It was the middle of September, after the summer, and the temperature was getting a little more comfortable.

'Al, come here for a minute,'

　I was about to read a book in my room after lunch when I received a call from Mother Erna.

　I looked over and saw Nord Dad sitting at the table with a serious look on his face.

'Oh no,'

　It looked like something nasty was about to happen, so I walk away.

'Just come on,'

　Then Mother Erna's hand slid out and dug into my shoulder.

　It felt as if my fingers were buried between the bones. I can't move at all with this.

　It's kind of relentless today, more than ever. Do you have something to do that needs to be done to catch me right now?

　I don't think there's anything in particular I need to do.

　I move to the table and sit down in the chair as Mother Erna pulls me to the table.

　When Mother Erna sat down face to face with me, Father Nord produced some letters from his pocket.

'What, these letters?'

'A letter from a nobleman who wants to come to our harvest festival.

　Hmm?　The only nobles who come to our harvest festival are Eric's family, Count Merna and Viscount Yulina, right?

　Why do I need to check such a nobleman's formal letter?

　I'm not going to be able to get a good idea of what I'm talking about.

　When I look at the back of the letter, there is a crest with crossed swords that gives a somewhat rugged impression.

　I've seen this one in Eric's house, so it definitely belongs to the Silford family.

'What, that's Eric's. What's going on here?　Maybe you're sick or something, and you can't do this anymore?

'Don't do that, look at the other letters.

　I ask, and Mother Erna urges me to look at the different letters.

　When I look at the back of those letters, I see all the coats of arms that I don't recognize.

　They weren't Count Merna's or Viscount Yulina's.

''Which nobleman is this?''

　You know my dad, Nord, right?　At the very least, I've never had the pleasure of associating with a nobleman who wears such a coat of arms.

Should I have let him study a little more carefully?

　Even with that being said, the coats of arms of aristocratic families fluctuate a lot, with many of them being new and numerous. To be frank, it's rather troublesome to remember them all.....

　But I have a good idea of the aristocrats with whom I'm likely to be associated.

''Doesn't this or something look familiar to you?

　I stare at Dad Nord as he points to one of the letters that were lined up.

'Hmm?　Where have I seen this before?

　But I can't remember where I saw it.

　So, I guess it doesn't matter to me, but I'll probably be offended if I say that.

''It belongs to the Duke of Leengrande's family.

　Dad Nord says as I stare and groan.

　'The Dukes of Leengrande?　That's, as I recall, the troublesome nobleman who forced me to come to the King's Capital Exchange Party.

　What I recall is a crimson haired, crimson belly with a smile that looks like it could be a thing or two.

''Could it be that Alecia is coming?''

'Yes. And that's with Lady Rana, the daughter of the House of Misfeed.

　I asked fearfully, to which Dad Nord replied flatly, "Are you with Ra?

　Are you with Ra?　I don't get it.

'....Why?

That's why we called you here, because we wanted to hear...

　I ask, and Dad Nord chuckles. The deep wrinkles between his eyebrows indicate that he's in more trouble than he thinks.

　There's nothing I can tell you about it, though.

'Didn't Al once talk to Lady Alecia at a party?　Did you make any promises like that then?

Not a bit of it.

　Alaisia had approached me when I was with Eric, but we hadn't really gotten to know each other. We just had a few bland conversations.

''So, how are you and Rana-sama?　He seemed to miss you a lot, though, helping you get lost and all that.

'I feel like I've gotten to know Rah, but I haven't even promised to play with her.

　It was fun to play with Ra-chan and so on, but we didn't make any promises to play together next time.

　When we went in the transition of the king's capital, we had a moment of visibility, but the other side must not have recognized us accurately.

''But if I overheard me and Eric playing back and forth between each other's territories, Ra-chan would say something about wanting to mix with us.

　Even though it was an action to let it be known that the Sowlettes and Silford family were close, it might have felt like I was left out of the group from Ra-chan, who I had talked and played with.

　So maybe this time Eric was coming to play in my territory, so I felt like I was going too.

''Then it's not too hard to understand.

But why is the Leengrande family's daughter with them?

　I don't understand that.

　What is that guy thinking? But it's true that he seems to have some amusing side to him, like offering to mediate a duel between me and Bram.

　Maybe he wanted to come in just to pass the time after hearing the story again this time.

''Let's leave Ra-chan out of it, but let's politely decline Alecia's offer.

　When I suggest a good idea, Father Nord and Mother Erna look at each other and smile cheerfully.

''Do you think you can do that to a duke?

'And it's like a declaration of war to say no to one of them when they say they're coming with you?

Of course.

　Both Dad Nord and Mother Erna are smiling, but their eyes aren't smiling at all.

　And they're probably the two who are in the most trouble.

　d*mn, this is what power looks like.

"By the way, is Ra-chan's sister, Shelka, coming?

'As far as I can see from the letter, your sister's name was never mentioned.

　Shelka and I had a skirt roll-up due to Ra-chan's wind magic. I don't want to face each other if possible, so I'm grateful that Ra-chan is alone.

'So, this year the Silfords are getting Ra and Alecia and Count Merna and Viscount Yulina?

　There are eight nobles in the list. There are a lot of nobles at this year's harvest festival.

''No, Count Merna and Viscount Yulina won't be coming.

Why?

　Those jolly uncles and brothers aren't coming?　I said I'd be back next year.

'Count Merna sent me a letter stating that he would refrain from coming if there were two dukes in the house.

　I thought about that old man at the party as well, but he is very good at avoiding trouble.

　After all, when it comes to the Count, this level of crisis avoidance ability is a must?

　Well, there's a fearsome duchess. I know how you feel about it, because it's so cumbersome and troublesome.

　I would gladly go somewhere far away if it weren't for the incident with Eric. It wasn't a bad idea to go to Kagura again now and work through it.

'Well, either way, I didn't feel like I was going to be able to entertain you satisfactorily this year, so I tried to get you to do it again over here.

　This is how many nobles are coming. The capacity of the Rowlett family has long since been exceeded.

''By the way, is Viscount Yulina here for the same reason?

'No, they can't leave the estate for a while because Lady Linaria is pregnant or they don't want to leave for a while.

　Ri, Linaria is pregnant!　...Is that picture-perfect?　Isn't that a crime?

　And so on, but there was nothing wrong with that in terms of the values of this world.

　In the first place, that guy has a young appearance, but he's like seventeen years old or something. Considering his age alone, he might be a bit late for a nobleman.

I don't know. That's congratulations. I'll have to send you a letter of congratulations.''

'Yes, I suppose so. Viscount Dorr gave me a nice piece of cloth, and I could send you some baby clothes for you.

That's going to make you happy.

　I listened to their conversation quietly, feeling inexplicably uncomfortable.