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Chapter 10
“My younger sister received some careless words from your son.”
Only then did Sir Delat finally raise his head.
‘Ah.’
That’s when I realized.
Sir Delat was the sort of man who bowed to the strong and bullied the weak.
He cowered before Leto, but the moment Noah opened his mouth, he suddenly tried to put weight in his gaze.
“This matter…”
Sir Delat spoke with a tone laced with faint irritation.
“…I apologize.”
But his face looked anything but apologetic.
“Yes.”
So Noah answered with the same crooked tone.
At that, Leto quickly pressed his knuckles to his lips to hide his reaction. For Sir Delat’s face, flushed red at Noah’s reply, looked like that of a baby pig.
“It doesn’t look like you have any real intention of apologizing, so I won’t expect one.”
Noah had no desire to blow the matter out of proportion.
Instead, he added one condition.
“See to it that your son does not associate with my sister. And make sure he doesn’t trouble other classmates either.”
Otherwise, Noah warned, he would appeal directly to the school’s chairman.
“Understood.”
Sir Delat answered obediently.
But Noah found it hard to take his words at face value.
That damned nobleman was still busy glancing at Leto for approval, paying no attention to the warning given by Noah, who was the actual guardian.
“…”
Irritation surged up in Noah, but with a short sigh, she rose to her feet.
If she pressed the issue any further here…
“…”
There was no telling what might happen to the boy, who was already shrinking back under the shadow of his father’s watchful eye.
“About that kid.”
Once outside, Leto first checked on his beloved car, which he had parked haphazardly by the training grounds.
It was such a famous magi-powered vehicle that footprints covered the ground all around it.
“I wonder if he’ll be alright.”
“Are you worried about him being scolded by his father?”
“Something like that.”
Leto gave a faint chuckle, looking at the small handprints smeared across the red body of his car. It seemed some curious children had been unable to resist touching it.
“That little one had quite the foul mouth.”
At those words, Noah frowned.
“Where do you think he picked that up from.”
Turning back, Leto’s eyes curved in a smile.
“That’s why you chose not to press the issue further.”
“It’s best not to have dealings with that sort of person.”
Noah admitted readily.
Still, she hadn’t thought Leto had considered all of that.
But that was one of his strange qualities—pretending not to care about anyone’s circumstances, and then, unexpectedly, showing consideration at the oddest times.
‘Though the problem is, most people never interpret it as kindness.’
Noah couldn’t shake the thought that he was a terribly clumsy man.
“…As for Sir Delat.”
But she was no less clumsy herself.
“It didn’t seem like he was at headquarters.”
Instead of thanking Leto for his help, she raised her suspicions about Sir Delat.
“It was odd that the lawyer arrived first, but what’s stranger is how quickly he himself showed up after being contacted.”
“Faster than we made it here from headquarters, in fact.”
Leto, too, had already noticed something fishy.
The faint curl of his lips carried a sinister glint.
“I wonder what our capital’s stingy knight was up to, sneaking away from his post like that…”
He muttered like a demon king preparing some malicious prank.
Seeing that twisted nature of his, Noah thought he was only ever reliable when he happened to be on her side.
“You’ll be busy, Captain.”
“It’s my duty. Complaining about being busy would be—”
“And you still need to prepare the wedding, gather the trousseau, all of that.”
“…”
Since when did wedding preparations qualify as official leave?
The way Leto muttered it to himself felt far more serious than his earlier suspicion of Sir Delat.
Noah found her situation—having to discuss life’s greatest duty with such a man—utterly pitiful.
“Sis!”
Just then, Claret came running out from the school building. As followed behind, exchanging farewells with the teachers.
“I’m hungry!”
Claret clung to Noah’s leg, whining, before waving excitedly at Leto.
“Thanks for coming too, brother-in-law mister!”
“What?!”
Overcome with emotion, Leto gladly crouched down to confirm.
“Does this mean, sister-in-law, that you finally recognize me as—”
“Who’s the brother-in-law here?”
Noah cut him off sharply.
“Claret…”
Then, at last, she unleashed all the worries she hadn’t been able to express earlier.
Her hands ran over the child’s clothes, feeling her limbs, checking carefully to make sure she wasn’t hurt. Claret wriggled, giggling that it tickled.
“You’re really okay? Nothing hurts?”
“Uh-huh! I beat them all up!”
Claret replied proudly.
“Just like Grandma taught me—when two warnings don’t work, go straight for the jaw!”
She even thrust out her little fist triumphantly.
“Grandma named this fist ‘Persuasion,’ you know? Do you know what it means?”
“What does it mean?”
“She said it means, ‘Strike before they get rowdy.’ My brother taught me that too.”
“Forget what your brother said. And well done—but next time, aim somewhere less visible.”
“…Don’t most people teach their kids not to hit?”
Leto, who had been quietly listening, finally interjected.
This family’s approach to education was beyond him.
A grandmother who named fists, and a brother who “interpreted” the meaning for a child?
‘Wait. Since when did Noah have a brother?’
He’d never heard that before.
“Young Mistress.”
Just then, As returned, having finished her talk with the teachers.
“What did they say?”
Noah nodded politely toward the teachers still at a distance and asked.
“They said it was just a fight between kids, and since the cause and fault were on the other side, there won’t be any issue. Also, that student will only be attending here temporarily for a month.”
Noah gave a bitter laugh at that.
“What a fine knight, truly.”
“Will you be going home now, Master?”
“No, I need to head back to base.”
Noah answered with a small yawn. This little incident counted as work too, and now that her nerves had settled, fatigue was catching up to her.
“First the exchange delegation, and now this mess…”
“There’s plenty for us to do.”
Leto suddenly interjected, offering his hand to As.
“I haven’t properly introduced myself. Leto Oceanus. Please feel free to call me by name.”
As clasped his hand politely.
“And I couldn’t greet you earlier. Thank you so much. These last few days we’ve been nothing but trouble…”
“Trouble? Please don’t say such things.”
With a faint smile, Leto replied.
“Noah’s family is like my family too. If you’re ever in difficulty, don’t hesitate to reach out.”
“Oh no, how could I impose on you like that, General?”
As drew a clear boundary with practiced grace.
“Even yesterday, you came to the school to help because of our lady. And our Young Mistress already owes much to your support at the base…”
“Of course.”
Noah readily agreed.
As’s effortless tact delighted her—while Leto, behind his polite smile, was clearly flustered.
“Haha…”
He gave an awkward laugh.
‘How meticulous.’
Kind and polite on the surface, yet As had firmly drawn an invisible line.
“From now on, we’ll be careful to make sure such incidents never happen again.”
She ended by insisting that today’s trouble was nothing more than Claret’s chance misfortune.
Though she didn’t show it openly, As clearly disapproved of Leto, the man who had caused Noah so much hardship.
She was courteous only because he was Noah’s superior officer.
And Leto knew full well—this kind of person was the scariest of all.
‘I’ve got a long way to go.’
So Noah’s firm, stubborn nature really did seem to run in the family.
“I like you, mister! Let’s play again next time!”
Claret beamed, holding Leto’s finger.
Her innocent affection shone so brightly that Leto couldn’t help but smile helplessly back.
At least someone saw him in a good light. That was progress of a sort—at least, in his own mind.
“Targeting As wasn’t a good move.”
On the way back to base.
Noah adjusted the car’s controls, and the roof folded up smoothly to cover overhead.
“…You noticed?”
So it had only been his imagination, that sense of progress. Leto’s voice fell flat.
“You really thought I wouldn’t?”
Noah added that his intentions were so obvious it was pathetic. The cold judgment left Leto too deflated to argue.
“As long as I continue rejecting you, As will never open her heart to you.”
“So she was the toughest to win over.”
“Thinking of her that way was your first mistake.”
Noah snorted.
“This is between you and me. My family has nothing to do with it.”
“And yet they keep getting involved.”
“That’s why I don’t like it.”
None of their issues had been resolved, yet this stagnant half-state dragged on and on, leaving Noah frustrated.
Water that doesn’t flow will only rot.
“Hah…”
She pressed her shoe down against the car floor in irritation.
“…So you have a brother?”
Leto asked lightly, turning the wheel.
“Why didn’t you ever mention it?”
“Because you never asked.”
“And if I had asked?”
“Of course I would’ve told you.”
Exasperated, Noah rolled her eyes.
“Ugh!”
The car screeched to a sudden stop. Thankfully they had just turned onto a coastal road, empty of other vehicles.
“General!”
Noah nearly pitched forward, barely held in place by the seatbelt. Her chest and shoulder ached where the strap cut across her.
“What are you doing?! Driving like that could’ve caused—”
“Just… wait.”
Leto suddenly seized her hand, begging silently for patience.
He looked uncharacteristically startled, almost flustered. Noah, equally startled, stared at him strangely.
She had no idea why he was acting like that. It was as if someone had just realized they’d burned their winning lottery ticket by mistake and lost their grip on reality.
Noah could make the comparison because she had actually witnessed that very thing once before.
‘Has he finally gone mad from being called a lunatic so often?’
He’d always been crazy, but… crazier?
Even more than before?
As she eyed him cautiously and began to inch away—
