
-I have no leeway to sympathize with him whatsoever, so I decided to pretend as if I didn't see his action.
I'm absolutely at a loss for what to say right now, and somehow I ended up glancing in Oscar's direction. He had an expression that blatantly said his head was hurting from this situation. I wish I could let my emotions at this headache of a mess show on my face as well.