Chapter 167
Chapter 167
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 167
Chapter Title: Side Story - A Certain Princess's Memories (15)
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# 167
#19 Their Circumstances: The Circumstances of a Certain Villain.
“Ugh…….”
Staring at the white paper, I could only let out a groan.
It looked like an ordinary letter, but it was a secret message written in the organization's cipher.
Unlike the front part filled with praise for me, the back part diligently detailed what would happen if I ever betrayed the organization.
In short, something along the lines of “Don’t even dream of surviving on the continent.”
“I hate this kind of intimidation…….”
There were certainly nobles with titles among the spies active in the organization.
But most of them had been secretly working for the organization from the start or had received their titles with the organization’s support and risen through the ranks.
In the organization’s history, cases like mine—suddenly receiving a title—were almost unheard of.
Naturally, earning a noble title meant you had contributed that much to the Empire.
What was the goal of the Evil Organization, Howling?
To topple the Empire and reclaim their lost glory, right?
No matter the excuse of infiltration, the organization would never help the Empire.
And yet, I had gone and done something enormously beneficial to the Empire!
Those smug geniuses had praised it as a historic discovery capable of shifting the paradigm of warfare!
Luckily, I had stubbornly insisted that the princess’s genius mind had realized my absurd theory, so things ended up like this. Otherwise, I might have been assassinated by the organization’s killers!
“I want to quit as soon as possible.”
Scattered throughout the letter were evaluations of my first disciples, and they were extravagantly glowing.
They called them the greatest talents in Howling’s history, said that after just one year of training, they outperformed active early members!
You’re doing great, my disciples!
Keep working that hard and boost your master’s reputation!
That way, when I return, I won’t get stuck as an instructor again!
This master is suffering in the imperial palace—a den more wicked than the evil organization itself!
-Karma.
-For the sake of the juniors, you should stay there forever….
“Huh?”
It felt like I heard my disciples’ voices, but there was no way they’d be here.
My body’s been weak lately; I must be hearing things.
Good disciples wouldn’t say such wicked things.
“Today was another unrewarding day.”
I burned the letter to destroy the evidence and lay down on my bed.
My days suffering under the princess’s direct command had their perks compared to regular butlers: a private room and this plush bed.
The bed I used when I first entered the palace was like vending machine coffee; this one was Starbucks!
Think of it as a price difference rather than taste.
“Without this healing time, how would I have survived~”
Rolling around on this bed—slightly oversized for one person, perfect for two if used right—was my scant respite to end the day.
Thus, I could never forgive anyone who disturbed this rest!
Knock knock.
“Didn’t I say I won’t forgive?”
The very moment I spoke, knocking sounded at the door.
Knocking on a man’s door in the dead of night!
Doesn’t that feel ominous?
It’s like they’re calling me for some incident, right?
“Sir Ast… are you there?”
The slightly trembling voice was all too familiar.
“No, Lady Leah.”
“Ah, excuse me… I mean, you are there, aren’t you?!”
“Tch.”
I’d hoped calling her Lady Leah might fool her, but unfortunately, she realized I was just three short steps away.
“Sir Ast? Could you spare me a moment?”
“No.”
“How firm! J-Just a moment!”
“Snoooore…….”
“Pretending to sleep won’t work!”
“Zzzz…….”
“I said it won’t work! And if you’re going to fake it, at least put some effort in!”
“Kyaa! A noble lady barging into a grown man’s room!”
“Somehow it’s backwards, but it won’t work! I knew you’d pull something like that, Sir Ast, so I’ve already cast a barrier to keep sound from leaking out!”
“Beast!”
“What are you even saying?!”
“You’ve sealed the sound from escaping—what are you planning to do to me now, Lady Leah?!”
“Even if I’ve missed my prime marriage age, I still have options! Academy students and active knights marry after twenty-five too! No, even before that—I’d rather stay single than go after Sir Ast!”
Lady Leah shouted at me with utter conviction.
No, with that much conviction in her voice, even I feel hurt?
Saying it so firmly that she’s not targeting me?
“What’s the matter?”
A little wounded, I cracked the door open and peeked out my head to tease her more.
Teasing is always best while watching their face.
“Well…….”
She held out a sheet of work paper with an awkward expression.
Think of it as this world’s A4 paper.
“A report?”
“Y-Yes…….”
Her averted gaze let me roughly grasp why she’d come here.
She couldn’t solve the homework from the princess today and had sought me out for help.
“But why me, of all people?”
“Her Highness said I couldn’t get help from anyone else…….”
“And me?”
“You’re fine, Sir Ast.”
What? Why am I fine? Is this the princess’s trap?!
Her trap to dump more work on me by making me teach Lady Leah!
“Why am I the exception?”
“Because Her Highness doesn’t treat you like a person.”
“Cough.”
Lady Leah’s unexpected strike left me dazed for a moment.
“Ah, Sir Ast?”
It hurt even more because she wasn’t angry—she said it purely sincerely.
What’s with that innocent, worried look?
Don’t look at me like that—it hurts more!
“Good luck, Lady Leah.”
“W-Wait a second?”
I gave a quick farewell and shut the door, but as expected of a swordmaster, she thrust her hand in with swift movement to block it.
“Even with the barrier keeping sound from leaking, people can still see you! It’s not proper for a grown lady to do this!”
“Rumors are going to explode—about you and Sir Ast! Then my brother will take an interest in you too!”
This girl?
I’d felt it during the fight with Sword Heaven, but she was growing in a very ominous direction.
“By the way, our house is a marquis family? A marquis family!”
“Ugh!”
A marquis—right below grand dukes and dukes under the imperial family!
For someone like me residing in the palace, they were heavenly beings, part of the absolute top ten houses!
“Open up obediently and hear me out, and nothing huge will happen.”
“Wh-what do you mean, huge…….”
“Our family may be martial, but Father acts differently from past heads. That’s right—my father is this nation’s prime minister! One of His Majesty’s closest aides!”
“Th-That can’t be?!”
“The reason I serve Her Highness is Father’s influence too! Yes—one letter to him, and you’ll go from baron to viscount, Sir Ast!”
“Ughhhh…….”
I had no choice but to concede defeat.
Even as a baron, I drew stares from the palace and the organization. Becoming a viscount would bring untold trials and tribulations.
The organization’s assassination risk would skyrocket, palace nobles would gossip nonstop whenever they saw me, my political enemies would cling harder, and those looking to step on me for their own promotions would swarm.
The rumors among the maids and butlers—“Sir Ast Baron is actually some high noble’s bastard”—would gain even more traction.
I wanted none of that fallout.
“Come in.”
“I’m already in.”
Lady Leah shut the door quickly before anyone saw, then looked around my room with curiosity.
“Surprisingly tidy.”
“What do you mean, surprisingly? Butlers are always tidy.”
I was the one handling cleanup after Lady Leah and Her Highness.
Other royals had dedicated maids for cleaning, but ours rotated monthly out of fear of Her Highness.
“So… where are you stuck?”
I let out a small sigh at losing my precious rest time, and Lady Leah gave a slightly apologetic smile.
“I’m sorry, Sir Ast. It’s just too hard.”
“Because it’s you, Lady Leah.”
“What’s that attitude?”
“Exactly the attitude you’re imagining.”
She clicked her tongue briefly at my words, but she was the desperate one.
Knowing that, she cut straight to the point.
“From the very beginning.”
“Heh…….”
Even the continent’s acknowledged youngest swordmaster, and such an irresponsible answer?
“From the beginning? You mean you don’t understand a single thing?”
“Yes!”
“Why nod like it’s obvious?”
My head started throbbing.
“I already gave Her Highness my opinion.”
“Yes, I know. I heard it too.”
“There’s nothing else?”
I’d only vaguely described something like World War I.
Very different from the Sarajevo incident where the perp got caught red-handed with a gun, but it gave a rough idea, didn’t it?
“No other opinions?”
“Yes, none.”
Even as a liberal arts grad, my school barely covered world history.
Just basic common knowledge, nothing in depth.
“If this gets back to Father… I’ll have no face left to show him.”
*You already don’t, right?* I couldn’t bring myself to say it.
This was my room. Tease her like usual, and if she burst into tears and stormed out, who knew how low my palace reputation would sink.
Worse, the palace knights might beat me black and blue.
Best to half-ass it and send her packing quick!
“Then how about writing it like this?”
“Like what?”
Lady Leah gazed at me, her eyes sparkling with expectation.
Lady Leah really was great.
Like winter, when pristine white snow falls—she let you savor the thrill of trampling untouched powder.
White things existed to be stained black, after all.
“Roughly… like this, like this, like this, like this, like this, like this…….”
Like a ten-year-old go prodigy, I bombarded her with “like this” after “like this” while guiding her report.
“It’s done! But this is basically the same as yours, Sir Ast?!”
“It’s fine—the wording’s different.”
“It’s not fine! Her Highness will see right through it!”
“Of course she will.”
Even someone with past-life memories like me wouldn’t fool that kid princess.
She’d see through this—just rephrased, same content—no problem.
“The point is sending it to Lady Leah’s family, right? As long as it’s not shamefully bad, it’s okay.”
“That’s true, but…….”
To be honest, it was a hassle.
Tomorrow’s palace life was packed with annoyances already—I couldn’t sacrifice my rare healing time.
Thus, with glib words, I persuaded Lady Leah and sent her off with a dissatisfied pout.
And months later, I regretted that decision to my bones.
#20 Their Circumstances: The Circumstances of a Certain Family.
“This… Leah wrote?”
“Precisely, she said she wrote it with help from her exclusive butler.”
Two men clutched their heads as they stared at the five-page report.
“You fool—that’s not the point! Leah… *that* Leah… even with help, produced a five-page report!”
“Ugh… yes. And a fairly substantial one at that!”
“If it were possible, would we have gone through all that trouble?”
“No, no.”
Among the absolute top ten houses—and the current head and heir of the Arais family, who served both the emperor and his favored First Imperial Princess—both had teary eyes as they read the report.
“Leah… *that* Leah who’s a blank slate aside from her sword…….”
“Family head…….”
Even the iron-blooded prime minister of the Arais family began shedding tears.
“Father, this is our chance.”
“What do you mean?”
“This chance… to send her away.”
The next head of the Arais family and Leah’s brother, Regell Lil Arais, regarded his father with a grave expression.
“You think that man matches Leah’s station?”
“He was a commoner. But he rose to baron in under three years. And he’s Her Highness’s closest confidant.”
“Even so…….”
“He made Leah use her brain. An achievement no one in our family ever managed!”
“Ugh…….”
“And you see potential in Leah?”
“Ugh…….”
“It’s our chance. They’re always together, so he knows her true nature. Knowing means no illusions—and thus less shock.”
At his heir’s persistent words, the family head—as both Arais patriarch and father to Leah Lil Arais—agonized deeply.
“Send her off.”
He decided to trust his successor.