"……you've worked hard today, Romel-sama."

Upon returning to the inn, the first thing Alf did was make tea.

I gave a light gesture of thanks as I received it and slowly emptied the cup.

"Ahh……I'm alive again."

That gentle taste seemed to spread throughout my insides, and I involuntarily muttered thus.

"There are plans tomorrow as well, so for today please take it easy and rest."

"That's true…….then I'll take you up on that offer."

While I consented to Alf's words, I didn't move.

"……before that, Alf. I entrust you with the Duke Crow house and Duke Baskar house that we're planning to visit tomorrow."

"Understood."

Duke Crow's territory was in the southwestern region of the Rinmel Princ.i.p.ality, situated adjacent to the country of Towair and Tasmeria Kingdom.

The current head of house's name was Chester Crow.

His family consisted of two daughters.

……his wife pa.s.sed away early on, so Chester was particularly doting towards his two daughters that were left behind by her.

Based on the location of his territory, he had a good grasp of information from the previous war with Towair and as such, he was the head of house that feared Gazelle's menace the most. 

"Have the diehard faction or moderate faction contacted him?"

"They have both tried inviting Duke Crow's house into their factions, and have used any and all means to solicit him. Many of them have been probing his daughters' marriages in particular."

"So both of his daughters still lack a fiancé? ……well, if it's a father that loves his daughter, then he can't carelessly betroth his daughters to just any houses with this state of affairs."

"Yes. The best plan for the Duke Crow's House would be to make an engagement with both the moderate faction and the diehard faction……..because then, even if one of his daughter's factions lose in the power struggle, he still has one in the winning faction."

"That is true. Nevertheless, a normal n.o.ble would do that but……that just shows how much Chester loves his daughters."

"I had the same thought."

"The Crow Ducal House thinks of their family, huh……how is their territory governed?"

"Other than the problematic problems brought up in the previous report, nothing else has come up."

"Is that so……incidentally, having seen how Chester works up until now, what did you think?"

"In the end this is only my personal opinion after a.n.a.lyzing the data, but……it would be foolish to consider him as [incapable of going off a preset track]. He maintains the foundation built by his predecessors, and follows their tracks to make decisions."

"……as I thought, you feel that way as well?"

Finding it amusing that Alf's opinion and my own matched up, I unconsciously laughed.

"There are those who would chirp about, saying that people like him are mediocre but……good grief, you cannot make light of him. Rather, I'd even find him rather dreadful. In governing, you must plan a great number of new policies and put them into action. When you plan them out, you have to be able to see through whether or not the plan is unreasonable, or predict whether or not it has any pitfalls. In contrast, executing it is……well, naturally you'd 'just' be following that plan and putting it into practice, but……to 'just' follow it is difficult. It is normal for things not to go as planned……changes will need to be made in order to adapt to that, and at times the entire plan needs to be completely reconsidered. In particular, when it's someone else executing the plan, they often are unable to take over the small details and end up becoming confused…….well usually, handovers don't go that cleanly."

"With all due respect……those are some heartfelt words."

"Haa……pretty much. Even now, the trials that I went through when I was taking over my father's work, make for fine memories."

Alf also laughed at my words. 

"Speaking of frightening people……the lady of Duke Ferring's house."

"Kelly Ferring, is it?"

"Yes, her."

Suddenly, I let out a small smile.

"……could you point out what exactly was frightening about her? While I am quite ashamed, could you instruct me regarding that as a reference for the future?"

Perhaps because Alf was unusually unable to grasp my true meaning, he sent a questioning gaze my way while asking that.

"Let's see……the final decisions naturally lie with Bruno but…….looking at it, the household duties are performed by that wife of his."

"Don't tell me……"

"I don't have any complete proof……but in all probability that should be the case."

As I muttered that, I was unable to resist grinning.

"Why do you say that? And why do you look so happy……"

"Could you not tell from my conversation with her? She seemed quite accustomed to making negotiations…….in all likelihood, the reason why she left midway through the discussion was because she sensed that I had noticed that fact……as for why I'm so happy? Rather than a feeling of happiness, it should be more accurate to say that I feel quite entertained."

"Entertained, you say?"

"Indeed……that lady's ability to converse is very good. It felt as though if I let myself go, I'd end up revealing our hand. It's been a while since I've been able to enjoy being set against such a tactic. On top of that, the amount of knowledge in Bruno's mind himself is pretty amazing. They make a great combination."

"Even though they are by no means allies……no, perhaps that is precisely why. To be that happy about such formidable enemies appearing……I wonder if you enjoy driving yourself into a corner, Romel-sama?"

"……maybe…….no, I love peace. Over everything else…….that is why I've come this far. But at the same time, it makes me want to see how far I can go. That's why, well……I'm excited to have found a tough opponent with the same job as me."

"I see……"

Alf smiled as he muttered thus.

"Have I managed to convince you?"

"Two things…….the fact that Romel-sama has selflessly devoted yourself to serving the country has long been reflected in my eyes……honestly speaking, it is to the point where I think to myself 'why go that far?'. However, there are no humans without any desire. Hearing that you have the desire to test your own ability honestly relieves me."

"……is that so?"

"As for the second thing……I believe that this can also be said of Gazelle-sama, but because the two of you do not hate danger, but have the courage to find fun in it, you are able to act with the most composure out of everyone here."

"……enough with your a.n.a.lysis on me. More importantly, let's return to the main topic. The next is Duke Baskar's house."

When Alf a.n.a.lyzed me, it felt as though the depths of my heart were being peeked at and made me feel embarra.s.sed.

That is why I interrupted his words.

"Please excuse me."

His smiling deepening at my reaction, Alf gave a bow and then restored his serious expression as he opened his mouth.

Translator Notes:

With this, I've finally hit Chapter 100!!! Yay!!! I'm just about 70% of the way through CSWH, leaving only 44 chapters left! Once this arc is over, it seems like things will start to go into high gear and race towards the end of the series, so please look forward to that~

It's a bit early to start discussing my next series (especially after picking up ), but seeing as my previous project was dropped soon after being picked up, I may consider picking it up again if it hasn't been taken by the time I finish CSWH. If I do pick it up again, I'll start from where I left off for the sake of consistency. With regards to , I'm still working on the next arc slowly, but the length and complexity honestly doesn't inspire much motivation……still, unless someone else says they want to pick it up, I'll continue working on it, albeit slowly.

All that being said, I hope everyone has been enjoying CSWH and continues following it to the end! In spite of my complaints about some of the writing, Melly is an endearing character and hopefully everyone else can't wait to see how she becomes the kicka.s.s d.u.c.h.ess seen in Duke's Daughter! Cheers!!!