7 - Not Your Son, But Your Father
Chapter 7
"Gilbert! Where the hell are you!"
Soon, brown hair and a slick face came into view. There was a mole below his lip.
His name was Callen something. Gilbert Calakis's best friend, and I couldn't care less.
It wasn't until he was right in front of me that I made him stop.
"Lady Maybia."
I just stared blankly at him.
Even though I didn't return his greeting, Callen dismounted and launched into a formal and lengthy apology.
"I am truly sorry. Please forgive the rudeness of my cherished younger brother and longtime friend. I will take Gilbert away and severely reprimand him. And I will formally visit you later to apologize once again."
Callen roughly dragged Gilbert away. Still out of it, Gilbert was easily pulled along.
After putting Gilbert on his horse, Callen looked back at me with a reluctant expression.
"Lady, your clothes..."
Looking displeased, Callen tried to take off his coat for me.
I expressed my thoughts in one word.
"Get lost."
"...Farewell."
Callen hurriedly left with Gilbert. I felt sorry for the horse, having to carry two burly adult men over a long distance.
Alisa approached and licked my face as if to comfort me.
Rage welled up inside me. That bastard attacked my mount, not me?
"Sorry for putting you in danger."
I stroked her golden fur and climbed onto Alisa's back.
All the way back to the Marquess's estate, my foot, which had blocked Gilbert's sword, throbbed.
Alisa kept looking back as we returned to the estate.
Fortunately, before I changed my mind and went to kill Gilbert, Sera, who had come to meet me, found me.
"Lady!"
"Sera? Why are you out here?"
"Because you went alone, Lady! I was worried! How are you feeling? Are there any side effects?"
Sera whispered in a voice only I could hear.
"A small amount is fine."
My foot hurt again as I got off the horse.
I frowned without realizing it, but Sera was distracted by something else.
"Ah, Lady? What's that sword?"
"It's Gilbert's."
"He really came?!"
Sera's mouth dropped open.
"He even spoke informally to me."
"...Pardon?"
"Caw! Caw!"
Raven, flapping its wings, landed on my instep. The very spot that had been throbbing since earlier.
How perceptive.
I handed Alisa over to a servant and returned to my room with Sera. Sitting on the sofa, I took off my boots and saw that my foot was bruised. And quite swollen.
"Gasp!"
Sera gasped.
As much of a jerk as he was, Gilbert Calakis was apparently a first-rate swordsman.
To inflict this much damage even on a body enhanced with tricks.
Wiggling my toes, I opened my mouth.
"Sera, ice pack."
"You should get treatment first...!"
My head turned involuntarily at her tearful voice.
"Sera? It's nothing, don't cry."
"Huuung, but our Lady is hurt..."
"Thanks to the potion, it only ended up like this. And if I hadn't blocked it, Alisa would have died. He aimed for a vital spot."
Sneaky bastard.
Sera sniffled, her face red with anger.
"That Young Master is the worst! How could he threaten the Lady's safety? Shouldn't we tell His Excellency?"
"Revenge isn't fun if someone else does it for you."
"Is revenge the problem now? What am I supposed to do if something happens to you, Lady! You know I only live for you!"
My ears... my ears are going to explode, Sera.
"That's why you should help me with the ice pack. The ball is tomorrow, I can't go in with bandages."
"Oh, are you going to attend? You haven't found a partner yet."
I playfully glared at her.
"If he has any conscience, he'll come on time. And Sera, throw that away on your way out. Just dump it in some latrine or something."
I gestured with my chin at the dazzling platinum sword, studded with jewels.
"Caw, caw..."
Raven whimpered timidly, and Sera nodded solemnly.
"This filthy thing in an expensive latrine... Leave it to me. I'll take care of it for sure."
Sera took the sword and left. Only then did I wipe the smile from my face.
* * *
I had a bad night's sleep, so I was in a low mood from the morning. Of course, it was because I was angry.
This was the first time since living as Maybia Morgana that I had wanted to kill someone so badly.
What would have happened if I hadn't enhanced my body?
First of all, Alisa would have died. And I, having fallen from my horse, would have been seriously injured.
It went without saying that Gilbert wouldn't have kindly taken me back to the Marquess's estate.
"Our Lady is the most beautiful!"
I snapped out of it when Sera shouted.
I stared at the woman reflected in the full-length mirror. Her white skin and unusually sparkling, clear eyes made her look innocent, as if she knew nothing. But the smile on her lips was confident.
"How is it? Huh? Huh? Just one word!"
I lightly spun around in place. The silver-purple dress with diamonds embedded in it suited my hair well.
"Yeah, it's okay."
"Heeing, that's it!"
Sera pouted. But she couldn't even last a minute before speaking in a cheerful voice.
"Lady, doesn't it feel a little chilly today?"
The wind was strong. The sound of it hitting the window irregularly was ominous, so I didn't let Raven go out either. Raven was probably the youngest and weakest of the Grand Duke's Familiars.
"Is a storm coming? I hope the rainy season isn't long this year."
Sera chattered away even though I didn't respond. She must have noticed that I was in a bad mood and was trying to cheer me up.
In the novel, this maid stood up to Gilbert to protect the abused Maybia.
There was no need to dwell on what happened to Sera after that.
Because it would never happen.
"Sera."
"Yes?"
"Thank you."
"Oh, it's nothing! Our Lady is the most beautiful in the world even without me dressing you up!"
That wasn't what I meant. But I just let it go because Sera, who had forgotten that she had been sulking just a few minutes ago, was smiling so brightly.
It was almost time to get in the carriage. As I left the room, I saw my father coming up the stairs.
As if he had something to say to me, my father, who would normally just nod and pass by, opened his mouth.
"Maybia."
"Yes, Father."
"I heard you haven't found a partner."
He got straight to the point. My father never added unnecessary words when talking to his only child.
"It just ended up that way."
I didn't bother to explain the whole story. What I needed was a club to beat Gilbert with, not someone to tattle to.
Well, not yet.
My father stared at me with indifferent eyes and said,
"We will be leaving in an hour. You go then too."
In other words, he was going to enter with me so that no one would look down on me for not having a partner.
Why was he suddenly doing this? It wasn't like his daughter was being criticized just for entering the party alone.
It was unexpected, but I readily nodded.
"Thank you for your consideration."
The strange things didn't end there. It wasn't long after I got into the carriage with my parents. My mother, who was as uninterested in me as my father, asked how I was doing.
"Is anything going on these days?"
What did my mother eat wrong?
"I'm fine as always."
"Don't keep too much to yourself."
My eyes blinked involuntarily.
Don't keep too much to myself. Other families would foam at the mouth if they heard that. Who else lived as freely as I did?
My mother saw my dubious expression and drove the point home.
"Our family isn't so weak that it can't handle a daughter who's just come of age causing a ruckus."
In the novel, the Marchioness Morgana doesn't say these things. That's because at that time, they were the lowest-ranked of the three great families.
Of course, I was doing very well now as Maybia Morgana.
Even if I had a distant relationship with my parents, I had no intention of letting them fail in a large investment or be betrayed by a trusted vassal.
My mother watched me with eyes that demanded an answer. Aha. Sera must have told her what happened yesterday.
"You think I've been too lenient with the Young Master."
After smiling slightly, my mother brought up something unexpected.
"Do you remember? When you were six, you lay down on the floor to stop us from going out."
Of course I remembered. At the time, my parents were about to go and sign an investment contract that would later cost them more than half of their entire fortune.
Even if a little kid logically explained that they should never sign that contract, it would only arouse suspicion.
So I just threw a tantrum.
I lay down in front of the gate and kicked and screamed.
"I was a child."
When I retorted that even a noble young lady was a child at six, my mother finally laughed out loud.
"You're still a child in my eyes. A child who's just grown up with that same temper."
"..."
"How can a parent not be worried when such a young one is forcibly holding back?"
Even if we didn't talk about the weather in a friendly way, family was family.
I smiled like my mother.
"Well, nineteen is still young. It's an age when it's okay to cause some trouble."
"That's right."
She lightly fanned herself and turned to my father.
My father was silently staring out the window as if he couldn't hear our conversation.
"I'm really looking forward to the party today."
I felt like singing a song.
