TBLM 06

Chapter 6

“Yes. Um, so…”

“I’m Riatrice, Lady Isollet. Please call me Ria.”

“Yes…!”

Chew, chew.

I answered while rolling the candy around inside my cheek.

Until just a moment ago, my impression of the maids had simply been, “Demons!” But now I had changed my mind a little.

After all, no one who gives you delicious things can be a bad person…

Come to think of it, had this Riatrice woman somehow read my mood?

She had produced a candy and popped it into my mouth at exactly the right moment. She seemed like someone who was extremely skilled at handling children.

The maids seemed to carry candy around with them at all times.

Were there a lot of children in this mansion besides me?

If so, it made sense that they were so good at dealing with me.

While chewing my candy, I became curious and asked,

“Um… Ria! Are there a lot of other family members living in the mansion besides me and my father?”

“Yes. Didn’t the master tell you?”

“No… Well…”

I had wanted to ask, but that germaphobe had told me to go wash myself first.

I had intended to gather some information before dinner.

He had definitely said that the entire family would attend dinner.

Knowing who the family members were beforehand would surely be helpful.

“This mansion is the main residence where the direct descendants of House Heartfinder live. Among the senior members of the family, there is Lord Silvanos, the head of House Heartfinder, and beneath him are Lord Bernando and Lady Eloise.”

“……”

Their names were difficult.

Chew, chew.

I tried to memorize the names while eating my candy.

“Lord Bernando had one son, but he passed away in a carriage accident a few days ago. He was such a kind child…”

As Riatrice spoke about Bernando’s son, she gently wiped away a tear.

Even Riatrice, who wasn’t related to the child by blood at all, was this saddened by his death.

Thinking of Bernando, I shook my head inwardly.

After sighing, Riatrice continued.

“And then there are Lady Sinelloa, Lady Eloise’s wife, their son Lord Ikua, and their daughter Lady Lucia. Both of them are around the same age as Lady Isollet, so I’m sure you’ll become friends quickly. They’re both very pretty and kind children!”

“Yes…”

Why were there so many people in this family?

Though I suspected the last part was Riatrice’s personal opinion.

Hmm. So that made seven people in the main residence, including me.

And three of them were children, counting me…

It was a large family, something rarely seen in the modern world.

“The other siblings who aren’t direct descendants live outside the mansion, so they probably won’t visit unless it’s a special occasion.”

“I see…”

“Oh! Silly me! I don’t have time for this! I need to help prepare dinner, but I completely forgot while we were talking.”

“Ah!”

Riatrice suddenly became flustered, as though she had remembered something she needed to do.

She quickly tidied up the area and stood by the door.

“Lady Isollet, please rest comfortably, then. I’ll see you at dinner at six.”

“Yes~.”

Click.

The door closed, and Riatrice disappeared.

“……”

Left alone, I stared blankly at the girl sitting in the mirror.

Then I grinned.

“Hee.”

She’s cute. Heh.

Even though I was grinning rather unattractively, I still looked cute.

If the maids had seen me like this, they definitely would have covered their mouths and giggled again.

I really looked like a completely different person.

The girl I had seen in the cracked mirror—the only luxury item in my old room, presumably thrown away by a noble family—looked completely different from the girl sitting here now.

“……”

After sitting there blankly for a while, I sank deeply into the sofa and relaxed.

I suddenly found myself alone.

Today had really been a chaotic day.

The sofa was so soft that the old bed at the inn couldn’t even compare.

“……”

After riding in a carriage for such a long distance, getting thoroughly scrubbed clean, eating delicious candy, and sinking into such a soft sofa, I found myself hovering on the verge of sleep.

Ah. I mustn’t fall asleep…

I had to go to the dining room…

“Ah! The dining room!”

I suddenly opened my eyes wide.

But where was the dining room?

I forced my sleepy body to get up and opened the door. Looking outside the window, I saw that the sun was about to set.

It wasn’t quite evening yet, but dinner time was approaching.

“Ah!”

I immediately opened my door and ran off in a random direction, but I couldn’t find anywhere that looked like a dining room.

Oh no! I forgot to ask the most important thing!

Why hadn’t anyone told me where the dining room was?

I must have been so overwhelmed by everything that had happened since coming to the mansion that I’d completely lost my focus.

“Pant… pant…”

I ran and ran through the wide corridors of the mansion, but I couldn’t see a single person.

Time continued to pass without waiting for me.

Before I knew it, darkness was falling outside the windows.

Late on my very first day!

Just then, I finally spotted the silhouette of a person in the distance.

It was the back of a black-haired boy who looked around my age.

Wow! A person!

I never thought the day would come when I would be so moved to see another human being.

I ran toward him with a delighted expression.

“Excuse me—!”

“……”

“Hey, hey! Excuse me—?”

Maybe he couldn’t hear me. Perhaps he didn’t realize I was calling him.

So I called out to the boy even more forcefully.

“Hey, little boy!”

I didn’t know his name.

Calling him “Hey!” seemed a little rude when we had just met, so that was the form of address I had settled on.

But the moment I called, “Little boy!” his footsteps abruptly stopped.

And then…

Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap—!

“Gasp.”

…he started walking even faster, as though he were using some kind of supernatural martial arts technique.

He was definitely walking, but he was moving faster than an ordinary person could run.

What was going on?

Was this kid not an ordinary child?!

But I couldn’t let him get away.

If I lost him, who knew when I’d encounter another person in this enormous mansion?

I ran after him at full speed.

“Little boy! I said, stop!”

And after a desperate chase, I finally managed to catch him.

I grabbed the boy by the shoulder and panted heavily.

“Haa… haa… I finally caught you. Little boy, do you know where the dining room is?”

“……”

The boy, who had been staring straight ahead, merely turned his head slightly to look at me.

The moment I met his eyes, which looked as though he were absolutely furious, I knew.

This boy is Ikua.

Calm black hair, red eyes, sharp, horizontally elongated eyes, and a pale face.

Because he was still a child, his features were somewhat rounded, but there was an overall sensitive quality to his appearance.

He would probably be quite popular once he grew a little older.

Especially those striking red eyes that were impossible to forget after seeing them once.

Red eyes were practically the symbol of House Heartfinder.

Of course, not everyone with red eyes belonged to House Heartfinder.

Even in the Baros Empire, where people had all kinds of eye colors, red eyes were quite rare.

After coming to the Baros Empire, I had only seen red eyes on myself and Bernando.

So, at this hour, if there was a young boy with red eyes wandering around inside this mansion, there was only one possibility.

Hmm. His full name was… Ah!

Ikua Perelope Heartfinder.

Ikua never actually appeared directly in the novel, but he was occasionally mentioned in passing.

Apparently, he was Count Heartfinder’s extremely beloved grandson.

The count had bragged about his grandson quite a lot throughout the story.

The fact that such a cold-blooded man acted like a complete grandfather obsessed with his grandchild had made enough of an impression on me that I remembered his name.

Because of the count’s inability to express himself honestly, Ikua viewed him with a mixture of respect and fear…

But apparently, he was a genius with the sword.

He had reached the level of being able to wield sword energy at an exceptionally young age, becoming the youngest person ever to achieve it.

He had even personally taught swordsmanship to the protagonist’s group at one point.

He was a minor character, but at least he was a named minor character.

Though, of course, right now he was still just a child.

Ikua wouldn’t begin distinguishing himself in swordsmanship until after he turned fifteen.

So I’m finally meeting an actual character from the novel.

Combined with Ikua’s handsome face, it felt like I was looking at an idol on TV.

How should I put it…

Even though I was meeting him for the first time, it felt strangely familiar, like meeting a celebrity and somehow feeling as though I’d known them for years.

I want to pretend I know him!

I desperately want to pretend I know him!

But if someone I’d never met before acted like they knew everything about me, wouldn’t that be annoying?

Eleven-year-olds were… sensitive…

I took a step back and stared at Ikua with a knowing look, as though I knew everything about him.

Ikua flinched when our eyes met.

I cleared my throat and spoke to Ikua, who was still glaring at me angrily, in the gentlest voice I could manage.

“Little boy, do you know where the dining room is?”

When I asked again, Ikua’s expression crumpled even further.

Was he really that offended by my asking him where the dining room was?

“I don’t know!”

Ikua replied curtly and shook off my arm, which was still resting on his shoulder.

Then he immediately ignored me and tried to continue on his way.

No!