Shirou wanted to leave the party hall to find Eris.
But before he could move, Philip stopped him, saying he wanted to have a final heart-to-heart chat with him.
The lively party had ended, and only the two of them were left in the almost silent banquet hall. Philip quietly drank wine and poured Shirou a glass.
But Shirou clearly didn't drink alcohol.
Even if he did drink, he would basically only drink wine.
And only on very rare occasions.
Philip wasn't unhappy about this, he just calmly allowed Shirou not to drink. He rocked his glass and muttered:
"I… lost in the fight to inherit the family business, so now Eris is my only child."
"…"
Philip's words were strange.
At least, they were the kind of words that Shirou couldn't understand.
Because he didn't understand why losing the family business inheritance would cause Eris to be his only child.
Philip calmly explained this: "Aren't you curious about why Eris doesn't have any siblings?"
"Isn't that normal?"
The moment Shirou spoke, he realized he had said the wrong thing again.
Because he was still thinking about things like a modern person.
In modern society, where there's plenty of everything, having one child is very common. But this is the Middle Ages, a time when the ability to make things is not very good and the standard of living isn't very high. Most families have lots of children, to reduce the risk of things going wrong in their lives.
Because the Boreas family is in charge, they can have as many children as they want; it won't affect the family.
But when you think about passing down a big family, having more children can increase the chances of the next person in charge being good at the job, and make sure a fool doesn't take over the family.
Shirou knew this already.
Now that Philip had said it, he immediately realized the confusing situation of the Boreas family today.
"Uh… I misspoke, I meant to say, why is it like this?"
Shirou quickly changed his words, trying not to act too strange.
Philip was confused, but he didn't think Shirou was someone who had come back to life from another time.
So Philip just thought Shirou didn't understand the way big families lived, and he didn't worry too much. He spoke slowly, "Eris does have siblings. She has an older brother and a younger brother. Her older brother is probably the same age as you?"
"Eris has brothers? Why haven't I seen them? Did something happen to them?"
Shirou asked without thinking.
He couldn't imagine two brothers disappearing out of nowhere, and he thought about Eris being kidnapped before.
But Philip stopped him from thinking more and said, "Nothing happened to them. Or, something happened from the very start. My older brother, who lives in the capital, took those two children away from me as soon as they were born."
"Took them away? Your brother, Philip?"
"Yes, I have an older brother named James Boreas Greyrat. He's the first son of the Boreas family, and he got the right to take over the family. But he didn't get along with my father, which split the family into the Boreas family in the capital and the Boreas family in the Fittoa territory."
Philip said this in a way that seemed easy-going, but was actually full of sadness. "As for why he took my children, the reason he gave was that they would become adopted sons and study in the capital, but in reality…"
Philip didn't go on.
But anyone could guess what he meant.
Philip's older brother, James, took over the real Boreas family, and got a lot of power and connections in the capital.
The reason he took Philip's children was to threaten Philip, to stop him from getting secretly stronger and taking back his position in the future. Also, he wanted to make sure Philip didn't have any male children, so the next generation of the Boreas family would still be in his hands.
Of course, James wouldn't say anything bad like that. He would make up all sorts of things, even a silly but believable excuse.
But even so, Shirou never thought something so bossy could happen.
"Taking Eris' brothers away like that is too unfair and bossy…"
Shirou took a deep breath, feeling angry and sad for Eris and Philip.
"Well, at least they're alive."
Philip smiled sadly. "If I had won, I would have taken James' children too."
All the boys born in the Boreas and Greyrat families are raised by the next person in charge.
This is to stop the losers in power struggles from joining the next struggle through their sons.
It stops the losers from helping their sons and joining the power struggle.
This is common. The old Asura kingdom seemed to have this happen a lot, so taking the boys away was a way to stop it.
Philip was just following tradition, giving all the boys to James. Until the children were old enough to understand, they would think James was their father.
Philip said these things in a calm voice.
But Shirou knew that he was only calm on the outside, and his heart was not calm at all.
Who could accept their children being taken away as soon as they were born, and having to think of someone else as their parents?
Even if Philip could accept it, Hilda, Philip's wife, clearly couldn't.
That's probably why Hilda was so upset at the party.
Maybe she saw her children in Shirou…
Shirou finally understood the complicated situation of the Boreas family, and he felt even more strongly about what he had to do.
But before he could do anything, Philip suddenly looked at him and smiled. "Shirou, you should be interested in helping me, right?"
"What?"
"You're Paul's son, a strong person to take over the Notos family. You're also Princess Ariel's savior, so you have a lot of power. If you work with me, I can help you go back to the Notos family, and find a way to take the power from Pilemon, the current leader of the Notos family. Pilemon isn't smart like James. He's not sneaky or tricky. He's too honest most of the time, so it's easy to trick him. If we can take the Notos family, we can attack the Boreas family in the capital, and even take James down."
Philip didn't sound like he was joking.
He really wanted to work with Shirou to attack the capital.
Before Shirou could speak, Philip continued, "And you're smart. You're too honest and don't like sneaky plans, but that doesn't mean you can't see through things. You've probably known about some of my secret actions for a long time, like when Eris was kidnapped, right?"
"…"
Shirou couldn't argue.
Because after Eris was kidnapped, he realized what Philip was thinking. He realized that Philip had planned the kidnapping himself.
Otherwise, how could a few outsiders have grabbed Eris so easily?
Not to mention the betrayal of the butler named Thomas. Philip, as the head of the Boreas family, couldn't have known nothing.
He knew everything, but he was using it all on purpose.
He probably wanted to teach Eris a lesson about her personality.
Even if Shirou hadn't stepped in, Philip could have easily saved his daughter himself.
Philip saw Shirou's expression and smiled knowingly. He went on, "And most importantly, Eris has grown so much thanks to you."
"Even without me, Eris would have changed, right?"
"No, you don't know how hopeless I felt about Eris before."
Philip didn't hide how troubled he was about Eris. "So you understand, right? I really hope you can marry Eris. If it's you, Shirou, you can definitely help me take back the Boreas family. Then we can take back Eris' brothers too."
"…"
Shirou didn't expect Philip to be so obsessed under his calm face.
Shirou was helpless.
He understood what Philip was thinking, but he couldn't accept such crazy thoughts.
At least, Shirou didn't think they needed to use such dirty tricks to take back the Boreas family.
"Philip, you're wrong about one thing."
Shirou took a deep breath.
"What, you think Eris won't agree? I think she likes you."
Philip spoke without thinking. "If Eris really doesn't agree, it's fine. I can tie my daughter's hands right now and put her on your bed. I'll take care of taking over. You just have to sit back and enjoy it. Or, I can give you other girls too."
"…"
Shirou didn't expect Philip to be so crazy. He hesitated for a long time, and then said helplessly, "You're wrong! Philip, do you know what your biggest mistake is?"
"What?"
Philip was confused that Shirou thought he was wrong.
Shirou quietly said, "You look down on Eris. Philip, do you think Eris is just an ordinary girl, a toy dancing in your hand? No, Eris is Eris. She's not a bird controlled by someone. She's an eagle that will fly into the sky sooner or later. We don't need me to take back the Boreas family, and we don't need you to do it. These things aren't for us. It's for Eris. She will cut off all the debts and troubles herself!"
"That…"
Philip didn't expect Shirou to think so highly of Eris.
He was truly surprised.
As Eris' father, he didn't think his quick-tempered daughter could do something that even he couldn't do.
Shirou knew that Eris wasn't trustworthy yet, so he took a deep breath and said, "Just watch, Philip. Stay alive and watch. See how Eris, a bird that hasn't grown up yet, breaks free from her chains and flies into the sky. As for what you said earlier… I'll just think of it as drunk talk."
With that, Shirou turned and left without hesitating.
Before leaving, Shirou heard Philip say,
"Maybe, maybe I'm wrong. But Shirou, I think even if Eris changes, it will be because of you. Please don't leave her. You don't have to marry her, but at least, don't leave her alone."
"I'll protect her, I promise."
Shirou let out a breath. He didn't look back at Philip and went to find Eris.
He first went to Eris' room and looked around, but couldn't find her.
Confused, he searched everywhere, but he couldn't find Eris.
Helpless, Shirou decided to go back to his room to rest. But when he opened the door, he found Eris in his room. Eris was dressed very differently from usual. She was wearing a red nightgown, and it was clearly one that had been picked out carefully.
Her hair, makeup, and everything else had been carefully done. She looked more womanly than her usual wild look.
"You… you're back…!"
Eris said in surprise, and her tone was strangely fake.
Shirou didn't understand what had happened to Eris. Just as he was about to speak, Eris suddenly came up to him and hugged him.
"E, Eris??"
"Um, Eris will be good today, so please let Eris sleep with you…"
The girl said something that almost broke Shirou's brain.
He already thought Eris was strange, and now he was sure that she was really different.
Shirou looked at the girl, whose face was red and about to explode. He hesitated for a long time, and then asked, "Did Philip tell you to do this?"
"No."
"Was it Hilda?"
"Well…"
Eris clearly wasn't good at lying.
Her moment of hesitation told Shirou the truth.
Hilda must still miss her son very much, so she tried everything to push Eris to do this, to make the relationship go to the next level, and make Shirou a member of the Boreas family, and a stand-in for her son.
Shirou understood those thoughts. He often thought of Eris as a stand-in for Miyu too.
But because he understood, Shirou knew.
Those thoughts were wrong.
You can never replace someone.
It will only make everyone unhappy and lead to sadness.
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