Seirei Gensouki's
Chapter 93: Presenting This Hand

When they returned to the floor of the hall at the bottom of the stairs after giving their greetings to Satsuki, Rio and Liselotte were greeted again by the nobles.

The number of people who came was overwhelming, each one of them finished their speech after a while.

And then, the herd of nobles who came also reduced little by little.

「Alright, Liselotte-sama. I'll take my leave later. Send my greetings to His Majesty Duke Cedric-sama 」

「Yes, I will do it. See you again 」

After saying goodbye, the two of them left the last noble to come at them.

When one part of the noble wave stopped, Liselotte sent a brief gaze to Rio who was standing by her side.

「Haruto-sama, have you completed your business which you should do against Satsuki-sama *？ Even though you said that you wanted to say something ……. . 」[TL *: in katakana]

She means that she wants to talk to Satsuki to the extent that she expressed her desire to attend the evening party.

Although under normal circumstances, one would think of something important, Rio some time ago ended his greeting with just a simple exchange.

Although they did shake hands for a while, it didn't look like an act where he was unnaturally trying to stretch the conversation, it didn't seem like he was trying to convey anything to Satsuki.

When it came down to that, he thought that Rio had yet to convey something to Satsuki.

That's what Liselotte felt.

Moreover, the roar of the way Rio called Satsuki's name that he heard a while ago, how he—

「To be honest, I still have something I want to tell him. But, just to be able to meet him like this also had its own meaning. So, maybe I'm done telling him the important thing 」

Rio retorted in a manner of speaking as if confusing the other party.

Liselotte was unable to take on the true meaning behind those words at that moment.

No, perhaps he would not even be able to see the true meaning behind those words even if he spent some time thinking about it.

Because he currently lacked the information to be able to do that.

But, despite not being able to pronounce it well, he caught something.

Liselotte feels so.

But now is not the right time to get an answer.

「Understood. 」

Finally, Liselotte could not even ask more than the first question in this situation.

「If we wait longer, it's time to dance. If it's okay with you, would you dance in the same tone as me at the time？ 」

Liselotte asked with a slightly troubled smile as if to deny the fuzzy idea.

Normally, the courtesy to propose to the dance came from the male side but, looking at the relationship between the two sides, it did not mean that he broke manners when the invitation came from him.

「Ya, with pleasure」

Rio nodded and immediately replied.

And then, at that moment,

「Can I dance too?」

From behind Rio and facing Liselotte, there was a sound of greeting by two people.

Dukes of Fontaine of Bertram kingdom, Roana.

「This, Roana-san. It's nice to meet you"

Section 2

Liselotte who noticed it earlier gave a light bow.

「Goodnight, Roana-sama」

Rio also turned around and gave a greeting followed by a light bow.

「Yes, nice to meet you too. You two–"

「WHA, K-YOU!」

Just as Roana was about to say something, a loud voice echoed as if covering her voice.

The surrounding people turned their eyes to the owner of the voice while wondering "what happened".

Rio and that person— Stead Euguno, who looks like he is a little surprised.

「K-Why are you here?」

Stead asked Rio in a hostile tone.

「Even if you ask why, because you can see that I participated in tonight's party」

Rio replied while smiling wryly without even being bothered by her.

Perhaps because it affected his emotions, Stead's expression became steep.

「I invited him to this party. What is the answer to your question. Stead Euguno-san 」[TL: this is the first time Liselotte used -san as a suffix for someone of the same rank as her, in short she looked down on herself]

Liselotte explained the situation to Stead without breathing air.

Stead's expression was slightly dumbfounded, and then,

"……… You are?"

He asked for Liselotte's name.

「My apologies for my late introduction. My name is Liselotte Kretia. Nice to meet you"

「!!! ………………… You are Liselotte. I've always heard rumors about you 」

Perhaps because she remembered Liselotte features after her introduction, Stead had a rather narrow face.

She is the only daughter of the noble of Kretia, a famous great noble even in Galwark kingdom, a talented woman whose name resonates in the neighboring country, a key figure of Galwark kingdom who works as the young CEO of Rikkaka company

And then, there was also the governor of Almond prefecture where Stead caused trouble some time ago, he was also the one who was in that position to guarantee the effect of the binding contract with Rio during that matter.

If someone from her position invited Rio at the party tonight, at least the two of them had some kind of solid relationship.

Even for Stead, it didn't mean that he didn't understand the meaning.

「Although it seems like you guys have never met, is Haruto-san an acquaintance of Stead-kun?」

So, Roana who was left at the side asked them when she understood something.

「Ah, No, It .................... Uhm ……………. . It ………………. 」

Section 3

Stead inadvertently stuttered as he was unable to explain the truth of the situation.

「Maybe you can say that they are an acquaintance. Although I can't say it out loud, there was a slight problem between them a while ago in Almond. Haruto-sama is the victim. At that time, Rikka's company acted as a mediator for reconciliation contracts between the two parties. Because of that opportunity, I have the opportunity to become closer to Haruto-sama 」

Liselotte gave a simple explanation to Roana regarding the events back then because she felt that it would cause trouble if the explanation came from Rio.

「What do you do during an important time ................ Therefore, do you have something for your reasons?」

Roana asked Stead as she poured her invisible line of sight that was filled with astonishment and humiliation.

「H ……………. 」

Stead hung his head as if embarrassed while clenching his fists.

With that reaction, Roana came to the conclusion that Stead was guilty in those events.

After that, after sighing for a moment as if troubled by it, Roana decided to apologize to Rio after confirming the truth.

Seeing that Rikka's company bears witness to the reconciliation, he does not want to doubt in all cases, it wasn't a good plan to give a bad impression of Rio being Liselotte's benefactor and it was to protect Stead who came along with him.

「Nothing, the problem is solved. It doesn't matter because I received protection from the 」 contract

Rio replied while shaking his head gently.

When he recounts the essence of the contract, it then became— Prohibition of any interference afterward from Stead's side in terms of not asking indirectly or directly about the people related to Rio, the victim's side.

When it comes to explaining it arbitrarily, you can say that it would be a breach of contract just by approaching Rio, albeit unexpectedly, one can say that an accidental encounter like this barely goes into the gray zone.

Although if given a choice, Rio did not want to have another meeting with Stead, a meeting like this was an act of god, had Stead been obedient, Rio did not even want to blame or threaten him. with that show a while ago.

It was already a trivial matter for him— or so, as long as the other party there did not try to hurt Miharu and co.

「I'm really sorry for that. Please allow me to offer a sincere apology. Stead, you also have to apologize once again to this guy himself 」

Roana said that while still bowing.

Stead wore a completely dissatisfied expression on his face.

「Na! Why should I go to this guy！ The contract has been made, it's done! 」

Stead objected as if shouting.

Section 4

「Not such a problem. If there is a mistake in you, your attitude just now is not something to be praised at all. Most importantly, apologize right now if you do not want to add to the embarrassment of the previous 」

Roana said that after a long sigh.

Stead's body trembled at those words while furrowing his brows uncomfortably.

She seems to disobey Roana's words by being emotional.

Just like that, Stead recalled those times that further fueled his anger.

「I no longer care about those things. Please forgive him for that, Roana-sama 」

Unable to see the two of them, Rio warned Roana.

「…………. YOU……………… . 」

Stead stared intently at Rio. ⁇

Perhaps he never felt humiliated for being protected by an opponent he did not want to ask for forgiveness from.

Even for Rio, even though it doesn't mean that he can't guess his opponent's line of thought, before they realize it, Rio and co have already garnered the attention of those around him.

They stared fully at the people who were looking at their direction with completely interested expressions.

Perhaps making a big fuss over this would put them in a slightly difficult situation.

「Absolutely. My apologies for waiting Thank you me 」

Perhaps because she sensed the atmosphere around them, even Roana decided to stop further actions from her Stead urging to apologize.

Just like that, he bowed towards Rio again.

「I wonder what just happened?」

There were people coming out of the surrounding crowd towards their place.

Gustave Euguno gave his greetings to Rio and his comrade as their leader.

「Ah, F-Fathe ...............................」.

As he found his own father, Stead's expression grew even worse.

「Will you tell me what just happened in this place, Roana-kun?」

After coldly glancing at Stead whose expression turned pale, duke Euguno asked Roana that question.

「Although I don't know the full details of the situation, it seems that somehow Stead-kun caused trouble for him the last time they met. Even though I urged to apologize to her, Stead-kun continued to refuse …………. . 」

Roana's reply seemed to be interrupted by Stead's actions.

「There is a problem in Almond restaurant. His Majesty Duke Euguno 」

So, Liselotte told Duke Euguno.

With that, it might be because he immediately understood the situation.

"I saw . So that's about that. This is my son's stupid mistake. My apologies for what he said to Haruto-kun 」

Section 5

Duke Euguno immediately apologized to Rio.

「Nothing, because I don't care about that anymore」

Although he replied with a smile on his face, Rio was re-reflecting in his mind about the unexpected development.

Although he honestly did not want anything to do with the people from Bertram kingdom anymore, he had a series of encounters with the people from Bertram kingdom since quite some time ago.

Moreover, they are all great people.

「Stead. Don't embarrass me. That's something you should do. Sorry now 」

Without looking at his own son, duke Euguno said that in a cold tone.

A stable body vibrates.

「A-I troubled you a while ago ………………. . 」

A moment later, Stead muttered those words in a shrill voice.

「……………. . My deepest apologies 」

And then, after saying those words of apology with great difficulty, Stead bowed deeply to her.

It was meaningless in front of the few people around him.

Although Rio did not know and did not even care about Stead's personality, it might be embarrassing for him.

「You, yes. It's okay as long as you don't perform such actions again according to the 」 contract

Rio gently shook his head while slightly smiling.

As expected, he began to feel pity for Stead whose figure was truly pitiful just now.

「I feel that I want him to properly apologize to you. If it is good for you, I will prepare a good place for him to apologize again 」

On the side of his own son who was bowing in Rio, duke Euguno said those words while letting out an unexpected smile that made one wonder what he was thinking.

「No, you don't have to do that. Because His Majesty is also busy himself 」

Rio did not accept that suggestion even though it was just a pleasantries.

Because he did not even know what would happen if he entered the area prepared by his opponent.

Although Rio could not imagine that there might be a plan to get rid of Rio and the annoying contract that binds his son, or he might try to request or use the base in his relationship with Liselotte, however, the goal may be not to really apologize.

If need be put aside, Rio did not have that kind of adventurous soul to the point of having a connection with them due to the horrifying sensation the more he saw it.

「Fumu. Yes, that's because we're in a position to make an apology right. So I won't force you. I just came out with the idea. By the way, it will be a good dance time soon. If it's okay with you, please come to dance with the princess of our country later. Even the girl will be happy if they can dance with a guy of your caliber 」

Without persistently opposing his refusal, duke Euguno easily changed the subject.

Although Rio felt a little anti, there was still no need to say troublesome words of rejection.