Episode 65
'To think I'd become the second-in-command of the Demon King's army while just trying to survive.'
Having arrived instantly in front of the Duke's mansion thanks to Demirkan's spatial teleportation ability, I let out a deep sigh and began walking toward the main gate.
""Ah, hello.""
When I threw the gate open wide, the commoner students of Class A, standing in a line with shameful expressions on their faces, bowed their heads and greeted me.
The male students wearing servant uniforms and work clothes were somewhat bearable, but the female students in maid uniforms... anyone who saw them would probably curse me out quite a bit.
"Come inside."
Of course, I entered the Duke's mansion with a vile smile on my face.
""..........""
Seeing the female students looking at me with expressions of disgust, it seems my judgment was indeed correct.
"...Oppa, what on earth is this?"
Anyway, enduring the gazes pouring in from all directions as if looking at bugs, I stepped inside the Duke's mansion, and Aria blocked my path.
"Ah, Aria. As of today, take Cadia and get out of our house."
"What!?"
When I said that to her with a calm expression, Aria, who had been frowning deeply, began to growl and speak.
"Stop it, Oppa. Quit this ridiculous act and apologize to these innocent people..."
"I said get lost from our house until the vacation ends."
Cutting off her words and speaking coldly, Aria, who had been sighing, began to approach the commoner students behind me.
"I'm sorry."
When she finally bowed her waist and apologized, the commoner students opened their eyes wide and began to panic.
Did they think she would be no different from me since she's the sister of the Empire's notorious scoundrel? Somehow I feel sorry for Aria.
"Our Oppa has caused you trouble. I'll talk some sense into him, so everyone can go back now... Heuk!"
But since she was trying to send the commoners back home again, I had no choice but to grab her arm and start heading upstairs.
"Ah ya! Oppa, what are you doing right now? Let go of this! I said let go!!"
"Just shut up and follow me."
Aria, who kept struggling, soon began to gather star mana in her hand, but after glancing at the commoners watching us from below, she urgently spoke.
"Do you want to fly away with star magic in front of your classmates? If I don't let go, in front of those students..."
"Shut up before I disown you from the family."
I was already in a half-destroyed state from beating up the Demon King's army's second-in-command, and if I got hit by Aria's star magic, my sister would become a murderer.
So when I spoke coldly once more before Aria could shoot magic at me, she began to mutter with a shocked expression.
"That... you're serious, Oppa?"
"........."
"I asked if you're serious."
"...Yes."
Answering with an annoyed expression, Aria glared at me and began to try to say something.
"Oppa, any more than this and I'll... Kyaak!"
However, I pushed Aria, who was like that, into Cadia's room where I had already arrived.
"F-Frey-nim...?"
Cadia's younger sister, who had been playing with a doll, blinked her eyes and looked at me.
"Pack your bags right now and get out of our house until the vacation ends. If you don't, Aria, you'll be disowned from the family, and Cadia, you'll be kicked out to the streets."
"W-what about my sister...?"
When Cadia asked me tearfully, I answered while raising the corner of my mouth.
"Of course, I'll keep your sister. She's mine."
"U, uugh..."
When Cadia was on the verge of bursting into tears at those words, Aria, who had been gritting her teeth beside her, began to shout.
"Why on earth! Why are you doing this, you bastard!"
"Can't you tell from seeing me bring those commoners?"
Smiling sinisterly at her, I began to tell the story I had thought of beforehand.
"I'm going to enjoy a wild party. Alcohol and drugs, and... Cough."
"...Stop it."
However, I couldn't even finish half of the lines I had prepared before getting punched in the stomach by Aria.
"Cadia, let's go."
"Y-yes? But..."
"We just need to stay out until the vacation ends, right? We'll prepare and leave by tonight. Then, have a good vacation."
Saying that, Aria grabbed the arm of the hesitating Cadia, looked at me with disgust, and left the room with Cadia.
"...Cough."
Having taken a direct hit from a punch thrown with full force by my younger sister whose physical stat is 4, I wiped the blood flowing from my mouth and slumped down against the wall.
'I should secretly hire mercenaries to guard the residence where they'll be staying.'
The reason I drove those two out is simple.
If those two stayed in this mansion throughout the vacation, they would surely face dangerous situations at some point.
Currently, I am under 'assassination threat' from Clana and the Moonlight family.
And this unprecedented exam that has just occurred is probably a trap created by 'Clana.'
Therefore, when Clana's team raids this place sooner or later, there's a high probability that an assassin will infiltrate, or listening devices or bombs will be smuggled in.
Therefore, I needed to evacuate Aria and Cadia at least until the exam ends.
Of course, I would like to evacuate the commoners somewhere too, but... I can't help it because of the exam rules.
And since I wanted to treat the kids struggling with poverty well for various reasons, taking this opportunity...
"Ah, right. About that previous incident... Huh?"
While I was thinking that, Aria suddenly opened the door and came in to ask me something, then froze.
Wondering what was going on, I stared blankly at Aria, then touched my mouth thinking it couldn't be, and sure enough, blood was flowing down.
"Uh, so this is... Ugh...!"
"O-Oppa. What's wrong? Are you hurt somewhere?"
I tried to wipe off the blood and stand up, but perhaps because I used too much strength earlier, my legs gave out and I sat back down.
And Aria, who had been staring blankly at me, began to grit her teeth.
"Where on earth have you been and what have you been doing?"
"None of your business."
"Fine, I knew you'd say that. I'm really sick and tired of this now."
Saying that, Aria took something out of her pocket, threw it at her feet, and stomped on it.
"I won't say a single word to Oppa from now on."
Having said that, Aria left the room with a cold expression.
"...What is this?"
After confirming she left the room, I lowered my head and began to look at the floor, wondering what she had stomped on.
'It looks like... a key made of light magic.'
Looking down at the crumpled key for a moment, I quietly covered the key with my hand and closed my eyes.
"...Done."
Soon, gathering a shimmering light in my hand as if to practice light magic as well, I smiled looking at the key that had returned to its original state.
- Shimmer...
"...Ah."
However, the key that was in my hand soon broke down into sparkling particles and scattered into the air.
'Damn, maybe I put too much star mana into it without realizing.'
Feeling happy about my newly improved mana skills, but also feeling uneasy that I would never know what the key Aria made was for, I sighed and left the room.
"Ah, F-Frey-nim. Dinner is ready."
Then, a shy-looking female student reported to me with a red face.
"How long have you been preparing it?"
"W-we started right away as soon as we arrived here."
"Is that so?"
Nodding my head, I approached the female student, and she suddenly closed her eyes tightly and began to tremble.
"What's wrong?"
"I-I'm s-s-so sorry... I'm not used to talking with... people..."
When I leaned my head forward and asked her, she, whose face had turned completely red, began to speak with a trembling voice.
"...You're cute?"
"Heuu...!!"
Stroking her chin and saying that, the shy-looking girl froze stiff.
"What's your name?"
Her appearance somehow seemed familiar, so when I asked, the frozen girl moved her lips slightly and answered in a quiet voice.
"It's... Lulu."
"...Ah."
Only then realizing who she was, I stopped teasing her and took a step back.
'To think I'd see her again here.'
Thinking about the previous turn for a moment, I passed her by and spoke in a quiet voice.
"You, starting today, stop doing housework and serve as my personal attendant."
"E-excuse me?"
"I said to serve as my personal attendant."
Then Lulu, who had been looking at me with a blank expression, hurriedly bowed her head and said.
"Ah... I understand! I'll do my best!"
Hearing her dumbfounded voice from behind as I went downstairs, I soon stopped walking and quietly sighed.
'...Annoying.'
Somehow, whenever I come to my house, things that grate on my nerves keep happening.
.
The dinner table, fully set, was filled with various colors.
"...What is this?"
"Uh... it's braised potatoes that our family likes."
"It's stir-fried carrots that I often made for my younger sibling."
"I made fried eggplant since there was eggplant, but do you not like it?"
Of course, full of grass and leaves.
"There must have been plenty of premium ingredients in the food storage? But you prepared dinner with this kind of grass and leaves?"
Of course, the female students' vegetable dishes were quite excellent, so I was confident I could eat them deliciously, but I began to get angry at the female students who were watching my expression.
'...Did the kids feel too pressured?'
I was quite excited thinking about filling the commoners' stomachs with the Starlight family's expensive ingredients during the vacation, but thinking about it, even if it were me, I would be afraid of getting scolded for using expensive ingredients, so I probably wouldn't have touched the expensive things either.
Well, if I order them right now to cook with expensive ingredients from now on, that's that...
"We've never handled expensive ingredients before."
"...Ah."
The commoner students are quietly glaring at me.
Among them, Perlotche, wearing a neat maid uniform with plenty of bandages on her hands, is also glaring at me.
"The Saintess has had high-class food a few times, so she tried to cook based on that memory, but... as you can see, instead of premium ingredients, the Saintess's fingers were almost cooked."
Among those children, a sharp-looking girl who held the position of representative of the commoner students began to speak while glaring at me.
"So, we had no choice but to cook with ingredients we've at least handled before. We're sorry for being poor."
After the representative finished speaking with a resentful voice and lowered her head, other commoner students also lowered their heads simultaneously.
"...Your name was Alice, right?"
"Yes, that's correct."
Staring blankly at them for a moment, I recalled the commoner representative's name and fell into thought.
'That kid was originally a student who led the demonstration that occurred after the "Commoner Dormitory Raid Incident"...'
In the previous turn, she, who led the commoner students' demonstration, eventually became one of the leaders of the revolution in the future.
Being such a person, her resistance toward me seems several times greater than other commoners.
"If I may dare say something, being merely a commoner... instead of us who can't even touch premium ingredients because we're poor, how about hiring a professional chef?"
"...Sigh."
Looking quietly at her, who spoke in a sharp tone matching her appearance, I sighed and said.
"Anyway, commoners are useless even when I want to use them... Fine, I'll take care of that point."
"Thank you so much for considering our position. Frey Laon Starlight-nim."
Hearing my words, Alice opened her eyes wide and tried to say something, but Ariane, who was standing next to her, quickly stepped in front of her and bowed her waist to answer.
"Yawn... Then throw all that away, or you guys eat it all, handle it however you want. I can't eat such disgusting grass and leaves."
Staring at her for a moment, I left those words, got up from the dining table, and started going up to my room.
"T-that bastard..."
"Alice...! Endure it! The opponent is Frey!"
"Right, even if it's shitty... we have to force ourselves to endure it."
Calmly climbing the stairs, I gathered star mana in my ears to eavesdrop on the conversation coming from behind, and sighed deeply as I fell into thought.
'...Should I hire a chef?'
My fault in overlooking the fact that commoners had never handled premium ingredients is very large in this incident.
I guess a prejudice got embedded in me without realizing it because Cania, whom I've watched for the longest time and am most familiar with among commoners, cooks very well.
Knowing better than anyone that the Sunrise Empire ended up in this state because of this kind of ignorant thinking of the noble class, I can't lift my head in shame for making such a mistake.
'Come to think of it, Cania and Irina said they were briefly outside. Then... should I ask the two to cook when they return?'
Like that, I was repenting for my mistake with my face dyed red in a place where no one could see, banging my head against the wall for a long time, when I suddenly began to consider asking Cania and Irina to cook.
'No, the two of them are still not enough.'
But soon I shook my head and began to sigh.
Of course, Cania and Irina's cooking skills are quite excellent... but if they prepare meals for the commoner students, not just for me, until the vacation ends, they'll obviously get sick.
But I can't call back the servants I kicked out.
At the end of the vacation, the "Servant Welfare Policy" created by our father will be presented to me, and I'll have to pay money to them... if I bring them back in, that becomes pointless.
Then the remaining measure is to hire a chef, but since this house will soon be plagued by numerous intruders and assassins, that's not a good choice.
"Sigh, I don't know."
Eventually, clutching my head which had started to ache from continuously hitting it, I staggered into my room.
I guess I need to close my eyes for a bit.
"Hmm?"
But the moment I lay on the bed to sleep, something caught on my back.
"What is this?"
Tilting my head and picking up something caught on my back, there was a box.
'...There's a keyhole.'
Soon discovering a small keyhole in the box, I realized that this was the space where the key Aria had stomped on earlier would fit.
"Sorry... Aria."
Thanks to that, I, who was about to force the box open, put the box down on the desk next to the bed with a sullen expression and began to close my eyes.
Somehow, it's a day when I miss a cat dream.
.
'Young master? Young master!!'
"Hmm... Cania?"
Having been dreaming of a giant owl pressing down on me instead of a cat, I got up from my seat sweating at Cania's call.
"You're safe!"
Then Cania hugged me with a bright smile she had never shown before.
"I believed that if it's the young master, you would return safely. Really."
"C-Cania... I can't breathe."
When I urgently spoke because she was hugging me so strongly that I had difficulty breathing, Cania, who hurriedly separated from me, returned her expression to its original state as if nothing had happened.
"Irina? Why is your expression like that?"
Smiling at her, I noticed that Irina's expression next to her was haggard, tilted my head, and asked.
"Cania has been... all day long..."
"Anyway, young master, Aria says she wants to see you."
Then Irina began to answer with a dazed expression, but Cania quickly cut off those words and started talking to me.
"...Why does she?"
Still slightly sulking at the shameless Aria who had brought a suspicious box to my room and stomped on the key to open it, I asked in a sulky tone, and Cania shrugged her shoulders and said.
"Well, she says she has something to say before leaving the house."
Hearing that, I fell into silence, and Cania said with a slightly worried expression.
"...Miss Aria keeps worrying about the young master, but that shouldn't be happening."
"It's fine, it seems she's quite disillusioned with me because of this incident... just one more big incident should do it."
When I spoke calmly, Cania and Irina's expressions hardened simultaneously.
"If I don't take this opportunity, I won't be able to see her all vacation... I should go out. What time is it now?"
"It's 1 AM."
Asking them calmly, I got up from my seat and began walking toward the door.
"Cania, and Irina. You two take Aria and Cadia to a safe place. I'm asking you."
"Leave it to me."
"...We'll be back by tomorrow morning, so you rest."
Having instructed them like that, I started heading toward the main gate of the Duke's mansion.
"...Oppa."
Soon discovering Aria standing in front of the main gate, I sighed and began to speak.
"If you're planning to spout nonsense again..."
"...About that previous incident, it was Oppa who saved me back then, right?"
But hearing Aria's subsequent words, I froze in place.
"".....Heup.""
And since that was the same for Cania and Irina, they unconsciously took a breath and began to look at me.
"I'll believe that. Even if it was a dream... I still believe in Oppa."
But fortunately, the penalty window didn't appear.
[Aria Laon Starlight's current emotions: Disappointment/Resignation/Exhaustion/Hatred/Worry]
"So please... don't disappoint me anymore..."
Looking at Aria's emotions, I realized that she hadn't figured everything out but was denying reality.
"If you're disappointed even a little more, I won't be able to..."
Aria, who was struggling to continue speaking, eventually couldn't finish her words and lowered her head, then extended her hand to me.
"...What is this?"
Unconsciously reaching out and receiving what she held out, the key she had stomped on earlier was in my hand.
"Goodbye."
Immediately after giving me that key, Aria turned around and left the mansion.
'Is it that auditory hallucination again?'
Right after, hearing crying sounds from somewhere, I thought it was that auditory hallucination I experienced before and tried to ignore it, but.
"...Aria is crying, Frey-nim."
What Cadia said, holding her luggage and staring at me, clearly revealed the truth I was trying to avoid.
"I just thought I should tell you."
Leaving those words, Cadia left the mansion with Cania, who was quietly biting her lips, and Irina, who had been looking at me pitifully.
"...So, what kind of gift did you give that you're making such a show?"
Standing in that spot for a long time, I soon muttered in a deliberately cheerful voice and started heading to my room.
"...Alright, it fits perfectly."
Soon arriving at my room, I put the key made with star magic into the keyhole of the box I had carefully placed on the desk and turned it.
- Click!
"What is this?"
And what was inside the opened box was quite an unexpected item.
- Don't cough up blood, it's gross.
"...Haha, ha."
Inside the box, a handkerchief with a silver cat embroidered on it was neatly folded.
"An automatic cleaning spell is cast on it too?"
Looking at the handkerchief this way and that for a moment, I smiled a soft smile and tried to neatly fold the handkerchief and put it in my pocket, but...
"...Don't move."
Right at that moment, a cold sensation was felt on the back of my neck, and a turbid voice that I couldn't identify began to be heard.
'How did they get behind my back? How did they break in here? There should still be protective magic in place? Judging by the tone of the voice... it's a woman for now. Then is it Clana's assassin? Or an assassin from the Moonlight family? Or maybe... surely not the Demon King's army?'
And thinking numerous thoughts until that moment passed in a flash, I urgently tried to emit star mana to subdue the opponent behind me, but...
"If you resist, it won't be fun, you know."
At that moment, the unidentified person behind me put more force on my neck, so I had no choice but to stop moving.
"...What do you want?"
Thinking I shouldn't have used my life force earlier if I knew this would happen, I asked the opponent in a calm voice, but.
"If you have any funny ideas, I'll kill you right away."
Hearing the subsequent words from the opponent, I sensed that this was someone I couldn't reason with, and closing my eyes tightly, I began to consider whether to use the last resort.
"...Perhaps?"
Until I heard the briefly added words.
"...Serena?"
Asking with an expression of disbelief, the person behind me released the voice modulation and whispered softly in my ear.
"Tonight will be quite long, Frey."
"What?"
"...So be prepared."
It seems the dream I had earlier was a prophetic dream.