Chapter 2 – Part 1 (Calling)

It was an unusually lively weekend for the Brennans.

Since settling in Bachman, the family’s unstable situation had finally stabilized. The first stable light and the cozy smell of meat permeating the house also played a part. The family, excited at the thought of feasting after a long time, couldn’t hide their smiles.

It was a time for the whole family to gather and laugh, but Liese was alone in her discomfort. The thought of working under the Duke’s roof made her sick to her stomach.

He hadn’t ordered her to serve him directly, so why was this so ominous?

Her contract as a maid would end before July, when the social season began in earnest. She can then return to her orchard with a heavier piggy bank and not worry about it. Though it does bother her that she hasn’t found a laborer yet….

Liese deliberately lowered her head and busily tidied up the dining room. She couldn’t reveal a gloomy expression on such a lively day.

“Where did you get the money to buy such good meat?”

Viscount Brennan, who had been hovering in the kitchen with an excited face while Mrs. Joanna was cooking, pushed his wheelchair back to the dining room and asked.  The pork Mrs. Joanna was cooking had been purchased with the money Liese had received from the ducal estate.

“Hmm? Lieselote. Did you sell something without my knowledge?”

“No, Grandfather. That’s not true.”

She had to weave lies as she practiced. Liese picked up a newspaper lying on one side while pretending to clean the table. Absently glancing at the front-page headline, Liese let out a short scream.

“Oh!”

It was precisely because he saw a black-and-white photo that filled the front page. Startled by the unexpected scream, Viscount Brennan raised his shoulders.

“Why are you so scared? What did you see that made you scream like that?”

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

Liese pretended to finish clearing the table in a hurry. Her grandfather leaned closer and looked down at the newspaper with a puzzled expression.

“Let me see, ‘Return of the Hero who Conquered the Central Continent’… This is the newspaper you brought me a while ago, right? Were you surprised by seeing the picture of Duke Balthasar?”

Her grandfather laughed mischievously and narrowed his eyes. Liese quickly covered her pale face with her flowing hair.

It was the newspaper she had brought after seeing the Duke in the forest. In the center of the front page was a life-sized photo of Marcus.

Dressed in a military cap on his light blonde hair and a uniform with a deep color, Marcus’s appearance, which anyone would find appealing until he opened his mouth, was vividly captured on the large sheet. His eyes seemed to pierce through, too.

Since her mind was already filled with the Duke from the day she saw him in the forest, meeting his photo at this moment made Liese’s heart chill.

To have to pretend to be cheerful even in a house where the Duke’s gaze didn’t reach. The aftermath of that day and the anxiety about the approaching workday seemed more significant than expected.

“I was really surprised to see a picture of a person so big.”

Why hadn’t she checked earlier? If she had seen the photo beforehand, she wouldn’t have needed to visit his mansion. Frustratingly, even though she felt constrained, seeing the lively family excited about the meat after a long time made her realize that she couldn’t regret it to her heart’s content.

“Is it because the Duke is so handsome?”

Liese’s hand, holding the newspaper, tensed at the playful question.

“Not at all. It’s an old newspaper, so it’s better to throw it away right away, Grandfather.”

“What are you talking about? I haven’t even finished solving the crossword puzzle yet!”

Her grandfather, who shouted angrily, snatched the newspaper. Liese’s hand, which failed to erase the traces of the Duke, wandered in the air.

“Sometimes I see you have a bad habit of throwing things away that are still usable.”

Viscount Brennan glared at Liese, his eyes fierce. Liese couldn’t help but smile bitterly at her grandfather’s inability to throw away even the shattered china.

“Go ahead and finish what you were saying. Where did you get the money to buy the meat?”

“…Oh, actually, I volunteered at the almshouse near the square, and from the first day, an old blond gentleman who seemed to have a lot of money donated a lot of it to us volunteers. He would give us silver coins by the handful for a job well done, and even when we refused to take them, he would give them to us.”

Wiping the table briskly, Liese fabricated a lie, afraid that his grandfather might notice. Viscount Brennan looked at Liese with surprise as information suddenly flooded in. It was a perplexed expression, not knowing where to be surprised.

“Did you volunteer at the almshouse near the baby angel statue?”

“Um… yes. I decided to work for about five hours every morning until before summer. It’s good to help others, but I also have to manage the orchard in the afternoon.”

The fact that she had started working as a temporary maid at the Duke’s mansion must be kept hidden. If he found out that his granddaughter had begun serving at someone else’s house, it would be a great worry for him.

Luckily, the lie must have worked, because he smiled brightly.

“That’s right. That’s a virtue we should possess. For nobles, it’s more important to lend a helping hand where it’s most needed than to show off in fancy clothes and gatherings. In this world, you and that gentleman still make it worth living.”

“Thank you for saying that.”

“If you give virtue, won’t coins roll in return? He’s a fine gentleman indeed.”

Liese replied with a stiff smile.

“Have you found someone to work at the orchard?”

“I posted a job through the employment agency, though I haven’t heard back yet.”

“I wonder if the pay is so low that no one is applying.”

“Don’t worry, I emphasized that the orchard is small, so there’s not a lot of work. It’s only been a few days since we posted the ad, so give it a little more time.”

Liese said, looking up at the ceiling somewhere.

“The food seems to be ready, but I’ll go upstairs and bring Charlie.”

“Okay.”

Turning, Liese climbed the creaky old staircase. She went to her brother Charlie’s door and knocked.

“Charlie, the meal is almost ready. Aren’t you coming down?”

After a few seconds, a soft voice, characteristic of a child, was heard from behind the door.

“I’ll be down soon!”

“You’ve been wanting to eat steak all week. If you don’t come down quickly, it might all get cold.”

This time, there was no answer. Liese, who was contemplating, turned the handle and pushed the door open.

Charlie was standing in front of the mirror. Liese entered, wearing a light blue shirt and clean trousers brought from the square. Turning his body here and there to check his appearance, the boy looked at Liese reflected in the mirror and quickly turned his head.

“You’re supposed to knock and come in, sister!”

“You dressed up because it’s mealtime? That can’t be it.”

Setting her jaw, Liese stepped into the room. Charlie pouted his lips and looked in the mirror again, a hair shy of his peers and barely looking his age, ten.

“I’m starting a new school on Monday.”

“You wanted to try on what you were going to wear on your first day of school.”

Liese smiled understandingly and stepped closer. The two siblings, with only their similar chestnut-colored hair in common, reflected in the mirror.

Their large, kind eyes looked somewhat alike, but unlike Liese, Charlie often wore a hesitant expression, giving off a fragile vibe.

“I don’t want to go to school.”

Suddenly, Charlie dropped his eyes and pouted his lips, and Liese, kneeling in front of him, looked at him with soft eyes.

“Why don’t you want to when you have all these nice clothes?”

“To be honest, it’s not that I don’t like it; it’s just scary. I’m afraid that my new classmates will look down on me and ignore me.”

Charlie spoke with a mumble, stealing glances at Liese. She gently stroked her brother’s head, who spoke with a subdued tone.

“No one in their right mind would do that. In my eyes, you look like a very handsome young gentleman.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Charlie disliked Bachman. No, he liked the lively atmosphere of the bustling city, but he hated this shabby house on the hill.

Since moving into the new house, he has complained that it is smaller than the stable. He even went so far as to say that living here might bring strange smells.

Each time, Liese would look at her grandfather’s sour face and sternly scold her brother. But today, she didn’t feel like reprimanding.

“School is a great place, you know? It’s much bigger than the one in the countryside, and there are even two playgrounds. The teachers are all kind and wonderful.”

The school near the square, which took equality and peace as its principles, accepted admission documents regardless of the child’s origin.  A fair education among the commoners and nobles was exactly what Charlie needed as a child from a fallen family.

“Is that really true?”

“Of course. I went and checked everything.”

Liese placed her hands on her brother’s small shoulders and locked eyes with him.

“Listen, Charlie.”

“Yeah.”

“If by any chance someone bothers you at school, you must never endure it.”

“…Okay.”

“But there probably won’t be such a thing, but just in case someone bullies you or makes you feel uncomfortable, you have to tell me immediately. Never just endure it. Understand?”

“I understand.”

It was a grudging answer, but unlike when he lied, Charlie didn’t avert his gaze. Rising from her seat, Liese tugged on her brother’s hand.

“Let’s go down to the dining room.”

The smell of oily meat had risen thickly up to the second floor. Charlie’s steps became lighter with each step down, probably because it was the first time in a while he was going to eat meat. Liese felt the same.

The handful of silver coins she’d anxiously picked up from the duke’s residence felt like a weight of responsibility lifted from her shoulders.