Maydare Volume 1 Chapter 3 - The Night of the Meteor Shower (Part 2)
Early Christmas present for you all! If you read the manga you know what's coming next
“To think that the daughter of the O’Drielle house and that knight dealt with the purse snatchers, I’m impressed! Speaking of which, you also crushed those pirates at Kartedt, correct? Goodness, really, how frightening.”
When we were having a dance lesson in the villa, we were summoned by Lord Bigreitz, the duke of Delhague, who had learned of the incident. Though he was shocked, he gave thanks to me on the matter.
“You must be uneasy as well, Elliot.”
“Fufu. Thor looks after Makia, so I am not so worried about her, Your Grace.”
Father was in the room as well, and it seemed that he had just been making the arrangements for tomorrow with the duke.
The duke was twelve years older than Father and had many children. Incidentally, he had a daughter the same age as me, Miss Sumilda, and she was extremely spoiled and selfish.
As for the duke himself, well, he got along well with Father and not a bad person.
“As a reward, I shall allow you the use of the star observation tower next to the castle. You have said you were interested in it before, correct?”
“Eh, are you sure, Your Grace?”
Unthinkingly, I clasped my hands together and leaned forward.
The Bigreitz house was on a hill that overlooked Delhague, and there was a star observation tower next to it.
“Ah, you may. I’m impressed with how studious you are, Miss Makia. I only wish my daughter would have that much enthusiasm… She is only obsessed with collecting the latest dresses…”
“Then, I’ll be on my way now!”
The duke was in the middle of talking about his troubles, but I pulled Thor out of the room with me.
When we left the room, the aforementioned duke’s daughter Sumilda was there, who toyed with her ringlets that looked like croissants stuck to both sides of her head as she said,
“How do you do, Makia? I shall deign to play with you now!”
“Oh, sorry, Sumilda. I’m a bit busy with stargazing right now. Tomorrow then.”
“...”
She was somewhat my childhood friend and an attention-seeker, so she tried to play with me.
Well, I didn’t have so much time on my hands, so I had to decline for today.
“Is that okay, milady? She is the daughter of the duke, after all.”
“It’s fine. That girl tried to use her money and influence to steal you away before, Thor.”
“Oh...that did happen, didn’t it. You cursed Miss Sumilda with nightmares and made her give up, if I remember correctly.”
“Yes. I can’t forgive anyone who tries to steal you away from me.”
“...You look too proud of that. It’s making me angry!”
As we were talking, I remembered that I wanted to ask Father something about tomorrow and came to a stop with an “Ah.”
“Shall I go and ask?”
“No, it’s about the present for Mother, so I’ll ask him directly. Thor, you go on ahead and get ready. Even though it’s summer, it gets cold at night.”
And then I quickly turned back to the duke’s room I was just in.
Sumilda was still there, still playing with those croissants on her head.
“Oh Makia, why have you returned? As expected, you do want to play with me after all?”
“No, I don’t. I want to ask Father something.”
When I was about to knock on the door, I heard Father’s voice and my hand stopped.
“To tell the truth...I have been considering adopting Thor into the O’Drielle family as a son-in-law.”
“...!?”
I blinked in surprise at the eavesdropped words and incidentally looked at Sumilda. And then, the two of us pressed our ears against the door.
Son-in-law? By son-in-law, was he talking about my husband?
“...Oho. I’ve heard that the boy possesses outstanding skill in both magic and swordsmanship. His looks are quite good as well. I don't know how many times my daughter has begged me for him.”
“Hahaha. He’s a very clever child as well as sensible, so I sometimes heedlessly take him to work with me. And Makia ends up complaining to me, saying that she was dying of boredom because I took Thor with me.”
“Ahahaha. That seems like something she would say!”
“It does seem like something you’d say.” Same as the duke, Sumilda, next to me, said that. How noisy.
“But that just shows how capable and talented Thor is. Not many people have that much talent in magic and the sword. If my daughter Makia hadn’t found him, he might still be a slave now. When I think about that, as expected, it must be fate that he came to our home…”
Father paused for a bit, and then presented the duke with a favor.
“If possible, I wish to send Thor to the knight academy in the capital at the same time Makia goes to magic school. However, there is no way to enroll into that school other than with a recommendation. If possible, I would like to have your assistance in this matter, Your Grace.”
“I see. You will have it, Elliot. We’ve known each other for a long time. And we the Bigreitz house also desire the flourishing of the O’Drielle house, our advising magicians…”
I finished listening to the conversation between the duke and Father and half-ran away from that spot, even forgetting that I wanted to ask Father something. All the while holding my head in my hands, panicking.
Thor is my son-in-law.
Thor is my son-in-law...he said...!?
“You’re going to marry a man who used to be a slave, Makia? The O’Drielle family sure has fallen far. I mean, I’m a candidate for the crown prince’s consort!”
Sumilda made snide comments, following me all the way.
“What’s with those remarks, Sumilda? I thought you wanted Thor so badly.”
“If he’s going to be my knight, then I can ignore his birth. It’s more important to have good looks. But it’s a different story when it comes to marriage. It’s impossible for a noblewoman to marry a man who used to be a slave. You should put a stop to this, Makia~. The O’Drielle house is going to be looked down on more and more. Fufu.”
I stopped in my tracks.
In the end, Sumilda also thought of Thor as a “thing”, and even though she wanted him, she didn’t think of him as an equal or a good partner.
It was the same as those people who were trading him as a slave. She just wanted him because he was beautiful.
No one really loved Thor.
“Get looked down on? That’s just fine. I don’t care what other people say. As long as I like Thor, they can’t complain.”
“Eh?”
“I’ll become a great witch, and the future baroness. If Thor supports me by my side as my husband, then I would surely be the strongest, and I’ll create a big storm first. The first thing that’s going to be blown away is your precious closet!”
Sumilda turned pale and immediately ran off to check on her closet.
I also flew out of the Bigreitz mansion and ran into the star observation tower.
For some reason, I wanted to see Thor’s face fiercely. My chest was squeezing tightly.
Maybe it was because I was running up the spiral staircase as fast as I could, but I couldn’t breathe. I came to a stop midway to catch my breath and asked myself a question.
Did I just say I liked Thor?
Of course I liked him. Ever since I met Thor, he has always been important to me. But could this “like”...be a romantic love?
tks for the chapter
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