TPCCMO 03

Chapter 3

 Leon Rudeburg

Reflecting on how we had both been looking at each other with prejudice, I shook hands with Seek and we smiled at each other.

“I want you to call me Louie. You’ll be the only one who gets to do that!”

“Then, Louie. Please feel free to call me ‘young lady.’”

“That’s not ‘feel free’ at all! You’re Maria Arnim, aren’t you? You introduced yourself that way during the greeting earlier.”

Ugh… I’d been hoping he’d just forget since I was so rude, but he remembered perfectly.

“I’m surprised. I thought you were asleep during the introductions.”

“I wasn’t! I just… you were different from the others. Your gaze wasn’t friendly at all—like nothing I’d ever gotten from a girl before. It stuck with me, I couldn’t forget it and… well… you were cute, too…”

“What was that? Don’t mumble—say it properly.”

I squeezed the hand we were still shaking and pulled it upward, peering at his lowered face. Louie suddenly turned bright red. Could he be shy? That outrageous behavior might just be a bold filter to hide his shyness. That actually makes sense. Nobody could seriously use a marquis’s daughter as a chair in public with a straight face. He must’ve been blushing inside but couldn’t back down.

“Um… Maria! Will you—”

“Marie. So this is where you were.”

Startled, I turned my face toward the voice. My brother was leaning against the wall, shoulder pressed to it—like those “wall-don” poses from overseas. My little sister had shown me this a million times… oh.

“Leon… Brother…”

Brother!! It was my sister’s beloved Leon!
This scene looked just like the still image of Leon my sister had forced me to watch on screen. Sparkling, almost translucent golden hair; clear green eyes; fair skin with a gentle expression. An overwhelmingly handsome character with radiant presence.
My sister had raved about him as a prince. The still image she’d shown me was more mature, a refreshing ikemen type. Well… he’s not really my type.

But there’s a problem. Leon is supposed to be from a ducal house. My family is only marquis rank. What’s going on?
More pressing, though, is the obvious anger my brother is showing. This is bad. When I left the party I was told to stay somewhere visible.

“Maria’s brother? But you’re the Duke of Rudeburg, aren’t you…?”

“My sister has been unwell since this morning, and our family was looking for her to take her home. Your parents are searching for you too, aren’t they? You should return.”

My brother forcibly pried my hand from Louie’s and dragged me away. I think I heard Louie calling after me, but the noise of the party quickly swallowed it.
Even while escorting me out, my brother didn’t look at me once, only saying in a cold voice completely different from before that I shouldn’t worry our parents any further.
When we reached our parents, I was publicly hugged in front of a crowd while they fretted over me—an execution of embarrassment, carving a new black mark in my history—and we immediately returned to the mansion by carriage.

“Now, you must be tired. Go to bed early tonight. Do you want to sleep in Papa and Mama’s room?”

I didn’t say “No, thank you,” but somehow conveyed that I’d sleep alone and returned to my room with my maid and personal knight in tow.
Wait, isn’t this weird? A personal maid makes sense, but even inside the house a personal knight? Why not a butler? I’m just a shut-in chick—an egg barely cracked! I sighed deeply in my room while mentally poking holes in all this.

“Haaah…”

“It’s done.”

Helen, my maid two years older than me, had taken off my rigidly fastened dress, tidied my hair, and dressed me in my nightclothes.
She and her twin brother were orphans from a fire in our domain. Normally we wouldn’t take in every orphan, but when I was with Father at the site of the fire, I’d pointed at the siblings trembling under the rubble and said I wanted them. As a result, Father immediately presented them to me. When I’d tried to approach a stray dog by the roadside, he’d dragged me away instantly, but apparently humans were fine.

By the way, Helen’s twin brother is right now guarding outside my room as my personal knight. Their appearances are identical, with puppy-like adorable faces.
Helen does her best to serve me with her still-small hands. Her hair and eyes are a bright, pretty brown. She must look like a blooming flower when she smiles. I wanted to slap myself for not appreciating her until now—twice, for good measure.

“Thank you, as always, Helen.”

Clatter! Helen dropped the brush she was holding. Not surprising—this chick who couldn’t even say her own name clearly until this morning had suddenly become eloquent and thanked her.
It’s not that I never thanked her before. I just couldn’t speak clearly enough. If someone suddenly started speaking normally overnight, it would be scary.

“I—I’m terribly sorry!”

Helen hastily picked up the brush and then prostrated herself on the floor.
Stop! This is my fault! What am I making this little girl do? I’m no better than Louie.

“Helen! Please! Raise your head. I’m the one who should apologize. I’ve never thanked you for everything you’ve done for me until now.”

Helen froze with a shocked face like she’d been struck by lightning.

“I consider you a friend, Helen. So please don’t bow your head like that, okay?”

“…My lady, you accepted us when we became orphans. You’re the savior of our lives. We swore our loyalty to you for as long as we live. For someone like me to…”

Helen trembled with tears in her eyes. This is bad. I’m making a child cry like a villainess. Though technically I’m the child right now.

“Helen? I want to talk with you a lot tonight. Would you sleep with me? In the same bed, of course?”

“I—I could never! For me to sleep in my mistress’s bed!”

Of course. But don’t worry—I’ve got ulterior motives. In my previous life I was a weirdo who swooned over gorilla-like macho men and adored delicate women.