Chapter 42: New Family Member
“I don’t want to interrupt the family reunion.”
Shiron waited momentarily for their attention to shift toward him.
“By the way, those children are…”
“I am Shiron Prient.”
“…I am Lucia Prient.”
Shiron bowed slightly in greeting.contemporary romance
Lucia followed Shiron’s gesture a bit late. She, unfamiliar with formalities, believed that Shiron’s action was the right thing to do, given he was a noble.
“Mother! These are the new friends I made!”
“…I see.”
However, despite the greeting and Siriel’s introduction, the lady’s reaction seemed somewhat cold.
Eldrina’s expression, when she looked up, was sterner than before the greeting.
“Can I talk to you?”
“Sure.”
Siriel’s mother, Eldrina, took Hugo inside the mansion first.
“…”
Only the children remained in front of the main gate.
“Siriel, was my greeting strange?”
“Huh? It seemed normal.”
In response to Lucia’s question, Siriel shrugged.
“Sir, what happened?”
Ophilia, who had been inside the carriage, peeked her head out.
“I’m not sure. Let’s unpack later.”
Shiron sensed that his relationship with Eldrina might not be smooth.
It seems that Hugo didn’t inform Eldrina in advance of their arrival.
Considering they hadn’t discussed it, they might be unable to accommodate family members from the other house branch. If things went south, they might need to find a separate house.
‘I did well bringing Encia and Ophilia.’
A little later,
An old man in a suit approached.
“The lady calls for you.”
“Yes.”
Shiron wiped the sweat from his forehead and responded.
There were times when one could not take advantage of possessing another’s body.
‘When a character who doesn’t appear in the work, or even if they do, they don’t leave much of an impact, shows interest in me.’
Shiron was a long-time player of the game “Reincarnation of the Sword Saint” in his previous life.
Thanks to that, he was well-versed in the main story characters’ personalities and their minute details.
However, he wasn’t familiar with characters that never appeared in the game.
This might be one such situation.
The place he reached, guided by the old man, was a room to greet guests. The luxurious decorations, sofas, and carpets all seemed of high quality.
The feel of the carpet beneath his shoes was incredibly soft.
As he was sitting and observing his surroundings, a woman entered.
Shimmering silver hair, blue eyes, a sensual figure that wasn’t vulgar.
It was Eldrina, Siriel’s mother, who hardly appeared even in “Reincarnation of the Sword Saint.”
“You must be overwhelmed. I apologize.”
The woman in front of them gave a sharp smile to the children.
“Once again, I am Shiron Prient.”
“…I am Lucia Prient.”
“Don’t stand. Sit comfortably.”
Eldrina sat on the opposite sofa, and the children could sit in turn after receiving her permission. Was that the right move? Eldrina hid her mouth with a fan and smirked.
Shiron felt uncomfortable with that attitude. It was oddly nerve-wracking.
“What did she discuss with Hugo?”
In truth, it was only natural for adults to give children they were meeting for the first time a second look. Starting from today, if these were the people you were going to live with, it wasn’t too much of a bother to call them out once to check if they were decent.
Because, in reality, this was a common occurrence.
People understood because they correctly discerned the cause.
However, this place was a game world. He reincarnated into this game world, and even if the game had turned into reality, its foundation did not change.
Intuition. The nature of characters was often presented to players through the narrative, but if that was not possible, it was easily suggested to the players based on their appearance.
Hugo was a stubborn warrior, and Encia was a mischievous girl. In this way, elements were pieced together like a puzzle under the pretext of ‘plausibility’.
‘Look at that, a realist character.’
So, Shiron made assumptions about a person’s character based on their appearance and acted accordingly. Arrogant behavior, like what was shown in front of Hugo, was forbidden.
A realist character and also a lady? Perhaps because appearance played a significant role in plausibility in this world, Eldrina had been overtly eyeing his direction.
‘Tricky.’
Shiron suppressed various physiological reactions.
Actions that might be caught, like rolling his eyes, fidgeting with his hands, or scratching the back of his hand.
That was why he didn’t dare touch the luxurious desserts or lemonade in front of him.
“According to him, if you could live by just tasting lemonade, you would? Our Siriel also really likes lemonade, so I hope it suits your taste.”
Eldrina smiled warmly at the children.
“Feel free to eat as much as you want.”
“…Thank you.”
Only then did Shiron begin to nibble at the cake in front of him. He didn’t want to, but he had no choice.
“…”
Until the desserts in front of him were all gone, Eldrina did not say a word.
“You seem to have enjoyed it.”
“Thanks to you…”
How many minutes passed? Shiron emptied a plate he didn’t even know the purpose of.
Finally, Eldrina nodded with satisfaction.
“I hope you know that I didn’t call you here just to give warnings before you stay in this house.”
“What do you mean?”
Lucia asked, shivering slightly.
“I thought you were his hidden children.”
“…?”
What the heck was she talking about?
“…May I ask why you thought so?”
Shiron, who had momentarily lost his spirit, asked this without realizing it.
Eldrina chuckled, seemingly a bit embarrassed.
“What should I call this? Jealousy? Yes, that’s right.”
“Jealousy?”
Lucia looked at her in disbelief.
“He’s so exceptional, isn’t he? So, from a young age, he’s had so many bugs clinging to him.”
“Bugs…”
“…It must have been hard for you.”
“Yes. Worrying about him every time he was out of my sight was so annoying. But I can’t blame them.”
Eldrina knew her husband Hugo was from a special family.
Not just a bit special, but very much so.
Describing the stature of a man who was exempt from the authority of even the emperor and pope and was highly respected would be tedious.
“The emperor himself can’t take him lightly, and his martial prowess is considered the strongest on the continent. Isn’t he truly charming?”
Shiron felt that Eldrina’s thinly opened eyes seemed greedy.
“So, you don’t love your husband?”
Lucia squinted and asked. It was only natural to feel bad seeing Hugo, a good man, being treated so lightly by this woman.
Eldrina chuckled as if amused.
“What a bold question.”
“Was it wrong to ask that?”
“No. I’m rather pleased.”
Eldrina crossed her legs and looked down at Lucia.
“I am confident. There’s no creature in the world who would love a man named Hugo Prient more than I do. That’s why I could survive that tiresome contest.”
“That’s intense.”
Shiron let out a deep sigh.
“My lady, why share this story with us? It seems like something that wouldn’t benefit even if my granduncle knew.”
“Well? When I tell children such frank stories, most of them react similarly. Several kids have come claiming they’re descendants of Prient when he’s not around.”
Eldrina lightly tapped her shoulder with a fan.
“All of them back off, crying. But you two respond confidently. This is the first time.”
“So, have your doubts been resolved, my lady?”
Shiron gave a lukewarm smile, looking at the mysterious woman in front of him.
“Of course.”
It was a refreshing and satisfying answer.
However, Lucia, seemingly filled with discontent, spoke to Eldrina with her arms crossed.
“Isn’t it too dangerous to take such actions just to verify the truth? There’s a precedent of reporting this to the master.”
“I can’t be insecure when dealing with a talkative kid. Moreover, he’s not a fool.”
“It’s cruel to treat kids this way.”
“Would I be here if I cared about my reputation?”
Eldrina laughed as if she heard nonsense.
“It wouldn’t have been bad for you either. It’s a gain beyond doubt.”
Eldrina stood up and moved behind Shiron and Lucia.
“Welcome to the family.”
Suddenly-
Eldrina, who had not completely let go of her suspicions until now, finally seemed content. She left these words and disappeared from the room.
When no signs of her were felt around, Lucia quickly turned to Shiron.
“Shiron, can you believe it? She’s Siriel’s mother!”
“Indeed…”
“She might look the same, but her personality is entirely different!”
Lucia spoke fervently, like an angry Chihuahua. The rumbling sound of her agitation was even audible.
Shiron tilted his head slightly and said,
“Siriel might turn out like that when she grows up.”
“… Don’t say such horrifying things.”
done.co