Chapter 20: The Commander's Son Increases His Hand Pieces

After Alice gave me a little time, I came to the school infirmary. The doctor in charge and a maid from the Baron Lactor family were accompanying me in the infirmary, but I asked her daughter and the doctor to leave for the time being, and I called out to him on the bed.

"How are you feeling? Fun Lactor."

"…Did you come here to laugh?"

"No way. Rather the opposite. I want to give you praise."

"Is that the kind of playful line that came out with such a one-sided blow?"

I laughed and said to him who was glaring at me.

"No, I think it's really amazing. The fact that you challenged me so far with the feeling of 'fake', and the fact that you pushed forward while understanding that."

"...!"

At those words, he rolled his eyes and looked at me. I said to him, who was surprisingly quick to understand, with a wry smile.

"You really aren't that interested in Maria, are you?"

"That's not true! I'm..."

"You wanted to get drunk on yourself doing something for someone."

This guy probably didn't care about Maria that much. No, he must have felt that he liked her more than a little, but he knew from the beginning that it wouldn't come true. And he probably knew it would be fake. She must have vaguely grasped what Maria actually did and realized that her feelings were false. Still, he must have wanted someone to know who he was. He was so lonely.

"Hey, Van Lakter. What do you really want? Appraisal from others, goodwill, or a place to live?"

"I am..."

"Hey Van Rachter, do you know? Your handmaiden likes you as the opposite sex?"

"Really...?"

After being dumbfounded by those words, he said while looking back.

"That's why... she seems to have a guy she likes. How can you say that when you just met her?"

"It was natural to see the attitude towards you."

You can know specifically who you are directing your emotions to, in what form, by looking at your eyes, actions, words and deeds. I'm especially sensitive to the line of sight I'm looking at Alice and the line of sight Alice is looking at me. We only talked a little bit, but I could tell that the girl liked him. Hearing that line from me, he kept silent for a while and then muttered.

"She's always been my maid. She's clumsy, sloppy, and slow... But I really loved her. Even if I didn't like it when I saw it, I understood that it wasn't me that was special about her, but my father.That's why I've been trying to forget about it somehow since I entered this school.It was at that time that I met Maria. I had high hopes for her, who kept calling out to various men. So this time, I did my best to keep those feelings going, and I was defeated by you."

After saying that, he turned his gaze to me as if he was clinging to me.

"Hey, where did I go wrong? What should I do? Tell me..."

"That's right, then why don't you start by correcting that misunderstanding?"

"misunderstanding..."

"For the time being, I think it's probably the fatherly feelings that the girl had towards your father. Is that girl an orphan?"

Surprised by those words, he nodded.

"Th-that's right... but then why are she's looking so happy..."

"You know, people who don't have families treat people like that, and they're very special. And I think you misunderstood that family love as a feeling of the opposite sex."

"Th-that's stupid... then, did I make a terrible misunderstanding?"

He let out a dry laugh and then muttered through tears.

"How stupid of me to be jealous without noticing such a simple thing, to run wild on your own and end up like this…"

"Yes. You are stupid. But you have the power to carry through your thoughts."

"Power..."

"You was able to pick a fight with me because of Maria, even though you doesn't like her."

Hearing those words, he wiped away his tears and mumbled.

"I can't do it... I can't believe I'm doing favors to someone else."

"Then, can I set fire to that girl?"

"Even if your story is true, there's no way she can confess to me.

"Why would you give up at that point? I got rid of that unreasonableness. And then I got Alice. You should do your best to convey that 'real' feeling."

After saying that, I tried to leave the place, but before that I looked at him and said.

"If that 'real' wish comes true, come to me. I'll give you a place to belong."

After saying that, I will leave the room this time. After thanking the maid who is restless in front of his room, I give her some advice.

"Now that he's weakened, it's a chance to bring him down. I don't care about class differences. The rest will depend on how much you like him."

The maid was dumbfounded for a while at those words, but she nodded as if she had made up her mind, so I was satisfied with that and left the place. The gimmick is over. The rest will be completed if the other side moves on their own. In this way, you goug out the opponent's wounds and solve them in any way. It will be easier later if you increase the number of pawns like this, so let's see how much it will change after that.