episode_0007

Episode 7

Dinner time with the entire Duke’s family.

Now that I have mastered the etiquette perfectly, I am eating as if I had been a noble from the beginning.

It was usual for the Duchess to look uncomfortable during meals, but today her expression was particularly unpleasant.

“Madam, are you feeling unwell somewhere?”

“Um… I’m sorry. I don’t feel well these days.”

“It might be because the weather is getting colder, but for the time being, it would be good to eat healthy food and drink warm tea.”

“I will make sure to do that.”

The moment the Duchess nodded briefly and put the garnish that came with the steak in her mouth.

-Bang!

“Wow…!”

“Madam?”

The Duchess retched and dropped the utensil she was holding.

“This, this is…”

“No way…”

“Mom, where does it hurt?”

Unlike Tania and Serena, who were worried about the Duchess, everyone else around them seemed to be holding onto some hope.

“I guess I should call the doctor first! Alfred! ”

“Yes! I’ll get it ready right away.”

The Duke, who usually did not show his emotions easily, showed a rare look of excitement and quickly ordered Alfred to bring a doctor.

Soon the Duke’s personal physician arrived, and after a brief examination the Duchess was excused from the meal, saying that she was suspected of morning sickness.

“I am 2 months pregnant.”

The next day, news spread throughout the ducal household that the Duchess was pregnant.

And the question, ‘If the Duchess gives birth to a son, what will happen to Leon, the heir?’ could be heard frequently throughout the mansion.

The correct answer is ‘nothing changes,’ but those who do not know the circumstances seem to be holding out hope that there may be changes in the succession structure.

While I was chatting with Alice in her room over a cup of black tea, the topic came up about the rumors that have been coming from the mansion quite often these days.

“Alice, why are you looking like that?”

“Someone around here said that the owner’s position might be in danger…”

“Oh, that? Don’t worry about it. I’d rather have the Duchess give birth to a son.”

“But…”

“I’m really fine, so don’t worry about useless things. Hey, do you want to eat this?”

Today, instead of the usual cookies, it was bread filled with whipped cream made by a famous chef.

“Huh! Master, do I look like a slave who can solve everything with just one thing to eat? Hmm…”

“…”

Alice was slightly complaining, but her body was honest and she snatched the cream bread I handed her and put it in her mouth.

It seems like the teaching assistant’s results are starting to show?

“Now that you’ve eaten, go.”

“Yes, master!”

Now I’m very close with Alice and we get along like siblings with a fairly large age gap.

Of course, I’m physically three years younger than her, but I play the role of her older brother.

“Oh, if anyone bothers you, please tell me.”

“Hey, the other sisters take great care of me?”

“Really? Then that’s good.”

Alice smiled brightly and said that no such thing would happen, and left the room with light steps.

I was worried that I might be ostracized because I was born a slave, but it seems my worries were unfounded.

Maybe I just don’t have any thoughts?

Hmm… this seems most likely.

Yes, our Alice, please grow up healthy.

‘They might not even realize that they are being bullied, so I need to pay more attention to them.’

“…But why did I need a slave?”

#

“Don’t you like Alice a little bit these days?”

“Leon’s exclusive maid?”

“Yeah, she’s a former slave, but she became your exclusive maid just because she caught your eye. Isn’t that a bit strange?”

“You weren’t trying to seduce the innocent young master with your half-and-half face, were you?”

“Oh my, the little one is already showing off his legs…”

Lately, Alice has been feeling that the other maids’ attitude towards her has become a little strange.

Do you feel like you’re secretly being ignored?

Of course, not all of the older sisters are like that, and it feels like some of the maids are leading the atmosphere.

‘Did I do something wrong?’

“Sister Claire, did I do something wrong?”

“Huh? What are you talking about? What did our cute Alice do wrong?”

Alice confided in Claire, who had been taking pity on her as a former slave and had been taking better care of her, about her sisters’ changed attitude toward her lately.

“Hmm… I guess he’s probably jealous of you. Aren’t you embarrassed by someone much younger than you? ”

“Thank goodness, I thought maybe I did something wrong…”

“But if I leave it alone, it will get harder, so I have to give it a sharp word.”

“Oh, don’t do that. I’m really okay.”

“That’s fine if you are, but if the bullying gets worse, you should definitely tell your sister?”

“Yes, I will, thank you, sis.”

“…”

Claire waved and smiled at Alice as she left with a brighter expression. As soon as Alice disappeared from sight, she headed to a corner room on the second floor of the mansion.

-Knock knock knock…

“This is Claire, Your Majesty.”

“Come in.”

“Excuse me.”

“…How’s the mood these days?”

“Some of the maids often show jealousy towards Alice, and some of them seem to intentionally try to ruin Alice’s reputation by saying malicious things.”

“Is Alice having a hard time?”

“It doesn’t seem like there’s any direct harassment against me yet, but it will start soon.”

“Thank you for your hard work. Bring me a list of the maids and servants who are talking badly about Alice, and tell those who get along well with Alice to be more considerate.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Ah, this is money for your hard work and to be shared with friends who care about Alice. Use it as you wish.”

I handed Claire a pouch full of shillings.

It’s just a small amount of money compared to the allowance I receive as the heir to the Duke’s family, but it’s a huge sum of money to them.

I kept an eye on maids who were having a hard time, and I provided them with financial support and brought them over to my side.

Among them, Claire is a fairly reliable source of information, having received additional support for her sick mother’s medicine costs and her family’s living expenses.

“Thank you always, Master.”

“Okay, thanks for your hard work.”

-Nod…

Claire packed her bags and went out, looking impressed.

‘No one would betray me unless they were extremely shameless.’

However, there is a risk of betrayal, so I don’t plan on entrusting you with really important tasks.

“By the way, there are those who dare to slander Alice, I need to do a complete overhaul, and at the same time, get rid of the servants who are suspected of being spies…”

From now on, I will act like someone who expresses an inferiority complex to others because of their origins.

“I’ll give some tension to the loosened up duke.”

After a few days, I had memorized all the people on the list Claire had brought me and started nitpicking them whenever I ran into them.

Of course, I had already received permission from the Duke to act like a scoundrel in order to catch spies in the family.

The Duke, who heard my plan, said that as long as I didn’t do anything that would be detrimental to the family, there was no need to ask for his permission for everything.

Still, you have to be a little careful about what you do.

‘I, whose foundation is unstable, cannot even dream of dancing with swords like this without the Duke’s support.’

Today, the maid who was making Alice do a lot of errands and spreading bad rumors was caught by me.

“Are you ignoring me now?”

“Oh, no, my lord!”

“No, this can’t be happening unless you’re ignoring me. You’re ignoring me because I’m an orphan and a commoner, right?”

“Absolutely not! Absolutely not!”

“No, what the hell is that, get out of this mansion right now!”

“Please forgive me just this once, Master!”

“Apologize? Then you did something wrong. Alfred, kick this maid out of the mansion right now!”

“Oh, that can’t be!”

If you apologize for your mistake, you are guilty because you did something wrong, but if you say you did nothing wrong, you are saying, “Are you saying I was wrong?” and are ignoring your successor, so you are guilty again.

If you fall out of favor with me, you’ll be kicked out with no excuses or anything.

‘What can you do?’

Unless the Duchess suddenly gives birth to a 15-year-old son and the line of succession changes, it is safe to say that few people can stand against my omnipotent power.

Aren’t you worried about your reputation?

Since I’m not really going to be the successor anyway, and I’m a commoner orphan, wouldn’t it be more beneficial for me to instill a certain amount of fear in others?

Besides, among the servants who are being kicked out, there will certainly be spies from other families, so if I sacrifice a little of my reputation to filter them out, it will ultimately benefit the Duke’s family.

Then why not bully others?

“Arrest them all.”

##

It was the fifth month of the Duchess’ pregnancy, and spring had arrived, the season when flowers shyly raised their heads after the cold winter.

The Duke has prepared me to go out and begin my knighthood lessons starting today, when I am eight years old again.

Is it true that every noble male in the Frankish kingdom must take knightly training to become a chevalier (knight)?

“Madam, then take care of yourself.”

“Yes, have a nice day.”

The Duchess smiled as she slowly stroked her now quite swollen belly and kissed the Duke affectionately.

It certainly seems like things have gotten better between the couple since the Duchess became pregnant.

But I see it a little differently.

From other people’s perspective, they seem like a happy couple, but from my perspective as the adopted son…

They are definitely a happy couple.

‘You’re a good wife.’

“Then let’s go.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Since he had not yet learned how to ride a horse, he rode a carriage to the duke’s knight training grounds.

When we arrived at the indoor training ground, the Duke dismissed everyone and left me and him alone.

After a while, everyone left and only the two of them were left in the training ground. He took off his shirt and said.

“Then take it off first.”

“Yes?”