“Kyle, look here.”
“Yes?”
I called out Kyle from behind, who was monotonously working as usual.
Of course, working like this was something that had to be done, but it was just so boring.
Anyway, since I was getting a little bored just working, I decided to play a little prank.
It wasn’t a nasty prank, just a standard level of mischief.
“Yap.”
“…?”
As Kyle turned his head, I poked his cheek gently with my finger.
I was careful to avoid hurting his cheek with my nails.
It was fun to tease him, but I didn’t want him to get hurt because of it.
No matter how muscular and fit Kyle was, he could still get scratched by something sharp like a nail.
“I just called you out of boredom.”
“Sophia.”
“Yeah?”
“Weren’t your parents supposed to arrive soon?”
“Uh… right?”
I remembered saying that last time.
It had been a month since they sent a letter, so they should be arriving sometime within the next week or two.
Of course, there was still over a month left technically.
In conclusion, it was about time they should be arriving.
Since we were already in September.
“Why do you say that all of a sudden?”
“When your mom and dad get here, we need to prepare a room and stuff for them.”
“Well… we just need to prepare a room with a good bed, right?”
If they were going to be picky about that kind of thing, they probably would have moved a long time ago.
Though it wasn’t a bad house for commoners, we had been living in the same place since before I was born.
Plus, considering they had been making more money selling that… medicine than they expected, the fact that they hadn’t moved shows that they didn’t care that much.
“I really don’t think they’ll complain if the bed is nice.”
“Is that so? Well, I was actually planning to do that from the beginning.”
“Don’t overthink it. If you make it too fancy, they might say it’s too much pressure!”
That’s how they were.
If Kyle were to prepare a really extravagant room, they might even ask for a different room because it felt uncomfortable.
If the bed was nice enough, my mom wouldn’t say a word.
As for Dad… he would probably be fine with any decent room.
“But honestly, I think Mom will be happy if the bed is nice and the room is just ordinary! Just make sure the diet is a bit healthier.”
There was no particular reason.
Just… because they were still hot-blooded after all.
If I took care of those two things well, I thought they could stay in Eristirol without any complaints.
Just like how humans need basic necessities, my mom… would need that kind of stuff too.
“Oh, and make sure the room has good soundproofing.”
“….”
“Mmm, well… what can I do about that for mom?”
I really hadn’t done anything wrong.
How was I supposed to control my mom’s hot-bloodedness?
Even if I told her to stop, I didn’t think she would actually listen.
In fact, she would probably just go for it more.
People tend to want to do things more when they’re told not to.
I was sure that’s how it would turn out.
If Dad hadn’t held back, I might have been the eldest child in a family of ten by now.
It could’ve been even worse.
*
“Honestly, right now feels even more awkward than when you and I went back to our hometown.”
“Haha… I feel the same.”
“When we first brought you to meet my parents, was it like this?”
“Um… it must have been worse than this.”
“Guess so….”
Kyle and I stood quietly in front of the castle gate.
For some reason this year, there had been quite a few ridiculous happenings on the days we waited in front of the castle gate.
On the day I was going to go out for a date with Kyle, I met a princess, and on the day I was waiting for Kyle, he confessed to me.
Those were all such absurd things.
“Is there any other business today or anything?”
“Probably?”
“Well… that’s a relief.”
If that was the case, it was a good thing.
It felt strange that my parents were coming to Eristirol, and I didn’t want anything else happening here.
Besides, there shouldn’t be anything more to add to the situation.
At this time, no one besides my parents would be arriving in Eristirol.
The wedding would be next month anyway, and the nobility coming to the wedding were still far from arriving.
“It’s warm here.”
“Well, that’s because your body temperature is higher.”
“Not just that, it’s just warm.”
I held Kyle’s hand with one hand and kept the other in my pocket while waiting.
Though it had risen about five degrees, it wasn’t exactly warm weather.
Just holding hands with Kyle felt incredibly warm.
Truly.
“I guess I should talk to your dad tomorrow.”
“Um… well, we can do it today if we wanted.”
“That’s true.”
Kyle and I were on the same page.
As Kyle said, it wouldn’t be hard to talk to my parents and the Duke today.
After all, we could just talk over dinner a little later.
But we implicitly agreed to not do that on purpose.
Since my parents had been bouncing around in the carriage since they left.
They must be exhausted in every way, that was for sure.
Last time, I was super tired myself.
Knowing my parents were older than me, they would definitely feel it more.
“Since we didn’t even ask your dad, let’s take our time.”
“Okay.”
“By the way… when will they arrive…?”
“They’re probably coming soon. I heard they’d arrive around dinner time.”
“I hope they come soon.”
As we held each other’s hands, we slowly waited for my parents to arrive.
We had been waiting for about ten minutes in silence, right?
We could vaguely hear the sound of a carriage approaching.
It wasn’t overly loud, but the characteristic clatter of a carriage was unmistakable that it was coming.
“They’re here.”
“Shall we call the servants?”
“Um… Let’s just see first. If they have a light load, we can bring it in ourselves, right?”
“Got it.”
Kyle and I discussed this while we waited for my parents to enter the castle.
They must be quite surprised.
*
“….”
“….”
“Why are you both so quiet?”
“Um… honey, how big was the lord’s castle again?”
“…At least smaller than this.”
It looked like they were more shocked than I thought.
They didn’t even look at Kyle and me after getting out of the carriage, just staring at the castle.
“Mom, Dad. Kyle was waiting too, can you at least say hello? It’s a bit awkward.”
“Ah, sorry. This is my first time seeing such a castle.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. I’m just grateful you see the castle nicely.”
Honestly… it was kind of funny seeing the three of us meet after a long time.
Kyle was trying to look as good as he could in front of my parents, while my parents were visibly shocked by the realization of being around nobility.
Last time, only Kyle was flustered, but now all three of us were in a bit of a frenzy.
It seemed that I was the most composed out of the three of us at that moment.
“Let’s go inside because it’s cold. How much luggage do you have in there?”
“About two luggage bags in the compartment.”
“Then… Kyle, let’s each take one. Is that okay?”
“Sure.”
Kyle and I decided to each take one of my parents’ bags from the compartment.
It felt a bit heavy, but I couldn’t just push it onto my parents, and I didn’t want Kyle to carry both alone.
Anyway, we led my parents into the castle.
As we entered the castle, our parents were… genuinely amazed.
It seemed even more so than I was when I first entered the castle.
I was surprised by the scale, but at least I wasn’t completely speechless.
Well, considering they had always lived in a small southern village, it was a very natural reaction.
“Well, what do you think? Isn’t my husband impressive?”
“Impressive? More than just a little bit…”
“Well, he’s a Duke.”
“…I think my daughter brought home someone more impressive than I expected.”
“Dad, you treated him normally last time, didn’t you?”
“Well, that was before I saw this castle.”
Honestly, it was a bit amusing.
Last time when I met Kyle, there was only a slight awkwardness at first, but afterward, my parents treated Kyle like usual.
As Dad said, back then I only looked at Kyle’s appearance or character, but I hadn’t seen any of this background at all.
So it was a natural reaction.
And that made it even more entertaining.
“For now, you two can stay here, but… do you want a bigger room?”
“…This is honestly a bit overwhelming.”
“Daughter, you remembered your mother’s tastes well.”
“Right?”
I showed them around the room.
It was an ordinary room.
Well, ordinary by noble standards.
That said, the quality of the room itself was probably satisfactory or even more.
And my mom… instantly perked up when she saw the bed.
That response was expected, of course.
“Is it okay to lie down?”
“Yeah.”
“Hehe….”
Mom slowly walked over to the bed and quietly sat down on one side.
From the expression on her face, she seemed satisfied.
As I thought, the most important thing for my parents’ stay was the bed.
The evidence being that my mom looked happier than she had since entering the castle.
As for dad… well, I was sure he would be happy enough.
The room itself was very nice.
The bed was amazing…
“Oh, mom.”
“Yeah? What is it?”
“By the way, the room is soundproofed well. Just so you know.”
“…Sophia, why do you have such conveniences….”
I thought I saw a slightly sad expression on dad’s face, but… it couldn’t be helped.
In our family, the one with the highest authority was definitely mom.
Kyle would be more comfortable if he won her favor.
Sorry, dad… but I was pretty sure he would like it too.
No matter the quality of the bed or the soundproofing, I felt my mom would always find a way to make it happen.
“Haha.”
I just laughed like Kyle to escape from dad’s saddened gaze.
Still… a room with a hard bed and no soundproofing was definitely not as good as this, right?
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.
