One Week to Save the County
I was so shocked that I lost my words for a moment.
In the original story, Isabella didn't even mention Werner.
There was a world of difference between the noble border count who protected humanity from the demonkin and got a barely respectable position as an academy instructor thanks to her family's influence—a balding, pot-bellied slob—and the current version. So naturally, I'd assumed the siblings had a terrible relationship. But here was Isabella being unusually kind to her scumbag little brother.
Outwardly playing the cold, emotionless acting head of the house, but inwardly fretting over her wastrel brother's cold? So this was how Werner could pull off every trashy stunt imaginable without getting kicked out of the academy and still live it up.
I'd thought it was just the author's contrived convenience, but it actually had some logic to it. Come to think of it, there was a line somewhere in the original novel about how Isabella, being quite a bit older, had basically raised Werner like a mother when they were kids.
But now wasn't the time to bask in Isabella's affection. I still needed to hide my true self, keep playing the wastrel to lower everyone's guards.
"What the hell's your problem now, sis? You told me to show up, so I dragged my ass here."
I shook my head irritably, crossed my legs, and jiggled my ankle. Even if she was my blood sister, this was a meeting—she was the acting head here. It was utterly pathetic behavior for a good-for-nothing dog.
My act seemed to land perfectly. Among the knights watching me, several were mentally screaming that they'd love to beat me to death right then and there.
I picked out one female knight with especially fierce loyalty to Isabella, then leaned back deep into my chair.
Isabella frowned at my arrogant display.
But the thoughts floating above her head hadn't changed much.
Just as I was playing the wastrel, she was playing the authoritative, icy acting head. And only I knew her true inner thoughts.
"Then... let's resume the meeting."
Soon enough, she ignored me and turned back to the retainers, droning on with them in tedious, pedantic discussion.
It was about how to secure the military funds needed to fend off the monster horde assault coming soon.
If they failed to raise the funds in time and couldn't muster troops, it was obvious what would happen in this world where monsters routinely raped captured women in the most brutal ways.
Yet throughout the dire discussion, I yawned hugely again and again, as if bored to tears.
Of course, that was just my facade. Internally, to save the crisis-stricken count's family, I was using my abilities to gather all sorts of information.
Hours passed with mockery and shouting flying across the round table, but no conclusions were reached.
Well, one conclusion had been reached, anyway.
Except for my half-brother Eric Kraus, who didn't give a damn if the subjects lived or died as long as he lined his pockets, no one wanted to admit it—but there was no solution.
They'd have to borrow money from neighboring lords again, at exorbitant interest rates.
Praised as the noble border count protecting humanity from demonkin, the Kraus family got plenty of applause, but no actual support from noble society.
No wonder so many nobles sided with that bastard Lucian when he eventually sparked his rebellion...
I sipped the fine coffee in front of me and scanned the room.
There were loyal retainers, sure. But far too few. Most of the family's true loyalists were apparently off at the distant front lines, fighting demonkin alongside the head of the house—our mother. Which left the meeting room filled mostly with opportunistic neutrals and sycophants.
I set down my cup, feigning boredom as I slowly looked around. To amp up my ability, I began gathering mana. Luckily, no one paid any attention to a wastrel like me.
Well, my sister Isabella was there, but she was too busy wrestling an unsolvable problem.
Soon, my mana was full. To help my sister—the pure virgin Isabella—I activated my ability.
Unique Privilege: Mind Reading activated in wide area.
In an instant, dozens of translucent text windows filled the meeting hall.
'Why the hell did that moron Werner crawl out here? Whatever. My plan to slash Isabella's proposed border guard budget and use the savings to expand my private forces is already locked in.'
'The bribe Lord Eric promised is massive. I'll just fudge the books a bit, pin the embezzlement on that idiot Werner—no loose ends.'
'Ugh, so boring. Who cares if the peasants live or die?'
The inner thoughts of those who believed their perfect, undetectable conspiracy was foolproof were laid bare before me, simple as that.
Even that balding, pot-bellied original Werner was still a noble, huh. Mind Reading was too valuable to waste just grabbing leverage on pure virgins.
I sorted through the endless text windows and picked out the smoking guns.
'Why'd that retard Werner show up here? What the hell did Lia screw up? Doesn't matter. Today I'll get him exiled to the villa. Once Isabella heads to the front, it's my world. I'll fudge the southern mana crystal mine ledgers and siphon them into my pocket.'
"......"
I swallowed the curses bubbling up.
Embezzling mana crystals—the key trade good for raising military funds—right before a monster horde assault?
Who knew how many subjects would die for that rat's personal gain.
'So I stood up and exposed my half-brother's vile plot to my sister, the acting head Isabella. Everyone in the hall was awestruck by my insight, seeing the wastrel in a new light. Applause rained down. I'd saved the count's family with my own power.'
...I entertained the fantasy for a second, but decided against exposing Eric's secret right then.
No matter how much this fantasy world prioritized shock value over logic, I wasn't that stupid.
'Even if I yelled he's embezzling now, no one would believe me.'
To these retainers, I was an irredeemable good-for-nothing dog. Eric, meanwhile, was packaged as the diligent, capable family helper.
Without hard evidence or allies to back me, accusing my half-brother would just get me labeled insane and thrown in the dungeon.
With my absolute informational edge, I needed to set the perfect, most devastating stage to use it.
How? I racked my brain, but only one method came to mind.
Use my other ability besides Mind Reading.
"......You ......Werner ......Werner!"
Isabella's voice calling me snapped me out of my deep thoughts. I'd been so absorbed in planning, I hadn't even noticed her right beside me.
I looked up with genuine surprise, and saw her beautiful face twisted in anger, killing intent radiating as she glared.
"Do you have no sense of the grave responsibility bestowed upon you as a member of the Kraus family? Monsters are coming, subjects trembling in fear, and you're sleepy? Wrong place for a nap, Werner! This is a war council, not a stage for your laziness!"
Her voice was sharp. And this time, her inner thoughts matched her words—she was truly pissed.
'I'm disappointed, little brother. I had such high hopes since you actually showed up for once......'
"This won't do. By the end of today, go down to the Ashen Villa. Survive that barren wasteland and fend off the monsters alone. This is an order as acting head—don't even think of defying it."
She glared like she'd cut me down for disobedience. But her true thoughts, via Mind Reading, were the opposite.
Unlike her, her incompetent, lazy little brother Werner might die in the horde assault, so she was faking an exile to the villa to keep him safe.
That the Isabella from the original—who charged alone into tens of thousands of rebels—was this soft toward family? Even after reading the novel dozens of times, I'd never guessed.
"No, I don't wanna, sis."
"Sis? Have you forgotten we're in a meeting?!"
'S-Sis? Werner's calling me that so sweetly. How long's it been? Ever since he dueled me in front of the young ladies and started avoiding me whenever he saw me...'
"Got it, Lady Acting Head. I don't want to. No... I refuse."
"You dare defy my order in front of the retainers?"
"No, the opposite, sis."
"Then?"
"I'll handle it."
One of Isabella's elegant eyebrows twitched. Hearing confident words from Werner—who'd never cared a whit about territory management—clearly threw her.
I leaned back fully, crossed my legs leisurely, and lobbed a massive bomb into the meeting hall.
"The military funds problem. I'll solve it. Delegate full authority to me. Give me one week—I'll have it done."
The soundless bomb detonated.
Silence.
A perfect hush, not even breathing audible, dominated the grand hall.
Then someone snickered first—my half-brother Eric.
That sparked it. Laughter erupted from everyone toward me.
"Wahahahaha!"
"Has that wastrel lost his mind? Who does he think he is! Uhahahaha!"
"Still drunk, young master? Ehehehit."
"The idiot's finally snapped!"
Among the crowd, only my personal maid Mina, vice knight captain Leona, and my blood sister—the acting head Isabella—didn't laugh.
At my provocative declaration, Isabella's torso leaned subtly forward.
Even she, unflappably cool throughout, had her lips twitching—about to mock me?
"You serious? Not just drunk talk?"
Still authoritative and cold, now laced with a hint of ridicule.
But sitting right beside her, I alone could see what no one else in the hall could.
Her hands on her lap under the table were clenched so tight the blood drained from them.
She wasn't twitching to laugh—she was suppressing joy, managing her expression.
"Believe me, sis. I'm a Kraus too."
"Anyone who deceives the acting head with lies must, by military law,"
"forfeit their head, right? If I fail, that's what I'll do."
I ignored the retainers' mockery entirely, locking eyes with Isabella's blue gaze as if diving into it.
I wasn't lying.
If I failed here and couldn't prevent her brutal rape by that trash Lucian, better my blood sister's blade take my head.
The Kraus family? Not my problem. But to a vicious unicorn like me, one woman's purity was worth more than my life.
"Quiet!"
Isabella raised one hand high and commanded sharply; the laughter aimed at me cut off instantly.
In the restored silence, only her dignified, icy voice echoed.
"Very well. I'll trust you, then. But remember this, Werner Kraus. Military law is stricter than anything. No exceptions, not even for family."
Firm declaration. Perfect poise as acting head.
But the moment she spoke, the translucent system window filling my vision screamed something else entirely.
'Werner. What are you doing? I worked so hard to sneak you off to the villa far from the front lines......'
Dripping despair over the text. Incomprehensible attachment toward the definite wastrel Werner.
'If there's no solution in a week, I won't have any justification to protect you in front of the retainers. I might have to cut you down myself. Please back down. You're all I have left—Mother and you......'
"......"
I bit my lip, swallowing the words threatening to spill.
Not yet time to drop the 'good-for-nothing Werner' act. Not time to reveal my true feelings and reality to Isabella. Maybe never.
I rose slowly from my seat.
"One week, sis. You can look forward to it."
At my provocative words, Isabella leaned slightly toward me.
I glanced at my blood sister's ample breasts resting on the table, then met her blue eyes head-on.
She looked away first. The resolute, authoritative Isabella throughout the meeting had revealed a moment of vulnerability. Luckily, no one saw. This fragile side of Isabella—unknown even in the original—was permitted only to her little brother: me.
"Gotta go—busy."
True to a wastrel, I didn't wait for the acting head Isabella's permission and strode out the meeting hall door.
Mocking snickers stabbed my back. And hotter still, Isabella's gaze—like it would cleave my back—followed until the door nearly shut.
Thud.
The heavy door closed. Retainers' jeers and Isabella's anguished stare vanished.
I inhaled the cool corridor air, wiping the stupid wastrel grin from my face.
One week ahead. Had to solve the military funds issue within it. No time to hesitate.
Choke that rat Eric and make him cough up the embezzled funds.
Fortunately, I knew exactly where the key to his fatal weakness (the double ledgers) was right now.
My steps naturally turned toward my room.
By now, the spy Eric planted to monitor me would be sprawled shamelessly on my bed, legs spread, waiting.
'......Filthy, disgusting non-virgin.'
Normally, even touching her skin would repulse me. But tonight was an exception.
For my sister—the virgin Isabella—even embracing that dirty body with its uselessly huge udders was a task I had to shoulder.