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Volume 3 Chapter 3 Part 6

「Could it be that Lord Vilar has returned already? 」

Siluca hurriedly approached the drop window, which she opened slightly and looked outside. In the dark, a horse-drawn carriage could be seen being parked in front of the mansion. However, that carriage did not belong to Vilar. The carriage was painted black, and the two horses that were pulling it were also black. There was no lights on it whatsoever, and it seemed as if whoever was the owner of it was trying to get lost in the darkness to avoid being detected.

Irvin’s figure was by the side of the carriage. Emma and Luna were also standing nearby.

「A visitor at this hour? 」

Siluca looks back at Theo and said as such.

「Who might it be? Could it be that the owner of the mansion came to say hello? 」

「That may be the case… 」

Siluca could only come up with such an answer, but when she looked back at the carriage, she felt that something was amiss, and her suspicions were confirmed when people who seem to appear out of nowhere surrounded the carriage with Irvin and the twins.

「… but I think it might be someone else, and a pretty prominent figure at that, looking at the lengths they are going with their security. 」

「But then, who might that be? Surely it cannot be someone who wants to see us, and Lord Vilar should still be at the palace of the Marquis of Halusia… 」

As Theo was pondering who the mysterious guest might be, Siluca saw that one of the Werewolf twins outside nodded her head after they and Irvin were approached by one of the hooded figures, and then she made her way towards the door to the house, and after a few short moment they heard knocking on the door. After being allowed entrace, Luna peeked her head through the door and said:

「Lord Theo, you have a visitor. He says that his name is Alexis. 」

「Alexis… 」

It took a while for both Theo and Siluca who the mysterious visitor really was, and then…

「…What?! 」

「M-Marquis Alexis is here?! 」

Theo and Siluca were both shocked. They have met the Marquis of Halusia only a few hours ago and before they went their separate ways he did express a desire to talk with Theo some more the next time they would meet, but neither of them expected that this 「next time」is going to be so soon.

「W-What should we do? Should we go welcome him? 」
「He said that there is no need for you to go to welcome him, so you can feel free to stay here and wait for him here. 」

「I-I understand. 」

At the words of the Werewolf girl, Theo nodded with a smile after recovering from the initial shock, and the he saw one of the twins run off into the corridor without making a single sound with his eyes.

「Do… do you think I should maybe change back into my formal attire? 」

「It seems that he came here while wanting to remain incognito, so I do not think we need to worry ourselves with that, since that would only make him wait for us that much longer. 」

Siluca said as she closed the window and locked it tightly, and then she and Theo moved the table into the middle of the room and supplemented it with the most expensive-looking chairs they brought from the back of the room. When she glanced at Theo, she could see that he was looking somewhat tense.

After a while, there was finally a knock on the door and the guest they have been waiting for entered the room, so they moved the chairs that they have prepared. After that, Theo and Siluca kept their faces down and waited until they were going to be called out.
「I am sorry for such a late night visit, but I really wanted to talk to you no matter what… 」

A clear voice resounded.

「… so please, feel free to be at ease. 」

Hearing those words, Siluca looke back at Theo. They nodded at each other and then stood up. Siluca then went and prepared the chairs for Theo and herself.

As the two of them sat facing their guest, Alexis smiled brightly, and once he did that, it felt as if the entire room just got that much brighter as well, which caused Siluca to think that in that regard, Alexis was just like the sun itself.
「I ordered my men to not disturb us under any circumstances, because I wanted to make sure that I will get to talk to you guys without anyone possibly interfering. 」

「It is an honor. 」

Theo replied politely.

「However, I do have to admit that I am a bit confused by this whole situation. After all, someone like me is definitely not in a high enough position to be talking directly with the leader of the Fantasia Union. 」

「If it is the difference in our standing that you are worried about, then do not be, since my peerage is nothing more but a gift from my father, so in that regard, I think that someone like you, someone who had to raise the power of his Crest from scratch, become the leader of Selvis, even if only for a short time, and even became a Viscount is even more amazing, Lord Theo. 」

「I managed to achieve none of these things with my power alone. All that I managed to do and everything I have become I owe to Siluca here and the wonderful friends and companions whom I have met long the way. Not to mention that if Lord Vilar did not come to my aid when he did, I probably would not even be sitting here talking with you like that, your highness. 」

「Ah, you mean how you generously gave up both your rank and the territories in your possession for the sake of Lady Siluca? 」

Alexis said with hie eyes shining even more brightly than they did before.

「She was the one who was guiding me on my way ever since I was nothing more than a wandering Lord and a simple squire, then of course I would be willing to sacrifice everything else in order to protect her. 」

Siluca’s heart warmed up when she heard Theo speak those words. Back then at that time, she never thought that Theo would keep his contract with her until he gave up his title and his position as King of Selvis after the Battle of Selvis.

「When I heard that story for the first time, I was moved to tears. Choosing love over the court rank and territories… if only I had enough courage to do the same… 」

Alexis bowed his head as he said that.

(So this is what the rumors are saying about those events?!)

Siluca’s chest became so hot that it actually started to hurt her.

There is no doubt that Theo has indeed chosen her over his title and territories, but the reason for that was not because of his love for her, but because of the trust that he had in her as his contracted Mage. Siluca was more than content with that, but at the same time, it made her feel a little bit lonely.

「I was only able to make that decision because I did not have anything to my name in the first place, so it is not like I was feeling any sort of lingering attachment to my title back then. But unlike me, Lord Alexis has been entrusted with a great many important things, and I do not think that throwing them all away because of your personal feelings would be the best idea.

「Even so, to me, the love that I feel towards Marine is more important than anything else in the world. When I realized that my love for her might not come into fruition, there was a time where I even thought about taking my own life because of it… but Marine was the one who did not give up and tried to do everything she could in order to pave the way for us to finally be together… 」

Alexis said while tears began to well up in his eyes.

Siluca has heard the story of how Alexis Ducet and Marine Kraische met one another. They first met while studying in Elam, without being aware of what their true identities really were, and instantly fallen in love with each other. Since they were the children of the leaders of the opposing factions that were at war with one another, you would think that their fate was to never be together, but that is not how things went down.