Boyhood (5): The Room Across the Hall
Leonhardt had issued his declaration of war out of nowhere.
"What are you doing? Hurry up and get in!"
Serifina popping her head out of the carriage shattered the moment.
Leonhardt thought for a long while, then put on a show of artificial kindness.
"It's still a ways to the Inner Castle, so ride with Sir Sero."
"Yes, sir."
As he had for the past three days, Edwin mounted with Sero's help.
The moment Leonhardt drew up beside the carriage on his own horse, Sero spoke quietly.
"Don't be too frightened. His Young Lordship is fond of Lady Serifina, so that remark of yours came as something of a shock. That's likely why he's formed a prejudice against you."
"I hope you're right."
Talking to a normal person after hanging around that lunatic is such a relief.
The carriage moved at a leisurely pace through the city and into the Inner Castle.
Edwin was immediately awestruck.
Whoa. This is actually insane.
The Inner Castle — the practical living quarters of everyone belonging to the Erhardt ducal house. The structure of the place had appeared in the game as well, rendered in that polished promotional-art style, with labels floating over a vast screen: fountain, garden, training grounds, library.
Seeing it in person, the scale was mind-blowing.
This is inside a city?
He'd joked about comparing it to a royal palace — and the grounds really were that vast. Even the single fountain that had been a tiny prop in the game was roughly the size of a soccer field. The full garden sprawled across maybe four more.
If every zone from the game is this big, the whole place has to be something like fifty or sixty soccer fields.
So this was what a ducal house looked like. The power and wealth he'd only known as text now pressed so close he could almost feel them on his skin.
At some point Serifina had stuck her head out of the carriage again, chattering excitedly every time they passed a new section.
"This is my fountain!"
"This is my tree!"
"This is my pond!"
"This is my rock!"
It was so absurd he almost laughed.
The rock's yours too, huh.
Sure enough, a single stone sat on a display stand that didn't even match the garden.
The game started at academy enrollment, so I never knew — but this is what Serifina's childhood was like when her mother was still alive.
Brighter and cuter than I expected.
"Heh-heh!"
She randomly shows off at the weirdest times, but I guess that's just being a kid.
There's no way she's a regressor.
"This is the lodging for provisional unit members," Sir Sero informed them as they passed one area.
Besides the residential building, the grounds included a dining hall, training yard, stables, and more.
Kind of looks like an elementary school layout.
Was that how noble estates were supposed to be structured? Or was this just the proud work of a Korean game designer?
"From now on, you will—"
"No."
Leonhardt, who had stopped asking questions at some point, cut in abruptly.
"You may rest, Sir. I'll guide him the rest of the way myself."
"My lord would see to it personally?"
"Is that a problem?"
"...No, my lord."
Whoa. I didn't think Sir Sero had it in him.
The same guy who talks back to the Duchess and Serifina turns into a lamb in front of Leonhardt.
Though if Leonhardt were my boss, I'd probably do the same.
And personally guiding his little sister's friend is... reasonably logical? I guess?
"Mother, you should rest as well. After such a long journey, the fatigue must have piled up."
"Shall I? Come along, my darling. Let's go rest with Mama."
"But I want to play with Edwin more..."
"When you've been out and come home, there are things you need to do first. You can play after that."
Serifina was led away by her mother. Leonhardt waited until the two of them were out of sight, then spoke.
"Follow me."
Edwin found himself treated to the luxury of a personal room tour from the heir of a ducal house.
Getting this kind of VIP treatment on day one.
In a few days Leonhardt's going to show up at my door with a sword, isn't he.
Edwin shuddered involuntarily. Leonhardt, who didn't miss the reaction, narrowed his eyes.
He didn't tremble when he was with Serifina. Now he's scared, is he.
The reaction of a spy unsettled at being separated from the people he'd built trust with?
Leonhardt was a predator born at the very top of the food chain. He was never going to pass up a chance to sink his teeth into prey.
"What's your favorite food?"
"...Pardon?"
What kind of approach is this now.
Are we on a blind date or something.
"Answer."
"I like meat."
"I asked about food."
"What would a commoner like me know? Skewered meat roasted over a fire is what I like best, though."
"Emphasizing that you're a commoner, I see."
Ugh, this psycho bastard.
"Hobbies?"
"Nothing in particular."
"What did you do often in daily life?"
"I used to learn hunting from my father, and in between I'd carve arrows, smoke meat, and tan hides."
"Did you enjoy it?"
"I think so."
"That is a hobby."
What. My real hobbies were reading web novels and gaming.
"If you were a hunter, your stamina should be decent."
"Yes, sir."
Leonhardt kept asking trivial, nitpicking questions. Edwin's tension eased bit by bit.
He goes on about spies, but everything he actually asks is pure small talk.
Then again — asking "Who sent you?" straight out would be the move of an idiot. Starting with trivialities and working toward critical information was the correct approach. Most spy stories with halfway-smart characters did it that way.
But this body's background is squeaky clean.
No matter how hard he digs, all he'll find is a hunter's son from a mountain village of fewer than fifty people. No need to overthink my answers.
Along the way, Edwin noticed something odd. There were traces of people who had passed ahead of them. Carriage wheel tracks marked the garden soil, and at the edge of his vision he could even see the rear of a carriage.
Oh man.
We looked too friendly, so he deliberately split us up?
That is seriously petty.
Once he reclassified the whole string of questions from spy interrogation to the hysterics of a siscon sulking over his little sister, the last of his tension drained away.
Bark all you want. I'm not going to care.
But the path they were taking was strange. The escorting soldiers and knights fell away, and they entered what was clearly the most luxurious mansion on the grounds.
"My lord."
"Have the fifth room from the left on the fourth floor prepared."
"...Surely you don't mean to give that room to this boy?"
"Why not."
"...I'll inform the maids."
Even the exchange with the man who looked like a butler.
Why did he bring me all the way here? I figured I'd just share the knights' lodging.
The butler went up the stairs. Leonhardt stopped and continued his strange questions.
"Favorite food?"
"Meat skewered and roasted over a fire. I already told you."
"Consistent, at least. Can you use a sword?"
"I've handled a butcher's knife for slaughtering."
"You can shoot a bow, I assume?"
"I only recently got strong enough to draw a string, so I'm not very good."
How long is this going to go on.
Given that he ordered the room prepared, is he planning to keep me pinned until it's done?
"Can you read?"
"I pestered a bard who stopped in our village into teaching me a few letters, but I don't know them well."
"So those peculiar manners of yours came from the bard as well?"
"Yes, sir."
He even invents the excuses for me.
Jackpot...
"What's Serifina's favorite food?"
"Cake. Strawberry cake from Dangkeuseongsimeu in the capital, specifically..."
Ah.
The moment Edwin realized his mistake and cut himself off, Leonhardt's eyes flashed.
"You know my sister's favorite food. Down to the menu of her absolute favorite shop."
Don't panic.
Given Serifina's personality, bragging about what she likes is completely natural. So saying I heard it on the way here is totally plausible.
"I heard it on the road."
Thud.
Leonhardt seized Edwin's shoulder. He squeezed hard enough that it hurt.
"Of course you did."
The pressure from Leonhardt mounted. Edwin was starting to get irritated too.
Okay, there's a limit to suspicion.
If it weren't for me, your mother would be dead and your sister would be drowning in trauma. At this point you're treating me like a criminal, not a benefactor.
Even reasonable doubt has limits. You're seriously acting like this?
I can't take it anymore.
"So this is how a ducal house treats its benefactors."
"Oh?"
"I risked my life to report the bandits' presence. Of course, the knights and soldiers were there to stop the attack — but I was still the one who prevented a potential disaster, wasn't I?"
"Caught out, so now you raise your voice."
"If you're going to keep suspecting me, just send me away. I'll go back to the village I came from."
The demand to simply be thrown out. Of course he hadn't blurted it without thinking.
In the original story, Serifina — whether in the first timeline or the second — displayed a peculiar possessiveness toward anyone she considered her own. To her, Edwin was the first friend she'd ever made. She already thought of him as closer than ordinary subordinates, even closer than her own family.
Would she really allow him to leave the ducal house?
Even if Leonhardt agrees, Serifina will stop it.
So this was Edwin's trump card — a gambit to demonstrate sincerity, prove he wasn't a spy, and shake off this annoying Leonhardt.
Just as Edwin expected, Leonhardt's thinking shifted.
If he were a spy, he wouldn't try to leave the ducal house no matter how much suspicion he faced. Is he really not one?
But this attitude isn't commoner-like either.
Looking at Edwin, who met his gaze without flinching, Leonhardt thought:
Even if he isn't a spy, he definitely has secrets he's hiding.
Interesting.
"...Very well."
It worked.
I didn't expect it to land this cleanly.
Still, shaking off that ridiculous suspicion is a win.
While Edwin was relaxing, the butler reappeared.
"My lord. The room is ready."
"Good."
Leonhardt started up the stairs. Edwin scrambled after him and arrived at the fifth room on the fourth floor.
"This will be your room from now on. You must be tired as well, so get some rest."
"Thank you."
Edwin was about to open the door and go in when—
"Ah. One moment."
He turned at the call and saw Leonhardt opening the door to the room directly across the hall.
"Fourth floor, fifth room from the left."
"?"
"It's across from my room."
"..."
"Even if you sneak out at night, I'll know immediately."
"That won't be happening."
"Is that so."
His expression might as well have had the words I don't believe you written across it.
Edwin despaired.
Wait. I thought we cleared the suspicion.