This Is the First Time I've Seen His Lordship Treat Anyone So Kindly
A brief silence followed after Aria mumbled her affirmative reply in a voice so small it seemed to crawl into the floor.
It was an uncomfortable silence—the kind that made you aware it was time to get up and leave.
Truthfully, I wanted to talk with Aria a little longer.
I mean, how else are we supposed to get to know each other if we don't have a proper conversation?
We haven't even properly introduced ourselves yet.
But forcing someone to stay and talk when they clearly don't want to? That's a one-way ticket to becoming the most disliked person in the room.
And right now, I can guarantee Aria does not want a long conversation with me.
She's tired. Keep talking to someone who's exhausted and of course irritation is going to pile up.
"Are you bored at all? If there's anything you'd like to do, don't hesitate to tell me. Of course, I may not be able to grant every request… but if it seems doable, I'll do my best to make it happen."
Still, I made sure not to forget the things I needed to say.
If I didn't tell her this, Aria would probably just sit quietly in her room all day long.
"You said you were tired, so I'll get going. If you're very sleepy, go to bed early."
With that, I stood up from my seat.
"Ah, um…!"
At Aria's voice, I turned my head back.
Until just moments ago, she hadn't been able to meet my eyes—but now she was looking straight at me.
This… was an opportunity.
"Hm? You can go ahead and say it."
I chose my words carefully, doing everything I could to make sure Aria wouldn't feel intimidated or pressured.
All she needed to do was take one step forward.
The first step is always the hardest. Everything after that gets easier.
Once becomes twice, twice becomes three times, and if that keeps repeating, she'll eventually be able to look at me and talk comfortably.
"…It's nothing."
Unfortunately, Aria couldn't take that one step.
Well, the first step is always the hardest. I understand.
I gave her a smile, then opened the door and left.
Still, in just one day, she looked me straight in the eye and tried to say something she wanted to say, right?
That's pretty smooth progress, if you ask me.
Just keep going like this. Just like this.
"…In the end, I couldn't ask."
I couldn't trust people's kindness.
So I asked the animals.
To find the servants who were talking about me. And to listen to what those servants said and tell me.
Asking the animals made me incredibly, incredibly tired, so I didn't want to—but I had no choice.
I was anxious.
And so I found out.
That the Margrave had given orders to the servants.
That that was why they were being kind to me.
I wasn't disappointed.
The fact that there was a reason for the kindness—that someone had ordered them to be kind—actually put me at ease.
I did overhear one servant saying I was cute… but I didn't pay much attention to that.
If the Margrave hadn't given the order, would that servant have treated me just as kindly?
No, they wouldn't have.
Even thinking I was cute was probably just the influence of trying to follow the Margrave's orders.
So there was no need to care about that servant's words.
But a new question arose.
Why had the Margrave given such an order to the servants?
I wanted to ask.
Why are you being so kind?
Why did you give the servants that order?
But I couldn't ask.
I was afraid of hearing the answer.
…Why was I afraid of hearing the answer?
You already know, don't you.
That people hate me.
Just then, someone opened the door.
I thought it was a maid.
I thought they'd come to take away the plate that had held the snacks.
"…Huh?"
It wasn't.
The person who opened the door and came in was none other than the Head Butler of this castle.
"Pardon the intrusion."
The Head Butler bowed his head politely in greeting.
I hurriedly bowed my head in return.
Then I lowered my gaze, naturally avoiding the Head Butler's eyes.
Why is he here?
To quietly warn me?
Did I make some kind of mistake?
"Lady Aria."
"Y-yes?"
"How much do you know about His Lordship, Margrave Ivan Cluers?"
I was at a loss for words.
I could hardly say that he was a man who killed his family to become Margrave.
"W-well…"
"You likely know him as the man who killed his family to become Margrave. That is the rumor that has spread throughout the empire's noble society, after all."
"Hic."
Hearing the Head Butler's words, I was so startled I hiccupped.
I never imagined he would bring it up himself first.
"I-is that… not true?"
"…The story may run a little long. Would that be all right?"
There are stories in this world that are better left unknown.
And the story the Head Butler was about to tell me now might well be one of those.
After all, it was the story of Margrave Ivan Cluers.
The story of a man who killed his family.
It would never be an ordinary tale.
"…It's all right."
But I decided to listen.
I felt that the clue to why he had given the servants that order—that clue might be somewhere in the story the Head Butler was about to tell.
Hearing my answer, the Head Butler smiled very faintly.
And then he began his story.
Ivan Cluers lost his mother at a young age.
And before long, the former Margrave took a new wife.
She was a beautiful woman of common birth.
Beautiful enough to capture the former Margrave's favor in an instant.
The former Margrave was incompetent.
As a Margrave.
And as a father.
He was utterly smitten with his new wife, and thoroughly under her thumb.
In no time at all, the new wife became the territory's power behind the throne.
She wanted the son she had borne to push Ivan Cluers aside and become the next Margrave.
She wrapped the former Margrave around her finger.
And the former Margrave came to dote on the son she had given him.
Naturally, Ivan Cluers was neglected.
The new wife did everything she could to tarnish the honor of the late first wife.
Only then would Ivan Cluers's standing—as the first wife's son—shrink even a little, and only then would her own son's chances of becoming Margrave rise.
The former Margrave looked the other way.
The new wife continued to spread ugly rumors about Ivan Cluers.
The former Margrave looked the other way.
The new wife sent people to try to kill Ivan Cluers.
The former Margrave looked the other way.
She committed countless acts, and the former Margrave knew of every one of them—and still looked the other way.
Because he doted on her.
And through it all, Ivan Cluers endured, and quietly waited for his moment.
Ivan Cluers was exceptional.
He quietly won over the territory's vassals.
He built his own power, little by little.
In secret, so the new wife would never notice.
In secret, so his incompetent father would never notice.
It was possible because a great many vassals had grown disgusted with the incompetent Margrave—and because those same vassals recognized Ivan Cluers's brilliance.
And on the day the former Margrave decided to name the new wife's son as his heir—
Ivan Cluers killed the new wife who held his father's favor, and killed her son as well.
Because their existence was an obstacle to his rule.
A justification for their deaths was something that could simply be manufactured.
Then he drove out his father and took the seat of Margrave.
A few days later, the former Margrave died.
It was a death under suspicious circumstances.
But everyone knew.
That Ivan Cluers had killed him.
And so, in noble society, Ivan Cluers became the man who had murdered his family to become Margrave.
No one cared to learn the inner workings of House Cluers.
It was far more entertaining if Ivan Cluers was a cold-blooded man, a patricide, a monster.
That alone made for more than enough gossip.
And Ivan Cluers himself had no particular desire to correct the record.
Those rumors were no great hindrance to governing the territory.
And the claim that he was a cold-blooded man, a patricide, and a monster was not exactly untrue.
"That is all I have to tell you."
The Head Butler's story ended.
But I couldn't say a word.
My mind was a tangle.
Silence settled over us.
And the one who broke that silence first was…
"Why… why are you telling me this?"
Me.
Hearing my words, the Head Butler answered my question in a calm voice.
"Because it is not a story that particularly needs to be hidden. Most of the people in this castle already know it. One more person learning of it changes very little."
One more person learning of it changes very little.
That alone could not be a reason.
And so I could not accept it.
And so the question still remained unanswered.
Why had he told me this?
"And… as the Head Butler who serves His Lordship the Margrave, I judged that this was a story Lady Aria needed to hear."
"…Pardon?"
"Having heard my story, what thoughts came to you, my lady?"
"That's…"
I couldn't say it.
Because after hearing the Head Butler's story—
I had felt relief.
An ordinary person would have felt sympathy, or pity, listening to the Head Butler's tale.
But I, listening to the Head Butler's story, found common ground.
He lost his mother, just like me.
He was hated by his family, just like me.
There was someone in a situation similar to mine.
I wasn't the only one who had it hard.
Those commonalities brought me a sense of relief.
A sweet, sweet relief.
And so I couldn't say it.
The moment I did, I would surely be remembered as a bad child.
Looking at me like that, the Head Butler offered a faint smile.
"Understanding another person is no easy thing. Even if you hear what they have been through, you did not live it yourself—and so there will always be a limit to how deeply you can understand. …But I believe, my lady, that you could become a fine confidant to His Lordship the Margrave."
"…How much do you know about me?"
The Head Butler did not answer that question.
"You asked why I told you this story, did you not? I am merely a servant of His Lordship the Margrave—a servant who witnessed His Lordship's childhood with his own two eyes—and I believed His Lordship needed someone who could understand him. That is why I told you this story."
Instead, the Head Butler answered the question from before.
"The way His Lordship has been kind to me… could that possibly be related to the story you just told…?!"
And the moment I heard that answer, I finally couldn't hold back and asked.
"What do you think, my lady?"
And the Head Butler turned the question right back on me.
What do I think?
Well…
Seeing me struck speechless, the Head Butler bowed at the waist in farewell.
"I shall take my leave now."
"Th-there's one last thing I'd like to ask!"
"Please, go ahead."
"…Is there anyone else that Lord Ivan treats kindly… besides me…?"
Hearing those words, the Head Butler smiled and spoke.
And then he left.
I was alone in the room.
"Can I… really believe this?"
No answer came.