“Whoa, nothing gets by you, huh, Ephy? I also kinda sensed something was up, but I couldn’t tell that much.” Homura’s eyes widened in surprise. Apparently, Homura had also noticed. He couldn’t hide anything from these two, it seemed.
“All right, you got me,” he admitted.
“Hee hee. So, what’s wrong, dear?”
“Well, actually, what happened was...”
“Wait, don’t tell me, Nozomu! The great Homura already knows!” Right when Nozomu had mustered up the resolve to come out with it, Homura interrupted, thrusting her hand out. Then, pointing her finger square in Nozomu’s flabbergasted face, she proclaimed, “You’ve been with another woman! Even though you already have Ephy!”
“Wh-Whaaaat?!” Dumbstruck, an incredulous shout escaped Nozomu when he heard Homura’s out-of-nowhere conclusion.
However, Homura nodded as if she was sure of herself. “You’re his son, after all, so I figured you’d start getting interested in other women sooner or later!”
“Nozomu...?”
“N-No way! Th-That’s not it at all! I’d never do that, Ephy! I’m not like my dad!” Under Ephelia’s glare, Nozomu panicked as he hurriedly denied it. He’d never even considered doing such a thing. He wouldn’t dream of it—to him, Ephy was the most important person in his life. He had to make sure there was no room for any doubt about that. Yet, despite his assertions...
“Awfully quick to deny it, aren’t you? Veeery suspicious,” Homura rebutted.
“I agree, you seem awfully nervous, dear,” Ephelia added.
“N-No...!”
“See, he did it again.”
“He did.”
“E-Ephy’s the only one for me forever and always!” he shouted out much louder than he’d intended. The moment he did, he realized. He looked at the expression on the two women’s faces. Homura was grinning smugly with amusement, and Ephelia, while blushing furiously, looked just as happy as she was embarrassed. The two of them had been in cahoots.
“I’ve been had...” He dropped his head in defeat. Though it was only due to the breadth of his love for Ephelia, he did have a tendency, or rather a weakness, to respond vehemently whenever his loyalty to her was called into question (which was at times exploited by the likes of Kristina and Hildegard for their own personal amusement), causing him to blurt his embarrassing yet honest feelings in public. This was the first time Homura had done it, though, so he’d been caught off guard. He glared at Ephelia as if to say, “Do I really deserve this?”
“Sorry, sorry. But you know, your response really did make me happy.” She replied, then she stuck out her tongue teasingly. He was so captivated by that cute gesture that Nozomu forgave her immediately. He decided to drop the issue, but he had to show at least a little bit of dissatisfaction, or he couldn’t save face...
“Man, now I don’t even feel like discussing my problem,” he said.
“But at least you’ve loosened up a bit now, right?” Homura grinned mischievously.
Nozomu shot her a hateful glare and spat back, “Yeah, thanks to you!”
Still, he knew he had to tell Ephelia what was on his mind. Facing her, he looked right into her eyes and spoke. “I’ve decided to become the reginarch of the Steel Clan.”
Ephelia considered that for a few moments. “Umm... Are you trying to get back at me for just now?” She seemed unsure of how to respond. Nozomu didn’t really blame her—normally it’d be an unthinkable development—so he decided to explain what had happened from the veiy beginning.
“I see. To think something like that would occur...” By the time he’d finished, Ephelia’s expression had clouded over.
“No kidding? Looks like some interesting stuffs gone down in the last five years.” In contrast, Homura looked almost enthused.
“It’s my hometown, Ephy. I can’t just sit here and do nothing. But I know it’s only going to burden you and Sinmara in the e—” Before he could finish his sentence, his mouth was sealed shut. Ephelia had pressed her finger to his lips.
With a gentle, loving smile, as if she’d already accepted Nozomu’s decision, she said, “Don’t worry about us. We’ll be fine. Do what you need to do.” Nozomu could tell she wasn’t forcing herself in the least. She was speaking from the bottom of her heart. It made him once again realize how amazing of a wife she was.
As always, once the course of action had been decided, Yuuto was quick to act. He withdrew the entirety of the fortune he’d amassed up until now, using it to hire around a thousand Orient mercenaries; then he immediately set off for the Iberian Peninsula, where he captured a nearby fortress with hardly any enemy resistance on the very same day he touched down on land. Of course, Nozomu had already seen his father’s monstrous strength with his own eyes, but the battle was over so quickly that it had ended before he even knew what was going on.
“I guess it’s one of those things where a master’s techniques just seem like magic to the average person,” he muttered in exasperation. He remembered thinking something similar when he’d first witnessed Sigrun and Hildegard in action. It was just more proof that he was still worlds apart from his father.
“At this rate, we’ll take Tarshish in no tune. ” Nozomu was convinced the end was near, when...
“All right, that about does it for me. The rest is up to you, Nozomu.” His father lobbed a curveball right at him.
“Eh?” Nozomu let out a weak, dumbfounded noise. This was news to him. “What do you mean, dad?!”
“Exactly what I said. You said you wanted to be the reginarch, right? You said it, not me.” Yuuto pointed right at Nozomu. “Then the task of taking back the country should fall to you. You get me?”
It made sense, sure. There was no problem with the logic. But anxiety still bubbled up within him. He’d dealt with his fair share of bandits and pirates these past five years, but he didn’t know the first thing about how to deal with an army! How was a complete amateur going to usurp an entire nation—let alone contend with a battle-hardened tyrant like Babel?!
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login