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Almond Galgadon, head of the House of Galgadon, listened to the clatter of the carriage wheels as if from a distance.

Standing before him now was a person whose influence was such that she could crush the House of Galgadon if she so desired.

Facing the cold gaze directed at him by that person, he braced himself for the worst-case scenario—the annihilation of the Galgadon family.

“You certainly are an excellent lord, Count, but you seem to lack as a father and a husband.”
“I… I have no excuse, former Duchess Kwallot.”
“You are the head of the Galgadon family, aren’t you? Shouldn’t you be treating your wife and son with a tighter leash?”
“Y-you’re certainly right. But my wife… comes from a marquis family of higher rank than our own Galgadon Count family… If I bring that up, she’ll never listen to a word I say…”
“That’s exactly where you’re wrong. No matter what family she comes from, once she’s married, a wife is supposed to obey her husband. In that case, isn’t it only logical that you, as her husband, correct her mistakes?”

In the Kingdom of Largovere, the status of women is by no means favorable.

It is extremely rare for a woman to inherit the headship of a noble house; in most cases, either the husband she marries inherits it, or a male child is adopted to succeed to the headship.

In cases where a woman absolutely must inherit, she may even claim to be a widow—even if she’s never been married—and maintain the pretense that she has “inherited the house on behalf of her late husband.”

“Besides, shouldn’t you have disciplined your son more strictly? If he destroys his room out of frustration every time something doesn’t go his way, he certainly can’t be called a proper gentleman, can he?”
“H-How did Your Grace know about that…?”

After all, it doesn’t look good for a grown man of a certain age to destroy his room as if he were having a childish tantrum.

For that reason, Larlaik’s habit was supposed to be a closely guarded secret known only to the earl’s family and those closely associated with them.

“Nothing escapes my ears if I ever will it. Please don’t underestimate me.”
“M-my apologies… Perhaps influenced by his mother, my foolish son won’t listen to a word I say…”
“That’s exactly why I’m saying you’re failing as a father!”

Faced with Elisia’s blunt declaration, Almond couldn’t help but shrug his shoulders.

“I’m going to meet with your wife and son now to talk… but you’d better be prepared for the worst.”

Those words were tantamount to a death sentence.

Carrying Almond, who hung his head dejectedly, the carriage bearing the ducal crest slowly made its way through the city.

Soon, the massive, snow-covered structure of the Temple of Savaiv came into view ahead.

.

The entire reception room trembled with his furious shout.

The rage emanating from Giuseppe’s body was so intense that it created the illusion the room was actually shaking.

Faced head-on with such fury, Sienaquaria slid off the high-quality upholstered sofa she was sitting on, her eyes rolling back in her head.

“Did you think I was the kind of man who could be bought with money!? Did you think I was some despicable man who would sell my beloved daughter for money!? Don’t you dare equate me—Giuseppe Chrysoprase, Supreme Pontiff of the Savaiv Sect—with a petty human like yourself!! I’ve had enough of your blasphemy, you blabbing buffoon!!”
“E-eek…………!!”

Overwhelmed by his rage and with her legs giving out, Sienaquaria scrambled away in a shameful position on all fours, floundering toward the corner of the room.

Her family members, too, had turned pale and were trembling uncontrollably after being on the receiving end of Giuseppe’s fury up close.

Giuseppe cast a contemptuous glance at Sienaquaria, who was crawling like a pig, then called out to the person waiting outside the room.

“It’s about time that this Pocine Lady’s foolish son has fallen into Calcie’s trap. Bring that fool here at once!”

As he listened to the reply and the receding footsteps of the man waiting outside, Giuseppe fixed his gaze on Sienaqualia, who was trembling uncontrollably in the corner of the room.

“I truly regret calling you Pocine just now.”

Hearing the unexpected apology slip from Giuseppe’s lips, Sienaquaria couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief.

“N… no, n-no, I’m the one who was being presumptuous…”

However, Giuseppe did not bow toward the corner of the room where Sienaquaria stood, but instead bowed in a completely different direction.

“I’m sure even the pigs would take offense, being lumped withy someone like you. I’m sorry, my pig friends. I offer my sincere apologies.”

Those words were spoken into the void.

After that, Sienaquaria—now met with an even colder glare than before—could do nothing but tremble in the corner of the room, even as she was told she was worse than a pig.

.

Without warning, the reception room door swung open, and a man was thrown into the room.

The man was bound with rope, and a ragged cloth was stuffed into his mouth.

Seeing the man lying there pitifully on the floor, Sienaquaria—who until then had been merely trembling—stood up with wide eyes and hurriedly rushed over to him.

“L-Lara!? W-Who on earth would do such a terrible thing to my dear Lara!? I-I-I-I won’t forgive this!!”

Her previous fear had vanished without a trace. With eyes blazing with rage, Sienaquaria fixed her gaze on the open door.

From beyond that door, a young couple came into view. Needless to say, they were Tatsumi and Calcedonia.

And Giuseppe, who had been wearing a truly sullen expression until then, softened his expression before her very eyes.

“Well done, well done. I’ve put you two through quite a bit of trouble, haven’t I? Now then—”

Giuseppe’s eyes, once again narrowed coldly, turned toward Larlaik—who lay sprawled on the floor with only the rag stuffed in his mouth removed—and toward Sienaquaria, who knelt beside him, cradling her son as if he were a small child.

“The cast isn’t quite complete yet, but let’s hear your side of the story first. Shall we, Larlaik? According to your mother, you and Calcie are mutually in love. When, exactly, did you and Calcie fall in love? I, too, am a follower of Lord Savaiv, the guardian deity of marriage. I have no desire to tear apart two people who love each other. Tell me why you’ve come to believe that you and Calcie are in love with each other.”

Giuseppe glared coldly at the mother and son from the Galgadon family, who were crouched on the floor.

Though his tone was gentle, the indescribable intensity behind his words made Tatsumi realize once again that the position of High Priest was no mere title.

“W-With all due respect, His Eminence Chrysoprase. The fact that Lady Calcedonia and I are in love with each other must surely be approved by the great God Savaiv! For if I love her this much, Lady Calcedonia must love me in return… r-right, Lady Calcedonia…?”
“Y-yes, that’s right!! Since my darling Lara is showering her with so much love, any woman in the world would naturally reciprocate! Come on, Chalcedonia. Right here in front of your grandfather… right in front of His Eminence Chrysoprase, clearly confess your feelings!! Just say one word—‘I love Lara”—and I’ll welcome you as the bride of our Galgadon family!!”

Calcedonia gave a gentle smile to the mother and daughter, who were still sitting on the floor, shouting wildly.

“Yes, I am in love.”

As Calcedonia spoke those words clearly, joy lit up the faces of the Galgadon mother and daughter.

But that joy lasted only a split second.

“However, as I mentioned earlier, the person I love is not Lord Larlaik.”
“W-What are you saying, Calcedonia!? What is it about my Lara that you don’t like!?”

Hearing Sienaquaria’s shriek—her face expressing utter disbelief—Giuseppe silently scoffed to himself, “I’d rather ask what there is to like about him.”

Then, ignoring Larlaik, who was staring up at her in bewilderment, and Sienaquaria, who continued to shriek beside her, Calcedonia continued speaking.

“That person… has been by my side ever since I was even smaller than I am now. He fed me, gave me water, and raised me with love. There were times when he held me in their arms after my egg jammed and rushed me to the doctor late at night. From those days when I was so small until today… I’ve always loved him.”
“H-huh? E-eggs…?”
“Y-you… what are you talking about…?”

Calcedonia clasped her hands in front of her chest and spoke with the air of a dreamy young girl.

However, the Galgadon mother and son seemed unable to understand what Calcedonia was saying and looked up at her with blank expressions.

Meanwhile, Tatsumi—the only person who could fully grasp what Calcedonia was saying—found himself reminiscing about that incident, feeling a sense of nostalgia that seemed somewhat out of place.

.

It was back when Calcedonia—no, Chiiko the cockatiel—was living with Tatsumi’s family.

One night, past 10:00 p.m., Chiiko suffered an ovarian prolapse due to an egg blockage.

Cockatiels are very affectionate toward people, rarely get sick, and are easy to care for, but they do have a tendency to suffer from egg binding.

And Chiiko, back then, had also experienced this egg binding.

What’s more, it wasn’t just that the egg was stuck—it led to an oviduct prolapse, where the oviduct itself protruded from her body along with the egg.

Seeing the egg dangling from the cloaca, still connected by the oviduct, Tatsumi and his family frantically looked up a nearby veterinarian in the phone book and called.

However, many of the veterinarians in his area specialized in dogs and cats, and due to the late hour, there was no clinic that would treat a cockatiel.

Tatsumi and his family scoured the phone book again and found a veterinary clinic—though somewhat far away—that accepted emergency cases for all kinds of animals even late at night. Holding Chiiko, they rushed to the clinic in a car driven by his father.

Since they had called ahead to explain Chiiko’s condition, the veterinarians welcomed Tatsumi and his family as soon as they arrived, even though it was nearly midnight.

As a result, Chiiko managed to pull through and recover from her critical condition.

Later, when Tatsumi asked the veterinarian about it, he was told that if Chiiko had been left with that prolapsed fallopian tube until morning, she would undoubtedly have died.

.

Even as Tatsumi was completely immersed in a sea of memories from the past, Calcedonia’s words continued.

“I already told Lord Larlaik, didn’t I? It is Lord Tatsumi Yamagata, who is here with us, who is the one I love.”
“W-What are you saying, Calcedonia!! That man may be a priest, but he’s just a commoner!! Why would you choose a commoner… instead of me, the heir to the illustrious Count of Galgadon…!?”
“Th-that’s right!! No matter how you look at it, that man is inferior to my Lara in every way!! There’s no reason……!”

It seemed the effects of the drug had already worn off, as Larlaik, still bound, struggled desperately to stand up, while Sienaquaria joined in, screaming at those words.

It appeared the two of them genuinely believed that Larlaik was superior to Tatsumi in every way.

“I-I see… I knew it, you’re deceiving Calcedonia, aren’t you?! Or are you holding some kind of leverage over her to blackmail her? You despicable coward!! Set my Calcedonia free this very instant!! If you do it now, I’ll even pay you myself. Take that money and vanish from our sight at once!!”
“Th-that’s right!! That’s exactly the kind of thing a filthy foreigner would think of!! Well, fine. We’ll pay whatever price you name. Take that money and get out of this town—no, out of this country—right now!! This is an order from the Countess of Galgadon!! As a commoner, you can’t disobey a noble’s command, can you?”
“Even that kiss from earlier—you forced it on Calcedonia, didn’t you! You’re a filthy scoundrel through and through!!”

For some reason, the Galgadon mother and son spat out these words with triumphant expressions. Tatsumi, unable to understand how they could possibly reach such a conclusion, finally began to feel a headache coming on.

“I haven’t deceived or threatened Calcedonia. I simply care deeply for her.”

Tatsumi declared this, as if to shake off his headache.

Calcedonia, standing beside him, lit up with a radiant smile and gazed at him happily.

Just by looking at her, anyone could immediately tell that, at the very least, Calcedonia wasn’t being threatened by Tatsumi.

But the Galgadon mother and son seemed to be the only exceptions.

“Hmph, you can say whatever you want! Fine then. If you absolutely refuse to leave this city, we’ll use the full might of the Galgadon family to wipe you out!! Be prepared—there’s no place left in the Kingdom of Largovere where you can live!!”
“That’s right! Defying our Galgadon family is tantamount to defying the Kingdom of Largovere itself. Don’t you realize you’ve already committed a crime tantamount to treason?”

Hopeless.

Hearing the words of the Galgadon mother and son, Tatsumi became convinced of this.

They live in a world of their own. They believe, without a shred of doubt, that the world revolves around them.

Most likely, no matter how many more words Tatsumi piles on, they won’t understand. No—they have no intention of understanding.

And faced with such a selfish mother and son, even the usually mild-mannered Tatsumi was gradually getting angry.

“……Give it a rest, will you? How can you say such selfish things? How can you see the world as if it revolves around you? Is that how adults of your age—nobles who are supposed to lead the people—should behave…?”

Tatsumi’s low voice sounded as if he were holding back his anger. At the same time, a golden glow of mana rose gently from his body.

Chalcedonia and Giuseppe, who could see mana, realized the depth of his anger as they witnessed the power being unconsciously released.

However, the Galgadon mother and son, who couldn’t see mana, seemed to take offense at Tatsumi’s words.

“For a commoner to speak so rudely to a noble… H-His Eminence Chrysoprase! Did you hear the insults this man just hurled? For a commoner to hurl insults at a noble is a grave crime in and of itself. Come now, Your Eminence. Please have this fool arrested at once!”
“Exactly! You’ve practically spat in the face of the Galgadon family… no, the Kingdom of Largovere itself! Naturally, you’ll be charged with a crime befitting such an offense! This is the end for you!”

The mother and son gloated triumphantly. Indeed, there was no doubt that a commoner who hurled insults at a noble would be charged with a crime for that alone.

“So what? ……Even if these feelings I have for Chiiko are considered a capital offense, I will never back down… Whether the opponent is a noble or the kingdom itself, I have absolutely no intention of giving up on these feelings! Treason? Bring it on! Even if I’m up against an entire nation, I’ll see my feelings through to the end!!”

Tatsumi’s declaration was clear and unequivocal.

Upon hearing this, Giuseppe nodded repeatedly with satisfaction, while Calcedonia’s crimson eyes welled up with tears, yet her face flushed with joy.

Meanwhile, the Galgadon mother and son simply stared at Tatsumi with blank expressions.

From their perspective, the idea that a mere commoner would defy the kingdom to stay true to his own will was surely beyond their comprehension.

And then.

And it was at that very moment that the door to the parlor where Tatsumi and the others were gathered suddenly swung open, and an elderly woman entered, clapping her hands rhythmically.