“Let’s go, Count.”
Philip spoke cheerfully from behind.
“I put the five sacks of wheat over there. Let’s go together.”
“Ho ho ho! I was already looking around, but it absolutely wasn’t because of the five sacks of wheat! Still, how on earth did Seorth obtain wheat?”
Wheat didn’t grow in the central region.
Even five sacks of it would be extremely valuable.
The night before, I had told everyone this:
“If an outsider asks, just say you don’t know.”
There was no need to advertise that it had anything to do with a black mage.
As expected, Philip answered exactly as instructed.
“Ahahaha! It’s all thanks to our Lady Brisa—who graduated second in her class from the Capital Academy, speaks five languages, has perfect court etiquette, and was even invited to Her Majesty the Empress Dowager’s banquet! How could people like us possibly fathom the depth of her wisdom?”
That… wasn’t exactly what I’d told him to say.
Anyway, Alphius walked all the way to the marquis’s residence with me in his arms.
Dangling from his embrace, I pressed him.
“Explain what happened.”
I was too curious about the situation to let it go, so I threatened him first.
“If you don’t, I’m getting down.”
The war hero surrendered immediately.
“Well, you see, I survived thanks to your gift. But the poor Awakening Herb, um… in the end, it completed its brilliant life.”
“It had already completed its life and been dried.”
“Thanks to it, we saved the Second Prince and all survived—but then the warp broke, of all things. Waiting helplessly while perfectly fine… well, that felt terribly shameful to the Awakening Herb I carry in my heart.”
“You mean in your stomach.”
Replying calmly, I quietly set my goal for my relationship with Alphius.
He was the protagonist of this world, and there was nothing to gain from being on bad terms with him.
As my mother had advised, sharpening my claws would only hurt me in the end.
Alphius was now the master of Seorth, and I was practically in his grasp.
That was why I’d given him the Awakening Herb in the first place.
In the end, it had helped him, so it wasn’t a bad first step.
We should be able to live together in moderate peace.
Unlike the original story, the Second Prince survived, and Alphius didn’t fall into corruption.
But there was a side effect.
Even the clothes Alphius wore failed to “corrupt.”
Unable to endure it any longer, I stared at the floral handkerchief dangling in front of my eyes and said,
“Take off that horrible floral handkerchief right now.”
Getting along peacefully was not the same as living without saying what needed to be said.
I had saved him from a crisis. That gave me the right to speak on behalf of everyone.
“It’s an eyesore.”
Alphius panicked.
“Huh? This is, um… an expression of my belief in protecting beautiful nature—”
“Keep your beliefs in your heart. Not in your fashion.”
“Wait, don’t pull it! It’ll tear!”
“That saves me the trouble. I was planning to shred it and throw it away anyway. We can’t risk someone accidentally recycling it.”
He’d gone to the imperial palace wearing that thing around his neck. Truly a tragedy for House Seorth—and an act against the public good of the Empire. I had to prevent any recurrence at all costs.
Even though Alphius is the Marquis of Seorth now.
Since I’d stopped his corruption, I felt some responsibility.
Protecting the value of this name still feels like my job…
Even if I hadn’t inherited the title, my surname was still Seorth. His reputation affected mine as well.
The precious reputation I preserved by suppressing both laughter and tears, just to avoid being called crazy!
If this continued, Alphius would be completely ignored by noble society.
Encouraged by the supportive looks from the knights, I continued.
“If you’re going to keep using that face like that, go ask God for a refund. We’ll add it to the household budget. No—better yet, refund the soul and keep the face. That’s the best future for the marquisate.”
“Is that even possible?”
“I’m planning to look for a way starting tomorrow. I just added it as a candidate for my new academic plan.”
“Uh… that’s a joke, right?”
“And it’d be better not to make that ‘uh’ sound. It’s far too uncultured for a marquis.”
“Really? Got it. I’ll fix it right away. Uh… how do I fix—ah, damn it.”
“It’s simple. If you get hit on the calves every time you say ‘uh,’ you’ll fix it quickly.”
I looked down at Alphius’s overly sturdy calves.
He frowned and asked,
“What… did you say?”
“Don’t worry. If you apply ointment, it won’t scar. There’s plenty left at home.”
At that, even Wendy—who was hurriedly disposing of the discarded floral handkerchief behind us—froze.
After a brief silence, Alphius asked slowly,
“Did you… also get hit on the calves?”
Good heavens. Surely he wasn’t putting me on the same level as himself.
I snorted.
“At least I wasn’t punished for saying ‘uh.’ In my case, it was ‘uhh…’”
There was a big difference between “uh” and “uhh.” At least, I thought so.
But Alphius’s eyes widened.
“When?”
“When I was six.”
“What? Who the hell would lay a hand on a child that young—”
“My mother.”
I said calmly.
Behind us, Wendy quietly pressed her forehead.
I felt Alphius’s body stiffen.
Tilting my head slightly, I reassured him.
“Well, she’s already passed away, so I won’t press charges for attempted murder.”
“I… I see. Uh, let’s hurry inside and sleep. Children shouldn’t stay up this late.”
“Well, if you keep saying ‘uh,’ I’ll stay up even later correcting you.”
By the time we arrived at the marquis’s residence—
The maids rushed out, and just then Alphius said,
“So, Bribri, I’m finally asking. How have you been? What happened? Was anything hard for you?”
Wait.
I’m pretty sure I just heard something strange, terrible, and deeply unsettling.
“…Bribri? Don’t tell me that’s what you’re calling me?”
“Huh? Uh… isn’t it cute as a nickname?”
Alphius winked again.
“You can call me Oppa Alphi too. How about it?”
The triple attack left me dizzy.
I took a moment to steady my breathing, then spoke to the maids.
“Call Rancy. We need to allocate a budget to send to the temple.”
“The temple?”
“Yes. We need to dispatch a priest.”
Holding back tears, I made a decision for the sake of the Seorth marquisate.
“For the honor of the house, we don’t need a soul like this. I’m going to reserve an exorcism that leaves only the shell behind.”
“Bribri—”
“What are you waiting for? This is urgent.”
Faced with my firm resolve, Alphius was defeated.
“I’m sorry, Brisa! I’ll call you Brisa!”
“From now on, keep the evil spirit in your heart properly sealed. If it awakens, it’ll be a disaster, so manage it well. Now, put me down.”
Reluctantly, Alphius set me down.
I brushed off my skirt and looked up at him.
The same platinum-blond hair and sky-blue eyes as mine…
I had never known how to rely on family.
Even when I was left alone in the territory and had to prepare for isolation, I wasn’t overly shaken. I’d never trusted anyone to begin with.
You mustn’t believe in family.
I steeled my heart.
In the original story, Alphius and Brisa never lived together. There’s no telling how he might change now.
My mother cherished me deeply—except on nights when her madness flared, when she couldn’t even recognize me. She would rampage and end up locked in her room.
My father was no different.
He never once looked at me warmly, always searching for his eldest son. One day, drunk, he said this:
“While you and your mother live comfortably here… my child may be suffering somewhere right now. So, Brisa, even paying attention to you makes me feel guilty.”
Even then, all I could see was my father’s back. I didn’t want to see it again.
So rather than that, I would close my heart first and just live moderately, peacefully—
“Huh? Isn’t that the Marquis? Or am I seeing a ghost in the middle of the night? When did you die? What lingering regrets brought you all the way here?”
Rancy came running out from inside the residence.
“I just ran here. I’m not dead. I don’t have any lingering regrets yet. Ah, I skipped dinner…”
Wait.
“I’m just a little hungry, haha.”
What?
Hungry?
After all that hardship abroad, arriving home—and he’s hungry?
My eyes flashed.
That was impossible.
