I looked in the mirror and saw a pale face staring back at me.
Even with my already sickly appearance, this made me look like a person on the brink of death.
I could understand why Adele would think I looked like someone about to kick the bucket.
Isn’t it natural for anyone who sees such a face to have that thought at least once?
Especially since she is healthy; it’s obvious she would think I looked weak.
Of course, her words seemed to pierce right through my state.
So my eyes are empty, huh? The face reflected in the mirror was no different from what I remembered.
It’s only to be expected.
While my mind might be different, my body always returned to that summer day when I was 20.
They say the eyes are the windows to the soul.
Perhaps my impression has changed a bit, just as she said.
Now that I think about it, how long has it been since I smiled since my reincarnation began?
That awkward lifted corner of my mouth felt forced, to say the least.
Let’s just stop that, and as I turned my head, I saw Renold awkwardly standing there.
…How long has he been here?
“I told you not to come in without permission.”
“I, I came in with permission! Didn’t I explain the schedule for today earlier?”
“Oh.”
I had completely forgotten that Renold had entered my room while I was lost in thought, staring at the mirror.
About today’s schedule, I really don’t have much to do.
Father or Yuria has been handling family matters, and the other menial tasks are taken care of by the attendants.
It’s not like I suddenly became a slacker wandering outside.
In fact, my name was always excluded from anything happening in this ducal residence, as if I weren’t part of it.
The only difference today was that I was supposed to meet Father directly.
“Is this about yesterday’s incident?”
“I think that… is likely. The rumors have spread quite a bit. The Young Master did something, right? I can’t believe it could be true, though.”
“If I had killed someone at the imperial party, I wouldn’t be here; I’d be in prison. Isn’t your imagination a bit too lacking?”
“I-I didn’t spread the rumors! Some of the maids said—”
“Okay, I get the gist.”
There’s one fact: The prince, who came back covered in blood but with no injuries, hasn’t stepped out of his room.
I had an inkling of how much exaggeration and distortion had taken place regarding that incident.
After all, among the attendants, there were quite a few who didn’t like me, so there were bound to be some with malice mixed in.
Now, which one of Yuria’s little dogs has been yapping this time? I felt a hint of displeasure.
#
“Y-Young Master?”
I always felt that there was an unusual amount of attention focused on my actions.
Just my mere act of stepping out of my room elicited such reactions from so many people.
When I grabbed the chin of the maid standing in front of my door, she startled and squirmed.
It was a face I wasn’t familiar with. I felt like I had seen it once, maybe,
Yet, even after going through so many reincarnations, I hadn’t really seen her much.
At least, it meant we hadn’t had much interaction.
So, what did it mean for this unfamiliar maid to be standing idly in front of my room?
The choices are narrowed down to two.
Either she was a maid I was meeting for the first time or, if not, she’s someone’s pawn.
Either a maid who ended up working or someone’s puppet.
What reason would there be for her to be standing in front of my room?
Renold just came in and is standing right behind me.
Shaking like a frightened mouse, she seemed quite suspicious.
If she were just passing by, she’d have at least something in her hands, but oddly enough, this woman had nothing.
With that, it only looked like she had business in my room.
“Who are you standing in front of my room?”
“I-I’m a maid from the Taylor household…”
“Since when have you been a maid? I feel like I’m seeing your face for the first time today.”
I squeezed my chin, applying pressure with my fingers.
As the pressure gradually built, the maid slightly frowned at the pain from her chin.
“I know all the maids in this Ducal Residence. I’ve seen too many.”
There’s no way I could forget faces I’ve seen not just once but dozens of times.
I knew where they worked, who they lived with, everything.
I had memories of checking just in case they might help in killing me, worrying that one of them might want to take me out.
I didn’t expect that kind of obsession would come in handy now, but one thing was clear: this maid was suspicious.
Her legs giving out, she just sank down with her face in my grip.
To give someone like her a job…
“Lady of the House seems to have quite a peculiar way of handling things. To make a first-time maid eavesdrop like this.”
“T-That’s not it—”
“I don’t like lies. Just keep your mouth shut.”
As I pressed my lips together, she weakly nodded.
Glancing at Renold’s expression, he looked genuinely surprised, eyes wide open.
At the very least… this meant Renold still held some value for me.
He wasn’t an assassin.
At this point, he had no reason to kill me, and he probably just gave an easy task to a maid who looked harmless.
The maid didn’t say anything.
But those tears welling up in her eyes definitely suggested she wasn’t used to such situations.
If that’s the case, holding onto her any longer would only be a loss for me.
I released my grip on her chin and signaled to Renold. It meant to take care of the situation.
“…That’s enough. I have no reason to vent my anger on you. You must have been quite bothered by yesterday’s rumors.”
“U-uh…”
Not only because of the early return yesterday but also because she must have heard the rumors of me coming back stained with blood.
Of course, she would suspect I did something.
Her reaction wasn’t at all different from what I had expected; in fact, it made me chuckle.
Disappointment should come with some expectations, but Yuria… well, she didn’t have a particularly fresh response.
After looking after the maid, Renold gave a slight bow and disappeared.
Since yesterday, I’ve felt that Renold was showing me a fair amount of respect.
I didn’t know if it was because he thought I had him on a leash, but I didn’t think that kind of attitude was bad at all.
If he continued to act like that, it would be nothing but beneficial for me.
‘Yuria acted too hastily.’
“Who do you think you are, underestimating me like this? Spreading all sorts of rumors and then sitting back to watch my reaction?”
The funny part is, if it were the first time I was facing this, I would have fallen for it hook, line, and sinker.
What she didn’t consider was that I’d been through this countless times already.
But of course, nobody knows that but me, so it’s no surprise.
Lost in such thoughts, I was on my way to where my father was, when suddenly my feet came to a stop.
The sound of footsteps approaching from behind was unusually quick.
As if I were the target, the sound grew slightly slower the moment I halted.
“Robert Taylor.”
It was a cold voice, as usual. It felt like a sharp breeze had suddenly hit me.
Despite it being a sweltering summer day, Yuria’s eyes held a perpetual chill.
“Why did you return to the Ducal Residence alone yesterday? Didn’t I tell you to be careful?”
“You did say that, indeed.”
“I’m asking you now. Why did you come back to the Ducal Residence covered in blood?”
A chuckle escaped me for a moment.
Isn’t it ridiculous to confront someone without even verifying the facts?
No matter how perfect the Lady of the House presents herself to be, she, too, has her limits.
There are times when simply using her position to pressure someone doesn’t work at all.
And this was one of those moments.
“I’m afraid you’re mistaken, Lady of the House. It seems one of the attendants may have fed you false rumors.”
“You’re saying I’m wrong? Ha, Robert. You’re saying that in light of this evidence?”
She produced a shirt with blood smeared on it from who knows where.
Did she actually order someone to go find it? There was definitely blood on it.
But that was all there was to it. No one would call that shirt ‘covered in blood’ in the slightest.
However, Yuria’s attitude was completely unwavering.
As if every word she said was the absolute truth, she exuded an air of certainty about her self-constructed ‘hypothesis.’
“Do you really think that amount of blood qualifies as being ‘covered in blood’? My definition seems quite different from yours.”
“That’s not what’s important right now. Where did you get this blood? For you, who has no wounds at all, to be covered in blood means it’s someone else’s blood. Are you really implying that you killed someone…”
“Sigh…”
As I sighed in frustration, Yuria’s expression suddenly hardened.
I was just trying to listen patiently and wrap it up with a few apologies, but the misunderstanding she held was far more serious than I had anticipated.
Murder? Doesn’t she know better than anyone that I’ve never even held a sword?
This is just nonsense.
Simply using my solo activities as a means to blow everything out of proportion.
If she wanted, she could easily turn this into an established fact to pin the blame on me.
Even if it’s soon revealed to be false, my father would have likely scolded me for bringing shame upon the family.
So, in a sense, her goal of casting me out of my father’s good graces would be perfectly accomplished.
“You believed an attendant’s words over mine, didn’t you?”
“…I never said I heard it from the attendant.”
“Then did you see it yourself? Did you see where I was hurt, who I met at the ball, and how I got blood on me? Of course not, right? Yes, that’s impossible, isn’t it?”
Her calm voice had sharpened quite a bit by now.
It was probably because her mood wasn’t so great.
She overlapped in my mind with the old memories I had while trying to sleep.
The hand that choked my neck, the face that mocked me while I was dying, and those cold eyes that personally tortured me.
They were provoking me.
“After all, you have no interest in me at all, do you? Lady of the House.”
To Yuria, I’m not her younger sibling.
I’m just a competitor who might snatch away her status as Lady of the House if she ever makes a mistake.
That’s why she’s keeping me in check.
Scolding me for making a mistake and torturing me for doing wrong; she does this because she sees me as a competitor, not as family.
Her rising voice gradually lowered until she regained her initial calmness, but it seemed even colder now.
The emotions that remained were completely scattered, like a lake that wouldn’t ripple even slightly.
Yuria was still looking at me.
However, unlike before, it was clear that her stiff expression had cracked.
Her slightly trembling lips and somewhat wavering eyes were proof of that.
“The word that you got hurt…”
“I met Sir Igrit. She beheaded me.”
Yuria’s eyes narrowed at the mention of Igrit.
Igrit, that surname meant only one person.
Her suspicions were evident, but even that was silenced when she saw the pattern on the handkerchief I had.
Isn’t it funny? Still doubting the words of her own flesh and blood.
But she firmly believes in the Grand Duke’s emblem that she’s never seen.
“I’m the one who got hurt. Surely a person who has never held a sword couldn’t kill anyone, right?”
“……”
Her tightly shut lips, as if in disbelief, could no longer muster a rebuttal.
There was no longer the face that shot daggers at me. She stared at the tiny crack that had formed.
Looking confused, her eyes continued to shake, prompting me to speak softly.
“If you don’t know, it’s better to remain silent. If you wish for me to disappear, it would be nice if you just said so.”
Still unable to say anything, I turned and added,
“I will quietly vanish, Lady of the House.”
With that, I walked towards the room where my father was.
My purpose was to talk to him, after all; I was merely stalling for time.
Just as I took a step forward, Yuria mumbled softly.
“…It’s not that I have no interest in you.”
Turning back, my retort was cut off abruptly.
Because Yuria was staring at me.
With a face so twisted, it seemed like it was about to break apart at any moment.
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