“Come on, sit down.”

As I entered the dining hall, my eyes were immediately drawn to Marquis Craig, who had taken the seat at the head of the table. He seemed unfazed that I arrived later and simply gestured for me to take a seat. Since it was just dinner with his daughter and her friend, Craig did not mention anything about a dress code, as Yuli had pointed out.

Once I sat next to Yuli, the servants began to bring out the food one by one. Dishes were placed on the table in no particular order. It wasn’t an overwhelming amount, but it was certainly enough to fill the table. As the last plate was set down, Craig opened his mouth.

“Serve yourselves.”

Craig took the lead in dishing out food, and soon after, Yuli and I followed suit. Yuli’s mother had passed away, and there were no other relatives at the mansion, so it was just the three of us at the dining table. With only three people at such a large table, it felt incredibly empty, and the sound of utensils clinking made the atmosphere even more desolate.

As the invited guest, I felt too awkward to speak first, unsure whether the food was going into my mouth or my nose; I thought I might choke. Thankfully, Craig, who had been silently eating, finally uttered a word.

“I heard about the scores.”

I’m sorry for complaining. It would have been better if we just ate in silence. …No, please allow me to continue eating quietly.

“Out of thirty students, your score is ranked 20th…”

Desperately wishing he would stop talking, I knew Craig wouldn’t pick up on my silent prayers, and he continued without stopping. With Yuli’s friend sitting right there, did he really have to bring up Yuli’s scores at the table? Not knowing what else to say, he just blurted out Yuli’s grades and then promptly shut his mouth again. All that was left was the clatter of utensils.

“By the way, wasn’t Yuli’s written exam score 2nd? 2nd in the whole class! The professors praised her a lot!”

Trying to lighten the mood, I brought up Yuli’s written exam scores. Yuli’s low overall ranking was due to her low score on the practical exam, but when it came to written exams, she was among the top students. In fact, the professors who taught theory classes always had good things to say about the smart and exemplary Yuli. Of course, Selian ranked 1st in written exams, but we could just ignore her since she was in a league of her own. She dominated both written and practical exams.

“Essentially, it means her swordsmanship skills are still lacking. Don’t worry. From tomorrow onwards, I will personally train you every day.”

I couldn’t help but shiver at the thought of how harshly Craig seemed to be trying to push Yuli to give up on wielding a sword. Even listening to it from a third-party perspective made my skin crawl.

“Now, why don’t you tell me what you’ve been studying at the Academy?”

Craig seemed displeased not only with Yuli’s sword practice but also with her even attending the Academy, probing into everything that had happened since she enrolled.

He asked about her professors, her life at the Academy, the friends she had played with, her studies, and her fellow students, and so on. Throughout the meal, Yuli had to recount everything that had happened to her father’s relentless questioning.

*

“I’m sorry. Did my father make you uncomfortable?”

Yuli smiled wryly, as if to say she understood my predicament.

“No, it’s just that the food is all so delicious that I was too busy eating to notice the time.”

“I’m glad to hear that. I specially requested these dishes since they were favorites of El when she was a child.”

“Haha…”

To be honest, I couldn’t even remember the taste. I only realized that the atmosphere could be this heavy. It wasn’t until we finished our meal and returned to Yuli’s room that I could finally relax my tense body.

“Let’s have a cup of tea after dinner…”

Knock knock

Just as Yuli was about to lift the teapot, there was a knock on the door. She set down the kettle and opened the door to find Marquis Craig standing there. I wondered what they talked about with the door between them, but Craig entered the room with Yuli. He then settled on one side of the round table where Yuli and I were sitting.

Yuli quietly set another teacup and, picking up the teapot she had just set down, poured tea into each of our cups.

Slurp

“…”

Yuli and I sat in silence, while only Craig lifted his teacup to savor the tea. At this rate, I was afraid the food we had just eaten would come back up, so I hoped he would say something.

“Earlier, I only heard about Yuli, but I didn’t get to hear about you. Count Frentz was someone I valued highly. I should have asked how his daughter was doing.”

No matter what he says, he must still be doubting that I really am Count Frentz’s daughter. After over ten years of silence, I suddenly appear claiming to be the last surviving member of House Frentz and sitting right beside his daughter—it’s reasonable to think he would have such suspicions. In fact, it wasn’t entirely wrong.

“Well, fortunately, thanks to the maid who took care of me back then, I managed to escape and received a lot of help.”

Carefully, I spoke about the past to avoid raising any doubts. Of course, this wasn’t the real story of Elysia, but I adapted my experiences bit by bit to make the tale plausible. The Guild Master, who trained me to be an assassin, became the maid who took care of me, and the Guild Hideout, which was located where no one could see it, turned into a ramshackle shack on the outskirts of a village. The assassination training I received was merely an unexpected swordsmanship lesson from a nameless mercenary passing by.

After the Assassin Guild collapsed, I worried someone might take an interest in my past, so I churned out a story about my history multiple times. The fact that I could spin such a believable story made me wonder if I had a talent for storytelling.

“This tea is delightful. Could you pour me another cup, Yuli?”

“Yes.”

Since it was the same mansion, served by the same staff, with the same store, and the same tea leaves ordered, Craig was likely drinking tea no different from our own, yet he repeatedly exclaimed how good it was as he emptied his cup. Each time, Yuli would lift the teapot to refill Craig’s empty teacup.

Fortunately, Craig didn’t seem to harbor any doubts while listening to my story and simply nodded along as he sipped his tea. It was as if he had little interest in what I had to say.

“Well, you must have had a hard time. I’d like to hear more, but it seems time has flown by. Let’s meet again tomorrow morning at the training grounds.”

In the end, I had done all the talking for over an hour. With all that chatting, my hands automatically grasped the teacup, and Craig ended up emptying his cups more than me, leading Yuli to refill his tea several times.

As Craig was about to leave to retire for the night, he paused to look at us, or rather, he turned to Yuli. No matter how I looked at it, he definitely seemed like he had something he wanted to say, yet his lips remained sealed.

“Good night, Father.”

“Thank you for your hospitality, Marquis.”

Even though I would have said goodnight the moment I stepped out, I needed to say something rather than just stand there silently, so Yuli greeted Craig first. I followed behind her, offering my greetings as well.

“…Well. Sleep well.”

Finally, Craig stepped outside. However, when Yuli greeted him, Craig’s lips twitched. No, they seemed to quiver slightly, maybe? His hand even lifted a bit before he stopped.

Given how serious Craig had been all day, I couldn’t help but think I was mistaken, but no matter how much I pondered, the brief twitch in his expression definitely resembled the face of someone stifling a laugh. Professor Selian’s words came to mind again: how Craig, as a Marquis, cherished his daughter Yuli. I couldn’t distinguish which one was Craig’s true face.

While I was lost in thought, Yuli spoke up.

“Alright! Now that Father has gone back, how about you change into your pajamas quickly and join me?”

“…It’s already this late, and I’ll be staying for a few more days. Can’t we just sleep now and talk tomorrow?”

“Hmm? I was thinking we’d talk in bed tonight?”

This wasn’t the time to think about anything else. What was I doing worrying about others? Remembering that I had once slept with Yuli, I should have anticipated this scenario. Now that I had missed my chance, there was no option but to sleep separately in my own room. If the best option wouldn’t work, I needed to struggle for at least a second-best one.

“…Can’t I just lay a blanket on the floor like last time?”

“Hehe.”

Why is Yuli only smiling without answering?