The Main Family Is About to Die Out, so I, from a Branch Family, Am a Seed Provider (WN): Chapter 15

 

Episode 15: Birthday Celebration 1

"You know. I came a long way to have procreative sex with Ojousama today......"

"Shut up for a second! You don't have to say it here and now!"

 A week after making out with Armes at the fort.

 When I returned to my parents' house, I was greeted by Mashiro and, for some reason, a knight of the Fregrance family, who was visiting for the second time. I think his name was Grimm? Well, he's a guy, so I don't care.

 The knight had his subordinate restrain me and threw me into a narrow carriage without any questions asked, and took me to the Fregrance family.

"So far, so good. I still doubt if they treat me like a human being, but that's okay."

 But the problem came after I met the Fregrance family's daughter.

"Why are we... no. Why did you bring me to the royal capital instead of Ojousama's parents' home?"

"I had no choice. I can't do it with you while I'm in Royal Capital."

"Oh, so I'm brought here to be Ojousama's sex worker?"

"How dare you!!"

 She slapped me on the cheek as hard as she could. It was a pain in the ass.

 The young lady and I are currently in the royal city of Rivable. It is the central city of the kingdom where my parents and the Fregrance family serve.

 The city, which spreads out around the castle where the king lived, is a solid one-piece castle surrounded by three walls, while the town within the walls is bustling with people coming and going.

 We were in the castle located in the center of the city, in a large hall. It was obviously several times larger than the hall in my parents' house. If I were to use an analogy, the bathtub I usually use is in my parents' house, and this one is an open-air bath...... it is a very subtle analogy.

 Well, anyway, the scale is different. As expected of royalty.

 And it's not just us, but all the children of the main noble families of the kingdom were here.

"What are you staring at?"

"Ah, no. I just thought I felt nostalgic."

 The young lady looked different from usual, wearing a red dress as she did when we first met, her blonde hair neatly tied up as it looked good on her, and she had the air of a daughter of a great noble family.

"What kind of gathering is this?"

 I felt uncomfortable because all of them were nobles who were of higher family background than me. I felt their gazes, saying, "Why would a country noble like you be in a place like this?". I don't know why I'm here either.

 However, the young lady doesn't even seem to be bothered by the impolite stares and answered my questions in a very normal way.

"Prince Lim has turned seventeen, and today is his birthday."

"A birthday celebration?"

"Simply put, it's a birthday party. I mean, you, as a member of the nobility of the kingdom, should know that."

 No, to begin with, a country noble in a remote area like me has never received an invitation to a prince's birthday party.

"... Hmm? I'm sure Prince Lim."

 When I tried to remember the name I was told, the young lady said it with a regrettable face.

"My ex-fiancée."

 I remembered when I am told. Yes, come to think of it, originally, Lady Ritia would have been the prince's wife if there had been no succession problem in the Fregrance family.

"Is everything all right?"

 When I asked in a whisper, Lady Ritia turned away and said nothing more about the prince.

"Anyway! All you have to do is be quiet and stay by my side. Don't do anything unnecessary, okay?"

"Yes, yes, then I'll go get some food for later at night."

"I just said...!"

 With the young lady's reproachful voice behind me, I head for the table where a sumptuous meal is laid out.

 Elegant tunes were playing in the hall, and the children of the nobility were chatting around the table where the meal was laid out.

 However, being the child of a nobleman who was on the higher rank of the kingdom, their appearances are beautiful and natural. This is no place for a bumpkin like me.

 Let's quickly get what I want to eat and go back next to the young lady.

 As I was placing the food I wanted on my plate, people started to move away from me. What? Did I do something?

"Nice to meet you."

 As I was trying to fix the bacon sticking out of my plate, a voice called out to me from behind.

 I turned around to see a woman with light blue hair and two men standing in a line behind her, staring at me.

"Eh, me?"

"Who else could it be?"

 The woman with light blue hair, who was talking in an arrogant manner, suddenly unfolded a fan in one hand. The fan had some kind of pattern, probably the family crest of the woman's family, but I couldn't remember it.

"So, what can I do for you?"

 I asked very normally, but the woman, or rather the two men in the back, stepped forward with blood on their faces.

"Rude! Who do you think this person is..."

 The man was not only one step closer to me, but he was coming closer to me, but the woman behind him called out to stop him.

"Stop. A nobleman of the kingdom should remain calm at all times."

"Y-yes."

 The man backed down when told. As I am admiring the picturesque exchange of master-servant relationship, a light blue-haired woman approached, her heels clacking.

"My companion has caused you some trouble."

"Well......"

 Holding both ends of her skirt, which is the same light blue-colored as her hair, she made a polite bow.

 I simply nodded my head in a manner that was very typical of a noblewoman. No, I've never met many people like this before, so I don't know how to deal with them.

"I am the eldest daughter of the Brigitte family, Brigitte Aiz."

"......"

 The light blue-haired woman...... Brigitte Aiz, who gracefully introduced herself, was polite in her language, but there was a tinge of contempt in her voice that she made no attempt to hide.

 She is not much taller than me without heels, and her eyes are the same color as her hair as she gazed at me.

"Well, my name is..."

"No, you don't have to tell me. Rumors of you have already spread throughout the kingdom."

 Huh? What is she talking about? I mean, rumors about me?

"After all, you're the stallion for the fregrance family that has been called as the sword of the kingdom."

 Aiz said it so that the others could hear and then turned her gaze not on me but on Lady Ritia, who was standing quietly at the end of the hall.

 The young lady, who could not ignore it, glared at her.

"Ara? What did the opportunist say? I didn't hear it well."

 In response to the sarcastic tone of the young lady made Aiz cover her mouth with her fan as she approached Lady Ritia.…… She's definitely angry. From behind, one can see her shoulders shaking.

 The two closed the distance between them until their nose almost touched. Aiz is a little taller than the young lady and looked down on her, but Lady Ritia also looked up at Aiz as though she was about to bite her.

"Good day to you, Ritia-san. I am so disappointed."

"Heh? What's so disappointing? Unfortunately, I don't have a single thing to say for the opportunist would think that way about."

 The girls are arguing with each other, glaring at each other. I'm watching from the side, but I'm scared. I mean, who is this woman?

"I'm sorry if you weren't aware of it. I didn't think that you, the daughter of that great noble Fregrance family, who was called the sword of the kingdom, would be...... with a bumpkin like that."　

 As she said that, Aiz glanced at me this time.

 Is that it? Could this be about me and Lady Ritia's seeding work?

 Despite my doubts, Lady Ritia replied, seemingly unconcerned at all.

"I don't need to be told what to do by you, whose only job is to curry favor. You're a slut."

"Ara, I'm sorry. I meant to say that you are a good fit for a brainiac who can only think of fighting, but I guess that's too hard for a gorilla."

"......You slut, I'm gonna kill you, okay?"

"......Go ahead and try it, you little bitch."

 Scary. I'm scared of these girls' tongues.

 I back away from the girls that were quarreling and suddenly look around.

 The cursing match between Lady Ritia and Aiz, both beautiful girls in appearance if not in personality, drew a lot of attention from the people around me, and before I knew it, nothing but their conversation could be heard from the hall.

 I was the one who started it all, or rather, was the center of the conversation, but I didn't have a presence. Can we just eat dinner in the corner now?

 The two started arguing, so I left them alone and quietly faded out while I fixed the bacon that was sticking out of the plate.

 Against a pillar in the corner of the hall, I tear off a piece of bread and put it in my mouth. Yes, it's delicious. As expected of the royal capital. Even a piece of bread tastes great.

"Hey, you!"

 As I was about to continue eating the bacon that was sticking out of the plate, the two men who were with Aiz earlier approached me with angry voices.

"What is it?"

 I was confronted in a bad-tempered manner, and I reflexively responded with a mean tone of voice. He didn't like it and grabbed me roughly by the chest.

"You, while Aiz-sama is talking to you, your attitude...... Don't you think it's rude?"

"No, it's you guys who are rude......"

 Why should I taunt you guys? The only people I have to deal with are the Fregrance family. I mean, now that you mention it, who are the Brigittes?

 And the faces of the two men became angrier, as though their attitude earlier wasn't their true feelings.

"Don't tell me you don't know? One of the five nobles of the kingdom?"

 I probe my memory a bit when I'm told. But as for me, I don't know that much except the main family, the Fragrances. I didn't even know about Lady Ritia at first.

 Well, I don't need to know about her because I will never have a chance to come in contact with her. Instead, I know more about the Eastern Empire than they do.

"You know what I mean? The Brigittes......"

 When the man said so, he politely told me about the Brigitte family's background and how they have served the kingdom up to the present, with all the passion like that from those strange religious solicitors. It was like the annoyance of an old man who is no longer taken seriously by his family, and instead came to support a younger person in a lower position to show his knowledge.

 The information about the Brigittes, obtained through unheard-of hard work, can be summed up as follows.

 The Brigitte family is a noble family located in the western part of the kingdom and is said to be good at diplomacy, mediating between the neighboring western government and the kingdom.

 In the past, during the Western War, when the two countries were fighting, the Brigittes demonstrated their diplomatic skills by taking in neighboring noble families and negotiating the terms of peace, and after the peace with the Federation, their achievements came to light and they became one of the five major nobles.

 Using the wealth it had acquired, it also provided financial support to the surrounding nobility and its children, forming a faction that is one of the best or second-best among the five great noble families. ......

"...That's why a country bumpkin like you would normally never even meet them in person, you know?"

"Ah...... is that so?"

 The man said so proudly, but the point is that he is a noble who had made their living as a merchant.

 And from the way the man talked so passionately, it seemed that his family must be in debt to the Brigitte family.

 The evidence is this guy's clothes. He is wearing very expensive-looking clothes, but I get the feeling that he is less well-dressed than the other noble children.

"And yet that attitude of yours, don't you think it's disrespectful?"

"Haa..."

"It's almost a miracle that Aiz-sama even approached a stallion of the Fregrance family."

 ......So, I thought about this when I was ordered to do seeding work by the Fregrances, but why do the great nobles and their cronies naturally look down on people like this?

 But more than that, this time I felt that the hostility was directed not at me personally, but at the Fregrance family, through me to Lady Ritia.

 I had expected this, but it seems that the Fregrance family and the Brigitte family do not get along with each other. Well, it's easy to tell by looking at those two who are still fighting behind my back.

 I was about to put the crispy bacon in my mouth when the door at the far end of the hall opened with a bang.

 Just like that, the noisy atmosphere of the hall changes to one of silence.

 Many butlers and maids appeared from the door and spread out around the unmanned chair that had been there since the ceremony began. Then, a young man showed up.

 Walking gracefully, he sat down on the chair and looked around the quiet hall.

"Everyone, I have kept you waiting."

 ......No, I'm not waiting. Rather, I had kept the bacon waiting. And for goodness sake, as I was about to eat the bacon, a high-heeled footwear flying from behind hit me squarely on the head and that opportunity was lost forever.