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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: No Allies Here
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I gently traced the burn scar on Kivrin's hand with my fingertips.
“Does it still hurt?”
“N-no, it doesn't hurt.”
How did Kivrin get burned?
I wracked my brain, trying to recall that detail from the novel, but soon gave up.
Why not just ask Kivrin directly?
“May I ask how you got hurt?”
“I g-got hurt because I’m a m-monster.”
It was a peculiar answer that offered no context whatsoever.
Still, I tried to comfort him.
“You’re not a monster, Young Lord. We’re getting along just fine, aren’t we?”
“Th-that’s why you’re s-strange, Lady Cheria. Are you... like me? Are you getting along with me because you’re a m-monster, too?”
Looking into the ten-year-old’s innocent eyes, I felt conflicted, unsure whether to agree or disagree.
In the end, I gave an answer that more or less met his expectations.
“Yes, well, you could say that.”
“I k-knew it!”
He seemed far more delighted by that than when I’d told him he wasn’t a monster.
...Whatever makes him happy, I guess?
* * *
The sky was particularly overcast that day.
Suddenly, the Duchess barged in.
Maids accompanied her, all of them unfamiliar faces.
“I’ve heard the story. From now on, I will oversee things myself.”
“...”
I tilted my head.
It was because these new maids also had an emblem of scales, one pan bound in chains, embroidered on their clothes.
In the novel, the relationship between the Temple and the Ducal House had been amicable until Kivrin became the Duke.
But I doubted they were close enough for the Temple to recommend dozens of maids.
No, perhaps there were even more people from the Temple within the Ducal House.
Was this really a normal situation?
“Get rid of all the dresses.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
As the maids withdrew, Winter Nectarian’s gaze shifted to me.
“They say the servants were greedy beyond their station, but you’re no different. You don’t even know how to be grateful.”
I thought of the dresses, laden with jewels and lace.
I had made good use of the diamonds, but considering their original purpose was to adorn those dresses, I still didn't feel grateful.
“I couldn’t even put them on by myself, could I? If you gave them to me just to look at, then I have nothing more to say.”
“How impudent.”
Just then, more maids entered.
They carried armfuls of new dresses.
Winter frowned.
“Those won’t satisfy her either. Take them away.”
“...”
Ignoring the maids’ bewilderment, Winter said no more.
She spoke a few words only to Kivrin and didn’t look at me again before she left.
And then, the next morning, Winter came again.
This time, she brought a wardrobe of new dresses designed to be easy for a child to wear on her own, with mobility clearly in mind.
The designs were closer to simple frocks.
“Well?”
“What about them?”
“The dresses, of course. I’m asking if you can put them on by yourself.”
Winter glared at me, her expression fierce.
I never even said I wanted new dresses, so why is she so worked up...?
In any case, feeling it was a waste that the other dresses had been thrown out, I gave Winter the reaction she wanted.
“I think I can wear these by myself. Thank you.”
Only then did Winter’s expression soften slightly.
Is she... actually concerned about me? I don’t get it.
“Mother...!”
At the sound of Kivrin’s voice, both Winter and I turned our heads.
Startled by the sudden attention, Kivrin, who had been running over, tripped and fell forward.
“Kivrin!”
Winter’s hand shot out instinctively.
But halfway there, she gritted her teeth and pulled it back.
In the end, I was the only one who helped Kivrin up.
“Young Lord, are you okay?”
“Y-yes... Yes. I’m, I’m okay.”
I glanced back at Winter.
Her head was bowed, so I couldn’t see her expression.
But I had clearly seen her face turn pale the moment Kivrin fell.
Without raising her head, Winter turned her back.
Too late. I’ve already figured it out.
There’s definitely something going on.
I ran to Winter and grabbed the hem of her dress.
Winter didn’t shake my hand off.
“Don’t just leave. I’ll make you some tea.”
“...What?”
“It’s all right to rest for a moment, isn’t it?”
Before Winter could reply, one of the maids interjected.
“It is not advisable for you to remain here for long, Duchess.”
No servant tries to control their master’s actions.
A maid belonging to the Ducal House would never behave this way.
The embroidered scales on the maid’s clothes seemed to gleam faintly.
Winter’s eyes narrowed.
“Be quiet.”
“But if by some chance...”
“Do not forget that you are here precisely for that ‘some chance.’”
Her voice was like ice.
When the maid from the Temple stopped protesting, Winter sat on the sofa. Then she gestured to me with her chin.
It was a signal that I could bring the tea.
I went to the kitchen with Kivrin to prepare it.
Kivrin seemed excited, as if his knee didn't sting at all.
“Are you that happy?”
“Yes. B-but I like you too, Lady Cheria.”
I wasn’t asking out of jealousy...
A moment later, I placed the tea in front of Winter.
She took a sip and furrowed her brow.
“This tastes vile.”
I knew she’d say that.
I offered her a perfectly innocent smile.
“The Young Lord brewed it. I just brought it over.”
The hand Winter held the teacup with trembled.
“...What’s good for the body is often bitter to the tongue.”
Readers of had called Winter Nectarian a typical villain.
In the novel, she was nothing more than a minor character who despised her hideously born son.
But the Winter before me now seemed like someone who couldn’t be honest—or perhaps, wasn’t allowed to be.
The maid from the Temple chimed in again.
“Time is passing. Are you unconcerned about the negative influence on the Young Lord?”
Hmm, interesting.
A negative influence.
Winter was Kivrin’s biological mother.
Yet the maids from the Temple acted as if they were desperate to keep her away from him.
Ignoring the maids’ sharp glares, Winter insisted on finishing all her tea before she stood up.
Then she turned back to me.
“If you want to survive, keep your wits about you. You have no allies here.”
Deciding to trust Kivrin’s judgment for now, I said loud enough for the maids from the Temple to hear,
“Yes! I’ll take your advice to heart, Mother!”
“...What did you just say?”
Winter asked, a beat late with surprise, while the maids scowled in unison.
I even made a point of beaming at them.
At that, Kivrin, who was stuck to my side, whispered quietly.
“I-if it’s okay... I’ll be on y-your side, Lady Cheria.”
“Thank you.”
How admirable of you.
I gently patted Kivrin’s head.
* * *
The next day, the main gate opened in the morning.
Only a single maid from the Temple entered.
I had anticipated something like this might happen, so I wasn’t terribly surprised, but it was unpleasant all the same.
“I heard the Duchess would be supervising from now on.”
“The Duchess is unable to come today.”
“...”
Her eyes were fixed on Kivrin.
“She ignored the Temple’s mercy, so this is the consequence.”
“...”
Kivrin opened his mouth to say something, then shut it again.
Yep, that’s not mercy, that’s a threat.
Last night, I had set aside the information I’d gleaned from and summarized what I’d seen and felt for myself into a single sentence.
The Temple is branding Kivrin as a monster to manipulate the Ducal House as it pleases.
It also seemed that Winter was by no means happy to be accompanied by maids from the Temple.
“If the Young Lord truly worries for the Duchess...”
The maid reached a hand toward Kivrin.
I snatched her hand before it could reach him.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Now that I’d dropped the honorifics, the maid’s eyes narrowed.
“My, my. Acting like you’re already the little lady of the Ducal House? I suppose being the Saintess’s sister isn’t enough for you?”
She easily shook off my hand and scoffed.
Ah, right. Of course she’d know who I am.
I said, hiding Kivrin behind me,
“And you’re not so pleasant to look at either, acting all high and mighty just because you have the Temple behind you.”
“You seem to think being the Saintess’s sister makes you someone special...!”
“Shut up. Don’t get cocky when you don’t even have any divine power.”
When I threw the same words Winter had used back at her, her face crumpled viciously.
Did she ask if being the Saintess’s sister made me special?
Well, it actually did.
In , Cheria had an adverse reaction to divine power.
Her own sister, the Saintess, was an exception, but she had a merciless reaction to other priests.
It was a setup practically designed to make her hated by the Temple, the story’s absolute good.
But I felt nothing from that maid from the Temple.
She’s just Extra Number 1, is what she is.
