BBYW Vol. 4 Chapter 8 (WN)
Chapter 8 – The Father’s Awakening
After a trip of around 10 days, I arrived back in the Maxwell province.
Three months had passed since I had left: naturally, I was welcomed warmly…by the old man’s preaching.
“Are you truly aware of your position as heir!? Or do you have no intention of inheriting the title of Margrave!? If you don’t, just say it now, for heaven’s sake!”
“Nah, I mean to inherit the title, and I do think that I want to be a good ruler.”
“You best show it, then!! What type of heir disappears from the house for months!?”
The old man smacked the table with his firsts, yelling, foaming at the mouth. You could clearly see the veins bulging on his forehead: he was barely keeping himself from leaping over the table and grabbing me by the collar.
(Aw, crap…he’s really pissed.)
I instinctively felt things were going to take a really bad turn, so I pulled out my trump card.
“I realize that it was a mistake on my part for going to the empire without saying anything. But…after that, it’s the old hag’s responsibility, you know?”
“…What?”
Just as I mentioned the old hag — my “mother”, Grace D.O. Maxwell — the old man’s expression deflated. He was madly in love with her, so just saying her name scored me a critical hit.
“I’m pretty sure that me being there helped the old hag quite a bit, actually. I helped her take down the enemy pirates, and even killed a fated opponent of hers, in her stead.”
“Hmm, but…! No…I see. It is a good thing to be helpful to your parents…”
The flames of anger burning inside the old man were visibly doused. Trying as much as I could to hide a grin, I delivered the coup de grace.
“Oh yeah, now that I remember, she gave me something for you.”
“What!? Say that earlier, you fool!!”
I took out a package from my luggage, and the old man almost climbed on top of the table to snatch it out of my hands. He opened it carefully, painstakingly trying not to rip the wrapping, and uncovered the wooden box inside.
“Ooh…! A coat!”
Indeed, inside the package there was a deep-green long coat, called “Mishra”: a kind of traditional garment of far away tribes.
“It’s almost autumn, you’ll need to wear something like this outside.”
“Indeed, indeed! As always, Grace always knows what I need! What a thoughtful woman!”
“Really now…well, if you say so, fine by me…”
What part of that insane hag was thoughtful was beyond me.
The old man immediately put on his new coat, a beaming smile on his face, then even posed and turned in front of the mirror, like a boy that fell in love with fashion for the first time.
I could barely endure the sight of a middle-aged man gazing at himself like that — but unfortunately, he was my own father.
I couldn’t take it anymore, so I held my head in my hands and stood up.
“…can I go now? I’m tired from the trip.”
“Sure, sure…I might go for a walk like this, hehehe…”
“………….”
I headed for the door, trying to keep the old man outside my field of sight as much as possible. Before I left, I asked one last question.
“By the way, what of the reinforcements to House Sphinx? You got the report, right?”
Before departing from the southern province, I had a Fangs of Steel member deliver a letter to my father.
The old man stopped prancing in front of the mirror and turned towards me.
“Hmm…I have already sent a petition to the royal palace, to let our troops through. It might be difficult, but we’ll handle it as we prepare the soldiers for the expedition, so have a look at them.”
“I will…but don’t get too excited, all right? Please.”
The old man had already turned towards the mirror again, grinning and blushing like a schoolgirl. I left the office, as quick as I possibly could.