The Villainess Duchess's Petty Welcome
Completely different from her mom, huh? It's even bigger than our house, which already looked like a palace.
That was my first impression upon seeing the Graviuss estate, where I'd arrived for the very first time. It wasn't just the house—the territory I'd casually glimpsed on the carriage ride over was superior to ours as well. As expected of a duke's family tied to one of the original story's male leads; even the welcoming ceremony was extravagant.
"Gathering that many knights for a welcome? Impressive. Since they invited us, they're probably putting on a big show of hospitality."
"...It's not like that, though?"
I whispered quietly to Niobe as she took my hand and helped me down from the carriage, and she gave a slightly troubled look. Well, yeah—I was from a great noble house, and so were they. Even if there was bad blood, they'd have to put on a polite front. In that case, I needed to respond with proper etiquette too. Find the host who invited me, Duchess Alois, and thank her gracefully like a proper noble.
But where was Alois? Scanning the front lines, I didn't see any woman who matched her description. Instead, some strange woman caught my eye.
What the—that villainess lady?
Her long blonde hair was styled into elaborate rolls, and her skin was meticulously pale. She looked to be in her twenties, beautiful but with sharp eyes that screamed "don't mess with me." Her outfit was a flashy red dress overloaded with frills and accessories. She was the epitome of the "villainess lady"—rich, powerful, and with a rotten personality.
I'd seen plenty of women in this world, but this type was a first, so I stared in curiosity.
"...My apologies for the rudeness, with guests right here before me."
Sensing my gaze, the mystery woman picked up a fan she'd dropped on the ground and greeted me elegantly.
"Young Lord Seres Huferion, a pleasure to meet you. I am Alois Graviuss, mistress of this Graviuss ducal house."
Lies! She's way too different from the original!!
Sure, genders had swapped and appearances changed for everyone, but others just felt like "yeah, they'd probably look like this as women." But this woman? Not even close!
The original Duke Alois was a seasoned politician, a mature gentleman with gravitas. How does that turn into a villainess who sounds like she'd say sawayo in a haughty drawl?
"...Young Lord Seres, what's wrong? You don't care for my greeting?"
Her speech was different too. Original Alois never used formal speech with me—his status was higher, after all. This woman's personality had shifted dramatically due to the gender swap. Could be a major variable.
"...My apologies. I was caught off guard and didn't recognize you right away."
I snapped out of my thoughts and bowed properly, with full noble etiquette. But it was already too late.
"You can be honest. It's payback for my delay earlier, right?"
She latched onto my late greeting.
"No, I just didn't recognize you since it was our first meeting today."
"You didn't recognize the duchess of this empire? What an outrageous claim! Then again, in the presence of the empire's greatest beauty, even a duke like me is nothing, I suppose."
Right off the bat, nitpicking and sarcasm—what a piece of work! Original Alois wasn't like this. Was she even more vile than in the story?
"Duchess."
"That's going too far."
Her subordinates tried to intervene, seeing it wasn't a good look.
"My liege, with your permission, let me make this woman pay for her rudeness."
"Lord Seres, just give the order!"
My Death Knights clamored for commands, but I refused. Rude, sure, but not worth violence over.
"If my mistake upset you, I'll apologize again. Please forgive me."
"...I made a mistake too, so I apologize as well."
With me apologizing twice, pressing further would backfire on her, so she grumbled a half-hearted apology.
"Follow me into the manor. Young Lord Seres."
Alois let us in with obvious reluctance. At that moment—
"Who goes there?!"
A familiar voice rang out as someone bolted toward us like lightning. It was Arios, after so long.
"Why is a Sword Master here...?"
She appeared shocked, started to say something, then stuttered upon seeing me.
"Se-Seres?"
"Yeah, it's me."
"Seres!!!"
She shouted my name in joy, like reuniting with long-lost family, and charged in—
"Halt."
—only to be blocked by Niobe stepping in front of me.
"Do not approach my liege carelessly."
"...And who are you?"
Arios eyed her warily, and Niobe was tense too.
"Unbelievable. I heard you were young, but already surpassing Ares at your age...?"
"The feeling's mutual. Since when did the Huferions have a Sword Master like you? Who the hell are you, calling my Seres 'liege'?"
"Your Seres? Acting like our liege is already yours? Know your place!"
The mood soured fast, and I moved to intervene—when—
"Arios, what is the meaning of this disgrace?!"
The house's mistress and Arios's mother, Alois, stopped her daughter.
"You are the heir to Graviuss. You must not shame us before invited guests."
"Invited? You invited Seres without telling me?"
"Such a sour face. Aren't you happy? You've been singing 'Seres, Seres' nonstop."
"...!"
Arios shot her mother a look she shouldn't have. Instinct told her it wasn't said with good intentions.
"It's fine."
Before the mother-daughter spat could escalate, I quickly grabbed Arios's hand.
"The duchess invited me, that's all. Nothing to worry about—calm down."
"'Nothing'? You brought a Sword Master."
"This is Niobe Huferion, a distant relative. The ones with her are her subordinates."
I couldn't reveal the Death Knights' true nature, even to Arios, so I lied.
"Huferion's secret weapon, raised in secret. These are her elite followers."
"Her subordinates look like top-tier experts too."
"Yeah. All hidden assets, assigned as my guards."
"A Sword Master and a dozen high-level experts?"
"You know my mom's personality. Overprotective as always."
I glossed over it while hinting at their strength. It was sensitive info I didn't want broadcast, but Arios had noticed anyway.
"A Sword Master?"
"The Huferions have a Sword Master!"
"This could shake the entire empire!"
The duke's retainers forgot decorum and buzzed excitedly. I figured Alois would take it seriously too, but...
"...?"
"Something wrong?"
She ignored it completely, staring only at me until I averted my eyes.
I was shown to one of the many guest rooms in the ducal estate. The Death Knights who'd come with me refused separate quarters and stood guard around my room instead.
"Seres, what have you been up to all this time?"
Arios, whom I hadn't seen in ages, came to my room to catch up.
"Just resting."
"Memories all back?"
"Not really."
We chatted casually until time slipped by. Suddenly—
"Lord Seres, isn't it about time for dinner?"
Niobe, who'd been watching me talk with Arios from the same room while eyeing her warily, spoke up. Checking the time, yeah, it was.
"Guess so. Should I ask the duchess for food?"
"No need."
Arios looked puzzled.
"They'll call us when it's time. Especially for a guest like you—they've probably prepared a banquet."
"No sign of that, though."
"...No way."
Arios's face hardened, as if she suspected something.
"Young Lord Seres, may I have a word? Just a moment?"
At that instant, someone got permission from the guarding Death Knights and entered. It was Alois.
"What a shame. Looks like dinner's off tonight!"
She burst in with exaggerated flair.
"An accident in the kitchens ruined all the ingredients, and the chefs are injured!"
"You call that an excuse?"
Niobe retorted incredulously at Alois's faux-apologetic tone. Everyone present knew it wasn't an accident—they'd done it on purpose. Even her daughter Arios saw through it and spoke in disbelief.
"Mother, everything was fine this morning. Why an 'accident' all of a sudden?"
"Accidents can happen anytime. If you doubt me, go check the kitchens yourself—nothing left."
They'd even sacrificed their own meals to pull this off. Ruthless. Refusing to feed me, to this extent!
...But—
"Oh, perfect! I brought ingredients just in case."
I'd anticipated this.
"What?"
"I prepared some. See?"
I showed her the simple ingredients I'd packed. Alois looked stunned.
"Why would you...?"
Because it's a trick you pulled in the original story. You didn't like your son Arios bringing Seres home and feeding him home-cooked meals.
'Not even scraps for that wench. I'd rather we all starve than give her a single crumb!'
Original Alois had trashed the ingredients once. I'd come prepared just in case—and good thing too.
"Mind if I borrow the kitchen?"
"What are you—?!"
I ignored the flustered Alois and headed to the kitchens. Using the ingredients, I whipped up simple soup in bulk.
"Seres?"
"You can cook?"
Arios and Niobe, who'd followed, looked shocked. Hard to believe a noble kid like me could cook, sure. But before becoming Seres, I'd lived alone and handled my own meals. Using my instant noodle soup skills, I ladled out bowls.
"Wanna try?"
"Yes!!"
Arios snatched the first one and wolfed it down like someone might steal it.
"Ahh, so this is the taste of Seres's cooking!"
I passed another to Niobe as I brushed past the ecstatic Arios.
"Here."
"As you know, we don't need food like this."
"Doesn't mean you can't."
"...Thank you. I'll partake."
She looked awkward but smiled resignedly and took it. I distributed to the other Death Knights the same way.
"What do you think you're doing?!"
Alois barged in, incredulous.
"Using someone else's kitchen without permission to cook?!"
"But you said the accident ruined everything and injured the chefs? Had to improvise, right?"
"...Well, yes, but—"
Alois stammered, at a loss.
"Here, nothing fancy, but try some, Duchess."
I handed her a bowl with a smile, turning her scheme against her. Not to feed her—just to piss her off. I figured she'd refuse or, worst case, knock it over.
But...
"...I'll try it."
To my surprise, Alois accepted the soup.
"Not bad at all."
She even calmly critiqued the taste, then stared at me like I was some oddity.