“Good evening, Duke Arthur.”

“Greetings, Duke Landon”

Duke Landon joined us for dinner over at my residence.

“Brother!! Is it ready?”

“Almost, give me ten minutes.”, Diana is waiting for the food with a plate in her hand.

“Eh~ That’s 600 seconds!!”

“Yes and there’s nothing you can do about it...now sit down!”, this girl gets real jumpy when my food is in the picture.

“Haha~ Princess Diana, do you like your Brother’s food that much?”, Duke Landon asked Diana with a gentle smile on his face.

“Of course! The only thing my Brother’s does for me is cook food.”

“That’s because that’s the only thing you ever asked for.”, I argued back.

“Now now, Duke Arthur. You should understand what your sister wants without her mentioning it.”

“And as usual, Duke Landon is on Diana’s side”, commented the Empress.

“That’s because Fiona is not cute like Diana. So I am enjoying the cuteness which I couldn’t before.”, Duke replied.

“Eh? She has many expressions on her face though…”

“““...”””

“What happened? Why is everyone looking at me like that?”

Ignoring me, Diana whispered to her mother, something that I was unable to hear.

“Mom, did my ears stop working, or did brother just talk about a girl?”

“You're not wrong, Diana. I heard the same.”

“Wait! Brother, you met with Lady Fiona?!?”, Diana suddenly exclaimed.

While tasting the dish, “Uh-Uh”

“When, Where, and How?!”

“Today, in a hotel for business dealing.”

“Ah- I totally forgot about it due to the explosion, but Duke Arthur, I must thank you. If not for you, I can’t fathom on how much money Luxica would have lost.”

“Hmm? Did something happen, Duke Landon?”, Empress inquired Landon.

“Ah...so what happened was…”, once he explained everything Diana looked at me with her eyes widened and Empress had her eyes on me with a weird expression.

“Arthur, when was the meeting between you and Fiona?”

“Somewhere around the evening.”

“And when did it end?”

“Late evening, early night.”

Ah...crap

“Then what were you doing until this late at night?”

“I was just loitering around the capital, something I always do...are you suspecting me, Empress?”

Her intuitions are good…

After staring at me for a long time, “No, nevermind. I am probably thinking too much.”

“Ah!! Is the food ready or not?”

“It’s ready...come here to get the plates.”, Dian ran over to me to get the food first.

She is almost like a puppy...is this good or bad?

After having the first spoon, “MMN!! This is just the best!!”

“True, even the Royal chef’s food pales when compared to this.”, The empress said with a pleasant smile.

Hmm...I think I have been giving her a lot of headaches for the past few days...Empress, I am truly sorry.

“Maybe next time, I should bring Fiona with me.”

“She would probably sell this food under Luxica’s name by giving me some money.”

Hearing what I said, Duke broke out into a fit of laughter, “Ha-ha~ she would definitely do that!”

“Mother…”

“Shh...I understand.”

Hmm...why is Empress having a pleasant smile all over her face?

“I don’t understand what Brother William is thinking these days. He even brought Lady Lily to a meeting between engaged couples!!”, Diana shouted in frustration.

“And the four idiots were all around her.”, Duke Landon too sympathized with Diana.

“Managing a country is far better than taking care of those fools.”

“It was a pleasant surprise when I heard Duke Arthur almost kicked Lily out of the palace.”

“Eh? Did you do that, Brother!?”

“She was extremely annoying, the four around her also irritated me, so yeah…”

“COOOL~!!”

“Phew~ Arthur, you have no idea how scared I was. What would happen if you too fall for Lily?”, Empress spoke with a relieved expression.

“Even in my wildest dreams, I can’t imagine myself falling for Lily. Ugh...Even the thought of it is extremely disgusting.”

“But the real problem right now is Prince Willam”,  Duke Landon said with a dark expression.

““Yeah””

Looks like everyone is absolutely fed up with the current situation. Even Diana understands that whatever William is doing, is absolutely unacceptable.

“Isn’t William following the Emperor?”, I nonchalantly said that without thinking much.

*Silence*

Ah…

“I meant no offense by that Empress. By no means am I comparing you to Lady Lily.”

“Hmm? Oh...None taken, Arthur. I was just thinking that what you said might be right.

Eh? Looks like she lost all hope in the emperor.

“I am scared of what he might do at the graduation ceremony.”, Diana suddenly spoke.

“He will surely escort Lily.  I am worried about Fionna.”, said the Empress.

Oh, if it’s about that…

“I’ll be escorting Lady Fiona.”

““Eh?””

“Thank goodness!! I was worried that you might reject Fiona, but thank you, Duke Arthur.”, He said so while bowing down a little.

“HOLD UP!!”

“Hmm? What happened, Diana?”

“Shut up, Brother. I’d rather talk to a wall than talk to you about this. I am talking to Duke Landon.”

“You litt-”

Before I could even complete, “Arthur, you will be escorting Fiona? If you are, you can’t go in your usual dress. I will get you the best dress I can. Wait, can you even dance? Well, that’s Fiona’s headache…*mumble* *mumble*”

“Mother, we have a lot of things to discuss…”

The two then moved to their own world…

Just what has gotten them this excited?

“Do you understand what is going on, Duke Landon?”

The person who I aimed this question at looks weirdly happy…

“Please don’t fret over this, Duke Arthur. It’s not something your species can understand.”

Species? Whatever, I have more pressing matters to discuss…

While getting up with the plate, “Duke Landon, can I have some of your time?”

Perhaps understanding the seriousness of my tone, Duke Landon silently got up and followed me out.

“Is something the matter, Duke Arthur?”

“Marquis Astley Devon.”

“What about him?”

“He sent assassins to kill me today.”

His eyes widened at the sentence I spoke.

“He tried to assassinate you?!? Why?!”

“He embezzled a lot of money from Ellen. It’s unfortunate that he realized I made up the whole plan. If he wasn’t that smart, he could have managed to live for a little while longer.”

“I see...you are going to kill him. Then the explosion was-”

“Mine. Did it to erase the evidence.”

“What happened to the assassins? Did you kill them?”

“No, I sent them over to Ellen. Their village is used for slave trading by Astley, they gladly came over to me when I offered them a place to live.”

“Slave Trade?!”

“Yes, and that’s one of the reasons for me to kill him.”

Slave trading...It’s illegal and anyone who does that will face nothing but decapitation.

“I see... wait, that means you adop-”

“Yes, I adopted a whole village. Mother would have done the same thing.”

“True...but what do you need me for?”

“One, I want to inform you that I will be killing Marquis Astley.”

“And the other?”

“Is there someone who is under Marquis’s wrath, someone who also holds a right to inherit the title?”

“Hmmm...His twin, Nestley Devon. Nestley Devon is also known for his righteous heart, so he will be a better replacement for Astley. He was shunned by Astley due to his right to the title. However, I don’t know his current location”

That’s all I need, though I would have got the same information from Jane, I used this method to inform Duke Landon on what I am about to do.

“That’s fine, Duke Landon. I apologize for the headache I am about to give you.”

“No, that’s fine. You are the one who has been doing so much for us. And at the same time, Duke Arthur,”

“Yes?”

“Fiona’s standing in the academy has become much worse, it seems she is also facing many harassments and dirty comments. Spilling water on her and naming it as an accident. Her textbooks were destroyed. Though the other fiancees of the four idiots are facing the same, Fiona is facing the highest heat. Lily, has control over most of the academy. And somehow, Fiona, my sweet child has also been named as a villainess.”, Duke Landon said all of those in one breath. The usually calm and composed Duke is nowhere to be seen.

“...”

“Could you please protect her during the graduation ceremony?”

I couldn’t help but be dumbfounded when Duke Landon, the Empire’s second most powerful man did a 90-degree bow to me.

“Duke Landon, please raise your head. Even if you didn’t mention it, I already decided that I would become her escort. And when I am her escort, I’ll make sure that no one could do anything to Lady Fiona, even if it means taking the full burn to myself.”

At first, I thought this might be a good opportunity for business deals, but after hearing what she faces in the academy, I just can’t seem to sit idle.

And William, I think I might have to teach him something or the other during the ceremony…

“Thank you, Duke Arthur. I just can’t emphasize how much you’ve been doing for us.”

“You don’t have to go that far, Duke Landon. And while we are at it, just call me Arthur from now on.”

“Eh?”

“We know each other for over 7 years, Duke Landon. It’s only natural if you think about it.”

“Haha~ Then I will do as you say, Arthur.”

I have known him for a very long time. If I don’t let him call me by name, then I don’t think anyone would have the right to.

“Duke Landon, please head inside. I’ll return later.”

“Okay, Arthur. I’ll be waiting inside”

Looking at the Duke who’s heading inside, I thought to myself,

So this is what it means to be a parent, huh…

“Sebastian.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Send a letter to Nestley Devon. Inform him of our plan and tell him to be in Ellen by tomorrow night. Contact Jane for his location.”

“I will do it at once, my lord.”

As I was contemplating on what to do after Sebastian left,

[Boss.]

[Jane? This is the first time you contacted me by yourself.]

[Thank goodness, your calm. Anyways listen to me, there are three strong individuals by Astley.]

[And?]

[That’s it. That’s all I have on them. No name, place of birth, or even details of their face. All I know is that, two of them are swordsmen while the other is a mage.]

[Wait! If you have no information on them, doesn’t it mean-]

[Yes, it either indicates that they have never made their appearance known or...they are not from the Zemira Empire. It’s probably the latter. I will look for more details.]

[Yes, please do.]

Looking up at the shining moon, I murmured, 

“Astley Devon...it seems like I will have to hunt you down myself.”