Rebuffed by the Duke and a Shocking Revelation
"What did you say?"
After we'd finished eating, Alois said this with a cold glint in her eyes, completely different from moments before. "Now that you've eaten, why don't you return to your room?"
"We'll let it slide this time since it's our orchard. But don't do anything like this without permission in the future."
"...Before I go back to my room, there's something I want to say."
I smirked mockingly at Alois, who was acting all high and mighty. "Then why not just go outside and buy some food?"
"..."
"You can get as much food as you want that way, and the same goes for all of you. It's fine to show your displeasure, but shouldn't you think it through a bit more first?"
I pointed out how lame it was that starving me meant they had to starve too, and Alois's face stiffened.
"...Thank you for the advice."
She held back whatever she wanted to say and turned away, disappearing down the hall.
Anyway, after we finished our meal and returned to our room—
"Why hasn't the servant come yet?"
Arios, who had been chatting away with me without a care for how her mother felt, suddenly looked puzzled.
"What servant?"
"The one to attend to Seres, of course."
Arios stared at me like I was clueless about something obvious. "It's only natural to assign a servant when a guest visits your home. Especially for a noble gentleman like Seres."
"Honestly, I don't really need one."
Maybe if my body were still frail, but now that I was not only fully recovered but had gained superhuman abilities, I had no use for a servant. Lately, even at home, I lived mostly without them, so I'd told everyone I didn't need one, but—
"No. Even if Seres says it's fine, leaving it like that would make people question the dignity of this household."
Arios said she'd fetch servants to attend me and headed out. But...
"...Most of the servants are on vacation, apparently."
She returned shortly after, sounding utterly baffled herself. "There were plenty of them just a little while ago, but suddenly they're all off on leave, and there aren't enough people."
"Who sent them?"
"Mother!"
Arios continued in a voice seething with anger, especially for how she referred to her own mother. "And get this—she told Seres to stay the night here!"
"Really?"
"I'd be thrilled any other time, but telling him to stay after treating him like this? It's ridiculous."
She fumed about how incredibly rude it was, and while I stayed quiet, someone else reacted.
"Is this an insult to my lord? I should have brought knights from the estate!"
Niobe, who had been standing silently by, stepped forward as if she could no longer hold back. "My lord, shall I go lodge a complaint?"
"No need."
Niobe was ready to march out and chew out Alois on the spot, but I felt indifferent. From my perspective, this hardly felt like an insult. It was so petty it wasn't even worth dealing with.
"Even if they did send servants here, I doubt they'd just obediently attend me in a situation like this."
"...You're right about that."
She seemed to agree my point made sense and nodded reluctantly, though her expression soured. She shot a displeased glance at Arios beside me.
"But then, doesn't that mean this woman can't be trusted either?"
"Who knows. The real question is which side is truly untrustworthy..."
Caught off guard by the sudden verbal jab, Arios fired back. "Even as the Huferion secret weapon, why would a Sword Master like you be guarding Seres?"
"Because she is the lord I must serve."
"Pretending loyalty as her 'lord' until the right moment, then using your Sword Master strength to seize Seres by force and swallow the entire family whole?"
"...How dare you!!"
Unable to tolerate the insult, Niobe assumed a combat stance, and Arios stood up as if she'd been waiting for it, but—
"Both of you, stop."
At my words, they both hesitated.
"Arios, what are you doing?"
I scolded her first. "Why pick a fight with my guard knight for no reason?"
"It's suspicious. A Sword Master could be welcomed anywhere, so no matter how Huferion-born you are, you wouldn't settle for just being a mere guard knight."
"Forget that—what's your real motive?"
"...With me right here, she acts all high and mighty as Seres' guard, so I picked on her out of spite."
I knew it. I told the jealous Arios, who was just being petty, to cut it out, then turned to Niobe. "And you—don't get baited every time some kid half your age provokes you. You planning to fight right here?"
"...No, my lord. It was my mistake. Please forgive me."
Her face showed she'd been hit right on the mark as she bowed her head obediently. A thousand-year-old like her must have felt bitter getting riled up by a novice.
I mediated between the two who were about to clash and wrapped up the day.
The next day, when I woke up, a proper meal was served for once. She must have taken my words as actual advice and reflected on them. At the table with just me, Alois, and Arios, a lavish feast was laid out.
"Please, eat."
"No thanks."
I shook my head at Alois, pointing to the dishes in front of me. She furrowed her brow.
"Why not?"
"I can't eat stuff like this."
It looked delicious, but it was all greasy dishes that didn't suit my current body. When I explained that my weak constitution couldn't handle them, Arios chimed in.
"She's right. Seres doesn't do well with fatty meats like this."
"What, does she think she's some fairy? Can't even handle meat dishes."
"Right? Isn't she just as lovable as a fairy?!"
"..."
Alois, who had meant to mock her, was left dumbfounded by her daughter's enthusiastic response.
"Just bring some soup later or something."
I said what I needed to, regardless. A little later—
"Want to go out and take a look around together?"
Alois, who had cleared away the untouched meal in disbelief, now suggested an outing. "If that's what the guest wants, I'll show you around our territory."
She probably wasn't offering a simple tour. I sensed some scheme, but I didn't want to refuse. Fleeing without confronting this damn duke felt wrong, so I accepted. And so, next to the extravagantly dressed duke's entourage, our group ended up walking looking shabby by comparison.
Neigh! The horse Alois rode let out a cry. It was a magnificent white steed, handsome enough that even I, who knew little about horses, could tell it was of fine pedigree.
Alois patrolled the territory on this horse, flanked by a few similarly mounted knights. Meanwhile, we had no horses. We walked on foot, a bit distanced from them.
Probably meant to humiliate me by contrasting our shabby state against their grandeur, right?
"Look over there!"
"Oh my god, it's Seres!"
What Alois had overlooked was that I—no, Seres—could never look shabby. No matter my attire or who was showboating beside me, I drew eyes just by existing. Whether I wanted it or not.
Every single resident in the territory turned their gaze to me, ignoring even their lord.
And then—
"Seres, want to ride together?"
Seeing me apparently embarrassed, Arios hurriedly brought her horse over. Normally I wouldn't, but this time I made an exception and mounted with her. Holding onto her from behind as we rode, surveying the crowd, their reactions grew even more fervent.
"Oh my gosh, Seres is riding with the young lady!"
"So the rumors of them dating are true!"
"They look perfect together! Does that mean she'll become our territory's lady?"
Comments like that erupted from all sides—unsettling to me, but I didn't deny them. Instead, I smiled at Alois.
Screw you.
"...Hah."
Alois, who had tried to snub me only to be utterly ignored herself, let out a sigh.
After the territory stroll ended and we returned to the mansion—
"I'll be direct. I don't want you marrying my daughter."
Realizing indirect tactics weren't working anymore, Alois confronted me outright. "Please stay away from my daughter."
"Mother, why decide that on your own?!"
"Arios, I am your mother. Can't I at least meddle this much?"
As Arios protested, she invoked her maternal authority.
"Oh, and I'd appreciate it if you stayed away from Her Majesty Viol as well. As her loyal servant, I don't want someone like you getting close."
Oh boy, now she's dragging Viol into this. Watching her, I said—
"Why is that?"
I had no intention of marrying either of them, but her staunch opposition piqued my curiosity. In the original story, Seres caused all sorts of incidents that wrecked the country, so she hated him for it. But the empire wasn't in that dire a state now.
"There are various political reasons, but honestly, I don't like you either. Do you think you're a good match for anyone?"
"I think I would be."
Her sudden jab caught me off guard. Political reasons made sense, but the follow-up didn't. Alois's tone carried absolute certainty that I could never be a good spouse to anyone.
"What makes you say I'm lacking? Not to brag, but I'm the empire's top beauty."
"What good is looks alone? You might turn out to be as poor a partner as your mother."
Why bring up Ares here? Puzzled, I stared at Alois, and she looked back in surprise.
"You don't know?"
"Know what?"
"...This is unexpected."
She eyed me strangely again before continuing. "It seems you didn't know that your mother, Ares, coldly neglected her husband—your father—until he died. She didn't shed a single tear when he passed."