Vol 1 Chapter 30 (2/2)
“Woww, the artist’s amazing!”
Locke roared with laughter upon seeing it, slapping the table.[2]
“Hey-hey-hey, who is this? Isn’t this too much beautification? What the heck!? How much money did he sh.e.l.l out to get this painted!? The artist who painted the portrait is truly amazing! If I told my dad, the Marine house would gladly patronize this artist.”
The person in the portrait was a beautiful youth[3] with blond hair, blue eyes, and a well-proportioned body
The person in the portrait sported a soft, warm smile, and did not resemble the actual Count Elstead, the fat bald toad, at all.[4]
“This, could this be a portrait of some other person?”
“No, Onii-chan. It’s signed right here, see?”
Leticia pointed at the bottom of the painting, and sure enough, the name ‘Royce van Elstead’ was inscribed there.
The frame was also engraved with the Elstead coat of arms, so it shouldn’t have been a different person.
“This is on the level of fraud. If in the one-in-a-million chance[5] Cornelia-sama summoned the actual person, I would like to see how he would gloss it over. I really want to hear his explanation! I also want to see your faces when you meet!!”
Locke continued laughing, to the point that tears were flowing from his eyes.
“Is he that different from the person depicted in this portrait?”
“It’s a completely different person!”
“Wait a minute, Locke. If you look closely, the face does slightly resemble the actual person.”
Locke looked at the place Wynn pointed at—
“Isn’t that only the hair!? Well, the hair certainly is drawn thinly. It’s only the feeling. What a brute[6] that Count is! I could die of laughter!”
“Anyways, what is the status of your engagement?”
Pulling away slightly from the laughing Locke, Leticia asked Cornelia.
“I declined them.”
“Well, that’s good.”
Locke nodded.
“I have said it before, but I investigated the bad rumours about that person… He brings young maidens that live in his territory into his estate and…”
“That’s cruel…”
Leticia frowned.
“Why do we leave those sorts of n.o.bles be?”
“The Count two generations ago had contributed greatly to the empire, and so he inherited that power. The previous Count died a sudden death, but the Count before him had risen up the ranks to become a general. Besides the Count two generations ago, the Elstead Family had produced other generals.”
“Speaking of… when we shook hands, his hands were surprisingly thick. So he came from a degraded military family?”
“In addition to these constant bad rumours, the Countdom’s financial state is also steadily declining.”
Locke recalled that Count Elstead’s messenger was in debt to the Marine house.
Nevertheless, it wasn’t only the knights that had rotted, the whole country’s upper echelons may have rotten away.
After that, they returned to more mundane topics, and by the time the sweets had cooled down, the sweets were wrapped up, and they dispersed.
AN: Next chapter is Abel’s side. Update is the day after tomorrow.
Translator Notes
an embarra.s.sing or tactless act or remark in a social situation —back
sfx: Dondon —back
Most of you know what a bishounen is, but this is a biseinen —back
Don’t actually fat-shame anybody IRL!!! —back
actually used ten thousand in the raws, since chinese and j.a.panese numbers do the equivalent of putting commas every four digits. —back
brute, in the sense that he is a deplorable person —back
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