Praising You For Surviving (Salute for Lucien) - Chapter 42

After dinner, I headed to the office in the west wing. I wanted to see the Bickman family tree. Kirhin had once told me that it was in the small library attached to the office used as the Baron’s workspace.

It would be easier to ask Kirhin for it, but he seemed very busy lately. Today, he was out, saying he would eat dinner outside. Judging by his increasingly gaunt face, he seemed to be having a hard time.

Not that I’m one to talk about others.

The abundant nutritious food had filled my cheeks and given me a glow, but my recent hectic schedule was making my face look slimmer. Looking in the mirror, I sometimes appear to have suddenly aged a year or two. I didn’t mind it since I looked too young before, and now I seemed more appropriate for my age.

With no one around, I limped freely into the office and took a deep breath.

The office had a different atmosphere from any other space in this mansion. Unlike the free and vast ambiance of the library, it gave a strict and somewhat controlled feeling. It felt like a place where someone of higher status would sit.

It wasn’t dark as candles were lit here and there. As I slowly looked around out of curiosity, I frowned. It wasn’t organized at all, with several boxes of odds and ends scattered about, and the desk was cluttered with documents.

It was said that Kirhin, who had recently inherited the title, spent a lot of time here, so thinking they might be documents related to the estate, I picked up one and blinked.

“Product list?”

The long list contained names and prices of various products. The prices were all astronomical, with some even enough to buy a house.

“Surely he’s not planning to buy all of this. Maybe it’s for the celebration of his title succession?”

Of course, all the economic rights of this house were in Kirhin’s hands, and he could spend money as he wished, but this wasn’t just luxury, it was at the level of selling off the entire mansion. As I roughly summed it up and looked at the total at the bottom, I tilted my head.

Even if it was a rough calculation, how could the unit itself be wrong?

I picked up a pen rolling on the desk. As I added up the numbers on a blank piece of paper, I got a completely different amount from the total written down. I tried two more times, but it was the same.

…Did they only sum up to the middle? It doesn’t seem like it though.

There were dozens of pages in the list, but except for two pages, all the total sections were empty. The totals on those two pages were both incorrect, and I enjoyed calculating numbers.

“Anyway, it seems like a necessary task, and it would be helpful if I did it.”

I lightly twirled the pen and pulled up a chair. The cushion where my bottom touched was firm yet elastic, giving a feeling of being enveloped by something sturdy. To be honest, I wanted to sit in this chair.

With a satisfied expression, I started calculating. It didn’t take long.

“Phew.”

After finishing the last page, my shoulders were stiff, and I let out a long sigh. As I calculated, I could see that the list was divided by categories.

The items were very diverse, ranging from furs to pearls, diamonds, emeralds and other jewels, unknown books and paintings, knick-knacks like vases and ornaments, and even spices.

“Barret of the Rihasbin merchant group.”

There was something like a contract document inserted in the papers. Reading the writing and signature under the coat of arms of the Freemont Duchy, I rested my chin crookedly.

“Why does the Bickman baron family have a list of products handled by Freemont’s merchant group?”

I had heard that the Bickman family and the largest merchant group in Freemont had a good relationship. A debt of life, they said.

But wasn’t that just a one-sided show of goodwill from the merchant group? It shouldn’t have been a transaction.

“You really like to take interest in unnecessary things, don’t you? Do you have nothing better to do?”

While I was lost in thought and fidgeting with my fingers, I was startled by the sudden voice and turned my head.

When did he appear, and how? As always, Lars, wrapped in his dark curtain-like cloak, was looking at me with a disgruntled expression.

I almost involuntarily smiled with joy when I saw his face, but I barely suppressed my happiness. As a result, I ended up looking at him with an exaggeratedly furrowed brow.

“You don’t need to worry about what I do. An arrogant child probably can’t do anything useful anyway.”

Lars let out a laugh as if he found it ridiculous. Feeling that if I kept looking at that beautiful face, I might start spouting nonsense, I stood up and turned towards the library.

Lars, who had his arms folded, went to where I had been and picked up the documents.

“What are you doing in this room?”

“Isn’t it stranger that you’re in this room? A room without its owner?”

“…What, ‘you’?”

Lars’s voice resonated dully as if he had been hit squarely on the back of the head. I shrugged my shoulders and looked around the bookshelf.

“I’m family, a proper member of the Bickman family, but you’re not. I doubt you came in through the front door with Nina’s welcome.”

As I glanced sideways while looking for the family tree, I saw his tall profile rubbing his temples with his eyes tightly shut. Trying to keep my lips from curling up, I kept watching, and Lars’s narrowed eyes turned towards me. I responded nonchalantly.

“What? If you’re going to act completely bold, then pretend to be bold.”

Suddenly, the memory of a warm hand brushing against my calf flashed through my mind, making the corners of my mouth quiver. Lars snorted and shook his head.

“You only hear what you want to hear, little one. Who are you to act so confident?”

How older is he than me to keep calling me ‘little one’, ‘little one’!

As I frowned, I saw him approaching me. I swallowed hard. Backed against the bookshelf, I saw what he was holding in his hand. It was a white dagger with jewels embedded in it.

A chill suddenly ran down my spine. Lars’s shadow loomed over me, blocking my way. As I looked up, his cold green eyes were staring down at me.

“And that’s not boldness, it’s recklessness. People often die because they can’t maintain that line.”

As I blinked rapidly while frozen stiff, Lars snorted and stepped back.

With the subtle pressure gone, I could finally breathe. While twirling the dagger lightly with one hand and holding up the documents with the other, he let out a hollow laugh.

“To think Kirhin’s head can’t even calculate as well as a child. More importantly, where did he go?”

“I don’t know either.”

“He didn’t assign you any work?”

“I came to find the family tree.”

I replied with a pout and started rummaging through the books again. Lars threw the documents on the desk and sat on the edge, asking,

“What are you going to do with the family tree once you find it?”

“I’m just looking for it out of curiosity. I met someone today who talked about connections with previous generations, and I was at a loss for words because I knew nothing about it.”

“Chester Storms?”

My hand slipped as I was pulling out a book. I turned to him with wide eyes, seeing Lars looking at me with an indifferent expression. My heart started pounding.

“You weren’t watching, were you?”

“I’m not as idle as you.”

“Then how did you know?”

“Those meetings.”

Ignoring his sarcastic tone, I asked, and he looked at me silently before continuing,

“You know those are efforts to find your future marriage partner, right?”

Suddenly, it felt like a cold wind was blowing in from somewhere. Even though no windows were open. My startled heart gradually calmed down. I nodded.

“I know.”

“You know?”

“Noble marriages are usually made to prosper the family, so I guess it’s a process of weighing who would be the better match.”

“You…”

Lars cut off his words with a “huh” and frowned.

“You’re okay with that?”

That question suddenly made my heart ache.

What does he mean, am I okay with it? What meaningless words to say to someone who doesn’t have a choice to begin with.

I smiled wryly and replied calmly.

“There’s no guarantee that the person I like would choose me anyway.”

Lars’s sharp eyes narrowed as he looked at me. I turned back to rummage through the bookshelf and spoke.

“My brother will choose a partner for me. If it’s not someone I like, anyone is the same to me.”

Found it. The family tree wrapped in dark brown leather.

Although traces of time remained on the edges, the leather was still firm. Lars muttered in a cold tone as he watched me pull out the family tree.

“You’ll marry a man of suitable status and live quietly settling down? If that’s possible.”

He rose from the desk and lightly threw something at me. I blinked as I tilted the family tree to catch it. It was the small dagger he had been holding all along.