The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 70
Estelle, who came fully dressed up, had a charm that drew the attention of others.
Her overwhelming grace made Beryl, who came with her, look like a maid.
Even Erina had to open her eyes wide at her presence.
“Who on earth is that? Was there such a noble lady?”
“There wasn’t. Definitely not. If there was, how could we not remember!”
Still, as there were also Rainpol’s cadets here, her identity was quickly revealed.
“M-Miss Diante! It’s been a while!”
Bannings waved awkwardly. Estelle, thinking this was a good opportunity, asked her. “Nice to see you. I’m sorry, but do you know where Sir Ars is?”
“Ars is over there.”
“Thank you.” Having spotted me, Estelle quickly approached with small steps. “Sir Ars! I’m so glad you’re safe. You don’t know how worried I was.”
“Geez. Why did you come all the way here?”
“How can you say such disappointing things…! Of course I had to come!” Estelle, who settled in with Beryl, seemed to find my appearance in a combat uniform fascinating, her eyes shining. “It’s different from the cadet uniform you usually wear. It feels somewhat… Rugged.”
“That’s because it’s designed for actual combat. You’re quite flashy yourself. Didn’t you say you dislike such dresses usually?”
“Yes… I still don’t like it much. But considering the face of the person I’m with, I made an effort to wear it.”
“Rutger… No, your father managed to allow it. Did he come with you?”
“Yes, father is waiting outside.”
“Then we should finish the visit quickly. We can’t keep him waiting for long.”
However, Estelle shook her head firmly. “I told father in advance that it might take until late at night.”
“Late at night…? Visiting hours are only until sunset.”
“That’s just a saying. So don’t worry about father. More importantly, tell me about you, Sir Ars.” Estelle led the conversation, asking about stories from the battlefield. “You went to the rear because you hurt your leg! Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. It healed completely after treatment.”
“Still… May I take a look?” Estelle stood up and tried to look at my wound, but I managed to dissuade her somehow. It wasn’t really an injury after all.
“I see…” Estelle’s expression clouded with disappointment. Then, plop, she sat down next to me instead of returning to her seat.
Then she sips her tea to hide her awkwardness.
At this moment, Beryl suddenly remembered and said to my mother. “Come to think of it, aunt. Have you met uncle yet?”
“Well, not yet.”
“Then shall we go together? Father will be here soon too.”
“My brother? Hmm, alright. Let’s do that. Ars, Estelle. Is it okay if I leave for a moment?”
I tried to signal with my eyes that it wasn’t okay, but it seems the message didn’t get through.
Left alone with Estelle, an awkward silence fell, but it didn’t last long.
She seized the moment and started talking. “Um… What do you think about Wade, Ars?”
“Why are you suddenly asking about that?”
“J-Just because. You were also under Wade’s command in this war, right?”
“I didn’t receive direct commands from him.”
It wasn’t a lie. I couldn’t receive commands from myself after all.
“But you’re under his command now, aren’t you?”
“Strictly speaking, that’s true, but…”
“How is it?”
“I don’t have any particular thoughts about it?”
Estelle pouted as if she didn’t get the answer she wanted, then went straight to the point. “Have you ever thought about working under Wade?”
“Under Wade? Haha, I’ve never thought about that.”
Me working under Wade. Well, it’s not impossible if I use a stand-in, but I have no such thoughts right now.
“What if Wade offered you to join his subordinates?”
“That won’t happen, but even if it did, I would refuse.”
“Why! He’s such an amazing person that people say he might enter the Ten Heroes? Is it because you don’t like how he shows off? Or is it because you don’t like how he childishly wears a helmet? Ah, maybe it’s both. Anyone would find it unsightly to see someone showing off while wearing a helmet. Of course, that’s something only kids would do, but I’m sure there’s a good reason why he’s hiding his face.”
“Cough!?” I choked on the unexpected attack.
“Y-Yes. I don’t like that… Attitude of his that seems to show off.”
When I forcibly agreed, Estelle spoke excitedly. “That’s exactly right. Sometimes you might want to give him a smack, but still, he has the ability to back it up. Oh my, what’s wrong? You don’t look well.”
“It’s nothing…”
I felt dizzy for a moment from the mental impact.
‘Was I really showing off that much?’
Thinking about it now, I always took a high-handed attitude in front of Estelle. Not just in front of Estelle, but when I was Wade, I acted as if I was older, so my attitude towards people was completely different from when I was Ars.
“So please reconsider about Wade. With your abilities, Sir Ars, you never know when you might get a recruitment offer from Wade.” While Estelle was trying to instill a favorable impression of Wade in me,
Unwelcome guests approached.
* * *
Two men with neat slicked-back hair.
“May we join you? Elaine.”
“It seems like a nice atmosphere, let’s chat together.”
They appeared to be cadets from the Saleon faction. The two sent heated gazes towards Estelle as they requested to join. Estelle frowned but gave a silent nod of approval.
It would be against etiquette to refuse joining without a good reason in this kind of setting.
As the son of a weak baronial family, it’s even harder for me to refuse. Estelle had taken that into account.
“I’ll refuse.”
Nevertheless, I had no desire whatsoever to talk with these guys.
“What did you say?”
Their expressions crumpled.
“Did you mishear? I said I refuse. I want to talk with just the two of us.”
“You… Do you not know who we are?”
“I don’t. Do you not know who I am?”
“What?”
“I’m a mid-ranking officer. Your superior.”
“You got promoted by sheer luck and you’re flaunting that kind of rank? Besides, you didn’t even participate in the last battle, did you? You ran to the rear out of fear, and now you’re waving around a meaningless rank!”
“I don’t care what you think. But that’s clearly not the attitude to take with a superior. Should I call another superior to make you come to your senses?”
“Grrr!”
I thought they’d back down by this point, but the guy was filled with hostility. It seems he wanted to show as strong an image as possible to win Estelle’s favor.
I was about to deal with this more forcefully if they persisted, but someone else intervened first.
“You worthless bastard! If we tell our father about you…”
“Shut that mouth! You’re about to dirty this place!”
“Ugh, M-Miss Erina!?”
Erina, who approached with Dorofei, glared at the guys with fierce eyes.
“How shameful to try to use your family’s authority for something like this!”
“B-But he started it first…”
“You’re disgusting to look at. Disappear from my sight this instant.”
“But…”
“I won’t say it twice.”
“Y-Yes, ma’am!”
The two scurried away.
‘As expected of a high noble.’
You could say the aura surrounding her was different.
After resolving the situation, Erina lifted her skirt slightly and gave a polite greeting. “I sincerely apologize for the rudeness of our people. In that sense, would it be alright if we joined you for a moment?”
“In that sense? What sense do you mean?” Estelle responded in my place.
Erina’s eyes twitched.
“To convey our words of apology.”
“Then leave me alone. That’s the most touching apology.” While Estelle’s words were logical, refusing to apologize would completely ruin my image.
Unlike earlier when those guys’ intentions were obvious, making my rudeness understandable to others, this situation was different.
“Sir Ars?” Erina looks at me, not Estelle. I nodded.
“Let’s sit down.”
“Yes, of course.” Erina sat down at my suggestion and glared at Estelle for a moment.
Estelle met her gaze with deep eyes, not backing down.
Shivering from that look, Erina speaks softly as if remembering something.
“Have we met before?”
“Yes, we have.”
“When was it? I wouldn’t forget meeting someone like you…”
“We met in Grancel. Your memory seems worse than I thought if you’ve forgotten that.”
“In Grancel… Wait. Could you be that terribly ill young lady from back then?”
“That’s right.”
“But how did your appearance…”
“I recovered from the illness.”
“Just from that…!?”
Erina trembles.
Dorofei, sitting next to her, nods in understanding. “I see. So you were Estelle. Ah, is it okay if I speak casually?”
“Are you Sir Ars’ classmate? Of course it’s fine. About me…?”
“I heard from Bannings. He said there was an extraordinary girl in Rainpol.” Dorofei speaks excitedly. It seems he’s trying to act cheerful, perhaps to shake off his father’s death.
“Bannings said you were Ars’ lover. Is that true?”
“You could say that.”
“Wow. So it’s really true.”
Erina hurriedly interrupts. “Lover? You jest well. Sir Ars, it’s a joke, right? It’s definitely a joke, right?”
“For some reason, my classmates think that. Of course, we’re not actually dating.”
“Phew! I thought so. I’ll have to thoroughly correct that part later.”
Estelle narrows her eyes, looking displeased. “What’s that about? Why should you?”
“Well, it’s not good to let unfounded rumors spread.”
“But why? Why are you, who has nothing to do with this, trying to get involved?”
“That’s because…” Erina bites her lip hard. “Sir Ars is my benefactor.”
“Benefactor…?”
“You might not know, but Sir Ars and I have a very deep relationship. He came to our mansion for butler training before.”
“Butler training!?”
“He saved my life then. It’s natural to want to stop bad rumors about your benefactor. So I’m not unrelated. Do you understand?”
“Kuk!”
I wondered if anyone was eavesdropping, but since this meeting was outdoors, it seemed no one else heard due to other noises.
“More importantly, Miss Estelle. Aren’t you sitting too close? I don’t think it’s appropriate for people who aren’t lovers to be like that. It’s because of your attitude that such ridiculous rumors are spreading.”
“You don’t understand. Sir Ars is injured in his leg. I’m close so as to support him.”
“Injured? Is that true?”
“You don’t seem to care. Sir Ars was in the rear due to an injury that made him leave the battlefield.”
“Sir Ars left the battlefield for the rear? That can’t be… Ah.”
Erina raises the corners of her mouth as if understanding the situation.
“It seems Miss Estelle doesn’t know much about Sir Ars. Well, that secret isn’t something easily shared with just anyone.”
“What secret are you talking about?”
“Oh my, I’ve misspoken. It’s nothing. Please forget about it.”
“Tell me now.”
“I’m sorry. I can’t say it myself.”
“Kuk!” Estelle turned her gaze to me, but I couldn’t reveal Wade’s identity here either.
With this one move, the momentum completely shifted to Erina. Estelle could only stomp her feet, wanting to know about that secret.
As the two engaged in a battle of nerves, Dorofei whispered to me, swallowing hard, “Ars, I think you need to do something about this.”
“Yeah.”
My indecisive attitude towards relationships had led to this situation. If I had visited my birth mother’s grave earlier, it wouldn’t have come to this.
Although I wanted to resolve the situation I had created, seeing the two growling at each other, I was at a loss for how to solve it.
‘I need to reach a conclusion somehow.’
If I drag this on, I might end up stabbed, as sister Julia said.
As I was thinking this, my mother and Beryl returned from their visit.
My mother saw Erina sitting with us, opened her eyes wide, then smiled as if understanding the situation and said, “Miss Erina. If it’s about that, I want to apologize.”
“Wh-what do you mean by that? What are you talking about…?”
“About Ars.”
“Ugh.”
Erina hides her flushed face with a fan.
“And Estelle, I’m sorry for not telling you in advance.”
“Sorry for what?”
Then my mother brought up something I had never heard before.
“I’m afraid this child’s first partner has already been decided.”
The premonition of a new storm. Only now did I realize that this matter was more complicated than I had thought.
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