Chapter 2
The Duke of Weekend’s household was busy from early morning.
It was none other than the Duke of Weekend’s birthday.
Normally, such an important family event would be handled by the lady of the house. However, the Duchess of Weekend had left for a distant estate five years ago for recuperation, so there was no one suitable to take her place.
Naturally, the role fell to the young duke, Clef.
It would have been proper to send invitations to vassals and nobles and hold a banquet, but the Duke of Weekend disliked such gatherings. So instead, they decided to have a simple family breakfast.
“Father.”
Clef greeted the Duke of Weekend as he entered the dining room.
The duke, who had been reading documents, gave a small nod.
“I heard you must go to the imperial palace right away.”
“Mm.”
“The temple has sent a gift. What should we do with it?”
“Holy water?”
“Yes.”
Holy water was, as the name suggested, water that could purify the corrupted black lands. It was distributed and sold only by the temple.
Since the amount the temple could produce was limited, its price was extremely high.
For the Duke of Weekend, who had to go on regular expeditions to raise the empire’s morale and show loyalty to the imperial family, it was an essential item.
If it was sent by the temple, it was surely high-quality—worthy of being called a gift.
“I will write a letter to the Pope in return.”
After sitting down and wiping his hands, Clef gave a signal to his subordinate.
The man, who had been quietly following behind him like a shadow, stepped forward and placed something beside the duke’s stack of documents.
The Duke of Weekend lifted his gaze.
“A gift.”
Clef’s gift was ownership of an emerald mine.
It was a very fitting gift for him, and the duke showed a faint smile.
“Thank you.”
Anything rare that Clef could obtain, the duke could also acquire himself. So there were limits to giving physical items as gifts.
That was why, starting last year, Clef had begun giving financial gifts instead.
“Father!”
The door burst open, and the Duke of Weekend’s second son, Ellen, appeared.
Covered in dirt, Ellen grinned as he walked in. A faint smell of blood came from him.
“Did you go hunting?”
“Yes. Early this morning. Colin! Bring it in!”
At Ellen’s shout, his subordinate dragged something inside.
It was a huge white deer. It was bound and breathing heavily.
As if it knew death was near, its large eyes were filled with fear.
“I worked really hard to capture it alive. I’ll have them cut off just the head and preserve it.”
“Hmm. You must have struggled to catch it without damaging the hide. Thank you.”
Seeing the duke satisfied, Ellen smiled proudly and waved his hand.
The subordinate dragged the white deer back out.
Ellen brushed his sweat- and dirt-covered hair back and sat down, then suddenly looked around.
“What? Where’s that parasite?”
Orte, who was always there early, was nowhere to be seen, and Ellen found it strange.
There had once been a time when he deliberately didn’t send a maid, then refused to open the dining room door when Orte arrived late.
It was years ago, but since then, Orte had always come down twenty minutes early.
And today was the Duke of Weekend’s birthday—the day Orte put her utmost effort into.
“Father, didn’t that parasite come?”
The Duke of Weekend set down his documents.
“The word ‘parasite’ is inappropriate.”
He wasn’t correcting Ellen for calling Orte that—but for using such crude language as a member of the Weekend family.
“Yes, yes.”
Ellen answered carelessly and dropped into his seat.
“Brother, that parasite isn’t here?”
“She hasn’t come.”
“That’s strange. She wouldn’t oversleep on a day like this.”
And I didn’t give any orders to the maids either.
“Did you tell a maid to do something?”
At that, Clef’s eyebrow twitched.
“You must think I’m like you. You’re the only one who would do such a thing.”
“Ah, that’s true.”
Ellen scratched his head.
Then he spoke to a servant standing by the wall with their head lowered.
“Hey, did that parasite wake up?”
It was extremely rare for Ellen to look for Orte first, so the servant was flustered and shook their head.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know.”
“What, is she really late on Father’s birthday?”
Ellen clicked his tongue and checked the time.
“Brother, let’s just close the door.”
“She’ll make noise.”
“That’s true. I don’t want to hear her crying outside after coming late…”
Frowning as he thought, Ellen turned to the duke.
“What do you think, Father?”
“There’s no need to create a disturbance.”
“Then since it’s your birthday, I’ll be generous this time.”
Ellen decided not to close the door and hummed to himself.
When Orte came down, he planned to mock her and maybe pull her hair.
Soon, the dishes were brought in one by one and placed in front of them.
Food was also placed in front of Orte’s empty seat.
Even as they began eating and talked about small business matters, the tightly closed door showed no sign of opening.
Ellen kept glancing at it. Then he looked between his now empty plate and Orte’s untouched seat, frowning.
“This is insane.”
Ellen twisted his face and looked at the duke and Clef.
“Father, brother. Does this make sense? Who does she think she is, oversleeping on your birthday?”
“Ellen. Watch your language.”
Clef moved his utensils gracefully as he corrected him.
Ellen grumbled and stabbed his salad with a fork.
“Colin! Wake that parasite and bring her here!”
“Ellen. There’s no need for that.”
Clef let out a faint sigh at Ellen’s behavior and wiped his mouth with a handkerchief.
“What? What did I do wrong? Who’s living well because of Father?”
“That’s enough, both of you.”
The Duke of Weekend, who had been giving short replies, ended his meal and stopped their argument.
Soon, the door opened, and Colin entered.
Ellen, who had been in a bad mood, turned his head excitedly, thinking of tormenting Orte—but contrary to his expectations, Colin stood there alone.
“What? Why didn’t you bring that parasite?”
“Well… that is…”
Colin’s expression was strange.
He looked both flustered and confused.
“Why can’t you speak properly?”
Colin glanced nervously at the duke.
The Duke of Weekend noticed and motioned with his hand. Only then did Colin bow and answer.
“That is… the young lady refused.”
“What?”
Colin shut his eyes tightly and repeated:
“She said she will not come out!”
Orte had refused.
“Miss, what on earth are you doing right now?!”
The maid approached Orte with a pale face.
“Colin is Young Master Ellen’s personal subordinate! What do you think you’re doing sending him away like that?!”
Orte had sent Colin back.
‘Good thing he wasn’t my eldest brother’s subordinate.’
Subordinates resemble their masters. Because he served Ellen, it had been possible to send him away.
“Miss!”
“Anna.”
From the moment she woke up, the maid had been shouting nonstop. Orte quietly called her name.
Anna flinched in surprise when Orte suddenly said her name.
Anna had been Orte’s personal maid for years. She didn’t like Orte very much.
Even though she was just a maid, working in the powerful Duke of Weekend’s household gave her great pride in her position.
To her, Orte was the duke’s only flaw—his mistake.
So Anna would deliberately bring cold water for washing, delay laundry on purpose, and scold her over trivial matters.
Despite hating Orte, she found her very easy to serve.
No matter what she did, Orte would always lower her head and say nothing.
Moreover, Orte would even smile at her timidly, trying to please her and watch her mood.
Because of that, Anna began to look down on Orte more and more.
Anna admired the Duke of Weekend, but at the same time, she felt a strange thrill whenever she, a mere commoner, looked down on a noble like Orte.
That was why—
The way Orte was now staring straight at her felt completely unfamiliar.
