“My, is that so? I can understand that when I look at Lady Miharu. Don’t you agree, Liselotte?” Charlotte turned to Liselotte happily.
“Yes. Lady Miharu’s character was described very accurately.” Liselotte nodded with a smile.
“T-That’s not true... I’m plain, and Satsuki is so much more amazing than I am. She was practically the idol of the school.” Miharu’s face turned bright red as she looked downwards and praised Satsuki.
“Aww, that’s not true. Me and the boys in my grade all said you were the cutest, and your cooking was so famous that even the culinary club said they wanted to try it, you know?” Satsuki laughed.
“Y-You’re lying. That’s the first I’ve heard of such a rumor.” Miharu shrunk her entire body back.
“No, it’s the truth. Middle school boys are surprisingly slow, you know. There weren’t many of them who had the courage to actually confess... But someone actually confessed to you before, no?” Satsuki asked.
“I have, but I’ve never dated anyone, and I didn’t have any boys I was close to, so... Hasn’t someone confessed their feelings to you, Satsuki?”
“Well, I can’t deny that, but it wasn’t very many,” Satsuki answered with a bitter smile.
In reality, during the time when Satsuki and Miharu were enrolled in the same middle school, the rest of the school considered them to be the most beautiful girls around. However, because Miharu was uncomfortable around men, she wasn’t the type of person who would approach them herself, so she never understood how popular she was from their perspective.
As for Satsuki, because she was a young lady from a well-off family and her own standards were too high, she felt out of reach and hard to approach.
Liselotte must have surmised what kind of school circumstance Satsuki and Miharu were placed in, as she giggled. “I think I have an idea as to what your school days were like. The two of you must have had many admirers.”
“No, no. Miharu aside, that wasn’t the case for me.”
“Maybe for Satsuki, but I wasn’t...”
“Why, the two of you are perfectly in sync. I’m envious.” Charlotte smiled in amusement.
“Thank you,” Satsuki said in embarrassment. “But Char, you’ve known Liselotte for a long time too, right? You’re the second princess and she’s a duke’s daughter, after all.”
“Yes, we’ve known each other since we were young — we’re what you might call childhood friends. Liselotte is one year older than me, but we used to attend the royal academy together. Come to think of it, we had lots of tea parties back then. It brings back memories.”
“Yes. I remember we would meet up once or twice a week,” Liselotte said nostalgically, smiling.
“But then Liselotte left me behind and rapidly skipped years to graduate from the academy. When she established the Ricca Guild, she got so busy that she couldn’t come for tea anymore. I was lonely, you know. You should come visit me a little more.” Charlotte pouted.
“Yes, I’m very sorry about that.” Liselotte nodded with a strained smile.
“But I’m glad we’re able to take our time chatting today. I’ve heard many fascinating things from Satsuki and everyone.”
“Me, too.”
Meanwhile, there was a boy in the room who felt an indescribable sense of discomfort.
...Should I really be here right now? As the lone male present, Rio felt strangely awkward. Since he wasn’t a very talkative person to begin with, being in a situation with four women exacerbated it.
“Incidentally, I am also curious as to what kind of person Sir Haruto is,” Charlotte said, having noticed Rio suddenly.
“Me?” Rio cocked his head and blinked.
“Yes. The discussions were all serious with my father and brother present, but I’d like to know more about your nature. Let’s see. Lady Miharu, in your eyes, what kind of person is Sir Haruto?” Charlotte turned her curious gaze towards Rio.
Miharu started with a shake when she was suddenly addressed. “Huh? What kind of person Haruto is...?”
“Yes. You’ve been living together in the several months since you came to this world, right? You should be the most familiar with him out of everyone here,” Charlotte replied justifiably, giving Miharu no choice but to answer.
“Umm... Haruto is an amazing person.” Miharu seemed to be embarrassed to talk about her impression of the person sitting across from her, as her words came out short and hesitant.
“Yes, I’m sure. He’s strong, wise, and a person of character. Have the two of you been traveling by yourselves this entire time?” Charlotte asked, attempting to keep the conversation going.
“No, there were several other people who lived with us,” said Rio.
“Oh, is that so? What kind of people were they? I must admit I’m a little curious about what kind of lifestyles the two of you had.”
“There’s one other boy, and he’s just a twelve-year-old child. The others are all women, including Miharu. We’re not family, but they’re all my good friends. They’re all living in a city on the outskirts of the capital for now.” Rio answered as much as he could.
Lady Cecilia and Lady Aishia must be with him too, Liselotte assumed from Rio’s explanation.
“Does that mean you live in a house with young men and women? It must be a lively and fun place,” Charlotte said with a grin.
“Yes, it can get a little rowdy, but it’s full of laughter,” Rio said, smiling gently.
“If there are a lot of women, then that means Miharu can relax in that environment, too,” Satsuki said with a gentle look.
“Yes. I’ve been able to make a lot of friends thanks to Haruto.” Miharu nodded happily.
“Just out of curiosity, doesn’t having young men and women under the same roof cause one or two love affairs?” Charlotte suddenly asked.
“...Huh?!” Miharu gasped, having processed the meaning of the question.
“It doesn’t,” Rio denied with a strained smile.
“Is that only because Sir Haruto doesn’t feel that type of emotion towards the other residents? You don’t know how the women themselves feel about you, do you?” Charlotte asked logically.
“That... shouldn’t be the case...” He couldn’t be certain about how other people felt, so Rio muddled his words with a frown.
“In my opinion, I find it more questionable that the women don’t feel anything while living with someone as wonderful as you,” Charlotte said while staring directly at Rio.
“I’m honored to hear that, but I think you’re giving me too much credit, Princess Charlotte.” Rio smoothed over his expression with a smile and shook his head.
“My, I don’t see it that way, though. Your personality and abilities are a given already, and if my aesthetic senses haven’t gone funny, then I can say that you are a fairly beautiful person too. Your parents were both migrants, so you have a wonderfully exotic look to your face. Don’t you agree, Liselotte?” Charlotte asked, turning to Liselotte. Being addressed so suddenly didn’t sway Liselotte like it did Miharu, as her reply came with a smile.
“Yes. It’s enough to make some of my attendants restless whenever Sir Haruto visits.”
“See, I think I’m right.” Charlotte looked at Rio smugly.
“Hahaha...” Rio was unsure how to respond, giving yet another strained smile. He wasn’t used to girls like her who gossiped about love, so he didn’t have much resistance to it. When he’d lived in the Karasuki Kingdom, the village girls would ask him similar questions, but that was the only exposure he’d had.
“I would love to hear the opinion of Lady Miharu, who actually lives with Sir Haruto. How much is he admired by the others? Of course, you can talk about your own thoughts too.” Charlotte turned a gaze full of intense curiosity towards Miharu.
“Eh, no... Umm... Uh...” When Miharu was questioned, the flow of the conversation caused her to look at Rio, who sat opposite her. Her face reddened as she made eye contact with Rio, who looked uncomfortabl
e.
“Enough, Char. There’s no way she can say anything without the other people present, not to mention while she’s in front of Haruto himself. Topics like this should be between closer friends, behind closed doors. She’s not good when it comes to talking about these things to begin with, so don’t bother her anymore.” Charlotte’s questions had become rather suggestive, but no one was in a position to warn her other than Satsuki, who sighed in exasperation.
“Oh my, I do apologize for that. As a princess with no reason to fall in love, I cannot help but feel extremely curious about how young men and women fall in love,” Charlotte explained.
“Hmm, well, royals have rather peculiar love lives. I’m personally more interested in hearing about that.” Satsuki changed the topic smoothly, causing Miharu to sigh in relief.
“The general rule is to have a political marriage, so marrying for love is actually the exception. It’s especially remarkable among the higher classes of nobility and royalty. Well... there is one such remarkable exception sitting with us right now, though.” Charlotte explained, looking at Liselotte.
“Huh, Liselotte was approved to marry freely for love?” Satsuki asked with interest.
“Well, yes. Everyone else here is aware already, but I had several achievements that were recognized and received the right to choose my own marriage partner,” Liselotte replied, slightly embarrassed.
“I can’t say this to very many people, but as another woman of the royalty and nobility class, I am envious of Liselotte. Even if it’s for the sake of the kingdom or family, no woman wants to marry someone they don’t even like. Men are able to select their political marriage partners to a degree, but many women don’t have any choice at all,” Charlotte explained, expressing her own desires to be like that in a roundabout way.
“There can’t be very many cases of a political marriage partner being someone you love, I imagine... Incidentally, I’ve never asked before, but what would happen in my case as a hero?” Satsuki asked with a contemplative look.
“...Of course, we would like to have you marry one of the royal members of our kingdom, but we cannot force you into doing it. A hero is a disciple of the mighty Six Wise Gods, after all,” Charlotte said with a hard to read smile, her tone cheerful.
“I see. If there are no plans for me to be forced into marriage, then I don’t need to worry for now. I don’t want to marry someone I don’t like, either. And I haven’t given up on returning to Earth yet,” Satsuki said with a small shrug.
“In that case, we’ll have to find a wonderful gentleman from our kingdom to tie Lady Satsuki down to this world,” Charlotte said with a joking laugh.
It looks like I can’t let my guard down around this princess after all. How tiring... Rio let out a small sigh. At a glance, she seemed like a pure and sincere girl, but her conversation topics were rather suggestive and she asked them insistently while overstepping boundaries. Her face was also hard to read.
The fact that Francois had left their party to her care alone was proof of how much he trusted her. Due to their differences in social status, Rio couldn’t comment very freely either, so there were more instances where he couldn’t speak up than he anticipated.
It really was the right choice not to bring Aki and Masato along. Rio let out a small sigh and refocused his energies.
◇ ◇ ◇
Afterward, they continued to chat about love and other topics until it was time for dinner. Rio had been worn down quite a bit from the conversation with Charlotte, but Francois and Michel would be joining them for dinner, so he braced himself to not lower his guard yet.
However, contrary to Rio’s expectations, the dinner went by in a relaxed and peaceful manner. There were no topics brought up that he had to be particularly wary of, and the talks after dinner died off fairly early as they were told to wind down with Satsuki and returned to her rooms.
“Finally, it’s just the three of us. Come, take a seat so we can talk.” With Satsuki’s encouragement, Rio and Miharu sat down on the sofa in the living room. Satsuki headed to the kitchen to prepare tea for the three of them.
They had constantly been with someone since coming to the castle, so this was actually the first time Rio and Miharu had been alone together all day.
“How much did you tell Satsuki?” Rio asked before Satsuki had a chance to return.
“What happened after we came to this world, briefly. And she asked about you, so I told her about your previous life. I’ve mentioned that Aki and Masato are with us, but nothing about leaving the castle temporarily, Takahisa, or what to do in the future,” Miharu summarized.
Rio’s eyes widened faintly. “...I was wondering why you returned so quickly. How did you come to decide that I should stay overnight with you two?” He had honestly assumed that she had told Satsuki about the plan to sneak out of the castle, so they decided to make it easier by having Rio stay with them.
“Umm, when I told her about you, she wanted the three of us to talk together, so she said we should return to the king while he was still there...” Despite being a hero, not even Satsuki was bold enough to assume she could let Rio stay in her quarters with no consequences without the permission of the king. The king was a busy man, so she wanted to settle the discussion as soon as possible.
“She seems like a very proactive person.”
“Yes. She embodies the saying ‘there’s no time like the present.’” Rio and Miharu chuckled together.
“It seems like the two of you are having fun here. What are you talking about?” Satsuki said, suddenly appearing in the living room with a tray of tea.
“There are several things we need to explain and ask you about, so I was asking Miharu how much she had told you. And a little bit about what kind of person you are, Lady Satsuki,” Rio said.
“Hmm, I had this thought during dinner and the conversation with Char too, but... It makes me feel uneasy, so please — you don’t have to call me a lady. It might be a bad move in front of other people, but you don’t have to act so politely, either. At least when it’s just the three of us,” Satsuki said with a bitter smile.
“...I understand. Just ‘Satsuki’ it is, then.” Rio’s mouth softened into a smile as he dropped the title from Satsuki’s name.
“Yes. Once again, it’s nice to meet you, Haruto. I’ve heard about you, Aki, and Masato from Miharu. Thank you so much for saving the three of them and allowing me to see Miharu again.” Satsuki smiled broadly and bowed her head deeply at Rio.
“No, I didn’t really do anything significant.”
“That’s not true. Taking care of the basic needs of three people and teaching them everything about this world without compensation, even going as far as to find me and bring Miharu to the castle like this — it’s an amazing feat. It’s not something one would normally do just because you have memories of living in Japan. That’s why I want to thank you properly. Though I don’t have any real power, even if I’m in a high social position right now...”
“I’m grateful for your feelings alone. I don’t need any other forms of gratitude.”
“That doesn’t sit right with me, though... Well, we can leave it aside for now. So, what was it you wanted to explain to me?”
“We’d like to know what actions you plan on taking, how Miharu will be treated in Galarc in the future, what would be the best for Aki and Masato with that in mind, and about their older brother, Takahisa. I think that’s everything. There’s one more thing, but that can come later,” Rio listed off.
“...I have an idea where Takahisa might be. You may know this already, but three other heroes will be attending the banquet. Were you aware?”
“Three others, besides you? I know that the Duke Huguenot faction, who defected from the Kingdom of Beltrum, will be sending their hero, Sakata Hiroaki for sure. But other than that, I’ve only heard that the Kingdom of Centostella might send their hero, whose identity is still hidden...” It was Rio’s first time hearing about a third hero.
“The hero coming from Centostella is already confirmed. Also, the hero from Beltrum Kingdom’s government has also confirmed attendance,” Satsuki said.
“...From the Beltrum Kingdom?” Rio’s eyes widened in surprise. If that was the case, they would inevitably run into Duke Huguenot faction at the venue. He couldn’t imagine what kind of situation would unfold.
“Yes. However, the one who became the official hero of the Beltrum Kingdom is named Shigekura Rui, which is the name of a large company’s son, so he’s unrelated to Takahisa.”
“Do you have any personal connection to the Beltrum Kingdom’s hero?” Rio asked.
“Mm, if you have memories of living in Japan, then you may have heard of the Shigekura Heavy Industry Company.”
“...Yes. I have a vague memory of that name. They’re a large company that represents Japan.” His memories of being Amakawa Haruto in Japan came to him over 9 years ago, but Rio could remember that much.
“My relatives also ran a fairly large corporate group, so I knew him a little from that. Enough to know his name and face, at least.”
“Sumeragi... Ah, you’re from the Sumeragi Group?”
“Oh, you know my name too? Yup, I’m the daughter of an executive there.” Satsuki nodded with a grin.
“I’m surprised.” Rio knew she was a young lady from a well-off family, but he hadn’t imagined she was the daughter of someone from such an enterprise.
“Ahaha, it’s not like I’m a noble like they have in this world — I’m just a regular girl. Anyway, getting back on topic... Of the three heroes, Sakata Hiroaki and Shigekura Rui are most certainly not Takahisa. The problem is the hero summoned in Centostella.”
“With four of the six heroes gathered in one location, there’s a high probability it’s him. You don’t know the name of the hero, right?” asked Rio.
“Yeah. Apparently the Kingdom of Centostella is fairly closed off. There’s no hostility with them, but there haven’t been any diplomatic relations with us, despite being their neighbors, either. That’s why they have a tendency to guard their kingdom secrets pretty closely, so we won’t know the name of the hero attending the banquet until the night of. In my opinion, if they’re going to attend anyway, it shouldn’t hurt to just tell us,” Satsuki explained, pouting her lips unhappily. “But apparently, the kingdom doesn’t normally send ambassadors to attend banquets in foreign kingdoms. Well, they’re normally not invited in the first place, and there were disagreements up until the last minute about whether to invite them this time, but I requested that they be invited on the chance I could find Miharu or Takahisa. So, Centostella was invited, but they didn’t reply until just recently, which is when they said they’d be attending,” she added with a thoughtful expression.
Heroes in the Moonlight Page 10
