Volume 6 Chapter 10 Sir Roxas Trying To Hide The Artifacts Of Wakoku Country
The painting that Sir Roxas has is in a big frame. The frame is bigger than Sir Roxas himself.
"An octopus..."
There's an octopus here too.
An octopus and a woman. Naked women often appear in the art of the Kingdom. They call it "nude art."
But this one feels a bit different from the nude art I've seen in the Kingdom's castle and temple.
"This, this is nothing, nothing at all...!"
"W-What's wrong, Sir Roxas? What's going on with that painting...?"
"Roxas, maybe the art feels wrong because you're looking at it in a bad way...!"
"No. Mother, stop butting in."
"I will! Roxas, how can you make a girl wait outside in the cold and then try to hide your father's precious painting?!"
"Mother..."
The woman in front of me is scolding Sir Roxas.
I heard that Sir Roxas doesn't have a good relationship with his parents, but maybe that's not true.
"O-Oh, nice to meet you! I'm Lydia Rest, Sir Roxas's fiancée...!"
I quickly lifted my skirt and bowed.
I'm pretending to be Sir Roxas's fiancée. It's important to greet his mother.
While I was greeting her, Sir Roxas hurriedly took some painting to another room. I heard a loud thud. He probably bumped into something.
I wonder if Sir Roxas is okay.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Irfimia Girard, Roxas's mother. I didn't know Ms. Lydia was Roxas's fiancée..."
She seems kind and delicate. She has a slim figure and is wearing a nice dress.
She doesn't look much like Sir Rail or Sir Roxas. Sir Roxas has silver hair and golden eyes, but Lady Irfimia has chestnut hair and brown eyes. Maybe Sir Rail and Sir Roxas look more like their father.
"W-Well, we just got engaged recently... um, there were some things in the Royal Capital, and Sir Roxas helped me a lot... so that's how it happened..."
Oh no. I didn't think through the details of my story.
As I fumbled through my explanation, Lady Irfimia smiled warmly.
"I see... I don't know the details, but I've heard about some things that happened in the Royal Capital. Roxas doesn't tell me anything..."
"I see..."
What should I do? I can't mention Sir Roxas's relationship with his parents.
I can't say, "You bullied Sir Roxas!" either.
"I'm sorry for bothering you. Ms. Lydia knows about our relationship with Roxas, right?"
"Y-Yes..."
I wish Sir Roxas would come back soon.
If he has time to hide the painting of the octopus and the woman, he should help me instead...!
But I have to hold it together. I decided to come here on my own, so I can't rely on Sir Roxas.
I shook off the complaints I had in my head about Sir Roxas.
"It's all my fault... When I first saw Roxas's magic, I got scared... and after that, I couldn't connect with him well... so I made Roxas go through a lot of pain."
"Mother..."
"I thought Roxas was engaged to Ms. Francois from the Rest family, but somehow he got engaged to Ms. Lydia... He likes both sisters... What should I do? I'm so sorry! Because I made Roxas suffer, he turned into a boy who is unfaithful to women...!"
"M-Mother, please calm down...!"
Lady Irfimia, who seemed kind and gentle, suddenly started crying, and I panicked.
My emotions were pretty unstable too, but I wonder if Lady Irfimia is feeling the same way.
I held both of Lady Irfimia's hands tightly. I had never dealt with an older woman who was crying, so I didn't know what to do.
But since she was crying, I had to comfort her.
It seemed like there were a lot of misunderstandings, but for now, it was better to comfort her.
"That's not it... um, Sir Roxas actually doesn't like FraFra, and... he says he likes me..."
I wasn't sure how much to explain, so I gave a vague explanation.
Making it vague made Sir Roxas seem like a pretty terrible guy.
"So, you mean Ms. Lydia gave up because she was engaged to His Highness Stefan, and then got engaged to Ms. Francois, trying to settle for her...? And now that the engagement is broken, he can be with his true love, Ms. Lydia...!"
"Um, it's kind of right, but also kind of wrong... anyway, I'm Sir Roxas's fiancée now..."
"Mother, why are you crying? Lydia, are you okay?"
"Roxas, if you forced Ms. Lydia to be your fiancée, then I have to fight you."
"What's with the sudden outburst?"
Finally, Sir Roxas came back and started arguing with Lady Irfimia.
I was really worried, so I pulled on both of their arms.
"No, it's not like that...! I, I love Sir Roxas...!"
I thought I had to clear up the misunderstanding and keep the act going, so I declared it loudly.
Lady Irfimia smiled brightly, like a flower blooming, and for some reason, Sir Roxas's glasses broke.
I wondered why his glasses broke. It looked like they exploded from the inside.
The servants appeared out of nowhere, cleaned up the broken glasses with a broom and dustpan, and handed Sir Roxas a new pair before leaving.
They seemed used to this. Maybe glasses break often.
"Really...! That's great. ...Roxas, I'm so happy for you... you have a fiancée, and it's Ms. Lydia from the Rest priest family... I've heard the rumors. She's a saint blessed by Goddess Alexandria."
"N-no, I'm not that important..."
"Oh, yes. So, Mother, since I already have a fiancée, I don't need to look for other candidates. I'll respond properly to the proposal from the Girard family."
"Then I need to tell your Father right away...! Why didn't you say anything until now, Roxas? You didn't want to talk to us... I'm sorry, Roxas... it's all my fault..."
"It's fine. I'm not a child anymore. I don't hold any grudges against you or Father. ...Lydia, let's go. You must be tired. Before we greet Father, let's rest a bit."
Ignoring the sad Lady Irfimia, Sir Roxas took my hand.
Then, he left Lady Irfimia in the entrance hall and went up the big staircase.
On the landing, straight ahead from the entrance, there seemed to be a painting that had been there earlier. There were clear marks on the wall where something had been hung.
An octopus, a woman, and Sir Roxas.
Maybe they hid the painting because they wanted to keep the woman's unusual taste a secret.
"...Sir Roxas, you're into women tangled up with octopuses, huh? So, you like women who are wrapped up by octopuses..."
When I met Sir Roxas, I was also tangled up with an octopus.
There might be quite a few women out there tangled up with octopuses.
"Why would you think that...!"
I got scolded by Sir Roxas for what felt like the hundredth time today.
Sir Roxas was restless, getting angry, breaking glasses, tripping, and bumping into things. I started to worry more and more if he was going to be okay.
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