“You are the daughter of the Granvelle Family?”
“…Yes. And you are the son of Viscount Carnell.”
“Yes! Viscount Carnell is my father!”
Kiel and his servants stood up and turned completely hostile. Cecile responded nonchalantly to such hatred from Kiel.
“Hey, what’s this all about?”
“Oh, Dogora, well, as well as to Kurena, I didn’t tell you two about what happened at the end of last year. We had a bit of a falling out with our neighbors, the Carnell Family, at the end of last year.”
I hadn’t told Dogora or Kurena about the commotion between the Granvelle and Carnell Families at the end of last year. It wasn’t something that was made public, but because of this situation, I answered Dogora’s question.
“Hey, Allen, you were the one who destroyed his house, not me!”
(Hmm, I thought Kiel was from the Carnell Family when he mentioned his house was destroyed. Well, if I think about it, it could have happened. The students in my classroom are the ones who took the exam on the same day after all.)
Kiel of the Carnell Family didn’t just happen to be in our classroom; the entrance examinations for the Academy, where 20,000 students were tested, was divided by students from a certain area to prevent congestion.
The Duke of Hamilton, governed by Rifir House also borders Viscount Granvelle’s territory so I thought the two territories wouldn’t be tested at the same time, but it seems that the former Carnell territory, which was destroyed and became a Royal territory, was tested together with Granvelle territory.
“Yes, I caused its destruction.”
“What?”
Kiel snapped at me. I took out a dagger from <inventory>. It was a dagger with silver ornaments, indicating that I am a guest of the Viscount Granvelle Family.
“Dogora, I was very important in destroying the Carnell Family at that time. And as a reward, I was given this.”
I showed my dagger to Dogora and Kurena.
“Seriously? That’s the symbol that you are a guest of the Granvelle Family?”
“Hey! What did you do!”
(Hmm? Kiel doesn’t know? He hasn’t been told the details? That’s why he said what he said a while ago.)
You are asking that to the person who destroyed your house?
“I advised Viscount Granvelle on how to get the Royal Family on his side at the Royal Castle. I was also the one who told him to use the Mithril mining rights I had worked so hard to obtain to make sure the Carnell Family was destroyed. And this is my reward for that.”
Showing the dagger, I told Dogora and Kurena what I did in a nutshell.
“You, you, you, you!”
(Okay, turn your anger toward me. And frankly, Cecile has nothing to do with it. Don’t stare at them like that, Maria. Don’t attack.)
Maria reacted to Kiel’s hostility towards me. While being held by Nina, I could see her smiling expression change. Maria, who had no expression on her face, reminded me of a horror movie, but she controlled herself and didn’t attack.
Maria expressionlessly nodded lightly.
“Hey, Allen. That’s not good.”
“Hmm?”
It was Cecile who chided me.
“This is a matter between the Granvelle Family and Carnell Family. You don’t have to suffer at all. That dagger is my thanks for saving me from the tyranny of the Carnell Family.”
“Tyranny! What has the Carnell Family done!”
“Oh, you don’t know anything about it? Your attitude as a descendant of a Noble Family, is not good. Why don’t you take a seat first?”
“I don’t know anything about this? I heard from the Royal Messenger! The Granvelle Family set us up and destroyed the Carnel Family!”
“Oh? I believe that the Royal Messenger has been captured as well.”
“What? He got caught? What the hell is going on? Explain it to me!”
“Sit down!”
Cecile told him to take his seat. I decided to keep quiet and watch the proceedings as Cecile began to talk in front of us.
“Will you tell me what happened last year if I sit?”
“Okay. But can you tell me what’s going on, too?”
Cecile thought it was strange that Kiel didn’t know, as he could have asked him about his Family’s situation anytime. She then asked him to talk about the purpose of him attending the Academy as a student despite being poor. This was the condition to talk about the commotion that happened last year.
Cecile was a member of the Granvelle Family. She needs to know about Kiel, who has unfamiliar circumstances, and the background that made him smell like he was backed by a Royal Messenger. Maybe the commotion was not over yet.
The Royal Castle is a magical place of power struggles. If there are any interests behind Kiel, as a member of Granvelle Family, she needs to know about it.
“All right, well, talk to me.”
As Kiel took his seat and agreed, Cecile looked at Nina and the servants, who were suddenly put in this situation and looked at it anxiously.
“I’ll only talk to Kiel… The rest of you can go upstairs to an empty room.”
“No! Master Kiel cannot be left alone at a time like this!”
The most senior servant said that he could not do that. Kiel looked at the servant once and then spoke to Cecile.
“Why can’t you let everyone hear this? They’re all part of my Family.”
“Of course not, this is a matter of my Granvelle Family. It’s not something you can tell everyone.”
“…”
Those words were met with silence. Another older servant, perhaps a maid, about 15 years old, said, “Let’s leave the table.” Perhaps she understood the purpose of Cecile’s order and everyone except Kiel left the room.
After that, Kiel convinced them all, including the servants who had said earlier that they couldn’t leave Kiel alone, and brought them all up to the second and third floors. Nina was still holding Maria and I could confirm that they were indeed on the third floor of the base.
There were only five people left in the room, a complete change from earlier. Kurena and Dogora were about to go upstairs as well, but I asked them to stay.
“‘Come on, it’s just me now. Tell me what happened last year.”
“Okay.”
Cecile began her story with, “I’m going to tell you the truth, but it’s up to you whether you believe me or not.,” and then went on to tell the story from the beginning.
It started with the story of how Viscount Carnell came to the mansion with a Royal Messenger and offered to manage the Mithril mines jointly. When the then Baron Granvelle refused, three bandits intruded the mansion that day, kidnapped Cecile and Allen, and took them to the Carnell territory in a Magic Ship.
Every time Kiel stood up, Cecile would stop talking and make him sit down. “You are free not to believe me, but I want you to listen to me until the end.” Was what she said.
After that, while running away from the assassins hired by Viscount Carnell, we tried to reach the city of Grandver, but were found. Just when we were about to be killed, we were saved by the Knight Commander.
After safely returning to the city of Grandver, Baron Granvelle appealed the facts directly to the Royal Family, who worked to resolve the problem.
To ensure that the Royal Family would move at that time, I gave up my mining rights which I gained by finding one Mithril vein.
As a result, Viscount Carnell and many of the Noble on his side who were involved in the uproar and found guilty of wrongdoing were imprisoned, and their Family was destroyed.
Viscount Carnell and those in his household who were involved in many of the injustices were imprisoned. Viscount Carnell’s wife was placed under house arrest in a remote palace near the Royal Capital.
“That’s all I know. What do you think?”
“No, no, no.”
(Seriously, Viscount Granvelle. That was a pretty big move.)
I also heard the full story for the first time of what Viscount Granvelle did last year, which was feared by the Nobles as the “Granvelle Incident”.
And I was also aware of the reason why Cecile had sent Nina and the servants upstairs. It was to prevent them from hearing the tyranny of their own masters and parents.
“I’ve told you many times. Believe it or not, it’s your problem. If you don’t believe me, why don’t you go to Royal Capital and check what I said to you? Maybe you can even show me the letter of Joint- Management signed by Viscount Carnell?”
Kiel was so shocked that he was drooping.
“I’ve told you what you wanted to know. Now, can you tell me why you came to the Academy?”
“… Oh.”
Kiel, who had been drooping and staring at the table, raised his head and began to talk in whispers.
