When I went back to the Academy the next day, I pushed away to almost poke Zephyr, who called out good morning, and an unexpected person came forward to me.
It's Eric. He glanced up at me with a subtle look that seemed to bite me now, and still resentful.... even if you're awesome with someone younger than you.
Before I said anything, I noticed that Zephyr, who had been brutally pushed away, was about to fall towards my desk, and I grabbed that arm reflexively and pulled it. Because I was about to hit the corner of my desk around the back of my head.
You pulled too hard, now Zephyr stepped forward. I raised my left hand to support him on the shoulder, but at that moment I trembled from my elbow to the top tensing against my will, and Zephyr's body slid through the inside of my arm.
Even though I work out, there's no way I can support people the size of me in a system I haven't even stepped on.
─ ─ I had no choice, so I gave up taking it and gently rolled Zephyr on the floor.
"... that was dangerous. I almost hit him in the head."
"Ah, Rikoto, Cardia. Thanks...?
Was it because I ended up rolling on the floor that I felt like I had a question mark on Zephyr's voice as I thanked him? I rolled him so that he wouldn't get hurt, but he has a look that seems to fall on his heart somehow.
I pulled Zephyr's arm again and let him stand, then turned to Eric.
Eric was solidified, still with his badly upset face.
But the moment I had eyes with me, he started moving, twitching and shifting his gaze toward Zephyr.
"..., wah, bad, Mordon. Well... my carelessness almost got me hurt."
............... what, that apology. Civilians or lower nobles? It's not the kind of apology that a Grand Duchess person should be pouring in state taxes and being slapped into the finest behavior.
No, he pulls Zephyr's arm, which he rushed to say, and controls it.
Zephyr and Uncle Borderline. I must behave in a way that preserves my character as a nobleman beyond being a member of a senior nobleman. Obviously, you should not imitate someone who is indistinctly humble because they are the Grand Duke's.
Zephyr glanced at her mouth as if she was angry, and I glanced at Eric with cold eyes.
Eric didn't say anything. I don't know why, but that tense look seemed halfway down.
"─ Cardia, Mordon. And Eric. What the hell is wrong with you?
The commander-in-chief's grandson came there in surprise. At that moment, Eric's bewildering atmosphere fogs like it breaks.
Turning back on his heels, Eric ran away from the lecture room as he was. Did you escape because you couldn't keep up with your emotions? It's a lot of sentimental times, and, well, I guess that happens.
I didn't know what Eric was going to say after all. That was serious......
"You know, it's just something I've been thinking about since I heard it before. Isn't that what you're doing because you want to distract Master Eliza?
I blinked one blink at Leka's voice like a shudder after she had finished talking about what had happened today.
Move the pawn of on-board play pinched with Aslan to have a silent conversation with Ratka, who had a fuzzy gaze. "Do you understand what Leka just said?" "No, it's refreshing."
Teala giggled at the edge of her sight, giving Aslan an ambiguous look to see as well as some little kid. Apparently, only me and Latka don't understand.
"You didn't deal with him when we first met, did you?
"Because they made fun of me. I seem to have been hated since, so I have been dealing with it the whole time."
"So that's it. They want to get along with Eliza, but they don't know how to make friends. Because there are only people who have been friends since the beginning. I don't know how to make up for Eliza being my friend, and I don't know how to make up with my quarreling friends."
... that Eric only knows how to communicate that disrespectful and extreme way?
"You did something like an apology, didn't you?
"You have a brother, don't you? I'm sorry about the little thing. I guess I can do it."
I've only grown up in an environment full of children on boulders, and I feel compelling about Leka's explanation.
... The environment in which aristocratic children grow up is special. On top of that, Eric is being pushed into a more special environment by birth and the death of his mother. Honestly I don't want to think that's all the factors are causing a major obstacle to my ability to communicate......
"... but I'm not going to be close to Dovadyne's warrant"
"Uh, why?
"Getting closer to the enormous power of the Grand Duke than the rebellion of the nobles over what His Majesty has given us can cause extra evil sentiment. We need to keep it under control so long as it's bad reviews."
"Hmmm...... well. I want to be friends! It's also a sad story that you can't get along because of the kids and the adults around you..."
Aslan, who was worried about his next hand, moved a horseback riding pawn. If I discuss that with the long bow I left out, Latka blows something into Aslan. Hey, advice wouldn't be fair though.
"Really? I'm just starting to get along with fixing my relationship with Master Eric, and I don't think they're going to be able to say much."
Teala pinches my mouth to the conversation between me and Leka for re-pouring me some tea. He then served me a plate with a small baked sweet on hand as if it were a tea contract, so I threw it into my mouth and then asked what Teala intended to say.
"Is Eric's problematic behavior widespread among the nobles?
"Oh, what happened at the Academy was known to its parents, the noblemen, through their squire."
"If you're Grace, the Grand Duke's best man, you don't want to get along with Eliza more than you need, do you?
I nodded at the question as well. In Grace's case, though I feel there is enough conscious separation to be 'not the same nobility such as lower nobility' before thinking about getting along or not.
"If it's in that state, if you look at it from the aristocracy, you can assume that the Grand Duke's power lies not with Eric, but with Grace. Eliza made it cold on Eric in the first place, in order to distance herself from His Royal Highness Prince Wang and the Grand Duke's men, right?
"... it is true that being close to Eric will not change Lord Grace's perception of me, and he will lead us well in the matter of His Royal Highness Prince Wang... The aristocratic point of view is not so simple. Whatever Lord Eric's attitude and appreciation may be, if we approach him more than he is a man of the Grand Duke, there will always be some rebellion."
"Oh well. Arxian nobility is a lot more complicated than the spear of the king of Altrus."
Nothing that could be called aristocracy existed in Altras, which developed as a nation state, but aristocracy existed as a separation of identities by origin.
The Shir tribe was counted by the Altras and, as a ruling class, was one of the closest blood tribes to the king of Altras. Sometimes they say they drained the king.
"I can't say anything about whether it's complicated or not, but I'm sure the thinking is completely different. The king of Arksia does not choose one representative from many powerful bloodlines, but must draw the blood of Ahar Kusha, the first king of the Holy Arksian kingdom, so separate from the king's spear (Muchaitrel), the broad royal family."
"It's really strange that blood is seen as sacred. How can this be different when you're the same Kusha?
I shrugged my shoulders and avoided answering the question. Such things are about asking religious people, not unbelieving lords who, even if mistaken, only think about how to use religion for territorial governance.
"Ah, Aslan. Check it out."
"Ugh..."
Aslan and Latka groaned at the same time on a board that advanced the pawn and paved the way to the king.
You're still weak. My opponent won't beat Claudia for the rest of his life.