A Barbaric Proposal Side Story 15

※The Uninvited Past※

[Liene] "Ah, the timing is perfect."

Just as she said, the Alito carriage was currently pulling up in front of the main castle. They were not late. However, Black did not feel particularly pleased. He felt there was no need to go this far just to greet them.

Black knew it was pointless to try to stall. The kind-hearted Liene disliked discriminating against others, and she was the type of person who maintained her royal decorum regardless of who her guest was. Just because the man arriving today bore the name Alito didn't mean Black needed to resort to childish tricks to interfere with the greeting.

Honesty, while Dieren was a nuisance, Black didn't feel any need to keep him in check. Ten years was a long time. It was enough time for the once-fit Dieren to develop a soft, protruding belly and flabby limbs. It even seemed like his hairline was starting to thin.

...But strangely, I have a bad feeling.

That was the problem. Black and Liene were supposed to leave for Bellisa Castle immediately after dealing with the Alito family for a short while. Why did he loathe the idea of even those few moments?

Black tilted his head in thought.

Tap.

Liene lightly tapped him to get his attention.

[Liene] "What are you thinking about? We should go and greet them."

[Black] "Mmm... I was briefly considering how much I’d rather not do that."

[Liene] "Oh? Is that so? Do you really dislike it that much?"

Her eyes widened as she searched his expression.

[Liene] "Did something happen that you haven't told me? You weren't this bothered last year."

He smiled bitterly, brushing his thumb against the corner of her eye.

[Black] "It’s a habit that surfaces whenever I think of the people from House of Alito. It’s nothing you need to worry about."

[Liene] "Honestly? It feels a bit different this time."

[Black] "It’s just my mood."

[Liene] "Mmm...?"

She pursed her lips as if she didn't quite believe him. To Black, that expression was so lovely that it managed to sweep away his foul mood.

[Black] "We can go now."

[Liene] "Very well."

Hand in hand, the two of them walked toward the spot where the Alito carriage had come to a halt.

The knights and servants were lined up in a modest display of formality. Madam Renfel, the Head Maid, was busy with other preparations, so Madam Flambard had brought Shellan and Dief to join them.

Click!

Black found himself thinking that even the sound of their carriage door opening was unpleasant.

[Dieren] "Well now, brother. It has been a long time."

Dieren stepped out of the carriage. Black spent a brief moment pondering how to translate his urge to tell Dieren never to utter such nonsense in front of him again into words suitable for the children’s ears.

It was then that another person stepped out of the carriage.

Long, black hair was the first thing to appear. Her face was small. Given her stature, she was clearly a child, yet something about her appearance and posture felt hauntingly familiar.

Whoosh!

In the next instant, Black’s body moved on its own. He knew he was faster than most, but even he was surprised by his own speed.

Before anyone could react, Black had clutched Dieren by the collar and was shoving him back toward the carriage. The others disembarking came to a stumbling halt.

[Dieren] "Wh-what is this? Have you gone mad?"

[Black] "I should be asking you that."

When Black looked at someone with genuine murderous intent, it was terrifying. For Dieren, it was an almost pathological fear. He remembered all too well the time he nearly lost a leg when Black had looked at him with those same eyes.

[Black] "Are you in your right mind, bringing such a thing into my home?"

[Dieren] "What are you talking about! What did I—"

[Black] "Leave at once. Right now."

But it was an impossible demand. The carriage had already arrived, and Liene was standing right behind him.

[Liene] "What on earth is happening?"

She was deeply startled by Black's sudden outburst.

[Liene] "What’s wrong? Did the Prince do something?"

Black couldn't bring himself to turn around and face her. He had to stop her from looking inside that carriage.

[Black] "It’s nothing. He looks as though he has a fever, so I was telling him to return. I can't let him pass a sickness to the children."

[Liene] "Oh dear. A fever?"

[Black] "I'm not certain, but it’s highly likely. Isn't that right?"

As he spoke, he tightened his grip on Dieren’s collar. Choking, Dieren’s face quickly turned a deep shade of crimson.

[Dieren] "Ugh, I... that... no, wait—"

[Black] "Go back. Go treat your illness before it gets any worse."

Black physically shoved Dieren back toward the carriage interior.

[Dieren] "Wait, no! You can't just throw me out like this!"

[Black] "I am not throwing you out; I am looking after a patient."

[Dieren] "This is absurd...! And who says I'm a patient anyway!"

[Black] "You are."

[Dieren] "Grrr, since when did I—!"

Just as Dieren was about to cling to the carriage door—a move that was significantly beneath the dignity of a Grand Ducal house—a calm voice intervened.

[Liene] "Don't do this."

It was Liene.

Black squeezed his eyes shut, his back still toward her. He wondered if his foul mood had been a premonition. On the battlefield, there were moments when his senses became so sharp that it felt like foresight. He had survived many times by relying on those instincts. This was likely one of those moments.

But he was too late. Just as he had moments of heightened perception, Liene had them as well.

[Liene] "Stop this."

[Black] "...Stop what?"

[Liene] "Trying to force him to leave."

[Black] "A fever is quite dangerous. We have the children to consider, and..."

His voice trailed off as he saw her expression. Dieren didn't know it, but to Black, it was the most frightening look in the world.

[Liene] "What are you trying to hide? To the point of lying to me?"

[Black] "...Liene."

[Liene] "When you block the door like that, it means there is something inside the carriage."

[Black] "It’s not... necessarily like that..."

[Liene] "I am starting to get angry."

[Black] "..."

That meant he could no longer persist. Black looked away and spoke in a low, quiet voice.

[Black] "Once the carriage door opens, you will understand why I had to do this. For that very reason, I don't want to open it."

If he had known this would happen, he would have learned how to make a more pitiful face to gain her sympathy.

[Black] "You won't feel good about this."

[Liene] "I know you're worried about me. But I dislike you hiding things from me for that reason. Every time you do, things always end poorly, don't they?"

[Black] "...Very well."

Finally, he released Dieren. There was no way for him to win an argument with Liene. In fact, he found it impossible to even fight with her.

Black looked at her with a gaze that was, in its own way, incredibly desperate.

[Black] "I'm asking you as a favor... please don't cancel our trip just because you're angry. I don't think I could... handle that."

He fought back the urge to say that Dieren would pay the price for this. He couldn't go around threatening people when Liene was already on the verge of losing her temper.

[Liene] "Open it."

The line of her mouth hardened.

Realizing that bringing up the trip any further would only make things worse, Black opened the carriage door.

Click!

[Liene] ""What exactly—oh."

What she faced inside the carriage was a familiar face that she almost mistook for someone else.

---

What on earth?

Dieren was known to have quite a few children born out of wedlock. Grand Duke had accepted three of them, and it was only at the beginning of last winter that a daughter named Seira had officially become a member of the Grand Ducal house.

How can they look so much alike?

Dieren’s daughter bore a terrifying resemblance to Blini Vasheyd. For a moment, Liene’s body froze as their eyes met. She almost thought that Blini, who was said to have died a few years ago, had returned to life.

After the war between Nauk and Sharka ended, the Grand Duke Alito had never looked at Blini again. Even when Blini, who had been living as a wanderer, fell ill and returned to the Grand Ducal house, she was reportedly left in neglect, confined to a deserted separate palace. She had died with only a single maidservant watching over her.

Liene recalled that news, which had reached her briefly like a passing wind.

...Right, she’s just a child. She knows nothing.

There was no reason to be this startled. The child likely didn't even know who she reminded people of.

The girl, who looked exactly like Blini, asked with frightened eyes.

[Seira] "Um... did I do something wrong?"

[Liene] "No. I was just momentarily surprised because you look very much like someone I used to know."

[Seira] "Oh, I see..."

Seira huddled her shoulders and looked around. Since she was said to be fourteen, she must have sensed that something was wrong even before stepping out of the carriage. Still, she seemed relieved by Liene’s kind response. She gripped her skirts and curtsied politely.

[Seira] "I greet the two Sovereigns of Nauk. I am Seira Alito."

Next came the turn of the two children.

[Seira] "I greet the two Royal Heirs of Nauk. I am Seira Alito."

If the two children had simply accepted the greeting normally, it would have just been a strange occurrence—a passing curiosity about how two people could look so similar. Liene would have offered a welcoming greeting to the Alito guests, exchanged pleasantries, finished the evening banquet, put the children to bed, and then boarded the carriage for Bellisa Castle with Black.

But something unexpected happened. Dief, who had been staring at Seira with his mouth agape, suddenly spoke.

[Dief] "Wow, she’s beautiful."

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