The First Misunderstanding
There are times when words must be chosen carefully, depending on the moment and the situation. But there are also moments when, no matter how grave the circumstances or reasons, those words must be spoken without hesitation.
“I got lost. Do you know where Class 1-F is?”
In other words, this country girl who had come up to the city for the first time in her life was in a far more troublesome situation than the boy curled up and crying in the corner.
“Wh-what the hell are you?!”
“Eres. I’m from Respia.”
“Who cares! Get lost! J-just leave me alone!”
“Even if you tell me to go, I don’t know where to go.”
The overwhelming sense of defeat that had filled Tarle’s mind began to fade, quickly replaced by irritation. What was with this woman? Respia? That backwater village famous for its creepy witch legends. If she came from a place like that, she had to be beneath him. Whether this line of thinking was something he had acquired after growing up as an arrogant noble, or simply Tarle’s innate instinct, no one could say.
The moment a weaker, more insignificant person appeared before him, his despair peeled away and his natural rough, violent personality surged back to the surface.
“Are you mocking me? Just because I’m sitting here like this, you think I look—”
But even that fiery violence was snuffed out in an instant. Fire, after all, is the result of intense movement. A fire that has stopped is no different from one that has been extinguished.
“I don’t think you’re funny. I’m in trouble too.”
What could he even say? Tarle’s emotions refused to listen to reason. As the eldest son of a prestigious family, he had seen plenty of beautiful women. Could some country girl possibly be more beautiful than the young ladies of noble houses or even a princess of the realm? Absolutely not.
Her somewhat unkempt black hair, her height that was tall for a woman, her slender build, the way she looked down at him, those precarious eyes. Every element was the complete opposite of his taste, yet he couldn’t tear his gaze away from the result.
“Could you tell me where Class 1-F is? I’d really appreciate it if you showed me the way.”
What the hell is with this woman…!
Despite being a lowly commoner, she spoke to him—a noble—in the tone one might use with a child. It was gentle, yet unmistakably condescending. Under normal circumstances, Tarle would have flown into a rage at such an attitude.
“……Follow me.”
He swallowed quietly. Once again, his emotions had failed to convince his reason. Normally he should have subdued her and restored his wounded pride. But perhaps because he had grown so weak, right now he simply wanted to lean on this strangely captivating woman.
It wasn’t that he had given up on persuasion. He had simply given up on making excuses. After all, he had always lived according to his emotions without much thought.
“Why did you get lost? They gave the new students maps, didn’t they?”
“I left it in the dormitory.”
“The dormitory? Didn’t you go to the orientation first?”
“I came with my little sister.”
“Ah, I see.”
Would her sister have a similar aura of beauty? In truth, Tarle hadn’t wanted to attend the orientation. Not after being humiliated in front of everyone. Spending time with this beautiful pair of sisters(?) was far more interesting.
“……Hey, the orientation’s already started. Want to skip it and go have some fun?”
“My sister is waiting for me.”
“Then bring your sister along—”
“No.”
“……Fine, whatever.”
Admission Day 1 — Complete Disaster!
Since Eres hadn’t been late, she probably hadn’t run into Senior Gabea. And without that senior who would have such a massive impact on her adaptation to the academy, the future events would surely change too.
Why the hell did that bastard Tarle come so early and talk to me…!
He probably came early just to see me. Damn it. Now all I can do is pray. I hope he already finished harassing Eres before entering the classroom.
“Mel. Let’s put off going back to the dorm for a bit.”
“I already said I’m not going.”
“I’m not suggesting we drink. I’m going to find Eres.”
I already knew the routes she would take. If she had been late like in the original story, I would have seen her there. I’d just watch from a little distance.
“Aren’t you excited? You’re finally going to meet your older sister.”
After becoming a count, I had been too busy to keep up with news. According to Cardo’s reports, there had been some progress, but even he had grown busy, so I had only received written updates.
If Eres can defeat the current me, I’ll be able to trust her with things from now on. If she’s only at about seventy percent, I’ll just pretend we’re evenly matched.
“Maybe today will be the last day you have to wear that outfit…”
“What are you even saying? We still have so much work to do.”
“Huh?”
“You forced me into the men’s dormitory and got us assigned to that abandoned corner room, remember? We have to spend all our time cleaning and unpacking.”
“If Eres beats me, you won’t have to do any of that. Doesn’t that give you hope that you’ll finally be free of me soon?”
She probably looked calm on the outside, but inside she must be swelling with anticipation. It had been six years since I had even properly called her by name. Three years of forcing her into all kinds of harsh labor. Every single time, I had gaslit her by saying that if Eres defeated me, she would take her away, that her sister would set her free.
On the surface she was a cold, irritable maid, but deep down she must have been shedding hot tears while dreaming of reuniting with her sister!
“There’s no way my sister could ever defeat you. Are you stupid?”
“Y-you—! What are you saying?! I have so much hope riding on Eres, how can you say something like that!!!”
I poured so much hope into you, you can’t say something so weak! Have hope! Why are you giving up!!
“……? You were saying all that seriously every time?”
“O-of course it was serious!! You can’t deny Eres who’s working so hard to become stronger for your sake…”
“I obviously thought you were just mocking me. Who would believe something like that?”
“I-I was sincere!”
“Master, your true nature is showing.”
Oops. My mistake. Fortunately, there was no one else in the classroom. Everyone had fled outside to avoid the trash who had already started a fight on the first day.
“Haa…… let me organize this. The reason I came to the academy was to meet Eres. Putting anything above Eres would be putting the cart before the horse.”
“Please stop obsessing over my sister. The reason you came to the academy was to learn the basic education required of a count, wasn’t it?”
“I don’t care about that! If I wanted to learn count duties, I would have taken private lessons from Rin!”
“Sigh…… If that was the case, you should have met her this morning. You had plenty of time. What were you doing that you’re only doing this now?”
“That’s because…!”
That’s how the scenario was supposed to go! Who would have thought it would go off the rails from the very beginning? If I had known, I would have managed things more closely. I deliberately…… deliberately tried my best to avoid meeting the existing characters as much as possible…!
“Lord Luke, you look pathetic.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“You sometimes make expressions that are embarrassing for others to see. Please restrain yourself at the academy.”
“That’s the first time I’ve ever heard that in my life.”
“Because I never said it before.”
Melina began preparing to leave with an indifferent expression. Why? No matter what, after six years, shouldn’t she be excited to see her older sister? This couldn’t be…
Her heart has grown distant…
It felt like the breath was being squeezed out of me. The reason Melina met such a tragic end in the original story. First, she had lost all hope of ever escaping, and had come to depend on the viscount beside her. To prevent that, I had constantly reminded her of Eres and isolated her so she couldn’t depend on anyone.
The latter had been prevented by making sure she couldn’t form emotional connections with anyone. But it seemed I hadn’t been able to stop her from losing hope.
“This is bad.”
“What is? Stop saying weird things and let’s go back to the dorm—”
“You must respect your sister.”
“?”
Eres is a hard worker who studied diligently to reunite with her younger sister and entered the academy. She felt bitter about her lack of power and obtained the magic sword, but she never showed off that power and only used it to help others. Even as no one remembered her and she slowly died inside, she fought to save others and protected the world. She is a true hero. Of course, if you make the wrong choices she’ll let everything be destroyed, but that’s only an IF ending.
These mere 157 characters are not enough to convey Eres’s nobility and greatness. And no, this is not because I’m an Eres otaku.
“Cancel today’s schedule. We’re going to monitor Eres.”
“What do you mean, cancel it arbitrarily? Cleaning is my job, not yours?”
“Does the master need to consider the maid’s circumstances? You should adjust to my schedule.”
“Your so-called schedule is just stalking my sister. Do you really think it’s normal to drag me along with you?”
“It’s not stalking! I’m just showing you your sister after such a long time! Why are you refusing!”
I’m not a bad person. It’s a perfectly normal thought to let family meet each other. Even if it’s only from a distance.
But this insolent maid, instead of being moved, clutched her chest and looked at me with eyes full of contempt.
“To make someone who became a servant and ended up serving her enemy meet her sister… just how much humiliation are you trying to inflict on me…?”
“……!”
Critical hit. She really had grown distant! She had given up on hope out of despair and was trying to forget her family! If this continued, even after being rescued she wouldn’t be able to overcome her self-loathing and would head straight for a bad ending.
“Mel. I finally understand you.”
“If you understand, then thank you. In that case, let’s hurry back and clean—”
“You need treatment.”
“Pardon?”
Before it gets any worse! Right now! I’ll make her interact with Eres and ease her self-loathing!
Having made up my mind, I wrapped my arms around Melina’s waist and lifted her up.
“Wh-what are you doing?!”
“We’re going to Eres.”
“Aaaah seriously! Why is it that you can never communicate properly?!”
Slap! Slap!
Melina struck my back with all her strength.
“Let go of your strength! Why do you only get sturdy when you’re being unreasonable!”
This wasn’t the time to indulge her tantrums!
“She should be at Training Ground 3 by now. Let’s go!”
“How do you even know that?! You habitual kidnapper!”
**
“E……etchu!”
“Want a handkerchief?”
“I told you I don’t need one several times! Here, my…… it’s all wet now.”
Tarle blushed and put his own handkerchief away. He didn’t want to use Eres’s handkerchief either, so he simply wiped his nose on his sleeve.
“That’s the fifth time already. Are you sure you didn’t catch a cold?”
“Shut up! Just show me the…… e-etchu! Uuu…… why do I feel so chilly?”
“Kyahaha! This is divine punishment for speaking rudely to your senior. Come on, say ‘Senior Gabea.’”
“As if I would ever…… etchuu! E-etchuuuu!!”
“That one sounded bad. Senior Gabea, how about we stop by the infirmary first?”
“Maybe I should. It might be better to rest today.”
The reason Gabea said that was connected to the disaster that had occurred before the orientation. The continuous sneezing was probably because the mental shock from that time hadn’t fully healed yet.
But.
It wasn’t a mental shock at all.
“Mel, that trash just yelled at Senior Gabea. This means I can kill him, right?”
“Who is that person? Isn’t he someone we’re seeing for the first time today?”
Survival instinct.
Five minutes later, Tarle began limping from an inexplicable chill, and today’s guidance came to an end.