CH 289

Hearing the reports from my father and Georg made me feel indescribably complicated. It seems that I was the cause of Friedrich becoming so twisted.

Even as a child, I was able to study from the beginning. That’s right. I had memories of my previous life, I was still an infant in this world, but in terms of knowledge, I was in a state where I received the advanced education of modern Earth. Physically I was still a child, but mentally I was an adult. I was able to endure things that a child could not endure.

How would you feel if someone like that was around you? How can a normal child look at someone like that and not think anything of it?

I don’t consider myself particularly good. It’s probably just a matter of being a little more precocious than other children thanks to the memories and consciousness of the previous life.

In terms of study and knowledge, there was knowledge of modern Earth, which was more developed than this world. I had the experience of a previous life. From an early age, I understood the advantage of acting early. It’s just that. If my father could start over as a baby with the memories and experiences he has now, he would probably become a child prodigy who is incomparable to me.

So it’s not like I was better. Anyone could have become like me if they had the cheat of having memories and experiences from their previous life.

But how do children feel when they see it up close? Even when you were a child, there was a child at the same school who was good at studying and a child who was good at sports, and even if you were not aware of it at the time, didn’t you feel some degree of an inferiority complex in hindsight?

This can happen even between children who are of the same level. What if there is a difference between an adult compared to a child? What’s more, even if you think that you are an adult and they are a child from your point of view, from the other person’s perspective, they are the adult, and the one rivaling them is their younger sister, 7 years their junior. 1

It seems that Friedrich was excellent from the start. And he was expected to be the heir at the same time. Under such pressure, if you think in your childish mind that your younger sister, 7 years younger than you, can study better than you, can do athletics better than you, and you are no match for her in any respect… that would twist you, wouldn’t it…?

In fact, if Friedrich had properly studied and trained, he might have been more talented than someone like me. However, when he was a child, he must have thought so about me, not knowing I had that massive headstart from my previous life.

Now that I think about it, I was quite distant from my two older brothers. We never studied or trained together, and we met only occasionally.

I think my father knew. If I acted with my brothers when I was a child, I would hurt their self-esteem and confidence…

In the end, it was me who didn’t think about anything and drove Friedrich crazy.

Of course, I’m not going to apologize for my fault in this. The other party just felt a complex about me and became twisted. Even if I, who was the target of that complex, was told that I was the one responsible for Friedrich’s actions, I would inevitably object.

But… if I had thought about it a little more… if I had considered it… could there have been a different future? I couldn’t help but think so.

“It’s not your fault, Floto!” Mikoto said.

“She’s right!” Louisa said. “That’s just so selfish! I have a lot of brothers, but I’m happy that my brothers are excellent, and I praise them for doing good, I’m not jealous of them!”

At night, in my room, I told everyone what I had heard. That was the reaction I got back.

“I also think it’s terribly childish and selfish,” Claudia said.

Everyone protects me. But don’t just settle for that. I don’t regret it, but I need to make use of this experience next time. If you think about the future, you can see a lot of lessons from this incident.

“However…… I do think that there are people who are envious of those who perform too well compared to others,” Alexandra said. “It is a matter we can’t just ignore moving into the future, with school life and then living in aristocratic society beyond that.”

“I agree……” I said, nodding.

For example, if I start my second year after another break, I can’t say for sure that this same envy and inferiority complex won’t happen with my classmates and other school students.

Unlike Friedrich, they’re not in their earliest years, so they’ve mentally matured to some extent. Besides, it is natural that there is a difference in grades at school. Even so, I think there is more or less the feeling of being envious of those with excellent grades.

Besides, in an aristocratic society, those who have too much are envied, and those who don’t have them are despised. It’s not good to pretend you don’t too much of something, but it’s also not good to show off too much if you do have it.

If you’re in a top position like a dukedom or the head of a faction, you’ll have to show off that you’re someone who has everything, whether it’s pretentiousness or bluffing. And it takes a lot of money and effort. That’s why Duke Bayen was conning money out of people, just to keep up appearances.

It’s because you have to behave like that, even if you have to force yourself, just so you’re not underestimated by those around you… in order not to be exploited, in order to hold on to the allies around you, in order to show your power to your opponents.

In an aristocratic society, pretending to be a have-not is overwhelmingly disadvantageous. Therefore, in most cases, it will be more appealing when it looks like you’re a have-more. Those who cannot keep up with that appearances are despised as the have-nots.

But what about me? I own a knighthood, a barony, and a knight’s nation, and outside of this country, I rule the island of Goslant and the free cities in an enclave. As the Head of the Caanza Alliance, I have interests in and control the Hulk Sea Trade. The Caanza Trading Firm has grown to the point of being on par with Kruck Trading Firm, and the profits it makes are so huge that it surpasses even a small country. Only one person controls them all.

If I flaunt this openly, I will be attacked by the nobles around me.

Of course, there will be those who snuggle up with them wanting to get what good fortune spills over. Even the adversaries don’t openly attack with force. But I don’t think I can live a decent life in an aristocratic society if such a thing is made public.

For better or for worse, being too conspicuous invites a corresponding backlash.

“While demonstrating your ability to the extent that you won’t be underestimated or exploited, you should still keep it to a point where others don’t realize that you have too much power…” I muttered. “It’s extremely difficult, isn’t it?”

“And?” Mikoto said. “I think it would be quicker for you to get rid of this society, Floto. You should be the one ruling this country.”

“Mikoto!? There are things you can and can’t joke about!?” I yelled.

Please stop joking. If there is more work than what I already have, I will really die. Besides, if someone starts an investigation, even if you say that as a joke, I’m likely to be accused of treason and assassinated, including my family and allies.

“Well, even if you still have to think about your power, what you’re going to show, and about your Houses, what are we going to do about those criminals?” Mikoto asked.

“That’s right… I think I’ll have to talk to Lord Carruthers for a bit,” I said.

It would be fine if the cronies atone for their crimes without hesitation, but Friedrich is a bit difficult to handle. From now on, I will have to talk to our father again.

XXX

Father can’t stay here forever, either. It looks like he’s entrusting her mother to take care of his duties now, but she won’t be able to take it easy. That’s why I’m summarizing the results of our discussion, with Big Brother Georg included in the meeting.

First of all, about the entourage, that was settled immediately. The crimes of those who ran wild with Friedrich were: eating and drinking without paying, vandalizing property, and assaulting the people of Caan Territory. Everyone was equally guilty of the theft and property damage, so it was decided that everyone, including Friedrich, would pay the amount of damage equally.

Of course, there’s no way they have money because they’re a bunch of rogues who were abandoned by their parents. Even if you ask for their Houses to pay, I can already see they will reject the claims. As a result, we had no choice but to put them into forced labor.

They were supposed to be taken back to Carruthers Territory, but they were forced to do hard labor in Carruthers Territory, and all their salaries were seized and used to pay off their debt. Their food, clothing, and shelter are deducted from their wages, so the repayment will be the rest of the money.

Still, it will take a long time for them to finish paying off. This is because the cost they racked up is huge.

Our House knows the price of the food and drink that was consumed at will, along with other crimes such as robbing store goods. I’m not going to charge them for everything they ate and threw away, and I’m not going to hound them to the copper coin, but that amount isn’t a big deal. If it’s just that repayment, you can pay it back if you work seriously. The true bulk of their debts was the property damage.

Destroying our Hexen White Porcelain pieces and the garden where we planted precious plants and were tending to them. They also destroyed and defaced buildings. Those are the sums that ordinary farmers cannot pay back even after working for the rest of their lives.

Luckily, they had multiple people doing it, so the compensation was split evenly. Thanks to that, they will be able to pay it off if they do serious work for decades, even though the salary is reasonably good. House Carruthers is responsible for managing them and letting them do their jobs, so they can’t even escape.

And if someone escapes or dies, the remaining debt will be added equally to the others. For example, it’s not like I, personally, have a debt of 1 million and it’s over when I pay it all off, but it’s like every one of us is 10 million in debt, collectively, and it’s not over until we’ve all paid it off.

After whipping everyone for the crime of assaulting our people, they will be sent to House Carruthers and forced to work.

Only for Friedrich, the damages have ended with House Carruthers paying 1 dividend of the total bill divided by the number of criminals. Friedrich was the heir to a high-ranking noble and hence was only sentenced to a couple of days’ imprisonment for assaulting the people. He was not charged with misrepresenting his identity because the circumstances made the charge hazy.

However, in addition to the punishments we imposed, Friedrich received the punishment of being disinherited by House Carruthers. Friedrich probably lost the most in substance. Considering that he would have inherited House Carruthers if nothing else, he has lost too much.

Well, that was a discussion between Viscount Caan and Margrave Carruthers. From here on, I will be speaking as Flora Charlotte von Carruthers, a member of House Carruthers

House Carruthers will be compensated, the criminals punished via imprisonment or whipping, and then handed back over to their home territory. That’s fine for the entourage, but then what will happen to Friedrich? What will he do for the reparations paid by Father? What will he do after being disinherited?

It seems that the compensation will be recovered by disposing of all of Friedrich’s belongings. I don’t know if it’s enough to sell all of Friedrich’s things. If the sale of all his possessions falls short, Father will bear the burden. Normally, I would think that he would have had Friedrich work from now on and then pay him back, but Friedrich didn’t get that chance.

From now on, Friedrich will be taken out of our House under the guise of recuperation and in practice, be exiled to an island. From now on, he will have to live a life of inconvenience under surveillance for the rest of his life. Just because you’re exiled to an island doesn’t mean you can spend your time freely. He has to live a life where his life is monitored constantly and he can’t do anything of his free will.

Katharina said, “It would be better if he died of illness to cut the problem at its roots.” but, as expected, Father couldn’t do that. I have few memories of Friedrich. To be honest, I don’t really feel it even though I call him my eldest brother.

That’s why I think that even if you told me Friedrich will be executed, the only feeling that comes out is “Oh, is that so?”. But for Father, he was the heir he expected so much of. Even if you explain all of this has happened, he can’t easily say, “Then, let’s get rid of him.”

“I will be heading back to Maria now,” Father said. “I leave the work here to you.”

“Yes…” I said. “I leave the work there to you as well, Father.”

I see him off at Cien Harbor. With Friedrich and his entourage settled, I don’t have a reason to stay here forever.

“Georg, you will have to study as the next House Head, from now on,” Father said. “Work hard.”

“Yes, Father!” Georg said.

Georg has also come to Cien to Father off. From now on, my big brother must study to become the Margrave of Carruthers, in time. He won’t be able to live as comfortably as he used to.

I see our father get on the ship and keep watching till I can no longer see it sailing in the distance. It was supposed to be just a trip back home, but it turned out to be a horrible disaster.

“Now then… moving forward, I’m going to have a hard time too, aren’t I?” Georg said.

“Indeed,” I said. “Things will not be quite as relaxed as they used to be for you.”

“I don’t know anything yet,” Georg said. “If I find myself in trouble, please guide me, Your Lordship.”

“Please rely on me anytime. I’ll work hard to train a new heir like you,” I said.

“Puh,” Georg snorted.

“Kusu,” I snickered.

“”Ahaha!””

My big brother and I laugh together. I will be frank with my family from now on. Don’t let this happen again… I don’t think anyone in my family has gotten over this incident yet… but even so, Georg and I could laugh together.