Chapter 2: The Wolf Prince Looks Back to the Past 1

 

 

「Oh, it’s just you.」

When he visited Isaak, Isaak responded as if he was troubled instead of greeting him.

「What is with that greeting? Are you disappointed that I wasn’t Claudia?」
「……I didn’t say that.」

Isaak glared at Ralph with a complicated expression when Ralph grinned and smiled at him.

「So, is your body alright?」

Just a few hours ago, Ralph had received word that Claudia unleashed an explosion and Isaak had directly received it. Isaak acted as if it was nothing and merely shrugged.

「As you can see.」

Ralph was glad and grinned widely at him.

「Above all, it is good that you are healthy. As expected, the only person I thought I could entrust Claudia to was you. Recommending you was worth it.」

Recommended. With that word, Isaak’s movements stilled.

「……So then, it was you after all.」

Three days ago, Isaak had returned from the expedition and Alexis’ disappearance was reported to all parties.
And then yesterday, Lord Rosenheim had paid a visit to the Lambertz family. There were discussions of making Isaak, Claudia’s fiancee.

『The eldest son, Isaak, will become my daughter’s groom: is it difficult afterall?』
『No, it isn’t like that. It’s just that, after all, if it is against the will of the person himself――』
『Father¹.』
『Isaak, I already understand. I know that you have no intention of marrying.』
『No. If it’s alright with Father¹, then you may accept.』
『……What!?』

With that, the matter was settled and Isaak went to meet Claudia.
Though there were still other candidates, Ralph never even considered them. As far as Ralph was concerned, it was already a given.

「You can thank me.」
「……Why should I?」

Ralph looked as if he was proud of himself, making Isaak feel like he wanted to punch him.

「You have been thinking about Claudia all this time, haven’t you? As a man.」
「Haa!?」
「It was obvious. But you couldn’t mention it in front of Alex.」
「H-hold on――」
「That’s why I had gone ahead and recommended you to Father¹ and Brother².」
「Wait!」

Isaak had raised his voice towards Ralph, but he was reined back as the inside of Isaak’s head blanked out and refused to start up.

「What’s wrong, Isaak?」
「Ahー……」
「Well, calm down. Don’t be flustered.」
「I-I’m not flustered!」
「By the way, I think Alex noticed. Even though you didn’t say anything.」
「Wh……」
「Before bidding farewell, what did Alex say to you?」
「…………」

Isaak held his breath. He remembered his goodbyes to his friend.

「……I entrust Claudia to you.」
「Isn’t it so?」
「……I told him to stop. He had a fiancé so he shouldn’t mess around. Even so, that idiot――」
「Alex may have seemed quiet, but once he decides something, he will not withdraw. Although I still believe he should have found another way to go about it. Well, Alex is how Alex is.」
「…………」
「About Claudia, I believe that he thought he could have a peace of mind if he entrusted her to you.」
「……Is it because of me?」
「Ha?」
「Because of me, Alex――」
「What are you talking about? Are you an idiot?」

Haa!? Before Isaak could retort, Ralph continued on talking with a serious look.

「Alex met the saint. Then he choose to separate with Claudia. By no means was it because he was holding back on you. 」
「……I guess so.」

Isaak said with a sigh while roughly ruffling his head.
Ralph saw that Isaak was acting like usual again and grinned broadly at him while his sapphire eyes, similar to Claudia, shone brightly.

「So then, I want to know.」
「……What is it?」
「The reason why Claudia won’t forgive you.」
「You, that, is it normal to ask with that kind of face?」
「Am I not allowed to worry? I’m going to become your brother-in-law after all.」
「……You as a brother-in-law? I’m going to get seriously angry.」

While saying so, Isaak looks back to the past. He immediately recalls the reason why Claudia won’t forgive him.
That was a bitter memory that always left Isaak feeling troubled whenever he thought about it.

 

 

TN/EN:

Father¹ ⇒ Chichiue. There are two ways to call one’s parents. Chichiue/Hahaue or Otou-sama/Okaa-sama. You usually use the former when addressing your parents in front of others to sort of downplay their importance as a sign of humility. This would translate to something like “My humble father/mother” versus “My esteemed father/mother”.Brother² ⇒ Ani. Same like above. It’s a more humble form of onii-sama. Also more commonly used by boys (Aniue/Aniki).The forms don’t really matter much in this case but I thought I’d mention it anyways.