Chapter 24

The Zernias Count Family.

The family of the character I possessed, ‘Albert Zernias,’ and a family that does not exist in the original novel, [The Crown Prince Wields a Sword].

When I first heard the family name after possessing this body, I was honestly terrified.

It was already enough to faint from the shock of possessing a character in a novel I had read, but to possess a body that was never even mentioned once in the novel?

That was scary.

The family, the parents, the servants…

Even though I had read the original, nothing I knew existed here.

The fear that arises from the unknown. The so-called fear of the unknown was more terrifying than I thought.

At the time of possession, I was quite frightened by the surrounding situation.

But in the end, it was all meaningless fuss.

My parents, as I mentioned before, were incredibly kind to me, more than I deserved.

The servants of the Count’s family always greeted me with bright smiles.

Although there were some servants who still treated me like a 12-year-old child.

But that was because they cherished me, the only son of the Zernias Count Family, not because they wanted to hurt my feelings.

Except for Aaron.

Aaron, my swordsmanship teacher and a knight of the Count’s family, always lived for the thrill of defeating me.

Anyway, most of the Count’s servants were satisfied with their jobs and seemed to genuinely love this mansion.

…Their affection was a bit excessive, though.

“…”

I was currently trapped in the Zernias Count’s Mansion.

*

Some might not understand what it means to be trapped in one’s own house, but I was literally trapped.

To explain it simply for those who still don’t understand.

Since yesterday, after visiting the Valencia Duchy, I was grounded.

While returning from having dinner at the Duke’s mansion as usual, I unfortunately ran into my mother, the Countess Zernias, at the mansion’s main gate.

Seeing me with bandages wrapped tightly around obviously painful wounds, my mother naturally scolded me.

– Your debut into society is just around the corner, what do you think will happen if you come back injured!

And the result of that was the current situation. The laughable situation of being trapped in my own house.

I do understand my mother’s actions.

I had never come home injured from outside before.

She must have been worried about her son getting hurt outside for the first time and made that decision.

As my mother said, the Imperial banquet, where Rebecca and I would make our debut into society, was just around the corner.

“……Sigh.”

But understanding my mother’s feelings and my own troubled heart were two different things.

It was true that I came home with bruises all over.

But Rebecca, who caused those wounds, treated me herself, and it didn’t hurt unless touched.

No matter how I thought about it, being grounded seemed like an overreaction.

So, to somehow change my mother’s mind, I sought out several people.

The Count’s physician, the Count’s maids, even my father.

I asked three groups of people to persuade my mother.

– You were injured like this, why didn’t you come to me right away! Get treated by me again and rest immediately!

The Count’s physician, instead of helping to persuade my mother, focused on treating me again.

– ……Who gave you these wounds, young master?

– Find out who did it, Emma.

– Alright. I’ll find out, so wait with the young master.

The maids, with terrifyingly cold expressions, tried to find the person who caused these wounds.

– ……Your mother must have her reasons. Follow her words.

My father, who always respected my opinions, unfortunately didn’t have the power to win against my mother.

The reason I rambled about the Zernias Count Family earlier was this.

Everyone in the Zernias Count Family cherishes me, the young master, so much that they overprotect me to the point of frustration.

Because of that overprotection, I couldn’t persuade my mother and was trapped here.

Of course, I didn’t dislike this overprotection. As I kept emphasizing, overprotection meant that everyone cherished me.

Who wouldn’t like being loved by those around them?

But it was too much.

I’m 18 now, about to have my coming-of-age ceremony this year, yet everyone treats me like a 12-year-old kid.

Could there be anything more unfair?

“……She’s going to sulk again.”

I thought of Rebecca.

Given my mother’s current momentum, it was clear she wouldn’t let me out until the Imperial banquet a week later.

Rebecca was already sulking because I hadn’t visited her for a week yesterday.

Doing this twice in a row, how much would she sulk? I couldn’t even imagine.

Even if I offered all the strawberries in the Empire instead of strawberry cake or strawberry ice cream, her sulking wouldn’t go away.

“Ugh.”

I shuddered at the sudden horrifying thought.

Although Rebecca’s sulking face was cute.

But that thought was only possible when I could see Rebecca puffing her cheeks with a ‘I’m sulking’ expression.

It wasn’t something I could think of when she was genuinely upset and wouldn’t even meet me.

While I was worrying in my room about what to do.

Knock knock-

“Young master, aren’t you going to practice swordsmanship today?”

It was already time for swordsmanship practice.

By the way, Aaron, who had returned to his original duties with the knights, agreed to teach me swordsmanship again until my grounding was over.

“……No, I should.”

Although I hadn’t decided what to do yet, there was nothing better than swinging a sword to sort out complicated thoughts.

I got up with my sword.

*

Swish-

I swung the sword. I raised the sword.

And then swung it again.

Just two actions repeated endlessly.

In this endless repetition, I could sort out my thoughts to some extent.

“……There’s no answer.”

No answer.

There was no way to persuade my mother.

“Are you worried about being grounded?”

“Yeah.”

As I had just said, the current situation was quite bleak.

To not hurt Rebecca’s feelings, I needed to visit the Valencia Duke’s mansion, but my mother showed no signs of lifting the grounding.

“How can I resolve this situation well?”

“May I offer my thoughts?”

“……You?”

Aaron, who had never had a girlfriend by the age of 28, was offering me advice.

I looked at him with suspicious eyes, not believing it at all.

“I’ll tell you.”

“……”

Despite my gaze, that shameless knight stubbornly shared his opinion.

“Young master, the reason you’re worried about being grounded is because of Princess Valencia, right?”

“……Yeah. That’s why I’m worrying, because I can’t go to the Duke’s mansion.”

“Then why not ask Princess Rebecca to come to the Zernias Count’s Mansion? Wouldn’t that solve the problem?”

“That’s nonsense……”

I was about to rebuke Aaron as usual for such a nonsensical idea.

But…

‘……Not bad?’

Thinking again, it was a pretty good idea.

If I couldn’t visit Rebecca due to the grounding, then Rebecca could visit me instead.

If I explained why I was grounded, Rebecca, feeling guilty, wouldn’t say anything.

After all, Rebecca was essentially the cause of the grounding.

It was a much better idea than I thought. I was almost suspicious if it really came from Aaron.

“I’m genuinely curious how you came up with such a good idea.”

“I’ve never been in a relationship, but I’ve read a lot of romance novels.”

“……”

“……Why are you looking at me with such pitiful eyes?”

“Nothing, forget it.”

Someday, even my swordsmanship teacher would find someone to love.

Although I couldn’t guarantee when that would be.

They say everyone has a match. Someday, everyone would find their match.

Probably.

After briefly being upset by my gaze, Aaron asked me again.

“So, will you send a letter?”

“Probably.”

Although this was a world where magic existed, the main means of communication was letters.

Communication magic was said to be a tricky spell.

Anyway, communication magic wasn’t easily usable and was only for really important situations, as the author mentioned.

“Then let’s end today’s swordsmanship practice here and go write a letter.”

“……What’s with you? Usually, you’d say ‘I don’t want to do knight duties’ and try to practice more.”

“Seeing the young master’s pitiful eyes made me think I should somehow get a girlfriend.”

“……”

I didn’t continue the conversation there and sent Aaron away, returning to my room to write a letter.

Continuing the conversation would only hurt someone, and I wanted to send my thoughts to Rebecca quickly.

After writing the letter with care, I immediately gave it to the butler in charge of the Zernias Count Family’s communications.

“If sent now, it should arrive by tomorrow.”

“That’s earlier than I thought.”

“The distance isn’t that far, after all.”

“Please, butler.”

“Of course.”

And the next day.

Rebecca didn’t send a reply to my letter.

“……”

“……Why are you staring like that? Aren’t you going to guide me?”

Instead of sending a reply, she came to the Zernias Count’s Mansion in person.

Just one day after I sent the letter.

---