The Three Women of the Grand Ducal House
"Grace. Emma. Guard him well."
"Yes. Do not worry."
"Yes! Understood!"
While she worked out a plan, Lirith needed to ensure her younger brother could not do anything impulsive — above all, that he would not try to run away from the grand ducal estate. As the next head of the house, she issued the order to his personal knight and his personal maid.
She could trust those two. A little unease lingered, but she left them to it and set off to handle her own affairs elsewhere.
Of course, brilliant as she was, Lirith knew perfectly well that both of them harbored feelings for her brother. Every servant in the household was bound to — how could they not? Describing his appearance alone would take far too long, and though he never wore his kindness on his sleeve, anyone who had spent time with him knew he was gentler and more considerate than anyone. The grand ducal estate overflowed with people who doted on him and cherished him.
But among them all, only those two shared the same kind of heart as her own.
Still, it was fine. Neither of them had fully recognized their own feelings, or else they still kept to the line.
His knight, Grace, mistook her affection for loyalty. And as a half-dragon, her combat prowess was formidable — more than enough to protect a fragile younger brother in a world where living as a man was already a hardship. She performed her duties as a bodyguard with absolute reliability. So even though she carried feelings she had no right to hold, Lirith decided to let it slide for now.
Next was his personal maid, Emma — daughter of a servant family that had served House Frigid for generations. She might dare to imagine sharing affection with her master, but that was as far as it went. She had been born for service alone. Simply being at her brother's side was already more fortune than she deserved, and she knew it well enough not to cross the line.
The one thing that truly grated was that she got to taste the dishes Edward made with his own hands first — every single day, every single time. Infuriating beyond measure. But she was the personal attendant he had chosen as a child, and she kept her own boundaries, so Lirith could just barely tolerate it.
That was the limit of what she could endure. She could accept them only because they lived under the same roof and had never overstepped. Beyond this — absolutely not.
Especially that pink-haired girl who kept inventing excuses to visit. That imperial princess who smiled her sly little smile at precious Ed. Lirith would raise a rebellion if she had to, just to stop her.
If anything happened to her beloved younger brother — anyone, anyone at all — she would smash them to pieces.
Once Lirith left, two people remained outside Edward's door: his knight Grace, and his personal maid Emma.
Emma was the first to speak.
"Lady Grace! I'll be counting on you!"
"…Emma. Drop the innocent act already."
"Pardon?"
"That deliberately airheaded routine in front of Young Master…"
"Heehee… whatever do you mean~?"
"…"
Emma had offered a bright greeting, but Grace did not take it at face value. She knew better. That cheerful "I'll be counting on you" was not pure goodwill. It almost certainly meant: Do your job properly. Get in my way and you'll regret it.
Despite being a woman of real capability, Emma played the clumsy, mistake-prone, delicate little thing in front of Young Master — because that was how she got him to look after her. He would click his tongue in irritation, yes, but his actions always carried care underneath. Grace was well aware that Emma kept up the act on purpose, just to bask in that kindness.
She knew because of one particular incident. They had bumped shoulders by accident in a corridor once.
Ah, sorry.
Tch.
The freezing look Emma had given her in that moment was something Grace would never forget. And the most decisive proof of all: whenever Grace trained Young Master in private, Emma would hide at a distance and watch — pouring out killing intent without even trying to conceal it, aimed squarely at Grace every single time. How she managed to miss Young Master entirely and lock onto Grace alone… no ordinary skill could do that. Judging by that ability, her stealth techniques and combat prowess were almost certainly exceptional.
And yet she kept her true nature buried behind that bright facade — careful, no doubt, that Young Master might somehow sense the truth from inside his room.
Where Lirith, the eldest daughter of House Frigid, expressed her affection for Young Master without hiding it, Emma was the cunning type who deliberately played the incompetent to draw his attention.
"Let's both do our best for Young Master!"
"Haa… fine."
"Thank you!"
There was no point pressing further. This fox would never show her true colors. Grace sighed and accepted the words. Young Master might try anything at any moment, and right now their goals were the same. There was no need to pick a fight with someone who was, if anything, a reliable ally.
Setting aside the uncomfortable maid at her side for the moment, Grace turned her thoughts to Young Master's sudden packing. She knew the cause, of course. Had he truly hated the idea of the debutante that much?
She hadn't wanted him to appear among those hateful, wolfish noblewomen of the Empire either — not the Young Master to whom she had sworn her full loyalty. But if any of them tried something strange, if so much as a fingertip reached for him, she would simply cut them down with her sword. It was an unavoidable situation, but she had believed he would trust her and attend.
And yet — running away? What on earth was he thinking?
He had trained diligently enough to be healthier than most men, and though he tried to hide it… she knew. Young Master could only produce a tiny, faint wisp of Aura. Even a Trainee could form a fist-sized mass of it, yet there he was, secretly floating that little scrap of Aura and smiling to himself — so endearing she had never bothered to correct him.
For a man like that to go out into the world alone was practically suicide. No — with a face that beautiful, he wouldn't be killed. Instead, those wolfish women would violate him and devour him whole.
Grace ground her teeth without realizing it, fury rising at the mere thought.
Her pure Young Master had no idea how terrifying it was for a man to survive alone out there. No matter how much he hated it, no matter what happened — she could not simply let him leave. And if it came to that, she was already prepared to go with him.
If anything happened to the master to whom she had sworn loyalty — and more than loyalty — she would simply cut down anyone who stood in her way.
Emma was thoroughly displeased.
What the hell is she going on about all of a sudden.
Thanks to that damned brother-complex eldest daughter's orders, she was stuck outside her beloved Young Master's door with that reeking beast of a woman, the two of them alone on watch. And after she had gone out of her way to offer a greeting — "drop the innocent act"? What kind of nonsense was that?
Emma fretted. What if Young Master had overheard their brief exchange from inside the room? She checked the presence within — only the sound of him fretting and groaning to himself. Good.
Brother-complex. Beast woman. Both of them. Neither one understood a thing about Young Master. Or rather — neither one even tried to understand.
Young Master hated showing weakness, hated looking unmanly. And strong, perfect, feminine women were not his type. Yet those idiots who didn't know that kept subtly flaunting their strengths at him every chance they got.
I brought the family such great benefits with this achievement!
Ed~♡ Is there anything you want?
I seem to have reached a higher level.
Young Master, I will always protect you!
Those clueless women who pestered him for no reason — if Emma had her way, she would make sure they never opened their eyes again in their sleep. But one was his sister, and the other had received his kindness, so she had no choice but to endure.
Stupid women. Young Master preferred the delicate, masculine type who needed looking after. She had heard he smiled and laughed with other men, and for a while she had worried he might prefer his own gender — but that was absolutely not the case.
And so Emma, as his personal maid, existed for her master's joy, for service. To grant even his small wishes, she deliberately made mistakes and played the weakling. He would get irritated with her every time, but Emma knew the truth. He was only being snappish to hide his embarrassment and his pleasure. Because no matter how it started — with irritation — what always came back in the end was kindness.
That was why Emma believed she alone truly understood Young Master, and alone acted for his sake.
That brother-complex eldest daughter couldn't even handle her own duties properly — and so she had forced that dreadful debutante, the very event Young Master despised, to be held at the grand ducal estate. Ah, how devastated he must be.
The moment she saw him suddenly packing to leave the mansion, Emma thought her heart had stopped. Young Master, leaving the grand ducal estate? Vanishing from her side? Just imagining it made her whole body lock up. She was playing the fragile maid, so she couldn't physically stop him — but fortunately the beast who called herself his knight had followed, and the brother-complex, late as she was, had discovered the situation. Together they had managed to prevent Young Master's terrible choice.
Whether she had to cooperate with the brother-complex and the beast or use any other means necessary — she could not allow Young Master to leave the estate. Her face kept smiling, but her mind never stopped churning.
If anything happened to the young master to whom she devoted her service — and more than service — she would put anyone, anyone at all, to sleep forever.