[V13C27.2] Interlude: Selfish Family Meeting

Gliost was a picturesque region in central Ridill, situated just southwest of the royal capital.

Due to its proximity to the capital, many nobles dropped by during the social season. In particular, Lake Termia and the nearby forests were very popular as a summer retreat.

Gliost was also the land granted to Cyril Ashley, a member of the Library Society praised for his countermeasures against the large-scale dragon disaster.

“I apologize in advance for making such a selfish request, but I would like one of you to serve as the deputy lord of Gliost.”

Cyril said this at a family meeting in the mansion of Marquis Highown, and the atmosphere of the room changed in an instant.

All of them put stern looks on their faces, because they desperately wanted to be chosen as deputy lord.

However, Cyril had completely misunderstood their expressions. He believed that everyone was exasperated at him for making such a selfish request.

Eighteen individuals bearing the Ashley surname were visiting today.

As expected of the Lineage of Knowledge, many were affiliated with the Library Society, while others managed libraries, museums, and similar facilities. A few were teachers, and a handful had experience with real estate and business.

To them, Gliost had the potential to be incredibly profitable.

The mild climate year round, the lack of dragons, and its popularity as a summer retreat combined to make Gliost the ideal social hub. The location was convenient, close to both Highown and the royal capital. There were even popular libraries and museums.

In Ridill’s long history, past kings often bestowed barren or dragon-infested lands to disliked subordinates, essentially kicking them down the ladder.

However, Gliost was different. The current King of Ridill had given Cyril a very desirable reward.

Furthermore, taking on the role of deputy lord would earn them favor from Cyril, the heir to Marquis Highown. There were honestly no downsides.

Though many were eager to volunteer, the first to speak was a middle-aged man who was a cousin to Marquis Highown.

“I have a great deal of experience in managing real estate. Let me tell you about the time I created a vineyard in the supposedly barren land of Hydraldar…”

“How about entrusting my son with the job of deputy lord? Let me recall him from his studies in Alpatra and…”

“Hold on a second, my son-in-law is exceptionally talented in…”

Once one person spoke up, the others followed suit one after another.

In fact, seventeen out of the eighteen present expressed a desire to take on the role of deputy lord. This indicated just how attractive Gliost was.

(The Ashley family is so kind to an adopted child like me…)

As Cyril basked in the warmth of familial love, the discussion continued to intensify.

The Ashley family was the Lineage of Knowledge, so of course, many of them were exceptionally skilled at debates.

However, they also possessed a bad habit that even Marquis Highown had to acknowledge.

…Their knowledge expanded across countless subjects, so their discussions were prone to going off on tangents.

“You see, I wrote my university thesis about the classic literature piece, ‘The Dream of Rychalze,’ which has its roots in Gliost…”

“Hold on a second. Are you trying to say that the lake in ‘The Dream of Rychalze’ is supposed to be Lake Termia in Gliost? A professor from Coles University wrote a paper disproving that two years ago…”

“I am aware. I have read his paper, and there are several points I must disagree with. It requires additional scrutiny from both a historical and geological viewpoint…”

“Geological? Have you read the paper from the Society of Mana in Geography? If you read that, you should be able to understand the reasons for those differences…”

The discussion had already derailed from the original topic, and it only continued to veer further off course.

Cyril did his best to keep up with the discussion, but just when he thought he had caught up, it swerved in yet another direction. All he could do was press his lips together and do his best to hide his confusion.

This lasted until Marquis Highown spoke up.

“Cyril.”

“Yes, Father.”

“You should pick someone you trust as deputy lord. No matter who you choose, we will respect your decision.”

He placed a great deal of emphasis on the word ‘we’, so everyone else had no choice but to fall silent.

The marquis himself said that he would respect his son’s choice, so it was not their place to disagree.

Cyril adjusted his posture and straightened his back.

He must eventually become the leader of the Ashley family.

If he failed to convince his relatives now, how could he call himself the future marquis?

“In that case, I would like to entrust Curtis-dono with the position of deputy lord,” Cyril declared.

His cousin Curtis Ashley slowly raised his head to look at Cyril.

Curtis was the only one who remained silent during the discussion. Beneath his straight black hair, his lapis lazuli had simply watched as everyone else derailed from the main topic.

“Curtis-dono, can I ask you for this favor?” Cyril continued.




In the middle of the family meeting, Curtis Ashley crossed his arms and leaned back with his eyes half-open, ready to doze off at any moment. He was startled back awake when he heard his name called.

Everyone was staring at him with scary-looking faces. They had probably caught on to him dozing off.

No, no, I always look like I’m sleeping when I think about complicated subjects! Hahaha! This was the excuse Curtis was about to use, when Cyril looked straight at him and said…

“Curtis-dono, can I ask you for this favor?”

Favor? Come to think of it, Cyril was about to receive land and a title as a reward for his efforts during the large-scale dragon disaster. The ceremony for that should be sometime soon.

He probably wanted help choosing clothes for the ceremony, or someone to accompany him to the subsequent party. Whenever Cyril asked him for a favor, it was always something like that.

To give the impression that he was not asleep, Curtis performed a nonchalant nod.

“Of course, Cyril-kun. Leave it to me.”

Cyril’s face lit up with a radiant smile. He seemed genuinely happy.

Curtis enjoyed taking care of his younger relatives, so he was happy too.

Meanwhile, Cyril made the announcement in front of their entire family.

“I, Cyril Ashley, hereby appoint Curtis Ashley-dono as the deputy lord of Gliost!”

“…Huh?”

The dumbfounded Curtis received beaming smiles from both of his parents, as their other relatives applauded with a slight hint of regret.

Gliost was free from the threat of dragons, boasted beautiful sights, and was located conveniently close to the capital. Curtis knew how great of a location it was.

But it’s a different story if he has to do the job of deputy lord. After all, Curtis detested working.

Hold on, are you guys sure you don’t want this..? is what Curtis wanted to say, but everyone else had already given up their claims.

(Come on! Don’t give up so quickly!)

Curtis was once called a child prodigy, and he spun his brilliant mind into overdrive to come up with an excuse for getting out of this job.

Meanwhile, Cyril placed a hand in front of chest, deeply moved.

“I cannot thank you enough, Curtis-niisan. I’ll have nothing to worry about with you handling things in my absence.”

Ultimately, the former prodigy was defeated by Cyril’s unadulterated sincerity.

“Y-Yeah. J-Just leave everything to me. Haha… hahaha…”

And thus, the most irresponsible man in the Ashley family, Curtis Ashley, was tricked into becoming the acting lord of Gliost.

＊　＊　＊

That night, Cyril was in his room, preparing the documents for appointing Curtis as deputy lord.

His cousin Curtis was sure to handle the role perfectly. After all, he was exceptionally skilled at finding talented individuals and negotiating for their assistance.

As he always said, “I don’t want to handle the annoying jobs myself! That’s why I find someone to do them for me! Hahaha!”

Cyril agreed with that sentiment, because setting up a system where work could proceed in his absence was far more efficient.

(I can hardly compare to Curtis-niisan. There’s still a lot I have to learn from him.)

After reviewing the completed documents, Cyril returned his quill to its stand. The bottle next to the stand, which was small enough to fit in one hand, caught his eye.

The contents of this bottle was the glass bead entrusted to him by Monica. A pattern resembling a snowflake could be seen within the bead.

Cyril picked up the small bottle with his fingertips and tilted it slightly.

The glass bead rolled around inside the bottle, shimmering with an orange hue from the candlelight. It looked as though a flame had ignited inside the snowflake.

Cyril propped up his cheek with his other hand and started humming a song. The weaving song his mother had taught him when he was a child.

“I’ll dye my thread the color of the setting sun, spin it and weave it as I think of you…”

Cyril used to love singing when he was a child, but after his voice changed, he only sang when it was required for music class.

This was because his singing voice was so similar to that of his biological father.

As his voice changed and his height increased, Cyril became more and more like his father with every passing day. This scared him greatly, and as a result, he lost confidence in himself.

(…But I’m not scared anymore.)

Even if he saw his father’s face in the mirror, he would not allow that to scare him anymore.

Even if his voice was similar to his father’s, that was no reason to stop singing.

His father was no longer the reason he kept his hair long.

“Once I have all the colors, I’ll weave your clothes and take them to you. Weave your clothes and take them to you.”

Cyril lowered his silver eyelashes and thought about the owner of this glass bead.

Even the sounds of the bead rolling inside the bottle sounded so dear to him.

That night, the song spun from his lips reached the ears of only two small weasels.

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