Volume 2 - CH 22

Roughly a week after the School Festival, Grave, the head of the Rosenberg household, was feeling very troubled. The source of his troubles was the amount of headache-inducing reports that increased every year regarding his beloved daughter.

It all began about six years ago. The spark that lit the fuse was his exclusive butler, Cedric, recommending his own son as Sophia’s exclusive butler apprentice.

At that time, Grave hadn’t expected in the slightest that a six year old child would be able to carry out the work of an exclusive butler. He simply thought that even the calm and level-headed Cedric had a soft spot for his son.

However, Grave also thought that he always made his own daughter feel lonely. Since he was being recommended by Cedric, the child would at the least have manners and could become Sophia’s playing buddy. That was the reason why he had approved of Cyril becoming her butler in training.

However, that was the first thing he was mistaken about. Cyril wasn’t just a child exceptional for his age.

At age six, soon after he became an exclusive butler apprentice, he had found proof of a maid pilfering and exposed her crime. What’s more, he even said that this maid had been secretly harassing his beloved daughter.

However, this maid was two-faced, so no one had been aware of her actions. Cedric informed him that, if he were to listen to his daughter’s pleas and dismiss the maid, his daughter, along with Grave himself, would be criticised and called tyrannical by the other servants.

Therefore, it was easy to imagine that Cyril’s intention had been to eliminate his daughter’s enemy. However, Cyril had acted before the maid had begun to harass Sophia. It was as if he had known that the maid would start harassing his daughter in the future. Without a doubt, Cyril wasn’t a common child.

Since Cyril had led his investigation under Cedric’s name, there were few people who knew the truth. 

It was believed that Sophia had gone to Cyril to ask for advice. After hearing her out, Cyril discussed it with Cedric, who then became the spearhead of the following proceedings.

However, Grave, as the head of the household, knew the truth. When he investigated Cyril, with some doubts, he discovered that Cyril was able to acquire all sorts of knowledge with frightening speed. Moreover, he even seemed to have knowledge of some things no one else knew about.

Cyril was clearly abnormal. In addition, this abnormality had infected his daughter as well. Before he knew it, Sophia, who was supposed to be the unremarkable daughter of a marquis, had grown up into a talented woman.

People had something called talent. Grave didn’t know whether talent was something that people had from the moment they were born, or whether it was something that was acquired during the process of growing up. However, without a doubt, there were differences between individuals. Therefore, it was unlikely that in such a small amount of time, his unremarkable daughter would be blossoming with multiple talents. Grave investigated several possibilities, but the only thing that he could think of as the reason for it was Cyril’s education.

However, that wasn’t a bad thing at all. Whether it was Cyril’s talent as a butler, his talent as a tutor or his talent for inventing new things, no matter which one Grave picked, they were all beneficial abilities. There was no way he would choose to let this blessing go.

But since then, his daughter began to change. The daughter that used to say cute things such as: ‘My dream for the future is to be my daddy’s bride!’ became a daughter that began to say: ‘My dream for the future is to be Cyril’s bride!’ Grave’s shock upon hearing this was so terrible, he even summoned Cedric and made him accompany him as he drowned his sorrows in alcohol.

Although marrying one’s butler was just as unrealistic as marrying one’s father. Grave knew that, regarding this matter, Cyril was aware of his own social standing, so Grave wasn’t particularly worried.

However, when his daughter turned ten years old, something changed. Sophia, who was to attend the First Prince’s party, said that she had chosen Cyril as her escort. If one chose to be escorted by someone, with the exception of one’s own family members, that person would be regarded as an engagement candidate, so Grave tried to convince her that it wasn’t possible. Nevertheless, Sophia stubbornly wouldn’t give up on making Cyril her partner.

If these had been fleeting emotions of a child, he could have let it slide. The problem was that she was already ten years old and she seriously wished to marry him. Thinking of this, Grave admonished her, telling her to give up, using the difference in their social status as his reasoning.

If she were a sensible child, she would have given up at that point.

If she wasn’t, she might have thrown a tantrum, crying out that she couldn’t accept it.

However, Sophia did neither. Almost as if she had been waiting to hear those words, she smiled and said: “Does that mean that I wouldn’t have to give up if we were of the same social standing?”

His feelings of having fallen into a trap weren’t inaccurate. Sophia immediately told him about her plan to make Cyril into a high ranked noble. After listening to her words, Grave felt dizzy.

It wasn’t because he thought his daughter was a child unable to see reality. It was because her multiple plans, taking many possibilities into account, were refined enough to be feasible. However, Cyril being able to become a noble or not, and her choosing Cyril as her fiancé, were two separate matters. As the head of a marquis household, Grave wouldn’t have been deceived by her sidestepping the issue like this.

However, his daughter wasn’t done talking. Sophia revealed that Cyril had already shared with her his knowledge of various matters. Among what he had taught her, there was a lot of valuable information that no one else had, she said. Cyril’s way of preparing black tea, which was brought up as one of the things Cyril had shared with her, was ground-breaking.

Moreover, this technique was a secret, and no one besides Sophia and Cyril knew about it. She brought to his attention that forcing her to marry into another family, and, in other words, leaking this information, wouldn’t be beneficial.

Grave couldn’t help but shudder.

This was very scarce knowledge. The ones in possession of this knowledge were just these two young kids. Therefore, if Grave were able to keep them within his domain, it would become very advantageous knowledge for the Rosenberg marquis household. His daughter had understood this and proceeded to acquire more knowledge about many things.

At this point, marrying off his daughter, who was in possession of this scarce knowledge, wasn’t a choice he could make anymore. If they were choosing a man to marry into the family, his abilities, rather than social status, were more important. If Cyril were able to achieve the status of a high ranked noble, too, he would become a more than worthy candidate. The head of the marquis household was persuaded by the reasoning of his barely ten year-old daughter.

It was undeniable that, when it came to his daughter, Grave indulged her. However, even bearing that in mind, this was uncommon. And Grave had concluded that uniting these two, who had brought this abnormality forth, would lead to the prosperity of the marquis household. Therefore, Grave decided to go along with his daughter’s plan.

The important thing was to get Cyril to acquire a noble status. There were several ways to do it. However, for his daughter’s sake, he wanted to strengthen Cyril’s social standing as much as possible. It would be ideal to get the help of a most prominent noble, making him announce Cyril as his illegitimate child, and, afterwards, the Rosenberg marquis household would then accept him and marry him into their family.

At that point in time, Grave had even considered making his daughter the head of the family.  In any case, he had zero intention of giving his daughter or Cyril to another household.

However, from this point onwards, the situation began to unfold rapidly. At the party she was attending with Cyril as her partner, his daughter bewitched a disguised prince. Despite this, his daughter left the prince behind and chased after Cyril.

A problem appeared here. Initially, Grave had thought that Cyril was a willing participant in her decision of having him as her partner. In other words, he thought that Cyril had directed his daughter’s actions.

However, no matter how one looked at it, Cyril was clearly trying to get the prince and Sophia together. Coming to this conclusion, the possibility that Cyril knew nothing of Sophia’s plan came to the front of his mind.

On one hand, Grave thought that he was really loyal as a butler, but on the other hand, he was irritated, thinking: ‘Do you not find my daughter cute?’. And then he shivered with fear when he realized that the one who came up with the plan was Sophia, all on her own.

He couldn’t marry her daughter off to another estate anymore. No matter what hardships he might have to experience, he had to bind Sophia and Cyril to the Rosenberg household. Despite saying so, the more his daughter flourished, the more people there were saying they wanted Sophia as their daughter-in-law.

His daughter had ranked first in the school entrance exams and became the head of her class. In the blink of an eye, she had created a large faction, and she even began to expand her influence over her followers’ high society parents.

At the same time, a rumor had spread that Grave was guiding his daughter from the shadows. It was probably for the same reason why Grave had thought that Cyril was the Éminence grise1. It was an understandable mistake to make if one didn’t know about his daughter’s abnormal personality. However, it was necessary to set the rumour straight for later purposes.

In the midst of these developments, a summoning from His Majesty the King arrived. Grave was shaking with fear, wondering why she was being summoned, but, once he read her letter, he understood that a truly troublesome situation had appeared. Since it seemed as if he were maneuvering her from the background, Grave instructed them to take care of it themselves.

On top of him being convinced that, if it was his daughter doing it she would, without a doubt, be able to resolve the issue by herself, if she took care of the issue on her own the rumours about Grave being the mastermind behind her actions would disappear.

As a result, the theory that Grave was manipulating her was set aside. Although his daughter told him that the matter was settled peacefully and he had felt relieved… when he met the King at a party, he was told the following:

“Your daughter picked a fight.”

He felt like crying out at his daughter: ‘I haven’t even heard anything about this!’ in his mind. He also heard that, in response to the Queen implying she wanted her to marry the Prince, Sophia had declared that, even if the gods were to become her enemies because of it, she would still refuse. Although she was his own daughter, she was too terrifying, enough to make one tremble in fear.

However, that wasn’t the problem.

Because of all this, the Queen had taken a liking to Sophia and wanted to adopt Cyril. “Can someone explain how and why did it turn out this way?!!”

Grave, having returned to his residence, faced the sky and cried out. Although the King  warned him that, since the Queen might behave recklessly, Grave should be cautious, Grave had no idea of how and what he should be cautious of. 

Rather, he wanted to say: ‘Since you went as far as to warn me, then pull in her reins yourself!’ 

Although he kept complaining, it wasn’t like this would resolve the problem.

From the start, he had intended to ask another household to adopt Cyril. It wouldn’t be an issue even if the household were a royal one. The problem was that the reason for the Queen’s actions was that she liked Sophia. In other words, the Queen’s goal was the same as Grave’s: to take in Cyril and Sophia together. It was likely that she was aware of Sophia and Cyril’s ‘abnormality’.

Cyril clearly wouldn’t come back after being adopted by the royal family. And, if that happened, inevitably, Sophia would be the first one to decide that she should marry into Cyril’s new family.

At this point, there was no way that he could allow the royal family to take them away from him. However, this would be in conflict with Grave allowing Cyril to achieve a noble rank.

There were different ways to solve this issue, but while Grave was planning out his next steps, Cyril kept on achieving things, such as successfully mediating between Prince Alforth and the Commoners faction. 

As a last resort, Grave had warned Cyril not to stand out too much. 

He would let Cyril achieve things and grant him a noble title. Sophia, whom he had given his word about this, was likely to perceive his brief words of warning as a betrayal.

However, he had to say that it was an excellent decision.

The Royal Prince’s2 daughter was fated to die due to magical overcharge illness. Cyril’s knowledge had saved her from this fate.

He had already received a report on that method, so he had known about it. More than knowing about this technique, it was a trump card that Grave had kept a secret so that it could become the achievement that would push Cyril’s prestige into the noble ranks. 

However, that secret technique was what ended up saving the Royal Prince’s daughter.

If Cyril hadn’t handed this achievement over to Sophia, Grave would have been left with no options. The Queen would have supported Cyril earning a noble status for this deed. If that had happened, naturally, Sophia would have been overjoyed, and would surely marry into Cyril’s family.

Grave’s decision had been an excellent one, without a doubt. However-

It should be noted that Grave’s wife had a fundamentally gentle personality. However, if one were to incur her wrath3, she would become ruthless and beat her enemy down mercilessly.

Sophia was very similar to his wife.

Against his promise with Sophia, he warned Cyril not to stand out. Even now, Grave wholeheartedly believed that his choice to do so had been necessary.

However, however, now his daughter demanded to see him. Based on the timing and the other information he had, the reason she wanted to meet him was obvious. She had found out that he had gone against his promise and warned Cyril not to stand out too much. 

When Cyril was simply criticised, she had beaten down the Prince’s follower before him and driven his whole family into ruin. This daughter knew of her own father’s act of betrayal. 

Grave couldn’t even imagine what measures she would come up with.

Will I be even able to get out of this predicament?

Hearing a knock, Grave swallowed his saliva in one gulp.

***

Roughly a week had gone by since the School Festival. 

It would take several months until Fol would be able to freely release her own powers, but, once she was able to release even a small fraction of them, her body wouldn’t get damaged by the saturation anymore. Therefore, Fol’s condition stabilized in the blink of an eye. She recovered the next day, and she felt well enough that from the second day of the School Festival onwards, the Student Council was able to perform Espressivo of Light and Darkness with Fol and Prince Alforth on stage.

Since that was the case, the performance in which Lady Sophia and I had taken the lead roles ended up getting called a ‘phantom performance’. It seemed that, for a while, there would be discussions about which group’s performance had been better.

There seemed to be individuals spreading rumors that said that the royals and a daughter of a marquis had disregarded the commoners. However, once Lady Sophia and Prince Alforth realized this, these voices were immediately dispelled. It was proof that the Elitists faction’s influence had weakened.

Since that was the case, it was decided that the award for the best programme should go to Espressivo of Light and Darkness, performed by the Student Council. The name engraved into the trophy next to the words ‘representative’ was Fol’s. Her name was followed by the names of Prince Alforth, Lady Sophia and Alicia, and the trophy even had Isabella and my names’ on it.

I wouldn’t say that this was inappropriate for our status. It didn’t rob my Lady and the others of their pride as nobles, and yet it was proof of their growth, showing their close relationship with the commoners. 

I was honoured to have my own name on the trophy.

In the early afternoon that day, I was thinking that, perhaps, peaceful days had returned once again.

I was walking down the hallway when, out of nowhere, I heard humming. I had rarely heard this humming itself, but the crystalline voice sounded familiar.

When I turned towards the direction of this voice, I came across Lady Sophia walking with a spring in her step. As I thought, it seemed that Lady Sophia had been the one humming.

After she stopped humming, an innocent smile showed on her face.

“Good morning, Cyril. Today’s weather is absolutely wonderful, isn’t it?”

“…I thought that it was supposed to rain today. You sure are in a good mood, Lady Sophia.”

“The negotiations went well.”

“…The negotiations?”

I was puzzled, wondering what she was negotiating with whom. It was unusual for Lady Sophia to be this merry. I was sure that Lady Sophia had come from Master Grave’s office… Did something happen?

“Actually, we were invited to attend the party that His Majesty the King is hosting for his relatives.”

“That is… Congratulations.”

Presumably, this was a sign of gratitude for saving Fol. 

The fact that Eldest Daughter Fol was suffering from magical overcharge illness was kept a secret. Not only was it kept a secret, but, from the start, they kept telling everyone that Eldest Daughter Fol was in good health. Therefore, the way they were showing their gratitude was in the form of inviting her to a party attended by the members of the royal family.

“The ones invited are me and you, Cyril. Come with me as my escort, won’t you? I have already gotten Father’s permission.”

For a moment, I couldn’t understand what she was saying. Then, I immediately realized that this was the result of the negotiations Lady Sophia had just mentioned.

Truth be told, since Master Grave had told me to not stand out too much, I didn’t think that he would approve of such a thing. Did something happen to change his mind? I didn’t know anything about that, but, since Master Grave had given his permission, I wouldn’t object. 

“As you wish,” I said, promising to attend the party as my Lady’s escort.

“By the way, Cyril, there is something that I want to ask you. Which option do you prefer: if I were to become a queen, a feudal lord4 or a regular girl?”

Since it was too sudden of a question, I couldn’t gauge its aim.

Could the noble titles have been used as a metaphor? For example, for the state of one’s heart, or for the way one behaved as a noble. When she had harshly scolded Prince Alforth’s followers, my Lady looked just like a queen, but… I didn’t know what ‘feudal lord’ meant. I didn’t quite understand what she meant by ‘regular girl’ either, but perhaps she meant her regular self as a daughter of a marquis?

She couldn’t be asking with the literal meaning of those words in mind, could she? 

No, I found it hard to believe that my Lady would be thinking of usurping the throne. Could she have meant adoption? Even if she were to get adopted and became a royal, I didn’t believe that she would become the queen…

While I didn’t understand her question, it was unnecessary to hesitate over the answer.

“No matter what path my Lady chooses, I will follow you to the ends of the earth. Therefore, please choose the path that you wish to walk on, my Lady.”

“Thank you, Cyril. I thought that you would answer this way. From now on, I will use it as a reference for the choices I make.”

“As a reference for the choices you will make… what are you planning, Lady Sophia?”

Lady Sophia answered my question with a smile of an innocent girl. She smiled and raised a finger to her shiny lips, and then she slid the finger up to her cheek.

“For a meanie like Cyril, it’s a secret.”

Lady Sophia smiled like a mischievous child. 

And that’s the last chapter of volume 2! There’s still an epilogue left and then there are several side stories, as well!

Thank you so much for reading and your support on Ko-Fi!! It means a lot to me!<3 A huge thank you to my editor as well, Barebones really makes these chapters so so much better, I can’t thank her enough! <3