Chapter 10
✠
"……So it's already been four days and she's only been reading books. Since she does nothing but read lying down, I feel like she's taking it too easy. I'm not sure if it's okay to keep going like this."
[
"Oh right, Nelly and the head maid left the Count's household yesterday. The reason for the delay was that their embezzlement and corruption committed at the Count's castle was finally exposed. The butler and doctor involved were also replaced this time. It'll be difficult for them to find new jobs. Let alone getting recommendation letters, the news will spread to every noble household, so they're effectively blacklisted from the industry."
Even while prattling on about the head maid's crimes, the progress rate steadily climbed.
Then something came to mind and she circled back to the topic.
"Returning to the play companion story……. Honestly, just reading books isn't bad. Because I can learn about this world. Besides, books are the exclusive property of nobles, so I need to read as much as I can when the opportunity arises. That's why I found the integrated library's functionality a bit disappointing. It only stores books I read or bought in my lifetime—couldn't you make it so books I read after possession are also stored?"
A response from the god came.
[The 'Word that Builds the World' answers that it will seriously consider the update.]
[The 'Word that Builds the World' throws new work at the rookie god.]
"Wow, thank you."
As soon as she bowed, a system message appeared.
[
[
Today's homework was done. Now I had to clean up and prepare for work right away.
I've been really busy lately. The Healer class change quest, Cooking level up, Alchemy level up, studying tea service, and finally the reading group with the Count's young lady.
Even by my own assessment, I seem to be living quite diligently.
Today too, after finishing my duties before lunch, I went to Bianca's room.
"Welcome, Miss Ailet. What book shall we read today?"
"Today too?"
I had no particular complaints, but I asked anyway.
I heard the previous play companions fled without fail by the third day—wasn't it already my fourth day?
"……Are you tired of books by any chance?"
"Hmm, what about you, my lady?"
"……."
"……."
Bianca rolled her rabbit-like red eyes to the side.
It was slightly fascinating to see the Count's young lady, who had always been firm in her convictions, hesitating and reading the mood.
It seemed like Bianca wanted to do something other than reading.
"Shall we do something else?"
"Then…… won't you play dolls with me?"
"Dolls? Sure."
I nodded with genuine enthusiasm.
Memories of playing dolls with my brother in my childhood came flooding back.
It was a cosmic-scale doll play where dolls and robots appeared together to compromise between our tastes.
Thinking back, I missed it.
Bianca also seemed pleased by my enthusiastic demeanor.
The always-indifferent child had a faint flush on her face and her eyes were sparkling.
Then, without being told, she went to the side room herself and brought the dolls in a basket.
"Wow!"
As expected of a Count's young lady, it was different. In the basket were four elaborate and pretty ball-jointed dolls and various delicate accessories.
Just looking at them made my heart flutter.
The dolls consisted of three female types and one male type. Bianca chose two of the female dolls first.
"I'll be the terrifying Duchess and the loyal maid."
Then she handed me the remaining male doll and one female doll, assigning roles.
"You be the cheating Duke and the young, bewitching mistress."
Huh? The setting was a bit...?
"Let's begin."
Bianca raised the Duchess doll.
A solemn shout rang out.
"I've finally found the fox of a woman who played around with my husband! I'll gut you today, so drag her to the underground torture chamber immediately!"
……The genre of the doll play was strange.
✠
It wasn't that Bianca particularly disliked having friends. Rather, she really wanted to make them.
Books can be read alone, but doll play is no fun by yourself.
Bianca's standards for friends were quite generous compared to her standards for selecting a live-in son-in-law.
'Character, intellect, tastes. I only look at three.'
Despite the low threshold, not a single peer girl satisfied the criteria.
Bianca was already ten years old. At this rate, her precious childhood would pass without even a single memory of doll play.
Even when she finally gave up on character and intellect, it was no use.
Then, as if by fate, Ailet Rodeline's existence caught her eye.
Bianca had complete knowledge of the Count's household servants. She naturally knew about the daughter of the alchemist, a key human resource.
It was fascinating to see a child she had thought was ordinary suddenly stand out.
Bianca was surprisingly action-oriented. The moment she became interested, she immediately went with the Countess to meet Ailet.
And the character Ailet displayed in the kitchen garden exceeded expectations.
'She got rid of the head maid and her daughter in one go.'
Even with that innocent and harmless-looking face smiling sweetly, she couldn't fool Bianca's eyes.
Having recognized Ailet's extraordinariness at a glance, Bianca felt great interest in another person for the first time in a while.
Character confirmed, next was intellect.
On Ailet's first day as a play companion, Bianca selected a relatively easy and fun book, considering Ailet was a commoner.
She was slightly disappointed when Ailet couldn't read much of the classic pure literature praised for its excellent writing and moving narrative and asked for a change.
But the next book Ailet picked up was none other than the Bible.
When asked why she chose it, the answer was truly shocking.
—I felt I couldn't understand literature without understanding the Bible.
Treating the Bible, a domain of faith, as knowledge and showing interest out of necessity.
Bianca almost felt her heart flutter for a moment at that indifferent intellect.
'With a child like this……'
Expectations rose again despite repeated disappointments.
But the final criterion—tastes—was an item no one had ever passed.
Were her tastes really that strange? All the play companions ran out of the room crying after just three days.
When she tried to at least say goodbye out of loneliness and regret, they would be absolutely terrified.
Bianca was honestly quite hurt.
As expected, even with lowered standards, she felt she couldn't be friends with such children.
Shouldn't friends be able to embrace each other's tastes?
She worried that Ailet Rodeline might end up like the previous play companions.
So on the fourth day, she steeled herself and brought out the dolls.
And Ailet did not disappoint Bianca.
"Ah! I'm innocent, my lady! The one who seduced me, a naive girl who just came to the capital knowing nothing, was the Duke! I am the victim of marriage fraud! And above all, nothing happened between me and the Duke. Because the Duke can't get it up!"
"W-wife, look here. An affair? That's absurd. I'm a man who can't even if I wanted to, so please put down the whip and untie the ropes. Sob sob!"
Holding the mistress doll in her left hand and the Duke doll in her right, Ailet performed passionately.
Watching a play unfold right before her eyes, Bianca's face somehow looked a bit dazed.
Then the mistress doll knelt before the Duchess doll.
"My lady! I repent my sins and wish to serve you for life. As proof of my sincerity, I'd like to torture the Duke myself!"
Eventually, she was showing off knowledge of various unheard-of torture devices, driving the doll play to its climax.
Such rich settings and descriptions stimulating the imagination—Bianca couldn't help but admire.
Before long, the vivid and poignant screams of the Duke ceased.
"Phew. The Duke has fainted. My lady, are you satisfied?"
"……."
"My lady?"
Thud.
The dolls crashed from Bianca's hands.
It was the moment Ailet, who had been performing passionately, checked on her in slight bewilderment.
Bianca grabbed Ailet's hands and brought her face close.
The rabbit-like red eyes sparkled brightly. It was the first time in her life she'd had such a fun doll play.
"Can I call you Ai?"
"Huh?"
"Yeah, Ai. You call me Bia too. When it's just the two of us, you can speak casually."
It was truly an extraordinary privilege.
While Ailet was still dazed, Bianca continued.
"And you know. Those torture tools from earlier…… would you tell me about them in more detail……?"
At the shy request, Ailet nodded.
She figured she could just read 'History of Medieval Torture' from the integrated library.
"Ah, yes. My lady."
"I told you to call me Bia. Okay?"
And so Ailet became friends with the hidden power of the Count's household.
Chapter 4. What Happens When You Receive God's Favor and Partiality
The closer I got to Bianca, one question arose.
"If things continue like this, the Gillette family will fail to produce an Aura Master for two generations, shamefully falling short of their reputation as a swordsmanship household. The only way to save the family, which is already walking the path of decline, is for me to become the head and bring in capable knights as live-in sons-in-law."
"Wow. You're absolutely right, my lady."
"Name. Casual speech."
"Yeah, Bia. It's a perfect plan."
"Ai, I knew you'd think so too."
With such a smart young lady, why did the Gillette family end up like that in the original work?
And not long after, I found out the reason.
[
Because Bianca Gillette was destined to die together with Ailet Rodeline!
Privilege for the Possessor