24-Hour Revolving Consultation Office: Episode 18
"I'm glad to hear that."
When a smile once again touched Lora's lips, he found himself mirroring it with a faint smile of his own.
"Then hurry back before the pie gets cold."
"Understood."
Sorinte nodded, yet dawdled and hesitated.
Thinking he might still have something to say, Lora looked at him.
"Thank you."
Sorinte gave a brief bow to Lora and each of them in turn, then left the mansion.
"What an unusual person."
Clack.
Tom spoke as he closed the main gate of the mansion, watching Sorinte head toward the ducal estate.
"Isn't he?"
"Yes. He doesn't seem like someone who would cause problems during a consultation."
As he spoke, Tom recalled Sorinte.
'Well, it's only because he's drunk every day.'
He had never really struck servants or commoners.
'Though he did beat up nobles who picked fights first.'
Yet curiously, most of those incidents had been handled quietly.
Some took this to mean the House of Cheoseu had offered massive compensation, while others opined that the other parties had been in the wrong as well, which was why things had been settled quietly.
"Tom, the pie smells good."
"Doesn't it? Shall we go inside, eat, and finish cleaning?"
"Let's do that."
Lora and Tom headed toward the mansion, filled with the savory fragrance of Red Berry Pie.
* * *
'It's warm.'
Feeling the warmth from the wooden basket and the savory, refreshing scent reaching the tip of his nose, Sorinte's steps quickened of their own accord.
'She is someone to be grateful for.'
The truth was, he had sought out a counselor with an anxious, nervous heart, but he hadn't particularly expected a special solution.
He had simply gone to her because she was the only one to whom he could fully tell his story.
'...She seemed to be cleaning.'
Lora Rien, the head of Count Rien's household. She had been wearing somewhat shabby clothes with an apron wrapped around her.
"Hmm."
Last night, he had summoned the bedchamber attendant and asked about Count Rien's household.
"T-truthfully?"
He spoke as kindly as possible to the trembling servant who asked back.
"Yes. Spill everything you know."
Thankfully, whether because he had gotten through to him, the servant rattled on without stopping.
"They are famously known as a wretchedly poor noble house! A-and I heard all the employees had left, though it seems one returned today! And though it's not certain, they say the head of the household seems to work somewhere!"
"Work? What sort of work?"
"Th-that is—I don't really know either, but such rumors are going around!"
"Rumors circulate based on something uncertain?"
"Th-that is—it is a crime deserving of death!"
"...Have you committed some crime?"
"Th-that—my apologies, Young Master!"
Sorinte soothed the servant, who had suddenly begun frantically apologizing, claiming he had committed a capital offense.
"You have committed no crime against me. So there is no need to apologize like this."
"Is that true?"
"Of course. Had a human wronged me, I would have cut them down before they could even apologize."
"Hic!"
"So do not worry needlessly."
"Y-yes, yes, yes!"
Based on last night's memory, Sorinte assessed Count Rien's household.
'A wretchedly poor noble house.'
Yet the head of such a house had handed him a Red Berry Pie.
Red berries were the most expensive around this time of year. They had been costly to begin with.
'That sentiment is truly moving.'
Lora Rien had given him something quite expensive and precious, for him and his family.
'Truly, I am fortunate to have met a good person and sought her advice.'
Within Sorinte, the evaluation of Lora rose yet another level.
* * *
"Y-Young Master, hello!"
"Welcome, Young Master!"
Sorinte could not hide the bitterness he felt as he watched the servants greet him, startled as if leaping back at the sight of him.
'Yes, because of what I've done.'
He clearly remembered the servants who had remained and fought alongside him to protect the ducal estate.
They were now as precious to him as family.
"..."
So he decided to muster his courage.
Though he could hardly bring himself to speak, he wanted to force out the words Lora had taught him.
"...Go—"
*Ahem.* He choked up briefly from nervousness.
The servants, who had been bowing, flinched and their shoulders trembled.
"Good morning."
The moment Sorinte finally offered his greeting, the servants' pupils trembled uncontrollably.
One servant looked up at Sorinte in surprise—something they would never do under normal circumstances.
"Ah."
But Sorinte had already walked far away.
"...His ears are red?"
Perhaps because his long hair was neatly tied up, Sorinte's faintly reddened ears were visible.
Following yesterday, the ducal estate was in an uproar again today because of Sorinte.
Squeak.
But nowhere within the estate was as silent as this place.
"Hoo."
Sorinte turned the doorknob, took a deep breath, and stepped inside.
Click.
A fork was set down with a sound that violated noble dining etiquette.
"...You've come."
The Duke opened his mouth upon seeing Sorinte enter the dining room.
Sorinte looked around.
The Duke, the Duchess, his younger sister, and younger brother.
They were the direct line currently residing in the ducal estate.
They were already eating, even though Sorinte had not arrived.
This was only natural. Sorinte never came to this table.
Whenever someone was sent to summon him for a meal, he had lost his temper, so at some point, the family had stopped waiting for him.
'I hated this atmosphere.'
The gazes of his family upon him.
The sight of the Duchess, ever meticulous in etiquette, letting her fork clatter in surprise.
And the suffocating silence, the mealtime conducted without a single word of conversation.
'It was suffocating.'
Sorinte had hated that moment.
But before his regression, as the ducal estate fell to ruin, he had been able to see, hear, and feel their affection toward him.
'Truly stiff, awkward people.'
He had been the same.
They had only become honest in the face of death.
"...Butler."
The Duchess glanced at Sorinte and called for the butler. The butler then quickly went outside to prepare Sorinte's meal.
The Duke watched this, then shifted his gaze to Sorinte, who stood there in silence.
Last evening, he had been unable to forget his son's figure.
'He definitely cried.'
The eyes of the Duke, a top-class swordsman, had clearly caught a single teardrop from his son.
Because of that, the Duke had been unable to sleep properly. His son had been on his mind all night long.
With a stiff face, he spoke to Sorinte, who stood there blankly.
"...Sit."
At that moment, Sorinte opened his mouth.
"I—"
In an instant, the family's gazes turned to him.
The servants inside the dining room held their breath.
Sorinte hesitated for a moment, then felt courage suddenly well up from the warmth of the basket.
"Good... morning."
Silence fell.
Sorinte looked at the Duke. He saw astonishment frost over that rigid face.
'...Did I do something I shouldn't have?'
Fear suddenly surged in.
"Yes. It is a good morning."
But at the Duchess's words, Sorinte looked at her.
She looked surprised, yet in quite a good mood.
"Let's take it one step at a time."
Lora's voice echoed in his ears.
He slowly approached the dining table.
And placed the basket from his arms atop it.
"From next door—"
Sorinte spoke in a stiff voice, slowly, thinking through each word one by one.
"—they made a Red Berry Pie—"
He hesitated for a moment before forcing it out.
"...I was told to share it with my family, so I brought it."
And then he sat in his seat, unable to look at anyone.
Unable to muster the courage to raise his head, he heard his younger sister's voice.
"Butler, please bring something to cut the pie."
"Yes, my lady."
And along with it, his younger brother's cautious voice reached his ears.
"Wh-where is next door?"
Sorinte slowly raised his head and answered.
"Count Rien's house."
At that moment, although the dining room remained calm and still, he could feel warmth.
A warm yet refreshing air, like the Red Berry Pie, enveloped him.
'No. I mustn't!'
Sorinte somehow held back the tears welling up.
Because he did not want to ruin this precious, valuable time.
He focused all his strength on controlling his emotions.
"...Did you say Count Rien's house?"
Because of this, he failed to notice the Duke and Duchess of Cheoseu exchanging glances.
Nor did he notice his younger sister looking at him with sparkling eyes.
'It's delicious.'
Sorinte ate a slice of Red Berry Pie from the plate his younger brother had passed him.
It was tastier than any pie he had ever eaten in his life.
A thought suddenly came to him.
'How should I express this gratitude?'
He had decided to live a changed life.
He wanted to live expressing his feelings, sharing affection, and connecting with people.
Therefore, expressing his gratitude was only natural.
'...Compensation.'
He had heard the Rien household received compensation through consultations.
'Though we did not discuss it separately, what does Count Rien's household need most?'
And so, with the feeling that he had taken a step toward a new life, the House of Cheoseu spent a breakfast slightly different from usual.