3
Episode 3
* * *
The smile vanished from Schwebel’s face the moment he turned his back on the dining hall.
His expressionless face was shockingly ruthless, to the point where his entire demeanor seemed different.
“Any news from the messenger?”
Schwebel asked his aide, who followed him like a shadow.
“There have been sightings of someone resembling a notary in the north, but no further news since then.”
After the Marquess’s sudden death, high society’s eyes and ears were focused on Marquess Blanche’s will.
The will contained the name of the heir who would inherit everything from the Blanche family.
However, contrary to expectations, the contents of the will were not revealed even after the Marquess’s funeral.
In fact, not only was the wax seal of the will not broken, but its very existence could not be found.
The notary carrying the Marquess’s will had disappeared.
The aide glanced around to see if anyone was listening before lowering his voice.
“As you commanded, I have secured most of the merchants belonging to the Blanche family. Even if the will is not found, they will all gladly follow your wishes, Master.”
A smile finally returned to Schwebel’s face.
Yes, there was nothing to worry about.
Whether in terms of ability or popularity, there was no one more suitable to be the next heir.
He had come a long way for this day.
He had always acted like a good-natured, sickly brother, keeping himself low as if he had no ambition.
But that was over today.
Schwebel had been waiting for this day since the day that ‘accident’ happened.
He put on a gentle smile, which now felt like a second skin.
“Once things are settled, I should introduce Bel to a good marriage prospect. She’s such a picky girl, I don’t know if she’ll like anyone.”
There was an unmistakable sneer at the end of his words.
“I will look into a ‘suitable’ match.”
“Yes, as always, I leave it to you. Ah, my sister hates children, so it would be best if her husband were infertile.”
Even as he said such things, there was not a hint of malice on Schwebel’s face.
“It would be troublesome if she were to get pregnant and try to leech off my family.”
He still appeared to be nothing more than a pitiful brother who willingly forgave his sister’s misdeeds every time.
* * *
‘Belinda has no allies in this house.’
The dinner last night was enough to grasp the situation.
Now, I even doubted whether Uncle, who was dead, really cherished Belinda.
The gossip magazines said that Schwebel always laughed off the damage caused by his unruly sister.
But unlike the articles, he seemed very accustomed to ‘provoking Belinda to fabricate misdeeds she didn’t commit.’
How much of Belinda’s wrongdoings in the articles were true?
Perhaps not everything was a lie. It was true that she had a nasty temper and was full of elitism enough to abuse the protagonist.
I calmly accepted my current situation.
First, let’s get organized.
The reason Belinda dies is mostly because of the Patrons who appear in the game.
Well, whether it was because she had a miserable fate, she often died in unfortunate accidents.
Anyway, the Patrons take notice of the protagonist’s talent and support the player, while punishing Belinda, who abused the protagonist, thereby proving their affection for the child.
So, if I end up spewing harsh words at the protagonist because of the translator, the chances of being killed by the Patrons are incredibly high.
I still didn’t know the conditions for raising the Synchronization rate, and all I had found out was that the translator was applied to writing and only worked when no one was listening.
In addition to this, there was a housemate who was grinding her teeth at me.
“Hmm, no matter how I think about it, escape is the answer.”
The jewels I found after searching Belinda’s room all night jingled in my hand as if cheering me on.
Considering the prices in the game, this should be enough to live a modest life alone in a quiet rural village.
‘If I have enough money, maybe I should open a small cafe.’
In my previous life, I didn’t want to burden my aunt, so I ran away and became independent as soon as I graduated from high school.
I wanted to live a normal life like others, so I gritted my teeth and studied hard and worked hard to earn money, but when I came to my senses, I didn’t even have a single hobby.
The only joy in that bleak life was Hirome.
But somehow, that hobby had become my profession, so in this life, I should find a new hobby and live lazily doing what I want.
However, there was one major problem with this plan.
“I even possessed someone, but I can’t even see the protagonist’s face?”
Would it be too stalker-like to come to the royal capital later and steal a glance at the protagonist’s face from afar?
As I was pondering, I heard the sound of two footsteps beyond the door.
The sound of a disciplined adult’s footsteps and the cautious footsteps of a child, like a timid young animal.
As soon as I quickly swept the valuables into the dresser drawer, there was a light knock and the door burst open.
I barely managed to avoid looking suspicious, but wasn’t this too much of a privacy violation? They didn’t even ask if it was okay to come in.
“What is it?”
Perhaps reflecting my mood, a sharper voice than usual came out.
Nevertheless, the head maid, who opened my door, only announced the purpose of her visit with a mechanical expression.
“I have brought a child to attend to you from today.”
With those words, she pushed forward a grimy and skinny child.
“……?”
An employee to attend to me. But why a child?
As I tilted my head, Schwebel’s words from yesterday’s dinner flashed through my mind.
“I happen to have an orphan brought in for the purpose of relieving poverty……”
An orphan boy.
Belinda’s personal servant.
‘Could it be that the protagonist is appearing at this timing?’
The settings were similar, so things were roughly adding up.
The child’s physique was too small, and I couldn’t see the child’s face properly because of the shaggy hair like a dog that hadn’t been groomed in a long time.
If I could just see the face once, I could tell right away.
Ah, maybe!
‘S, Status window?’
“……”
‘Window status! Mr. Window!’
I tried to call out the Status window in my mind, but no window appeared showing the protagonist’s information like in the game.
But I couldn’t just blurt it out like a crazy person.
As I was wondering what to do, I inadvertently used the end of the fan I was holding to lift the child’s chin.
Swish. As the rough hair swept back, the boy’s white face was revealed.
“……!”
Thump. My heart dropped to the floor. For a moment, my chest felt choked with a strange emotion.
Hair as black as a crow.
Round, gentle eyes like a puppy.
Warm-colored blue eyes that seemed to capture the spring sky where flower petals fluttered.
Everything was exactly the same as the protagonist in Hirome.
No, there was only one difference: the real thing was about five times cuter than the illustration?
I was sincerely impressed.
Goodness, how could there be such a lovely creature?
‘It’s just like a small animal.’
“What a beastly sight.”
……I can’t let my guard down with this translator at all.
I quickly turned my head, pretending that I hadn’t said those words.
At that moment, the head maid’s blunt words instantly cooled my excitement.
“From now on, if you have anything to order, use this child.”
I quickly sent the head maid a desperate look.
‘Please, mediate between us for me.’
Fortunately, my gaze got through, and the head maid nodded with a nervous look. And.
“Then, I will be on my way……”
Bang.
The sound of the head maid hurriedly closing the door echoed through the room.
What. Did she just run away?
“……”
“……”
A heavy silence settled in the room.
Trying to lighten the awkward atmosphere somehow, I smiled as brightly as possible and asked.
‘Erm, our baby, how old are you this year?’
“How many years have you lived this year?”
The child, who had been hunched over with tension, was startled and stood stiffly at attention.
“Y-yes! I am, probably, nine years old this year!”
Probably nine years old.
‘How cute.’
The moment I unknowingly twitched the corners of my mouth.
“Hic.”
The child made a gasping sound as if he had seen something he shouldn’t have and shrank back in fear.
Is my face…… that scary?
Belinda’s eyes are fierce, but I don’t think they’re so scary that people would gasp for breath just by making eye contact.
I sadly lowered my head, pretending to drink tea.
Then I saw it. My face reflected in the clear black tea.
‘What is this?’
It’s a completely scheming villainess expression!
Could it be…… that my expressions are also within the scope of synchronization?
That’s why everyone flinches whenever I smile, and the head maid runs away!
I quickly unfolded the fan, covered my face, and only showed my eyes. Then the protagonist’s complexion improved a little.
‘Anyway, he said he was nine years old.’
That means there are roughly six months left until the game’s introduction begins.
In another half a year, in early spring when the protagonist turns ten.
This child will meet Ophelia, who is defecting to the kingdom.
Now that I’ve seen the protagonist in person, my last attachment has melted away.
Now, all I’m curious about is the ending this child will face in eight years.
Hirome had a variety of endings depending on how the scenarios and quests were cleared, and there were more than a dozen endings, with new endings being updated every month.
<‘Star of the Hero’ became the kingdom’s sword, vowing eternal loyalty to the royal family, the captain of the royal guard.>
<‘Star of the Hero’ became the owner of ‘that bakery,’ which people say is the most popular in the royal capital.>
<‘Star of the Hero’ became the kingdom’s greatest archmage, breaking through the top floor of the Gray Tower…….>
<‘Star of the Hero’ became the successor to the chief high priest who rules the White Palace…….>
I conquered the endings one by one, playing over and over again.
Except for one, the true ending.
In fact, Hirome was notorious for the fact that no one had ever seen the hero ending, which was the true ending, despite its name.
‘Personally, I liked the youngest royal captain of the royal guard ending the most.’
Or the ending where he becomes the successor to the chief high priest is also good. The white priest’s robes suited him really well.
As I was imagining the distant future, a chilling question crossed my mind.
‘Wait? But if I run away now, what happens to the protagonist?’
Not only would the protagonist’s situation become ambiguous in this mansion, but it might also affect the event where he meets Ophelia.
Ophelia and Star of the Hero meet because of saving the protagonist from Belinda.
What……. Could it be that me running away is a destruction of the original work?
As I was internally racking my brain, a frail voice shattered my thoughts.
“Th, that……”
When I glanced down, the child was looking up at me with both fists clenched tightly, as if he had made a firm decision.
“I, I’ll work hard if you just give me something to do!”
“……”
“I, I can clean well. I know how to clean the gaps in the wooden floor thoroughly, and I know how to make the furniture shine. And, and also……”
As my obvious gaze turned to him, the child’s voice, which had been rattling off all sorts of cleaning methods while eagerly promoting himself, gradually faded.
“I’ll be a useful servant. So, if you let me work here……”
He couldn’t finish his sentence, but the child’s desperate heart was conveyed painfully.
At that moment, the scales in my heart tilted completely to one side.
