The next day.
Mikhail summoned the butler, Jake, the knight commander, and me without warning.
“We have the advantage in the trial!”
Looking neat and well-dressed with a healthy complexion, he seemed perfectly fine as if he’d never collapsed—
“Our mansion has witnesses everywhere! Didn’t all our servants see it! I discriminated against Joachim, but I never discriminated against Rilke!”
—but it seemed he was only pretending on the surface. Seeing him suddenly become an optimist, I could tell Mikhail hadn’t completely recovered from the shock yet.
“That’s right, Your Excellency! Everything you say is absolutely right!” Only the loyal Jake clapped her hands together like a woman at a festival.
“Hyung. Please quickly return to your usual self.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m telling you to go back to being a pessimist.”
“……”
Only then did Mikhail’s eyes calm down a bit. When working on business, it was Mikhail’s usual habit to start by assuming the worst.
“Do you really think Rilke and Duke Yorick filed a lawsuit with no chance of winning? They even had a whole month. We weren’t just sitting idle either.”
When I refreshed his memory, Mikhail’s face became a bit calmer.
“First, we need to address the witness problem. Rilke will probably point out that since they’re employees belonging to the Meyer household, the employees’ statements can’t be trusted.”
“That’s just the standard rhetoric that lawyers for those without witnesses habitually spout. —Don’t tell me,”
Mikhail’s eyes narrowed.
“You’re suspecting the estate employees?”
I nodded.
“Yes, if even one person gets swayed to their side, it’ll become ‘why would someone employed by the Meyer household take the side of the expelled Rilke unless things were really that bad?'”
“Since it’s a lie anyway, the testimony won’t be specific. It’s common for witnesses to be bought with money or something. Rather, consistent testimony from multiple people on our side will gain more credibility.”
I said.
“I’m not so sure. I think I know who Rilke will put forward as a witness.”
A moment later, Mikhail jumped to his feet.
“Absolutely not! Ethan’s family has served our house since his grandfather’s time!”
“That’s exactly why, if he steps forward as a witness, people will think, ‘Things must have been really bad.'”
And five years ago, Ethan reported my every move to Rilke.
He made it easy for me to fall into that child’s trap, and personally hung those terrible cursed earrings on my ears. He’s probably still passing information about the Meyer household to Rilke even now.
“I kept telling you to distance yourself from Ethan and you followed my advice, but dismissing him is a different matter! Besides, there’s no evidence. Haven’t you been saying he’s suspicious without any proof!”
“I heard Rilke talking with him about rabbits.”
It was a lie.
I just planned to mix it plausibly with facts to make him suspect Ethan.
“Rabbits? You mean those fat ones we raise in one corner of the garden?”
“Those creatures were originally brought in by Rilke.”
I briefly explained what I’d seen that night when I discovered the rabbits’ whereabouts. Jake’s face turned pale, the butler and knight commander’s faces became serious, and Mikhail looked dumbfounded.
“I definitely saw more than ten corpses alone. I was curious where all those rabbit corpses went. But since I saw Ethan talking with Rilke about rabbits, wouldn’t he know well?”
Nevertheless, Mikhail pondered about Ethan for a long time. I knew from before that he had a lot of affection for things he was stubborn about, so I let it be. Mikhail said let’s look into just a few more things. I refused at first, but since he promised this would be the last time and it sounded reasonable when I heard it, I agreed. And…….
The opportunity came faster than expected.
“Joachim.”
Before I knew it, Rilke had approached close by.
“How about we make a bet?”
* * *
It was the fifth day since Rilke had attempted that absurd exposé.
It was also the fifth day since the hunting festival began.
Not showing one’s face for the remaining period just because such a thing happened could lead to other gossip. Therefore, I was participating in the event, at least, in consultation with Mikhail.
“A bet?”
I asked back to Rilke, who had made the first proposal.
Unlike me, who had shown my face since yesterday, Rilke had been coming out since morning. Perhaps he’d heard that I started participating yesterday and came out.
“Yeah. Let’s go to the second district if possible.”
The first district is boring, isn’t it? Despite what had happened, Rilke was making a proposal that seemed like goodwill as if nothing was wrong.
As if to emphasize he was the person who had collapsed, Rilke had a tired expression. He wore a pale-colored hunting outfit that made him look particularly gaunt, with a red scarf tied on. Likewise, behind him, knights wearing identical scarves were lined up in rows. They were the Grand Duke’s knights.
“I heard that you’re directly participating in the hunt for the Meyer family?”
I felt the surrounding gazes concentrate. People pretended not to while excitedly watching ‘the one claiming to be falsely accused’ and ‘the one claiming to have been pushed.’
“It’s not an uncommon thing.”
“Right, bets are very common at hunting festivals too.”
Rilke answered.
It was certainly such a common pastime that separate rules and laws had been established for it, with all kinds of customs.
“It’d be boring to just ask the knights. Let’s participate directly ourselves. I’ve been learning swordsmanship lately.”
Rilke touched the hilt of the rapier hanging at his waist. Looking at the thin, slender blade that resembled its owner, I said.
“Weren’t Duke Yorick’s knights the winners of the subjugation army hunting competition?”
This was also one of the changes to the past related to me. In the past, Sir Lifros, who had participated as my knight among the subjugation forces, had won.
“Don’t tell me you’re saying it’s unfavorable? Your side also has a top-class hunter. Don’t you trust your knight’s abilities?”
“He’s not my knight. He’s my colleague.”
“Ah, right. Like me and these people.”
Rilke smiled and pointed to the knights lined up behind him.
“Anyway, will you do it or not?”
“I have conditions.”
“Of course we need to set them in detail. Speak.”
Rilke smiled innocently as if still full of goodwill.
“First, no animals can die or get hurt.”
It was a condition I set remembering the cruel nature that mercilessly killed rabbits.
I could guess why Rilke was acting like this, but unreasonable suffering couldn’t occur because of my choice to go along with Rilke’s game.
“…Of course. It pained my heart when animals died too.”
“And only two people per household can participate. For example, Sir Lifros and me, you and one knight from House Yorick. Those are my conditions.”
Rilke rolled his eyes as if pondering. I showed a reaction that if he didn’t like it, it couldn’t be helped. Really, it didn’t matter if we didn’t have this kind of bet.
“Fine.”
Rilke accepted.
“Does hunting with a falcon count too?”
“I don’t have a falcon.”
Sir Lifros also shook his head. Originally, Rilke was the only one in the Meyer household who had a falcon.
Once the conditions were roughly matched, I called a protocol officer and requested a simple contract. Since there were many betting nobles, protocol officers were helping with notarization procedures in such cases.
The coordinated prize money was a whopping 30,000 florins.
“As expected of a bet between the Grand Duke’s house and the Meyer house, it’s currently the largest amount.”
The protocol officer praised us as he wrote down the bet prize money on the brief contract he’d brought.
“Wait a moment.”
Rilke stopped the quill pen.
“Instead of 30,000 florins, can I receive something else?”
I also asked ‘what?’ pretending to be puzzled.
“Now that I think about it…… the people of the Grand Duke’s house are kind, but.”
He paused. Rilke softened his eyebrows and opened his mouth.
“Still, I’ve been with the count’s servants for nearly ten years. Instead of 30,000 florins, could you just send me one servant I want? The Meyer family has many servants so it won’t be burdensome, and I just want help for a few months.”
When I didn’t answer, Rilke quickly added with truly desperate sad eyes.
“I’ll follow that servant’s wishes! If I ask but he refuses…… I’ll just pay 30,000 florins the same!”
I looked back at the count’s vassal who had participated together. Not knowing any circumstances, he commented, “Well, it’s better than 30,000 florins.”
“Right, Joachim. Don’t tell me you don’t trust the Meyer family’s servants?”
Rilke asked with a resolute face as if he couldn’t tolerate injustice.
“Whether they become my servant or remain a Meyer family servant. Wherever they go, they’ll be truthful people. Faithful servants are the pride of the Meyer family, right? Even if the person who becomes my servant gives testimony unfavorable to me, I’ll bear it.”
A moment later, the protocol officer’s quill pen started moving again. If the servant’s consent was obtained, it could replace 30,000 florins.
Penalty clauses for breaking contract conditions—such as receiving help from others—were also added. Rilke bit his lip slightly while signing the amount of 300,000 florins in case of breach, and I knew that child would absolutely abide by the contract conditions.
—Only two people including Rilke Yorick and Joachim Meyer must participate in the hunt representing each household.
—The second member cannot be changed midway.
—Point assignment for caught animals follows the value standard table enacted in Imperial Year 560.
—Only animals that are completely alive and uninjured can earn points.
—The side with the higher final score wins (prize money see reverse side).
=If any of the above contract conditions are violated, 300,000 florins must be paid to the opposing household.
“Shall we start?”
I asked Rilke with truly willing feelings.
