Chapter 56

“Well then, let me introduce myself properly once more, Miss Sollier. I am Isaac Hunt. I’m the fourth son of the now-vanished Hunt Earldom.”

Clarette was startled by this introduction, which felt entirely different from yesterday.

“So, Mr. Hunt, you were a noble?”

“Yes, in the past tense.”

“Only children of noble families could enter the military academy.”

Lionel added in explanation, and Isaac nodded.

“Right. So I barely made it in, you could say. By the time I graduated, ta-da. The family was ruined and gone. Luckily, I had good grades and was commissioned as an officer.”

“That must have been… quite a shock.”

“I’d expected it to some degree, so it was alright. My family had been declining since my grandfather’s days. Gambling is a scary thing.”

Isaac clicked his tongue as if talking about someone else. After hesitating, Clarette asked carefully,

“Then, Mr. Hunt, what do you do now? After leaving the military…”

“I’m in trade. I use Tivenny as my home port and travel around the area. I haven’t been at it long, so it’s a tiny operation, but I get by.”

Hearing Isaac’s explanation, Clarette thought she understood why the Duke had come to him. The Duke must want his friend to handle trade by ship.

‘But if the ship only travels within the Empire, it might not help the Duke much…’

As far as Clarette knew, the Duke had already made various contracts with pigment artisans inside the Empire. The Valentin Duchy was inland, and all the pigment sources were connected by rail and other land routes.

‘Does the Duke really need a ship now? He hasn’t even made proper paint yet, and he’s already thinking about exporting?’

Wouldn’t it be overreaching to start so big? If things went wrong from pushing too hard, it could be a disaster. Clarette worried about various things as she glanced at the Duke.

But Lionel, unaware of her thoughts, was laughing and chatting with Isaac.

“Take me to the dock later and show me your ship, Isaac. I’ve only heard about it, never seen it myself.”

“Of course! That’s my entire fortune, even my officer’s pension went into it.”

“Yeah, you’ve always gone all-in with your bets. You probably threw everything in without thinking of the consequences.”

“Of course. But Lionel, who do you think I learned the all-in strategy from?”

Are these men really fit to run a business? Watching the two happily crack lobster shells, Clarette’s worries deepened.

Just then, Isaac noticed her silence and spoke as if something had occurred to him.

“Oh, right. Miss Sollier, why do you always call Lionel ‘Duke’?”

“Hm?”

“With his personality, I don’t think he’d care what you call him. Or is that not true anymore?”

Isaac tilted his head, and Lionel smiled faintly.

“It’s different with you and Clarette, Isaac. Clarette met me after I got my title, so she’s always called me ‘Duke.’ She’s more used to it.

“Yes, that’s right. I’ve never called the Duke by his name, not once. How could I dare?”

As Clarette agreed, Isaac looked at the two with curiosity.

“So, you haven’t known each other very long? If you don’t start with first names, it’s hard to change later.”

Lionel glanced at Clarette beside him, surprised by the idea. When their eyes met, she awkwardly looked away toward her plate.

It seemed impossible to ask her to call him by name.

“I’m fine with things as they are. I’m used to it now.”

Lionel answered nonchalantly, and Clarette nodded.

“Of course. The Duke is the Duke.”

With that, the issue of titles was settled. But while the men moved on to other topics, Clarette kept thinking about one thing.

In truth, she wanted to try calling him by name.

‘Lionel.’

Even just saying his name in her mind made her feel shy. Without the ‘Duke’ title, he suddenly felt much closer.

‘It’s better to keep calling him Duke. Lionel is just…’

She thought she’d blush if she kept thinking about it, so she quickly pulled herself together. The two men were talking about people still in the military.

Clarette wondered what the Duke had been like as a captain, then suddenly realized something odd and asked,

“But, Mr. Hunt, you’re Captain Hunt, so why is the Duke called Captain Lionel, not Captain Valentin?”

It was a strange thing she’d just noticed. Out of pure curiosity, Clarette looked at the two men.

But when Isaac heard her question, his expression hardened a bit as he glanced at the Duke.

“Uh, well…”

His face seemed to say, ‘Should I even explain this?’

Lionel kept his eyes down, silent. Realizing the atmosphere had changed, Clarette hurried to smooth things over.

“Oh, I’m sorry. The Duke isn’t a captain anymore, so I shouldn’t have asked.”

“Clarette, you don’t have to…”

“No, Duke. Don’t worry. I’ll go ask for the bill.”

Lionel’s expression, as he tried to stop her, was subtly shadowed. She quickly got up and left the table first.

Between the two men left behind, Isaac spoke first.

“Lionel, don’t tell me. Does Miss Sollier not know anything?”

“About what?”

“What else? That thing between you and the Valentin family… Never mind. D*mn, I shouldn’t have brought up the military.”

Isaac clicked his tongue in regret. Lionel finally smiled faintly and stood up.

“It’s fine, Isaac. It’s my fault. I should have just told her honestly, but I couldn’t bring myself to.”

He gestured to Isaac, who was sitting awkwardly.

“Let’s go. I’ll handle that, just act normal.”

* * *

Isaac’s trading ship was docked not far from the restaurant. Passing by countless ships filling the harbor, they finally stopped in front of a gleaming white steamship.

“Look, Lionel! This is my ship!”

The ship Isaac proudly introduced was about half the size of the large passenger ship Clarette and Lionel had taken from Genoa. For a trading vessel, it was fairly modest.

“How is it? Impressive, right? I sold my house and everything just to afford it. It’s the latest model steamship!”

Lionel smiled as he looked up at the shining bow in the bright sunlight.

“It certainly looks clean and impressive. But Isaac, you sold your house? Where do you live now?”

Clarette guessed Isaac must be renting somewhere in Tivenny. But Isaac grinned and pointed to his ship.

“This ship is my house!”

“What? Why?”

“What do you think? I didn’t have enough money for both, so I had no choice. In the end, this is both my workplace and my home.”

Clarette found Isaac’s extreme choice a bit ridiculous. But the Duke didn’t scold his friend, instead laughing as if he found it amusing.

“Well, as long as you’re happy, that’s all that matters. But, is someone up there? Is that your crew?”

“Oh, right. I was going to introduce you. Fiona!”

When Isaac called out loudly, a person wandering the deck came over to the railing and looked down at them.

She was a cute young woman. With short brown hair, she smiled brightly at the three.

“Fiona, come down and say hello.”

At Isaac’s shout, the woman quickly came down the gangway on the side of the ship. The moment Clarette and Lionel saw her fully emerge, their eyes widened in surprise.

“Hey, Isaac. That woman…”

“Ah, right. Sorry for the late introduction. She’s my woman.”

“No, more importantly… isn’t she pregnant?”

Lionel muttered in disbelief, and Isaac laughed heartily.

“That’s right, she’s carrying my child! The baby will be born before summer’s over. I’ll be a father before you, Captain Lionel.”

Fiona gently supported her round belly as she stepped carefully onto the dock. She smiled radiantly at the Duke and Clarette, and Isaac said,

“Oh, by the way. Fiona can’t speak. But she’s genuinely happy to meet you, right?”

Fiona nodded shyly, clearly happy. When Clarette smiled at her, the Duke spoke to Isaac in a slightly disappointed voice.

“No matter how far away you are, you should have invited me to the wedding. When did you get married?”

“Not yet. We’re waiting to get married until I buy a house. Fiona wants it that way.”

“You said you sold your house to buy the ship, right? So you met her after that?”

“That’s right. So now I have to make enough with this ship to buy a house! A home for the three of us to live happily together.”

The way Isaac and Fiona looked at each other was filled with love and trust. Clarette thought they looked wonderful, but also worried about Fiona having a hard time while pregnant.

And perhaps sharing her thoughts, the Duke quietly spoke.

“Isaac. Get married soon.”

“I want to, especially with the baby coming. But to get a house…”

“You can do it within half a year.”

Lionel spoke firmly, looking up at Isaac’s gleaming ship.

“If you go into business with me.”