Chapter 22

“Young Master, I’m told that the young lady is returning today.” “Adela?” “Yes.”

 

Today, with Kyle’s debutante ball drawing very close, Adela Eristirol—Kyle’s younger sister and the eldest daughter of the Eristirol family—was returning.

 

Though I’d never met her in person, judging by Kyle’s appearance, Adela would surely be a beautiful girl.

 

She was sixteen now, wasn’t she?

 

I’d heard Adela was around middle school age.

 

To be honest, I was a bit excited.

 

This would be my first time meeting anyone from Kyle’s family.

 

The Duke was always away, so I’d never seen him, and Adela had been absent from the domain until now.

 

I didn’t know exactly why she had been away.

 

I hadn’t been told, nor had I asked Kyle about it.

 

It didn’t really have much to do with Kyle’s lessons anyway.

 

“Young Master, may I ask why the young lady has been staying outside the domain?”

 

But now I needed to ask.

 

To prevent myself from making any verbal blunders when speaking to Adela.

 

What if she had been receiving treatment for a terminal illness, and I carelessly said something that implied she’d just been out having fun?

 

Even though I didn’t know if it was a terminal illness or not, one needed to be careful when serving nobles.

 

“Adela? After Mother passed away, she just went around having fun.”

 

Having fun…?

 

I knew that the Duke’s wife had died.

 

But that was all I knew.

 

“Um…”

 

Just having fun?

 

Honestly, I didn’t understand.

 

To spend at least five years traveling…

 

Since she wasn’t here when I arrived at Eristirol, it might mean her travel period was even longer.

 

“I’m looking forward to seeing my sister after so long. The last time I saw Adela was… six years ago.”

 

Six years ago… that was before that incident happened to Kyle.

 

Well, it’s probably better not to know.

 

Kyle is completely different now from how he was then.

 

Maybe Adela wouldn’t even recognize Kyle when she saw him?

 

---

 

The situation was similar to when I had waited for Catherine.

 

No, it was exactly the same.

 

It was disgustingly cold.

 

It was March, but why was it so cold?

 

“Hoo…”

 

I blew warm breath onto my hands.

 

Usually, this should warm them up, but they didn’t get much warmer.

 

When Kyle is fully grown, it might be good to go to Oldenburg.

 

I’ve already created a good slave in Louise here at Eristirol, so things should be fine without me.

 

Since she’s already thrown away the contract, Louise will become an unpaid slave for seven years, including this year.

 

She hasn’t gambled yet, but… she surely will soon.

 

That’s the kind of woman she is.

 

“Oh.”

 

As I was lost in these thoughts, a carriage approached.

 

It was painted pure white, symbolizing the Eristirol landscape.

 

The jewels decorating the carriage weren’t as lavish as Catherine’s, but they were still quite splendid.

 

The carriage stopped, and its door opened.

 

Click-clack

 

With the sound of shoes on the ground, a girl with the same snow-white hair and sky-blue eyes as Kyle stepped out of the carriage.

 

This must be Adela.

 

Her impression was quite different from Kyle’s in many ways.

 

She had an even colder appearance than Kyle.

 

I’d heard she was sixteen, but she looked more mature than I expected.

 

Above all else, her face was incredibly beautiful.

 

How remarkable must the Duke and his wife’s appearances have been to produce two children with such outstanding looks?

 

I wanted to meet the Duke as soon as possible.

 

“Welcome back to the domain, Young Lady. My name is Sofia, and I serve as Young Master Kyle’s tutor and personal servant.”

 

“Skip the greetings, let’s go inside. My brother and I might be fine, but… you’re all cold, aren’t you?”

 

As Adela said, the servants, including myself, weren’t as resistant to the cold as the siblings and were suffering.

 

“Yes, we’ll head to the castle right away.”

 

I said this and signaled to the servants to move the luggage.

 

I might not be the head butler, but I was still Kyle’s personal servant.

 

In the absence of the siblings, I was effectively the highest authority.

 

Though not as high as Adela, who was behind me now.

 

Adela didn’t say anything from behind as we entered the castle.

 

Usually, nobles would ask questions about unfamiliar servants out of curiosity…

 

“Adela!” “Brother!”

 

The siblings’ reunion after several years took place in the dining hall.

 

Kyle had said it would be fine to meet earlier, but since the journey had been long, he suggested eating first, and I brought her directly here.

 

As soon as they saw each other, they smiled brightly and greeted one another.

 

“Brother, you’ve grown so much! When you were younger, you were even shorter than me.”

 

“Haha… what are you talking about…”

 

It’s true that Kyle was small when he was young.

 

At twelve, Kyle was definitely smaller than other boys his age.

 

But now it’s completely different.

 

To Adela, who is just slightly shorter than me, he must seem much taller.

 

“Why, it’s true! Back then, you were shorter than me. You were shorter than your sister who was only a year younger. That’s why you were always my pillow back then.”

 

“…”

 

Kyle, Kyle… just what kind of treatment did you receive when you were even younger?

 

To be used as his sister’s pillow.

 

Wasn’t he treated too weakly?

 

“That was then, and this is now. Come on, let’s talk while we eat. You probably haven’t eaten much on your journey, right?”

 

“Yes.”

 

And so the two began their meal.

 

The table, which was already elegant and splendid on ordinary days, was incomparably magnificent today.

 

There was eisban, eintopf, mac and cheese, salad, and many other diverse dishes.

 

I couldn’t help but drool inwardly at the sight.

 

I really wanted to eat…

 

But I couldn’t.

 

My role during mealtime was to stand quietly in the background.

 

Servants had their own separate mealtimes.

 

We had to eat during times when we wouldn’t encounter Kyle or others.

 

But… since my role was to stay with Kyle almost constantly, I had to eat quickly during Kyle’s lesson time and return quickly.

 

Or eat after Kyle went to sleep and then wake him up.

 

So I decided to eat a large breakfast and have dinner later.

 

I preferred not to eat at all rather than having to rush through lunch.

 

“Right. Brother, is Father still wandering around outside these days?”

 

“Yes. He even sent a deer head just recently.”

 

“Sigh… I came back because of your debutante ball, but isn’t it too much that Father isn’t coming?”

 

“He’s always been like that.”

 

“That’s true.”

 

A deer head…?

 

I have no idea when he sent that, but… the Duke definitely doesn’t seem normal.

 

It’s wrong to think this way about my employer, but it’s definitely strange to stay away from home and wander around constantly.

 

“By the way, when did you get that pretty person standing behind you? It’s my first time seeing her.”

 

“Oh, Sofia?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“She came a year after you left for your travels.”

 

“I see.”

 

As Kyle said, I came a year later.

 

Kyle allowed me to work here, and that’s why I’ve been working until now.

 

“She’s very pretty… Brother, is that your type?”

 

“W-What?”

 

It’s a really nice compliment to be called pretty.

 

When I was 18, I thought I was extremely pretty.

 

Back then, I thought that way because the average appearance I saw around me was lower.

 

But living here, I’ve come to think I’m rather ordinary.

 

I definitely fell short when compared to Catherine or other nobles.

 

In that sense, I was truly grateful to Adela for complimenting me by saying I was pretty.

 

“Hey, Sofia? Want to be my servant instead?”

 

“…”

 

I didn’t have to think about the question of switching from Kyle’s servant to hers.

 

I am Kyle’s servant, after all.

 

I planned to remain Kyle’s servant and tutor at least until he became an adult.

 

“I’m sorry. I belong to the Young Master.”

 

“Hmm… is that so?”

 

Adela looked at me with curious eyes.

 

A servant being loyal to their master is a virtue.

 

The virtues of loyalty, filial piety, and propriety.

 

These were actually values that all people should have, but among them, loyalty was most important for a servant.

 

So much so that in most books about servants or knights, there are scenes where they die in place of their masters.

 

Reality wasn’t like that, of course.

 

How many people would truly sacrifice their lives for their bosses?

 

While I wouldn’t go so far as to risk my life, I did have enough loyalty to never betray Kyle.

 

“Well, can’t be helped… Anyway, I’ll be in your care from now on, okay?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Adela told me she’d be in my care.

 

I’m just Kyle’s servant, so what could Adela possibly need from me?

 

She must have her own personal servants, so there really wouldn’t be anything for me to do for her.

 

They’re not here now, but they must exist.

 

“Young Master, mind your posture.”

 

I pointed out that Kyle’s posture had become sloppy again.

 

In the past, I wouldn’t have done this during a meal, but with the debutante ball so close, Kyle needed to maintain proper form even during these casual moments.

 

“Yes…”

 

Perhaps because he was being corrected in front of his sister whom he hadn’t seen in a long time, Kyle’s voice was quieter than usual.

 

“Hmm… Brother. Are you seeing any girls these days?”

 

“H-Huh? Not yet.”

 

“I see… That’s fortunate in many ways.”

 

“…?”