episode_0109

nobility.

Commoners look up to people who belong to that class and are madly jealous of them. Beyond that, I even yearn for it.

It is said that they are all noble from birth, and that even their lineage is blessed.

It wasn’t wrong.

It would be truly a blessing to be born as the child of a master who led the war to victory, a hero who eradicated monsters, or a wizard who discovered the truth of the world.

However, not all nobles received such blessings.

At least that’s what Harnier would say.

“No matter what you do, you never do it perfectly!”

This was what Harnier heard from the Marquis every time.

Anything is not enough.

It doesn’t help.

Are you going to tarnish your family’s honor?

Since I was a child, I had listened to the Marquis’ abusive language until my ears prickled.

“Keep in mind. Harnier. Even though I am not of this family’s heritage, I took it from you to prove its usefulness. Shouldn’t we at least not hold Belian back?”

Every time that happened, Harnier had no choice but to bow his head and say sorry.

When I was young, I really thought it was my problem.

I had always been told that I was inferior to other young ladies, so I thought I was truly lacking.

As he said, she is not a legitimate woman but an illegitimate child.

I thought I needed to know how to make up for that much more shortcoming.

Even if I was treated differently by the Marquis, I didn’t care.

I just thought that my own shortcomings were the problem.

So, I studied harder.

I studied harder because I wanted to be recognized.

I wanted to be praised like Belian, so I spared no effort.

As the years passed, he did something truly helpful to the family, and the family’s title rose from count to marquis.

Harnier thought that this time he would be able to receive recognition from his father.

no. I was sure.

Because I did something worthy of praise.

I had no doubt that he would at least say a good job to his daughter.

however.

“Don’t be so arrogant. Harnier. Aren’t you just lucky? Belian would have done it half a year earlier!”

What came back was a very indifferent word.

It was an incomprehensible scolding.

Even though I worked so hard, is it not enough?

Does this mean that sex is not enough?

no. That wasn’t it.

A test paper I suddenly found in the late writer’s trash can.

As soon as Harnier saw the test paper, he recognized it at a glance.

It belongs to the eldest son, Belian Theresia.

“Ha, haha…”

When she realized two facts, she couldn’t help but laugh.

First, the test paper got so many things wrong that the score was so low that it couldn’t even be compared to my own.

Second, Belian still received praise from the Marquis for doing a good job.

Wouldn’t this make you laugh out loud?

This temperature difference ultimately boils down to one reason.

A legitimate child and an illegitimate child.

This was because, even though they were of the same nobility, there was a divide between those who enjoyed everything and those who did not.

Although Harnier suffered, he clearly accepted the terrible reality.

There is no place for me in this family.

She is not the daughter of a marquis, but merely an illegitimate child who was used and then abandoned.

It means that they are not treated as family from the beginning.

After that day, I had no intention of helping the marquis anymore.

As a result, Harnier’s performance is declining compared to before.

The work I had been doing started not going smoothly.

The Marquis then directly told Harnier, who was about to meet the Eastern Nobles, to attend the meeting.

“Didn’t I tell you? Your achievements are at best a fluke. So this time, learn carefully so as not to lower the marquess’s prestige at the Eastern Noble Council!”

That is why Harnier attended this event.

Don’t lower the prestige of my family.

I’ll give you some support, so show your skills like before and do something that will help the latter.

It could be interpreted that way.

“Now that Lady Harnier has arrived, shall we start talking right away?”

─Yes!

As soon as the light greeting is over, the conversation opens up.

“What do you all think of this meeting? There’s something a little unusual compared to last year, right?”

The subject, of course, was the Eastern Noble Assembly.

For all the nobles who were being tested by the imperial family in the name of a meeting, that would have been an easy conversation to say right away.

However, those gathered here are not very nervous even though they have a big test ahead.

“Ah. You can’t borrow the power of the family heads, right?”

“I thought there was a need to worry so much.”

“Me too. I think it’s too much of a fuss. We have also learned something along the way.”

“I think there will be no problem as each and every one of us received education as nobles.”

The ladies all laughed and said it was no big deal, haha.

This topic quickly sinks below the surface again.

Another topic immediately comes to the forefront.

“By the way, it’s easy for couples who are engaged to help each other in times like this, right?”

“Of course. It’s a huge strength, right?”

“It will be especially useful this time.”

The strength of having a fiancé and being lovers.

That will definitely be more advantageous than taking the test alone.

But there was a different reason why they raised this topic as a hot topic now.

“What should we do about Lady Harnier? I heard that at this Eastern Noble Meeting, it would be quite reassuring to have a lover take care of you since you can’t even borrow your family’s power. A young lady’s fiancé can’t take care of her, right?”

okay. It was probably just to get those words out.

The wind catcher sets the rhythm to this.

“Oh my. Why can’t my fiancé take care of me? Were you that indifferent? I thought we were pretty close at the party.”

“I would like to correct you in case there is a misunderstanding. The relationship between the two is very close.”

“Then why?”

Sigh.

“No one else, but your fiancé is Prince Karssein, who once failed badly in managing his fiefdom.”

An answer with bones in the words.

Lady Heli answered this question as if she had been waiting for it.

“Well. There is someone else who can help you. Even if they were duchess, they wouldn’t be able to get help from Prince Karssein, who left behind the stigma of Shatlaine’s shame, especially if they were two sisters.”

“On the contrary, if you mess with it, you may even ruin it. Is it worth it?”

“I was also worried, so I asked Prince Karssein if he could come to the Duke’s house. And the only answer I received was no.”

“I can’t put my hand on it. It would be right to see it that way, right?”

Led by Lady Heli, they began to speak out about Carcein’s problems.

“If this is the case, I think I’m riding the wrong line.”

“Wouldn’t it be difficult to solve it on your own this time? I heard that my current job is not producing any results.”

“Lady Harnier. Just say it. I’ll introduce you to a good person. Are there only one or two men in the world?”

“At the same time, there was a rumor that the Marquis did not like Prince Carsen. I think it’s a pretty good excuse to get a new fiancé.”

Harnier pursed his lips at those words.

‘That’s the intention.’

The Marquis thought he was wasting time here, so he came up with this plan to induce him to break off his engagement with Karssein.

I couldn’t just sit there and suffer.

‘Maybe a simple rebuttal won’t work. If I do that, it will cause harm to Prince Karssein… so I have to end it with my own hands to prevent as many bad rumors as possible.’

The moment Harnier tried to refute it.

“Are you sure that the Marquis doesn’t like it?”

“Huh. Who can intervene here… Wow!”

“I have never received an official letter of engagement. My relationship with my fiancee is still strong. But why have I never received news like that?”

The most ideal situation unfolded, with Carcein appearing.

***

-Drop.

One chair is added to the round table.

One person joins.

That, too, was the subject of criticism here.

“Is it okay if we sit together? I didn’t receive an invitation directly, but it would have been a good place for me to attend anyway.”

“No… that…”

“Why, is there a problem?”

What more can I say?

They said they sent an invitation, so the person who was supposed to come came. I couldn’t ask them to go back because I wasn’t a guest.

The ladies had no choice but to accept Karssein in this position.

He sat down and crossed his legs.

“Okay, then should we finish talking about what we were talking about earlier? What did they say? Are you saying that I have to deal with it on my own because I might ruin it rather than help Harnier?”

“…!”

The ladies held their breath for a moment.

Everything I heard.

“It wasn’t just that. Like, I got on the wrong line, or this time, my fiancée won’t be able to solve the problem on her own, so I tell her to meet another man, or I use this as an excuse to say that there are a lot of men in the world, so I’ll introduce her to a good one. I was so shocked when I heard it?”

Karssein sat with his legs crossed on the other side.

Still, he smiled brightly at Harnier.

“Harnier. What is your opinion? Was I that guy you didn’t like?”

No matter how you look at this, isn’t it a signal to intervene?

When Harnier was given an appropriate response and the right to speak, he was able to answer more comfortably.

“No.”

“Then do you think this meeting will be detrimental to you?”

“I absolutely don’t think so. Because I know very well that you are a person who upholds the good.”

“Do you think I took the wrong line?”

“Even if I am not a member of the Vagrand Duke family, I have no regrets about meeting you. And in the first place, I had no intention of solving the problem with someone’s help.”

“What do you think about my lack of competency? The conversation might end up in a bad way.”

“Even if your fiancé lacks capabilities, there is no reason for it to be a bad story. All nobles are tested fairly by the imperial family. Also, I think you have to guess to know what is long and short.”

No matter what questions came their way, the two worked together steadily.

To the advantage of both sides.

Towards covering up flaws or weaknesses.

We exchanged questions and answers to prevent any denial or distorted facts from spreading.

As the number of questions increased, the nobles’ expressions hardened.

“Then this story is all false. Does this mean it’s an exaggerated rumor?”

“Yes. I think so too.”

Harnier smiled and answered.

-thud!

There was a huge impact on the table.

“To summarize, it seems that Lady Harnier has no intention of breaking off the engagement with me. In fact, there has never been a letter of divorce from the Marquis. However, it seems like there is a slanderous force spreading strangely exaggerated rumors? For example, like you in front of me.”

“Ugh, what a dirty word!”

“I have no intention of doing that!”

“Then it’s not slander? What right do you have to interfere like that in the relationship between the Bagland Dukes and other families?”

“We were just worried about Lady Harnier…”

Then, Harnie also willingly steps forward.

“Why are you worried about me? You all also took the test, but who was the one who brought up the story about your new fiancé without even knowing what the results were?”

“This is not enough to just slander Bagland, it’s almost like ignoring it.”

At those words, the ladies were confused and began to blurt out words.

This was the moment when it was no longer Harnier’s story, but became the story of the Bagland duchy following her marriage conversation with Karssein.

“If I hear a story like this again next time, I will have no choice but to doubt the person who held this meeting. Isn’t that right, Lady Heli?”

“…!”

Karssein walked up to Harnier’s side and held her hand to create an atmosphere of affectionate lovers.

“Let’s wake up. I can’t believe I was under such suspicion. I’m sorry for not being able to take care of you as much.”

At that moment, Harnier’s body flinched and trembled.

‘Why are you doing this?’

‘Joe, be quiet.’

How on earth do you say something like this? Even she had no tolerance for this harsh comment.

Still, for Harnier, this was the time that provided the best excuse to get out of this situation.

“I’ll just go. I think you should spend some time with the fiancé you are so suspicious of.”

The two left the cafe holding hands very affectionately.

Anyone could see that they looked like young lovers.

-Puzzle.

A woman’s teeth were ground.

***

-Tiring!

▶The rumors that were secretly floating around have been put to rest.◀

▶Awareness level increases.◀

[Perception in ???: +30]

‘…I just went in to vent my anger.’

I don’t know what it was, but it didn’t seem like anything bad.

Rather than that, I guess I should slowly say something. It’s quite far away from the cafe.

“I guess it was resolved successfully?”

“Yes? Ah, yes.”

“I think some explanation is needed.”

Then Harnier sighed deeply.

“It looks like the Marquis did this to force a break-off of the engagement with you. Since the other party is a Vagrand duke, you can’t just break off the marriage, but you probably thought that if you brought up your weaknesses, you could use an excuse to break off the engagement.”

“Hmm. I was wondering why there was talk of being engaged to another man and all that. There was such an intention.”

“Rather than that, are you okay? If this news reaches the Duke’s family…”

“No problem. I’m not going in anyway for the time being.”

“Yes?!”

Harnier widened his eyes as if he was surprised.

“Well, is that okay? No matter what, it’s his family…”

“It’s obvious that you’ll be devastated after hearing the news, but there’s no need to go and face that anger head-on.”

It’s not a story about whether you can do it or not.

In times like this, it was best to stay away.

“…I see. Because all I hear is bad things.”

yes. It is much better not to do something stupid like go to your family to hear bad news.

“Carcein, then where will you be staying today?”

“Yes?”

“They said they wouldn’t go back to working as a co-worker. Then there must be a place to stay. No?”

Yes, that’s right.

“…Why are you asking me that?”

Harnier said with a grin.

“I’m going to follow you.”