episode_0007

“If you pull this part like this… Huh?”

“What are you doing, young master?!”

Huh? Wasn’t this how it was supposed to be done?

While touring the mansion with Anna, I spotted a gardener pulling weeds in the garden and decided to help.

Even with small tasks like this, lending a hand here and there would gradually improve my standing in the mansion, right?

With that thought, I started helping the gardener, Paul, with his weeding—

“Are you alright, Paul?”

“I’m fine, but my flowers… my flowers… Aah!”

“Young master, stop! You’re pulling out the flowers along with the weeds!”

It was a failure. I could’ve made excuses, but the elderly gardener, Paul, was glaring at me with such resentment that I had no choice but to bow my head.

I mean, I was only pulling weeds, but the flower roots came up with them?

“Sorry.”

All I could do was apologize.

Even that seemed to surprise the gardener.

After that, I kept wandering around the mansion, trying to raise my favorability, but it wasn’t easy.

“No need.”

“This is a place we’ve been managing ourselves.”

“Do you even know how to hold a knife? No, I mean a kitchen knife.”

“KYAAAAAAAH!!!”

What was that last one?

“Satisfied?”

Anna, who had been following me around the mansion with a tired expression, asked.

“Weird. I was clearly just trying to help. What the hell did Chris tell them about me…?”

“She probably gave an accurate assessment of your past behavior.”

“But I haven’t done anything bad lately! Shouldn’t my reputation be improving? Why does everyone still avoid me the moment they see me?!”

“People don’t change that easily. Especially in your case—who knows if you’ve really reformed?”

“Reformed? I was always good!”

A saint—if you could call me that. I wasn’t the kind of person to bow my head to anyone. Especially the me from the first playthrough? I burned myself alive for the world’s sake where no one could see.

If that doesn’t make me a saint, then what does?

Anna seemed to catch the emotion on my face and bluntly remarked:

“A madman is far more terrifying than a villain. Even I, who’ve spent all day with you, can’t tell if you’ve truly regained your sanity or if madness still simmers beneath. What do you think others would assume?”

“So they avoid me because I’m good but crazy?”

“Tsk. They avoid you because they don’t know if you’re good or evil—just that you’re crazy~”

An accurate assessment.

“Once a stigma sticks to a person, it’s hard to erase…”

“Yes. That’s why people work so hard to avoid being branded in the first place.”

“But that doesn’t mean I can give up.”

“So you should just quietly—Eh?”

“I won’t give up. If, as you say, my six months of erratic behavior has become my karma, then I’ll spend a year, two years—however long it takes—to undo it.”

Anna stared at me intently.

“W-What? Why the sudden—”

“…Why go that far? To be honest, I could somewhat understand why you lost your mind. It’s cruel to say, but there’s no denying that your abilities were far inferior to Lady Chris’s.”

“No filter when it comes to your master, huh?”

“It’s the truth.”

Anna shrugged.

“And just so you know, I was personally hired by the current family head out of pity. I won’t be fired until either you or Lady Chris becomes the head, so if you’re upset, why not tattle to your parents or her?”

Despite her innocent expression, Anna’s words were sharp—yet strangely, I didn’t dislike it. Maybe because everything she said was true.

Or maybe because I was just scared of her.

“That’s a bit…”

Why would the head of a ducal family, second only to the Emperor, pick up a stray out of kindness?

If they wanted, they could turn an entire slum into a residential district and still have money to spare.

Of course, there was something to gain from her—someone who could do the dirty work the noble family couldn’t.

Gulp—

I swallowed quietly.

Anna Hamilton was a genius assassin. Her skills were on par with the Emperor’s direct intelligence operatives.

The difference was that the Emperor’s spies were weapons forged through rigorous training, while Anna was born with her talent.

A secret known only to the Grave family head and heir. No wonder Father assigned her to me. Of course, Chris, who was being groomed as the next head, also knew.

But why didn’t I, the legitimate son, know? Because I lost my mind before Father could tell me.

If I hadn’t read the original work, I probably would’ve never known Anna’s true identity.

That’s why Anna ended up awkwardly floating between me and Chris, but thankfully, after realizing Chris was the proper heir, she started interacting with her more.

The original work often depicted the two of them, close in age, getting along. That’s why Chris was the most devastated when Anna died pointlessly.

None of her dirty sacrifices, none of her true identity, could ever be revealed.

If only she had listened to me sooner.

“Young master?”

Yikes—lost in thought, Anna suddenly addressed me. If I looked crazy again now, I’d be in trouble.

One wrong word, and one day, my head would roll without a sound. Like saying, “I’m better than Chris!” or “The current pro-people policies of Duke Grave are wrong!”

Despite appearances, Anna was quite sharp. Clear sense of justice, strict separation of public and private.

So if she deemed me a threat to the Grave family—or to Chris, the rightful heir—she wouldn’t hesitate to kill me.

“Just…”

“Just?”

“Just one day, it hit me. That no matter how wildly I acted, nothing would change. Chris would still become an excellent family head, and I’d just…”

I trailed off. Because I had nothing more to say.

The truth was, I had seen the future and acted like a madman to prevent it, clashing with Chris and others in the process. But now, things were fine.

I couldn’t exactly say that, though! If Anna didn’t immediately behead me for sounding completely insane, it’d be a miracle.

“……”

Silence is the greatest virtue, they say.

I don’t know how she took my silence, but Anna nodded first.

Without another word, we arrived at my room.

“Rest well.”

“Yeah.”

“And about your meals… I’ll make sure they pay more attention.”

“Huh? Why?”

What was wrong with my meals all of a sudden?

“You mean the soup?”

“Yes. You’ve been eating the same thing for weeks, haven’t you? Even Lady Chris—”

“It’s delicious. You’re not trying to change the menu just because I annoyed you today, are you? If so, I’ll seriously tell Chris. I mean it.”

Counting how many chunks of meat were left in the lukewarm soup or how many fresh vegetables remained on the side was my small daily joy.

I won’t forgive anyone who interferes with my meals.

But Anna looked at me with genuine surprise, as if I’d said something absurd.

Hmm, maybe threatening to tattle to my sister over food was too petty.

Should I have been firmer? Like, “I’m the legitimate son of House Grave—how dare you mess with my meals?”

But then, my lukewarm soup might turn into lukewarm water. Anna’s standing in this household was higher than mine.

However, Anna wasn’t shocked by the tattling part.

“What are you saying, young master? Are you seriously satisfied with that pitiful meal…?”

“Of course I am!”

In the last playthrough, I barely ate proper food—more days were spent with silverware in my mouth than not.

Struggling alone, without the heroines, failing over and over.

The family wasn’t foolish enough to care for a discarded son like me. They’d only send money when I was truly on the verge of death.

House Grave already had Christine Grave—a successor smarter and stronger than her brother, with a compelling growth arc.

In that situation, who would care about my meals?

“Are you serious? You’re satisfied with that shoddy food?”

Shoddy? Apologize to the kitchen staff who worked hard.

“How many times do I have to say it? Yes, I could happily eat this for the rest of my life. And it’s not shoddy! Got it?”

“……”

Anna seemed about to say something but instead pressed her lips shut and bowed.

“I’ll take my leave, young master. Rest well. As for the meals… we’ll discuss it another time.”

I scratched my head as I watched her stiffly walk away.

She wouldn’t actually go tell on me, would she?

After all the hard work I put in today.