She had a pleasant smile on her face, but Albert looked like he wanted to cry. I felt like I could hear him silently screaming, Please don’t leave me!
Kriss and I left the room without even glancing his way. Whatever Angela said to him after that was none of our business. Honestly, I didn’t even want to know.
The guest who’d shown up at the perfect moment—and one who Angela had to be on her best behavior with—was Prince Lyle.
“Hey! Sorry to drop in while you’ve got company!” he said.
And the reason he was here was because he’d brought a fishy idiot along with him.
“Yo! It’s me, Nami-kins!” Namitaro said, goofing around as usual.
Apparently, Prince Lyle had been returning from a knights’ training exercise when one of the knights had passed by a river and had spotted a monster splashing around. The knights had checked it out, and the monster had turned out to be Namitaro. One of the knights had actually met him before and had called out to him from a distance just to be safe. They’d confirmed it was him and had reported it to Prince Lyle.
“And that’s how I got a ride here! I was gonna sneak in like I always do after dark, but this was way easier. I’ve got a gift for ya too!” Namitaro shouted. He then suddenly started building a mountain of seafood in front of me.
“Uh, thanks, Namitaro... But can you maybe take this to the kitchen? Hang on a second—what’s this egg?”
As I started transferring the fish into a magic bag, I spotted a large egg rolling around.
“Whoa, it’s huge! How many omelets do you think this could make?” Amur asked.
“I think you could make enough for a few hundred people!” Jeanne said.
And they were right. The egg was about a meter tall, and as for its weight...
“Wow, it’s so heavy!” I couldn’t even lift it without using magic to boost my strength.
“Tenma, that’s not a gift! It’s something I’m holding on to for a friend, so don’t you dare drop it! Well... I don’t think it’ll crack even if you did, but be careful anyway!” Namitaro quickly took it from me and stashed it away in his magic bag. “It’s my friend’s kid.”
Apparently, a close friend of his had fallen ill after laying the egg, and he was keeping an eye on it until they recovered. I thought he was being pretty clumsy with it for something so important, but according to him, it was really hardy, so it was fine. In fact, giving it stimulation like this was good for the egg’s development...supposedly.
“Master Otori, Lady Angela and Lord Albert have finished their talk. She’s asked if you’d return to the room.”
Angela’s maid came to get me, politely informing me that the conversation was over and they’d like me to rejoin them.
“I’ll be right there. Jeanne, Aura. Time for the usual. Will you get it ready?”
I handed them the magic bag full of seafood and headed back into the parlor alone.
“Sorry to leave you like that,” I said once I returned.
“No need to apologize. Unexpected guests happen.” Angela and I continued to chat for a bit, but she never brought up Primera once. “Oh my, look at the time. I should be going soon, Tenma. But before I do, there’s something I’d like to ask.”
Just when I thought I was out of the woods, Angela mentioned that she had a request.
“Sis! What about the thing with Primera?”
“Be quiet, Albert.”
Albert assumed she was about to bring up their sister and tried to stop her, but Angela shut him down with a sharp glare.
“Albert, I have no intention of reopening a matter that Father has already settled. I’m putting my personal feelings aside and will not challenge a decision made by Father.”
Albert and I exchanged glances, tilting our heads. If this didn’t have to do with Primera, then what was it about?
“Would you sign this for me?” Angela asked instead, pulling out a picture book.
“Um...”
It was a children’s book based on a story from my childhood. It was part of the official licensed series that Queen Maria had approved. Since then, the same author published three more books. I’d heard the series was quite popular among kids.
“My youngest insisted. I was going to try to ask Father to get your signature, but after everything that happened with Albert, I thought I should come in person to thank you and ask you myself.”
So that was it. Seeing me and chatting about Primera might’ve been one reason for her to come, but more than anything, she was here on behalf of the Cagliosto family and to get my autograph. She was also using Albert’s apology as a convenient excuse. Honestly, she could’ve asked the duke to deliver a letter for that—Albert was just bait. Though from her perspective, catching Albert while he was staying here had probably been the ideal setup. Maybe the duke had even planned it that way when he’d “lent” Albert to me.
“Sure, I don’t mind. But my signature’s not very pretty, just so you know.”
I’d only ever signed a book a couple of times. So far, the only ones who owned signed copies were Queen Maria and Yoshitsune—they each had four.
When I mentioned that, Angela said that she wished she’d brought the rest, so I signed three volumes that were lying around the house and gave them to her too.
“Oh, my kids are going to love these! And I know it’s presumptuous, but I think Rachael’s children will want one too. Could I ask you for another one later?”
I didn’t mind signing copies, but I decided I’d just leave them with the duke to give to her other sister. I really didn’t want to have another meeting like today. And if we had to meet up again, I’d just ask Duke Sanga to make a party out of it or something. That way, I could at least bring along Cain, Leon, or whoever else I could rope in as backup. It’d be much easier on the nerves.
Lunch was ready just as we wrapped up. I invited Angela to join us, but she already had plans and needed to take Albert along with her. He gave her a shocked look, but he seemed to know better than to argue and nodded quietly.
Angela said she’d be back later to pick up Albert’s things, so we saw them off at the entrance. On her way out, Angela bumped into the prince in the hallway.
“Hm? Oh, long time no see.”
“It’s been a while, Prince Lyle.”
Apparently, they were close in age and had gone to the academy together.
They exchanged quick greetings and a bit of small talk. After that, Angela and Albert returned to their carriage, and Prince Lyle walked out with them. They must’ve been closer than I thought.
“Well, time for lunch! But I gotta say, I’ve got a bad feeling about this...” Prince Lyle said ominously before we entered the dining room.
What he’d said gave me a bad feeling, and I just couldn’t shake it off. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance to ask what he had meant until later...