Chapter 81: Joyous dinner (2/2)
{Hahaha, thanks, your highness. Speaking of which, I have always been curious about you. Well, I guess everyone had always been curious about you.}
Sol gave a bitter smile. It wasn't like he could say that he basically never left the church or the tower of babel because of his overprotective aunt and lover.
{I can guess. Still, now I will appear more regularly in public. So I guess we will have more opportunities to discuss.}
The two continued to chat idly, unaware of the silence that had slowly befallen around them.
<<Whisper>> was truly a good way to discuss in secret. But it suffered from some flaws.
The first one is that since it was a mana technique, it had mana fluctuations and could be felt if someone was careful enough.
Secondly, no matter how much you whispered, you still had to move your mouth to speak.
As such, what the people at the table were seeing was the prince and the heiress murmuring without any sound while looking at each other.
”Ahem. Your highness.”
Sol was startled when Gerald spoke to him. He was about to ask what was the matter when he finally remarked that all eyes were on him. It didn't take long for him to understand what happened.
More than anything, the grin on the Duke face made Sol want to punch him.
Coughing a little to hide his embarrassment, he began eating again and ignored the teasing light dancing in the eyes of the other people at the table.
”Do you think his highness and the lady are hooking up?”
”Who knows. But they seemed to be really interested in each other.”
”Is his highness a womanizer?”
”Perhaps? At least he seems to know how to handle women. Never saw the lady smile like that when discussing with a boy.”
”Ohhh. Then perhaps the lady will finally find a husband?”
”Incredible… I had already bet she wouldn't marry before at least her thirty.”
”I had bet that she would never marry.”
”Hey, don't insult the lady. I had bet that she was into girls.”
Such discussion began to fly around. Even though they were murmuring and didn't whisper, when so many people talked at the same time it was hard to not hear them.
Athena blushed in anger about this betting she never heard about.
”You bastard! Who the hell began this betting?”
All the nobles feel silent before directing their eyes on the Duke.
”Ohohoh~! To think my loyal soldiers would betray me so easily.”
He slowly caressed his beard while dodging the murderous eyes of his granddaughter.
Everyone else began to laugh while Athena began to berates the Duke.
Looking at them like that, Sol had to admit that he felt envy.
His diners were generally with Lilith and Lilin. Never of which were particularly talkative. He had never felt such warmth during a diner. So much laughter and happiness. It was truly a new experience that he relished greatly.
Smiling inwardly, Sol began to hope even more that the Duke would truly take his side.
{They are interesting right?}
This time, it was Gerald who whispered to him. His eyes still glued on the scene, Sol nodded, {Indeed. They are truly a funny bunch.}
Gerald, also looking at this scene gave a warm smile.
{My brother is someone who sees all his soldiers as family. Many of his most trusted generals even call him father or grandfather. He isn't the best example of a noble. But… He is someone truly worth respecting.}
(E/N: White beard. Lol)
Swirling a glass of wine in his hand, he took a sip before continuing.
{Sol, later, if you wish you will be able to discuss alone with my brother. Sadly, even though I wish to support you, I do not have enough power to sway the opinions. So the result will depend on you. I wish you success.}
Sol, hearing this heartfelt advice felt a pang in his heart. He wished, really wished with from the bottom of his heart that there was nothing wrong with Gerald.
'I hope that Milia's investigation will show how trustworthy you are.'
He refused to believe that the one who took care of him all those years could be a traitor. But he refused to leave anything to luck. Letting the goddesses throw the die was the most stupid decision anyone could take.