Seeing the expression that looked ready to cry at any moment, it seemed I was quite frightening.
Yet I had never particularly tormented Seiri. Naturally, I couldn't understand why he was reacting so excessively.
To find out, I narrowed my eyes and quietly stared at Seiri, who avoided my gaze. Even so, he kept stealing glances at me.
……Ah, Seiri was looking precisely at my neck. At the clear evidence of beheading that encircled it.
Once I noticed that, the interest that had briefly stirred fizzled out like a punctured balloon.
"How is it that even with time passing, you still look like a half-wit?"
As I spoke with my lips twisted slightly, Seiri's face reddened. In his stammering face, shame and fear he hadn't yet managed to hide were visible.
"You're not a child anymore. If you're fifteen or so, shouldn't you be out hunting rabbits or something?"
"Hunting rabbits……."
"Others your age among the young heirs probably do so often. I can't understand why you're in the garden tormenting this little puppy instead."
"I'm not tormenting him, I'm p-playing with him."
I sneered at Seiri's feeble defense, then strode toward the dog cage. Seen up close, it was clearly visible.
The puppy had sandbags attached to its body.
"If you need to attach something like this just to catch it, I think you should start going to the training grounds from today and beg anyone there to teach you. Even if the knights at that training ground are all worthless in skill, at least they'll know how to handle a sword."
Seiri's face went pale this time, drained of blood.
"A boy born bearing the Roam name being this lacking—I can understand why you're too ashamed to even go out."
I poured out insulting words like a torrential rain. Seiri's face, once filled only with fear, now held defiance toward me mixed in.
However, the behavior of avoiding eye contact the moment our eyes met remained unchanged.
"If your body is slow, then at least study harder to become sharp. Even if you're planning to become a live-in son-in-law for someone else's family, you need something to show for yourself, don't you?"
At my words while gesturing toward the Moon family, Seiri's pupils wavered greatly. He seemed to want to say that this was his own room.
Yet his mumbling lips ultimately failed to spit out any words of resistance.
Having calmly driven out the room's owner from his own room, I withdrew the smile I had deliberately been wearing.
I indifferently opened the dog cage's door.
Then Mori, who had been holding his breath in the pocket, poked his head out and called worriedly to the puppy.
[We need to remove that pocket first! He'll suffocate!]
"I was planning to do so even without rushing."
As soon as I undid the tightly bound sandbag, the puppy breathed heavily. Its limbs still hung limply without strength.
It must have been bad if even Minte was approaching the puppy worriedly and tapping it.
"Let's take it to the room for now."
I rose to my feet with the small puppy, small enough to hold in one hand, cradled against my chest, and left the room.
Seiri, who had been driven out by me, was nowhere to be seen.
'He definitely looked like his pride was greatly wounded…….'
I personally came and went to such great lengths to provoke him, so now he'll probably go cling to his mother's skirts and cry to be given the Young Duke position immediately.
'Since he met the Crown Prince, he must know that Mother has earmarked him as successor.'
So I hope Seiri urgently pesters his mother. Saying that I shouldn't be put forward, that he'll do it himself.
And so Mother will persuade Father, Father will secretly call Lilia, and decide to support Maxel.
Such a natural sequence needs to happen as soon as possible.
'That way I can safely tie Roam and Maxel together.'
Honestly, everyone is so incredibly lazy. I clicked my tongue in annoyance.
If Seiri quietly accepts it today, I thought I'd have to visit this place a few more times and steal Seiri's small animals.
* * *
While several days dragged on, I tormented Seiri a few more times.
Not satisfied with the puppy I had taken from him, I later took a newly acquired kitten and handed it to someone else to raise.
After repeating such things a couple times, Seiri glared at me resentfully with a white, drained face, panting for breath.
「If you're going to take my animals, then at least give me that cat beside you, Sister!」
For the one who always acted like a fool who couldn't even speak in front of me to say such audacious things, I must have provoked his anger quite a bit.
「What are you so audaciously demanding?」
Of course, he lowered his tail immediately at my cold voice.
「If you want to hunt, go run around outside catching rabbits. Don't play house noisily outside my window.」
When I scolded him coldly, Seiri no longer played hunting games with small animals in the garden.
He may have found another place out of my sight…… but at least Mori no longer worriedly peered outside.
During that time, I heard a bit of social circle news—the Roam family was apparently being talked about quite a bit lately. Even though Mother was busily going around establishing her authority.
As soon as I heard that news, I grabbed one of the invitation letters that had flown to me and left the mansion.
It was under the pretext of engaging in social activities since I would be stepping forward as Young Duke. Father couldn't bring himself to stop me.
To say he had no justification to stop me would be more accurate.
'He's probably lamenting inside that it was rather more comfortable when he could keep me hidden.'
But it was already too late. I had revealed myself before everyone, and those who knew where I was staying sent invitations to me even while enduring Mother's fierce glare.
There were that many jackals who were greatly interested in gossip and rumors, and desperate to form some connection with the resurrected one.
Today's gathering I attended was like that too. A family of appropriately not-too-low status, a gathering with appropriately diverse attendees.
They were surprised and excited by my attendance. Perhaps because of that, there were many people trying to draw attention by being especially loud.
'With this kind of noise, I'd rather listen to Durahans' conversations.'
Pretending to be social after so long was mentally exhausting.
It was even more exhausting because I wouldn't have come at all if not for the purpose of generating gossip wherever I went.
'Still, doesn't everyone ever get tired?'
The people attending the tea time were curious about the inside story of Roam, which had been increasingly noisy lately. There were many rumors circulating, so they wanted to verify the truth.
Without being able to ask directly, I just gave them an enigmatic smile toward their eyes full of curiosity.
Interpreting that is each individual's perspective. They would draw their own stimulating conclusions on their own.
While generating rumors to look appropriately mysterious, an emotional voice was heard from nearby.
"Oh, God. I give thanks for Your grace."
The noblewoman who was today's host of the tea time I attended kept praying while looking for God.
I was the one who attended the tea time, so I don't know why she's thanking God…….
I tried to guess her incomprehensible thinking, then soon shook my head and brushed away the thought. Then I fussily took out my pocket watch to check the time.
"It's already this time. I should get up now."
"Already? It would be even more appreciated if you could stay for dinner!"
Cries filled with regret burst from here and there. However, I firmly cut off their persuasion without wavering.
"I have to go to the Lindea River tomorrow for monster extermination."
It wasn't empty words. I was also diligently performing the act of exterminating monsters at the Lindea River.
I wasn't doing anything particularly special in terms of combat.
Since everyone wouldn't think I'd have the ability to fight monsters anyway.
I just made things up and mumbled something like a prayer while wandering around the Lindea River area.
Since I had already killed the monsters, they naturally didn't appear. However, most people who didn't know the circumstances firmly believed that monsters didn't appear because of me.
"Ah, I see!"
The noblewoman willingly saw me off. Then she once again offered a prayer of thanks toward the sky.
Well, she must be quite a devout believer.
Having concluded that, I boarded the carriage.
"Return to the mansion."
There's something I need to do as soon as I arrive, so I should close my eyes a bit in the carriage.
* * *
Upon returning to the mansion, I stood in the lobby without even changing clothes and gathered the servants.
Then I announced that talk of Roam was circulating outside, and threatened them to find any servant who had loosely run their mouth outside.
The servants' bewilderment at my sudden outburst was only natural.
"Pardon? What do you mean by that suddenly?"
The butler tried to calm me down in bewilderment, but it was no use.
I was already deeply immersed in the role of the past Anelli Roam, who had committed all kinds of tyranny.
"I already heard the rumors outside. Daring to run your mouth without even knowing heaven from earth when you've received grace from the Roam mansion? I won't let this pass, so you'd better confess on your own. If you do, I'll at least allow you to walk out on your own two legs."
As I implicitly revealed that they would face great suffering otherwise, the servants' expressions went pale.
Some even twisted ugly.
Seeing the atmosphere growing increasingly ominous, the butler once again tried to persuade me in a dignified tone.
"Matters of employment are the Mistress's authority."
"Are you daring to raise a flag of rebellion against my words?"
What could the butler do? To the servants, I was the successor, directly installed by the head of the house, soon to be declared Young Duke.
The butler groaned and said he would handle it, and I grew even more indignant, shouting, 'Does a mere servant dare to punish a traitor who betrayed Roam on his own?'
"Ha……."
The butler's face aged at least ten years from that brief bout of tyranny.
Since it was early morning now, the other family members were each tending to their schedules. This meant there was no one to stop me if I was determined to run wild.
Moreover, behind me stood Falidis, heavily armored from head to toe, ready to obey my commands at any moment.
And so I succeeded in driving out a servant before Mother could finish her schedule and return home.