The Curse That Kept Me Silent Was Lifted #1
Years ago, I picked up a child.
In the chaos of war, her village had burned, and her parents had been lost. A girl who must have been no more than fifteen, her face smeared with soot.
As a noble and as a human, I had naturally assumed it was my duty to raise her and give her every care.
Luckily, she had grown into a well-mannered, obedient young woman. No sharp-tongued wives, no noble daughters who might have resented her presence. I had avoided one more burden a runaway girl might carry.
Noblewomen and their daughters, I had heard, simply could not stomach a stray like this.
[How are you feeling, Emily?]
[Good. You look wonderful on me.]
The year Emily turned eighteen, she had stood before me in the first social gown I had ever allowed her to try on. She twirled, laughing.
I had always known she was beautiful. Each passing year seemed only to deepen that beauty until my heart ached with pride.
So I deliberately began to distance myself from her. To keep from becoming the beast who might harbor dark thoughts toward the child I had raised.
Ever since that day, when I had first felt the dizziness, I had sworn never to feel it again.
That was also when I had begun searching for her marriage. In the past I would have waited, given her time, until a man she approved of appeared.
But now there was no time. I had to separate from that girl before the beast inside me was completely purged.
[My lord the Count. Have… have I displeased you?]
One day Emily came to me, eyes red and voice trembling.
I had been deliberately keeping my distance. I had begun arranging her marriage and sending word. She was hurt.
[No, I…]
I could not force the words out. One harsh sentence would have been enough. She could have married a man who cherished her looks, and the alliance would have brought help to her family.
If only I could have said it.
But still…
Tap. Emily slipped past my hesitation, slipped into my arms, and looked up at me with eyes like polished gems and a scent that was not perfume but pure Emily.
[I know exactly what you are trying to do, my lord.]
[What…?]
It was impossible. No matter how quick-witted the girl, she could not read a heart she had never been told.
A small sound escaped me in surprise, but if I simply said I was startled, the matter would be over.
Yet…
[If it is you, my lord… I would be happy. Use me as a toy. Play with me however you like.]
That blunt, desperate plea shattered what little remained of my reason.
*
“…So then what happened?”
On the day the best goods arrived.
One man, young for his middle age, stood with a face of obvious distress.
He was an appraiser who worked in the Yo clan palace.
“He grabbed the Count’s daughter by the shoulder and tossed her roughly onto the bed. Then… he—”
William, seated beside Edgar, spoke with complete ease.
Since Freesia had appointed Edgar to the post of appraiser, he had grown close to William, the man Edgar had once worked with, and proved his abilities through small, everyday tasks like this.
“What’s so funny about that?”
When the height of the nobleman’s affection for his young daughter was at its peak.
Freesia’s voice slipped into the ears of both men.
“Right now the Count and his daughter are in the middle of sharing the most intimate time together… huh?”
William closed his mouth mid-sentence, turned his head, and finally realized who had spoken.
“Ah… Your Highness… you are here?”
“Yes. I have arrived. I came to let you know a caravan will be here soon. But what about that Count?”
“Huh? Ah, that’s… well…”
While William was at a loss, Edgar rose straight up and bowed his head.
He then gave a vague summary of the story’s conclusion and bid them farewell.
“The love ends happily with the birth of a child and a long life together.”
“Is that all? From the way you were telling it, I would have thought you were about to do something more.”
“H-Her Highness! You have very good ears!”
William stood up in alarm when Freesia asked the question.
He already knew the princess had a sharp tongue, but he could never simply ignore it.
Freesia, who understood the princess’s character well, answered casually.
“Where would I be if not listening? Anyway, how did it end?”
“I’m afraid I can’t say. I’m rather shy.”
Edgar looked up and laughed while deliberately hiding the answer to the last part.
Haaah. I should have just stayed quiet.
Freesia clicked her tongue, feeling she had only invited trouble by speaking.
“Tsk. Fine. I won’t ask anymore. More importantly, are you ready?”
“Whenever you like.”
For a moment the soft light in Edgar’s eyes sharpened into something fierce.
Though he had been nothing but a porter, the pressure of a man who had survived a harsh journey hung about him.
Both Freesia and William nodded in satisfaction.
“I have learned a great deal from you. You needn’t worry.”
“Really? Then I’ll leave it to you. I have to see off my guests.”
Freesia sighed as if she truly regretted it.
She had wanted to watch the people who were surprised by the sight of Edgar sorting goods.
But her position forbade it.
A very precious guest was coming.
“Yes. I will do my best.”
“Good. Thank you. Take care.”
Freesia lightly patted Edgar’s and William’s shoulders.
“It seems she came to encourage you. Her heart is truly kind.”
William muttered while watching Freesia’s retreating back.
Edgar, agreeing with the words, nodded silently.
“Thanks to you, I can live in peace and ease. I am truly grateful.”
“Indeed. You suffered greatly because of that curse, didn’t you.”
Just as Freesia and Iris had learned of his curse, so William had as well.
So sighing as if he knew everything was natural.
“Yes. If Princess Freesia had not picked me up, I would have died in the gutter. It was that dangerous.”
“How fortunate you were.”
Clunk. Clunk.
While they were chatting, a caravan loaded with many goods caught Edgar’s eye.
Several carriages followed one after another in a splendid procession.
“It’s here.”
“Yes. I will handle the reception. You watch from the side.”
“Thank you.”
Edgar’s face, which had been stiff, brightened a little at how eagerly William had offered him the task of guarding the caravan.
William smirked at the sight and then turned his gaze forward.
The many carriages, the porters pulling them, and the man standing at the head of the porters approached the warehouse.
When the man finally reached the front of the warehouse, William bowed slowly.
“Welcome. Thank you for your long journey.”
“Mm.”
The man answered only with a small groan.
His straight posture and slightly lifted chin made him look extremely arrogant.
He must be quite high-handed.
Edgar, bowing his head with William, sighed inwardly and slowly rose.
“Human?”
The black-haired man looked at Edgar with a frown.
Even among the Yo clan, who hated humans, his expression was unusually fierce.
William, as expected, spoke calmly.
“Yes. Although he is human, he was brought here by the Princess herself.”
“The Princess herself? There is no falsehood in that.”
“Who would lie about a safe person? Besides, he does not seem to have the guts to dare speak the Princess’s name falsely.”
“Hmph… that is true. You may be idle, but you at least know your place.”
The man nodded, stroking his chin as if the words made sense.
Every sentence dripped with arrogance, treating the other as beneath him.
“Good. What is your name?”
The man glared at Edgar with an unpleasant expression and asked.
He was clearly irritated by the fact that the Princess had picked him up.
“Edgar.”
Edgar had no desire to reveal his full name, so he answered shortly.
People like him would forget a name anyway once told.
“Good. Although you came to the palace because the Princess favored you, I hope you remember your place.”
The man still kept his chin slightly raised and gave a lecherous smile.
It was an extremely unpleasant situation for Edgar.
Yet Edgar’s expression remained completely calm.
Compared to the extreme stress he had endured, this was nothing.
“Yes. I understand.”
Edgar bowed his head without hesitation and answered, and the arrogant man’s face cracked.
He had expected even a flicker of irritation to appear, but it had not.
Cheeky brat.
The sight ignited the man’s pride and sadistic pleasure.
He had sworn he would make sure Edgar, this lowly human who lacked any proper status, would kneel and grind his teeth before him.
Humans with twisted personalities existed everywhere and in every era. They simply appeared more or less depending on the time and place.
Today Edgar had learned that lesson more painfully than ever.
“However, why is a human here? Is it not time to sort the precious goods? Did you bring him along as a mere porter?”
William, standing beside him, would have been doing the same work or something equivalent.
That much was obvious, but the man pretended not to know and continued to act cleverly.
William swept his gaze over the line of porters behind the man and spoke.
“The Princess recognized my abilities and gave me the same position. Thanks to that, my hands are free and the work is easier.”
“What? Are you out of your mind? Are you going to entrust precious goods to the hands of filthy humans? Do you even have the ability?”
“This young man’s abilities have been acknowledged by the Princess herself…
“Tsk tsk! That must be why he is so capable! The Princess meant to eat your words! Her kindness is truly excessive…”
When William kept acting clever, the arrogant man bit down on the words with vicious, relentless precision.
He even secretly spat on Freesia’s character, raising his voice as if he were the one at fault.
Though he spoke as if the Princess’s kind heart had led to a mistaken decision, the truth was the opposite.
He was simply mocking the Princess for her foolishness in appointing a filthy human as an appraiser.
Yet because his words were so cleverly worded, the listener found it impossible to refute him without giving him the excuse of insulting the Princess.
Tsk.
I am uncomfortable enough, but how must the Princess feel?
William felt a bitter twist in his stomach imagining Edgar’s anger, but
“Then, would you like to take a test?”
Edgar smiled with the corner of his mouth twisted in a bold grin.
The man’s eyes widened in shock.