As I stood there flustered, Raffaelo, who was already seated, pointed to the seat next to him.
“Seraphina, come and sit here.”
“Oh, yes.”
Considering how fierce Raffaelo usually looked, it was oddly comforting to have him greet me warmly. I quickly sat next to him. At some point, Arkhangelo, who had been standing behind me, also sat on my right.
With Raffaelo on my left and Arkhangelo on my right, it felt like I was flanked by a tiger and a dragon, which oddly made me feel more at ease.
The man remained silent, simply observing us until we all sat down.
It was only after Simone and Ghieuspe arrived that the man finally spoke.
“I am Duke Lithman. I hear you are guests looking for my wife.”
“Ah, Duke Lithman. It is a pleasure to meet you,”
Simone, who was more sociable than anyone, greeted him politely.
“We are a party from the Kingdom of Boleno. We have been staying in the imperial city of the Cassan Empire, and upon hearing that the Duchess was longing for Boleno, we decided to visit her.”
“Yes, I mentioned to the Duchess yesterday about her old friends,”
At that, Duke Lithman’s cold expression eased slightly, but it seemed he still hadn’t let down his guard against us.
“Did you have a relationship with my wife back in the kingdom?”
“No, we met for the first time yesterday,”
“Is that so,”
Hearing his icy words, something suddenly clicked in my mind.
I had assumed he was wary of us because he believed we were allies of Princess Eva, but looking at his expression, that didn’t seem to be the case.
Ah, I see. He’s just acting like the typical northern grand duke from romance fantasy novels, being jealous of any man who comes near his wife.
‘How predictable…’
These romance fantasy male leads are always like this. They get jealous of their attendants, their friends, the guy next door, and even random passersby.
Even the fathers in these stories get jealous if their five-year-old daughter plays with a boy of the same age. Seriously, this whole world seems to only stick to the romance fantasy trope in the most pointless ways.
“Is the Duchess in poor health?”
“There is no need for concern. She said she wants to rest alone.”
Hmm, if I want to meet Princess Angela, it seems I’ll have to deal with her husband’s jealousy first.
Clearing my throat, I decided to speak up.
“Have you ever heard of Phyro? The genius tenor Phyro. This man right here is none other than Arkhangelo Phyro.”
“Why are you suddenly introducing me?”
When I suddenly pointed at Arkhangelo, he asked back in a puzzled tone, but I continued speaking without hesitation.
“Arkhangelo, you should take a page from the Duke’s book. Look at how well he’s doing after getting married. You’ve mentioned before that your family keeps pressuring you to get married, right?”
“Hmph, I will not marry a mere human. I shall marry opera!”
At that, Duke Lithman gave Arkhangelo a subtle yet clear look of disdain. He was obviously thinking that Arkhangelo was a lunatic.
“Ghieuspe is the same. You’re about to succeed as the next Duke, so what do you plan to do about the position of Duchess?”
“Well, humans are still a bit…”
“Excuse me?”
“I’m working on it, but it’s too soon for me to love a human.”
“Ah, I see…”
By now, Duke Lithman had clearly classified Ghieuspe as a lunatic as well.
It seemed that Raffaelo had figured out my intention behind my line of questioning toward Arkhangelo and Ghieuspe. With a bright, knowing smile, he jumped into the conversation.
“Well, it’s about time I got married too. My parents want me to marry a noble lady, but if possible, I’d prefer to meet someone in the military.”
“Most women in the military are commoners, aren’t they?”
“Status doesn’t matter to me. After all, I’m the second son. More importantly, I like strong people.”
“Ah, I see. Like someone with an aura similar to Aurora’s…”
“Stop talking nonsense, please.”
Fortunately, it seemed that Raffaelo’s statement, emphasizing that his ideal type was far from Princess Angela, had worked. Duke Lithman’s face finally relaxed. Alright, now all that’s left is Simone…
“No, you don’t need to explain yourself,”
“Pardon?”
“I already know what you’re trying to do.”
“Ahaha, I see…”
It seemed that Duke Lithman had realized I was trying to ease his wariness. It was a bit embarrassing to be caught like that.
“But why did you say there was no need to explain about Simone?”
“You can tell just by looking.”
“Tell what?”
“Never mind.”
“Pfft!”
Raffaelo suddenly burst into laughter as if he found something amusing, but Duke Lithman remained silent, offering no further explanation.
“By the way, I noticed that there aren’t any automatons in this house.”
To probe for information about Princess Angela, I casually brought up the topic.
“Of course, I’m aware that automatons aren’t widely used in the Cassan Empire. But I heard that, thanks to Prince Allan’s efforts, the automatons imported from Boleno have recently become more widespread.”
“…We do not use such machines.”
Duke Lithman replied in a blunt tone.
“My wife prefers being served by humans.”
“Ah, I see. I completely understand. After all, nothing beats the touch of a human.”
Of course, using machines would make it easier to do difficult and tiring tasks, but the technology is still not fully developed.
Hmm, this only strengthens my suspicion that Princess Angela might know something about Princess Eva.
Alright, it’s time to get to the main point.
“Duke, I have a message I’d like you to deliver to your wife.”
“I wish to let my wife rest for the time being. I won’t throw you out, but you won’t be able to meet her.”
“You just need to pass along the message.”
I stared directly into the Duke’s dark eyes.
Last night, I had thought long and hard about how I could win over Princess Angela.
And I reached a simple conclusion.
Based on how the original Seraphina had reacted, it’s impossible for any normal human to remain unafraid once they discover the true nature of Princess Eva. She must be an extraordinary being.
So, I just need to hint that I have some knowledge about Princess Eva’s existence.
“Tell her that it’s not human, and it’s definitely not a god.”
“…..……”
For a moment, a glint of interest flickered in Duke Lithman’s eyes.
Soon after, he seemed to have come to a decision and gave a short nod.
“I’ll pass it on.”
“Thank you.”
After that, we continued our meal in silence.
***
However, even after breakfast ended and the entire day had passed, there was still no response from Princess Angela.
Why is she doing this?
Waiting for her silent reply was making me feel anxious and restless.
During that time, we gathered in the drawing room, chatting about trivial matters, practicing magic with Ghieuspe, or watching Arkhangelo hum his songs to pass the time.
“Ah, I shouldn’t have taken that nap earlier…”
I had taken a long nap this evening, so I couldn’t fall asleep now.
Since I couldn’t sleep as the night grew late, I eventually got out of bed.
“Come to think of it, they said I could use the study.”
Since I was already awake, I thought I’d head to the study and see if I could find any books that might hint at Princess Eva’s inventions.
So, I opened the door and walked down the hallway. That’s when I heard something unusual.
Whirr, whirr, whirr—
It sounded like the noise of a machine coming from downstairs.
Hmm, that sounds like machinery. Which way was the study again…?
Wait a minute.
Didn’t they say Princess Angela dislikes machines, and that’s why there are hardly any machines in this mansion?
Then, what is this machine-like sound I’m hearing right now?
