chapter 06
He smiled as if he felt sorry, but his eyes didn’t smile at all.
“Who’s the official witness?”
“I-It’s His Majesty the Emperor.”
As the answer came out hesitantly, even the faint smile on his lips disappeared.
“My dear uncle, huh….”
Thinking of the Emperor, a deadly glint flashed in his eyes. The executor began to tremble. Miller, unable to watch any longer, gave a small gesture to dismiss him.
“D-Do you feel alright, Duke?”
“……”
After the officer left the room, Miller tried to ease the tension with small talk, but Eden didn’t seem to hear him at all.
They say even a worm can wiggle. Eden had always thought his father was foolish, but he never imagined the man would leave behind such a trick.
Eden had no intention of marrying. He wanted to end the cursed name of the Bertenon family with himself. But he had never spoken this thought out loud.
“But now marriage?”
Maybe his father had sensed it. That his son might cut off the family line. That’s why he’d ordered the will to be announced a year after his death.
And the fact that it was certified by the emperor? It would be stupid not to be suspicious.
“Even after becoming the mighty emperor, he’s still anxious, huh?”
Eden knew very well from past experience. The thought “If only Agnes hadn’t been pregnant…” still haunted his uncle.
Though not officially acknowledged due to a scandal, Eden was Agnes’s son. He had royal blood.
So perhaps…
The emperor feared his own nephew might take the throne from him.
That fear had bound the emperor all these years. That’s why he kept scheming and watching Eden.
Of course, Eden knew all of this. He just didn’t act on it—because he had no interest in the throne. He simply wanted to watch the emperor fall.
There’s nothing more tragic than someone falling from the highest place.
“Foolish man.”
A person who can’t even manage his own emotions—how can he rule a nation? Eden scoffed.
He wasn’t afraid of losing his inheritance. He knew many ways to make money. Titles were just tools—if you had money, you could still hold real power.
But he didn’t want to fall into their trap.
“What should I do…”
Tap. Tap.
Eden quietly tapped the armrest with his index finger.
To Miller, the sound was like blood dripping onto the floor. He gulped. Under orders from the Grand Madam, he had been nudging Eden toward marriage—but this situation didn’t feel right.
“He’s the type to sue the court before agreeing to a wedding…”
But the will’s witness was the emperor himself. If they resisted too hard, it could even lead to war.
Should he bring the Grand Madam here? She was the only one who could keep Eden calm… Miller was frantically thinking when Eden finally spoke.
“I’ll do it. I’ll get married.”
“Even if you’re angry at the court, that’s too much—wait, what?!”
Miller asked again in disbelief. Eden, now back to his usual indifferent face, calmly said:
“If the title really gets taken away, the only one who benefits is the emperor. I’d rather get married than see him smirking.”
“S-So, you’ll really get married?”
To think he’d live to see his master’s wedding! Miller’s face lit up with joy.
“Yes. I’ll marry someone who already has a child, and can stay married for more than three years.”
But at those words, Miller’s smile faded again.
It sounded… off. The will said he must have an heir, but Eden said he’d marry someone who already has one…
“It’s the last wish of the dead. As his son, how could I ignore that?”
When Miller gave him a worried look, Eden simply smiled.
“I’ll find the perfect bride—just like you all want.”
Meanwhile…
“I-I’ll do it!”
After finishing the meal and standing up, Echo, who sat across from me, suddenly shouted.
It had been a week since we started eating together. Echo had seemed awkward for the first couple of days, but now she no longer avoided my gaze.
However, she still insisted on doing chores—just like now.
“There’s barely anything to clean up. No need for both of us to do it. I’ll take care of it.”
“B-But…”
Echo hesitated. She looked uneasy, maybe because I wasn’t making her do all the housework like before. I let out a sigh and looked at her.
“You’ve been working nonstop since this morning. That’s enough. Go take a break.”
“T-Take a break…?”
“Yeah.”
I gave her a small nod. But Echo just stood there, unsure and hesitant, glancing at me nervously.
‘Wait… does she not know what it means to rest?’
Thinking about it, that made sense. Ever since Gilbert died, Echo had to do all the housework and every little task. To her, the idea of “rest” was probably still unfamiliar.
Rest…
I paused, thinking for a moment about how to explain the word “rest.”
To be honest, before I ended up in this game world, I had barely ever rested properly because of my job. Playing games was my only way to relax.
So if I had to explain rest in a similar way…
“You can sleep, or read a book.”
“S-Sleep?” Echo looked surprised.
“Yeah. If you can’t think of anything else, you can just lie around in bed. And if even that feels boring, just sit and do nothing. Let your mind go blank.”
Honestly, at her age, anything can be fun except studying.
Just staring at patterns on the ceiling, or playing with your fingers without thinking, can be fun.
Even imagining something like, “What if a war broke out right now?” can be entertaining. Or when you have a weird thought and suddenly panic like, “Wait, what if someone can read minds and just saw that?” — that kind of silly fear can be fun too.
“If that’s not working either, just imagine something totally impossible. Something that could never happen.”
“Something that could never happen…” Echo quietly repeated after me.
She muttered the words under her breath. She stood there thinking for a while, then started glancing at me. I couldn’t tell whether she was trying to understand what I really meant or if she was simply following my advice.
Knock knock.
Just then, someone knocked on the door. Echo’s eyes went wide — and so did mine.
There was only one person who could show up at this moment.
The Hero.
The one who was supposed to be Echo’s true protector.
I swallowed hard. Maybe she saw the tension on my face, because Echo also tensed up and asked nervously:
“Should I go open it?”
I shook my head. I felt bad, but if the person outside was really the Hero, my whole future might be in danger. It was better for me to handle it myself.
I clenched and unclenched my fist once, then slowly walked toward the door.
“Who is it?”
I tried to sound calm, but some nervousness slipped into my voice anyway. The person on the other side must’ve sensed it, because I could feel them hesitate.
“Is there an adult in the house?”
“There isn’t,” I answered automatically — and then instantly realized my mistake.
Right… I was the adult.
‘Still, no matter how old I get, I never really feel like an adult.’
“Ah, no, wait! There is,” I quickly corrected myself, feeling embarrassed since Echo was standing right beside me. I awkwardly opened the door just a bit.
Fortunately—or maybe unfortunately—it wasn’t the Hero. It was just the mailman.
When the man saw me, he clearly froze. Then his cheeks turned red.
“A-A letter for you, Lady.”
His voice sounded much more polite than when he had asked about an adult earlier.
‘What’s up with him?’
Wondering about that, I opened the door a little wider to take the letter.
The delivery guy had been smiling awkwardly, but suddenly his gaze dropped downward — and he froze.
His face turned pale in an instant.
“W-Well then, I’ll be going now!”
He quickly rushed away without another word.
‘He blushed, then turned pale. What’s his deal?’
While I was casually thinking that, I suddenly heard a small clinking sound.
Confused, I looked down.
Hanging from the inside door handle was a skull.
“……”
Well, that explains it.
If you hang something like that on your door as decoration, of course anyone would freak out and run away.
Godel really has… interesting taste.
Shaking my head at her strange decorating style, I flipped the envelope over to check the sender.
“Hah.”
A short laugh escaped my lips.
Luis Hildegarde.
The letter was from Godel’s father — Count Hildegarde. Though honestly, with all the gambling and reckless spending, the family was on the verge of collapse. He probably wasn’t even a real “count” anymore.
But why would he send Godel a letter?
Godel and Luis didn’t get along. Godel once asked him to disown Gilbert so she could marry him, but Luis refused.
He claimed it was because “you don’t just throw away family.”
But let’s be honest — he said that only because of Gilbert’s pension. As long as he stayed with Gilbert’s father, he could keep taking the money.
Godel wanted to marry her adopted brother and asked for him to be disowned, and Luis refused because he didn’t want to lose the pension.
In their own selfish ways, they were clearly father and daughter.
‘They don’t even get along… So why would he send a letter now?’
