Chapter 15: “The Second Negative Campaign”

When the four of us came out of the forest together, we were able to meet the intended people better than we had expected.

The two people there were my father, Randall, and Margrave Byreus, who was currently visiting the Malbert territory for an inspection.

Both of them seemed wide-eyed and astonished when they saw Lauren, but they immediately asked us to help them understand the situation.

“What happened?”

“Father, I actually met Lauren over there a while ago, and Mark was showing her around when we ran into the woods behind the house and a Lesser Grizzly appeared.”

“Wh-what!?”

As if to interrupt Randall’s shout, I continued to speak.

“I found them near-death situation when I happened to be strolling through the forest, so I took care of the Lesser Grizzly and let them escape.”

“So that’s how you escaped?”

“No, I let them go, and then I was the one who killed the Lesser Grizzly.”

“What…… you? Not Mark?”

“Yes, it was me.”

When I said that, Randall was even more astonished than before. If the mischievous son suddenly did something heroic like that, anyone would be suspicious. …… Well, it was all part of the play.

While I was explaining this, Margrave Byreus rushed over to Lauren to check on her safety. Her dress was dirty, but she was not noticeably injured, and Margrave Byreus was relieved.

Now, it was time to start the farce.

After my explanation, Lauren, who had been silent until now, interrupted me.

“That’s enough! How dare you tell a lie like that!?”

“…… What are you talking about, Miss Lauren?”

“Baron Malbert. Everything that Roland-sama has said is a lie. It was Roland-sama who first met me, and it was he who took me to the forest. The Lesser Grizzly indeed attacked me, but he abandoned me and ran away from the oncoming monster. I was at my wits’ end, about to be killed by a Lesser Grizzly when Mark-sama and Laura-sama appeared, and Mark-sama defeated the Lesser Grizzly and saved me.”

“…..”

After Lauren’s explanation, I deliberately turned my face away as if to escape Randall’s devilish glare. He….. looked scary if you looked directly at him.

After that, both Mark and Laura’s explanations were the same as Lauren’s, and they both seemed to conclude that my explanation was a lie. Long live majority rule.

(Now that I’ve lost my reputation as Roland, I’ll make my next move.)

“Roland, you’re such a ………”

“Father, no. I’m–“

–Zugan.

The next thing I knew, my body was blown away and my vision shows an orange sky that was turning into a sunset. The slight pain in my cheek made it clear that I had been hit.

It was unexpected that Randall, my father, had hit me, but it was convenient for me, so I immediately got up, holding my cheek, and raised my voice in protest.

“Wh-what are you doing, Father!?”

“You deserve to be beaten. Why can’t you understand that?”

“I-I’m just… I’m just showing Miss Lauren around.”

“I’m blaming you, Roland. You’re a member of the Malbert family, and I blame you for abandoning others and running away for your own safety. And what’s more, Miss Lauren is an important guest of the Malbert family!”

“……”

Although it has not been long since the Malbert family was established as a noble family, Randall, my father, hates more than anything to go against human reason because he had achieved his current position through military merit.

That was why I’d been told since I was a child not to be dishonest in any way that goes against human reason.

That was probably why my father, who usually tried to educate me by strength, couldn’t stand it when he found out what I had done and became violent.

“Margrave Byreus. I am truly sorry for what has happened. As a guest, I was unable to protect Miss Lauren’s well-being.”

“No problem, my daughter is back safe and sound. And your son, Mark, has taken good care of her. Mark, as a father, I want to thank you for protecting my daughter.”

“No, sir, I haven’t done much.”

Byreus accepts Randall’s apology and thanks Mark for protecting his daughter. I put on a face that said I’m not amused by this exchange, but I clench my fists and acted like I’m disappointed.

Then, perhaps thinking that this was just the right opportunity, Byreus made a proposal to Mark.

“Mark-dono, I’m going to make this very clear. Would you be willing to marry my daughter Lauren?”

“Eeh”

“Eh”

“Eeh~”

The people in the room had a three-way reaction to the unexpected proposal by Byreus. By the way, each of us pronounced the word “eh,” but I said “eh” because I was happy about Byreus’ proposal, Mark said “eh” because he was genuinely surprised, and Lauren said “eh” because she was unhappy.

Even though each word was the same, it was rare to see such different meanings of the word “eh”……. Oops, Mark was looking at me like he was trying to figure out what was going on. It was probably because he wanted to know what he was supposed to do.

I put my hands around my waist so that the others wouldn’t notice, and gave a thumbs up so that only Mark could see. This was my way of telling him to accept the offer.

Mark must have made up his mind after receiving my instruction. With an expression on his face, Mark replied to Byreus as follows.

“I don’t know if I am the right person for her, but I would appreciate it.”

“Well, I thought I was just going to visit, but I didn’t expect my daughter to get engaged too.”

He had been wanting to do this from the start, but Byreus is being a jerk about it. As for me, I succeeded in pushing Mark to accept the engagement that was supposed to be addressed to me while lowering my reputation as planned…….

This would make the people around me aware once again that I am not worthy of being a lord by completing my mission in this inspection of the Margrave of Byreus.

(……Okay, let’s make a final push.)

“She’s going to be your fiancée? You’ve got to be kidding me!”

“Brother”

I walked over to Mark and grabbed him by the chest. Then I spit out one of my throwaway lines.

“Listen, there is no younger brother in this world who is better than his older brother! As long as I am the first son and you are the second son, you will never be a lord. You’d better keep that in mind.”

“W-wait, Roland! I’m not done talking to you yet!”

Randall seemed to be shouting something at my back as I tried to return to the mansion, but I ignored him and headed back to the mansion.

Having accomplished most of my goals, I returned to my room with a satisfied look on my face.