Troublesome Story
“Eh? That’s what happened?”
“Aaah!?”
Tina shouted out in a crazy voice when Aylia and the others returned to the facility, and we were all eating dinner and sharing information about what happened today. Yes, maybe it was a bit crazy? I would be surprised if I heard that an aristocrat fell in love with my friend at first sight, wouldn’t I?
By the way, could you do something about your little sister in tears who knocked over a mug of sake next to you?
“What should I do, Big Bro? We have to call Aylia right away, don’t we?”
“No, just leave her alone…she’s not your child, and hopefully she’ll come to terms with the situation in some way.”
“But you know, Big Bro, it’s not easy for a commoner girl to say no to a nobleman!”
“Aah!”
“Aah!”
Tina slammed her hands on the dining room table and screamed. Hey, could you take it a little easier on us, please? It turned into a huge mess after the big table was bent and returned for a moment like an overdone cartoon causing all the meals to jump. Kugi’s oinari-mimono dived into Mimi’s dinner, and now there was a big mess. And my food was overflowing and all sorts of other things happened.
“Calm down. That may be so, but it’s not right for us to intervene here, right? If Hartmut was just trying to mess with Aylia’s business, I’d be willing to intervene, too. But it wasn’t like that. He even mentioned asking someone to adopt Aylia once. He also said he owed me a favor, so I don’t think Hartmur will try to do something that will cut his connections to someone useful.”
Hartmut and I have been working together for a while. He was an honest man, and being a legitimate son of a noble family and a colony official, he had status, money, and a good face. The difference in status may be tough, but if he decided to proceed with it, I think he would be able to follow proper procedures to do so.
Even if his acquaintance adopted Aylia as their child, there would still be many things to worry about, such as whether Aylia would be able to manage as a noblewoman in the first place.
I mean, did Hartmut not have a fiancée or something? Since Hartmut was the heir apparent of a viscount family, it would be likely that he would have a fiancée from childhood, and if so, what would they do with Aylia? Would she become some sort of concubine? A local wife? What that guy thinks about that was certainly unclear, but I doubt it was something we had anything to do with.
“Big Bro…”
“Yeah?”
“Big Bro, you don’t mind if Aylia ended up as a comfort plaything for some noble dude?
“You’re not making any sense! Are you drunk or something?”
What’s wrong with Tina, she had only had a sip or two of her drink.
“I don’t understand why you become so clunky when Aylia is involved, I understand how important Aylia is to Tina. But then again, Aylia is already an adult, right? If Hartmut asks Aylia to go out with him, it’s Aylia’s decision to accept or decline, not Tina’s who is so worried about Aylia, right?”
“That’s why I say that if a nobleman said something like that to her, she wouldn’t be able to refuse even if she did not want to. If she’s not careful, she’ll be beaten up for humiliating him.”
“Well, it’s true that it would be embarrassing to have someone say no in public, but it would be even more embarrassing if he got upset and bashed the other person… I don’t think he would do such a thing in the first place.”
“Gnununu… what do you mean by that!?”
“Well, I am also a little worried about Aylia, but for now calm down…”
Tina seemed to go crazy when Aylia was involved. I guess when Tina was in this Reemay Prime Colony, Quartermaster Baron Reidius was the colony’s representative, but did something happen during that time?
I finally said, “Okay, okay, then I’ll fold. All I have to do is talk to Hartmut, right? Aylia is a modest and exemplary Imperial subject, and if he, a legitimate son of a Viscount, pressured her into a relationship or something more, she would likely nod her head even if she didn’t want to. So I will ask him to think it over. I can tell him that, right?”
“…That won’t stop the aristocratic bonbon from following Aylia around, will it?”
“You should at least allow her to deal with it on her own…I don’t know Hartmut that well myself, but you can’t control how you feel about someone, no matter what other people say, can you? I think the most an outsider can do is to give advice at best. If anything, I have a feeling that if we try to forcefully interfere, it’s only going to make the flames burn hotter.”
“…”
Tina stopped speaking, looking down at me. I noticed that the rest of the crew, except for the two of us, had taken refuge at the other table and were looking at us. You guys, don’t put me in the line of fire and run away… I wouldn’t blame you if I were in the opposite situation.
“Ugh…”
“Hm?”
“Ugh… ugh… ugh…”
“Why are you crying…”
