After that day, I was made to attend various parties.
Unsurprisingly, it was depressing.
There was a certain number of aristocrats who considered living in their villa based in the capital while leaving the management of their domain to be part of their status, and they appeared to hold parties with such fellow aristocrats on a daily basis.
I cursed them in my mind for making me go through all that hassle.
[You’re so popular, Lugh-chan. You’ve received tons of marriage proposals in just a few days.] (Esri)
[Mom, I’m tired right now, so please stop with that.] (Lugh)
The fact that I was dispatched to the countryside in place of the hero was just an excuse to have the hero stay in the capital, and I was effectively treated as a discarded pawn.
However, there were many people who took the metropolitan government’s announcement at face value, and I got marriage offers wherever I went.
[Dia-chan got a lot of them too.] (Esri)
[Hard pass, I don’t even want to look at them. I’m sick of them too.] (Dia)
Since she had been turning down a bunch of offers like these ones since her time in Viekone, Dia was even more reluctant to participate in marriage interviews than I was.
[Fufufu! Aren’t you glad that Dia-chan wasn’t interested at all? At that time, you were making quite the incredible face.] (Esri)
[I was happy too. That you got jealous for me.] (Dia)
The ‘time’ they were referring to was back when Duke Gephis brought up the idea of marrying Dia and Naoise during our dinner with him.
I had been trained to conceal my emotions, but I carelessly slipped up.
[…It just happened. Don’t tease me too much about it.] (Lugh)
[You’re so adorable today, Lugh.] (Dia)
I was sitting on my bed, and Dia hugged me from behind.
Tarte was enviously watching us.
Even though I didn’t mind if she wanted to do the same.
[At last, there are only two more to go. It was about time.] (Lugh)
We’ve been attending parties ever since we arrived from the royal capital, but now we were finally seeing the end of the tunnel.
Today was the long-awaited day of the medal awarding ceremony, and once we were done with the ensuing party, we would be able to return to Tuatha Dé.
Although we had only been here for a few days, I couldn’t help but miss my homeland.
[This is a big day for you, Lugh-chan. So you have to dress up properly.] (Esri)
[Ah, let me help you with that. Ta-Dah, a makeup set! Even a man can look more handsome with some light make-up.] (Dia)
[Um… I will also try to help in any way I can.] (Tarte)
I was a bit freaked out by the three of them closing in on me.
The sight made my father chuckle a little.
[…Dad, do you enjoy seeing me in trouble?] (Lugh)
[No, I was just thinking that although you’ve been oddly mature since your early childhood and have no openings, you always lose your edge in front of those three.] (Cian)
[Aren’t you the same as well with Mom?] (Lugh)
[You might have a point. Perhaps the men of Tuatha Dé are destined to be dominated by their wives.] (Cian)
I’d be damned if I was going to end up like that.
After all, as a man, I wanted to take the lead.
…Although I thought that way, in the end, I couldn’t win against the women’s mysterious power, and I let them do as they pleased with me.
At least, my only solace was that the end result wasn’t too bad.
_______________________________________
The ceremony was set to be held in an audience room in the castle.
The participants were guided in first, and Epona and I, who were the main actors, were guided in later.
Since morning, carriages had been entering the castle one after the other.
Many of them were from foreign countries.
Since it was a ceremony to honor the achievements of subjugating the demons, this wasn’t a matter foreign to other countries either.
Dia had carefully applied make-up to change her facial appearance.
Because there were going to be some visitors from Viekone.
I was called out while I was staying in the waiting room and taken to the door of the audience room.
Epona was already there.
As befits a hero, she was wearing cool and dignified men’s clothing of blue and white.
[Hello. Did you enjoy your stay here?] (Epona)
[Honestly, I was tired of attending parties again and again. How can you stand this kind of life?] (Lugh)
[Ahaha, I’m used to it. So how’s the power I lent you?] (Epona)
[I’m getting the hang of it. At first, I was a bit confused by this overwhelming power, but I’ve learned to master it.] (Lugh)
No matter how strong your power was, it was meaningless if you couldn’t control it.
My physical abilities suddenly skyrocketed, so I had a hard time getting used to fighting in a new speed range.
[Glad to hear that. Then I’m sure you can even beat demons.] (Epona)
[Yeah. The way I am now, I could even solo a singular demon.] (Lugh)
…Even before I received her power, fighting army-type demons would’ve been no problem, but lone-type demons would’ve been difficult to deal with.
Army-type demon was the kind of demons that, like the orc of that day, could mass-produce underlings and have them crush everything as a mob.
An army of over a thousand of them was troublesome, but conversely, those demon didn’t pack a punch. On the other hand, singular-type demons couldn’t create monsters, but they were extremely strong.
There was no doubt that both types posed significant threats.
[Lord hero, Lord Lugh, please come this way.] (Servant)
When a servant called us, we followed him and were made to wait in front of a door.
Ready or not, the door opened.
A red carpet stretched up to the throne, and the attendees lined up on both sides.
I was surprised to see a face I didn’t expect among the crowd. That face was Maha’s. They seemed to have invited influential merchants as well in order to make it a grand ceremony.
And apparently, Maha deliberately kept quiet about it as she stuck out her tongue.
[Honestly, I can’t believe her…] (Lugh)
We walked on the red carpet laid out in the center of the room.
All those people in this room focusing their eyes on us was embarrassing.
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