Published: August 10, 2026
"...Yan is the duke of dutchman's grandchild... So Yan had a home on Ildanaf Island..."
"So that's how it was..."
I murmured to myself as well.
So that means, after all... that map really wasn't a trap. I was finally able to be certain of that.
If Hadwell had been in league with Yan, there was no way he would have lured us to this place. A hometown where his family lived would be nothing but a weakness.
...That message—"Help me"—was Hadwell's true feelings.
What he wanted rescued... the thing that was precious to him, was in Yan's hometown—perhaps even in this very house...
"...Lord Cyrus."
"Marie."
We looked at each other. With just our eyes, we shared our thoughts.
...Yes. It was a little dangerous, but this was surely the shortest path, and the right one...
At the same time, we both nodded.
"Um, is something the matter with the two of you?"
Perhaps because we had suddenly gone quiet, the duke of dutchman asked us.
I turned my face back to the duke and straightened my posture.
"I have a request, duke."
"Oh? W-what is it, madam? Please, anything you wish."
"...Would you let us stay in this manor tonight?"
Lord Cyrus was nodding too, with exactly the same expression as mine.
Our sudden request to stay the night was accepted far more easily than expected.
No, rather, it would be fair to say we were warmly welcomed. The duke cried, "By all means! I was hoping to speak with you more!" and called housekeeper Bibi at once.
"Yes, master?"
"We have guests staying the night! Please prepare the guest rooms at once!"
After being told, all of a sudden, that the two of us would also be staying, the quiet woman merely nodded and said yes ma'am—so I thought.
"Eh⁉"
She reacted with a much louder voice than before, looking utterly shocked. And somehow, she even seemed bothered.
But then she quickly put on a smile and bowed to us.
"...Understood. I will prepare your rooms and dinner right away."
Then she left.
At dinner, we asked the duke of dutchman several things about Yan. The duke spoke proudly about his grandson without the slightest resistance.
Yan Wei Dutchman. Currently thirty-one years old.
Born as the youngest child of a great noble family, a collateral branch of the royal family of Shaina, the great eastern nation. After that, until just two or three years ago, he was raised with every comfort in the castle of Shaina. According to his mother, the duke's eldest daughter, he was "the very embodiment of ambition." While living in Shaina, he taught himself many languages, and his move to Oracle, the scholarly nation, the homeland of his mother, was entirely his own passionate wish.
In a letter from the eldest daughter, she had written this about her son:
"Recently, he seems to have been influenced by something, and now he's saying he wants to go to the western continent and do business there. He's impossible to handle. Please, Dad, help my son with his work."
For a moment, I got a little scared, wondering what kind of boy he was. But the duke of dutchman was also desperate for an heir.
Besides, Yan was his actual grandson. If he could bring color to the old man's lonely life, there could be nothing happier. So, without hesitation, he agreed to live with his grandson.
And so the grandson, not yet thirty, arrived: small and baby-faced, looking like he was still in his teens. For Oracle people, who were known as the tallest people in the world, he looked like nothing more than a child. It was understandable that someone would blurt out, "So cute!"
The duke truly welcomed Yan with all his heart. He took the lesson from being told that he was cute the first time and getting furious, and made every effort never to hurt his pride again...
But Yan's difficult nature went far beyond the duke's expectations.
He would get angry over things that made no sense. He apparently complained about the menu at meals, and even about the duke's mannerisms.
"Until two years ago, we had four maids in this house... However, they all had trouble getting along with Yan, and Yan would dismiss them one after another on his own."