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Chapter : 10
Surviving in the Marquis’s Household ( 3)
Lies.
I’d told more lies throughout my life than I could count on one hand.
I couldn’t exactly deny that I was a bad person. But if I were to make an excuse, it wasn’t as though I’d ever wanted to lie.
Ever since I was very young, if I wanted to live even a little more comfortably, I had to learn to read the room, think on my feet, and keep people with more powerful backing than me happy.
Sometimes things worked out well. Other times, they ended in disaster. But somehow, I’d always managed to muddle through.
This time, however, was different.
I’d told a truly ridiculous lie.
You idiot… How exactly are you planning to help with the monster extermination? What sword? You don’t even own a single table knife!
The problem was that the lie just kept growing bigger and bigger.
“How does the sword you claim to possess use mana without human blood?”
Dwen wanted to have tea with me every day and discuss black magic. Apparently, his frustration at not having been chosen by the demonic sword was eating away at him.
Just thinking about having to speak with him alone made my stomach churn. But I had to humor him to some extent. I needed to buy time if I wanted to escape somewhere safe.
I pieced together whatever world-building details I could remember from The Saintess of the Demon Kingdom and rambled on to Dwen.
“Young Master Dwen, you do know that the very term ‘mana’ refers to the power of monsters, don’t you? Monsters can use their power with the mana they possess themselves, but humans need someone else’s blood.”
“I know that.”
“Yes. That’s precisely what my father was interested in researching. He wanted to know why humans were made that way. And the result of that research is the sword I possess. He conducted research through a black magician for a very long time. If humans could possess mana without needing blood, they might be able to wield power equal to that of the Empire’s five great families. The dagger you have was an experimental prototype made before my sword was completed.”
“I see.”
What do you mean, you see?
Damn it. Maybe I could have become a great con artist if I’d chosen that career.
No, wait. The real problem was that Dwen was just too stupid.
Sometimes, watching him nod in admiration at my words made me sigh. I was also secretly grateful that his stupidity was buying me time to escape.
Ena simply poured tea into our cups, looking puzzled about how I’d managed to keep Dwen so well-behaved.
I wanted to get out of here as soon as possible. I needed to find an opportunity to run away, but somehow, one never presented itself.
Just then, Dwen’s attendant approached and delivered a message.
“My lord, Marquis Ainhar has returned.”
“My brother? Already?”
At the news of Ainhar’s return, Dwen’s brows furrowed.
From what I’d observed, his inferiority complex toward Ainhar was no joke. Even now, he was probably thinking, If only my brother weren’t here…
Meanwhile, his brother was the one who would be traumatized by losing him.
“I suppose I should go see him. We’ll talk later.”
“There’s no need. Dwen.”
Ainhar stepped onto the terrace.
Dwen and I sprang to our feet in surprise. We exchanged brief greetings.
“Welcome back, Brother. If you’d been resting, I would have come to see you myself.”
Ainhar didn’t even acknowledge the greeting. He walked straight up to Dwen and stood before him, his expression unreadable.
“Dwen. Why are you meeting with Lady Adelia?”
“…Pardon?”
“That’s strange. I distinctly remember saying that I would introduce you to her once she’d recovered.”
Ainhar spoke gently, but there was a hint of displeasure in his voice.
Dwen looked flustered, unsure how to respond.
Now’s my chance.
“Marquis! I was the one who asked Young Master Dwen to speak with me first.”
“Lady Adelia?”
Ainhar and Dwen’s eyes widened slightly.
They really did look alike. Well, they were brothers, after all.
“Yes! I was bored after recovering, and Young Master Dwen kindly showed me around the various parts of House Rues!”
Of course, that had never happened.
But my survival instincts kicked in, telling me I needed to help Dwen out here if I didn’t want him to suspect anything.
Ainhar’s expression softened with relief, and he looked at his younger brother warmly again.
“I see. Dwen, I’m sorry, but there’s something I’d like to discuss with Lady Adelia in private.”
“…Very well. I’ll see you later.”
Dwen glanced at me once before leaving. He seemed satisfied.
I let out a sigh of relief.
But immediately afterward, Ainhar casually took the seat Dwen had just vacated.
Excuse me, Marquis. I’d like to leave, too…
What on earth did he want to discuss with me?
I looked at him, tense with anticipation. He was still wearing that endlessly gentle smile.
Would it be okay if I told him his younger brother was acting strangely…? Would he protect me?
The thought began to take root in a corner of my mind.
“Lady Adelia…”
[It’s the delicious girl!!!!! She’s here!!!!!!! Wow, my appetite’s kicking in. Master, let’s have just one bite. Just one drop!! I’m so hungry. I feel like I’m going to die! Well, I won’t actually die. I’m the Immortal Sword! But you know what I mean.]
Before Ainhar could continue, Tartanus, hanging at his waist, let out a deafening shriek.
I flinched.
No matter how kindly this male lead smiled, as long as that demonic sword wanted me dead, I wasn’t safe.
Especially since Saintess Cynthia, the one who would eventually purify the sword, wasn’t here yet.
If I stayed here, I’d either be killed by Dwen or become a sacrifice for Tartanus.
Ainhar’s golden hair and blue eyes suddenly reminded me so much of Dwen that they seemed frightening.
Ugh… I don’t want to get tangled up with these brothers.
I calmly picked up the teacup in front of me.
“What is it you’d like to discuss?”
“Ah… Well…”
He glanced down at his demonic sword and seemed to hesitate, searching for the right words.
I tensed up even more.
“I heard from Hanson that you gave the knights some lemon water while they were training.”
“Yes… I wanted to give them something. That’s all I could offer…”
“I heard they enjoyed it very much. I wanted to thank you.”
Huh? That was all?
Having said that, he stood up.
How strange. Had he really come to see me immediately after returning to the estate just to say that? And he’d even sent Dwen away first?
“Wait a moment, Marquis. There’s something I’d like to ask you, too.”
I called out to Ainhar as he was about to leave.
He turned around, looking rather surprised.
Why was he so startled?
Anyway, if I wanted to put my escape plan into action, I needed to confirm one thing I’d been wondering about.
“When we first met, you asked me whether I could hear the demonic sword’s voice, didn’t you?”
“Ah, that…”
“Of course, I can’t hear it. But I’m curious why you thought I could.”
[What? You couldn’t hear me? I was sure you could. That’s strange.]
Unlike the puzzled voice of the sword, Ainhar’s blue eyes curved gently as he looked at me.
“It was simply a coincidence. Something you said happened to overlap with something the demonic sword said. There’s no need for you to concern yourself with it, Lady Adelia.”
But what I wanted to know wasn’t simply whether I could hear Tartanus.
“Is there perhaps something unusual about my blood?”
I could vividly remember the demonic sword shouting about how delicious my blood was every time it saw me.
What if Alkan’s research involved doing something to my blood? And what if that something could affect the five great families of the Empire?
If that were the case, I might have found myself a new bargaining chip for survival.
Perhaps my words had struck a nerve, because silence fell between Ainhar and me.
The one who broke that silence and gave me the confirmation I needed was Tartanus.
[What? Why aren’t you telling her, Master? She’s delicious! Eating her gives me strength, too. She’s practically a miracle tonic made just for me. So let’s eat her! You want to eat her right now, too, don’t you?]
What a chatterbox of a sword. Thanks.
It was a little frightening that it kept trying to eat me, but still…
I barely managed to suppress the corners of my mouth from turning upward.
I felt relieved, knowing that I could proceed with the plan I’d already rehearsed in my head.
After remaining silent for quite some time, Ainhar met my gaze and shook his head.
“There’s nothing of the sort, Lady Adelia. You needn’t worry about it.”
After that, Ainhar didn’t come to see me again.
Not until the day of the monster extermination campaign.
For a while, neither of the Rues brothers came to see me.
Dwen seemed to be watching his older brother’s mood, while Ainhar appeared busy training with the knights in preparation for the monster extermination campaign.
It felt like the calm before a storm.
The days passed in a strange mixture of nervousness and leisure.
In any case, my survival came first, so I began carefully putting together an escape plan.
I didn’t know the exact reason, but the demonic sword had confirmed that there was something extraordinary about my blood.
If that was true, I needed to find someone with whom I could make a deal using it.
I thought long and hard about the novel’s contents.
In the end, I decided that Kylen Duranche was the most suitable person.
Unlike House Rues, House Duranche had a vampiric trait: its members directly drank human blood.
They would bite down with a sharp crack, pierce a human’s veins with their fangs, and drink their blood.
What made Kylen a little unusual was that he didn’t drink just anyone’s blood.
In other words, he was a gourmet vampire with a very particular palate.
Because of that, he sometimes spared people if he found their blood to his liking.
Whenever he was forced to drink blood he disliked, he became terribly irritated. Saintess Cynthia was the one who eventually purified him so that he wouldn’t have to endure that anymore.
If my blood really was as delicious as the demonic sword claimed, wouldn’t it be all right for me to supply him with blood until he met the saintess?
I would have my safety guaranteed, and he would get delicious blood.
It might be a win-win situation for both of us.
“Ena, how long does it take to reach Duke Kylen Duranche’s estate from here?”
“Hmm. Let me think. It should take about ten days by carriage. Is something the matter?”
“I’m just curious.”
Ten whole days…
How was I supposed to get a carriage?
Even if I managed to find one, the thought of traveling such a long distance alone with absolutely no money made my head ache.
But an opportunity presented itself much sooner than I’d expected.
“I heard this monster extermination campaign will be held together with Kylen Duranche. Make sure you have that sword ready. The hunt begins in three days.”
Dwen spoke to me in a hushed voice when we happened to cross paths during a walk.
The monster extermination campaign.
If I escaped during the hunt and secretly followed the Duranche party back to their estate, it would be perfect.
Just how long would Dwen continue to fall for my lies?
With an anxious heart, I began making my own preparations one by one.
First, I needed a sword.
A sword that looked convincing enough to fool Dwen. I intended to keep it in its scabbard and use it to maintain the illusion until I could escape.
And there was only one way I could get a sword here.
Hanson of the Silver Candelabra Knights.
I went to find Hanson alone at the training grounds around sunset.
He always started training earlier than the other knights and stayed behind to practice by himself long after they had left.
With the sunset behind him, his blue hair looked particularly vibrant as he trained, sweat pouring down his face.
I waited for a while, then handed him the familiar lemon water.
“This again, my lady? You’ve come back.”
Hanson accepted the lemon water as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
He gulped it down and wiped his mouth.
“Borrowing a sword? You’ve been making some truly unreasonable requests lately, my lady.”
“I want to try handling a sword, just like you and Marquis Rues do.”
Hanson shook his head firmly.
“My lady, a sword is a rather heavy and dangerous weapon. I gave you a wooden practice sword yesterday, remember? You couldn’t even lift that properly. How can you expect me to let you handle a real sword?”
“I don’t want a wooden sword! Please, Hanson.”
“Even if you put it that way, the answer is still no.”
Tch. Hanson’s so stubborn.
You! Spit out all the lemon water I’ve given you!
“My lady, you aren’t thinking about making me spit out the lemon water, are you?”
Gulp…
It seemed Hanson was much better at reading people than I was.
