After his meeting with Morris Grindel, Romello went straight to Duke Philling’s residence. It didn’t take long to get there since he also had another estate in the capital.
“Welcome, Lord Romello.” Bruno Philling greeted him with a calm demeanor. A woman stood next to him with a soft smile on her face.
“Thank you for the warm welcome, Lord Bruno.”
The two men exchanged a handshake.
“This is my wife, Kellie.”
“Oh, I even have the honor of meeting your wife! It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Romello Gib Armelia.” He bowed slightly toward the woman.
“The pleasure is all mine. I’m Kellie Philling. It’s an honor to make your acquaintance.” Kellie curtsied gracefully. “Please, come in.”
The manor resembled Duke Grindel’s. It had a warm and welcoming atmosphere inside and was decorated with wooden furniture. The couple led Romello into the parlor.
“How was your journey here?” Bruno asked casually as he took his seat.
“Just fine, thank you,” Romello answered.
Kellie sat down and listened to their conversation, a pleasant smile on her face.
“By the way, Lord Romello. Have you ever had the beer from our domain?” Bruno asked.
“Yes, of course. Your beer is known for being quite delicious.”
“I’m honored you think so. Would you like some? I’ve got a special bottle here.”
“I’d love to.”
“Wonderful! Let me show you to another room, Lord Romello.” Bruno rose to his feet.
At the same time, his wife followed suit. “Well, if you’ll excuse me. I hope you enjoy your stay, Lord Romello. I’d love to see you again if you come to our country another time.”
“Thank you, that would be lovely.” Romello answered. He then followed Bruno to another room, which had bookshelves on every wall, crammed full of tomes. Romello could tell that Bruno was an avid reader.
“Sorry for the clutter in here,” Bruno said sheepishly.
“Not at all! You certainly love reading, don’t you?”
“Yes, I’m often teased for being a bookworm, and I’m afraid I can’t deny it!”
They sat across from each other on sofas which were placed in the middle of the room. They both stared at each other silently for a spell, perhaps searching for what to say next or maybe even to size the other up.
The silence stretched on and on, and there didn’t seem to be any signs of the beer being brought in.
“I assume you brought me in here because you know what I’m here to discuss?” Romello asked.
They both glanced toward the door. Bruno chuckled awkwardly and stood up straighter in his seat. “Yes, that’s right. The beer was just an excuse. I wanted to talk to you in private, although I do have special bottles of beer here.”
“I see. You know, it wouldn’t have been a problem for your wife to be present during the conversation.”
Bruno gave him a questioning look.
“I’m joking. I just meant that it’s nothing that I wouldn’t trust her with.” Romello smiled with chagrin.
“I see. Well, let’s get back to the main topic.”
After that, Romello did the same thing as he had at Duke Grindel’s house; he began to present the evidence that Duke Baskar was engaged in human trafficking, working together with a Tasmerian noble.
The only thing different in his visit with Bruno was that he did not ask the duke if he was prepared to move forward. Too many cooks would spoil the broth, after all, and since Morris had already declared he would make a move, there was no reason to fan the flames. However, he still needed to tell Bruno about it so that Morris could make his move easier. But more importantly, Romello liked to meet someone, carefully observe them, and then choose his words carefully.
Every noble did something like this. They would be careful with what they said depending on the person and place. He’d honed these skills as the prime minister as he dealt with so many other nobles, but he owed most of his talents to his keen sense of observation. That was how the two of them had a peaceful conversation from beginning to end. It seemed as though Morris had already spoken to Duke Grindel, so the man understood what Romello was speaking about.
“Well, Lord Bruno. I’m looking forward to the day when you can come visit Tasmeria.”
“Yes. Once this matter is peacefully resolved, I shall visit. I’m sure you’re a busy man, but I’d love to meet with you and talk some more with you there.”
“Of course. And please, bring Lady Kellie with you. I’m sure my wife would love to meet her.”
“Wonderful.”
They exchanged another handshake, and the meeting concluded.
✦ ✦ ✦
Bruno watched Romello leave from the window.
“How did it go, darling?” Kellie came up beside him.
“He was very intimidating. No wonder he’s the prime minister of Tasmeria,” he said, continuing to stare out the window.
A half smile crossed his wife’s face. “I’m sure he was. Even when we were just exchanging pleasantries, I was surprised at how knowledgeable he was. It was impressive he could keep up in conversation against such an avid reader like you, but his ability to get information out of both of us so skillfully was quite daunting as well.” She turned her sharp gaze toward Romello as he got farther from the house. There was no sign of the softness she displayed when he had first arrived.
“What’s wrong, Kellie?” Bruno gave her a concerned look, wondering why she had cut off the conversation so abruptly.
“Nothing. I was just wondering why you’re afraid of him.”
“Because I think he figured out that you were the one assessing him, not me.”
“Goodness… No wonder.” Kellie didn’t seem surprised by this and simply accepted it.
Bruno, on the other hand, was surprised. “‘No wonder’? Did you notice that was what was going on?”
“Yes, I wondered that. When we were talking in the salon, he started gradually directing the conversation toward me. At first, I thought he was just being polite, but at some point, it seemed like the things he was saying were designed to test me. He was so good at choosing his words just right that I had to speculate a bit. I thought it was best for me to excuse myself quickly before I dug my own grave.”
“I see. That makes sense. But then why did you acknowledge him?”
“First of all, he went to see Duke Grindel before us. That must mean he discussed the same things with him as he did with you. Lord Morris is a very good judge of character, even if he sometimes has trouble picking up on the subtleties of people’s feelings. If the prime minister tried to use some pretense to advance the conversation, Lord Morris would’ve jumped on it immediately. I know he’d see right through a lie. Anyway, when the prime minister arrived here, he was completely calm and composed. He seemed very confident the whole time we spoke in the salon. I think that’s because he believed that his meeting with you would go smoothly. He had no reason to be aggressive with you. If Duke Grindel is going to do something with that information, then he probably thought all he had to do was just clue you in, and time would do the rest.”
“Is that so? Anything else?”
“As I said before, he’s extremely knowledgeable and observant.”
“I see…”
“I’m sorry, darling. Since he realized what I was doing, I should have just stayed in the room.” Her expression clouded over.
Bruno smiled tenderly at her. “It’s not your fault. You weren’t sure at the time. You did the best you could. There’s no need to be upset. I had no idea that’s what was going on, so I have no right to blame you.”
“Darling…”
“This just makes me even more certain that I need you at my side. After all, I’m nothing but a bookworm. I’m not suited for diplomatic negotiations. I’m only able to stand at the head of House Philling because I have you. Thank you so much.”
Bruno was the head of House Philling, but he performed all of his duties along with his wife. His main hobby was reading, and since he read everything he could get his hands on, he was incredibly knowledgeable. On the other hand, he saw interacting with others as a chore and tended to avoid it. Perhaps that was why he never had much interest in social affairs and wasn’t very good at noticing subtle changes in people’s moods. That made him ill-suited for diplomacy.
However, Kellie was incredibly observant and had filled her head with so much knowledge that even Bruno had to recognize her intelligence. Because of that, he handed over most of the diplomatic duties to her. When there was a diplomatic discussion to be had, she would sit and observe the other party, as she had done with Romello at first, and then she would meet with Bruno later to share her impressions. That was how House Philling governed.
“I respect you so much, darling. Please don’t speak badly of yourself.”
“No, it’s not that. I was just reflecting once again upon how lucky I am to have such a rare woman like you by my side. By the way, Kellie…if we do end up going to Tasmeria, you’ll come with me, won’t you?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Wonderful. Now, how about I share with you everything Lord Romello told me?” They headed toward the parlor where they had first met with Romello to settle in for a long conversation.