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Episode 6
Yuan was a minor character who only appeared briefly in the later part of the story as an agent of a criminal organization.
He was described as a cold-blooded informant with a vicious scar on his face, someone who had once belonged to a beast-folk noble family.
What made him memorable was the way he died.
As he lay dying, unable to even close his eyes, he murmured in regret,
“I wanted to avenge you…”
while thinking of his already deceased younger sister.
Come to think of it, in the original story, despite his fierce appearance, Yuan’s hobby—and special skill—was making handicrafts by hand.
It had originally been his sister’s hobby, and after her death, he continued it as if to carry on her will.
I never thought they were the same person…!
In the original, he had such a terrifying look that it was hard to imagine him as the refined, gentle-looking man standing in front of her now.
“It’s so delicate and pretty, I honestly thought it was something you bought,” Rayleigh said.
“I’m embarrassed to hear that,” Yuan replied.
Perhaps feeling shy that the conversation had turned into praising his sister, Yuan carefully put away the keychain and thanked Rayleigh again.
“It’s very meaningful to me. Thank you for finding it. If you ever need my help in the future, please don’t hesitate to ask.”
“Oh, it was really nothing! Though… I might rely on you a lot if something comes up in the mansion that I don’t understand,” Rayleigh joked.
Yuan smiled slightly and answered,
“Helping the young madam is my pleasure.”
No matter how she looked at his face, it was still hard to connect him with the ruthless agent from the original story.
After parting ways and heading back to her quarters, Rayleigh felt a little nauseous.
Yuan’s sister… is supposed to die.
Thinking back on the original plot—
Yuan originally worked for a beast-folk family, but after his sister was kidnapped, he quit and fell into the criminal underworld.
He did every dirty job imaginable to gather ransom money, struggling desperately to save her.
But in truth, his sister had already died long before.
After that, driven by revenge, he became a cruel and complicated character—sometimes cooperating with the protagonists, sometimes betraying them.
The problem is, I don’t know whether her kidnapping happens tomorrow… or years from now.
In that situation, it wasn’t like she could openly say,
“Please make sure your sister stays safe.”
I’ll just keep an eye out within what I can do.
Watching the gentle smile of a young man who loved his sister, only to later lose her and turn into a cold-hearted agent…
That was just too sad.
Dinner time.
After resting in her quarters, Rayleigh followed a servant to the dining hall.
Since she hadn’t really been able to talk earlier, she felt nervous about meeting her husband Serge and her father-in-law Walter again.
But when she entered the dining hall, surprisingly, only Walter was sitting at the table.
“Good evening, Duke,” Rayleigh greeted politely.
“Yes, good evening, my daughter-in-law.”
Walter smiled warmly, clearly happy just to be sharing a meal with her.
“Is Serge running a bit late?”
“Ah… he said he’s not feeling well. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to eat dinner with just me.”
“Oh, I see.”
“He asked me to tell you that he’ll definitely join you for breakfast tomorrow.”
Rayleigh guessed Serge wasn’t actually sick.
He probably turned into a fox again and couldn’t bring himself to appear in front of her.
Of course, pretending to be completely clueless, she smiled gently.
“I hope Serge recovers quickly.”
“I’ll pass that along to him.”
Walter replied, his eyebrows drooping slightly.
“…You’re not disappointed, are you?”
“Disappointed?”
“Well… eating dinner with just me instead of Serge. I was worried I might be intruding.”
That was the last thing Rayleigh expected to hear.
If anything, considering Serge’s disastrous communication skills, eating alone would’ve been way more awkward.
“Not at all! I want to get along well with you too, Father.”
“But still…”
Walter hesitated, lowering his gaze.
“…You call me ‘Duke’ because I feel distant, right?”
“…Excuse me?”
“O-of course, I understand! It’s natural to feel awkward. We’re family now, but just yesterday we were strangers. You can call me whatever feels comfortable.”
At this point, it was obvious he was openly sulking over being called “Duke.”
Rayleigh smiled awkwardly to herself.
“If it wouldn’t be rude… may I call you ‘Father’?”
“…!”
Walter’s face immediately lit up.
“O-of course! I’d love that!”
“Yes. Please take care of me from now on, Father.”
A wide, goofy grin spread across his refined, gentlemanly face.
The more I see him, the cuter my father-in-law gets…
Even without Serge present, dinner passed pleasantly.
Unlike his extremely passive son, Walter—though a bit clumsy—was easy to talk to.
He casually shared small details about the duchy and kept the conversation flowing naturally.
“To the north, there’s a hall filled with art collections. If you’re interested, you can visit anytime.”
“Yes, Father!”
“Do you like jewelry?”
“Well… I haven’t really worn much before, so I’m not sure.”
To be precise, her parents had been too busy trying to sell her off to ever buy her something as luxurious as jewelry.
There was no point talking about her birth family—it would only embarrass herself—so she brushed it off.
“I see. Then how about developing an interest? The social season is coming up, so we’ll be staying in the capital. I thought it’d be nice to visit some jewelry shops.”
Oh right… the social season.
The Elestine family usually stayed secluded in the north, deliberately keeping their distance from the central powers.
But the social season was an exception.
Political gatherings and noble councils were held in the capital during that time, and as rulers of a territory, they couldn’t ignore them.
Still, Rayleigh didn’t want to ask her father-in-law to buy things for her.
“Just hearing that is more than enough! I really don’t need anything.”
“D-did I push too much?”
Walter’s face fell again.
“No! I’m really grateful. I just didn’t want to burden you.”
“There’s no need to worry. That’s hardly a burden.”
With all the kindness pouring out toward her, Rayleigh felt both uncomfortable and guilty.
I’m such a terrible daughter-in-law, planning to run away…
Trying to hide those feelings, she changed the subject.
“Are you leaving for the capital soon, Father?”
“You’ll come with me. If you see anything you like—not just jewelry—feel free to ask.”
“…Thank you.”
He really seemed eager to do anything for her.
There was no real reason to take his young daughter-in-law along, yet he insisted.
“Will you be attending noble meetings too?”
“Yes. This time, the imperial family is auctioning off a core ruby mine. I’d like to secure it at a reasonable price, but who knows if it’ll work out.”
Core rubies were precious minerals used as the core components of countless magical tools.
Naturally, everyone wanted a core ruby mine—and the Elestine family was no exception.
“I see. I hope it goes well!”
“With your support, I think everything will work out! But talking about boring things during dinner isn’t fun, is it? Let’s talk about something else.”
Rayleigh smiled back, but her heart ached with guilt.
Even though she planned to run away someday, she still wanted to spend her remaining time here properly.
Outside the Viscount Bitenche’s estate, heavy rain poured down.
Clicking his tongue as he stared out the window, Viscount Bitenche turned to his wife.
“That Rayleigh girl… she’s behaving herself at the duchy, right? I’d hate for her to do something that angers Duke Elestine.”
Though he said he was “worried,” there was no warmth toward his daughter in his tone.
“There’s been no news yet. We sent her nanny, Margaret, along to keep a close watch on her.”
“She’d better. That useless thing finally has a chance to be of some value!”
Lighting his cigar, his eyes gleamed darkly.
“This is the perfect opportunity to extract as much information as possible about the Elestine duchy.”
