Chapter 9 of 100

Chapter 9

9 min read2,332 words

Here is the English translation:

---

This is Chapter 9.

"See you again, Ein! I'll come and play, so it's really great that our territories are close!"

It seemed that as the host family, there were final greetings to be made, and it was time for Crowne and Ein to say their goodbyes.

Ever since giving the Star Crystal, Ein had been clinging to her fiercely.

First, they held hands continuously, and Ein started calling her "Crowne" without the honorific "sama."

When she was called "Crowne-sama," Crowne, who looked mature on the outside, would puff out her cheeks and show her displeasure.

By the end, she was even clinging to Crowne's arm.

Her mood, which was obvious at a glance, continued until someone from the Grand Duke's family came to call Crowne.

While she seemed to understand what needed to be understood, the fact that she was trying to fulfill her responsibilities was a good impression.

Ein had been thinking that she was a bit spoiled, so she was a little reflective.

"I understand. This is a place where you can't just come and play, so I'm actually relieved."

Of course, it's not a place where you can just come and play with Crowne.

The reason is that the Roundheart family is below the August Grand Duke's family in rank.

"Hehe, that's right. Then... Lady Olivia, thank you very much for the wonderful time today."

"Oh, oh, those are my words! Thank you so much today. Please be kind to my son as well."

"Hey, Ein? Lady Olivia has given us permission too."

"Hehe... please be gentle."

With that, Crowne returned to the venue.

"Well, actually, I don't think it's possible for us to get any closer, given our positions."

Ein muttered quietly. Ein is from a baron's family, and Crowne is from a grand duke's family, so the social gap is very large.

There's more to it than just that, though.

What Ein thought was that even royalty would want Crowne.

She is intelligent and beautiful, making her a perfect candidate for a royal wife.

That's why she felt this relationship wouldn't progress.

---

"Ein, thank you."

"For what?"

"For being concerned about Mother?"

"...I don't understand what you mean, but if Mother is happy, then I am happy."

"Hehe. Is that so... then I'll take it that way, okay?"

The best part was that Mother didn't embarrass herself and had a good time.

By the way, I heard Crowne went back to close the party... I wonder how Father and the others are doing.

"Excuse me, Lord Rogas... Where is the Roundheart Baron?"

"This is Lady Roundheart. Please wait a moment."

We also left the garden and waited in a salon-like area near the reception.

We can't just go home by ourselves, even if we don't feel good, we should join them.

"It's late..."

I think it's been more than ten minutes since I asked the server about Father, and there's still no response...

"Yes, but since it's hosted by the Grand Duke, there are times when they can't leave easily..."

"It's not good to make the other party look bad."

"You're a good child, Ein."

...Well, it's really nice to be praised by Mother, but... still, I think they've made us wait too long.

I can understand to some extent that they couldn't enter, but shouldn't they have come out a little earlier?

After all, it's not an exaggeration to say that they left their wife alone at the party the whole time.

"Huff... Huff... I'm sorry, Lady Roundheart."

"Oh, I'm sorry for rushing you. So, where is your husband?"

"...I'm very sorry, but they all went to the evening party... Lord Viscount Lance is hosting the evening party tonight, and they went together."

"Until a while ago, Lady Crowne and I were together, and she returned to her duties as the host's daughter... but they left before her final farewell?"

"That's right. Lord Viscount Lance had planned to host the evening party from the beginning, and he informed the host's family, so the Roundheart Baron, who had a mentor-mentee relationship with them, didn't think it was particularly rude to leave together to prepare..."

"So they passed through here a while ago?"

Mother? You're not giving me that sad, apologetic look like when the party started.

It's better that you don't, but still, the slightly assertive atmosphere is a bit off-putting. Of course, you'd be angry if your husband went to a second party without you...

"That's right, I apologize for taking so long to report."

"Oh, it's fine... but yes. I understand, thank you."

"Yes. If you need anything, please let me know."

"...Sigh, well, it's fine now."

Mother sighed. This is the first time I've seen her look so disappointed, like she's given up on everything.

Still, Mother is beautiful.

"Hey, Ein? Do you like Father?"

"...Huh?"

What's this sudden question... What's the intention behind it?

"Oh, I'm sorry, Ein... I know it's sudden, but... I really want to know what you think about Father."

"Do you mean my true feelings?"

"Yes, that's right. How do you feel about Father... Do you like him so much that you don't want to be separated?"

I understood.

Mother might want to be loved only by me.

After being treated like this in the family she married into, she must be very sad and lonely... I feel the same way, I don't want Mother to be treated like this and it makes me sad.

So...

"I'm sorry, Mother, but I don't have the kind of feelings that make me not want to be separated.

I'm grateful for raising me, but I don't have the kind of love for a father who treats you like this."

"R-Right...! Then, would it be... fine... without Father?"

"If Mother is with me, there's no problem. So... it's okay, right?"

Seeing Olivia look so happy, Ein was certain.

Good, you must have been very sad and lonely, it's okay, I'll always be on your side...

Thinking about it, Ein did something he hadn't expected.

---

"...Alright, let's start."

She took off the wedding ring she was wearing and held it in her hand.

"Mother?"

Plop plop...

It rusted rapidly and crumbled when it was completely rusted.

"I don't need this anymore... so I did this."

"I don't need it... Mother?"

"(Eh, is this magic? Magic? It crumbled so quickly, it's a bit scary.)"

To be honest, I was mostly surprised.

I've seen simple magic like boiling water or cutting things a few times.

But this was the first time I saw something that felt so much like magic.

A noble's wedding ring shouldn't be made of a metal that rusts easily.

It was gold, and in my experience, if it's gold and expensive, it's probably pure gold.

"(I've heard that pure gold doesn't rust... I've also heard that alloys rust more easily, but a noble family like ours wouldn't buy something cheap, so... that means...)"

At the very least, Olivia must be skilled enough in magic to do this easily.

In fact, Father is a great general in the Kingdom of Heim, and he is one of the best in the kingdom and the knight order in terms of martial arts. It's natural to think that his wife would be skilled in something.

"(I've heard that Mother worked as a magician in the castle, and it seems to be even more impressive than I thought.)"

There are apparently magic spells that produce fire or ice, but since Ein has never seen them, he found this impressive enough.

The Roundheart territory is known for its knights, so there aren't many people skilled in magic.

"(Wait, that's not the point... The problem is that she broke the wedding ring,

What is she...)"

"Huff... I feel relieved. Yes... I feel relieved, I should have done this from the beginning. Hey, Ein? Are you scared of going out to sea and getting on a ship?"

"Out to sea...? No, I don't know what it's like, but it sounds nice, doesn't it!"

"(Mother, please.

Explain a little more... What's going on...?

And sorry, I've never been on a ship, so I don't know what it feels like.)"

"That's great! Then it's good, Mother will give you a wonderful adventure, okay?"

"(An adventure?)"

"Yes! I'm looking forward to it!"

Feeling a bit intimidated by the air of authority Olivia was giving off, Ein responded differently from usual.

"Well, let's head back to the port town, shall we?"

"Yes, since Father and the others aren't here. If we leave now, we should arrive before the day changes, right?"

"Hehe, yes, I think we'll arrive just before the day changes. So, let's go now, shall we?"

Ein didn't get to ask why she broke the ring or why she felt relieved.

Still, Ein wasn't dissatisfied seeing Mother not looking sad, but he couldn't have predicted the tumultuous events that followed.

---

"Finally, we're here, Mother."

"I'm sorry, Ein? For such a sudden schedule."

It was just before midnight, almost midnight.

Finally, they arrived at the port town of Roundheart, Ein's hometown.

Ein was tired from the half-day carriage ride, but he felt satisfied with the relatively fulfilling time in the capital.

"Hey, Mother? Aren't you getting off?"

"No, I'm not getting off here. It's just a little further, okay?"

"...Okay."

The carriage passed by the Roundheart residence and headed towards the port.

But the town seemed unusually noisy today.

"Mother? What's going on? It's very noisy even at this hour."

It was strange for the town to be this lively at this time of night.

The port town of Roundheart is near the capital, so there are always people in the bars even late at night.

But this noise was abnormal.

"(Today's noise is strange.)"

The sounds heard from the carriage on the main street were things like "What's that?" and "Where are the knights?" which sounded ominous.

"(What? Is there an incident or something?)"

"Madam, it's very noisy... Should we proceed?"

The driver, suspicious, asked Olivia.

"Yes, it's fine, please proceed to the port."

But Olivia, completely unconcerned, instructed to continue.

Is it not an incident? Does Mother know something? Various thoughts ran through Ein's mind.

"Well... it's noisy."

Not to pry, but unable to bear the tension, Ein commented on the noise.

"Hehe, yes. You'll see something wonderful soon, Ein?"

"(I see something wonderful every day, you know?)"

"I'm looking forward to it."

As they continued down the road, just as they were about to leave the main street and see the main port, Ein noticed a large, unfamiliar structure.

What Ein saw was something that looked like a chimney protruding from the roofs of the nearby houses and a three-story inn.

At the same time, the volume of the crowd's noise increased dramatically.

When they reached the port where large ships docked, and the noise reached its peak, what Ein saw was something so large and unexpected...

"W-What is this...!?"

It was a huge, beautiful white ship, about 200 meters long.

While it looked like a ship, it was also equipped with cannons and something that looked like it could fire beams, giving it a warship-like impression.

"Yes, we've arrived. Come on, Ein, we're getting on this."

"Getting on this... Mother, what is this?"

It was so overwhelming that Ein couldn't accept it just because he was told to get on.

"Driver? Please deliver this letter to the Roundheart family."

Olivia had been writing a letter in the carriage for a while.

She handed the letter to the driver who had been pulling the carriage.

"Y-Yes, ma'am!"

"(Look, the driver is a bit shaken... Mother, please explain a little more...)"

"Olivia-sama!"

"Lady Roundheart! What is this!?"

The people of the Roundheart territory, who seemed to know what was going on, called out to Olivia.

Usually, Olivia would respond with her angelic smile, but this time she didn't answer and didn't give her usual smile.

About a minute after Ein and the others got off the carriage and were in the midst of the noise, about ten knights and one knight who was better dressed than the others got off the large ship and walked towards them.

"Mother!"

"Ein, it's okay... okay?"

Do they know each other? As Ein thought this, Olivia turned to him and smiled gently.

Then, Olivia walked towards the 11 knights who had come down, without any caution.

Ein, on the other hand, remained vigilant, ready to protect Olivia no matter what happened.

"...Brave knight. We are not your enemies, so please be at ease."

The voice came from the best-dressed knight.

While saying this, she knelt and brought her eyes level with Ein's.

The voice was surprisingly female, and the word "ally" raised more questions.

"Not... enemies...?"

As he thought this, she took off her helmet and smiled at Ein.

Under the helmet was a beautiful woman in her early twenties with fair skin and beautiful golden hair.

"Yes, allies. It might be disrespectful to call ourselves allies, but at the very least, we are not enemies to the two of you. It's a pleasure to meet you, Ein-sama."

"P-Pleasure to meet you too."

The events were so overwhelming that he couldn't give a proper response.

Even being called an ally was hard to understand immediately.

"It's been a while, Chris. Thank you for looking after Ein."

Olivia spoke to the knight as if to an old friend, with a gentle smile.

"I am grateful to meet you again. Upon receiving your message, I came as quickly as possible... Princess."