Chapter 153 – Kielz, Do Your Best (Monotone)

Please don’t repost my translation anywhere else! If you find someone else posting this translation outside this site, please help me and report them or tell them to take it down if possible. 

Also, don’t hesitate to drop any comment~ Comments are great motivations for me. I do read them, yes~

***

Chapter 153 – Kielz, Do Your Best (Monotone)

Nelgrandi Castle has about four dining rooms. 

‘About’ means that there seems to be several rooms that made people guess, “Maybe this is a dining room? They could be used as a dining room, but maybe it’s more like a hall?”

The castle itself seems to be a building with history, but over time, the lord of this time and then that time remodeled or expanded sections as per their whim, resulting in some complex parts.

Cain and the others were having lunch in one of the dining rooms, which is the bright dining room with large windows facing the garden.

“I set up the tea party this afternoon, so we don’t really have much time. Let’s go set things up. By the way, who is that foolish son, anyway?”

“Did you insult him, calling him a mere tenant farmer without even knowing who he is?”

“I can sort of guess from the flow of the conversation. So, who is he?”

This content is originally hosted in convallariaslibrary .com. If you’re reading this elsewhere, it’s most likely that you’re reading this in an aggregator site that simply stole our translation. Please don’t support the aggregators like this! Besides, you will be missing out the readers’ comments (please comment in the original site so I can read your comment~!). Please read this in the original hosting site! Thank you.

Kielz showed an exasperated expression as he shoved a piece of sauteed chicken into his mouth. Cordelia and Diana, having changed from their outdoor play clothes to cute dresses, nibbled on their bread.

“He’s the son of the deputy land administrator for the Nelgrandi lord’s direct lands. It’s said that his family has been holding the position since his grandfather’s time.”

The Nelgrandi territory, granted to the Elgrandaark Dukes by the royal family, is unusually vast. 

Moreover, being a border region, it also requires the operation of a knightly order for national defense, so the lord’s duties are extensive.

Therefore, the territory is further divided into several regions, each with its own land administrator. If the territory is like a province and its lord is like the governor of a province, then the regions are like cities, towns, and villages, and their land administrators are like mayors or town heads.

Apparently, some areas further divide their territory to districts and they even have sub-district chiefs, but that seems to be left to the discretion of each local government.

So, in the lord’s direct territory, the land administrator is technically the lord, but since the lord must manage the knightly order and oversee the entire territory, he can’t handle all the minute details. Hence, he appoints a deputy land administrator.

And that deputy is the foolish son’s parents. Given that, perhaps calling him a ‘tenant farmer’ was indeed a bit harsh.

 This content is originally hosted in convallariaslibrary .com. If you’re reading this elsewhere, it’s most likely that you’re reading this in an aggregator site that simply stole our translation. Please don’t support the aggregators like this! Besides, you will be missing out the readers’ comments (please comment in the original site so I can read your comment~!). Please read this in the original hosting site! Thank you.

“But he’s been hitting on Cordelia, right? Surely their position as employer-employee and noble-commoner would somehow suffice as a barrier?”

“He wasn’t always like that. Back then, he was the fun older brother-like figure from the neighborhood that we would often play together with. Aunt and Uncle often gave us steamed sweet potatoes and barley rice cakes, too.”

“Nii-san used to get scolded a lot when he misbehaved. Aunt would spank him, but that would be the end of it, as she wouldn’t tell Mom or Dad, and after the scolding, she’d give him snacks.”

Perhaps feeling nostalgic, Cordelia chuckled. The intimidation from the foolish son from earlier seemed to be fading. 

However, she seemed to be feeling daunted, perhaps because they were more like family to each other than initially thought, or perhaps their families had known each other since they were little.

Well, that made sense. It would be scary to have an older man to approach you by taking advantage of the difference in their physiques, but if you were to think of him as a neighborhood older brother-figure that she played with as a child, you wouldn’t be able to just simply use your noble authority to get rid of him.

“And there’s another reason. Stiritz is Arnie’s younger sister.”

“Stiritz is… the one you mentioned yesterday, Kielz’s crush?”

“Right.”

What a plot twist. Then, it’d be difficult to either remove Arnie’s parents from their role as the land administrator, or even excluding Arnie himself.

Or, it’d be rather difficult. Cain tilted his head.

“If that’s the case, the solution is simple, isn’t it? Shouldn’t Kielz just confess to Stiritz and formalize their engagement already?”

“What?!”

Kielz dropped the piece of bread that he was about to eat. Cordelia caught it before it fell to the floor and put it back on Kielz’s plate. She had good reflexes. Diana clapped her hands. 

This content is originally hosted in convallariaslibrary .com. If you’re reading this elsewhere, it’s most likely that you’re reading this in an aggregator site that simply stole our translation. Please don’t support the aggregators like this! Besides, you will be missing out the readers’ comments (please comment in the original site so I can read your comment~!). Please read this in the original hosting site! Thank you.

“I mean, think about it. If the children of the land administrator and their deputy have to form a connection through marriage for the family to unite as the land administrators, then why not have the children be Kielz and Stiritz? Once Kielz and Stiritz’s engagement is formalized, at least he won’t be able to use this as a pretext to propose to Cordelia, right?”

Moreover, if Kielz’s engagement were to be formalized, they would be able to avoid the future like [Diana’s unwanted marriage and unhappy married life] portrayed in Cain’s route. To Cain, it’d be like capturing two birds with one stone.

“B-but I’m not ready!! Moreover, Stiritz will also have her own intention, right?! I-if s-she were to reject me, then what?! Stiritz is older than me, and she probably only sees me as a little brother!”

“Cordelia. How does this Stiritz-san think of Kielz?”

Ignoring the flustered Kielz, Cain asked Cordelia for her opinion. A third-party perspective is crucial in situations like this.

Cordelia thought for a moment before turning to Cain and smiled.

“I don’t think she views him in a bad light. Even though my older brother is like this, as expected, when you compare him with the other boys around, his manners are better and he’s kind towards girls. If I may say so, he looks pretty good, too. But I think she’ll probably hold back because she thinks he’ll eventually marry some noble.”

“Hee… Isn’t that good, Kielz?”

“T-t-t-there’s no way, Stiritz’s beautiful, she has many admirers, and she’s older!”

Kielz began fiddling with the napkin that was placed on his lap. Cain chuckled wryly, wondering if he was this kind of character, as he wrapped the remaining carrot on his plate in chicken skin before putting it into his mouth. He carefully chewed, making sure the carrot didn’t spill out of the chicken skin, and swallowed it together with his tea.

“Well, shouldn’t we just follow the proper procedure here? It won’t make it in time for the tea party, but let’s ask Uncle and Aunt about Kielz’s engagement to Stiritz tonight. At the tea party, we could tell Arnie that Kielz intended to get engaged to Stiritz, to keep Arnie in check.”

“Wait, wait, wait. Like I said, what about Stiritz’s feelings?! It’s not like she could refuse a marriage proposal from a nobility, even if she didn’t want it, right? I don’t want to force her!”

“Then you should go and confess now. For Cordelia’s sake!”

Then, for Diana’s future as well! Cain added inside his heart.

“Nii-san, good luck!”

“Kii-kun, good luck!”

“Kielz-sama, good luck~”

Taking advantage of the commotion, even Ilvareno, who was stationed by the wall, also chimed in. Kielz’s face turned bright red, and the napkin in his hands was about to be torn.

“In the worst case scenario where you get rejected, we need to come up with another plan, so you’d better hurry, Kielz.”

“Cain… I’ll remember this.”

Kielz jumped up from his chair, making a clattering sound, as he threw the napkin down. Well, what a bad manner.

Just then, Sasha, who had left the room in the middle of the conversation, returned with a bouquet of flowers.

This content is originally hosted in convallariaslibrary .com. If you’re reading this elsewhere, it’s most likely that you’re reading this in an aggregator site that simply stole our translation. Please don’t support the aggregators like this! Besides, you will be missing out the readers’ comments (please comment in the original site so I can read your comment~!). Please read this in the original hosting site! Thank you.

“Kielz-sama. I have taken the liberty of asking Pashall-sama to prepare a bouquet of flowers. Please take this and give it to Stiritz-sama.”

She said as she presented the bouquet to Kielz. As expected of Sasha, who’s aiming to be the perfect maid. Speaking of which, Pashall is this castle’s butler.

“AAAAAAAAAAAHH, ENOUGH!!! You all better remember this!!!!”

Snatching the bouquet from Sasha, Kielz screamed as he jumped out from the window. 

—————————–

Bonus Scene. The first time the siblings were brought to the territory.

Kielz: “You can call me Kielz-niisama if you want.”

Diana: “Diana’s Onii-sama is Onii-sama (Cain) only, though?”

Kielz was just addressed as “Nii-san” by Cordelia, so he wanted to have someone address him more formally as “Onii-sama.”

Behind them, Cain was about to ascend to heaven.