Chapter 7 (Part 9)

Once they moved to the reception room and began a proper conversation, Erica’s voice grew even louder. Her long hair, resembling the sunset, swayed with her animated gestures.  

“The reception room is as big as the lord’s mansion in our territory! As they say, Seidon really has gold everywhere. Even the Young Duke’s face is like that!”

“Erica, don’t be so loud.”  

“Are those people exclusively employed for you, Sister? You’ve really made it big! When you become the Duchess, does everything in this mansion become yours?”

“Not exactly.”  

Sellakia smiled faintly and glanced at Nancy standing to the side.  

Nancy’s gaze had been fixed on Erica with unusual intensity. Nancy was too diligent to dislike guests, so it was quite concerning.  

“I’m really happy to see you again, Sis. But it seems you’re not.”  

Noticing Sellakia’s lack of focus, Erica’s excited shoulders drooped.  

Now Nancy’s eyes were wide open as if they might pop out.

Sellakia decided she would discreetly ask Nancy for the reason later and focused on comforting Erica for now.

“Of course not, Erica. Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for you and Sir Julien since dawn today? I’ve always wondered how you’ve been. How have you been?”  

“Don’t even mention it. You can’t imagine how hard it was building an educational center from scratch. It’s not a metaphor; Brother and I literally built it on bare ground! I terribly miss the days at Viscount Lensch’s.”  

Erica pretended to wipe tears from her eyes. Julien seemed to have given up on correcting Erica’s behavior, focusing solely on drinking tea with perfect posture.  

The sight of the two before her was just as it had been at the Viscount’s residence. A comfortable smile unknowingly appeared on Sellakia’s lips.  

“I had no idea you went through such hardships. I thought you went to a great place since you didn’t even attend my coming-of-age ceremony.”  

“I have no excuse for that. You know I was dragged away by my brother.”  

Both Sellakia and Erica turned their gaze to Julien. Despite the sudden attention, Julien remained as composed as ever.  

After blinking slowly like a statue, Julien finally spoke after a long silence. His words were unexpected, deviating from the current conversation.  

“You look better than before.”  

“Do I? I didn’t notice. You look well too, Sir Julien. Is it because you’ve achieved your dream? You always wanted to help children who find learning difficult.”  

“You’ve achieved your dream too, Madam.”  

“Have I?”  

“You always said you wanted to leave the mansion.”  

“Oh.”  

She was at a loss for words.  

There was indeed a time when she harbored such a wish. She never expected to hold the same wish in a different place.  

“What are you talking about? Brother, don’t you remember her dream? It wasn’t to become a noble Duchess or anything like that.”

Erica interrupted, setting down her teacup.  

“Her dream was to be a pirate. Right, Sis?”  

“What?!”  

The exclamation, loud enough to sting the ears, came not from Sellakia but from Roberta beside her.  

Unlike Nancy, who had been glaring at Julien, Roberta was shocked.  

“A pirate who takes plunder as a hobby and enjoys killing? The kind that gets executed immediately if caught by the Imperial Army? Madam, you dreamed of that?”  

Sellakia, flustered by Roberta’s intense gaze, stammered an explanation.  

“It’s a bit different. The pirate I dreamed of wasn’t like that… It was a righteous pirate.”

“What? What nonsense is that? There’s no such thing as a righteous pirate.”  

“Sir! You can’t call Madam’s words nonsense!”  

This time, Nancy, who had been quiet, raised her voice.  

“No matter how strange Madam’s words are, you shouldn’t speak recklessly. You must, always, be respectful!”  

Strange words…  

Sellakia mulled over Nancy’s words with a sense of dejection.  

Nancy’s tone, full of pauses, was meaningful. Her gaze, not at Roberta but at Erica, was suspicious.  

Meanwhile, Erica, who had thrown the bombshell, was leisurely munching on a baked cookie, seemingly oblivious to Nancy’s lethal gaze.

Roberta, scratching her head awkwardly, continued speaking.  

“Ahem. I apologize, Madam. That was a slip of the tongue. Anyway, who filled your head with such nonsense? A righteous pirate. It’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”  

“My mother told me about it.”

“…Pardon?”  

“My mother would occasionally tell me stories about confronting pirates near Lensch. Like freeing those captured on foreign slave ships or taking in those with nowhere to go.”

Roberta’s lips, which had been moving sharply, suddenly clamped shut as if glued together. Even Nancy, who admired everything about Sellakia, remained silent about her dream. The once lively reception room turned cold in an instant.  

Only now did she understand why Chester had repeatedly warned her not to tell anyone about her dream. The few people who knew her dream, or the fairy, hadn’t reacted much, so she hadn’t expected such a negative responce.

Feeling embarrassed that the dampened mood seemed to be her fault, she hesitated.  

“Um… Can I speak again now? I felt it was inappropriate to interrupt when family members were mentioned.”  

Before Sellakia could attempt to change the subject, fortunately, Erica spoke up first. Sellakia eagerly agreed.  

“Of course, go ahead. What do you want to say, Erica? Feel free to speak your mind.”  

“Anyway, I thought you might come to find us after your coming-of-age ceremony. I suggested we go to the sea together, remember?”  

“Go out to sea… together?”

“I’d climb the watchtower and paint, while you’d seek justice on the deck. If there’s a sword fight with other pirate ships, we’d leave it to my brother. Isn’t that perfect?”  

Julien’s straight eyebrows arched incredulously, but he maintained his silent audience stance instead of adding to the conversation.  

In contrast, Sellakia’s blue eyes sparkled. She was deeply touched by the unexpected words.  

“Erica, did you mean that? I thought you were just saying it to support my dream.”  

“Oh, come on. When have I ever said something I didn’t mean? Well, it’s okay. It’s not too late yet.”  

Erica winked. Her light green eyes sparkled mischievously like a playful child.  

Sellakia knew that mischievous face well. It was the expression Erica wore when she devised outrageous plans that could even anger the usually calm Julien.  

She couldn’t understand why Erica was making that face now.  

Just as she was about to ask, a maid cautiously entered the reception room.  

“Madam, the Duke is looking for you.”  

“For me? Isn’t the Duke in the garden with the vassals?”  

“I’m not sure. I was just told to escort you to the main garden.”  

Sellakia had no choice but to comply, even though she was puzzled.  

“The Duke? Who’s the Duke? The Seidon family currently doesn’t have a head, do they?”

She answered Erica’s question with a suggestion to rest well in the guest room. There wasn’t enough time to explain everything.  

Sellakia asked the maid who had come to deliver the message to guide Julien and Erica to their room, then headed to the garden.

* * *

The main garden with the sea serpent statue was quite a distance from the mansion’s main gate.  

Unlike other areas full of flowers, a wide-open lawn stretched out in front of the statue, where a long rectangular table was set today.  

“Reallocate the budget to strengthen the city walls more…”  

“Rather than that, forming a security team to crack down on illegal activities in front of the exchange office would be…”  

“We can’t exclude shares in the trade with the Tria Merchant Group either…”  

The vassals were engaged in a heated debate at the table laden with plentiful finger foods and fragrant tea. It seemed that in Seidon, vassal meetings were sometimes held outdoors like this.  

It was definitely not a place where Sellakia belonged. Even setting aside her plan to quietly leave soon, Sellakia had not yet officially registered her name in the Seidon Duke’s family records, as she hadn’t received her marriage certificate yet.

Tenus, who should have been aware of this fact, had called for her, and Sellakia couldn’t understand why. She hesitated to approach them and stood a little distance away.

There might have been some misunderstanding. No matter how much she thought about it, it seemed better to quietly turn back.

Just as Sellakia decided to turn around, a strangely uplifted voice stopped her.  

“Oh? Madam has arrived.”  

The place fell silent as if cold water had been poured over it. Dozens of vassals’ eyes turned to Sellakia.  

The sudden attention made her hair stand on end. She felt so embarrassed that she wanted to crouch behind a shrub and hide.  

“…”  

Sellakia awkwardly shifted her eyes and turned to the owner of the voice that had put her in this predicament.

Amy was smirking with the corners of her mouth slightly raised.