The Materialistic Duchess, Episode 2
Outside, a raucous noise could be heard. For the most part, it was one person’s voice, and it was probably Reiji.
“I must prepare the meal at once.”
After she left the room, I hastily got up and went out to the terrace.
“Roje! Roje!”
From below the terrace, I heard a voice calling for me anxiously. I lowered my gaze and saw a beautiful young man waving his hands wildly. He was Reiji, who would soon become my older brother.
“Are you feeling alright?”
Perhaps thinking I couldn’t hear him, he shouted at the top of his lungs. He was making such a racket right below the terrace; even a small voice would have carried clearly.
The old butler standing beside him, Bart, took Reiji’s luggage with an expressionless face and said,
“Shouting so indecorously is against noble etiquette, my lord.”
As if filtering out Bart’s voice entirely, Reiji didn’t even glance aside and beamed brightly at me.
“Shall I come to your room?”
I answered him immediately.
“No.”
“Wait just a moment!”
It seemed that guy basically didn’t listen to others at all. ‘Should I lock the door?’ I briefly considered. Reiji was a man of remarkable action. Before I knew it, he had dashed up to the second floor, flung my door wide open, and smiled more refreshingly and brightly than the sunlight outside. He didn’t even seem out of breath.
“My little sister!”
From our very first proper meeting, I intuitively realized it at once. ‘This guy and I don’t mesh. And badly at that.’
“How is your body? Are you okay? The weather is great today, isn’t it? A truly perfect day! Isn’t it?”
At a glance, he was incredibly bright and positive. Of course, rummaging through the information in my head confirmed as much.
He was exactly like… a piece of candy, a character who would brightly smile and charge forward no matter how many times he fell.
“How dreadful.”
“Hmm?”
“Nothing.”
And that fool was the head of this household.
Tall enough that I had to look up at him, with a slender physique and an ethereal, fairy-like appearance—there was no other way to describe it but perfect.
Just then, Reiji fluttered over and tightly grasped my hand. He seemed to have an awful lot of things he was curious about.
“Did anything happen while I was away? How are you feeling right now?”
“I’m hungry.”
At my blunt reply, Reiji made a surprised expression.
“You’re hungry! Then let us hurry and eat!”
“The meal preparations are not yet complete, my lord.”
Butler Bart, who had arrived in my room at some point, informed him respectfully.
*Gurgle.*
A pitiful sound echoed throughout the room.
It was a critical moment; I urgently needed to consume meat to recover the energy I had lost from prolonged fasting.
“We can eat what’s ready!”
I nodded as well. ‘Let’s at least get a meal in.’ I had a slightly ominous premonition, but with a hint of expectation, I headed toward the dining hall.
Because my memories didn’t contain such detailed information about how meals were taken here.
The novel’s setting was “poverty,” but you never knew. If he was a duke, he was still a high-ranking noble, wasn’t he?
With that thought in mind, I followed Reiji and arrived at the dining hall.
“The main course is not yet prepared, however.”
“It’s fine, it’s fine!”
Reiji escorted me and then sat at the head of the table. ‘So that guy is the master of that seat.’ I felt a faint resistance, but regardless, the head of this family was Reiji. I was someone who knew how to adapt to reality. Then I looked at the dining table. In that instant, I was left speechless.
What the hell were these grass side dishes…….
“The side dishes are quite splendid today? It seems Verdi brought everything from the vegetable garden.”
Reiji smiled meaningfully and alternated his gaze between me and the butler. I was still speechless, staring at the grass side dishes and primitive wooden tableware.
“It is a special day, after all. We shall bring out the main course shortly, my lord.”
Verdi chuckled and placed a freshly brought eggplant dish on the table. ‘Right, the main course hasn’t come out yet……’ I calmed myself with effort.
“Isn’t today a truly wonderful day?”
As I tried to take a spoonful of the stew that was practically boiled vegetable water, Reiji kept chattering at me, his eyes sparkling with excitement, making it impossible to eat.
“……It’s wonderful, really.”
Though my soul wasn’t in it, I answered to match his excited mood.
Reiji kept fidgeting restlessly, as if he had planned something fun. ‘What’s with him.’ I furrowed my brows watching his excited state.
“Thank you for waiting.”
The dish Verdi brought on a cart, pulling it along, was even covered with a cloche.
“Roje, today is a special day. I think you’ve completely forgotten!”
‘What is he talking about. What the hell is so special……’ I felt like the star of a hidden camera prank show.
Finally, Verdi placed the main course in the center of the table. And the cloche slowly lifted.
Reiji spread his arms wide and shouted toward me.
“Happy birthday, Roje! You’re twenty now, a proper lady!”
I fell into thought, wondering what I should react to first.
So this was my birthday meal? Reiji pointed at the uncovered main course with an incredibly proud face.
“Look at this!”
In the center of the table sat a chicken about the size of my face, stark naked and pathetic-looking. For reference, Roselia’s face was small enough that the saying “the size of one’s palm” was no exaggeration.
Back in Korea, serving a chicken like that would earn the cook a hard slap across both cheeks immediately. Yet Reiji was smiling broadly, clearly expecting my reaction.
“Woooow.”
*Clap, clap, clap.*
I even clapped my hands for him. Since he was the master of this house, after all…….
Even at my half-hearted reaction, he blushed shyly, his cheeks flushing red.
“To see you enjoying it so much makes me truly happy as the head of the household. I wanted to make your birthday truly special.”
I was relieved that Reiji was so easily pleased, getting moved even by my soulless reaction. And with the household in such dire straits, his heart for caring for his younger sibling was quite commendable.
Thinking it was more or less over now, I picked up my spoon again, but Reiji opened his mouth.
“This isn’t the end.”
I was slightly annoyed at Reiji, who kept trying to draw my attention with sparkling eyes while I was starving to death. But since he was the master of this house, I answered with as much courtesy as I could muster.
“Mmhmm.”
Reiji looked at me with a deliberately mischievous smile. What was that innocent fool trying to say, dragging it out like that—.
At this timing, I asked something sufficiently predictable.
“Did you prepare a birthday gift or something?”
“Uwaaack!”
Then Reiji screamed at the top of his lungs. Honestly, I was the more surprised one. At that moment, Butler Bart, who had been standing quietly beside Reiji, said,
“Screaming during a meal is against noble etiquette, my lord.”
“H-how did you know?! Could it be our Roje is a mind reader? Or a-a precognitive……?”
‘Is he not a fool but a madman……’ How did I know?
“It’s my birthday today. If you prepared something more than a birthday meal, it would obviously be a gift.”
“As expected of my little sister, so clever!”
Ugh, I felt deeply insulted.
“Bart!”
At his call, Butler Bart brought a box. Ah, so the luggage the butler had been handed downstairs must have been that. Still, since it was a gift, I accepted it with some expectation and unwrapped it.
“How is it? Do you like it?”
“……It’s a bear.”
The gift was a teddy bear. A completely useless teddy bear that you couldn’t eat or wear!
The stupid-looking teddy bear seemed to mock me, its beady eyes gleaming.
A cute teddy bear given to a younger sister who had now become a twenty-year-old adult. I looked down at it with dim eyes.
“Wow, truly fantastic.”
“I knew you’d like it!”
‘……He had it all wrong.’ I secretly shook my head. I wished he’d just shut up already.
I held my spoon and sent out silent pressure. However, Reiji seemed completely incapable of taking a hint.
“You always said you didn’t need birthday presents, that having me was enough, but every time I heard that, my heart ached so much, you don’t know.”
I nodded roughly at Reiji’s sudden sentimental appeal.
“In place of our mother and father, who departed for heaven early, I always wanted to take good care of you.”
Right now, more important than any of that was getting even a spoonful of this pale broth without a single piece of meat into my mouth.
Completely unaware of my state, Reiji gave me a warm smile as if possessed by a doting older brother.
“My dear sister Roje. I am always on your side, and I live with the thought of becoming your parent! I will always be an older brother who can give you teddy bears like this.”
Reiji had a knack for saying terrible things so casually.
“Brother, don’t you think it’s time to eat now?”
“Yes! Here, try this chicken.”
This was a bit touching. Once again, I felt that though he was a hopeless fool, his heart for his younger sibling was endearing.
My displeasure toward Reiji suddenly melted away, and I slightly revised my harsh assessment of him.
*Munch.*
The chicken tasted bad. Never in my life had I tasted meat like this. My tongue, accustomed to MSG in Korea, was severely shocked by this natural meat flavor and froze stiff.
“Did you not season this with salt……?”
“Salt? How could our family afford something like that. Hahaha!”
“Laughing loudly during a meal is against noble etiquette, my lord.”
Was this something to laugh about……? The family’s financial situation seemed more serious than I had thought. And more serious than the financial state was Reiji’s mental state. Reiji was impossibly bright and cheerful.
‘Ah, so that’s how he drove the family to ruin……’
Well, the future had just become a little more bleak.