“…Why are you here?”
Luciard, finally calming down, asked while rubbing his forehead.
“I’m here because I got picked as the guardian.”
“That’s not what I mean…!”
Luciard paused. Not only him, but the other two also turned their heads.
There was some commotion coming from outside the window.
“Get more knights here right now!”
“Don’t let them inside the mansion no matter what!”
They all stood up and looked out the window. Lloyd was rushing around with a few knights heading somewhere.
“Lloyd!”
Hearing Hestia’s voice, Lloyd stopped and looked up.
“What’s going on?!”
“We’ve received a report that some unwanted guests have gathered at the mansion’s front gate.”
“Unwanted guests? It’s not Count Humphrey, is it…?”
“I don’t think so. They look like a mercenary group, but they suddenly started demanding to open the gate, saying something about their captain.”
What the hell? Did that bastard Humphrey hire mercenaries?
‘He’s got too much going on to be pulling this right now. And isn’t this too loud to be an assassination attempt?’
Frowning in confusion, Leonhard asked.
“Is it intruders?”
“I’m not sure…”
Hestia put her arm around Leonhard’s shoulders to keep him from getting anxious.
“Oh no…”
A sigh came from beside them. Luciard looked troubled.
“…Do you know them?”
“They’re probably my crew… maybe.”
“Maybe?”
“I should stop this before it gets out of hand.”
Swoosh—
Luciard’s cloak flared before him, and his bright red hair, long enough to cover the back of his neck, swept through the air like fire.
Before Hestia could even react, Luciard disappeared from sight.
“H-Hey, this is the third floor!”
Clutching her chest in shock, she stuck her head out the window and saw Luciard land safely on the ground.
He then headed straight for Lloyd and the knights.
“…Uncle is so cool!”
Leonhard’s eyes sparkled as if he’d just witnessed a scene straight out of a novel, amazed by Luciard’s jump out the window.
“Don’t even think about copying him.”
Leonhard flinched just as he was about to put a foot on the windowsill.
“It’s dangerous.”
“But Uncle…”
“I don’t know why he’d jump out the window when there’s a perfectly good door, but it’s dangerous. You’d probably break an arm or a leg if you fell.”
Gulping nervously, Leonhard swallowed hard.
“For now… let’s go check it out too.”
She had no idea what this crew was up to, but it wasn’t normal for Lloyd to have brought knights along with him.
Hestia took Leonhard and headed out through the door, not the window.
━━━━━ ∙ʚ(✧)ɞ∙ ━━━━━
“You wanna fight?!”
“Hey, calm down, calm down.”
“Sorry about him. He’s got a bit of a temper… We just need to find someone. If you could just let us in…”
“You’ve got some nerve talking after trying to break in without even identifying yourselves!”
“This is the Winston Duchy! You can’t just walk in like it’s nothing!”
“You think we’ve never seen scum like you before?!”
Having arrived at the front gate, Luciard ran his hand over his face in frustration.
Just as he’d feared, the situation was a mass.
Both the mercenaries he led and the knights were getting worked up, and if this kept up, someone would probably draw their sword.
“Captain, what should we do?”
“Let’s at least hear who they’re looking for. But don’t let them in.”
“Wait, Lloyd.”
Just as Lloyd was about to give the knights orders, Luciard stepped in.
“Young Master?”
“Sorry, but they’re with me.”
“…They’re with you?”
“Yeah, I was in a rush to get here, so I only told them where to go, and now this mess happened. Hey, you over there. Put down your sword.”
Looking exasperated, Luciard squeezed between the knights and the mercenaries, who were glaring daggers at each other.
They all reacted differently.
“Captain!”
“Young Master!”
Both sides widened their eyes and looked at each other.
“Captain…?”
“Aren’t those guys mercenaries? Why are they calling him captain…?”
“We haven’t heard from you in two years… What the hell have you been doing, Young Master?”
The knights were baffled at hearing Luciard called “captain.”
“Young Master?”
“Wait, the captain’s a noble?!”
“Are you saying the captain’s from the Pastine Empire?!”
“I knew something was up with all those letters you sent to the Pastine Empire.”
“So the reason they’re here…”
“How could you keep something like this from us, caaaptaaaain!”
One of the mercenaries clung to Luciard’s waist and whined.
Luciard massaged his temples, exhausted by the chaos from both sides.
“I had my reasons for not telling you. I’m pretty sure I told you to wait in the village.”
“We never heard that.”
“You only left us a note.”
One of them held up the note with the address on it.
“There should’ve been another note on top.”
It was a note telling them to wait quietly in the village since he’d be away for a bit. He’d also written a backup address in case something went wrong.
“I didn’t see that.”
“Oh, maybe it got lost when we were having that pillow fight yesterday.”
“Honestly, I told you to stay put!”
Listening to the noisy mercenaries, Luciard had a pretty good idea of what happened.
His head throbbed even more.
“They’re really your crew?”
Lloyd’s doubtful question made Luciard rub his face again.
“As embarrassing as it is, yeah.”
“Hmmm. So what now?”
“Sorry for the fuss. I’ll talk to them…”
“If they’re with you, let them in.”
A third voice interrupted them. It was Hestia.
At her sudden appearance, both the mercenaries, who had been bickering among themselves, and the knights, who had been tense, all looked at her.
“…Let them in?”
“Do you want to just send them back?”
Hestia calmly responded to Luciard’s question.
“The Duke’s estate is big. There’s more than enough rooms. We can easily accommodate your group.”
That was true, but… it was strange how casually she was suggesting letting these rough-looking people into the estate.
‘Wait, why does she act like she owns the place?’
If anyone were watching, they’d probably mistake her for the owner of the Duke’s estate.
Luciard looked at Hestia with a meaningful look, but she ignored his gaze and turned to address his crew.
“It’s nice to meet you all. I’m Hestia Frost. I’d like to welcome you to the Winston estate if that’s alright.”
“…”
The mercenaries blinked in confusion, unable to say anything.
But soon, one of them spoke up.
“…An angel is talking to us.”
Another mercenary immediately smacked him on the head and apologized.
“Sorry about that, Miss.”
“If you’re inviting us, we’d be happy to accept that. Thank you.”
They were flustered and couldn’t stop bowing to Hestia, completely different from how they were just moments ago, on the verge of drawing their swords at the knights.
After sending the knights away, Hestia gave a soft smile and led the group inside. Luciard, who had been watching the whole scene unfold, furrowed his brow.
━━━━━ ∙ʚ(✧)ɞ∙ ━━━━━
“Wow…”
“This feels like a betrayal.”
“Are you telling me he was a noble this whole time and kept it hidden from us?”
“He must’ve struggled living on the streets after staying in a place like this. What was going on in the captain’s head?”
“How should we know? The guy kept his entire background a secret from us.”
The mercenaries couldn’t keep their mouths shut after seeing the vast garden and now the grand exterior of the mansion. Initially, they were only amazed, but now, they were starting to resent Luciad, shooting him glances that clearly demanded an explanation.
Luciad, unfazed by their stares, kept a stony face.
“Captain, say something…!”
“Uncle Luciad, Hestia, who are those people behind you?”
Just as the mercenaries were about to raise their voices, a child’s clear voice broke through. Startled, they turned to see Leonhard for the first time.
Leonhard had only ever seen neatly dressed nobles, knights, or formal servants, so it was his first time encountering a group that looked as rugged and carefree as Luciad’s companions. His stiff expression showed his unease, prompting Hestia to walk over to him.
“They’re Sir Luciad’s companions,” Hestia reassured him.
“Uncle’s?”
Leonhard was still clutching at the edge of Hestia’s dress. Seeing this, Luciad picked him up in his arms.
“There’s nothing to be scared of. They may look rough, but they’re good people. Plus, out of all of them, your uncle is the strongest.”
“Wow, really?”
“Yep.”
As Leonhard perked up again, Luciad gently stroked his cheek before turning to face the mercenaries. The moment he turned, the smile on his face vanished, replaced by a stern expression. But the mercenaries had already seen that smile, and they were now in shock for an entirely different reason.
“He’s my nephew, and he’s the rightful heir of this estate.”
“…What?”
“He’s my brother’s son.”
As if that bomb wasn’t enough, Hestia took Leonhard from Luciard’s arms and spoke.
Luciad sent her a questioning look, furrowing his brow.
“Wouldn’t it be better if you showed your companions around, Sir Luciad? I’m sure there are still many things to catch up on.”
“…”
Luciad silently stared at Hestia.
“I have other matters to attend to with the young master, but we’ll see you later. Please, feel free to look around in the meantime.”
“Uh… yes, ma’am… have a good day.”
Still in a daze, the mercenaries awkwardly bowed to Hestia. She smiled and took Leonhard’s hand, leading him away.
Luciad stood still, watching them go.
“Captain.”
One of the mercenaries nudged him in the side.
“Is she a noble too?”
“If she’s not, there’s no way she’d have that kind of grace.”
“Every noble I’ve met so far has been an arrogant prick and treated us like dirt.”
“She’s really beautiful…”
The group murmured about Hestia, all of their comments filled with curiosity and admiration. There wasn’t a single bad word, only a growing fascination.
Luciad found himself oddly irritated by their chatter.
“Shut up. We’re not the only ones here.”
A few passing servants had been watching them with curious eyes, whispering among themselves.
Realizing the commotion they’d caused, the mercenaries quickly quieted down.
“Let’s talk inside.”
With that, Luciad led them to a drawing room he frequently used for meetings.
