Trails with Cuddle-Cuddle Osbon
Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Helen
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter 057 – Fufufu, Son. Be Careful of Your Words and Actions [B]
Without anyone noticing, Elise shifted and placed her hand on Musse’s shoulder.
Even before she met Rean, Musse had sensed Elise’s feelings for her adoptive brother and had teased her about it.
Therefore, Musse’s brilliant mind quickly realized that the current situation was one in which she had made a move on Rean (or made him make a move on her) despite knowing Elise’s feelings.
“Things are not what they seem, senp——”
“Yes, it’s fine. So, tell me more about it…… okay?”
Elise wasn’t using any force in her hand.
She was just putting her hand on Musse’s shoulder, just as she seemed to do normally.
Yet, Musse felt as if, through the force, she was being crushed under a rock.
Musse was too scared to turn around.
“Elise, actually——”
“Please be quiet for a bit, nii-sama. This is a matter between women.”
Rean tried to act as a mediator, but he was coldly refused by his sister.
He wanted to finish the tea party quickly so he could convey his business to Musse, but it seemed like it was going to take a long time, so Rean scratched his head.
There was no way Rean could ask for help from Alfin, who was blushing and shaking her head vigorously in her fantasies, so he asked Kurt if he could help him resolve the situation.
“Kurt, it’s now time for Vander the guardian sword to take action. Can you do something about this?”
Kurt, having reached the limit of his patience at the carefree words spouted by the source of this terrible situation, screamed.
“No, Vander’s sword can’t protect people from something like this!”
“But isn’t it a good opportunity to get to know Vander’s power other than strength?”
“There’s no way that refers to something like this! And even though you talk about protecting one’s heart, can’t you see that your little sister’s heart is now raging? It’s already on the verge of breaking, though?!”
“No, no, Elise and I are bound by a deep trust as a fami-“
“There’s no such a thing.”
“Isn’t it just you being overly self-conscious about it?! And you still claim to protect another party’s heart!”
Elise’s clear denial made Kurt, who had been impressed with what Rean had said to him less than an hour ago, completely change his attitude and shout.
“Elise, it makes this brother sad that you would say something like that…… If you’re angry that I didn’t come to visit, I apologize.”
“That’s one of the reasons, but that’s not why I’m upset now!”
Seeing Rean completely unable to comprehend the situation, Elise’s emotions fired up and she finally raised her voice.
Musse saw that Elise’s anger had been shifted to Rean, and decided to discard the image she had built up at the girls’ academy.
It might become a problem for her in the future, but it was far better than losing a senior and a friend she respected because of a misunderstanding.
“Senpai! The truth, I will speak of the truth without any misunderstandings, all the way from the beginning!”
Musse began to explain the situation, which she would later admit as the most intellectually taxing thing she had done in her life up til this point.
Thanks to Musse’s precise and accurate explanations of Rean’s actions at various points, without missing a word, Elise, Alfin, and Kurt were finally able to understand the true relationship between Rean and Musse.
Naturally, Musse also explained to Rean that her status as maid was a lie and that her real name was Mildine Juzalith de Cayenne, in other words, the niece of the current Duke Cayenne.
Musse explained everything including how she had heard of Rean from Aurelia, became interested in him, and approached him.
After saying everything, Musse looked completely burnt out and exhausted, and in contrast, others looked at her with sympathetic gazes.
Elise continued to angrily scolded Rean, who was the cause of all this chaos. Naturally, Rean was also scolded by Osbon, and he apologized for not being clear enough.
It might be a shameful thing to admit as a member of the Vander family, but Kurt would later comment that it was a very refreshing moment for him and that Elise was very reliable then. Musse wholeheartedly agreed to that.
The silver lining was that there were no other female students in the rose garden of St. Astraia Girls’ Academy besides Rean and the group.
However, Musse shook her head and endured the headache, knowing that her angry shouts might have echoed through the door.
It was a shouting that happened after the arrival of two male students, Rean and Kurt, which was a rare sight at the girls’ academy.
That was the moment it became a hot topic throughout the girls’ academy and was likely to continue for the following month.
“But why is Mildine interested in Nii-sama? If it’s just about a promising swordsman, then I think the same could be said to Kurt-san over there……”
“Kurt, if you want Elise, then come with me to the training grounds first.”
“I didn’t say anything?!”
“Nii-sama, you’re making things more complicated, so please be quiet until I say so otherwise.”
“Yes.”
“Senpai, how reliable……”
“Nii-sama might be the root cause, but you’re also at fault, okay?”
“Yes, I’m reflecting on my actions…… Ahem. Of course, there is a reason why I approached Rean-san…… but I feel a little reluctant to tell Princess and Senpai about it.”
“You shouldn’t hide anything after coming all the way here, right?”
“No, well…… it’s because it’s a gruesome story that’s not really appropriate to be told in a girls’ academy.”
“Eh…………”
Rean gently tugged on Elise’s hem.
He was silently asking to be allowed to speak.
Elise sighed lightly, feeling it couldn’t be helped, and nodded.
“Musse, leaving aside Elise, I think you should at least let the Princess know. Isn’t that the reason that you, not Aurelia-san, sent us to Bryonia Island? If so, then Princess isn’t unrelated to this either.”
“So you have noticed……”
“I didn’t notice with my own powers, though.”
“Rean-san, also Mildine-sama, what exactly are you……”
The playful atmosphere disappeared, and Kurt, realizing they were now discussing a serious topic, stepped in.
Elise frowned slightly at being left out.
She turned to Rean and asked so she could hear of it as well.
“Nii-sama, the Princess is my dear friend. If something were to happen involving her, then I would like to help her.”
“Elise……”
“Mildine too? I also consider you as a dear friend. That’s why, please don’t keep things bottled up to yourself, you can tell me about it. Even if I can’t offer a direct solution, I’m willing to be a listener if it will help ease your burden, even by just a little.”
“Senpai……”
Sensing the strong friendship between the three, who all cherished one another, Rean’s mouth relaxed.
Just as how he made friends in Thors, it seemed that Elise had also found people important to her here.
——That’s why I will definitely help Rosine.
Rean reaffirmed his resolve and told Musse.
“Musse. At the very least, I don’t mind you getting me involved. In fact, I’m going to cause you trouble from now on, so you can feel free to make an unreasonable request for me to repay you ——For example, please stop my uncle.”
“Rean-san……”
Rean didn’t know what Musse was thinking, but she was aware of the forces of “Noble Faction” against “Reformist Faction” and was undoubtedly thinking of various ways to prepare for it.
Otherwise, there would be no need to tell Rean’s group about the existence of Panzer Soldat.
Musse was a relative of Duke Cayenne, who was thought to be the driving force behind securing military power of the Noble Faction. It would make sense if she somehow found out about her uncle’s ambition and sent Rean’s group SOS.
“Uncle…… Did Duke Cayenne do something?”
“…………What I’m about to explain is just my speculation. Rean-san, I would like to examine things further, check things together with the information you have obtained, or so I’d like to say but……”
“Is there something on your mind?”
“The time’s up.”
As she said that, the sound of the chapel chiming four o’clock could be heard from Heimdallr Cathedral.
Dusk was approaching and it was time for the female students to return to their dormitories.
“……Musse, is it possible for us to meet at night?”
“Normally, that wouldn’t have been possible, but……”
As she said this, Musse turned her gaze to Alfin.
Alfin, understanding Musse’s intentions, clasped her hands together and made the following suggestion.
“Then I will invite all of you to my house. We’ll be using the guest room, but it will be possible for Rean-san and Kurt-san to visit.”
“The Princess’s house……”
“The Imperial Castle…… the Valflame Palace, is it?”
Even Rean couldn’t hide his surprise at this unexpected turn of events.
When he got into the girls’ academy to secure Musse’s cooperation, he never dreamt that he would be invited to the emperor’s residence.
However, it was Kurt who put a stop to it.
“Princess, isn’t that a little too casual of an invitation……”
“Oh my, Kurt-san. Cedric is also there, so there’s no need to be reserved, you know?”
“That’s…………”
“Cedric…… that’s the name of Her Highness Princess Alfin’s brother, isn’t it?”
“Yes, he’s my twin younger brother. Whenever we travel outside, Kurt-san is in charge of guarding us as a member of the Vander clan.”
“So the person Kurt said that he wanted to protect was Prince Cedric, wasn’t it?”
“…………………Yes.”
Kurt affirmed it with a heavy, painful look on his face.
Alfrin frowned at his reaction.
However, that was all she did and she didn’t say anything about it.
Sensing a complicated atmosphere, Musse whispered something to Rean.
(“It seems that Kurt-san has become estranged from Prince Cedric recently.”)
(“Estranged? Why?”)
(“I don’t know the details, but it seems like Kurt-san is having some troubles.”)
(“……He did say he feels like he isn’t good enough for that role. Perhaps because Kurt is a serious person, he probably felt a lot of pressure from the great responsibility of being a guardian of the royal family.”)
With the information from Musse, Rean got the rough idea of Kurt’s troubles and his relationship with Cedric.
According to Laura, even though Kurt was a member of the Vander family, he wasn’t blessed with a physique to wield a strong sword like the rest of the family, and she had heard Kurt lament about his own thinness.
But Laura also assessed that Kurt’s talent for swordsmanship was by no means lacking.
Perhaps his strong longing for Vander…… for his family was what stopped him from moving forward.
(“Musse, about my request……”)
(“I’ll accept it.”)
(“Is that okay? This has nothing to do with Duke Cayenne’s problem, though?”)
(“No, it’s just my guess…… Although I don’t know the details, I believe it is not unrelated to the reason why Rean came to visit me. I would appreciate it if you could tell me about it again tonight.”)
It seemed like Musse had confirmed for Rean to be going to the Valflame Palace that night.
For Rean, it was like a wish come true. 1
Rean bowed to Alfin and accepted her offer.
“Princess, I will gratefully accept your invitation. Kurt, I’m sure there will be a lot of envy if I went alone, so would you mind coming with me?”
“Eh…………”
“I don’t know if you know this, but the Schwarzer Family has been distancing themselves from high society because of me. If it was just me, such gazes would come from everywhere. That’s why it would be a relief if Kurt…… a member of the Vander family were to come along.”
Rean indirectly implied that it was, in a sense, the strength of Vander.
The prestige of being a martial family that protected the Imperial Family, and the trust they had cultivated, would serve as a shield to protect them from the envy of lower-ranking nobles.
Kurt, who was intelligent to begin with, guessed Rean’s intentions.
There were also his mother’s words as well as his feelings of inferiority towards Cedric. Various thoughts raced through Kurt’s mind—— and eventually, Kurt slowly nodded.
“Now that it’s decided, we need to submit our departure form right away. Elise, can you help us with that?”
“Yes, with pleasure, nii-sama. Also……”
“Aah, see you later——”
As Rean tried to wave his hand lightly as a farewell, Elise quickly approached him.
Her gaze was too sharp to be considered an upturned glance, and while it was a half lidded gaze, the force it exuded was enough to stop Rean from moving.
“Nothing really happened with Mildine, right?”
“Nothing happened at all.”
Hearing Elise speak words like a certain doting parent jaeger, it couldn’t be helped that Rean felt anxious about his adoptive sister’s future.
Author Note:
Although it was supposed to be the story of rescuing Rosine, it ended up being focused on the New Class VII, or rather, the younger group.
Is this the fate of a traditional heroine waiting to be rescued, who isn’t by the protagonist’s side…?
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