865 – Crassius Assemble – 6

I definitely seem to be good at physical work.

“Inertial drift!”

“Wow!”

“Abba! Chaego! Joa!”

It was definitely my first time carrying people on a cart, but I’ve already reached a point where I can safely and quickly do things like this.

In fact, I myself wondered if it was okay to do things like drifting, but the more intense the play activity, the more excited the children became. As my doubts grew, so did the children’s laughter.

“Kal. Even though it has magic, be careful. It’s too intense with children riding it.”

Of course, I didn’t just go ahead and drift without any plan. The best magician in the mansion, the best in the system, the best in the empire, and the best in the continent is right next to me. The safety of the children is secured first and foremost, faster than anyone else.

The problem is that it doesn’t look good, apart from the rational judgment that it’s safe. If I’m the one dragging it around myself, how much more so must Trixie be who’s watching it. She’s probably wondering if it wasn’t a spell cast from the beginning.

“No! This is good! Chaegoya!”

“Okay! Let’s keep going like this!”

“Thank you too, Mom! I’m using Mom’s magic!”

So, just as I was about to apologize, the children riding in the cart started to defend me one by one.

Thank you, but it’s difficult. Trixie is loved by children because of her long, clean hair, her pointy ears that are different from ordinary people, and her ability to use various magic. If you protest to Trixie, it means that she likes this cart game. It means that it’s not a game that can be finished just once today, but that it has to continue in the future.

It’s really a shame. It’s better to carry Teresa on your back than to be the father who pulls the cart every day.

‘Stop it.’

Without realizing it, I looked at Trixie with longing eyes.

If I say no, the kids will cry and throw tantrums. So if Tricky, who the kids love and has a higher ranking than me, stops them…!

“Dad, you must be tired too, so you need to take breaks every now and then. Okay?”

“Yeah! I’ll have some snacks with Dad too!”

“Haha, okay. Then that’s enough.”

‘ah.’

The only glimmer of hope was instantly extinguished.

It wasn’t just me who didn’t want to be resented by children, but Trixie too. Although Trixie was receiving a lot of love from children, if you treat her well a hundred times and then hurt her feelings once, her favorability rating will drop. You have to be especially careful with children.

Still, I had some hope. I really hoped that there would be hope for the children if they had Tricky, who was an irreplaceable human resource─

“Trixie’s mom! Mommy deserves it too!”

“uh?”

“Uh, huh?”

Pedi, who was sitting in the deepest part of the cart, opened his mouth lively.

It was such an unexpected suggestion that both Tricky and I couldn’t help but let out a blank voice.

‘As expected of the eldest son.’

Soon, the confusion turned into awe. As the eldest son of our children, his name was not just for decoration, but he was showing incredible behavior that surpassed not only his younger siblings but even his parents’ expectations.

What child would suggest that his mother ride in the cart he was riding in? Not even his real mother, but his second mother.

“Come on! Let’s play value!”

“Mom too! Mom too!”

“Tricky Mom! Worthy!”

“Hey, hey.”

Trixie, whose ears began to twitch, looked at me with longing eyes, just like I had just now.

“Ta. Where do you want to go?”

But the answer I could give was the same as before. I couldn’t give Tricky the answer she wanted.

It’s not that I’m taking revenge for the petty things I did earlier. It’s not that I want to see Tricky, her ears drooping, trudging onto the wagon. It’s not that I want to see the kids grabbing Tricky’s hair and rejoicing.

Because if a child wants it, the parents have to give in. Trixie is precious, but if multiple children want it, it’s right for one wife to sacrifice herself.

‘Sorry.’

I apologized to Tricky in my heart, even though it was an apple that couldn’t reach me. There’s a high probability that Tricky had apologized to me just now, so this was a draw.

“Master! Second Madam!”

As I put strength into my thighs to cast inertial drift again, Yuris, who was inside the main building, came running.

“Yuri? What’s going on?”

My head tilted involuntarily at the sight of him running urgently.

Aren’t all the employees currently assigned to the banquet hall, except for the minimum number of people? Although there are few people attending the banquet, all of them are adults of higher rank than me. From the employees’ perspective, it’s a situation where they have to serve with all their might.

“That, that…”

Yuris, who was catching her breath for a moment, flinched when she saw Tricky riding in the cart.

“Your Majesty, please come find your master and his ladies!”

He continued speaking nonchalantly.

I couldn’t help but admire her professionalism. Even if I were her husband, I would be confident that I would be shaken if Trixie was riding in the cart. Even the little girl Yuris has become an excellent servant. This master is happy.

“Father?”

“Yes! Sophia went to the other ladies!”

Anyway, aside from the admiration, the news that Yuris brought was quite unexpected.

It’s been about 20 years since the last time the seven Crassius siblings gathered together. Even that is based on the time my grandfather passed away. Considering that they were separated due to marriage, it could have been even longer than that.

So, my wife and I have intentionally stepped aside to have some time for the siblings alone. But it hasn’t even been that long since the banquet started, and you’re already looking for us? Where did the time for the siblings go?

‘What should I do?’

It seems like it would be morally right to refuse, but my father must know that I am curious. In fact, he must have been waiting for this moment more than I did.

Even if I gave in a hundred times and my father backed down, my mother, who was right next to me, would have stopped me. So it would be right to accept this summons rather than refuse it.

“There was no talk about children?”

But this must be made clear. All the servants of the mansion are mobilized to maintain the banquet, and the children are out and about playing. Are you going to leave these children behind and run to the banquet hall? In a situation where there are no servants to properly look after the children?

Of course, there are servants who take care of children who can barely crawl or can’t even stand. There are also holy beasts, the children’s eternal toys.

But I’m afraid of the aftermath if I just leave this situation where the fire has been lit. The next time we play, the kids will be so angry.

“Oh, well, there was no talk about the young masters and ladies, but the people who were with the great man said they wanted to say hello to the families.”

After saying that, Yuris groaned alone,

“The young masters and ladies are family to them, so shouldn’t we go together!?”

“I guess so.”

It was a perfect conclusion, and I found myself nodding in agreement.

That’s right. The people there know that I and the kids are together because they ran into me pulling a cart in the garden.

And they are all experienced parents. If they are the same age as our children, they will naturally know that they will follow their parents wherever they go. In other words, calling me and my wife automatically means that they want to see their nieces and nephews.

Okay, let’s go. All Crassius are here.

***

Someone once said that a family is a group of people who eat the same food at the same time and place every day.

When I was young, I thought that was a formality. Or I thought that family was not such a happy and peaceful existence. I─we always ate together, but it was far from a warm and harmonious atmosphere. If this was what family was, I thought that family was nothing special.

However, after marrying his wife and becoming August Deast and having children, his thoughts changed. He thought that eating together was what made him a family. It was just that our Crassius was strange.

And now, decades later, the Krasius family truly feels like family.

“I’ll take back what I said earlier about having a strong personality. Why are there only three drinks?”

“If you think about it that way, there are three snacks. Think of it as one side dish and one drink.”

These small snacks felt more like a meal than the many delicacies and luxurious delicacies we had eaten at the Counts of Tylgehen. It was almost like the first meal we had ever had.

“Your Majesty. Count Tylglehen and his second wife have arrived.”

As I took a sip of the whiskey that my brother had personally poured for me, not long after, a servant at the entrance to the banquet hall approached my brother.

My nephew. I know you must have been flustered when I suddenly called you, but I’m grateful that you came so quickly. And since you came with your second wife, I guess you happened to be in the same place, right…?

‘for a moment.’

Who was your nephew’s second wife?

The first wife was definitely the youngest daughter of the Duke of Wolken… no, now I should call her the youngest sister, Princess Marketa. The next wife was definitely…

‘Your Majesty the Magi.’

The hand holding the glass began to shake.

When I vaguely referred to them as my nieces and nephews, I didn’t think much of it, but when the two wives came to visit, I belatedly came to my senses.

The noblest of nobles. A being who can put everyone under his feet except for His Majesty the Emperor. A noble being who even the royal family respects except for the next in line of succession.

Even among those five dukes, there is a great wizard who reigned for a period of a hundred years and was practically the pinnacle of the entire continent.

‘I have to treat her as my niece-in-law?’

It’s difficult. No, I can’t even express it with the word difficult. How could a noble of the empire do something like that?

First of all, there is a rumor that His Majesty the Wise treats His Majesty the Magistrate as his niece-in-law, but this is possible because He is also a duke. Besides, isn’t He Majesty the Wise treat a very, very unique person?

So, we, ordinary nobles, cannot dare to treat His Majesty the Magong Duke with ease. Treating him like an inferior is madness.

‘Nobody noticed this?’

Let’s take a quick look at our brothers. All five of them were looking at the entrance with expressions of bewilderment.

I guess we were really nervous. It’s just now that we’re noticing something that we could have known right away with just a little thought.

For a moment, I hesitated whether I should ask her to go back right away, but then the door opened and my nephew and his daughter-in-law came in.

“The sword of the House of Crassius greets you, uncles and aunts, aunts and uncles.”

“The daughter-in-law of the Crassius family greets the elders of the Crassius family.”

Then, I closed my eyes tightly at the awkward greetings from my nephew and his wife.

“I should have greeted you long ago, but I was slow and dull, so I am greeting you now. Please forgive my mistake.”

‘ah…’

But my niece-in-law gave me an apology that was so good that I was afraid of what kind of rumors would spread through social circles, as if she could just close her eyes and destroy her ears.

No, that’s not it. We should have apologized to our niece-in-law instead. We should have gotten down on the floor and apologized.

“Hello!”

‘Huh…?’

I opened my eyes again to the bright voice echoing through the quiet banquet hall.

A group of tiny children were huddled together behind my nephew’s legs.

“You annoying grandpa! You annoying grandma!”

“Hello!”

There were children looking at us with bright eyes.