Overwhelmed by the applause, Lloyd looked left and right, not knowing what to do. Someone came behind him and pushed his back lightly to make him move forward.
“Uuuaa. Ah?”
Wondering who it was, Lloyd turned his head around to see his back, but there was nobody there. He turned to look at the platform again.
“Come on up.”
Stein was telling Lloyd to come up. Lloyd looked at Stein’s eyes and then redirected his gaze again to a group of people at the garden.
“…”
There were Ryan, his fiancée Anabel, and other nobilities who were supporting him. They had look of disbelief. Lloyd, feeling awkward about it, turned his gaze away.
‘Where’s Riley?’
Lloyd could not find Riley at the garden. Lloyd was still just standing there vacantly. As if Stein couldn’t stand to wait anymore, he extended his arm and called his second born son.
“Lloyd.”
“Ah, yes?!”
“How long are you going to make us wait?”
Having heard his father, Lloyd tumbled and started to walk. He finally got up to the stage.
With many people’s gazes directed at him, Lloyd stood on the stage. He shriveled after running into Ryan’s glaring eyes. However, Stein wrapped his arm around Lloyd’s shoulder and said,
“There might be many people who are not able to accept this result, so I would like to tell you this.”
Stein looked around at the people gathered at the garden. He put his hand inside the pocket and brought out a medal to show to people.
“This is the medal of honor that Lloyd brought home.”
Looking at the medal, the nobilities gathered at the garden started to mumble.
It seemed some already figured out how Lloyd got the medal. Some nobilities were talking quietly to each other with their mouths covered.
“A while ago, the unsavory incident that happened at the Solia Castle… I’m sure most of you are aware of them. This medal of honor is what Lloyd earned for his active part in subduing that incident.”
Lloyd merely kept his mouth closed while Stein talked. The people at the garden, who were looking up at the platform, started to mumble amongst themselves again.
“Now that I think about it, I think I’ve heard about this…”
“The riot by the holy temple’s fanatics was subdued by a brave nobleman and mercenaries, so Prince Daniel bestowed him a medal of honor. I heard about this.”
“The situation was in such a disarray at the time, so it was not told in detail… So, that was Young Master Lloyd?”
People were talking about it, and Stein was making a speech about how proud he was of Lloyd. Meanwhile, Ryan, who was standing quietly and looking at the stage, just tightened his fist.
“…”
* * *
“Young Master, will you be all right?”
At the mansion’s corridor, having heard that Lloyd became the successor, Ian came to ask Riley. Having heard Ian’s voice from his back, Riley nodded and asked,
“What about you? You had been up in arms and saying I should be the one to become the successor. It’s not like you? You look rather calm?”
“I’m just pretending to be calm.”
“Is that so?”
“The medal of honor that Young Master Lloyd received… It should’ve been you that received it.”
It was Riley who asked Nara’s group to divert Lloyd, who was tailing Riley, to the Solia Castle during the day of the incident at Solia.
“Is there a need to put it like that? Nara said it too, didn’t he? Lloyd ran around all over the place to save people.”
“… That is…”
“Ian, I’m going to say this again, but I’m not interested in inheriting the position of the successor. I can actually say I hate the idea.”
It was because it was going to bring him even more annoying things to deal with if he was seated at the successorship.
To start with, there were things he had to learn as the successor. Also, there was the problem of mountain of paperworks. He would be summoned often by the Solia Castle. Finally, he even had to keep up the appearances and formalities with other nobilities.
It was impossible for Riley.
“My mother knew that as she clapped.”
“Wasn’t it you that clapped first?”
“I’m saying that my mother agreed. Are you going to nitpick on everything?”
It seemed Ian was telling the truth when he said he was just pretending to be calm. He kept on nitpicking at everything Riley said. Riley growled at Ian, but he stopped walking after hearing a voice coming from over the corner.
“… Why!!”
‘Um?’
Because Riley stopped, Ian also stopped walking. Also having noticed the voice, Ian tilted his head.
“I think that’s Young Master Ryan’s voice?”
Ian whispered quietly so only Riley could hear it. Riley killed his presence and got close to the end of the corner. He stuck close to the wall and started to listen in to the conversation.
“Why did Lloyd get it instead of me?!”