The Three Sisters (1)
-Flutter.
"Is this the last one?"
As I flipped through page by page, the final document appeared before I knew it. It hadn't taken long to sort through the papers quickly.
"Two hours."
Since it was faster than expected, I had some time left. At this hour, I could afford a short rest.
The family head's room came equipped with a bed as standard. There was even a sofa arranged for brief naps. Fittingly, Tutorial 2 presented suitable conditions. It had instructed the servants to move furniture into the family head's room and set sleeping there as the clear condition, as if designating it as my main activity space.
However.
I couldn't rest here. No, I shouldn't.
"...This isn't my room."
This was the room of the 'Freyvelric family head'. Once used by Duke Freyvelric, Magnus Shtain Freyvelric. And then inherited by the duchess, Rozalin Remetria Freyvelric. It was a space meant only for those two.
-What right do you have to alter our mother's room like this? Why... why tamper with a space touched by her hands...
To avoid hearing such words in a few days, at the very least.
Thus, a place suitable for me would be... somewhere like that, at best.
-Tap, tap.
[ Location: Family Head's Utility Room ]
The room right next to the family head's, connected directly. It was originally meant for accommodating guests and receiving them there. Spacious enough, and since it adjoined the duke's quarters, it had been designed to house close friends for stays.
But now, it was merely a storage space piled with various sundries.
The duchess had used it mainly for brewing coffee during all-nighters. Or grabbing an overcoat for sudden outings. Or, though food didn't appeal much, stashing something for when her mouth felt idle.
A convenient utility room for such purposes.
If it was that place, those girls wouldn't take offense and come sniffing around.
"No issue with the bed. But it looks a bit cramped for sleeping..."
Though touched by the duchess's hands, the space was too confined. One wrong move, and things might topple and break.
"Guess I need to move some clothes out."
I had no choice but to decide on removing the coat rack with her main outerwear. The duchess's wardrobe would be the destination anyway. It wouldn't seem odd to have her lifetime garments there.
And so, I began lifting the duchess's coat rack to take it out.
However.
"...Why are you taking Mother's clothes outside?"
The sharp voice stabbed into the back of my head the moment I stepped out of the room.
***
It was too sudden, too early. I couldn't even share the final moments.
Accepting the abrupt farewell from Mother, the fact that she'd lost her family—it was agonizing beyond words.
Veronica had spent two hours alone in her room. She didn't know how many tears she'd wiped or sobs she'd stifled.
Yet her heart refused to calm.
'Mother...'
Before she knew it, her feet carried her onward, drawn inexorably. Seeking the lingering touch of her mother's hands, she headed to her room.
But...
She stopped in her tracks soon enough.
She'd hoped to soothe her grief in a place imbued with her mother's presence, if only a little.
That hope was dashed by the scene before her.
'What... is this?'
Not her mother's room exactly, but still a place her hands had touched.
The family head's room. The Duke Freyvelric's quarters. A space her mother had always used.
And there, a man was removing the coat rack with her mother's overcoat right before her eyes.
Before she could steady her ragged breath, a cold voice slipped out unbidden.
"...Why are you taking Mother's clothes outside?"
"...!"
Startled, the man turned to her.
Her eyes weren't deceiving her. It was him, unmistakably.
The man Mother had brought. Introduced as her late husband's replacement.
The one who had filled the vacant duke's seat.
The person pulling out that coat rack was undoubtedly the current 'Freyvelric family head'.
"What right do you have to alter our mother's room like this? Why... why tamper with a space touched by her hands..."
These were words she shouldn't utter. Not when her youngest sister, Lucilla, had already set a precedent by speaking rashly.
"It's only the first day. Mother passed just hours ago. Today, we're going through the hardest time imaginable. Couldn't you have shown some consideration, giving us time to compose ourselves? Did you have to claim this room—our last repository of memories—the family head's room, right from the first day?"
These weren't words befitting a duke's daughter. Let alone the eldest.
He was the family head who had completed the Freyvelric succession ritual, after all.
"And what's the issue with Mother's clothes? Why remove them from there? Were they such an eyesore? An inconvenience to using the room? Something to be entirely discarded?"
But she couldn't hold back.
Not at the sight of him carrying out the coat rack, as if erasing her mother's traces.
Her chest heaved, words bursting forth—a natural reaction.
"You're truly a monstrous person."
As Mother's daughter. As the eldest sister with two siblings to protect. As a member of the house bearing the Freyvelric name.
She had every right to cry out like this.
But.
This too wouldn't last.
"The family head's room... Yes, of course. The Duke Freyvelric must use it. It would be no issue at all. I apologize. Moreover, I had no place to speak such words. Forgive my impertinence in defying the family head."
She bowed her head. And admitted her fault.
"Also, it might be inconvenient for you. People arrange furniture differently for remodeling or convenience. And as a fellow woman, my view differs from yours on Mother's clothes feeling cumbersome. My thinking was shortsighted."
She had to.
He was the Freyvelric family head. She was merely one duke's daughter belonging to the house.
She had no standing to defy him—the one grasping all the house's power, having completed the succession.
Thus, she collected herself.
She didn't know why Mother hadn't called her and her sisters. Nor why she'd made him perform the succession ritual.
But one thing was certain.
There was no time to wallow in grief over losing Mother.
Veronica had two younger sisters. As the eldest, she bore the duty to protect them in Mother's stead.
So.
"I'll take my leave now, Family Head."
She drew a clear line with him.
He was just a 'family head' who had happened into the succession ritual.
***
I couldn't say a word.
Not when Veronica ran into me here.
Not when she hurled words at me.
Not when she suppressed her anger and admitted fault.
Not even as she left a curt farewell in this corridor.
I hadn't uttered a single thing to her.
I'd thought it would happen days later.
After all, Veronica was the strongest eldest daughter, unlike her two sisters.
Unlike Ellensia and Lucilla, whose grief and aftermath lingered long after losing Mother, Veronica was the big sister who tried to shield her siblings.
Never showing her sorrow openly. Comforting her sisters while enduring herself. Bearing responsibility to protect them despite her own pain.
But I was completely wrong.
She'd simply hidden her grief better—but it hurt just as much. Perhaps more, burdened by her position as eldest.
Not days later. From the very first day, she'd sought the family head's room to soothe her sorrow.
Every day, without fail. It was on the third day that she ran into me.
I hadn't truly known Veronica.
-What right do you have to alter our mother's room like this? Why... why tamper with a space touched by her hands...
"..."
Her words carved into my chest once more.
In the end, it was only a matter of when. This future hadn't changed.
The predetermined path.
Back then, I'd hesitated to use my original room more and waited a week.
The conclusion was swift.
"Right. I have no such qualification."
I returned the coat racks. Placing the duchess's overcoats back in the utility room, their original spot, one by one.
-I'll take my leave now, Family Head.
She'd called me 'Family Head'.
But I wasn't that person.
Merely an outsider.
A fake family head with no ties, who had merely completed the succession ritual.
I had no right to the family head's room, let alone alter that utility space.
The room suited to me was.
-Creak.
A storage room crammed with junk like this.
"Perfect. Connected to the family head's room, so no hindrance to work."
Items stashed away who-knows-when, tools piled haphazardly.
Amid them, a wooden bed caught my eye.
Clean and ready for use, no need to clear or sweep.
A mismatched coat rack nearby, height just right.
No reason to hesitate.
I lay down there at once.
A pillow that scoffed at plush cushions. Hardness took its place, accompanied by creaks far from luxurious. A cold, dim room starved of sunlight.
But it suited me perfectly.
After all, nothing in this ducal house was mine.
◆ Tutorial 2. First Steps
Room designated.
[ Location: Storage Room Next to Family Head's Room ]
Tutorial completed.
'No "impossible," then.'
Despite being one of the farthest spots from the minimap's recommendations, there was no rejection.
No. It might even deem it fitting.
If the Status Window had a sense of self.
I closed my eyes gently, ending this unchanged day unlike the past.
I must remember.
To know my place and live accordingly.
That was the path for a wretch like me to survive.
***
The next day.
Morning arrived.
Gazing at the new ceiling stirred no emotion.
I rose quickly from the bed. Grabbed my outerwear, left the storage room, and headed to the bathroom to wash.
Washing was swift. No illness, healthy body, no need for servant aid.
Then, quick tidying and cleaning.
"Weather's... a bit chilly."
Opening the door let in a breeze. Not freezing, just brisk.
My sturdy frame felt little cold, but the frail might sense it more sharply.
...Yes. Enough to catch a cold without surprise.
-Click.
Having aired it out early, no need to leave the door open longer. I lit the apple-scented incense the duchess favored, warming the room slightly. Also fetched warm water for humidity.
I knew.
Another unchangeable future was coming for me.
Yet my hands moved.
"...Almost 8 o'clock."
Yesterday was Tutorial 2. Officially designating a room, but really introducing the command function.
Thus, the next tutorial would be...
-Click-clack.
Click-clack.
With the visitor to this room.
The duchess had passed just yesterday, after all.
Few would seek this room where I'd normally stay. At most, Tia, bound by contract.
Veronica only came after three days for that reason.
But not everyone avoided it.
One person came precisely at this hour.
"Duke, may I enter...? Oh?"
I opened the door on cue, and she looked at me in surprise.
◆ Tutorial 3. Permission
Proceeding with approval function tutorial to learn the permission system.
Yes. The one seeking me... wanted permission.
"It's chilly outside. Come in."