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"Federico-nii-sama, it's Raimond. May I come in?"
".........Enter."
After a long pause of about three seconds, Federico-nii-sama's voice replied, so I slowly opened the door to the study.
Inside were Federico-nii-sama sitting at his desk reading documents, and his attendant.
".........Where's Father?"
"Father is talking with Mother. I thought there were things he couldn't talk about with me there, so I came back. Um, is it okay if I stay in the room?"
".........Ah."
Having said that, Federico-nii-sama turned his gaze back to the documents.
"Lord Raimond, this way."
Federico-nii-sama's attendant said that and led me to the table.
"Um, I'm Raimond. You're Federico-nii-sama's attendant, right?"
"Yes. My name is Bernardo Bernini. I look forward to getting to know you, Lord Raimond."
Bernardo-san, with his vivid pink hair and gold eyes, had quite a flashy appearance, but contrary to his flashy looks, he had a gentle demeanor.
"Are you from the Bernini ducal family?"
"Oh. You're well-informed."
The Bernini ducal family is one of the most powerful ducal families in the Centro Kingdom.
"I do know about Karina-sama's birth family, after all."
He's from the birth family of Karina-sama, Father's first queen, and the mother of Federico-nii-sama and Orlando-nii-sama, who is currently studying abroad in the Occidens Kingdom.
In other words, Bernardo-san is Federico-nii-sama's cousin.
"When Federico was the same age as Lord Raimond, he didn't even care about the ducal families in the kingdom, though."
"Ludo... Don't say unnecessary things."
"Haha. I got scolded. Lord Raimond, please."
Bernardo-san, who had been making tea for me even while we were talking, placed the tea and cookies in front of me.
"Thank you, Bernardo-san."
"You're welcome. But Lord Raimond, you're polite. Usually, they don't use honorifics with someone like me, but..."
"Um. Bernardo-san is older than me. And I'm also considering going into town in the future."
"What!?"
As soon as I alluded to leaving the house, not only Bernardo-sama but also Federico-nii-sama raised their voices in surprise.
"E-Eh? What's wrong?"
".........What do you mean, you're thinking of going into town?"
I was pierced by Federico-nii-sama's golden eyes, and my body stiffened in surprise.
"Um, what I mean is, Mother's side is noisy, right? I don't particularly want to be king, and I thought it would be easier if I could just get rid of my right to succession... Eh, what's with that face?"
Both Federico-nii-sama's face and Bernardo-san's face had expressions as if they couldn't believe what they were hearing.
".........Are you leaving the house?"
"Yes. I can't laugh if there's a family feud because of me, so I thought it would be faster to just leave the house. It would have been nice if I had some special talent like you brothers, but since I don't, I thought I'd become an adventurer or something."
"An adventurer from a royal family..."
".........Isn't there another way?"
Bernardo-san muttered in dismay, and Federico-nii-sama, putting down the documents he was holding, came to the table where I was sitting and asked me that.
"Eh... It depends on how much Mother can control her faction, or is that too much to say? Well, it depends on whether she can control her cronies."
"A six-year-old using the word 'faction'...... Federico, did you use words like that?"
".........You too, Ludo. No, more than that. If there are no nobles pushing you to become Crown Prince, then you won't leave the house, right?"
Federico-nii-sama asked with a serious expression, but
"Eh, don't you not like me very much, Federico-nii-sama?"
He's been frowning at me when he talks to me, and even now there's a deep wrinkle etched between his eyebrows.
That's why I've been confused as to why Federico-nii-sama has been saying things to stop me since a while ago, so I asked him that on this occasion. Federico-nii-sama made an even more stern face, and Bernardo-san put his hand to his mouth and turned his face away from Federico-nii-sama!
".........Even so, I do think of you as an important younger brother, though."
"Guh!! F, Fuhahah!! Rai, Lord Raimond!! That's the best!! Your face is too scary, Federico!!"
".........It's always been like this."
Bernardo-sama was pointing at Federico-nii-sama, who looked very depressed, and laughing hysterically.
"Eh, eh... Federico-nii-sama's facial muscles are abandoning their work too much, aren't they? Or rather, should I say that only one facial muscle is doing too much work?"
".........Because of this face, Giovanni avoids me, and Giancarlo is afraid of me."
His forehead is excessively wrinkled, making him look very grumpy at first glance, but when you hear this story, it's strange how that expression looks full of sadness.
No, he's probably actually sad.
"Orlando is clueless, and Bertrand doesn't care about things he's not interested in. Andrea is perceptive, so he actually supports me, but as a result, it's painful to be avoided by Giovanni and Giancarlo......"
"On top of that, you even told me that you probably hate me......"
Thanks to Bernardo-san, who couldn't completely suppress his laughter and added that, I felt very sorry.
"S-Sorry?"
I'm not sure if it's appropriate to apologize here, but I couldn't find any other words, so I apologized to Federico-nii-sama. Federico-nii-sama must have felt the same way, because he nodded with a subtle expression.
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