Otome Game Mob Villain

Chapter 514

On the way back in the carriage from the Imperial Castle to the Bardia mansion, there was a heavy atmosphere in the carriage.

Father crossed his arms, meditated, and kept a grim expression on his face.

It was probably due to a series of unexpected events that had taken place in the audience chamber.

"May I have a word with you?"

When I called out to him, he slowly opened his eyes.

"What is it?"

'It's a little late for this, but are you sure you are okay with Mel's engagement? If father had been serious about it, I think His Majesty and the others would have given up on it."

This was an honest feeling.

When the matter was suddenly brought up in the audience room, if Father was serious about it, he could have refused.

Of course, if he refused, he would have disgraced His Majesty and the Bardia family, and there is a high possibility that his position would have worsened.

Realistically, it would be difficult, but I wanted to ask what Father was thinking at that moment.

"Not good.”

I muttered, and Father shook his head.

'But Irwin is right, Bardia has gained influence within the empire. In the future, there will be various people who will target Mel. But she was engaged to a member of the royal family, even if only temporarily. This should deter any other horse's-bone from approaching Mel. People will be staring at us with envy, though."

It seems that even Father was concerned about Mel's future because of Bardia's expanding presence both at home and abroad.

It was a sudden turn of events in the audience hall, but I think that after weighing the various possibilities, Father approved of Mel and Kiel's engagement.

"I see. So now it remains to be seen whether or not Mother and Mel will agree to this matter."

"I'll have to explain that in detail. But, Rid, you are not a stranger to this."

"What do you mean?"

When I tilted my head and asked him, he leaned forward and relaxed his mouth.

"The engagement to Kiel will come as a surprise to those who have been targeting Mel in order to get close to Bardia. If this happens, it is obvious that the focus will be back on you. You may receive many letters asking for your relationship again."

"Oh, no, not again."

In the past, I have received offers of marriage from many different daughters, and it comes back to my mind.

That time, I replied with a letter describing my love affair with Farah and got her to give up.

I remember that I wrote it in earnest with the help of Capella and Carlo, the butler at the Bardia mansion, who wrote on my behalf.

"I'm sorry about that one.”

Shaking his head, Father laughed pleasantly.

◇

After returning from the imperial castle, Father contacted Garun of Bardia through Silvia, who could handle communication magic, about what had happened in the audience chamber.

Through him, he told Mother what had happened.

By the way, the current main house is undergoing repairs to the parts that were damaged during the meeting with Amon, so the new house is where everyone, including Mother, stays.

Soon after Father contacted Mother, she called back through Salvia in Bardia and asked for more details, and they talked until late at night.

The next day, father and Salvia had dark circles in their eyes, so I guess it was understandable.

On the other hand, I received letters from various noblemen to me again, just as my father had foretold.

To summarize the contents, they were asking me to become friends with their daughters and befriend them.

This time, none of the letters were in the young lady's handwriting, but all of them were in the handwriting of the parents.

Apparently, “Operation Love Letter” had a good effect.

I would have refused the letter no matter what, but while I was replying to the letter, I noticed something.

'Oh, that. The ladies introduced in this letter are all much older than I am."

As I tilted my head, Carlo, who was helping me with the reply, narrowed his eyes and smiled.

'Perhaps, but the last letter made it clear that it would be difficult to find a daughter who is close in age to Master Rid. And then there are Chris and Sandra around Master Rid. I think they may have thought that there is still a possibility for an 'older' lady.

"Yes, he does not give up very well. I have already stated in my last reply that I am not interested in anyone other than Fara."

"I guess it means that Master Rid is not an easy person to give up for the nobility."

After hearing Carlo's explanation, I plopped down on the desk with a drooping head.

I refuse everything.

Words are one word, but when it comes to writing a letter to the recipient, the burden is not as ridiculous as you might think.

I might get tendinitis one of these days.

There are no 'personal computers' in this world, so letters basically have to be written in person.

Depending on the recipient and the content, it is possible to ask Carlo or Capella to write for me.

I am still only a “legitimate son,” so my replies to my superior must basically be in my own handwriting so as not to be rude to them.

I heard that it is very important for most of the butlers working for the nobility to be able to copy the handwriting of the head of the family.

"I must think of a way to improve this kind of handwriting work. I will discuss this with Ellen and Alex when I return to Bardia."

"Improvement? I look forward to seeing it come to life.”

'Yes, you can count on it. Come on, we've got a visitor at noon, so let's get the rest of this over with."

"Thank you."

With a nod from Carlo, I hurried to finish my reply.

◇

After finishing the reply work in the morning, Chris, a representative of the Christie Trading Company, arrived at the Bardia residence after lunch.

I took her into the reception room and explained to her about the events at the Imperial Castle.

For Bardia, the Christie Trading Company is now an indispensable member, and it is necessary to share as much information as possible with her.

Of course, I had permission from my father in advance.

"....... Although it has not yet been announced publicly, it is almost certain that Mel and His Highness Kiel will be engaged to be married provisionally. I will be going to the Foxmen's territory as soon as I return to Bardia."

"That must have been hard for you."

"Yes, that's right. I think I now understand what Chris meant when you wrote in the letter he gave me earlier that 'His Majesty Matilda is in trouble.'”

Crawling my shoulders, Chris erupted and burst into laughter.

"Matilda is a person who thinks in many different ways behind her smile. It is only a rumor, but there is even a story that she is the empress who controls all the intelligence services of the empire and manipulates His Majesty Irwin behind the scenes."

"I didn't know there were rumors like that. But they say that where there is no fire there is no smoke, so it might be true."

It would be more of a problem for a nation as large as the empire not to have an intelligence agency.

Excessive control of information is a problem, but gathering information at home and abroad to keep the peace is necessary to protect the security of the nation.

In fact, if there had been more information about the situation of the Fox people, Gareth, Elba, and others in advance, the “Battle of Fortress Narrows” might have ended more favorably for Bardia.

Information is such an important thing.

Well, when I asked Matilda herself about it as a joke, she laughed and said, “Oh, that's a good rumor."

'It's just like Her Majesty Matilda, huh?"

The two of us were laughing together, and I was reminded of a certain exchange I had had with His Majesty Matilda, and it made me realize.

"Oh, I forgot. Chris, you once suggested that we paint a portrait of the Bardia family. Wasn't that under the direction of Her Majesty Matilda?"

"Umm, about that .......”

Chris put on a cliched face and began to talk about that situation.