What I've Done -4-
On the way out of the drawing room.
"Eek?"
Rowen looked at the Desmont Young Lady sitting on the living room floor. She was nestled in the arms of what could be a bear or a dog—her pet—and upon noticing him, she immediately lost interest and started fiddling with the pet's paw pads.
"Hoooong...! Bear trotters...!"
A bear?!
"Heeek... Ah... nom! Ugh, so good."
Bear.
"Eek! Don't hit me!"
"..."
Was this mansion just full of snubs? Nowhere else treated him with such consistent neglect. Rowen decided not to dwell too deeply on the Desmont Young Lady's utter disinterest. The Desmonts had never gotten along with his family, after all. Maybe this kind of brush-off was par for the course.
Clack. Clack.
As Rowen passed the Desmont Young Lady with his complicated thoughts, a small mutter from her reached his ears.
"What business does the Histania family head, who only knows swords, have here?"
"..."
"Got nothing better to do?"
Rowen halted his steps toward the exit and turned to look at her. It was something he could brush off lightly, but the words from this child toward a family head grated on him.
Under Rowen's steady gaze, Olivia met his eyes directly and pointed at him with her finger.
"You're a count. I'm a duchess."
"...And what of it?"
"If you're unhappy with the title, go whine to the emperor. Then I'll use honorifics."
Like father, like daughter, huh. Rowen glared at the irritating Olivia, memories of the past surfacing.
Memories from the academy with the Desmont family head.
Why do you live such a boring life? So rigid and stuffy.
Mind your own business. Instead of meddling in others' lives, practice your magic more. Don't get crushed by me like last time.
It wasn't a loss—it was a draw, you musclehead. Can't even remember right with your brain full of meat?
...
He'd never liked that family. This Desmont place, too. The Young Lady using black magic, and that guy they couldn't even kick out...
"Insolent."
In Rowen's eyes, the Desmonts—relying solely on their ducal title without serving the empire—looked like rebels.
"Hmm..."
Yet that unyielding gaze must be their family pride. Rowen let out a deep sigh as he met the Young Lady's straightforward eyes. He had no desire to waste time bickering with a young girl.
But Olivia pressed on with her cheeky words toward him.
"If I'm insolent, does that mean Histania's wiped out?"
"...What did you say, Young Lady?"
"Isn't that right?"
"...What?"
"The Histania family head shows up at my mansion unannounced and acts all high and mighty. Even if you're the empire's sword, isn't that a bit too rude?"
"Your speech is awfully curt, Desmont Young Lady."
"I told you. I'm a duchess. You're a count."
"You must know full well why Histania doesn't hold a title."
"I don't care about your rigid principles. And even if I did, I wouldn't say something that puts me at a disadvantage."
"...Why do you people love nitpicking so much?"
"You're the one annoying me."
Rowen clenched his fist without realizing it. He'd lost control of the conversation. He believed the weak should obey the strong, but the Young Lady's pinpoint grasp of his weaknesses left him unable to counter easily. He was being led around by her.
To avoid being swayed further, Rowen gripped his fist tightly, passed her by, and said,
"I'm leaving."
"Wait."
"I have nothing to say to you. Why should I listen?"
"Because I have something to say."
"..."
Olivia spoke calmly to the halted Rowen.
"Hey, Histania family head."
"..."
"How do you raise your kids?"
"What...?"
As Rowen's killing intent rose coldly, Olivia continued undeterred.
"Hanna Histania came crying to our mansion."
"..."
"Malik Histania came to apologize."
"My children did that...?"
"What kind of father doesn't know? Are you really their dad?"
"Tell me from the beginning, Young Lady."
"What?"
Olivia sighed and let out a chuckle.
"Guess you're not much of a father. Hanna and Malik seemed well-raised, though. Sure, they were a pain at first."
Olivia's eyes flashed as if realizing something, and she clapped with an "Ah!"
"Ah...! They don't want to end up like their father?"
"...Mind your words."
"Am I wrong? How much must they hate their dad to go to a disgraced villainess's house instead of their own family? And to our butler over there, no less."
"..."
"Not that it's bad. Our butler's exceptional talent, after all."
"So what are you getting at?"
"Just bored."
Olivia grinned at Rowen.
"You came for our butler too, right?"
"..."
"Hoping for some help or whatever."
Rowen couldn't respond. She cut straight to the point without mincing words. Swayed by the sharp-tongued Young Lady—who defied the rumors—Rowen simply shut his mouth and swallowed his anger.
"Raising kids is tough, huh?"
"Don't speak out of turn, Desmont."
"They won't obey, and if they just listened to their father, they'd succeed, but they get all stubborn."
"...Enough."
"But hey."
Olivia smiled with her eyes at the empire's sword.
"Wouldn't life be boring that way?"
"..."
"You wouldn't even know why you're alive, like a puppet. And it doesn't feel like you're handing out candy either. You only know how to scold—praise is probably against your religion."
Rowen fell silent. He'd been drawn in. He could shut that mouth in under a second with force, but her brutally falling words had already pierced his ears and poured in venom.
Olivia whispered cruelly into Rowen's ear as if it were nothing.
"Keep it up."
"..."
"Someone's bound to die, and then it'll change. Sounds like a fine choice, right? Build one solid pillar properly, and the weak ones will crumble away... Easy cleanup, solid foundation. Nice, huh?"
"Shut up."
"Pffft... Why? Isn't this what you wanted as family head? From what I heard, it was even harsher than what I said."
As Rowen's killing intent turned vicious...
Clack. Clack.
Olivia closed her mouth at the sound of footsteps descending from the mansion's second floor. She glanced up, muttered a curt "Now get lost," and nestled back into her pet's arms, eyes shut.
"Moderation's key. Don't cross the line like I did."
"At least you know your place."
"Of course. I've learned a thing or two."
"Insolent. You and your father both."
"Don't badmouth my dad. He's a duke."
"...You never yield an inch, do you? Your whole family."
"What can ya do... Born rotten. Anyway, think it over. Apologizing's harder than you think."
"..."
"You might regret it forever."
"Young Lady!"
Olivia heard Ricardo coming down the stairs and shut her eyes, pretending she'd been asleep all along.
"Zzz..."
She closed her eyes.
*
"What happened?"
"Hm?"
"You were talking to the Histania family head."
"Oh..."
Olivia glanced lazily at the door where Rowen had left.
"He seemed bored, so I played with him."
I tugged at the Young Lady's cheek and said,
"You bullied him again."
"Eeeeeek!!! No!"
"Your face says otherwise."
"Eeeeeek!!! A little... I did."
"He bullied me too."
"Hee hee!"
I stroked the Young Lady's head with a smile.
"Should I put up a sign? 'Home of the villainess who torments the empire's sword.'"
"Eeeek..."
The Young Lady looked pleased.
The office, now empty with everyone gone. The Histania family head sighed deeply under the dark moonlight.
He wondered if coming to that mansion had been a mistake—and at the same time, he'd learned facts he hadn't known.
That he was the one in the wrong.
Since when had it been so hard? Since when had his presence become a burden?
Rowen couldn't sort out his swirling thoughts. Looking back like a compass, so many things were wrong—it made his heart ache.
Family. Choices. Standards.
He couldn't grasp how heavy a burden his yardstick had been on his children.
The realization that his past choices had become such weights kicked at his heart.
Advice he'd given for his daughter's sake.
You have no talent.
He realized it was the worst possible advice.
The load he'd placed on his eldest son.
You are fated to be Histania's head. Focus solely on the sword.
Instead, he'd created an environment where his children hated their own father.
Where had it all gone wrong?
Rowen sat alone in the dark office, drinking listlessly. Not to get drunk, but to soothe his loneliness with liquor that wouldn't even faze him.
"...Damn it."
The moonlight was cold. The countless swords hanging in the office gleamed sharply, and the ones Hanna had begged to touch just once stood dust-free in their places.
"...The worst."
Rowen bowed his head. He needed to calm his tangled thoughts.
But time waited for no one.
Creeeak.
The closed office door opened, and a familiar face emerged in the moonlight.
A familiar figure holding a sword.
"Long time no see, Dad."
The worst reunion.