It did not take long for Qualia to be called by Wannacry, his father.
“Qualia… What valor you showed in today’s duel…! It was wonderful. Truly what I would expect from my son.”
Wannacry stood up from his chair and approached Qualia with his hands in the air.
Ina was also present, and suffice to say, she grimaced.
“I believed you Qualia. I knew my beloved son would improve his combat abilities this much!”
“Error. Inconsistency found in perception. Information previously acquired shows you have a low estimation of Qualia.”
Wannacry seemed taken aback by the strange way the former artificial intelligence spoke, but pressed on.
“That’s not true. I never doubted you for a second.”
Ina’s cheeks trembled, as though she really wanted to say something, and Wannacry took notice of it.
“Was it you!? Have you been whispering things in Qualia’s ear!?”
Wannacry glared at Ina.
His tone changed completely, and was filled with repulsion.
“Did you forget your debt from when I took you in for Qualia three years ago… Did you, cat ears!?”
“…!”
“Listen Qualia. Disregard this filthy race! This is a beast person! It’s not human!”
“Error. Ina is human.”
“Look at her ears! Look at her tail!”
Ina put her hands on her tail, covered by her skirt.
For just a second, it was possible to see it move even under the fabric.
“It goes against the order of nature for her to even step foot in the Sandbox mansion!”
“…”
“This filthy blood should be removed from this domain.”
Wannacry said coldly, as he placed his hand on Qualia’s shoulder.
“Qualia, Princess Lobelia is waiting in the guest room. Let us have you two meet.”
“…”
“My estimation of Arrows was wrong. What shame he brought. But you should be a good match for Princess Lobelia.”
Wannacry pressed Qualia’s back to take him to Lobelia in the guest room, but Qualia did not move.
He stood completely still, like a boulder.
“…Request explanation. Why should Ina not be here? What is ‘order of nature’?”
Wannacry looked annoyed, as he went into a general explanation.
“So you really did lose your memory… Listen, beast people have beasts as their ancestors, therefore, they are cursed bloodlines. That blood will soil ours just by being close to us. And above all, these beast people all bear a grudge against humans.”
“Error. Blood cannot affect another individual’s blood in this manner. The beast people you speak of have no relation to Ina.”
Said Qualia without a hint of emotion, and Wannacry opened his eyes wide.
“You wanted to link Arrows with Lobelia. Your words contradict that. You have low credibility.”
“Wha…”
Qualia continued with a robotic tone.
“You are in error.”
Wannacry’s nostrils flared as Qualia stuck to the facts.
“You idiot! You won’t be able to take Princess Lobelia if it’s known you are doing something as foolish as covering for some beast person!
Listen, taking the princess for your wife means the Kingdom of Acacia is wide open to you! The Sandbox family will be yours!”
“Becoming the master of the Kingdom of Acacia ranks as a low priority. After learning from your precedent, being the master of the Sandbox family has been categorized as something to avoid.”
Qualia took one look at Ina’s face on the verge of tears, and expressed the one reason for living he found.
“Qualia’s role in this world has been recognized as to detect ‘tasty’ faces.”
Both Ina and Wannacry were confused by Qualia’s choice of words when he said ‘this world’, while Qualia himself lifted his cheeks with his hands to demonstrate what a tasty face was.
Despite her tearful eyes, Ina smiled and barely contained her laughter.
“Master Qualia, that is called a smile…”
“Smile. Overwriting. ‘Tasty face’ means smile.”
Qualia was still using his hands to make a smile, as he continued speaking to a baffled Wannacry.
“The master of the Sandbox family destroys smiles. Therefore, it is a role Qualia wants no part of.”
“You… Enough already!! Protecting the smile of an inhuman beast person!? All I hear is nonsense!”
“You are the one straying from being a human, and from being ‘tasty’.”
An artificial intelligence had no qualms about saying that directly.
“Qualia won’t be the master of the Sandbox family.”
“Let me tell you… Enough! I’m done with you! Get out of this house!”
But just as Wannacry was turning red with anger…
“Ufufufufu. You’re an interesting boy, Qualia. I haven’t seen something this good in a while.”
A high-pitched laughter echoed, and it did not come from Ina.
There was a girl that was shorter than Ina, had blond hair that stretched to her shoulders, and had tears in her blue eyes from laughing too much.
“P-Princess Lobelia…!?”
Ina was closest to her, and she was the first one to whisper her name.
“Sorry. I was waiting for so long, that I decided to come see what was going on. Hum, so basically… Qualia and this house cut ties with each other, right?”
Princess Lobelia walked towards Qualia and stood next to him, feeling like a regular girl and not royalty.
“I’ll take him then.”
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