The Fallen Lady Must Have a Touch of Arrogance
The fallen lady had to have that touch of haughty pride. “No need to wait until summer. Show me what you can do, everyone.”
I’d poked at her thinking this was the perfect moment, but Maron’s expression was far from pleased.
“I’m sorry.”
“Why are you sorry?”
“I don’t have much talent for fighting directly. Growing Guardians of the Forest also takes quite a bit of time.”
“That’s true. I’ve heard elves are gifted in combat, but I don’t recall ever hearing the same about druids.”
“Compared to druids like us, elves are basically ferocious hounds… I’d like to focus entirely on cultivating the Guardians of the Forest.”
The condition for a druid to fully display their combat power was an environment where the plants they had personally grown were sufficiently established. In a setting lacking usable vegetation, the burden seemed enormous. Maron would need time to prepare as well. Karin hadn’t even started a proper conversation yet.
In that case—
“What? What are you looking at?”
My gaze naturally turned to Constanze. The age I’d confirmed when we signed the contract was thirteen. At that age, reaching 3 Circle quickly wasn’t unheard of. Honestly, I wasn’t even hoping for 3 Circle. If she could just manage 2 Circle, the advanced black magic of the Eisner family would let her tear through the beastmen like they were nothing.
“Looks like it’s your time to shine, Constanze.”
“Me? What for?”
She snapped back sharply, but I wanted to see just how far she could push that attitude.
“I’ll make you a staff too, just like Maron.”
“I can cast magic without a staff, thank you. Please do not underestimate someone who carries the blood of Eisner.”
“I’ll make the staff with whatever materials you want.”
“Hmph. What meaning could there be in choosing staff materials for a mage who doesn’t even use one?”
Right. I knew simple bribery wouldn’t be enough to move her. But—
“I’ll excuse you from maid duties for three days.”
“…!”
For a girl whose noble pride was still fresh and vibrant, offering sweet relief from maid work as a deal—what would she do?
“Five days.”
“Let’s make it four.”
“Fine. I’ll help you especially. This me—Constanze Eisner—will help you es-pe-cial-ly.”
“As you wish.”
Together with Constanze, who acted like she was graciously bestowing a favor even though she clearly just wanted to skip work, we sprinted toward the direction of the rising signal flare. She’d complained about her heeled shoes being uncomfortable, yet when the situation actually arose, she ran just fine. About twenty minutes later, we arrived at the scene.
One tenant farmer was trembling violently behind a boulder.
“Y-Young Master! Young Master…!”
“What’s the situation?”
“Goblins! A goblin tribe is swarming down! The slow ones among us managed to flee, and the guards are fighting them right now!”
“Understood. Stop shaking here and go home, wash up, and rest.”
“Y-Yes!”
After helping the tenant farmer to his feet, I quickly assessed the situation. Against goblins, the Arnold Barony’s reinforced guard force should be enough to hold them off. However, because goblins used poison, there were usually many injuries. With summer approaching—a season when plundering intensified—long-term casualties would be a serious headache.
“Goblins, huh… Think you can handle them?”
“Hmph. Do you really think the magic of the Eisner family would be blocked by such inferior creatures? I’ll show you clearly, right here. The power of the Eisner family.”
“Good. I authorize the use of offensive magic.”
“Ah, this choker.”
Constanze had already been prepared for battle. The moment I gave official permission, the restraining power of the slave imprint loosened, allowing her mana to flow freely. Right after, black magical energy began to sparkle and gather in her palm. It was clear why they were called a prestigious black magic family. Even at her young age, the amount of mana was considerable. The instant the backs of the guards, locked in confrontation with the goblin tribe, came into view—
“Piercing Gaze!”
Constanze thrust her fist forward while still running, shooting dozens of black rays of light through the gaps in her fingers. Just as the name suggested, it pierced every goblin within her line of sight. The goblins, completely unprepared for magic, died instantly. The tense balance of power collapsed in a single moment.
“W-What is this?”
“I have arrived! This is allied support, so do not hesitate! Keep up the momentum!”
“Y-Yes!”
“The Young Master has come!”
“Long live the Arnold family!”
After that, it was smooth sailing. With numerical superiority and a clear difference in strength, the goblins’ signature poison was meaningless. The goblin tribe that had launched their bold raid was swept away in an instant.
“Good work. How many injured?”
“Five. Still, if we move them to the infirmary right away, they should be able to return within a few days.”
“Good. Don’t worry about my opinion. Head straight to the infirmary. Taking care of the injured comes first.”
“Yes!”
Once the situation seemed to be wrapping up nicely, I encouraged the guards and turned back toward Constanze… only to find her expression far from good as she fiddled with the black choker around her neck.
“Right after you gave permission, I felt something suppressed suddenly break through.”
“That makes sense.”
“I was too distracted yesterday to think about it, but… I really am a slave, aren’t I?”
“Well, the person who took you out was a slave trader. We did sign a slave contract to bring you here, yes.”
“Ah…”
The moment I confirmed she was a slave, her eyes began to tremble violently.
“Hic…”
“W-Wait? C-Constanze?”
“Hiccup.”
Tears started streaming down her face. I’d managed to preserve her noble pride, but it seemed she couldn’t accept the clear evidence that she was, in fact, a slave—even if she wasn’t being treated like one.
“How could the young lady of the Eisner family… become a mere barony’s slave…”
It looked like it would take quite a while to soothe Constanze, who had collapsed while clutching her hair.
*
It took a considerable amount of time to stop Constanze’s crying. She sat slumped on the ground, tears flowing endlessly with the same expression she’d worn when we first met her behind those iron bars. Dodging the guards’ strange glances while trying to comfort her was no small ordeal.
‘That choker is just something Madam provides as standard for contracts.’
‘I never intended to treat you as a slave in the first place. It’s a safety measure I accepted because I was worried about getting attacked.’
‘Once you stabilize later, I’ll remove it. The contract also contains related provisions.’
After explaining everything in detail and waiting until she calmed down, her tears finally stopped.
But then—
“The day will come when those who dared turn the young lady of the Eisner County into a slave will pay the price.”
“I keep telling you, you’re not a slave. We also signed an orphanage admission contract. Once I’m sure you won’t try to run away, I’ll release you.”
“It’s already too late. The moment the brand ‘slave’ was engraved in front of the name Constanze Eisner… you have sullied my pride.”
The way she said I cannot acknowledge you as a person stabbed sharply into me.
“I don’t know if it’s acceptable to rebuild the Eisner County with this tainted body… but borrowing external power to gather influence is quite common. I will gladly endure this humiliation for now.”
“No, why are you suddenly acting so dramatic? I told you I’d accommodate whatever you want.”
“Then are you saying that the young lady of a county—who isn’t even engaged yet—has become the slave of an unrelated man, and I should feel no shame and simply accept this situation as natural?”
“Uh…”
So that’s how it turns out? Well, she had become a slave, after all. If she acted overjoyed in this situation, it would look bad even if she later revived her family.
“I will continue to resent you endlessly for my sake. So if you want to be hated even a little less, you’d better decorate my black magic research facility luxuriously.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. Just don’t cry in front of everyone like this.”
“Do not worry. The humiliation and resentment have been somewhat relieved by what just happened.”
“Right. Thanks.”
Just as I had made her wear the choker engraved with the slave imprint to prevent any possible rampage from Constanze, she was simply taking a hostile stance toward me out of worry that it might cause problems later. At first it seemed mixed with genuine shock, but our recent conversation made it clear. Even because I had taken her out of Madam’s iron cage, she had no intention of completely turning against me.
Salvation. The act of pulling someone’s life out of the gutter and back up to the surface. It seemed my original goal—acquiring talented orphans and planting affection in them—had been achieved. Even the young lady of a marquisate had only snapped at me, the one who put a slave-imprint choker on her, with I will continue to resent you. Behave yourself accordingly.
This relationship—though Constanze grumbled about it—already felt like her wariness toward me had become considerably thinner. It would be a lie to say I wasn’t satisfied.
*
After confirming Constanze’s stance, I took it as repayment for making her wear the slave-imprint choker and installed black magic research equipment in the orphanage wing of the baronial mansion. I also bought her several decent research catalysts. With this, she would surely study on her own and build up her skills. Since a prestigious black magic family would have already drilled the preparatory curriculum into her, even recalling a little of it would make her an overflowing talent for our territory.
The fact that she could slice through dozens of the troublesome goblins at once had already been proven. At this rate, I just needed to keep pushing her forward…
“Young Master.”
“Oh, Alfred. What is it? I’m in the middle of work.”
“It is nothing else, but the Lord is looking for you.”
“Huh?”
“Yes, he is seeking you. Perhaps you should go see him…”
“Understood for now.”
For some reason, the master of the Arnold family—my second father—had called for me.
“I heard you bought slaves. Female ones, at that.”
“Yes, that is correct.”
“Three of them, and you spent twenty million gold.”
“That… is true…”
“I also heard you spent a huge sum on black magic research equipment for the annex. Around four million gold, was it?”
“Ah, um…”
“Have you already lost your mind? When you were in the middle of finding a suitable marriage partner, what is this?”
My breath caught in my throat.
“Explain it in a way I can understand.”
Father demanded an explanation. Well… I suppose we had to address what needed addressing. He was the kind of person who would accept it once he understood.