The Nerd Turned Out To Be The Tyrant - Chapter 42

“Do you see that snack shop over there? They sell toffee and candy and they say it’s really good. Especially milk candy. Let’s buy it over there next time.”

 

“Ung. Okay.”

 

“If you go down that alley, there’s a shop specializing in combs. I wondered if all the combs were the same, but did you know that the owner makes combs out of shells or animal bones? I think mom liked it a lot when she kept talking about the store, but I don’t know why she didn’t buy it. I’m going to save money and give it to her as a secret gift later. I wonder if it will be very expensive?”

 

“If it’s from you, I think your mother will like anything. Let’s go together next time.”

 

“I’d love to! Hmm, come to think of it, there’s a shop specializing in combs, but I don’t know why there’s no shop specializing in beauty products.”

 

“Beauty products?”

 

“Ung, a place that sells lotion and scented soap. Here in Rodante, only my mom’s store sells a few items, but they sell pretty well. Seeing things like that, if you open a specialty store, there will be a lot of demand. Speaking of which, if I take over the apothecary, should I try the concept of a shop-in-shop…?”

 

In Rev’s eyes, Luce, who was seriously thinking about the future, looked cute and cool.

 

He was staring at her mumbling lips, then she said something as if she were passing by.

 

“There’s no optician either. Is it because not many people wear glasses? Well, I don’t think I’ve seen anyone wear glasses except for Rev. Do people in this neighborhood have good eyesight? Selling lenses or something else would make a good business. It’s also good for recreation.”

 

“Lens?”

 

Rev asked back because there was something he didn’t understand in Luce’s words.

 

She looked perplexed for a moment. Rev was also a little embarrassed by her reaction.

 

‘It’s a household item that people use often, but am I not aware of it?’

 

Luce cleared her throat and spoke in the most convincing way she could.

 

“Ah… ha. Hmm. I sometimes thought about this when I looked at you, but don’t you feel uncomfortable when you walk into a hot room, your glasses fog up, or raindrops get on your glasses? So I’m going to make these glasses small and put them in your eyes… Oh, does it sound kind of gross? Anyway, it would be nice to be able to put it in your eyes.

 

“Ung.”

 

“If you put pigment in the middle of the glass and put it in, you can change the color of your eyes… something like that.”

 

‘He didn’t know when I said lenses, but when I said glasses, why does it sound so grotesque?’

 

Dumbfounded, Luce quickly looked back to see if she had made another mistake. Fortunately,  he didn’t seem to say anything else.

 

“I was just imagining it.”

 

They say that if liberal arts students dream, natural sciences come true. Is that an outrageous thought?

 

Luce climbed onto the carriage as soon as it arrived and was perplexed when she suddenly saw Rev’s bright face.

 

“Why are you laughing, Rev?”

 

“I think Luce always solves my problems.”

 

“…Uhm?”

 

What did I do?

 

In the middle of all the talking, Luce thought about what the hell she had done to solve his problem, and Rev started to draw a structure diagram of the thing he was about to make in his head.

 

*****

 

“Yes?”

 

Clank, clank!

 

A long, odd sound came from the direction of the Duke’s dinner table.

 

“You said I was a candidate for the Prince’s wife?”

 

“…Yes, Alois.”

 

“I don’t want to.”

 

The big scarlet eyes quickly filled with tears.

 

“I don’t want to, mother.”

 

“It’s not a position you can refuse just because you don’t like it.”

 

“I don’t want to. I don’t want to go to the palace. Do you think I don’t know that all the nobles who had a little conflict with the Emperor have died mysteriously?”

 

“Alois! What a careless word! You are Ximel. You, as the Princess of the Duchy, are talking about rumors!”

 

“Even mother knows. So as soon as you saw the letter from the Imperial Palace, you made a sad face! I, I can’t go. No, I’m not going. I’ll never go!”

 

Alois ran out.

 

The atmosphere at the banquet hall suddenly subsided. The Duke of Ximel, who had been holding his forehead for a while, silently gave an order to the maids.

 

The Duke’s husband, who had a sadder expression than his daughter Alois, approached cautiously.

 

“Wife.”

 

“Yes, I know.”

 

“Does it really have to be our Alois? Is there no other way?”

 

“You know, we just have to obey on the surface, no matter how we feel on the inside.”

 

“Wife!”

 

“I’ll send them a reply.”

 

“Wife, please….”

 

Even the husband’s pleas didn’t break the Duke’s heart.

 

The Duke raised her chin.

 

“Alois doesn’t seem to hear my comforting words. Would you like to go to Alois?”

 

The Duke’s husband, who had only moved his lips at the Duke’s words, quickly nodded with a painful expression.

 

After looking back at the Duke, who had been left alone several times, he took a steady step and headed for his daughter’s room.

 

A mournful cry came over the thick wall.

 

“Alois.”

 

“There’s only one news I want to hear, Father. If that’s not the case, don’t come.”

 

“I feel the same way, so will you let me wait together?”

 

The crying stopped for a moment, and then it got closer. The door is open.

 

After stroking Alois’s messy hair, her father put her on the bed.

 

People will say.

 

If Alois, the only daughter of the ducal family whom they cherished and nurtured without showing it to people, was to be betrothed to the Imperial family, nothing could be better for Ximel. How is it something they didn’t want? 

 

Some will be upset that they finally got a chance after living flat on their stomachs to the Emperor, while others will be envious of how good a couple they would be if she married the lovely Prince Delmar.

 

But these are just the words of people who don’t know what’s happening inside the Imperial family.

 

“Alois, my daughter. I know how you feel.”

 

It is not a big problem for the daughter, who has been raised well for 15 years, to marry Prince Delmar.

 

“But…”

 

It is a problem that a daughter who has been raised beautifully for 15 years will marry the Emperor’s son.

 

“How can we, who live in the Empire’s night, reject the Emperor’s order?”

 

The Imperial sun.

 

The Emperor was once called that.

 

Although not as much as Duke Ximel, the Duke’s husband also visited the Imperial palace frequently.

 

The Emperor he met on the way was a person who deserved the title of Emperor.

 

Strict, cruel, clever, merciless, but principled.

 

At least there were principles. It was until seven years ago.

 

“I’m scared, father.”

 

However, now that the principle has disappeared, he has nothing to hold on to.

 

A southern Marquis joked about how they only have night now that the sun is gone.

 

Even Duke Ximel’s husband could laugh at the joke until he heard that he had died in an unknown fire not long ago.

 

“I don’t want to go. I really don’t want to go. Hik, hiiks…”

 

With as much reason as possible, the Duke’s husband comforted his daughter.

 

“For now, it hasn’t been confirmed yet, so don’t cry. You’re just a candidate. There’s still time until His Majesty’s summons. Until then, let’s do something about it. Hmm?”

 

“If you mean time to starve myself until I’m just skin and bones or scar my face, that’s enough.”

 

“Don’t say that.”

 

Alois shouted with sad eyes.

 

“Is there any other countermeasures? Both father and mother keep saying that you can’t refuse the Emperor’s order. Then I have to do what I can! Isn’t this the easiest and fastest way?”

 

“How do you think the people of the imperial family will judge when they hear that the face of the princess, who was perfectly fine until recently, got scars as soon as the convocation order was issued?”

 

“Are you saying that I should just leave my fate to luck?”

 

“Alois, this father begs you. Don’t think so negatively….”

 

“I know what father is saying. But… not today. I want to be alone.”

 

A sense of shame poured into the Duke’s husband when he saw his daughter’s back turned away.

 

The Duke’s husband, who had patted her on the back a few times as if he was silently criticizing his incompetence, slowly stood up.

 

It was just before closing.

 

“…If it was the other Prince, I’d rather live with him as if we were dead. Wouldn’t that be better?”

 

What does it mean to be another Prince? He doesn’t know what it means.

 

Is the young daughter dreaming of another Prince in a fairy tale?

 

Returning to the dining room, the Duke’s husband saw the Duke in the top seat.

 

Duke Ximel was still sitting motionless.

 

“Even my comfort didn’t help much.”

 

Laughing bitterly, the Duke’s husband washed her face dry.

 

“It would have been helpful.”

 

“I wish there was something to relieve my child’s depressed mood.”

 

Even though the Duke’s words sounded cold, she was only reading letters from the imperial family.

 

The Duke is thinking.

 

She was thinking “in another way” that worked, which is different from him, who could only comfort her.

 

The Duke’s husband, who stood by her side without a word and arranged the letter instead, raised his head at the Duke’s low voice.

 

“The procedure for choosing a princess is too rushed. The usual preparation period for women participating in the election is two months, but the Empress Consort gave half of that, one month. Moreover, unlike before, when we could have refused even formally, now we couldn’t. “

 

“…That’s right. Most of the time, it takes a year from the time the selection is made public until the engagement is made. But not this time… Is there a reason they have to make the selection quickly?”

 

The Duke, who nodded, continued.

 

“The problem is that the Emperor allowed this selection process. Despite Prince Delmar’s young age. We don’t know what forces, including Empress Consort Diana, will gather if a Princess is elected and Prince Delmar is promoted to Crown Prince.”

 

“Then…”

 

“There are two possibilities. Either the Emperor is willing to step down and give the throne to Prince Delmar.”

 

The Duke’s husband bit his lips because he knew the first possibility led to “0.”

 

“Or he is waiting for the Empress Consort to make a mistake while she is rushing through the princess selection.”

 

The chances are much higher on this side. The breathtaking words distorted the face of the Duke’s husband.

 

Of course, the damage from that mistake will also be suffered by the princess. He wanted to scream in agony.

 

What drew the attention of the Duke’s husband was the way the Duke spoke, as if she were spitting out each word.

 

“I will not allow Alois to become Delmar’s wife.”

 

“Wife, but how…?”

 

“First of all, we need to meet with the Empress Consort for an urgent interview. We need to know why she is in such a hurry to do this. Then, call for the head of group merchant Brut. It’s a place that supplies wine from Ximel’s estate throughout the capital, so we’ll be able to gather more information than a few spies we’ve planted in the capital. Tell them to report as soon as possible if they detect a strange situation.”

 

The reason why Duke Ximel survived the bloody purge was not because she was weak or obedient.

 

This is because she is quick to judge the situation.

 

The Duke’s husband, who was nodding his head in awe without a word, tilted his head at the words that didn’t continue further.

 

“And?”

 

“That’s all you have to do to help me, husband. The rest is my job.”

 

“But… I want to help.”

 

“I can’t do anything to improve Alois’ mood, so I’d like you to do it for me. That’s the best thing you can do to help me.”

 

The husband laughed as if he couldn’t help it at the friendly rejection and stopped while organizing the letter habitually.

 

“Invitation letter from Rodante’s estate?”

 

It’s a Baron territory not too far from here.

 

If they use a carriage equipped with magic tools that were invented not long ago, they can go there in one day.

 

He had heard that when Ximel’s officials got tired of the hustle and bustle of city life, they would sometimes spend their vacations in these quiet places.

 

Will Alois feel a little better if she listens to music while looking at nature?

 

He glanced at the Duke, and she nodded. It meant that it would be okay for him to leave.

 

The Duke, watching her husband’s back as he left with the invitation, gestured.

 

One of the servants came running fast.

 

“Until this afternoon… Yes. Yes, I understand. I will try to find it quickly.”

 

The servant, who had become pale at the Duke’s command, soon bowed his head deeply and disappeared.

 

A shadow fell on the face of the Duke who was left alone.