Lia von Elleves (1)
“Oh, Cain. Are you all right?”
My brother spoke in an indifferent tone and reached out into the air. The crimson liquid I had just spewed gathered at the tips of his fingers, formed a neat sphere, and then flowed like water into the bottle.
It was an astonishing sight, but I was too busy choking and coughing to really watch. Clutching my throat, I suffered through it for a long while before finally getting myself under control and looking up at my brother.
“Haa... What, what did you just say?”
“I told you to calm down first and catch your breath before speaking, Cain.”
“Huff... I’m fine now. What did you just say, brother?”
“What did I say? I said I was sending you out as the young lady’s bodyguard.”
“I heard that much. What I’m asking is whether the person I’m supposed to serve is, in fact, the Empire’s greatest villainess—Lia von Elleves.”
“Lia von Elleves, the greatest villainess in the Empire? Cain, what are you talking about?”
My brother frowned as though he truly didn’t understand me and stared straight through me.
For a moment, I thought he was pretending not to know, even though he did, and I was just about to raise my voice.
“Brother, are you kidding me righ—”
But before I could finish the sentence, I realized that might not be the case.
Ah. Right. I was so rattled that it had taken me a little longer to remember, but the original novel’s villainess, Lia von Elleves, didn’t begin earning her infamous reputation until after the social debut event, when all the major characters gathered in one place.
She had tried to shame the heroine by picking apart her ignorance of noble etiquette, only to be humiliated instead by the male lead, who happened to appear at just the right moment. After that, she nursed a deep grudge against them both and subjected them to every kind of torment she could devise.
But the cruelty of it was too severe to brush off as a childish prank. Rumors slowly began to spread that the lady of House Elleves was a vicious villainess, and eventually those whispers reached the family head himself, becoming the spark that set her on the road to ruin...
“......”
That wasn’t important right now, so I set it aside for the moment. Lia von Elleves’s social debut, when she awakened as a villainess, was an event that took place three years before the coming-of-age ceremony.
That meant no one could possibly know she was the Empire’s greatest villainess before the young lady of House Elleves reached at least seventeen, right?
Having finished the calculations in my head, I spoke carefully.
“Brother. How old is Lia von Elleves?”
“She’s ten this year. She’s the same age as you, Cain.”
“......Ah.”
So that was it. No wonder my brother had reacted that way.
“So, Cain. Let me ask again: what do you mean by saying Lia von Elleves is the greatest villainess in the Empire?”
I couldn’t exactly say, “Lia von Elleves becomes the greatest villainess in the Empire seven years from now,” so I brushed it off as best I could.
“Ah... No, it’s nothing. I must have been mistaken for a moment.”
“Hmm, a mistake, is it.”
My brother looked me over suspiciously at the hastily improvised excuse, but he didn’t press me any further.
“Very well, if it was a mistake, there’s nothing to be done. But Cain, there’s something you need to understand...”
“Um, brother.”
It was rude to cut off one’s elder mid-sentence, but if I didn’t say it now, I felt like I’d lose my chance.
I looked my brother straight in the eye.
“Do I really have to be her bodyguard? I’m sorry to say this, but I don’t want to do it.”
“Oh? You don’t want to? And why is that?”
“Well, that’s...”
According to the original text, even before Lia von Elleves awakened as a villainess, she was already a spoiled noble lady who treated people around her however she pleased.
She had no concept of hierarchy, so speaking casually and looking down on people was basically built in. And wasn’t she even said to strike servants old enough to be her grandparents without hesitation?
I couldn’t remember every sin she’d committed—there were just too many—but anyway, becoming the bodyguard of a noble young lady drawn like a picture-perfect tyrant sounded like the start of a very long, very miserable road.
So if possible, I’d rather not be Lia von Elleves’s bodyguard. I’d rather serve some other kind noble lady instead—say, Princess Aris, who was the heroine’s ally in the original story.
“......Uh, the thing is...”
No matter how I thought about it, though, I couldn’t come up with a good enough reason to refuse Lia von Elleves’s bodyguard post.
After all, House Elleves was a famously wealthy count’s family even within the Empire, and if I attached myself to the daughter of the house and played spy, I was bound to get a flood of very useful information.
I knew that perfectly well, and so did my brother. With nothing convincing to use as an excuse, I could only work my lips silently, and my brother gave a small grin.
“Cain, I’ve always known you were bold. Still, I wonder what on earth could possibly scare you enough to make you want to avoid Lia von Elleves.”
He reached out with his right hand and patted my shoulder.
“I’ve told you this all the time, haven’t I? Paradise for those who flee...”
“...doesn’t exist.”
That was another line I’d heard countless times over the last ten years, so the rest slipped out of my mouth before I could stop it.
My brother’s shoulders rose in a pleased shrug, as if to say that was exactly right. I mulled over his words for a moment longer, and in the end, there was nothing for it.
“...Yes, understood.”
I accepted the position of Lia von Elleves’s bodyguard.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
To say that a noble young lady in a fantasy romance novel was a villainess was, in truth, a surprisingly old cliché.
Take Cinderella, for example. Even setting the heroine aside, there are three noble young ladies in that story, and every single one of them is a villainess with a vile personality.
The reason noble young ladies are always written as awful people is actually pretty simple. It makes conflict easier to create.
Isn’t it far easier to use a noble young lady who snaps at everyone with rude, casual speech than one who smiles brightly and treats everyone kindly?
...I’ve wandered a little off topic, but what I mean is this:
A villainess who is a noble young lady is supposed to have a nasty personality.
“...Hoo.”
Yes, I knew that was only natural, and I was prepared for it, but for some reason I still couldn’t shake the trembling in my chest.
I had sworn that no matter how she treated me, I wouldn’t show the slightest sign of irritation, and yet my heart was still thudding away. It seemed I still had a long way to go.
Needlessly tense, I walked down the corridor and idly fiddled with the hilt of the sword at my waist.
Apparently the rustling sound caught someone’s attention, because the old steward of House Elleves, who had been walking a little ahead of me, glanced back.
“Lord Cain, is something the matter?”
“Ah, no. I was just checking to make sure my sword was secure.”
“Hoho, checking, was it? Even the renowned third son of House Reinhardt gets nervous, I see.”
The gray-haired steward smiled with easy amusement.
I considered denying it, but it already felt as though he could see straight through me, so I admitted it honestly.
“Yes. It’s my first time meeting a count’s daughter in person.”
“Ah, I see. Then you would certainly have reason to be nervous. But there’s no need to worry too much. Our young lady of House Elleves may have a bit of a tomboy streak, but she has a warm heart.”
“Ah, yes...”
A noble young lady who spoke down to people, used casual speech, and hit servants as casually as she breathed had a warm heart? What on earth was wrong with this man?
I almost said that everyone already knew the young lady of the house had a rotten personality, so there was no need to butter me up with flattering nonsense, but I swallowed the words back down.
I hadn’t even started my first day as a bodyguard yet. There was no reason to pick a fight with the steward I’d have to keep seeing again and again.
Lost in these thoughts, I kept walking down the corridor until the steward ahead of me stopped.
“Lord Cain, that is the reception room.”
He pointed with his index finger toward the room at the end of the hallway.
“Lady Lia von Elleves, the young lady of House Elleves, is preparing to receive you.”
“......”
“Then I shall wait outside the reception room.”
When he finished speaking, the steward leaned back against the corridor wall. That meant I was to go in alone from here.
I passed him and took hold of the long handle fixed to the reception room door.
Then I took a short breath and slowly pushed it open.
Creak.
The reception room door opened with a loud groan.
I stepped forward with as much dignity as I could manage. Then I stopped before Lia von Elleves and knelt on one knee.
“Cain Reinhardt, third son of House Reinhardt, greets Lady Lia von Elleves.”
Of course, rank still mattered among nobles. House Reinhardt, the family I belonged to, was only a baronial house—the lowest of the five noble ranks.
Even if its practical power was on par with or greater than that of a count’s house, officially it still held the lowest title. So I bowed my head with all the respect I could muster.
“......”
According to imperial etiquette, a male noble of lower rank had to keep his head bowed when meeting the young lady of a house of higher rank.
He could only raise his head if the lady explicitly granted permission, or if they were so close that such formalities no longer mattered. The latter was usually impossible, so...
“...Ahem!”
Just as I was about to drift into irrelevant thoughts, I heard a cough from above my head.
Startled, I looked up at once and met Lia von Elleves’s gaze.
Huh...
She really did look like a villainess straight out of a novel.
Her face was still youthful, with the baby fat of childhood not yet gone, but her eyes were sharp, and her hair shone with the most beautiful shade of pink—an appearance that made it easy to believe the original novel’s description of her as a woman who would one day shake the Empire itself.
...I had been so captivated that I stared at Lia von Elleves without even realizing it, but only for a moment. I quickly gathered myself and tightened my resolve.
Don’t be fooled by the villainess’s looks, Cain Reinhardt. Beautiful roses always have sharp thorns.
“Hey.”
It took me a beat to realize that she was calling me.
“......Y-yes?”
Oh, no. Lia von Elleves was a notorious villainess. So even if she kicked or cursed me for answering slowly, it wouldn’t be strange.
Too late, I snapped to attention and tensed up. My throat bobbed as I swallowed hard.
As I was gulping down my dry saliva, Lia von Elleves came closer to me.
“Sir Knight.”
With a soft little motion, the woman who would someday become the Empire’s greatest villainess held something out to me.
And that something was...
“...Would you like to try this?”
—some very delicious-looking homemade cookies.