The earlier smile had completely vanished, and now the king was assaulting Cain with wordless pressure. Cain had only been planning on handing over the Othello set. He was now beginning to sweat, as he could tell that the situation would no longer be resolved so easily.
“…Understood. I’ll come over after the events today have concluded.”
As there were people waiting behind them, they moved to the side to not hold up the line.
Telestia was still blushing with her hands covering her cheeks, seemingly daydreaming about something.
“Cain, I took my eyes off of you for but a moment, and you started dabbling in something like that as well?” Cain’s proactive nature exasperated Garm.
“The other day, when I went shopping with Mother and Elder Sister, I ran into one of the merchants that came to my social debut in Gracia. I discussed it with them and had them make it. I still have a few more sets, so I’ll give one to you later as well.”
“Magic, swordsmanship, Item Box, and now trade? You keep exceeding my imagination…”
“I am supposed to receive a stipend now as a baron, but I felt I may not have sufficient funds to both cover my expenses and maintain the estate I was given. However, I wouldn’t be able to operate a company myself—no one would trust a business run by a ten-year-old. Instead, I’m going to come up with ideas and get paid an inventor’s royalty while leaving the production and selling to someone else.”
“Yeah, yeah. I don’t need to hear any more. Cain, you’ve received your own title and are already a full-fledged aristocrat. You can do as you please and take responsibility for your own actions now. I still have a lot of people I need to meet with. You should indulge in some conversations more appropriate for your age amongst the other children here.”
“Cain, don’t get bewitched by anyone strange!” Sarah said as she and Garm left to join a group consisting of only adults.
Now free, Cain observed the groups the children were forming. The other children had also been freed from accompanying their parents, and they had formed several groups of their own. The only people Cain knew here were Telestia and Silk. Cain walked towards the largest group. He stood in the back, not joining the conversation. As he listened in on what was being said, Silk came over.
“Sir Cain, are you by yourself? Teles is still with His Majesty, so let’s chat.” Silk had brought over two glasses of juice. Cain accepted one as they sat down together nearby.
“There are more people here than I expected. I can’t exactly hang out with Teles right now, so I’m glad you’re here, Sir Cain.”
“Silk, can you cut it out with that ‘Sir Cain’ stuff already? No need to call me Sir.”
“Hmm… Okay, fine. Just Cain, then. Or would you prefer Baron Cain?” Silk asked with a teasing smile.
“No, no. Just Cain is better,” Cain said, relaxing.
As they chatted with each other, a group of three boys approached the two of them. “If it isn’t Miss Silk. Good day to you. You’re wearing a wonderful dress today.”
“Good evening, Mr. Habit. Thank you.” Silk responded in a curt manner, completely different from how she interacted with Cain. She then turned back towards Cain and returned to her usual smiling self.
Slightly surprised at the transformation, Cain nevertheless continued their conversation. One of the followers, the one standing in the very back of their group of three, spoke up.
“Hey, you. This here is the heir of Marquess Corgino. Are you unable to even introduce yourself? How dare you interrupt Lord Habit’s conversation with Miss Silk.”
Cain furrowed his brow at the mention of Marquess Corgino. It reminded him that the marquess glared at him during his audience with the king.
“Hello. Good evening. Sir Habit, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Baron Cain.”
Cain chose not to reveal his family name. Since he had been ennobled recently, he purposefully threw out his title. Cain smiled deviously, as his answer was somewhat of a trap. As expected, Habit’s follower took the bait.
“How dare you, the mere son of a baron, act so high and mighty before the heir to a marquess! That’s Lord Habit to you!”
The other follower, in sync with his fellow, followed up as well. “That’s right! The two of us are also the sons of viscounts! The mere son of a baron should also refer to us as lords.”
Miss Silk, unable to comprehend just what the two of them were saying, tilted her head in confusion.
“Hang on, you two. This fellow named Cain, he is likely of such poor origins that he doesn’t even dare give his family name. As long as they apologize now, I’ll overlook their transgression and accept them into my fold—I’m concerned about Miss Silk, after all.” Habit seemed to be interested in Silk, as he was constantly probing her reaction.
“Hang on, Cain isn’t the son of a baron—” Silk was about to say something, but Cain stopped her with his hand.
Cain wanted to show Silk his manly side, so he answered with his chest puffed out.
“Wait.”
“Huh?”
“Sorry, little lord marquess, and little lord viscount. Let me re-introduce myself.”
The three boys were enraged at Cain’s use of the ridiculous moniker “little lord.” One of the followers reached out to grab Cain’s collar.
Cain addressed the three boys with a wide smile. “I’m the third son of Margrave Garm von Silford Gracia, Baron Cain von Silford. I’m not the son of a baron, I myself am a baron.”
The three boys immediately froze, including the one who was reaching out to grab Cain’s collar. Although baron was a low-ranking noble title, a baron was still an independent and titled noble. In terms of relationships, the son of a high-ranking aristocrat may be viewed as higher ranking, but an ennobled aristocrat with their own title was higher ranked than the child of a high-ranking noble.
To make matters worse, Margrave Garm was not of the same faction as Marquess Corgino. Margraves and marquesses had different duties, but they were of equal stature. The three boys had just behaved unbelievably rudely towards the son of a margrave, who also happened to be a baron himself. They immediately began to panic.
“Sir Cain saved us when the carriage I was sharing with Her Highness Princess Telestia was attacked by orcs,” Silk proudly explained. “He took out thirty of those orcs by himself. The day after, he was conferred the title of baron by the king.”
“…I heard about that from my father,” one of the followers explained. “A boy the same age as us was granted a noble title. He has superior swordsmanship and magic ability, and he annihilated a horde of orcs led by an orc general.”
Habit and his followers began to tremble. They took a step back, then another step back.
“P-pardon us for our rudeness. We did not know you were an honorable baron. We have some business elsewhere, so please excuse us!”
Habit turned around and fled. His followers chased after him. After the nuisances had left, Cain returned to his seat and took a sip of his juice.
“I didn’t expect you to be so cunning, Sir Cain. This is my first time seeing that side of you. I could immediately tell based on your smile that you were up to no good.” Silk laughed with tears in her eyes. “The look on their faces!”
Cain, realizing he had made a mistake, began to get flustered. “U-um. Th-This isn’t what you think it is…”
Silk smiled mischievously. “I have to tell Teles about this later.”
Cain began to get even more flustered.
“Just kidding! If you go on a date with me later, then I’ll keep it a secret for you.”
Cain’s shoulders fell as he nodded. He never could win against girls.
“…Okay, very well.” I feel like I just lost to a ten-year-old…
“Yay! I’ll tell my father later, then.”
Ignoring Cain’s feelings on the matter, Silk was excited at the prospect of going on a date.
Since he had always been able to get Reine to do as he wanted, he was quite confident in his abilities. However, Cain suddenly felt as if he wasn’t capable of beating Silk.
As Silk continued to tease Cain about the incident, Telestia arrived, freed from her duties.
“I’m finally free! Sir Cain, you were here talking to Silk the entire time, weren’t you? You two must’ve had so much fun…”
Finding Telestia’s slightly sulking expression really cute, Cain’s expression softened.
“Oh, now that you’re here. Cain, you see, earlier did something really cun—”
“W-wait! Hang on!”
Before he realized what he was doing himself, Cain covered Silk’s mouth with one of his hands. His other hand was raising a finger in front of his own mouth, making the “shush” gesture.
“Sir Cain…you just touched the lips of an unwed woman… I’ll have to report this to Duke Eric,” Telestia said with a smile. Her eyes were not smiling in the slightest.
“Oh, sorry,” Cain removed his hand from Silk’s mouth.
“Sir Cain, tell me honestly. Silk, what happened?” Teles seemed worried.
“Hm? Nothing, really. I’m going to go on a date with Cain later, that’s all.”
Silk revealed it, just like that. Cain sighed.
“D-d-date?! That’s not fair! Also, when did you start calling him ‘Cain’ rather than ‘Sir Cain’? You’re cheating! I want to go on a date with Sir Cain as well!” Telestia began to press Cain, her face flushed red.
“Okay, fine, let’s go on a date later, Teles.”
Telestia blushed to her ears. “Definitely. I’m looking forward to it.” Her face fully red, Telestia clenched her fists.
“Where are you going?” A voice called out from behind the group of three.
“I’m going on a date with Sir Cain, of course!” Telestia replied as she turned around. Telestia was all smiles after securing her date, but the instant she saw who she was replying to she froze. The king was standing there. He was smiling, but his eyes were not smiling in the slightest. A vein could be seen bulging on his forehead.
Seeing the king’s expression, Cain’s face paled.
“…Oh? Cain. It seems we have much to discuss later. This gathering will soon end. Let’s have a heart-to-heart chat amongst men. Both about that game of yours, and everything else,” the king said as he smacked Cain on the back. He was definitely using more force than was appropriate towards a child.