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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: An Academy for Aika
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No one approached to speak, but their gazes followed us relentlessly.
“Oh my, isn’t that Marquis Leguire?”
“I was wondering if he’d come, since Duke Valliat is the host… What a sight for sore eyes. Should we go say hello later?”
“But who is the child with him?”
“You don’t know? It’s, you know…”
“Ah…”
I could hear them whispering somewhere.
I stretched my legs as far as they would go to keep up with my uncle.
“Wait here for a moment.”
My uncle led me to a spot where we could avoid some of the stares.
It was a separate space on one side of the banquet hall.
There was a table under a dome-shaped canopy where people could sit and talk.
Though it was open on all four sides with archways, it was structured so you could always sit with your back to the crowd.
“Huh? Uncle, where are you going?”
“I have some business to attend to. Stay here. Gerard, watch the kid.”
“Yes, my lord.”
After those brief words, my uncle scanned our surroundings sharply and then strode off somewhere.
Left alone with Gerard, I took the hand he offered me.
“Is Uncle busy here too?”
“Well, he always is.”
“I thought we came to eat yummy things.”
“If you wait here for a moment, I will bring something for you to eat, my lady.”
“Get some for you too, Gerard!”
At that, Gerard smiled brightly and hurried to the nearby food table.
It wasn’t even that far.
It was just a few steps from arm’s reach, and Gerard only had his back to me for a moment.
I dangled my legs, which didn’t reach the floor, and looked around.
“It’s so pretty.”
Everyone was dressed in gorgeous dresses and suits, chatting with one another.
Of course, no matter where I looked, my uncle was the most handsome.
People fanned themselves with fluttering fans that looked like peacock tails.
They smiled and kissed each other’s gloved hands. And their cheeks!
Oh my!
I saw it and whipped my head away.
In an instant, Gerard returned with a plate full of delicious treats.
I took the fork Gerard handed me and asked.
“Gerard, you know…”
“Yes, my lady.”
“Does Uncle have a girlfriend? Like those people kissing over there!”
“Pardon? A girlfriend?”
Gerard asked as if he’d never heard of such a thing.
“Yeah!”
He thought about it for a moment, then shook his head.
“Not in all the time I’ve been serving him. And I doubt he will in the future, either…”
“Why?”
“Well, because of his temper… ahem, he’s far too busy to have time for romance.”
“Hmm, I see.”
I thought I heard a word like ‘temper’ or something, but I must have imagined it, right?
I popped the fruits and jellies Gerard brought into my mouth as I continued to watch.
The people working here were all strangers, but they were all kind and gentle.
It didn’t take long for my uncle to return.
“Peanut, get up.”
“Where are we going? Uncle, this is so yummy. Do you want some? It tastes all sparkly!”
“You eat it.”
My uncle, who had told me to get up, suddenly plopped down beside me.
Taking this as my chance, I diligently worked my fork, intending to stuff all the snacks on the plate into my belly.
“…Have I been starving you?”
“Hmm?”
“Don’t spit it out. Just eat.”
“Okay, I won’ spih i’ ou’!”
I drank all the milk Zenda gave me before we left, but I need strength to protect my uncle, so I have to eat a lot.
Well, my uncle wouldn’t understand even if I told him.
“But where are we going? What about Grandfather?”
“We’re going to see your grandfather.”
“Really?”
You should have said so sooner!
I put down my fork and hopped off my seat.
Then I started pulling on my uncle.
“I’m done eating, Uncle. Let’s go!”
My uncle stared at me with a baffled expression, but I shamelessly hurried him along.
* * *
“Gwampa!”
Aika, who had been clinging to Cassel’s clothes as if for dear life, let go and shot like a lightning bolt toward Duke Valliat.
Cassel, who had his hands casually stuffed in his pockets, stopped in his tracks with a dumbfounded look on his face.
Soon, his brows furrowed in displeasure. *Well, I never.*
“Listen to that lisp.”
The corner of Cassel’s mouth twisted crookedly, just like his eyebrow.
*She doesn’t act like that with me.*
“My baby. Our princess. How did you get here? Isn’t it past your bedtime?”
“I came with Uncle. Because you were coming, Grandfather!”
“How did you know this old man wanted to see his Aika?”
“Because we left you behind last time. I was so, so sad.”
“Oh, my poor princess, were you? It’s all that rascal’s fault. You did nothing wrong.”
Doting on her so. It was a tearful family reunion every time.
Even the dignified beard he used to grow had been neatly trimmed every single day since he first met Aika.
The reason being that Aika might not like it.
Duke Valliat, holding Aika in his arms, walked over to the slouching Cassel.
“Did you meet him?”
Cassel gave a slight nod.
“Yes, well.”
“Tell him we’ll meet most of his demands. As long as we get the establishment rights for the academy, we can just create the land. If that fails, just get rid of him and take it.”
The Valliat family was currently trying to acquire the establishment rights to found an academy.
Unlike their previous strategy of indiscriminately amassing funds, establishing and running an academy was a venture that required pouring money into it.
The reason for establishing such an academy was, without a doubt, for Aika.
*‘My baby will be attending this academy. I can’t just send her anywhere.’*
Aika was still a long way from attending an academy, but Duke Valliat thought there was no better time than the present.
Coincidentally, the oldest academy in the capital had closed last year, leaving one set of establishment rights up in the air.
The rights to establish a new academy were still held by the chairman of the now-defunct one.
The plan for the day was to secure them for the Valliat family before anyone else could get their hands on them.
Money was something they had in spades, so once they eliminated the other competitors, the rest would be smooth sailing.
Fortunately, even if one acquired the rights, establishing an academy was a venture where expenses flowed like water compared to the income, so there weren’t many competitors.
“What a hassle… Why not just acquire one that already exists?”
Cassel said, bored.
“No. I can’t send her to one of those rotten academies. First, we secure the establishment rights, then we work as fast as possible to make it a prestigious institution before Aika is old enough to attend.”
Believing there was no one he could trust, he had already laid out a long-term plan to establish an academy and hand-pick its chairman and faculty.
He called them ‘rotten,’ but there were already three institutions in the capital known as prestigious academies.
From the academy that produced renowned talents of Wofford, including the current Emperor, to one with an impressive faculty and excellent facilities, and even the second-oldest after the one that had just closed down.
But none of them met Duke Valliat’s standards.
“Grandfather, am I going to school?”
“When our princess is a little bigger, you will. This old grandfather will make it very pretty for you by then.”
“Really?”
“Of course!”
His logic was that if it was a place for his precious child, the apple of his eye, then every single brick had to be brand new.
In truth, among the major families of Wofford, the Valliat family had the shortest history. No matter how much wealth and power they amassed, they still lacked what was needed to be called a prestigious noble house.
No one dared to cross them, but they commanded no respect.
That remained a weakness, and he worried it might become an obstacle for Aika when she grew up.
Duke Valliat intended to eliminate even that weakness.
“But Grandfather, what do you do at school?”
“You can read books, ride horses, and learn all sorts of fun things.”
“I can do all that?”
“Of course. You can even draw pictures, which our Aika loves.”
Now that the Valliat family was making its move, it was only a matter of time before the new academy rose to prominence.
The real problem was that Cassel had to do all the work.
Recruiting famous professors would be as easy as drinking soup.
In the past, the Valliat family had stopped at nothing to establish their dominance in Wofford.
It was common for them to crush others with force and shed blood.
That was why the Valliat name was still infamous to this day.
However, since Aika was born and brought into the house, they had been using relatively more gentlemanly methods.
In any case, all that hellish work fell to Cassel.
Whether that round-eyed peanut knew any of this or not, she just beamed and clung to her grandfather.
*That little brat. And who’s the one doing all the hard work?*
