Chapter 10
Chapter 10
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: Duke's Visit (1)
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That very night.
Sitting on the chair I'd borrowed by our young lady's bed, I watched as Tiona peeked her head out from under the sheets and stared right at me.
"...Are you really just going to sit there like that?"
"I told you, didn't I? I'll stay with you until you fall asleep. If you need to use the bathroom, just say the word anytime."
"Do I look like someone who has to go every single night!?"
"If you need to go. If."
Time to start logic lessons soon.
I pulled out my notebook and jotted it down. I'd need to track down a logic textbook used by other noble tutors and give it a read.
'Math can probably move on to division soon. For literature, grab a modern translation of Homleus's twin epics... Maybe let her try some Elemental Magic too.'
"What's that...?"
"My notebook. Helps make plans and goals more concrete."
"...What's your goal?"
"Preventing the end of the world."
"Don't mock me!"
It's the honest truth.
Though if she'd believed me, she might've been even more shocked.
What people believe or don't often hinges more on plausibility than facts. Most of the time, anyway—facts just happen to be the most plausible.
Up till now, only one person had ever taken my words at face value: a single astrologer who'd kept me on as his assistant, making me run all sorts of errands.
'Wonder if he's still kicking around, sickly as ever.'
"...For real, why?"
Tiona asked again.
"Why are you my home tutor, Jarvis?"
Her gaze was unusually serious for her—too serious to brush off with vague excuses.
So I gave her the truth. Sort of.
"Because I believe you have tremendous potential, young lady."
Not the whole truth, but a slice of it.
"...Me?"
"Yes. You, Miss Tiona."
"Potential? I don't get it..."
"You don't have to. That's what the people around you are for—to uncover it."
Tiona ducked her face under the covers, then peeked out with just her eyes.
"...You really think that?"
"Don't let it go to your head, though. Plenty of self-proclaimed geniuses end up failing spectacularly at even mediocrity."
"Hmph! In the end, it's just fancy talk!"
Tiona turned her back to me, rolling onto her side.
Her curls had loosened bit by bit over the day, so by bedtime now, her hair was almost straight.
"I have no potential... no talent..."
Unexpected.
But not entirely.
The more someone dislikes themselves, the more arrogant they get—and nights have a way of drawing out hidden truths.
"Why do you think that?"
"...If I had any talent, His Grace the Duke would've noticed ages ago. He's sharp when it comes to value."
His Grace the Duke—her father.
"...The Duke is quite attuned to value, that's true."
It drew a wry smile from me, knowing what I did.
In the original story, Tiona provides the spark that dooms her house.
But would a mere careless remark from a spoiled daughter really topple them if the ducal house had been solid?
Absurd.
No matter that this era saw provincial nobles fading while central authority grew—the ducal house wasn't some flimsy thing to crumble so easily.
Tiona's slip was just the spark.
So who was to blame for stacking the tinderbox high enough for one little flame to engulf the whole?
"Young lady."
"...Why call me?"
"It's natural to respect your parents, but don't forget—everyone makes mistakes sometimes."
The Duke made them more than sometimes, and in graver ways... but blurting out that her father was trash wouldn't fly. She wouldn't believe it.
Belief cares more about plausibility than truth.
This was the limit for now.
"Hmph, obvious stuff."
Her tone had lightened, just a touch.
If the Duke wasn't infallible, then maybe neglecting her all these years wasn't so perfect either.
At least, it opened the door to that possibility.
For a while, only the young lady's breathing filled the room.
The occasional crackle of candle wax popping, the rustle of bushes in the wind, the scratch of my pen on the notebook—that was all that stirred the silence.
Tiona spoke softly.
"Jarvis."
"Yes."
"I need the bathroom."
"Sigh. Knew it."
Tiona bolted upright.
"Wh-what was that!? You told me to say it if I needed to!"
"What did I say? I figured our young lady would need to go right in this situation, this mood."
"Servus! Are you mocking me!?"
"!?"
"Don't act shocked for real! You know you're employed by my house!?"
"Ah, right..."
"Jips!!"
In the end, to soothe the thoroughly peeved young lady, I ended up carrying her all the way to the bathroom myself.
"G-gently... And keep that candle lit bright! No shadows in the corners!"
"Please, for the love of—don't spill this time."
"When did I ever spill!"
"Playing dumb? Or actually forgotten? Can't tell..."
Young Lady Tiona thumped my back with her elbows.
Painful even on bare skin, so I wrapped a bit of aura around myself for reinforcement.
"Ow... El-elbow..."
"Sorry. Better now?"
"Fine!!"
I set the wriggling young lady down in front of the bathroom.
Ducal property or not, a privy was a privy—no walls or screens inside.
"There you go. I'll wait right here."
"...What kind of nonsense is that?"
"Pardon?"
"The inside scares me most! Come in with me!"
"How do I go into a bathroom while someone's using it!?"
"Cynthia came in with me!"
"Cynthia's a girl!"
"Sexist much!?"
"Young lady...!"
I gritted my teeth in frustration.
"At least make some sense. How does a noble lady share a bathroom with a strange man?"
"Noble lady only when it suits you...!!"
Even by the strong orange candlelight, Tiona's face was beet red.
"Not a joke—come in for real! I can't hold it anymore!"
"I'm serious too. If something happens to me, will you take responsibility?"
"I will! If trouble comes, I'll own it—so come in! Unless you want to see me soaked!"
Tiona yanked me inside without another word.
"Wait, seriously—!!"
In the end, I went in.
"St-stay there. Face the wall!"
"Your Honor, I'm blind."
"Always with the mouth... Nn, hng..."
"..."
"Say something—I hear everything, if I die of shame your name's in my will—"
"Two times: two-one is two, two-six is twelve, two-eight is sixteen—"
"Times tables now!?"
"You said anything! Threes!?"
"Th-three-one is three, three-six is eighteen, three-nine is twenty-seven... Hnng... What's this even... three-four is twelve..."
"No whining—don't make it real for me too."
"Three-five is fifteen... What's 'real'? Three-six is eighteen..."
She really had been holding it a long time.
After what felt like an eternity—by subjective time, at least—the man and woman emerged from the pitch-black privy, candle removed.
"..."
"..."
"Jarvis?"
"Yes."
"Nothing happened."
"Naturally. No clue what you're on about."
Tiona kicked me.
Felt like I should take it, so I did.
A few days later.
Maid Isabelle informed us.
"His Grace the Duke will visit the capital this Thursday."
Tiona's eyes went wide.
"Young lady."
"..."
"Miss Tiona."
"...Y-yes?"
"This is your chance. Don't you want to show His Grace how much you've improved?"
"...!"
Her eyes sparkled—half excitement, half nerves.
And then.
"As for Miss Cynthia."
"Eeeek...!"
"...We'll train keeping your composure in front of nobles until the Duke arrives."
How on earth did this girl turn out like this?