The Young Lady Returns
"Young Master, I hear the young lady will be returning today."
"Adela?"
"Yes."
Today, with Kyle's debutante ball just around the corner, Adela Eristyrol — Kyle's younger sister and the eldest daughter of Eristirol — was coming home.
I'd never seen her in person, but judging by Kyle's looks, Adela was bound to be a beautiful girl. She was sixteen now, if I remembered right — about middle-school age. Honestly, I was a little excited. This would be my first time meeting any of Kyle's family.
The Grand Duke was always away, so I'd never laid eyes on him, and Adela hadn't been at the estate this whole time either. I had no idea why she'd been gone. No one had told me, and I hadn't asked Kyle. It didn't have much to do with his lessons anyway.
"Young Master, would it be all right if I asked why the young lady has been living away from the estate?"
Still, I figured I ought to ask now — just in case, so I wouldn't put my foot in my mouth with Adela. What if she'd been off getting treated for some terminal illness, and I greeted her like she'd just been out having a good time? I had no idea whether it was a terminal illness or not, but serving nobility required that kind of caution.
"Adela? After Mother passed away, she just went off traveling."
Traveling...?
I knew the Grand Duke's wife had died. But that was all I knew.
"Uh..."
She'd just been out traveling? Honestly, I couldn't wrap my head around it. Spending at least five years just wandering around... She hadn't even been here when I first arrived in Eristirol, which meant her trip could have been even longer.
"I'm happy I'll get to see my little sister again. The last time I saw Adela was... six years ago."
Six years ago... that would have been before what happened to Kyle. Well, it was probably better she didn't know. Kyle was a completely different person now than he was back then. Adela probably wouldn't even recognize him.
This was a lot like the time I'd waited for Catherine. No — it was exactly the same.
It was freezing. It was March, for crying out loud. Why was it still this cold?
"Hahh..."
I breathed into my hands. Normally that would have warmed them up, but it barely did a thing.
Once Kyle was all grown up, I should probably head to Oldenburg. I'd already produced a fine little slave named Louise here in Eristirol, so they'd be fine without me. Since she'd already broken the contract, Louise would be working as an unpaid slave for seven years, this year included. She hadn't started gambling yet... but she definitely would soon. That was just the kind of girl she was.
"Oh."
I'd been killing time with those wandering thoughts when a carriage came rolling up. It was painted a pure, snowy white — a color that might as well have been the emblem of Eristirol itself. The jewels decorating it weren't quite as lavish as the ones on Catherine's carriage, but they were plenty ornate.
The carriage came to a halt, and the door swung open. Click, click — the sound of heels on stone, and a girl stepped down from the carriage. The same snow-white hair and sky-blue eyes as Kyle.
This had to be Adela.
Her impression was different from Kyle's in a lot of ways. She looked even colder than he did, and though I'd heard she was sixteen, she looked more mature than I'd expected. More than anything else, though — her face was stunning. Just how gorgeous must the Grand Duke and his late wife have been, to produce two children this beautiful? I really wanted to meet the Grand Duke already.
"Welcome home to the estate, my lady. My name is Sophia. I serve as Young Master Kyle's private tutor and personal attendant."
"Skip the greetings. Let's go inside. My brother and I might be fine, but the rest of you look freezing."
Adela was right. Unlike the two of them, the servants — myself included — weren't built for this cold, and we were suffering for it.
"Yes. Then we'll head into the castle at once."
I said that, then signaled the servants with a glance to start moving the luggage. I wasn't the steward, but I was still Kyle's personal attendant. When those two weren't around, you could say I held the highest authority here. Well — except for Adela, who was standing right behind me.
Adela didn't say a word the entire way into the castle. Most nobles would have been curious enough to ask questions about a servant they'd never seen before, but...
"Adela!"
"Brother!"
The siblings' reunion after all these years took place in the dining hall. Kyle had said he wouldn't mind meeting her earlier, but since the journey had been long, he suggested they eat first — so I'd brought her straight here. The moment they saw each other, they broke into bright smiles and greeted one another.
"Brother, you've gotten so tall! And to think you used to be shorter than me."
"Haha... I have no idea what you're talking about..."
Young Kyle had definitely been small. At twelve, he'd been noticeably shorter than other boys his age. But now? Completely different. To Adela, who was just a little shorter than me, he must have looked enormous.
"What? It's true! You were shorter than me back then. Shorter than your little sister who was a whole year younger. That's why you were always my pillow."
"...."
Oh, Kyle... just how badly did they treat you when you were even younger? Used as his little sister's pillow. Wasn't that a little too much of a pushover treatment?
"That was then, and this is now. Come on, let's talk over the meal. You probably haven't eaten much on the way here, right?"
"Yeah."
And so the two of them began to eat. The table, which was always lavish and impressive, was on another level entirely today. Eisbein, eintopf, macaroni and cheese, salad — and so many other dishes besides. I couldn't help but swallow as I stared at it all. I wanted to eat so badly... but I couldn't.
During mealtimes, my job was to stand quietly in the background. The servants had their own meal times — we had to eat during the hours when we wouldn't run into Kyle or anyone else. But I was the one who stuck to Kyle's side almost constantly, so I had to rush in during his lesson times, eat fast, and rush back. Or eat while Kyle was sleeping, then go wake him up afterward. So I'd settled on eating a big breakfast and having dinner later. I'd rather skip lunch entirely than wolf it down in a hurry. That was just how I was.
"Oh, right. Brother, is Father still wandering around out there?"
"Yeah. He even sent us a deer head not too long ago."
"Ugh... I came all the way back for your debutante, and Father isn't even showing up? That's just too much."
"That's just how he is."
"Well, that's true."
A deer head...? I had no idea when he'd sent that, but the Grand Duke was definitely not a normal person. It was wrong of me to think this about my employer, sure — but never coming home and just roaming around outside all the time was definitely weird.
"By the way, when did you pick up that pretty one standing back there? I've never seen her face before."
"Ah, Miss Sophia?"
"Yeah."
"She came a year after you left on your trip."
"Ahh, I see."
Just like Kyle said — I'd arrived a year later. Kyle had given me permission to work here, and I'd been here ever since.
"She's really pretty... Brother, is that your type?"
"W-what?"
Pretty — that was a genuinely nice compliment. Back when I was eighteen, I'd thought I was incredibly beautiful. But that was only because the average looks around me back then had been pretty low. Living here, though, I'd come to realize I was more ordinary than I'd thought. I definitely couldn't compare to Catherine or the other nobles. So I was genuinely grateful to Adela for calling me pretty.
"Hey, so — Sophia? Want to be my servant instead?"
"....."
The question of whether I'd leave Kyle's service to become hers didn't require any thought. I was Kyle's servant. That was that. I planned to stay as Kyle's attendant and tutor at least until he came of age.
"I'm sorry. I belong to the Young Master."
"Heeh... is that so?"
Adela looked at me with curious eyes. A servant's loyalty to their master was considered a virtue. Loyalty, piety, courtesy — the virtues every person was supposed to have, though for a servant, loyalty mattered most of all. It was so important that books about servants or knights almost always had a scene where they died in their master's place.
Reality wasn't like that, of course. How many people would actually lay down their lives for their boss? I wouldn't go so far as to stake my life, but I had enough loyalty that I'd never betray Kyle.
"Well, can't be helped... Anyway, I look forward to working with you?"
"Yes."
Adela told me she looked forward to working with me. I was just Kyle's servant. What could Adela possibly need from me? She had her own personal attendants, so there really shouldn't be anything for me to do. They weren't here right now, but they probably existed.
"Young Master, mind your posture."
Meanwhile, Kyle's posture had slumped again, so I called him on it. I wouldn't have done this in the middle of a meal before, but Kyle's debutante was right around the corner. He needed to be able to keep proper form even in these small, everyday moments.
"Yes..."
His voice was quieter than usual — probably because he'd been corrected in front of the little sister he hadn't seen in years.
"Hmm... Brother. Are you seeing anyone these days?"
"H-huh? Not yet, no."
"I see... That's a relief, in more ways than one."
"...?"