Chapter 30

“Ahem!”

Lucas, who opened the dining room door first, looked around before taking his seat.

In both hands, he carried a gift box nearly as large as his own body.

“With this much, Dandelion’s definitely gonna love it, right?”

That was when—

“...What is that?”

Calypse, who entered the dining room second, frowned when he saw his son’s massive pile of gifts.

“It’s a present for Dandelion. What about you, Father?”

But Calypse was not the only one frowning.

Lucas eyed the small box in his father’s hand suspiciously and subtly placed his own present box on top of the table.

Meaning his own gift won overwhelmingly in terms of size.

And just as the tension between the two men began to rise—

“Is it someone’s birthday today?”

Knox, who had followed Calypse in after finishing up his work, asked the question.

“No.”

“It’s not.”

At the two men’s answers, Knox quietly stepped beside Calypse.

“.......”

Then the gift box hidden behind his back slowly rose onto the table.

Seeing it, Calypse looked horrified.

“What are you doing too?”

“It means I’m joining the war.”

Bang—

Lucas slammed his fist onto the table in warning.

“Why are you like this too, Knox? This is gonna divide Dandelion’s reaction!”

“Everyone can earn her reaction with their own abilities. Surely, Young Lord... you aren’t lacking confidence?”

At Knox’s question, Lucas folded his arms and turned his head away with a huff.

“What’s the point of you giving her anything? It’s probably just some coloring book with monsters in it.”

“Ah, I prepared that too.”

Knox pushed up his monocle. 𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂

“I added it as an extra.”

“!”

An extra.

They had not thought of that.

“.......”

The two men fell silent with shocked expressions at their aide’s unexpected strategy.

And so, before Aisha arrived, a cold wind began blowing through the dining room that had sunk into silence.

A little while later.

“So what’s all this?”

Entering the dining room, Aisha swallowed nervously and asked.

“Open them.”

“Dandelion, you can take that scarf off now, right?”

“They’re gifts, Lady Aisha.”

Competing to answer first, the three men all pushed their presents toward the table where Aisha sat.

Blinking her large eyes, Aisha cautiously untied one of the boxes before pausing to ask,

“...You all know tomorrow is the candidate trial, right?”

At that, the corners of Calypse’s and Lucas’s mouths slowly parted as they stared blankly at her.

The only one who nodded was Knox, whose monocle gleamed sharply.

***

And so, somehow, the sudden gift party finally came to an end.

“Don’t you have anything to prepare for tomorrow’s candidate trial?”

Munch munch.

I asked just in case, but older brother Lucas and mister seemed suspiciously relaxed.

“I spent five years fighting monsters day and night. No matter what kind of monster appears, I’ll pass the test.”

Lucas stabbed into his steak and leisurely chewed his meat.

Now that I think about it, that’s true.

His words were believable.

The power Lucas displayed at Ahili’s Circus was practical combat ability that could never be learned through training alone.

“Yeah, I guess if it’s you, older brother, you’ll definitely pass.”

“K-khm! Obviously!”

At my words, Lucas’s face gradually turned red as he puffed himself up proudly.

“And besides, I’ve known I’d have to take the heir selection trial ever since I was old enough to talk! Though now that my older brother is gone, the test doesn’t really mean anything anymore....”

“What do you mean by that?”

At that, Calypse, who had been quietly eating, wiped his mouth with a handkerchief.

“Isn’t it obvious? Since my older brother’s gone, I’m the only one taking the heir selection trial anyway.”

Question marks practically appeared over everyone else’s faces at Lucas’s question.

Watching the situation carefully, Knox narrowed his eyes.

“Surely you didn’t forget to tell him?”

“Ah. I’ve been busy lately. My head’s been completely full.”

Frowning slightly at Knox’s reproach, mister sighed.

You had time to buy me presents, but not enough time to explain something this important, huh, mister.

I narrowed my eyes along with Knox but wisely kept my thoughts to myself.

Because it was true that mister had been busy.

Ever since finding Lucas at Ahili’s Circus—

He had been simultaneously handling the circus cleanup, Lucas’s room assignment, and all the miscellaneous work related to the heir selection trial.

If the Duchess had still been around, she probably would have taken care of Lucas’s room assignment and the training grounds setup for the heir selection trial herself.

But since there’s no Duchess, mister has to do everything alone.

On top of that, Calypse had lived alone for five years before suddenly taking in both Lucas and me.

No wonder things were chaotic.

“Lucas.”

After taking a sip of water, mister spoke.

“The heir selection trial will proceed as scheduled. Of course, in reality, you’re the only actual candidate. Aisha belongs to the direct line, but she doesn’t have a power.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“A power holder appeared in the branch line.”

“...What?”

Lucas’s eyes widened while eating steak.

It was the reaction of someone hearing such a thing for the very first time in his life.

Since mister had never told him, naturally it was his first time hearing it.

Unlike Lucas, mister looked completely indifferent.

“No matter what anyone says, you are the only member of the direct line left, and therefore the only true heir candidate. That’s why I didn’t bother mentioning it. But we can’t waste a power holder, so we’ll still conduct the ceremonial trial.”

“Ah, uhh. Sure, I guess.”

Lucas shrugged.

“Well, since another power holder showed up, they’ll probably be a big help guarding the ice barrier. Anyway, which family are they from?”

“The Lilith marquis’s family.”

“.......”

That was when the smooth-flowing conversation stopped.

Because Lucas, who had looked ready to continue speaking, suddenly shut his mouth.

“...Older brother?”

When I turned toward him, Lucas had even stopped moving his fork and was only staring at his steak as if deep in thought.

I leaned forward slightly to check on him.

Seen up close, Lucas’s complexion looked bad.

Like someone struggling to breathe.

“Th-the...”

Lucas’s voice actually trembled slightly before lowering.

“About the heir selection trial. Isn’t it a little weird to take it on the same day and in the same place as someone from the branch line?”

The words that finally came out of his mouth were unexpected.

He was suddenly changing his stance like this?

Feeling slightly puzzled, I quietly listened to the conversation between the two.

“They’re a power holder either way, so you’ll run into them often in the future. It’d be good to at least get acquainted tomorrow while you’re there.”

“Ah, um.... Then since I’m only taking the test anyway, I can leave immediately after mine is over, right?”

“I don’t mind. If you’re not curious about them, you can meet the branch family later.”

“Great!”

At that answer, Lucas’s expression brightened a little.

“But I imagine the Lilith marquis’s family will definitely stay to watch your test.”

Though it darkened again at mister’s next words.

“Father.”

“What.”

“Then why don’t we just postpone the heir selection trial?”

At that question, both Knox’s and my eyes widened slightly.

That was absurd. The Kreutz family had already postponed the heir selection trial for years after losing all their children.

Calypse frowned and raised his voice slightly as he asked back,

“What are you talking about?”

“I mean, I’m the only heir left anyway. There’s nobody else taking the test, so wouldn’t it be fine to postpone it a little longer?”

“It’s already been delayed for years. If we postpone it any further, the backlash from the family heads will grow worse.”

Lucas, who looked like he had been suppressing something emotional, suddenly blurted out,

“But you’re the duke.”

“So?”

“If you just order them that the trial’s postponed, shouldn’t the family heads just say yes?”

At the increasingly unreasonable argument, Calypse shot him a warning-filled look.

“Lucas.”

“What?”

“You know perfectly well that what you’re saying makes no sense. Stop throwing a tantrum.”

“I’m the only heir candidate anyway, so if I want to postpone the date, why can’t I?!”

Calypse sighed and muttered,

“...If your dream is becoming a tyrant, it’d be better to postpone the heir selection trial forever.”

“A tyrant?”

At those words, Lucas let out a hollow laugh as if dumbfounded.

Then—

“I was locked inside an iron cage until just a few days ago! I said I want to rest a little, and a duke can’t even do that much for me?!”

Craaash—!

He overturned his steak plate and bolted out of the dining room before Calypse could even rise from his seat.

“......?”

Wait a second.

What the hell just happened here?