Ch.6Tea Party (1)

Time flows like running water. Just as the saying goes, “in the blink of an eye.”

While I was adjusting to life at the duke’s mansion, a week had already slipped away.

It was a time when I learned more about my position, and also built relationships with several maids.

Perhaps the most important thing was that Irene had started to find me uncomfortable.

“How is your shoulder?”

*Pouring sound*

I looked at Rofena, who had quietly approached and was pouring tea.

Despite becoming somewhat accustomed to this knight’s body, I hadn’t sensed her presence.

Perhaps I was too focused on my book. After scratching my cheek briefly, I shrugged and answered.

“It’s all healed now.”

A knight’s body was naturally robust, so even without using mana, shallow wounds would disappear without scarring in a day or two.

Perhaps this was why medicine wasn’t very advanced in this world.

Those who could handle mana could heal minor wounds instantly.

Rofena briefly looked at where the bandage had been, then sat across from me with the teapot.

She immediately pulled the cookie plate in front of me toward herself, making me smile faintly—she must have been quite eager for a snack.

“May I eat these?”

“I don’t really like sweet things. Go ahead.”

I wonder why she keeps using formal speech with me.

We’re the same age, and seeing how other maids speak comfortably to me, shouldn’t Rofena be speaking casually by now?

I stared blankly at Rofena as she stuffed cookies into her cheeks like a squirrel, then blinked and looked away.

Well, I’m sure she’ll speak casually eventually.

Looking back at the book in my hand, I found it fascinating how quickly I could focus on its contents.

It was strange that I could immediately understand the writing in this world to begin with.

Lately, I’d been finding reading quite enjoyable.

Yes, certainly better than that training.

Although I’d been appointed as a guard knight, I still hadn’t shed my apprentice status, so Sir Chris forced me to train from the crack of dawn.

I frowned involuntarily as I recalled his face, which seemed to say, “You’ve been doing this training every day anyway, so why are you surprised?”

The training I did in the military was child’s play compared to what I was doing here.

Training to dodge blades that constantly tried to kill me—it wasn’t training but a life-or-death situation.

At first, I thought about giving up and running away from the duke’s mansion.

Of course, I gave up on that idea, not confident I could escape through the strict security.

And there was one more concern: Irene Yuris, naturally.

The expectations that people in this mansion subtly placed on her. If I were to leave, she would be the one criticized.

“She can’t even manage her own guard.”

Whenever I thought about her being criticized, that distorted face I saw before kept coming to mind,

making me think it would be better to endure the training.

To think someone could crumble at just one kind word—what kind of words had she grown up hearing?

Come to think of it, I knew very little about Irene. At most, I knew about her final fate and her past from the novel.

I had vaguely sympathized with her out of pity, but actually experiencing her daily life was truly suffocating.

The books and papers I bought at the bookstore last time were for her assignments, and watching her read and discuss those books every day was exhausting just to witness.

And that wasn’t all—as the future Shield, she also learned swordsmanship from Sir Chris to develop the necessary strength.

Her days were incredibly packed, starting at dawn and ending at dawn again.

How could she live like that? What goal was she pursuing that allowed her to endure such a schedule?

Although my body was 15 years old, my mind was 25, so I couldn’t help but admire how she acted so maturely despite her young age.

“That was delicious. By the way, what book are you reading so intently?”

Having finished the cookies, Rofena brushed the crumbs from the corners of her mouth and asked me.

Since I’d only bought books once recently, the book I was reading now was naturally one that Irene had given me.

“Thirty Rules of Etiquette… for Nobles?”

Rofena tilted her head, seemingly wondering why I was reading such a book, so I took a sip of tea before speaking.

“She says I lack common sense.”

“…The young lady said that?”

“Yes, and apparently I shouldn’t call her ‘young lady.’ I guess she really doesn’t like me.”

As I tapped my head, Rofena looked at me with a chuckle.

Wondering if she was mocking me, I glanced at her, but she quickly shook her head and began to explain that she wasn’t laughing at me.

“I-I’m not mocking you.”

“Sure you aren’t.”

“I’m really not! I can swear on my bracelet.”

Rofena shook the purple beaded bracelet on her wrist as she spoke.

It was a gift from Irene, wasn’t it? I found it hard to imagine her giving such a gift to someone, but Rofena treasured it like her life.

If she was willing to stake that, she probably wasn’t lying.

When I nodded for her to continue, Rofena eagerly opened her mouth.

“My thoughts were a bit different. You think the young lady doesn’t like you, right?”

At those words, I recalled when Irene had summoned me a few days ago.

Puzzled by the sudden call, I asked what was wrong, only to have her glare at me with irritation.

‘What is the matter?’

‘You seem to think I need a reason to call for you. Don’t you think that’s negligent?’

The atmosphere from that cold gaze was like the harshness of midwinter, and I had to shiver under her chilly stare the entire time I was with her.

What had I done wrong? I had simply responded to her summons, so why was she irritated?

Though her expression remained unchanged, her tone was clearly laced with annoyance.

Frowning at the memory, I spoke in a blunt voice.

“She clearly dislikes me.”

“…Well, she does seem to treat you harshly on the surface. But if she really disliked you, she would have dismissed you long ago. The fact that you’re still serving as her guard knight suggests she finds you somewhat acceptable.”

“Did she used to fire people she didn’t like before?”

“Yes, she did. So when you look at it that way, the young lady actually likes you.”

As Rofena nodded, I let out a hollow laugh and leaned back in my chair.

Had I been walking on thin ice? I shuddered at the realization of my situation, which even I hadn’t been aware of.

It occurred to me that her irritable behavior might have been a test.

If so, had I been doing well for the past week?

Suddenly, I felt like patting myself on the head. If I were fired from here, my future would be bleak.

I barely knew anything about this world, and all I could do was wield a sword, which this body was naturally good at.

I might have had to become a mercenary if I were expelled from the duke’s mansion.

But that was just a thought. Whenever such thoughts crossed my mind, I frowned at the face that flickered in my memory.

That night, my first day as a guard knight, her face crumbling in the darkness flashed before my eyes again.

Her retreating figure that I couldn’t catch. Even Rofena, who had opened her eyes wide in surprise at Irene’s expression.

Before being her guard knight, I was a reader who had sympathized with the villainess Irene Yuris.

No matter how much she might curse at me, when I thought of the terrible end she would face, a corner of my heart still ached.

She died at 21, an age when she should have been blooming and showing her fragrance.

The fact that the flower was cut down under a cold blade weighed heavily on my heart.

Even if I left the duke’s mansion and wandered somewhere else, I would still remember the woman named Irene Yuris.

That night when I first read about her death, that fateful night that sent me into this novel’s world.

Remembering the tears I shed then, I gently touched the corner of my eye and quietly closed the book.

The emotions that surged again at the thought of her end made it difficult to continue reading.

“What are you thinking about so deeply?”

“Just that I should be more careful from now on.”

“Just act as you usually do. The young lady is quite perceptive, so she’ll notice quickly if your attitude changes.”

Oh my, she’s demanding in that aspect too.

A sigh escaped my lips, but seeing the empty teacup, I stood up from my seat.

If I just kept sitting here, Sir Chris would appear like a ghost and drag me to the training ground.

“Do you want help cleaning up?”

“No, I can take care of this.”

“Then I’ll go ahead. Let me know if the young… I mean, if the young mistress calls for me.”

“Yes, go ahead!”

Leaving behind the brightly smiling Rofena, I headed straight to my room.

I wanted to check something I had found in the room drawer a few days ago.

On the day of my possession, I didn’t have time to think due to the strange turn of events,

but in this situation of possession, the most important thing would be to know myself.

Evan Fried—the existence of the Fried Count family, which never appeared in the novel, bothered me, so when I thoroughly searched the room where I had been lying, something caught my eye.

[From Arthur Fried, who loves you.]

The rather clumsy handwriting made it easy to guess that it was a letter.

Arthur Fried must be my father.

Having never seen a father figure in my life, it felt a bit awkward, but looking at the paper, a hollow laugh escaped me.

“This seems really old.”

The yellowed paper looked quite aged no matter how I looked at it.

The paper, which must have been quite luxurious before, was stained and yellowed in places, indicating it had been rotting in a corner for at least a few years.

There were no other letters, so this must have been the last one received.

Why had this letter ended up like this?

The fact that the last letter from my father was so old could mean that I was an unfilial son who didn’t value my father much.

But if that wasn’t the case.

“…It means father was in a situation where he couldn’t send letters.”

A bitter taste filled my mouth.

The death of a family member—as the phrase “who loves you” suggested, the father-son relationship seemed quite good, making my hand holding the letter tremble slightly.

I hope the bad thing I’m thinking of didn’t happen.

After praying silently for a moment, I opened the packaging covering the letter.

If I examined the contents, I might learn something. Just as I took out the letter, I turned my head at the sound of footsteps beyond the door.

Heavy footsteps echoing in the corridor—there was probably only one person in this duke’s mansion who made such a sound.

Reluctantly putting the letter back in the drawer and turning around, Sir Chris appeared, opening the door with perfect timing.

“Evan, the young lady has summoned you. You’ll probably need to prepare for an outing, so get ready quickly.”

“Are we going to buy books again?”

According to Rofena, she goes to the bookstore every week, but when I asked this, Sir Chris shook his head and spoke.

“No, today the young lady is scheduled to attend a tea party held in this duke’s mansion. I can’t go this time, so you’ll have to accompany her.”

“Understood.”

As I picked up the sword on the desk and answered, Sir Chris nodded once and disappeared from sight with those heavy footsteps.

I was curious about the contents of the letter, but recalling the conversation I had with Rofena earlier, I immediately began to prepare.

She was probably testing me, and if I were late in preparing, she would surely give me that cold look again.

My face was deeply furrowed as I recalled those blue, frosty eyes looking at me.