All's Well in the Lord's Household — Seras's Talent

He was a man who somehow looked frail and bookish, calling to mind the Hans I'd known before we ever met. Whether it was his face or his clothes that lent him that fleeting air and peculiar charisma Hans had never possessed, I couldn't say. Perhaps it was simply his breeding.

Even if they shared the same impression of weakness, this man's was the kind that came from being raised like a hothouse flower — precious, sheltered, and utterly without immunity to the world's storms. Looking at that pale, white face, I wouldn't have been the least bit surprised to learn he had consumption. I'd have thought it a fitting ornament, even.

"Ah, I see we have guests. Forgive me — it seems I've interrupted."

"If you know you're interrupting, Emil, then vanish from my sight this instant. We are in the middle of an important conversation."

Lady Sinclaire never once raised her voice, but the frostbitten contempt packed into those words reached my heart without the slightest filter and made it clench.

The man she'd called Emil bowed his head as if mortified, then flicked a glance our way ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and moved his lips.

"Mages... I see. So that's how it is."

That voice surely never reached Lady Sinclaire. But our ears, trained never to miss so much as a single syllable from a man's mouth, caught every word. Just from looking at us, he'd seen through what we were — and why Lady Sinclaire had summoned us.

Just like in the original, he had no small amount of insight. Emil Sinclaire.

"Lady Sinclaire? That man is...?"

"He is not someone you need concern yourselves with... but I shall tell you regardless. That thing is Emil Sinclaire, my husband's nephew. Observe the basic courtesies, but do not involve yourselves with him any deeper than that. At his core, he is no different from a parasite."

Her husband's nephew was as good as her own, and yet her manner was excessively cold. Frankly, a woman taking that kind of tone with a man was something I couldn't begin to accept — but the ecology of the nobility was so peculiar that I could hardly stick my nose in. At the very least, I wished she'd be obedient toward her husband.

At any rate, Lady Sinclaire made it clear by her manner that she would take no further questions, and ordered the maid behind her to see to our reception.

"Show them to their rooms, and see that they bathe and change. When they are ready, escort them to Seras's chambers."

"As you command, my lady."

The tall maid promptly led us deeper into the mansion.

"Should we not pay our respects to the lord?"

"His Lordship is occupied. Moreover, all matters concerning Lady Seras have been entrusted entirely to Her Ladyship, so it is quite all right."

A classic absentee-father move if I'd ever seen one. Then again, the head of an entire territory would be busy beyond belief. I couldn't quite remember what the lord had been like originally — his impression was just too faint. In the game, the story had almost entirely revolved around those three: Lady Sinclaire, Seras, and Emil.

"These will be your rooms. Please leave your luggage for now and settle in later. The bath has been heated to the perfect temperature, so you may go in at once. We shall attend you."

We left our things as the maid instructed and went straight to the baths.

There's a prejudice that bathing culture never developed in medieval Europe, but this world, at least, was free of that particular misconception. The bathhouse prepared for the lord and his invited guests boasted a quality that would have held its own even against the modern world. Hot water poured endlessly from a lion's maw, and from that water rose a faint scent reminiscent of herbal medicine — whatever medicinals they'd mixed in.

In a bathhouse where even the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠floor tiles had been crafted with painstaking care, being washed by the maids while I simply surrendered my body to them was a luxury beyond luxury. A small worry crossed my mind — I was supposed to be the one serving, not the one being served — but for now I decided to simply enjoy the pleasure.

Once the bath was over, a fine perfume had been spritzed over my body, and I'd been wrapped in luxurious clothes, I was finally ready to meet the person who would become my disciple.

"I'm not sure we deserve such extravagant hospitality."

"Not at all. The two of you are the teacher and senior who will instruct our young lady in magic. This level of hospitality is only natural. Besides, a certain amount of preparation is only proper when one is to formally meet a person of noble standing."

...Come to think of it, I — Astera von Libenheim — had been a noble in the original setting. To kick away a life of such luxury of her own accord and want to join the guild... just how fiercely independent had the original Astera been?

Then again, even I could easily conclude that a life of serving men with my cunt was a hundred times more valuable than being waited on by servants and retainers. Thinking that, I suddenly felt a little sorry for the women ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of this territory. Failing to understand a woman's inherent worth, and burying themselves in unproductive competition over who would inherit the territory... tsk, tsk.

"Please wait a moment."

The maid brought us to a halt before a large door. She knocked with a deference so thorough it was as if someone were watching her, and raised her voice.

"My lady, young miss. Lady Luxuria and her disciple have arrived. May I open the door?"

"Let them in."

Only once Lady Sinclaire's permission had been given were we allowed to enter. Inside sat a pair of women who did not look alike, and yet somehow did. One was Lady Sinclaire, whom we'd met just a short while ago. And the other was unmistakably Seras Sinclaire — the one who would become my disciple.

Seras was a beauty of an entirely different type from her mother. She seemed to take after her father more than her mother, and yet the quality of her mother's beauty, at least, had come through in full.

"I present myself before the young lady of House Sinclaire. Though I am unworthy, I am Luxuria, who shall have the honor of teaching Lady Seras magic."

"I-I'm her disciple, Astera."

Seras was, at a glance, a daughter who did not much resemble her mother. And yet the dignity that radiated from the very way she sat — her charisma, if you will — was unmistakably that of a noble family's young lady.

"Welcome, Lady Luxuria. Miss Astera. I cannot begin to express my gratitude that you have come all this way for my sake."

Seras rose from her seat and greeted us with perfect grace.

"Please pay no mind to differences in station, and instruct me with the utmost strictness."

"A fine spirit. Just as you say, I shall strive to inscribe everything I know upon you, my lady. ...However, before that, I would like to confirm your innate aptitude. Would that be acceptable?"

Of course, both of them granted permission. Better for everyone involved to assess her aptitude early than to waste time trying to teach magic to someone with no talent for it.

Luxuria documented Seras's magical talent on parchment, just as she had done with me before. Seras remained relatively composed, but Lady Sinclaire — as one might expect when it concerned her own child — gripped her fan tightly, her manner distinctly tense.

Luxuria read the parchment with grave attention, then ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠declared with a bright expression:

"Magnificent! I find that the young lady possesses truly outstanding magical aptitude, Lady Sinclaire."

"...Is that so! Ah, of course it is. This child is the rightful heir of House Sinclaire, and she carries the blood of House Magnificent. If Seras has no talent, then who in the world would? She has already undergone an aptitude test before, but confirming it once more puts my heart thoroughly at ease."

Lady Sinclaire expressed her joy without the slightest regard for the slight crumbling of her characteristic air of refinement. How to put it... she had the vibe of those overbearing tiger moms I'd seen a few times before I possessed this body.

Why don't I take a little peek myself?

I chanted an incantation too quiet to be heard by anyone else and concentrated my mana into my eyes. When I stared directly at Seras in that state, an information window floated up before my eyes. I clamped down hard on the exclamation that tried to burst out of me.

A concentrated mass of masochistic fetishes, in complete contrast to that crisp, put-together exterior. To wear a face that looked as if she'd stacked nothing but victories her entire life, while in her heart of hearts she craved a humiliating defeat... How faithfully she fulfilled her duty as a female! Seras seemed to possess just as much talent as a female as she did as a mage.

I rolled my eyes over to Lady Sinclaire, and once again visualized information came flooding in.

Like mother, like daughter — as if I'd expected anything else. The direction was subtly different from Seras's, but the densely packed masochistic fetishes were deeply impressive all the same.

Romantic sex. Kisses. Whispered endearments. Caresses. A collection of perverted fetishes that had absolutely nothing to do with any of that — fetishes dedicated to dragging a woman's dignity down with every ounce of force they could muster.

I hadn't even known them long, and already a sense of inner kinship with the two of them was welling up inside me. And at the same time, a surge of pity. These noble ladies, born with such fetishes and yet unable to recognize them and seize true happiness — I felt genuinely sorry for them.

I had to help them unleash that talent, that desire, for all it was worth!

"Incidentally, what level of instruction does the young lady desire? Does she intend to embark on a full-fledged study of magic?"

"Of course we do not go that far. Seras is the one who will inherit this territory in due time. Full-scale magical training to that extent is unnecessary."

Lady Sinclaire, declaring Seras the future heir without so much as a glance at any other possibility.

"It will be enough to shut the mouths of those ruffians who spout nonsense about how a woman is unsuited to combat and cannot defend the territory."

"I see. Then I shall prepare the curriculum accordingly."

"I have great expectations of you both. If you make our Seras into a mage against whom none would dare find fault, I promise you a very great reward. So grind your bones to dust and live up to those expectations."

Live up to her expectations, was it.

I bit back a smirk before I even realized I was doing it. She talked a good game for someone who was ignoring the expectation that ought to come before all others — the nature of the flesh itself.

I might have just gotten a sense of how I ought to go about changing this household.