Chapter 317: Continuation of Each ……

　Aeris was in the royal palace.

　Today, she had asked Tauro to finish the quest early and was visiting.

　Recently, accompanied by her father, Marquis Van Dyne, she has been visiting various places to say hello.

　Aeris will soon be 16 years old and will be coming of age.

　That’s why she wanted to make a good impression on the nobles around him as much as possible, and when she comes of age, she would like to gather people to celebrate in a big way.

　As the daughter of a high-ranking noble, it would have been normal for her to have a fiancée, but the feud in the Marquis Van Dyne household was already a well-known fact in the noble circles, so it was accepted without discomfort that Aeris did not have a partner yet.

　That did not mean that it would be a good thing to leave things as they were.

　Besides, Aeris’s guardian is currently the most favored queen of the king.

　This is, of course, the mother of the Fifth Prince flue, a half-elf.

　With such a splendid guardian, it is only natural that there should be at least one rumor of a lord who would bewitch and court Aeris, if not her fiancée.

　On this particular day, she has been invited by her guardian, the queen, to the royal palace, where a very intimate dinner party was being held.

　Aeris was surprised that the queen, who was also her guardian, liked her so much.

　Originally, they had met through the introduction of Prince Flue, who was a friend of Tauro’s, but it seems that the fact that she answered honestly to the questions asked without using the roundabout way of an aristocrat gave a good impression to her.

　Even now, she remembered this and responded to Her Highness the Queen with a direct address.

“Ho-ho-ho. I’m glad Aeris-san speaks so clearly.”

“I am so sorry, Your Royal Highness. My daughter has been an adventurer in my absence for so long that she tends to forget how to behave as a noble, ha ha ha!”

　

　Marquis Van Dyne did not seem too troubled, and seemed to be boasting about his daughter.

“Papa! I’m only talking like this because Her Royal Highness has given me permission, you know?”

　Aeris replies as if she knows what she is talking about.

“Mother, Miss Aeris is a fellow adventurer of my friend Tauro. know of her exploits from the occasional letter from Tauro, and she is a very brave woman.”

　Prince Flue was proud of Aeris, who, like Tauro, had declared her a friend.

“Thanks to Tauro, I have grown considerably. From now on, I intend to support the royal family as a member of the Marquis Van Dyne family.”

　Aeris makes a pretense of pledging her loyalty as Her Highness praises her.

“Well, well, well, Aeris-san. No need for that kind of hard talk today, okay? Hmmm. Oh, yes, Flue.”

“What is it, Mother?”

“Are you interested in getting engaged to Aeris-san? I would be happy if Aeris-san were to become your bride.”

“”Eh!?””

　Prince Flue and Aeris were simply astonished by the queen’s sudden and outlandish proposal.

　The village of the dragon people, a certain brother and sister’s residence…

　Ragune had encouraged Ankh when he had expressed his concerns about the future, but to tell the truth, she herself was not entirely free from worry.

　She was especially sad to hear about Aeris’s departure from the group.

　She was her first female friend among the human race, and a companion with whom she spent every day as an adventurer together.

　Aeris’s decision seemed sudden at first glance, but Ragune had noticed that Aeris sometimes seemed depressed.

　However, I did not know what to say to Aeris.

　I was aware that I was clumsy in human relations, and I was not very good at guessing.

　Therefore, I could do nothing to help Aeris when she was depressed, so all I could do was to lighten the mood.

　In the midst of all this, Ankh suddenly divulged to me about the future.

　That’s when I thought I finally understood why Aeris was so depressed.

　I don’t think I can continue to be an adventurer with everyone forever either.

　But until Ankh told me, it was something in the  distant future and somewhat unrealistic.

　However, when I think about the fact that I was not consulted on such an important matter, I still …….

“Brother. Am I still unreliable?”

　Ragune was in the living room of her house, looking at the door where Tauro was probably holed up in his room, and called out to her brother who had come out of his own room.

“─ What’s this all of a sudden? ─ ─ Well, I guess you are still inexperienced as a warrior of the dragon people. You know that, don’t you?”

“Damn, kill me. ……. ─ ─ Yes, that’s true, but you could give me a little credit!”

　Ragune sulks and complains with a pout.

“You are relied upon by Tauro-sama, Aeris-sama, and Ankh-sama, aren’t you? Just the other day, Tauro-sama was praising you. He also said that you are getting better at getting around and that you are the most talented person on the team.”

“I-I see! Tauro praised me…! Come to think of it, Ankh also praised me the other day. No, Aeris also praised me… Fufufu, what is this…me? I’m being depended on, aren’t I?”

　Ragune gave a shy smile that said she wasn’t full of it.

“…… sister. If you’re talking about your own insecurities then feel embarrassed that everyone is depending on you, it’s not quirky at all ……. As an older brother, I wouldn’t want to see my sister in such pain. ……” 

　Ragune’s older brother Drago gave her a serious rebuke, but her worries were gone, and as usual, she took a positive attitude and blew away her worries.

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