Separate from his feelings about me, Mikhail thoroughly thought of me as the family’s property. Or perhaps he worried about his own reputation that would fall if he abandoned me.
I had a way to sneak out of the house without anyone knowing. In the past, I had run away like that, but I was caught by Mikhail in less than three days. And I had to be locked in the mansion’s basement for twice as long as the period I ran away.
Leaving the house is easy, but what comes after is the problem. Unless they discover my corpse, Mikhail won’t stop pursuing me.
“You bastard!”
That Mikhail was telling me to leave the house.
I was in the middle of pulling out the bag I had hidden. Whoosh, Mikhail snatched the handbag and threw it. Crash, the console that the bag hit fell over. A clanging sound was heard. It was the sound of the gold coins I had packed in the bag getting crushed.
“You, you, you!!”
Having heard the sound of gold coins, Mikhail’s face became completely enraged.
I fled backward. When I took a direct hit from that face like a heated iron club, I naturally became solemn. Since I grew up being hit, my brother and father were scary every time.
Mikhail grabbed and lifted up the handbag he had thrown. The gold coins clanged again. I thought it would be okay to take that much since I had done work all this time.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
“…….”
Nothing happened.
I slowly opened my eyes.
I made eye contact with Mikhail, still like a Satyros with veins bulging on his forehead. After looking at the bag once and Mikhail once, I opened my mouth with a hopeless feeling.
“Don’t hit me. I’ll leave empty-handed.”
“Where the hell do you think you’re going!”
Instead of hitting me, Mikhail only yelled—aaaaaargh!—and stopped, but I was only disappointed that the opportunity to leave the house immediately had disappeared. Nothing is easy.
Unlike the handbag that was taken away, the pouch of gold coins remained in my room. It was stingy Mikhail who personally took it out and threw it to me.
Seeing the intact gold coins, my heart was about to soften as if I had seen a meadow. That’s how it was, but,
“Is Joachim holed up in a corner again?”
A few days later, Mikhail showed signs of nagging again. It was on the way to join Mikhail after stopping by the salon with Rilke.
Mikhail had another business meeting on Wells Street, but it seemed he wanted to show House Meyer’s solidarity was intact by showing the three of us traveling together.
“Still, we stayed together longer than last time.”
Rilke answered.
I don’t know how he is in front of me, but that child would obey Mikhail’s words, show his best efforts, and try to appear harmonious. As expected, that child is definitely the son of this house, not me.
I buried my body deep in the backrest and took in Rilke and Mikhail at a glance. In the past, I used to vow every time not to be among them, who seemed perfect, like a broken object, but now it doesn’t matter at all.
Mixed in a situation that wasn’t very harmonious, the carriage arrived at the end of Wells Street, at the Meyer Trading Company.
“These are the items that came in from this trade.”
Mikhail said with dignity.
“Look carefully and choose what you want.”
House Meyer had been accumulating considerable wealth for generations. It was one of the reasons they could survive as a Count family, even though they almost faced extermination a few generations ago.
‘It’s not a gift, he’s testing you. To see who will choose the most valuable thing. It’s your young master’s family tradition.’
The nanny would give such clues about Father’s incomprehensible actions.
Mikhail, who became the head of the family, occasionally applied that tradition-like event to his younger siblings Rilke and me, and today was one of those days.
“I should just hurry up and get married.”
“Joachim, what did you say?”
“Oh, there are many good items.”
The trading company’s reception room wasn’t as grand as the Count family’s office, but it was as splendid as any noble family’s main room.
Mikhail sat on the most elegant and large front couch, while Rilke and I sat side by side on the long sofa.
“Then I will show you the merchandise.”
The head of this trade expedition, with a slightly nervous air and an unfamiliar face, began explaining.
The correct answers were about the pocket watch and the old book. In the case of the watch, every part was flawlessly intricate, and especially the hands and face were decorated with crystals of a peculiar color. Those crystals produced only in Iota had characteristics that were easy to recognize. I remembered the old book because it would be something Mikhail would keep with him for a while.
“Do you know what this is?”
Mikhail bragged about the old book for a while.
After that, various items came in. Rilke chose that pocket watch decorated with a crystal bezel, a topaz locket, and a large, elegant purple couch.
“Joachim, aren’t you choosing?”
“I don’t need anything.”
Clicking his tongue, Mikhail began choosing my items himself with a face like a cunning jeweler.
“Shouldn’t you start properly entering society now? It’s ridiculous to always wear the same clothes and accessories. First, shoes, cufflinks, a blazer too… -Joachim, put down that tie pin.”
“You told me to choose accessories.”
Mikhail forced a smile and snatched the tie pin.
“It has a skull drawn on it.”
I didn’t want to get beaten when I got home, so I obediently put down the tie pin.
But even with just a few looks around, it was nagging all the way back.
“Why on earth are they selling donkey-shaped clasps and such? It must be a terrible trend brought in by those Iota bastards, those good-for-nothing bastards!”
You’re so good at finding such things! The nagging kept coming.
When we arrived at the mansion, I felt like I had become a worn-out shoe sole. I felt like my ears were bleeding…….
But when the butler came running out, even Mikhail, who had been reeling off complaints like thread, had to stop talking.
“Master! Master, this is terrible.”
News that shocked everyone was waiting.
The attending physician who had been locked in prison had died.
“He originally had a chronic illness… The cause was a seizure while confined.”
House Meyer had its own investigative authority recognized by the Imperial Family. The Captain of the Knights lowered his head.
‘Why the hell did that crazy bastard die!’
The atmosphere was even more cave-like since it was after Mikhail had thrown away his dignity and made a scene.
“Possibility of murder?”
The physician had been confined in the mansion’s basement.
“None. There were no abnormal behaviors or signs from the criminal, and as you know, there are two guards stationed at both the entrance going down to the basement and the prison entrance.”
“Gaps during shift changes.”
“There were none.”
Only after personally finishing even the guards’ confrontational interrogation did Mikhail’s breathing calm down.
“What happened with what was investigated before?”
“As you can see, no evidence of accomplices could be found among the confiscated items and the physician’s past activities. The treatment-related items were really all there was in that room, and the physician hardly ever left the mansion. Rather, meaningful results came from the Academy. The sample analysis results detected components completely different from those written in the prescription log. However, they don’t yet know what that specific component is or what effect it has on the body.”
“Animals or prisoners.”
“So far, there’s been no particular reaction. In the case of the Omega prisoner you mentioned, we need approval from the Imperial Family.”
“Request cooperation and also look for commoner Omegas in urgent situations.”
The Captain of the Knights and the butler glanced at me slightly. Regardless, Mikhail continued ordering.
“Continue investigating the physician’s activities, and give samples to physicians outside the system. It would be good to submit to the Magic Academy as well.”
“Understood, Count.”
* * *
Unlike the vassals’ efforts in various ways, finding clear clues about the attending physician became distant.
Responses came back from both the Academy and the Magic Academy saying it would take a long time to determine the mechanism of the sample.
I was surprised that something was discovered in the medicine, but I was more shocked by the physician’s death itself.
The attending physician had been alive and well until I left the Count’s house. My mood sank, feeling like the water’s course I had unintentionally changed had caused someone’s tragedy.
“Why are you always in that state?”
But today, I had no time to ruminate on my low spirits.
“We clearly ordered from the same tailor, yet there’s such a difference in bearing.”
Starting from this morning’s events, without even knowing why, I couldn’t eat properly and was prepared—precisely, was prepared—breathlessly.
“Especially that hair! Can’t you do something about that hair?”
I became awkward.
My hair, weak and thin but uselessly abundant, would sometimes float up chaotically like dandelion seeds.
I once tried growing it out like Rilke’s, but I couldn’t handle the amount that stuck all over my face. It was best to just cut it off at the nape and go around like that.
“Enough, enough!”
When I swept down the unruly hair, several ticklish strands stuck even to the back of my hand.
‘Can’t you do something about that undignified hair?’ Mikhail asked Rilke, and although there was no way that child could offer a solution to my unsolvable hair, the child brought out a small bottle. If we hadn’t arrived just in time, I would have almost put oil on my hair.
Mikhail, who got off the carriage, had already completely forgotten about my hair and was in an excited state.
“You’re saying he’s already here?”
Unlike usual social gatherings, it was from the morning, and that must have been why he had me prepare with care.
“He always arrives early, so we hurried, but first the donation- …Joachim, don’t dawdle.”
I was told that if you pay 100 florins per person as a contribution, you can become a member of the charitable organization. Mikhail casually took out his checkbook from his pocket and generously wrote out amounts for both me and Rilke before submitting them.
We became new members wearing small, square platinum brooches and entered the hall.
“This way, we create opportunities to exchange even one more word with that person.”
Inside the not-so-large hall, a place where people were particularly gathered caught my eye.
Mikhail took me and Rilke there like a stepmother with two daughters of marriageable age.
Even though he was surrounded by that many people, I could immediately tell who he was. There was only one person who could receive that much attention at a boring charity event, and setting aside being a head taller, he stood out anywhere.
It was Prince Benedict.
His short but abundant reddish hair, his delicate and splendid face still made him look like a spirit of flame.
His reddish eyes mixed with wood color were coolly beautiful, unlike that warm hue.
And that coolness would melt only before one person.
I looked back at Rilke.
That child’s eyes watching the Prince were sparkling.
