After the duel, Herbert went home along with Kevin.
Once he was alone in his room, he gently opened a drawer. There were 2 documents there.
The first one was the letter that his future self sent him.
As for the second one, it was a to-do list he came up because of the said letter.
Alright…that should have prevented the worst-case scenario.
Thinking that, Herbert ticked the item “win the duel!” off his list. That was first hurdle he needed to overcome. Sadly, there were many more that awaited. He had ordered the items on the list according to priority. After winning the duel, the next item on the list was…to talk with his father.
Maxim von Unruh-Zarventia, Duke of Unruh.
People in his duchy revered him as good lord. He was also one of the leading figures in the entire kingdom. Despite having a high standing as a duke, he has never taken a concubine. Thanks to that and the fact that he had four children with his wife, Johanna, he was known throughout the kingdom as a genuinely devoted husband.
Unfortunately, he was also becoming rather infamous for being a father who was raising his children wrongly.
I guess I should meet with Father as soon as possible…but honestly, I’m just not looking forward to it.
Herbert just couldn’t make up his mind on how to act towards his father. Hoping that the answer lied in the letter he received from his future self, he read it again even though he had already done so many times before.
<<Even after Father disinherited me, he continued, without pause, to love me. He loved me as much as his people…no, his love for me was several tenfolds greater than for his subjects. You must understand that.>>
The reason Herbert couldn’t move was not like when he first got the letter. He wasn’t doubtful of the letter anymore. If anything, it was because he knew for fact that the contents of the letter were true that he couldn’t move right now.
I wonder what kind of face I’ll make if we were to meet right now.
Herbert has made no decent memory with his father as of late. They had grown so far afar that he wasn’t even sure when they last stood face to face.
After all, whenever his father passed in front of him, he would always look downward and wait until his father left. He hasn’t looked his father in the eye for quite some time. He didn’t even have any idea what kind of face his father made whenever the latter walked by.
Much like with Rodeo, Herbert’s distance with his father started to grow when he was about 10 years of age. Unlike with Rodeo though, where it was almost instant, Herbert’s distance with Maxim grew slowly over the years.
Even after Herbert stopped training his swordsmanship, and even after he stopped practicing his magic—which was his excuse for stopping his swordsmanship training—Maxim didn’t give up on him.
Or rather, Maxim wasn’t giving up on Herbert just yet.
At any rate, Herbert saw this and mistook it as a sign that he could do whatever he pleased. Before long, Herbert has done so many atrocious things. At first, Maxim was still reprimanding Herbert, but eventually, he stopped doing so. Unfortunately, Herbert once again misunderstood that as permission to do misdeeds and more.
At that point, Maxim finally gave up on Herbert.
I’m sure Father bears so much ill-will toward me.
After Maxim gave up on Herbert, Herbert had hardly any idea on what his father thought of or what his father was doing. For that reason, Herbert had to make a deduction based on his memories as well as on the events that would have happened if not for the letter from the future.
Ever since Herbert started skipping out on lessons, his education on how to be a ruling lord has not progressed much, if at all. And recently, it was clear that his father was more interested in educating Rosea, the second son, instead of Herbert. In other words, Maxim was already of a mind to have Rosea be the next head of their noble house.
Until recently, Herbert has been turning his eyes away from that truth. However, as he was now, he saw things all too clearly.
His father…was simply looking for a chance to disinherit him.
In the original timeline, that chance was when he challenged Marlon to a duel and lost miserably. Following his defeat, he was disinherited, his engagement to Nell canceled, and his younger brother Rosea became the new heir.
From that point of view, it was easy to imagine that his father bore so much ill-will against Herbert. Even if there was still some love for Herbert in his father’s heart, it was at best a mixture of love and hate.
So then, did that change in this new timeline? Was Herbert’s victory in the duel enough to make his father reconsider?
Sadly, the answer was a resounding no. His father’s assessment of him was so low, so much in the negative, that it couldn’t be overturned by a single victory.
In the first place, Herbert was the one to issue the challenge to a duel. Whether he won or lost, the moment he raised that commotion, he already received an unfavorable evaluation.
Simply put, almost nothing has changed.
Maxim was still set on disinheriting Herbert. His disinheritance was merely postponed thanks to him saving some face when he won. Once he made enough wrongdoings to cross the threshold again, just like in the original timeline, he would be sent off to a remote place.
In order to avoid that, Herbert must change his father’s opinion of him.
And for that…as to be expected, he must talk with his father. He must convey that he has changed, or else his fate would be sealed. The problem was, after years of practically not speaking with one another, Herbert didn’t think it would be so simple for his father to grant him an audience. At least, not without good reason.
He could mention that he was now able to use spacetime magic…but saying so would probably only make his father think that he had gone mad. In fact, making such an absurd claim might even serve as grounds for his disinheritance.
In that case, there was only one route that was left to him.
“…I need to ask Rodeo, don’t I?”
Kevin was too partial to Herbert, so his father might still not accept if Kevin was to set up a meeting. In that sense, Rodeo, who had also lost hope on him, would be more convincing.
He would need to convince Rodeo first, of course, but he knew just the way to do that, so it was a much easier hurdle to overcome than convincing his father. And that way to convince Rodeo was simple: to train just enough to reach his limit.
Rodeo was packed with muscles that even his brain was one. That is to say, Rodeo was a muscle-head.
As such, Rodeo trusted people who continuously improved themselves the most.
I was planning to get all training, including combat training, done first anyway. Partly to win Rodeo’s trust, I should practice spacetime magic while getting my body fit. Then, once Rodeo has approved of my trained body, I’ll go arrange a meeting with Father.
Having decided the order of his priorities, Herbert stood up. There was still some time left, true, but it wasn’t a lot. Considering that, Herbert headed right away to the rear garden.
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