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Chapter 17
And Emily did it.
She truly was amazing. I was certain that, before long, Emily would even invent air conditioners and electric blankets.
Fortunately, there was already a rudimentary recording device available.
Using it as a foundation, Emily managed to invent a phonograph.
“This is incredible! As expected of you, Emily. I knew you’d succeed!”
“All thanks to you, Miss, believing in me. I should be the one thanking you.”
Emily’s eyes had dark circles beneath them, utterly soaked in fatigue, yet the way she gazed at her invention shone like a newly kindled flame—bright and vivid.
“Recording sound… this is historic. What will you record first?”
I smiled silently and gestured to Antoine.
I had spent a long time thinking about what words to record, but the answer had always been clear.
“Antoine, come over here too.”
“Me too?”
“Yes. You know that Dad will soon be going far away for work, right? Let’s make a gift so that he can hear our voices whenever he wants.”
“Wow.”
Antoine ran at once to the phonograph and stood before the brass horn.
“Ah… Appa.”
His voice, mixed with the breathy sounds characteristic of a child, began to etch itself onto the needle.
“I love you. I miss you. Come quickly. Bring me a present… Antoine…”
The needle inscribed the voice of a child longing for their father onto the solid metal cylinder.
Then it was my turn. I worried I might stumble over my words.
I cleared my throat and, just like Antoine, whispered my heartfelt words.
“Dad. Stay healthy always. I miss you so much. I love you too.”
It recorded properly, right?
I turned the handle again to check, watching the needle trace the groove it had carved.
“Wow, wow!”
“That’s my sister’s voice!”
The room filled with the sound of our voices—mine and Antoine’s.
The sound wasn’t perfectly clean or crisp, and the pronunciation was unclear unless you listened closely, but it was unmistakably our voices.
“Emily! You’re a genius!”
Overcome with joy, I grabbed Emily in a sudden hug.
Emily, equally flushed with excitement and happiness, jumped up and down in place with me.
Now… it was time for the final price negotiation.
“Emily. Can’t you sell this to me?”
“Whaaat? What do you mean!”
Emily recoiled, but… no need to take it so seriously.
“This is a gift for you, Miss Adelaide, for trusting me. Please accept it as a token of my promise to continue living up to your trust.”
What? That’s ridiculous! You should’ve bargained! Charged a high price! Charged per turn of the handle!
But Emily was just as adamant this time.
“Th-then… would you sell the spare cylinder for 10 francs…?”
“No.”
Huh. That’s how it is. No choice.
“Then I’ll buy the spare cylinder for 10 francs. You can include the phonograph as a bonus.”
Only then did Emily relax and extend her hand to me.
“Thank you for your purchase!”
“A profitable deal.”
Don’t think she’ll always give in so easily. Anyone else will happily pay ten times the price I couldn’t today, so be prepared!
“I’m home! Mom, want to see what I got…? Huh?”
“Mom’s not here.”
“Where did she go?”
As soon as I returned to the mansion, I looked for Mom first—but her room was empty.
“Oh, ma’am had a guest arrive a little while ago, so she went to the parlor.”
The maid, taking advantage of the empty room, explained kindly.
But there wasn’t any carriage on the way back… unless a noble like Uncle Guillaume had walked here on foot.
“Shall we play in the nursery until the guest leaves? I’ll bring you a snack. The kitchen just baked a cake.”
“Cake!”
Antoine clapped his hands joyfully.
But somehow, I had the feeling the maid didn’t want us leaving the nursery.
Why?
When I stared at her silently, she quickly averted her eyes. Huh… getting suspicious.
Just as I was about to ask what guest had arrived—
—CRASH!
A loud noise shattered something somewhere.
It came from the direction of the parlor, where guests and my parents would be.
“…Dad?”
A bad feeling settled in. Without waiting for the maid to stop me, I bolted down the hall toward the parlor.
What’s happening? Why is my heart racing like this? Everything was perfect. What guest could cause this? The debt collector isn’t even coming for a long while!
The cause of my anxiety soon revealed itself.
“Disappear from my sight immediately! No matter how much money I have, I will not pay off your gambling debts!”
“Damn! Are you saying you’ll abandon your brother? Grandpa would mourn in his grave if he knew!”
“Get lost!”
BANG! The parlor door flew open with such force it seemed it might come off its hinges.
Frozen in place, I saw a man appear.
“What?”
“My goodness, Adelaide!”
And over his shoulder, I saw my father, his face flushed red, breathing heavily, and my mother, pale as a sheet.
“Well, well, who do we have here.”
Ah. Damn it.
“Too long a time has passed, you barely recognized me.”
Of all times, at the very moment we were about to eternally record our family’s happiness.
“Long time no see, niece?”
Facing my uncle.
“…It has been a while, Uncle.”
What could this distinguished man be doing in such a refined place?
Philippe Noël de Charmois.
My father’s only brother, and my uncle, looked down at me with snake-like eyes.
In my previous life, his gambling was no surprise.
He had been expelled from boarding school for illegal gambling, drinking, and violent incidents.
Hope for rehabilitation is only for someone like Felix.
This man was beyond redemption—irreparably hopeless.
“Have you been well all this time?”
Suppressing the urge to retch, I smiled as if I knew nothing.
“Well? I’ve been well, indeed. Quite, very, extremely well, considering I was about to be kicked out of the family tree.”
Why ‘well’? Without a single bone broken, no doubt.
I barely swallowed the retort that had nearly escaped my mouth.
Thinking of what he had done to me and my loved ones, I wanted to smash a vase over his head immediately.
“Sigh… Adelaide, go to the nursery. The adults have things to discuss.”
My father rested a hand against his temple, sighing deeply.
“No, forget it. Do you think I’ll just sit around sucking my thumb because my brother isn’t here to help? Hmph! I’ll handle things when the time comes.”
“Now’s the time, so do something! How long do you plan to squander the family fortune? Aren’t you ashamed in front of your nieces and nephews? Huh?”
It was the first time I’d ever seen my father so angry. The display, never shown before me, made me flinch.
“I was going to do it anyway!”
And my uncle didn’t back down either, raising his voice.
The state of the household was truly chaotic.
