Chapter 4

VOL . 2 CHAPTER 04: ASHBATON FRONTIER COUNT

Although I didnt do anything special, I was able to avoid starting a war between the Kingdom of Balshine and Remrest . This was a relief because I really didnt want us to get caught up in a war for the neighboring countrys throne succession .

Now that weve done our job, lets go home I thought I wasnt ready to meet his parents . I also heard that the second princes faction is popping up in our country as well, but that doesnt matter now .

We came here to say hello to Count Ashbaton, or in other words, Patricks father, who might become my father-in-law . I shouldnt show any disrespect or lack of common sense . So far Ive only dived from the sky with Ryuu, so I guess Im still safe .

When Linus was gone and the three of us were alone in the tent, I cleared my throat, pinched the ends of my skirt and bowed . Im confident in my good posture because my physical ability is unnecessarily high .

Greetings once again . My name is Yumiela Dolknes and Im the current Count Dolknes .

Patricks gaze is painful . Its an expression when you look at a child who did something reckless, knowing that it will be a valuable experience . After freezing for a moment, the Count turned his troubled face to Patrick .

Uh, what is this?

Its just a greeting . Yumiela is still trying to go the normal daughter route .

Come on, Patrick, dont give away my plan . Its been perfect so far . From any perspective, I was a perfect lady . Falling from the sky is also very girly and nicekind of .

Ahh, I see it now . I finally understood what Patrick was saying . Shes a good girl Welcome to the Ashbaton territory, Miss Yumiela or should I call you Count Dolknes?

Yosh! The mission seems to have succeeded . My father-in-law smiled softly at me . Patrick doesnt smile like that often, so its a refreshing change of pace . I wonder if he will be like this when he gets older .

You can call me Yumiela, I wont mind .

Is it okay calling you like that so normally?

What do you mean by that? I dont understand .

Yumiela, stop, Im getting chills . Youre not gonna deceive Father anymore .

Apparently, the mission was a failure . But calling it deceiving sounds bad . I want you to make up for it . Still, its bad for my image .

It was a little awkward to think that my cover was blown from the beginning . As I swept my eyes, the Count started speaking first .

Patrick, please prepare to pull back . Im going to transfer the armys command to you temporarily .

With an immediate reply, Patrick walked out of the tent . Hold on, dont leave so suddenly, the awkwardness just multiplied with just the two of us inside the tent .

But apparently Im the only one who thinks so and the Count gave me another soft smile . When he was on the battlefield, he seemed to be a fearless commander, but now he looks like a gentle father .

Miss Yumiela is it all right? You have always been taking care of my son .

N-no! Patrick-san has been taking care of me than I have been to him .

Then, with my waist bent at a right angle, I replied . Patrick had sent a letter to his parents house explaining how I was doing . Whether Patrick was dying or injured, the Count will know . Theres no way out of this but to ask for forgiveness .

You dont have to be so stiff . But I apologize for making you travel all here, Ill be staying here for a while . Theres still a chance Remrest could still send reinforcements .

Do you still want to destroy them?

Stop it, when Miss Yumiela is the one who says it, it doesnt sound like a joke .

The Counts facial expression and atmosphere as he stopped me were just like Patricks . I think Ive had a similar exchange with Patrick before multiple times .

Did they ever come to attack you?

Skirmishes are common . But never on this scale for over a decade Im glad that Miss Yumiela is here and help us .

So it was then years ago? It was surprising that Patricks hometown was in such a danger .

I heard the Count would be stationed on the front line for a while . Was it good or bad timing that we were here?

Should I come back later? Um, etto I came to talk about something .

Oh, are you talking about the engagement?

Ah, yes .

The engagement or marriage agreement still hasnt happened yet . I do not doubt that Patrick and I are lovers . Wait . Can someone please tell me the definition of a lover?

Since you are already living together, its a good time to talk about it .

No, its not like that, Patrick just followed me on his own .

And then it hit me, to my horror, Patrick and I were living together .

From my research, many couples break up after living together . Because when you live together, you can see what kind of bad habits your partner has .

Well, its not that we live in a one-bedroom together, so Im sure Im not revealing much of my living habits I guess .

I didnt use the wind pressure from running to dry my hair and I didnt alternate between the main course and dessert even though theyre going in my stomach anyway ever since Patrick arrived .

Uh, my head is about to explode . In addition, my face is burning with shame . Yumiela is about to blow up into an explosive flame of shame . Its all because of the bombshell statement that Patricks father said in front of me .

He said, full of concern .

Its all right, I know that Patrick was intruding on your hospitality . I approve the engagement, youre more than welcome .

Thats right EHH?!

Should it be that easy to decide? I thought it was something that was going to be put on hold, so I checked to make sure .

Is that okay? It was a rather quick decision .

Ive been hearing about this from Patrick for a while now .

Patrick is making too much progress behind the scenes . Is he going to remove every obstacle in his way? He wouldnt run away from it in the future, would he? .

Thus, I became Patricks official fiancee . Its felt too easy and I dont really feel anything .

I cant entertain you right now but both of you should take your time before going back .

Hai, thank you .

Feeling relieved, the Count says something scary to me .

Just be careful with my wife .

Patricks mother is she dangerous?