Hooray! Become a Noble Young Lady! Hooray! 6

Taylor, walking with Alice through the Arbentaine Grand Duke’s residence, let out a deep sigh.

She couldn’t understand her mother’s feelings or how she had lived her life, no matter how hard she tried.

“Still… I don’t really get it either. Mother isn’t stupid. She knew better than anyone that Dehite, that piece of trash, was lusting after her too…”

How interesting.

To think about how someone lives when they have no choice, even when they know what’s happening.

Jestiel probably never told Taylor anything about the life she had lived.

That her talent was stolen by the Arbentaine Family and Dehite, and that even though Dehite was acting in a morally reprehensible way, she still wanted his success and advancement, even if it was only through vicarious satisfaction.

There might have been a taboo preventing her from speaking, but who would listen to Jestiel when her talent had been completely plundered?

She probably thought that no one would understand even if she spoke.

‘Well, I won’t know until I meet Jestiel in person and have a long conversation with her.’

“Oh? Where did that child go?”

“Who?”

“You know, that cute kid, Marlang.”

Marlang had disappeared at some point.

The Arbentaine Grand Duke’s residence was incredibly large, but Taylor couldn’t quite understand how she had disappeared in such a short time.

“Our Marlang is curious, for better or worse. Maybe she saw the Grand Duke’s residence, which is like a palace she’s never seen before, and went on an adventure?”

“Shouldn’t we look for her?”

“She can take care of herself. It’s okay.”

“I hope so…”

Just then, men in black suits blocked Alice and Taylor’s path.

“Excuse me, Miss.”

Alice knew that their clothes weren’t just ordinary suits.

They were made of magical defense fiber with bulletproof and stab-proof capabilities.

They were said to be able to block attacks from Awakened or monsters below B-rank, and one of those suits was so expensive that you could buy an entire residential building with it.

【Military supplies. Resources that are forbidden to be owned by those who do not belong to the Ark Expedition Member.】

‘So, they’re not something an Arbentaine Family employee should have.’

And yet, they were carrying military supplies so casually…

Another piece of evidence that they were preparing for war.

Ha, but being called “Miss” already gives me the creeps.

I was originally a man, and after coming to this world, I’ve been so busy that I haven’t really paid attention to my gender, but now that I’m suddenly being treated like a woman, I feel a bit strange.

“What’s the Third Combat Secretariat doing here? I was going to take Alice with me.”

“The Third Combat Secretariat?”

“…Think of them as the family’s private soldiers. Until recently, they were basically under Dehite’s command.”

“Ah. That good-for-nothing’s…”

Taylor stood in front of the men as if to protect Alice.

However, the employees only glanced at Taylor and didn’t seem to be backing down.

It was only for a moment, but Alice sensed a subtle mockery in the men’s expressions towards Taylor.

“I apologize, Miss Taylor. His Excellency has ordered us to bring Miss Alice to him.”

“What’s the reason?”

“I cannot say.”

“Ha.”

Taylor clicked her tongue, as if she had expected it.

‘What’s going on? Are mere employees trying to have a battle of wills with the family’s daughter?’

Even the employees were acting like this.

The Combat Secretariat didn’t seem to be disrespectful to Taylor, but the atmosphere made it feel like they were completely ignoring her.

It was probably because Taylor wasn’t the heir to the Arbentaine Family.

“Sorry, Taylor. Looks like the new kid on the block is a bit popular.”

“Are you already showing off because you’re pretty? You’re kind of shameless like Dehite.”

“Wow, those are some harsh words.”

Fortunately, Taylor was able to laugh at Alice’s joke before her pride was hurt by the employees’ disregard.

“Anyway, go. I don’t know what Father will say. Stop by my room when you’re done. We’re family who will be living under the same roof now, so it would be nice for sisters to have a chat, right?”

“That is not allowed.”

However, the men in black seemed to want to scratch at Taylor’s pride, as they openly said it was not allowed.

Seeing that, Alice immediately realized.

These Combat Secretariat bastards were trying to undermine her.

And to the Arbentaine Family’s daughter, no less.

‘Ah, I see. They have some ability and are employed by the head of a meritorious family, so their self-esteem must be sky-high. Besides, Taylor doesn’t have much of a stake or power in the Arbentaine Family to begin with… They must have originally been loyal to Dehite Arbentaine, the heir. Is it a daily occurrence for them to ignore and make fun of the daughter, even though they’re just employees?’

As if my prediction was correct, Taylor’s face twisted.

“Unlike Miss Taylor, Miss Alice has important schedules afterward.”

“She can meet me after her schedule is over.”

“Without the Lord’s permission, a private meeting between Miss Taylor and Miss Alice cannot be allowed.”

“Ha, I’m a duchess of Arbentaine. And you’re saying I need your permission to meet my sister?”

“That is correct.”

Taylor’s eyes narrowed.

It wasn’t a one- or two-day thing for the employees to cross the line and send subtle contempt, but today was particularly awful.

Perhaps these employees wanted to get on the good side of Alice, the family’s new adopted daughter who would fill Dehite’s vacancy.

They were saying this:

Miss Alice, not Taylor, is the real power in the family.

Although she’s an adopted daughter, Miss Alice will be a precious person in the future.

So, there’s no need for Miss Alice to cater to Taylor, who isn’t the real power.

That’s roughly what they meant.

Of course, that might not be the case.

It could be an indirect declaration that these employees would ignore me, the new kid on the block, just like they did with Taylor.

And I didn’t care about the power dynamics or the situation. I just didn’t like these bastards’ behavior right now.

“Hey.”

“Yes? Ack!”

“A, Alice!?”

I grabbed the employee who kept interrupting and trying to embarrass Taylor by the neck and slammed him against the wall.

He seemed like someone who was hired for a decent amount of money, but he was still clearly slower than me.

My speed, as indicated by the status window ability, was currently 114.

Assuming that the average ability of a First-Class Overseer was 100, it was only natural that the employees here couldn’t even react to my speed.

-Crack!

“Kuh, ugh…!”

“Shh. Taylor. This bastard ignored you. How can I, as your older sister, stand by when my younger sister is being ignored?”

“No, still, he’s Father’s employee…! And we agreed to treat each other comfortably as peers!”

“Oh, did we? Then I’ll only call you ‘sister’ for now.”

“Kuh, ugh…!”

The man’s eyes, visible through his sunglasses, were bloodshot and twisted.

“What… what are you doing…? Ugh!”

“Hmm, what am I doing? Want to guess?”

“If… if the Lord finds out about this…!”

“Did you give Perdain a blowjob or something to get his favor?”

“Wh, what outrageous nonsense…!”

“If not, why are you so talkative? Ah, now that I see it, it’s not that this bastard is so loyal, but that he’s trying to get some perverse satisfaction by secretly disrespecting my younger sister?”

“Stop it!”

“Even if you’re the lord’s daughter, you can’t treat the chief secretary like that!”

“Let him go immediately!”

The other employees, not expecting me to move so suddenly, finally panicked and tried to draw the swords from their waists.

“Oh, are you going to draw your swords? Didn’t you call me ‘Miss’? Are the Arbentaine’s employees in such a great profession that they draw their swords at the daughter, interrupt her, and ignore her?”

“N, no matter what, we are the Lord’s Combat Secretariat! We’re not just employees, but we serve the family in an equal position…!”

“Ah, I don’t want to hear it.”

I took off my gloves and threw them at the employees.

“…!”

They must know what it means to throw gloves in the Ruincrest layer.

“You should draw your swords now.”

“…!”

But the secretariat hesitated.

Should they really draw them?

Was she serious?

They were just trying to let the new daughter know the atmosphere of the family and show that they would follow the real power.

Of course, the reason they ignored Taylor was because they always had.

Why would they pledge allegiance to someone who wasn’t going to be the heir?

“Not drawing them? Then I’ll draw mine first?”

-Thwack!

“…!”

The Mantis Blade popped out of my arm and pierced the chin of the man whose neck was in Alice’s hand.

Even before the man died, Alice’s body was already heading towards the other employees.

“Cough!”

“Pl, please stop! Hic!?”

“Ugh!”

“We were just trying to show our loyalty to the new daughter as the Combat Secretariat who served the young master! Please consider…!”

“Bullshit.”

-Thwack!

“You were just having fun following that good-for-nothing and insulting and making fun of a girl.”

Too slow.

The Third Combat Secretariat was about B-rank in terms of Hunters.

They seemed to be about 3rd or 4th grade in terms of Overseers, but whether it was because they were complacent and relied on their equipment, or because they had been living a relaxed life as Dehite’s exclusive soldiers, they couldn’t even react to Alice’s attacks.

One minute.

That was how long it took for the Third Combat Secretariat’s heads to become cube steaks in Alice’s hands.

They died before they could even properly object or resist, so unfortunately, there were no last words.

“…Hah, hah. Alice, you’re… quite violent.”

“Didn’t you know? Your sister really cares about her younger sister.”

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

★

★

★

“Interesting.”

That was what Perdain said to Alice when she went to see him.

“What is?”

“Sixteen.”

Sixteen?

What was that supposed to mean?

Alice tilted her head as if to ask what he meant, but Perdain continued without taking his eyes off the documents in his hand.

“That’s the number of people you killed today.”

“Isn’t it fifteen?”

Alice thought of the Third Combat Secretariat she had just killed.

Let’s see… it was fifteen, wasn’t it?

“I guess you didn’t even count my son, Dehite Arbentaine, as a person?”

“Ah, right. I have to count the garbage that isn’t even human, too?”

“Impudent.”

Perdain’s aura suddenly turned fierce.

But Alice didn’t seem to be intimidated or anything.

Rather, she had a look that said, ‘So what are you going to do about it?’

“You killed sixteen people less than a day after becoming Arbentaine’s adopted daughter. How should I accept this?”

“How about being happy that I’m a scourge to the family?”

“Yes, that’s true. You’re the first of your kind among Arbentaine’s bloodline and the Academy’s talented prodigies.”

From the Arbentaine Family’s and Perdain’s point of view, it didn’t really matter what kind of personality Alice had.

Only talent.

Only skill.

That was all that mattered.

Considering the upcoming rebellion and the great war, personality was only secondary, and only skill mattered.

“I finished investigating you while you were at the Academy.”

“To boldly declare that you’re investigating me in front of me, how wonderful. How confident.”

But they probably didn’t get much.

Oriana and Rilstia had personally stepped in to erase information related to Alice for this infiltration mission, but that might not have been enough, so Theresa had personally stepped in to manipulate or delete all of Alice’s information recorded in the Ark.

Perhaps Perdain couldn’t obtain any data beyond the Academy enrollment documents.

“A returnee… and you caught the eye of First-Class Overseer Oriana Hailam and were enrolled in Ruincrest Academy. Other than that, there’s no information, it’s all clean.”

“Because I’m a returnee.”

“Indeed, returnees are literally beings that fell from the sky without any roots.”

With those words, Perdain threw the documents he was reading at Alice.

The paper that slowly flew towards Alice had all of Alice’s past actions meticulously recorded.

“At first, I suspected you were an infiltrator or Overseer sent by the Ark Administration.”

“Oh, really? What about now?”

“That’s ridiculous. How could a returnee without any dignity like you be an Overseer or infiltrator? Even if you were really an Overseer who received an infiltration mission, does it make sense that you killed my son, the family’s heir, in a Duel Trial on the first day of your infiltration?”

“Wow, you’re really smart and meticulous.”

Alice sent a sincere compliment.

How did he know?