Chapter 2-22 : Family Meeting (part 3)
「Izack, are you sure you want to become a noble?」(Elvent)
Responding to Father’s question, Izack-san swallowed and stood up from his seat.
I’ve never seen Izack-san this nervous.
「Yes, My Lord. In order to achieve my dream, I’d like to use this opportunity to become a noble.」(Izack)
「Hmm… I can tell your seriousness from your face.」(Elvent)
「My Lord, I’ve never been this determined before in my life. My decision is firm and unlikely to be changed.」(Izack)
「But you’re aware that living as a noble is not easy, are you not? You won’t be able to return to your life as a commoner.」(Elvent)
That’s right. Living as a noble is completely different from living as a commoner.
I realized it after a while of becoming a noble.
You need to change how you behave, how you speak, how you spend your days, everything.
Izack-san looked nervous, but his eyes looked serious. He answered Father while looking at him with determined eyes.
「Of course, I’m aware of it, My Lord, and I’m willing to change.」(Izack)
「…Very well.」(Elvent)
「Thank you, My Lord.」(Izack)
He bowed to Father, sat back in his seat, and let out a sigh of relief.
「As I said before, I’ve discussed your matter with them.」(Elvent)
「And… What did they say?」(Izack)
「Well, some people disagreed, but most of them agreed.」(Elvent)
「That means…」(Izack)
「You can become a noble.」(Elvent)
「I see. I’m happy to hear that. I feel honored.」(Izack)
「See? I told you everything would be going smoothly.」(Maitena)
「Haha. Yeah, you’re right.」(Izack)
Maitena onee-sama made a smug smile and shrugged her shoulders. She seemed to be happy that her prediction was right.
Meanwhile, I’m puzzled. I have no idea at all what they’re talking about.
「Hm? Kako, you look confused.」(Elvent)
Father noticed my confused face. I think I’ll ask him what’s going on.
「Father, do you mind explaining to me?」(Kako)
「Ah, we haven’t told you about this, have we? Since you decided to stay as a family, I think you need to know this too. Alright, let me explain.」(Elvent)
「I’m listening.」(Kako)
「First of all, I’m sure you’re already aware that this man here has a crush on your sister, Maitena, and Maitena… Hahh… She also has a romantic feeling toward him.」(Elvent)
When Father said that while sighing, Izack-san awkwardly scratched his cheek with his index finger, while Maitena onee-sama looked away with a blushed face.
「Umm, yes. I know that they love each other.」(Kako)
「Yeah… They love each other… Khh!」(Elvent)
Father glanced at Izack-san with intimidating eyes, but Izack-san quickly looked away.
「So, this man came up with a plan… A plan to convince me to give him permission to be in a relationship with Maitena.」(Elvent)
「To convince you? How?」(Kako)
「I had been hunting down the Keemariq Bandits for years and commissioned the Adventurer Guild to catch them. Izack and his party then accepted the job to track down those criminals and came here to my city to offer me his help in exchange for my permission. We came to an agreement and worked together.」(Elvent)
「Ah, so that’s why he helped you with the bandits.」(Kako)
「Exactly.」(Elvent)
「So, did he successfully convince you?」(Kako)
「That’s… Yeah… I hate to admit it, but he has proven himself worthy of my praise. He did a good job capturing their leader.」(Elvent)
「Then you’re okay now with their relationship.」(Kako)
「Well, I only planned to acknowledge their relationship at first, but… It got worse…」(Elvent)
「Got worse?」(Kako)
「Yeah, because of his two loyal friends.」(Elvent)
「What do you mean?」(Kako)
「I planned to reward Martz and Palfi for their contributions in capturing the bandits. I wanted to give them a full pouch of gold coins for each of them, but they said they didn’t want them. Instead, they asked me to give this man permission to marry Maitena and use the money for their wedding.」(Elvent)
「Eh!?」(Kako)
In other words, Izack-san and Maitena onee-sama’s boyfriend-girlfriend relationship has escalated into marriage because of Martz-san and Palfi-san?
「Of course, I hesitated at first, but those two kept telling me how nice this man was and how I wouldn’t regret marrying Maitena to him. They talked like annoying salesmen who kept persistently recommending their goods for hours! Hahh… I didn’t have a choice but to give up and listen to their request…」(Elvent)
As he sighed, Father turned his gaze to Izack.
「Oi, Izack.」(Elvent)
「Y, yes, My Lord.」(Izack)
「You’re lucky to have those two as friends. You better be grateful to them.」(Elvent)
「Of course, My Lord. Martz and Palfi are my best friends. They are irreplaceable treasures to me.」(Izack)
「We’ll never forget their kindness. Izack, let’s do something for them later as thanks.」(Maitena)
「Yeah, of course.」(Izack)
Thinking about their friends, Izack-san and Maitena onee-sama looked at each other and smiled.
「So… Izack-san and Maitena onee-sama will get married?」(Kako)
「Yeah…」(Elvent)
I see. Now I know what Izack-san meant by ‘cute little sister’ he mentioned earlier. He seemed to talk about me.
If they got married, I would become Izack-san’s little sister-in-law.
「Does it have anything to do with him becoming a noble?」(Kako)
「Of course. You see. Nobility is complicated. Commoners marrying nobles is not common in an aristocratic society. Even if I approved their marriage, other nobles, especially those who hate commoners, might do something in their power to get in their way. For them, a commoner marrying a marquis’ daughter is bad news after all. Therefore, we need him to become a noble, so that those people can’t complain.」(Elvent)
Father kept explaining.
Right after Oglan and the bandits were taken to the royal capital by the royal knights, Father went away. He said he had a meeting with other lords from the neighbouring regions.
The main purpose of the meeting was to talk about The Keemariq Bandits since they had caused trouble not only in Father’s territory, but the other lords’ territories as well. You can say that those bandits had incurred the wrath of multiple nobles.
A commoner becoming a noble is a rare occasion, but it happens sometimes. Other than through adoption, they can become nobles after they do great deeds that benefit many people. For example, capturing the most wanted bandits in the province.
Izack-san defeated the leader of the bandits, and Father thought such a great achievement would be enough for Izack-san to be acknowledged by other nobles.
In the meeting, Father tried to convince the other lords to support Izack-san’s ennoblement. Some of them were against it, but most of the nobles attending the meeting were grateful to Izack-san for capturing the bandits and agreed with Father’s idea.
「Hahh… It wasn’t easy to compliment this man so that the other nobles would acknowledge him. I felt like I was Martz and Palfi when they tried to convince me back then…」(Elvent)
「Th, thank you very much, My Lord, for… endorsing me.」(Izack)
「Yeah, you better be grateful!」(Elvent)
「Of course, I’m really really grateful to you.」(Izack)
「Hmph.」(Elvent)
Father snorted. I could tell that he hated Izack-san, but despite that, he still helped him to get the other nobles’ recognition.
Is he a tsundere…?
「I see. So that’s how Izack-san will become a noble. I thought you would adopt him as a son like when you adopted me.」(Kako)
「What!? Kako, that won’t happen! There’s no way I would adopt this man as my son!」(Elvent)
「Ugh!」(Izack)
When Father said that, Izack-san suddenly put his hand on his chest and groaned in pain as if he had been stabbed by an invisible arrow.
「But… Hold on… I wonder which one’s worse… Adopting him as my son or… Marrying my daughter to him and accepting him as my son-in-law… Gaaah!! My head hurts!」(Elvent)
「Oh, Father, please!」(Maitena)
「Ahem! …Anyway, Izack.」(Elvent)
「M, My Lord.」(Izack)
「You will soon become a noble with a rank of knight. However, as you know, a knight is the lowest rank among nobles. There might still be some people who don’t like it if you marry the daughter of a marquis with such a low rank.」(Elvent)
「I understand.」(Izack)
「If you seriously want to marry Maitena, you have to work hard and climb your way up to become a viscount at least. The question isー can you do it?」(Elvent)
「It sounds like an impossible challenge, but I will try my hardest. I’m aware that marrying a fine woman like Maitena won’t be easy. However, I won’t give up until I see her standing next to me in a wedding dress. I promise I won’t disappoint you.」(Izack)
「Izack…」(Maitena)
「H, hmph… Well said…」(Elvent)
I could see Maitena onee-sama’s face turned red as she mentioned Izack-san’s name.
Meanwhile, Father complimented Izack-san, but then immediately looked away.
He’s a tsundere for sure…
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