“Wendy!”
‘Yes,Yes?!’
Wendy, who had been cowering in the corner, looked up to see Julie standing there with her arms crossed.
“Ugh. I’ve called you a couple times and you haven’t answered. There’s a ruckus downstairs now….”
“Hey, Julie’s sister….”
“Hmm? What’s going on? It’s like she’s seen a ghost.”
Ghosts! Yes, she must have seen a ghost.
Wendy ran into Julie’s arms.
“Sis!”
“Bam, what’s wrong with her?
“You, I was so scared oh….”
The ghost had the face of a master. Whoever the master was.
Count Ruelberta, who was infamous even in the empire. He is Tristan, who is considered to be the worst of all the lords there. His greed is unbecoming of a nobleman. His personality is also devious.
An arrogant nobleman who uses his vast wealth as a weapon and sees everyone else as beneath him.
Tristan was a tyrant in this manor. All of the servants live in fear of his every move.
Wendy, the newest servant, was particularly bad at her job and was often scolded by Tristan.
Wendy came from a poor peasant family. She was no good at farming, much less serving a nobleman. Still, Wendy always tried hard.
It didn’t matter how common it was, as long as it was common. Her greatest fear was being kicked out of the manor. As the eldest daughter, Wendy was sending her paycheck to her family back home. It was a huge help to her impoverished family. So she could never go back.
Today was going to be another typical day. But today was different. There was no verbal abuse as usual. Instead, he spoke to her with the kindest words she had ever heard.
Wendy’s skin crawled as she recalled the creepy tone.
“Elder sister, did I make a costly mistake or something, oh….”
“Mistake…? Hmmm. There are too many places to guess.”
“You,that’s too much….”
Wendy burst into tears.
Julie pulled her away and said. “Come on, we don’t have time for this, let’s go downstairs.”
“Nye?”
“What a pity, didn’t you hear me earlier, the master is… Forget it, come with me. Hurry up.”
“Eh….”
Wendy hurriedly followed Julie down to the first floor. She found the maids standing at the door.
“Excuse me, seniors, are you working here….”
“Shhh!”
“Be quiet, I can hear you.”
” Wu,,
The seniors who covered Wendy’s mouth pointed at Moon Rom. A faint gap that I had to really concentrate to see. There, I saw Tristan talking to someone.
“Where’s Merashi…. “Fuha! What,What are you doing…?”
“Lookꜛ Arthur is here.”
“Arthur…?”
“Ahhhhh…. You’ve never met Wendy, Arthur is the Count’s great grandfather.”
So he’s like the Count’s grandfather. To Wendy, who nodded, Julie said. “From what I overheard earlier, he was ranting about his engagement.”
“Eek! T, you mean Tristan?
“Yep. Apparently Arthur or one of the older members of the family is very upset about what happened last time.”
It was a week ago, after he was dumped by Duchess Bella Izaktel. Tristan hadn’t come out of his study since then.
Bella is considered the most beautiful woman in the country. It was no secret that Tristan had his eye on her. It must have hurt, to say the least.
Julie and the senior maids clinked their glasses together. “Actually, no matter which way you look at it, Princess Bella was a waste.”
“Hmph. Arthur’s right, we should change the owner of this mansion immediately.”
“Alas, whoever becomes the master will be much more humane and kind than him.”
Wendy flinched at those words.
“Hm? What’s wrong with you?”
“Ah,It’s nothing.oh….”
Gentle. The moment I heard that word, I remembered Tristan’s words from earlier.
-Are you okay? Are you hurt?
Did she really not hear him right?
Wendy hesitated, then made up her mind. “I’m going to check it out with my own eyes..”
Was it really the evil master? Or a ghost in a master’s mask. She squeezed between the senior maids and began to peek inside the door.
“Tristan, you’ve gotten yourself into trouble.”
Before me sits an elderly gentleman with white hair. Arthur Ruelberta. A pillar of the current Count Ruelberta family and an elderly man respected by all. And to Tristan, none other than….
“Uncle….”
“Yes. You’re killing me, Inum. Do you know what they say about you?”
“Uh….”
I think I’ve heard it all.
“Count’s mad pig, genius of evil deeds…!”
“Pooh-pooh!”
The derogatory nicknames were so childish that I started laughing. Arthur snapped at me.
“Are you laughing now!”
“Alas, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you all thought of me that way.”
“Chisel… Ugly farmer. You should realize that you’re head of a Countess of LuAlberta.”
Arthur shakes his head in disbelief. This was the kind of character Arthur Ruelberta was. A pillar of tradition, a pillar of support, and a man who genuinely cares about the ugly Tristan and scolds him.
To Tristan, he’s just a nagging brat.
“So what brings you here, my godfather and guardian?”
“Don’t you dare ask, the rumors have spread like wildfire through social circles! That you’ve been hurting the princess!”
“Ah,surely….”
“She’s as shallow as a cheap fan.”
“…No, I didn’t say that, and it was an ordinary fan of the market, five hundred kael.”
“What a bunch of crazies.”
I know that rumors are meant to pass from person to person, but…. What’s worse is that Tristan is a small man who wouldn’t be surprised if he said such a thing. His reputation is already in tatters, but I can’t believe that rumors like this are circulating in social circles.
“Long story short! You go and apologize right now.”
Arthur glared at me. There was a sharpness in his eyes that belied his age.
“It’s not too late. Go to the duke’s house and beg for forgiveness from Princess Bella. I’m sure she’ll give you a pass.”
A week ago, I received a notice from His Royal Highness the Duke of Isakhel calling off the engagement. Even if I hadn’t said anything outlandish, it wouldn’t have changed the outcome.
“In the first place, the reason the princess came to me that day was to tell me to cancel the engagement….”
The engagement was finalized regardless of the princess’s will. What’s more, her fiancé is Tristan, a notoriously evil man in the empire. Furthermore, Tristan has blackmailed the duke into this engagement.
Arthur must have had a hunch.
“I will not ask you by what means you have gained the favor of Duke Isakhel. But you have insulted a princess, and I cannot let that go unpunished. No matter how great our family’s power, an earl is an earl. It’s too obvious that it’s lower than a duke.”
He had a point. Arthur drove a wedge.
“This is what the council of relatives decided. If you are unwilling to make amends, we cannot recognize you as lord.”
This must be the real reason. In other words, they want to remove me from the position. It’s a natural reaction, because Tristan is a pain in the ass, even within Ruelta. And in the original, he solves this crisis in a very simple way.
‘I’ll kill all my relatives….’
A bloody purge. This asshole assassinates every single one of his relatives who oppose him. And all in one night. It’s called the Tragedy of Luelberta on the 5th. Of course, Arthur, the oldest, was not spared the tragedy.
It was Tristan’s way of being evil. Maybe it’s just the way it is. It was the way the story was written, to use power to gain support and position in the family.
I looked at Arthur in front of me. An old crotchety old man who might as well have been a grandfather. He was nagging at me like he didn’t like me. No wonder he’s
He was nagging at me like he didn’t like me.
No wonder he’s so annoying to Tristan.
‘But… this man is never in Tristan’s way.’
The old man is not Tristan’s enemy.
In fact, he’s the one person in the family who cares about Tristan.
‘If he really hated Tristan, he wouldn’t have come here to berate him.’
I am not a bastard like Tristan.
I’m going to change the story.
Because it would prepare me for what was to come.
“Are you listening, Tristan? It’s not polite to overrule the decisions of the adults in the house, no matter how much of an asshole you are. If you insist on being this stubborn….”
“I’ll go.”
“Whoa…?”
“I’ll apologize to Princess Bella, just like my Uncle said.”
I was going to do that anyway.
But Arthur didn’t seem to be expecting it at all.
He asked in a trembling voice.
“Ba，did you just say who?”
“I said I was going. To apologize to Princess Bella.”
“Is that true?
“Yes.”
“Then… can you swear to it in Ruelberta’s name?”
“On the family name?”
“Yes. Swear that the words are not false.”
I don’t know why this inspiration is so childish.
Arthur clicked his tongue as I looked at him in disbelief.
“I can’t. Look at that. When has your boy ever kept his word….”
“Okay.”
I swore.
I stood up from my seat.
“I swear on the name of this goddamned family,” I said, “so don’t worry about you ,Uncle.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!”
“I must hurry and get back before the sun sets, so I’ll get up first.”
“Wait!”
“Go carefully.”
“Didn’t I tell you to wait, you wretch, and I haven’t finished speaking to you yet–why don’t you stand there!”
Without further ado, I opened the parlor door.
At the same moment I heard a strange sound.
“Hey, hey, jump out.
“Now, don’t push me for a second! Kershak!’
Resistance, as if a small puppy was in my way.
For some reason, there’s a little ass servant in front of me.
Her fluffy red curls are twitching.
I saved myself the trouble of finding her.
I call the girl’s name.
“Wendy.”
“Yes, nay?!”
“Prepare the carriage. We are going to the Dukes of Isakhel.”
“Nyeh!”
“And….”
” Ooo”
I looked down at Wendy.
“Get ready to go too. I need someone to do it.” A moment of silence.
Thankfully, She didn’t freeze on the spot this time. Instead, Wendy let out a stupid sound.
“Ne…eh? Me, me?!”
Then who else is here but you?
