“This is the main building. Father and Mother use it, and there’s a conference room, and we eat here, and, and, ugh… Ah, anyway, there’s a lot here….”
Elena jutted out her lips. She seemed frustrated that she couldn’t remember what she had worked so hard to memorize.
How could I not understand how she felt? I was none other than the guy who had gotten the very first question on the CSAT math section wrong. Back then, I really thought the world was ending.
In my heart, I wanted to cheer her on and say, “It’s okay! It’s okay!” but I couldn’t bring myself to do that. Because the place I was standing in right now was the Frozenheart ducal house, right in the middle of enemy territory.
“I understand, my lady.”
“Good. Then let’s go that way.”
As if trying to make up for her earlier mistake, Elena hurried her steps.
I followed after her together with one servant.
“This is the dining hall. The knights and servants use it when they eat.”
“Then I’ll be using this place as well?”
“Uh…?”
Elena’s eyes began to tremble violently.
That wasn’t what I meant…?
I had deliberately asked an easy question to answer, hoping Elena would gain even a little confidence.
I truly hadn’t imagined, not even this much, that it would put her in a difficult position.
First, I needed to somehow settle this situation….
It was then. Elena’s gaze turned to my side—more precisely, toward the servant. Boldly, she was trying to use a cheat sheet.
If this had been the CSAT exam hall, she would have immediately met the “ejected from the room” ending, but wasn’t this place none other than the Frozenheart ducal castle?
She possessed the ability to use unlimited cheating through home-ground advantage.
Wow, our young lady is amazing.
“R-right! You can use this place too!”
“I see. Thank you for answering my question.”
I gave her a bow filled with ninety percent apology and ten percent gratitude.
I could feel a slightly sharp gaze from beside me, but I tried my best to ignore it.
I really didn’t know it would turn out like this either.
“Then let’s go to the next place.”
“Yes, my lady.”
After that, I went around various parts of the ducal castle with Elena. An armory filled with all sorts of cold weapons, stables where horses were kept, and so on. As befitted the vast grounds, there were many facilities.
We even went up to a watchtower, but since darkness had already fallen over the world, nothing could be seen.
“This is the last place.”
The place we arrived at along with Elena’s words was the training ground. Wooden scarecrows stood here and there, and well-worn wooden swords were neatly arranged in one corner.
“I wonder if I can continue learning the sword…?”
A proper servant must be able to handle a sword proficiently.
It was something I had heard countless times from Father. So much that it hadn’t just lodged in my ears—it felt like it had pierced straight through them.
I had learned the sword before being conscripted by Elena, but it had only been for a very short period of about a month.
I didn’t know what the standard for “proficient” was, but it was certain that I couldn’t handle a sword proficiently right now.
Well, it’s still too early. For now, I’ll be busy just getting used to this place.
“Good. Then let’s head back now.”
Elena strode forward. The corners of her mouth were slightly raised, so it seemed she was happy that she had safely finished what she had prepared.
Before long, we returned to the place we had set out from—the mansion where Elena lived.
“Then I’ll see you both tomorrow.”
With those words, Elena entered her room. Since it was already quite late, she seemed intent on going straight to sleep.
And so, the ones left were only the servant who had been with us all day and me.
When I raised my bowed head and looked to the side, my eyes met hers.
“Your name was….”
“Luke. Luke Nineheart.”
“Then I will call you Luke. Luke, have you eaten?”
“The last time I ate was around lunchtime in the carriage….”
Was it because I had been too nervous? Even though I had skipped dinner, I didn’t feel hungry.
But even if one wasn’t hungry, wasn’t eating food a virtue of the growing years? Right now, I was committing a great discourtesy against my own body. You could even call me a traitor to the growth period.
“Then let us go to the dining hall together. I can serve you some bread and simple soup.”
“Then I’ll leave it to you.”
I had thought she was a stiff person, but perhaps that wasn’t necessarily the case.
Maybe, just like me, she only wore a mask in front of Elena.
Well, not just her or me—most servants were probably like that. After all, one couldn’t show their bare face in front of the person they served.
After leaving the mansion with her and walking for a short while, we arrived at the dining hall used by the servants.
Since night had already deepened, the interior of the building was quite dark. If not for the lamp she had brought, it would have been dark enough that we couldn’t see an inch ahead.
“Then please wait here for a moment.”
She placed the lamp on the table and headed somewhere.
“Is she going to be all right in the dark…?”
Shortly after I sat down with that question in mind, a loud clatter came from the direction she had gone. It was the sound of hollow metal things colliding, so it seemed something had happened.
Relying on the light of the lamp, I immediately headed toward where the sound had come from, and there I found her.
Sitting on the floor, she was holding a piece of bread among scattered tableware as though it were precious.
“…Are you all right?”
“The bread is safe.”
“Wouldn’t it have been better to take the lamp with you?”
“Isn’t the dark scary…? I naturally thought it would be.”
Of course, an ordinary nine-year-old would be afraid of the dark. But I was an amazing nine-year-old who wasn’t afraid of the dark.
Of course, if I said that out loud, I’d be branded a madman from the very first day, so I merely smiled awkwardly.
“Wait just a little. I’ll heat up the soup.”
She got to her feet, placed the bread somewhere safe, and set a pot over the stove.
What I witnessed soon after was a miracle of this world—or more precisely, magic. A spark bloomed at her fingertips, and then the firewood began to burn fiercely.
I knew full well that magic existed in this world, but it was my first time seeing it with my own eyes. Father and Mother were both far removed from magic, after all.
“Is this your first time seeing magic?”
“Yes. It’s an incredible ability.”
“This much is nothing special. You only need the slightest bit of talent. Perhaps you might be able to do it too.”
I appreciated her words, but unfortunately, I had no talent for magic. Anyone who had read the original work would know that.
“Instead, Elena had tremendous talent.”
It was enough talent to rival the Master of the Magic Tower. However, that talent never had the chance to bloom, because Luke, under the duchess’s orders, fed her poisonous herbs.
The poisonous herbs caused Elena to develop an illness called mana sclerosis, and in the end, she became unable to use magic forever, as well as living on borrowed time.
Eventually, the future Master of the Magic Tower cured her illness, and Luke was gruesomely executed, but….
“That has absolutely nothing to do with me.”
Assassination? I don’t know anything about that. I don’t particularly want to do it either. Elena’s servant and secret friend. That much is just right.
Anyway, it’s about time I smelled something delicious….
“It’s done. Let’s go now.”
While I had been lost in thought, the soup seemed to have been finished before I knew it.
I left the kitchen with her, and soon we were facing each other across a table. On the table were the soup that had just been heated and the bread.
The bread was a little hard, but when I soaked it in the soup, it was edible enough.
“For the next week starting tomorrow, I will be with you. A handover… might be a little difficult to understand. I intend to teach you the basics of life as a servant.”
I had already been feeling at a loss, so this was something to be grateful for.
Even the Middle Ages had this, so why was it that in modern times, previous employees quit without handing anything over…?
There was no particular point in thinking about it now, but I felt pointlessly disgruntled.
“You seemed to be looking closely at the swordsmanship training ground earlier. Are you perhaps interested in swordsmanship?”
“To be honest, I briefly received swordsmanship training from my father. I was hoping I might be able to continue it here as well.”
“It is not common for a servant to take up a sword, but I will mention it tomorrow.”
“Thank you…!”
To think the previous person in charge would go this far to handle things for me. They said there were no bad people among those who fed you, and as expected, those words were correct.
About thirty minutes later, my thoughts were shattered into pieces.
“When I was in the Northern Knights, you see? If a bear appeared, we’d think, ‘Food!’ and charge at it….”
Yulia, the proud former member of the Northern Knights turned servant.
As was usually the case with people who had been in the military, once stories of the knights came up, her mouth showed no sign of stopping.
Just when I thought I wouldn’t have to listen to Father’s stories about the knights anymore, to think there was a trap hidden on this side too.
This is why the military is no good.
* * * * *
The next day, it was dawn, just as the sun was beginning to rise.
What greeted me when my eyes naturally opened was an unfamiliar ceiling.
“What on earth is this….”
I was flustered for a moment, but soon the events of yesterday came back to me.
The place I was in was none other than the Frozenheart ducal house, and within it, the room right next to Elena’s.
After letting out a sigh of relief and spending a short while grooming myself, I heard a knock.
Since I had just about finished getting ready, I immediately stepped outside.
“Luke, good morning.”
“Good morning, Yulia.”
The one waiting for me outside was Yulia. She stood in front of the door wearing a clean maid uniform.
Soon, I began walking with her.
One, two, three… eight, nine, ten. After walking exactly ten steps, we stopped in place.
And so, the place we arrived at was in front of Elena’s room.
At last, my first day as a servant was about to begin.