35 – Anger and Declaration

The present head of the house of Gargadon, Almond Gargadon heard the sound of the horse drawn carriage getting further and further away.

Just a moment ago sitting in front of his eyes was a person who if she wishes it, could erase the very existence of the Gargadon house from this country, and being glared at with such cold eyes by that person. Almond was prepared for his house to fall to ruin, right this moment.

“Though the Earl is exceptional as the feudal lord, as a parent and as a husband, you are severely lacking, aren’t you?”

“I-I thank you for your praise, Former Duchess Couletto.”

“Aren’t you the one who’s the head of the Gargadons’? And as such you should have treated your son and wife with a firmer attitude no?”

“C-Certainly it’s as you say, but my wife is… she is from a house of a Marquise. With a higher standing in our circle than my house of Gargadon… And because of that if I was to say…”

“I am saying that’s exactly what you did wrong. No matter what house a lady comes from, after marriage a wife must be obligated to her husband at all cost. As the husband, should you not have been the one to correct the wife’s mistakes?”

In the Largofiely Kingdom, the standing of women was by no means higher.

The females of noble households never succeeded their family name. Even though there are some rare cases when the wife married into a family and took the reins for some time, most cases were where a male married into the family as a son-in-law and succeeded the name.

If by any chance there was no choice but to let a lady succeed a house. She would have to never marry and become a widow with the pretense of; succeeding the house in place of her late husband.

“And furthermore, shouldn’t you have been more strict with your son’s discipline? If he starts destroying his room just because he was irritated that things did not go his way. I really can’t call him a gentleman in front of others.”

“W-Why does the Former Duchess know of…?”

As expected, for a grown adult man to act like a child and start breaking everything around him when he got angry was not really a good thing to his reputation.

That’s why this particular habit of Lalaic was supposed to be a tight secret known only to the Earl and few of his close attendants.

“Things like that, I can investigate as much as I want, when I want. Please don’t look down on this old woman too much.”

“P-Please excuse my rudeness…. Maybe it was because of his mother’s influence, my son doesn’t give any heed to what I say at all…”

“That’s why I am saying you have failed as a father!”

Being shut up by Eleesha like that, Almond subconsciously dropped his shoulders.

“After this I will go meet your wife and son to have a talk but… Be prepared for the worst case scenario.”

A single sentence that seemed to declare capital punishment.

Leaving the dejected Almond like that, the former duchess entered the carriage with the ducal crest and headed back to Levantes.

And eventually, the giant edifice of the temple of Savaiv came into the view of the carriage.

***

The whole guest room was quaking because of the wrathful voice.

Or so was the intensity of the anger released from Giuseppe’s whole existence as it created that optical illusion.

Facing that wrath from the front was Schecrya, who was so scared that she fell down from the fine quality chair she was sitting on and her eyes switched between white and black.

“Do you bastards think that I am someone you can so easily buy with money!? Did you think that I was a scumbag who would sell out my beloved granddaughter because of some coins!? This me… The supreme pontiff of the doctrine of Savaiv!? Do not take me, Giuseppe Chrysophrase, to be the same as those diminutive waste of human beings!! Even underestimating has its limits, you joke of a person!!”

“H-Hiiiiii…..!!!!”

Scared by his sudden change, Schecrya fell down backwards. She didn’t care how disgraceful it was as she got on all fours and crawled to a corner of the room.

Even the servant she brought wasn’t spared, as he too was in a close proximity of Giuseppe and started to tremble in fear with his whole face turning blue.

As Giuseppe threw a glance filled with scorn towards the crawling Schecrya, who by the way was exactly the image of a pig, he called out to a temple personnel who was waiting outside the room.

“It’s about time, the foolish son of this madam pig should have also fallen in Calsey’s trap by now. Bring that foolish son before me!”

Listening to the footsteps going further away after that person’s light reply, Giuseppe once again turned his gaze towards Schecrya who was shivering in one corner.

“Please do forgive me for calling you Madam Pig just now.”

Hearing an unexpected apology coming from Giuseppe’s mouth at this moment, Schecrya heaved a sigh of relief.

“N…N-No, I-It was me who brought out and…”

But then, the one Giuseppe bowed his head to in apology was not Schecrya but what seemed to be an entity existing somewhere else altogether,

“Being put together with this kind of thing, the Gentlemen of the Pig community might take offence. Forgive me  gentle pigs, as I, Giuseppe apologize from the bottom of my heart.”

Giuseppe was talking to empty space.

After that he cast an even colder glance at Schecrya who could do nothing but shake in one corner as she was put to be an existence even lower than pigs.

***

Without any warning the door of the guest room was pushed open and a single youth was thrown in.

The youth was tied up by a rope and there was an old rag shoved down his mouth.

After seeing the miserable figure of the youth rolling on the floor, Schecrya who was trembling in fear till then opened her eyes wide and stood up, rushing to the youth.

“La…….La-Lala!? W-Who in the world did something so cruel to my dear Lala!? I won’t f-f-f-f-f-f-forgive you!!”

Just where all her fear went to, one might wonder. With eyes filled with anger she turned her gaze towards the door.

There, she saw a young man and a lady standing beyond the door. Of course, they were Tatsumi and Calcedonia.

Giuseppe who had a sour look on his face till then, softened up his expression seeing the two.

“Good job, good job. I have ended up working you two a bit. Now then—”

His expression once again turned cold as he turned his eyes towards Lalaic who was lying on the floor but now had the old rag removed from his mouth, and Schecrya who was kneeling beside him hugging him as though he was a baby.

“Since all of the actors have not gathered yet, first let’s hear what you have to say about yourselves. The one called Lalaic, I hear from your mother that the love between you and Calsey is mutual. Just, when exactly did your love turn mutual? I am the servant of the god of Marriage. I will not do an uncouth thing such as tearing apart two people who are mutually in love. So tell me why you think the love you have for Calsey is mutual.”

Giuseppe coldly glared at the mother and child who were now sitting up on the floor.

His tone was soft, but the pressure hidden within it was not tender in the least. Tatsumi once again realized that the status of being a Supreme Pontiff was not just for show.

“P-Please excuse my rudeness, your holiness. I am sure that the great god Savaiv is also aware that our love is mutual! Because, till now I have loved her so much, there could be no way that she does not love me back…. Isn’t that right, Lady Calcedonia…?”

“T-That’s right!! If my Lala pours his love in so much for a girl, there is no way any girl in this world would not love him back!! Now then, Miss Calcedonia. Please make it clear before your grandfather… Before his holiness that the feelings you hold for Lala is real!! I-If you just say you love my dear Lala, I will welcome you to our house of Gargadon as a bride with open arms!!”

Calcedonia smiled sweetly towards the mother and son who were sitting up on the ground.

“Yes, I do love him.”

Hearing that from Calcedonia, the Gargadon mother and child’s face lit up like the sun in happiness.

But that happiness lasted only for a split second.

“But as I said just a moment ago, the one I love is not Lord Lalaic.”

“W-What are you saying miss Calcedonia!? Just what about my Lala do you not like!?”

As Schecrya put on a face as if she could not believe what she just heard, Giuseppe had the urge to yell out ‘On the contrary, just what part of him is there to like?’

And then Calcedonia continued what she was saying without even looking at Lalaic who was staring at her with a dumbfounded expression, and Schecrya who was still yelling like a madwoman.

“That person… I remember, ever since I was very little, he was always beside me. He fed me my food, and gave me water, he raised me with love. At that time when I was feeling unwell after trying to lay an egg but it was clogged, he carried me to the doctors even though it was in the middle of the night. Ever since I was the tiny existence from back then…… till this very moment, he was the only one I loved.”

“Wh…Wha? E-Eggs….?”

“Y-You….What are you…saying…?”

Calcedonia was speaking while hugging her own body in heat, like a maiden in a dream.

But the Gargadon mother and son did not understand what Calcedonia was saying, as they stared at her with a dumbfounded expression.

On the other hand in the midst of all this, the only person who understood what she was saying, Tatsumi was thinking absentmindedly ‘Ah! That did happen didn’t it~’ as he recalled such nostalgic things.

It was when Calcedonia… No, the Cockatiel Chiiko was living together with Tatsumi and his family.

On a certain night— It was well past 10pm when Chiiko tried to lay an egg but it got clogged and her tubal clamps fell off.

Cockatiel were birds well received by people, as they didn’t get ill much and were easy to breed. But they also had a problem called egg clogging.

And the past Chiiko had an incident when her egg was clogged.

And that wasn’t a normal egg clogging, as along with her eggs even her tubal clamps were being pushed out of her body.

Seeing an egg dangling around while the fallopian tube was still tied to the cloaca, Tatsumi instantly went and searched the phonebook to call the neighbourhood veterinarian.

But the neighbourhood he was in had more specialists on dogs and cats, and there were less who looked after Cockatiels. And they were mostly all closed by then.

After going over the phone book once again frantically, he and his family found a far-off hospital that should still be open as it dealt with emergency cases. So Tatsumi carried Chiiko in his arm as he got into his dad’s car. It was late at night but they immediately drove there.

Because they already informed the veterinarians of Chiiko’s condition, without minding the fact that the day was about to change, the hospital staff rushed to Tatsumi and his family’s reception.

As a result, Chiiko was somehow able to escape from a dangerous predicament.

After that from what Tatsumi heard from the veterinarians, if by chance Chiiko had stayed like that with her fallopian tube pushed outside with the egg all night, she would have definitely died by morning.

Even when Tatsumi was sinking deeper into his past memories and floating in nostalgia, Calcedonia kept speaking.

“Didn’t I already mention this to Lord Lalaic? This Tatsumi Yamagata right here is the person I love.”

“W-What are you saying, Calcedonia!! Even if that man is a priest isn’t he a mere commoner!! Why are you not choosing me, the heir to the prestigious house of Gargadon, but a mere commoner man…?!”

“T-That’s right!! No matter how you see it that man cannot compare to my Lala!! So why would you…!?”

It seems like the drug’s effect was already off as Lalaic, while tied up, struggled frantically to stand up. And taking advantage of that Schecrya started to shout.

Both of them truly, from the bottom of their heart believed that Lalaic was absolutely superior to Tatsumi in all ways possible.

“Aha… I get it! As I thought you bastard, you’re tricking Calcedonia right? Or you’re ahold of her weakness! Hated bastard, you filthy coward!! I will set Calcedonia free right now!! If it’s now I am even willing to hand over all this money to you. Take this money, and disappear from our sights this instant!!”

“T-That’s right!! In that end that’s all you can expect from a commoner from another country!! Well, it’s alright. Name your price. We will pay it. And after taking it, get out from this city… No! Leave this country for good!! This is the order of me, the madam of the house of Gargadon!! As a commoner you can’t disobey the order of a noble can you?”

“The kiss from before, you did that by forcing Calcedonia didn’t you!! Just how low will you fall you degenerate!!”

For some reason the Gargadon mother and child were already acting like they won. How they reached that conclusion wasn’t something normal folks were capable of deducing, as Tatsumi was already starting to feel a headache.

“I never tricked or forced Calcedonia. I simply think of her as someone important to me.”

Shaking off his headache, Tatsumi replied to them.

Calcedonia who was beside him had her face lit up with a *paaaaa!* sound as she stared at Tatsumi in delight.

Even a random village idiot would be able to make out after seeing Calcedonia like that, that she wasn’t being threatened by Tatsumi.

But of course, the Gargadon mother and child were an exception amongst other things.

“Humph, anyone can spew anything they want! It’s all words. But well, let’s have it your way. If you don’t plan on leaving the city no matter what, I swear I will use all of Gargadon house’s power to erase your existence!! Be resolved that the kingdom of Largofiely is no longer a place where you will ever be accepted in!!”

“That’s right! Going against our house of Gargadon is the same as going against the whole kingdom of Largofiely. Know that you have already committed a crime equal to treason on a national level!”

It’s hopeless.

Tatsumi was convinced after listening to the Gargadon mother and child.

These two were living in their own world. They haven’t the slightest doubt that the world they live in always revolves around themselves.

Most probably, no matter what Tatsumi said they won’t be able to understand. No, they won’t even try to understand.

And also, in front of these two self-centered mother and child, even the usually gentle Tatsumi was starting to get irritated.

“………….Why don’t you guys cut it out now? Why are you so self-centered? Why the hell are you guys able to see the world as so convenient for yourselves? Is that how two grown adults… is that how nobles who are supposed to stand above the masses should act……?”

Tatsumi’s voice was so low that it made it sound like it was being crushed to death. At the same time, a golden flux of magical light started to rise up from his body.

For Giuseppe and Calcedonia who could perceive mana, they could understand just how angry Tatsumi was just from the mana he was subconsciously releasing.

But for the Gargadon mother and child who couldn’t perceive it, they didn’t take any heed to Tatsumi.

“M-My goodness! A mere commoner! A mere commoner speaking with a noble using that tone……… Lord Chrysophrase!!Did you just hear what this wastrel said? For a commoner to refute a noble! This is already a splendid crime. Now, your holiness. Please capture this fool this instant!”

“That’s right indeed! What you did was the same as spitting on the face of the Gargadon…no, the whole country of Largofiely!! And you will be getting a suitable punishment!! This is your end!”

The mother and child triumphed. Certainly making a careless yet reckless remark against nobles was considered an offence for commoners.

“ So what?…. Even if by chance the feelings I have for Chiiko was a felony, I wouldn’t fall back… No matter if my opponent is a noble, or a country, I have no intentions of denying these feelings of mine, not in the least! A national treason? Let it be then! So what if the country becomes my enemy? I will stay loyal to my feelings!!”

Tatsumi plainly declared, with conviction.

Hearing Tatsumi say that, Giuseppe nodded multiple times in satisfaction, and Calcedonia ended up crying as her face turned pink in embarrassment.

And the Gargadon mother and child stared at Tatsumi, completely gasping for breath.

For them, seeing a mere commoner staying true to his belief even if it meant going against the country and understanding why, was definitely not something within their  scope of ‘wisdom’.

And then.

The doors to the room were suddenly pushed open, as an elderly woman walked in while happily clapping her hands.