“Honestly, it’s hard to say when it comes to Angela. She’s got a strong personality, and she’s always been very strict on Albert. She might already be on her way.”
That meant she could’ve mailed the letter and left immediately, just to catch her brother off guard. Queen Maria had pulled that same move on me once, and I remembered how shocked I’d been then.
“So basically, she could show up today or tomorrow. All right then, Duke Sanga. I’m borrowing Albert for a while,” I said.
“By all means. Work him to the bone if you’d like!”
I needed to learn more about Angela and come up with a plan. That meant I’d have to ask Duke Sanga or Albert a lot of questions, but I knew I shouldn’t keep the duke here for too long. That meant Albert was the obvious choice. Apparently, most of his work was just standing in for the duke anyway, so although it would make his father busier without him, it wasn’t like things would fall apart.
They both seemed to understand because the duke gave permission without hesitation, and Albert nodded without any pushback.
“I’ll have someone from the house bring Albert some clothes and funds to cover his lodging expenses.”
I tried to refuse the money, but the duke insisted. He said that since they were imposing on me, I should accept it—it was a matter of noble pride. In the end, I had no choice but to take it.
“In that case... It’s not much, but please take this in exchange.”
I handed him some yuzu. I told him even though it smelled nice, it was too sour to eat as is, and that it was best used in the bath or with alcohol. He said he would try it tonight and left looking pleased.
“Tenma, Duke Sanga is... Wait, why is Albert still here?”
Kriss spotted the duke’s carriage leaving and called out to us from the hallway. She was also confused to see that Albert hadn’t left. Since she had been somewhat involved in the matchmaking incident too, I gave her a quick explanation.
“One of Primera’s older sisters is coming? Is it Rachael or Angela?” she asked.
Apparently, Rachael was the oldest. They had both graduated from the academy, and Kriss had gone to school with them. She told me she’d never spoken to them directly, though. They were five and three years older than her, respectively, but since they were famous, everyone knew them.
“It’s Angela. Do you wanna stay and meet with her too, Kriss?” I asked. I thought the more people were involved, the better, but...
Kriss turned me down immediately. “I don’t want to get lectured for not stopping Albert, so I’ll sit this one out,” she said.
“Albert, the first thing I need to know is what she’s like. I can’t make a plan otherwise,” I said.
Truthfully, it didn’t matter in the end—I’d still offer Albert up as a sacrificial lamb.
“Well, Rachael is a sadistic type who goes for the jugular. She pokes at people’s weak spots in a really passive-aggressive way. But Angela is the kind of sadist who doesn’t hold anything back. She’ll hit you hard, both mentally and physically.”
“Great, got it. I’ll hand this one over to Angela. Rocket can be our witness.”
I held up a sheet of paper. I had Albert’s statement written down word for word. I pointed to Rocket, who was looking my way as if to say You called?
“I’m sorry, I was just joking!” Albert claimed.
“Don’t mess around anymore. If you crack another joke, I’ll give this note to Primera and make sure she gives it to your sisters.”
I filed away the paper detailing Albert’s insults to his sisters as one of my secret weapons, just in case. Then, I got Albert to give me a more objective opinion on their personalities.
“Rachael’s laid-back, but she’s also very stubborn,” he began. “If she thinks you’re hiding something, she’ll keep on digging until she gets the truth. And even after that, she’ll badger you endlessly about why you tried to cover it up. As for Angela, she’s got a strong personality and a pretty blunt way of speaking. She won’t hesitate to throw a punch if she gets mad. She’ll freeze you on the spot with a glare and start yelling like she owns the place.”
Well, both of them sound like a handful...
“Is this based on your personal experience?” I asked.
He nodded, which made it very likely that he was the real problem.
That meant I couldn’t tell how accurate his description was, but at the very least, that was how they came off to their own brother. I made a mental note of all this and started thinking about what kind of topics they were likely to bring up with me.
“I’m guessing they’re going to want to hear all about how I feel about Primera. I’m pretty sure that’s the only reason she’s coming.”
The most likely scenario would include a discussion about Primera. Then, there might be an apology for something Albert did after that. There was also a chance there’d be some attempts to try and strengthen ties between the Otori family and her in-laws. Her coming here for just a casual visit would be pretty unlikely.
Those were all the possibilities I could think of, but it was hard to believe she’d come all this way for any reason other than Primera. If any of the other topics came up, it would only be long after we’d settled her main objective.
“The best I can do is tell her the same thing I told Queen Maria and the duke,” I said. “There’s no point in trying to spin it.”
“Yeah, it’s really for the best, though to be honest I don’t really remember much about what you said back then...”
Albert had been lectured by both his father and the queen and had gotten hit with the letters from his sisters after that. Maybe his brain had subconsciously locked away his memories to protect him. But in the end, thanks to Albert’s biased takes and selective memory loss, this conversation hadn’t been exactly productive, so I decided to ask Kriss for info instead.