“……”

“……”

Slay’s heart was completely shattered by Serena Lavernia’s openly mocking face.

‘To think that my proud master would be mocked because of someone like me…’

Even though it had never happened, Slay’s paranoia bloomed more elaborately in the wings of his imagination.

‘Should someone like me continue to be the butler of this mansion?’

He now began to blame himself.

Slay, who had never once thought himself inadequate since starting this job, thus knelt before Serena.

“…It’s not financial difficulties.”

“Huh?”

“It’s not financial difficulties, Miss. The decorations are just being cleaned in the warehouse for a moment…”

Slay decided to confess honestly.

He couldn’t bear to see the master he had chosen and respected being insulted.

He didn’t want to see his honor tarnished.

“…Ah, I see. I understand. Hmm. Right. Well…, I suppose it’s unavoidable to want to believe that.”

Lavernia tapped Slay’s shoulder once.

“I’ll take it as that, then.”

Slay saw disbelief in Serena Lavernia’s eyes.

She didn’t believe it at all.

She seemed to firmly believe that the Lavernia family was already in financial difficulties.

As Slay, who had even received a sympathetic gaze, was opening and closing his lips, Serena suddenly stopped and opened a door.

They had already arrived at her room.

“Well, I’ll rest then. Go and rest. Call me when Father arrives later.”

“…Yes, Miss.”

Slay bowed his head with a gloomy face.

Serena entered her room after a long time, feeling satisfied.

‘That was quite a decent consolation.’

She jumped onto the bed, taking comfort in the fact that she hadn’t yet become as broken as the professor.

* * *

The Marquis of Lavernia, Irdin Lavernia, frowned at the strange atmosphere of the mansion he had returned to.

“Welcome back, Master.”

“Yes.”

He looked at Slay, his long-time friend and head butler who somehow seemed a bit depressed, and then scanned the main hall again.

All the decorations and paintings were gone.

Marquis Lavernia, who easily grasped this fact, quickly made a judgment using his sharp mind.

“Did Serena come?”

“…Yes.”

There was no strength in Slay’s voice.

He thought that Serena had caused another big incident.

Slay cherished the mansion even more than the Marquis of Lavernia himself.

All the decorations were personally auctioned or purchased by him, and some of them he cared for so much that he would personally maintain them whenever he had time.

Of course, knowing that this wasn’t out of personal greed but solely an effort to make the mansion shine even a little more, the Marquis of Lavernia was not annoyed but rather satisfied.

‘She must have broken another cherished decoration.’

He slightly furrowed his handsome brow.

Irdin Lavernia and Slay had a long-standing relationship.

Slay had worked at the Lavernia mansion since childhood, and because he was around the same age as Irdin Lavernia, they often played together as playmates.

So, in his own way, Irdin Lavernia thought of Slay as a trustworthy friend before a butler, subordinate, or employee, and Slay, while thinking of him as a respected master, didn’t hesitate to give honest advice when things weren’t right.

Sometimes they would even share a drink together.

However, their appearances were quite different, with Slay looking about 20 years older at first glance.

It’s like an extreme case of a young-looking person meeting an extreme case of an old-looking person, giving the impression of a grandfather and son.

This was because Irdin Lavernia, even now but especially in his prime youth, was a man of such outstanding appearance in the empire that he would receive dozens of marriage proposals in a single day.

His pink hair, which has darkened a bit now, and black eyes were still enough to make people’s hearts flutter.

Now, with a bit of middle-aged charm added, it seemed like he was entering a second prime.

In other words, Irdin Lavernia, in his mid-40s, looked about 30, while Slay, exactly 40, looked at best like someone in their 50s with a full head of white hair.

Anyway, the Marquis of Lavernia wasn’t particularly pleased with Serena’s unannounced visit.

“Father, did you say Serena Lavernia has come?”

The young master of Lavernia, Nocturne Lavernia, who arrived a bit later, asked as he approached them, passing through the entrance with furrowed brows.

“It seems so.”

“Why did she come again? She’s really an unpleasant person.”

Nocturne Lavernia muttered with an almost contemptuous expression.

In his hazy memories, they seemed to have gotten along quite well when they were young, but after the incident, she became eccentric, and her relationship with Nocturne Lavernia also greatly deteriorated.

She caused trouble wherever she went and made a fool of him.

At social gatherings they attended together, she was nothing short of a rampaging hooligan. So much so that thanks to her, Nocturne Lavernia came to hate gatherings.

He didn’t even want to think of her, a person who trampled on people’s hearts, looked down on them, and brought them shame, as his sister.

“It’s truly horrifying to think that the same blood flows through our veins.”

“Nocturne, your words are too harsh.”

“You also think of her as a nuisance, Father. Why on earth was such a person born?”

To Nocturne Lavernia’s words, which didn’t hide his displeasure as he growled, the Marquis of Lavernia just let out a tired sigh.

He thought the house had become quite peaceful after Serena became estranged from the family, but it seems it’s about to start again.

He was somewhat tired of this kind of back-and-forth.

‘What kind of trouble has she caused again?’

Marquis Lavernia sighed as he looked at Slay, who still appeared depressed.

Sometimes, he wanted to give up being the head of the family.

“Since she’s come after a long time, we should have dinner together.”

“I will convey the message.”

“I won’t eat.”

Slay agreed to the Marquis of Lavernia’s words, while Nocturne Lavernia refused.

“Would she even come just to eat a meal if we invited her? It would be fortunate if she doesn’t flip the table even if she does come.”

Despite saying this, Nocturne Lavernia actually just didn’t want to meet Serena.

“If you think that way, come down. It’s a family gathering after a long time.”

This was because he had never won against her forceful behavior and hair-pulling.

“She must have come for some reason again.”

Marquis Lavernia said.

At his father’s weak words, Nocturne Lavernia roughly ruffled his hair, said he understood, and went up to his room.

In fact, the few times she had returned home after becoming estranged from the family, she always wanted something.

Whether it was a special jewel coming up for auction, or a dress made from new fabric that the Lavernia family had started distributing, or needing money, well, it was usually that kind of thing.

‘…It’s fortunate that she went on a vacation.’

Marquis Lavernia was glad that his wife wasn’t in the mansion.

He didn’t want to show his wife, who was getting weaker after collapsing, any more disappointing aspects of their child.

‘Come to think of it, I heard there’s a necklace made of rainbow gold coming up for auction this time…’

She was probably after that, for sure.

He had been uneasy from the moment he heard about it, and sure enough, his fears were confirmed.

‘When will she grow up and become like she used to be?’

He wanted to grab and shake his past self who didn’t stop his daughter when she said she was going to the monastery.

Because back then, Serena Lavernia was so mature that he rather wished she would act more like a child.

‘…Did I wish for it too much?’

Marquis Lavernia thought this as he headed to his room to change his clothes.

‘…Was my faith that deep?’

He now wondered if this had happened because he had wished for his child to act a bit spoiled.

‘…This is maddening. What exactly am I lacking?’

That’s right.

He had a somewhat strong self-love.

“The world just won’t leave me alone.”

He muttered words that would have made anyone who heard them jump from the 30th floor, with a handsome face as he entered his room.