Grandeur Fantasia

Chapter 49.2 ~ Travelling with the Princess (2)

AN: Here's an early chapter!!! I know the last chapter was a cliffhanger so I thought, why not release this chapter earlier~! Without further ado, I hope you enjoy this chapter~!

"Incredible..."

"...Pardon me?"

Iris's true feelings seemed to slipped off her mouth as she stared at Leon with a flushed face.

"To be able to reach at such conclusion just from these information... You are truly a very wise man, Leon... I'm becoming more and more interested in you now."

"...T-Thank you very much."

Leon was completely bewildered. Their reactions were completely outside Leon's expectations. She must have realised that Leon just threatened her, although not directly. In addition, if Leon found out that much just from tiny bits of information back in his past world, he would've been feared. In fact, that was what he was aiming for, in a way, so he could gain information and prevent himself from being lied to and exploited. He never expected them to be impressed instead.

"Leon, amazing! Very amazing!"

With a poof, Charlotte hugged and rubbed her cheeks against his left arm lovingly. Although he was still bewildered by the princess's and Iris's reaction, Charlotte's endearing action calmed him down quite a bit.

He moved his right hand and stroke her head gently to thank her for calming him down. As he does so, the sensation of Charlotte's smooth and silky silver hair calmed him down even more. He never realised that doing something like this would soothe him. It was an incredibly relaxing and pleasant feeling. And so, without himself knowing, it seemed that Leon have become an incredibly doting brother to her adorable 'little sister'.

"Hehe, I'm truly happy to have meet you, Leon."

"...It is an honor, Aria."

Aria smiled radiantly after she said that. But her face soon turned serious.

"I have an idea on who the mastermind behind this attack is, although it is purely based on suspicion."

"May I know the name?"

"Pavel von Gerard."

Iris's eyes widened in surprise. She turned her head towards the princess, as if her neck was attached to a spring. She seemed to say that she couldn't believe it with her eyes, but after a while, her expression became troubled. Based on her reaction, Leon thought that Iris could probably imagine Pavel being the mastermind easily and agreed with the princess.

"Forgive me. I am not quite familiar with the name of nobles. May I know what kind of person he is?"

"He is the son of Paxi von Gerard, the head of Gerard house which hold quite the influence in the royal capital. However, Paxi is a shrewd nobleman and businessman and it seems his parenting was similarly twisted that he was able to raise this kind of son. If I am to be honest, Pavel is an arrogant, stubborn and avaricious man who does whatever he wants without minding the consequence."

(Edited: I changed Paxi's personality to fit the future chapters. I'm very sorry for the confusion it might cause.)

Leon noticed a tinge of disgust in the princess's expression as she describe what kind of man Pavel is. It was easy to understand Pavel's personality if even the princess, who could control her expression well, had her true feelings slip through.

"I see. Thank you for sharing this information with me."

Leon ended his questioning about Pavel there since the princess seemed to not be quite fond of this man, to put it lightly. Leon only needed to know his name and possibly information about his house in the first place. He thought that anymore than that might just be false accusations that the princess said to pit Leon against him. That was when his impression of the princess was still vague. He thought that she was scheming something in her mind, trying to harm him.

However, her smiles when she said that she was interested in him and when she was happy to have met him, they all seemed genuine. It was different from the fake smiles he was very used to seeing in his past world.

Leon trusted his feelings, or rather, instinct. He believed that instinct or gut feeling, was a way for his unconscious mind to to give him a decision that would be better for him after considering his past experience and logic that he might have forgot or didn't consider.

That was why his impression of Aria shifted towards a favourable side. He would still be on guard against any scheme she might thought of which may harm him. However, if he could get along with her, he would.

May be the reason why he didn't want pry deeper into the matter about Pavel was because he didn't want to see the upset figure of the princess more. It was not pity, but more of a concern towards her.

"Then, is there something you want to ask about me?"

"Ah, that's right."

As if to brush away her troubles to the side for now, Aria returned to her cheerful side. That was actually the first time Leon saw the princess's frown. Ever since he met her, she was always smiling towards him, either when she was talking to him or not.

"Then, my first question is..."

Leon waited for Aria to say her question as she seemed to be thinking about it. She told her that she had a lot of question, so this was quite weird. She might be trying to pick which one would she ask him first.

When Aria seemed to reach to a decision, Leon prepared himself for whatever is to come, whether it was something about his background, power, information about his weapon, or his past. He was prepared to answer any question she might ask.

"Leon, what is your favorite food?"

...

"Eh?"