Elodie’s fuss made Pavo’s face turn pale as well.

“Po, po-po-po-poison……!”

Poison?!

‘No, what kind of mansion has a fountain flowing with poison?!’

Crazy Perdia. Insane Perdia!

The already disliked Perdia became even more detestable.

Pavo, who had been staring blankly at the Perdia’s fountain gushing refreshingly, suddenly turned his head to look at Elodie.

“A-antidote! Give it to me!”

“Give it to you?”

“……please!”

Is it a big deal to speak briefly when someone might die?

But in a poisoned situation, there was no use in being stubborn as he could die, so he had to humor Elodie.

However, unlike his desperate state, Elodie answered nonchalantly.

“It’s a joke, just a joke. You won’t die from that little splash.”

Hahaha!

Elodie laughed refreshingly. So lovably that an unknowing person might think she was an angel.

But to Pavo’s eyes, she just looked like a witch.

‘Platinum-haired witch…..’

Regardless of what he thought, Elodie smiled brightly and took the lead.

“Still, you need to take the antidote, so let’s go inside for now.”

Pavo, who had lost the will to be angry, silently followed Elodie.

It might be his imagination, but just being told he was poisoned made him feel like his condition was getting worse.

Given that it’s a mansion with a poisoned fountain, who knows what other strange things might pop up? Pavo followed closely behind Elodie, extremely tense.

Soon, they arrived at a rather lavish bedroom. While looking around the room that felt unlived in despite its luxury, Pavo asked.

“Is this your room? …please.”

“That’s right, my room. By the way, your way of speaking is quite peculiar……”

Who’s fault is it that my way of speaking has become strange!

For a moment, he almost shouted in anger, but Pavo held it in.

After all, he had at least some awareness that Elodie was the heir to her family.

Elodie, rummaging through a desk drawer, tossed a medicine bottle to Pavo.

“It’s the antidote.”

Fearing that poisoning symptoms might appear, he quickly uncapped the bottle and poured it into his mouth.

As he frowned at the bitter taste, Elodie threw something else.

‘Ca, candy?’

Upon catching it, he saw it was candy wrapped neatly in a yellow package.

He was confused, unable to tell if she was being considerate or mocking him.

Knock knock-.

At the sound of knocking on the open door, he turned his head to see Carlot and Jansi standing in the doorway.

“Sister. What’s this?”

Carlot asked sarcastically, pointing his chin at Pavo who was with Elodie.

“He’s my relative. But Carl, you shouldn’t refer to a person as ‘this’.”

“Ah, so it was a person. Sorry. I won’t do it again!”

While apologizing verbally, the second young master of Perdia glared at Pavo as if to kill him whenever Elodie wasn’t looking.

Pavo had heard that Carlot Perdia’s personality was unusual, but facing that hostility directly was no joke in terms of intimidation.

Pavo was too much of a coward to confront him about why he was glaring.

Jansi, who had approached quietly, looked down at Pavo and smiled gently.

“If he’s a relative… Pavo Dorus?”

“How do you know my name……”

“I heard there was a commotion in Severes. That you had some friction with our Lili…?”

Hmm. Jansi’s smile deepened a bit. Startled, Pavo unconsciously took a step back.

‘How did he know? What happened with that woman should have been settled as an internal family matter and shouldn’t have leaked out.’

Don’t tell me that woman tattled everything to Perdia in detail?!

“No. Lili didn’t say anything about you to me.”

“Huh? What?”

“It seems Young Lord Dorus is making some strange misunderstandings.”

Even though he hadn’t properly said anything, he felt like his thoughts had been completely seen through.

Jansi was clearly smiling kindly, but Pavo couldn’t understand why it gave him goosebumps.

Jansi continued speaking.

“Since Lili’s relative has come, we should treat him well. After all, Lili is our family.”

“Tch. Sister only has me as a sibling……”

Patting the grumbling Carlot’s shoulder, Jansi turned to look at Elodie.

“Lili. Mother is currently in the middle of research, so she asked if you could wait about an hour. In the meantime, why don’t we give Young Lord Dorus a tour of the mansion?”

Life returned to Pavo’s face, which had been blank until then. Although he thought Perdia was crazy, even he had been curious about the Perdia mansion.

Recently, there had been an uproar over invitations to a banquet held by Perdia, and due to the rave reviews from those who attended, the Perdia mansion was perceived as even more impressive than the Imperial Palace.

Of course, Pavo hadn’t received an invitation, so this was his first visit.

He couldn’t miss the chance to see Perdia, not knowing when he might be able to come again.

‘I’ll be able to brag about seeing Perdia.’

The thought of boasting to his drinking buddies automatically excited him.

“A tour of the mansion isn’t difficult. Pavo. Want to go?”

“I, I’ll go!”

“I’ll go?”

“…please.”

No matter how many times they conversed, it still wasn’t comfortable for Pavo to speak politely to Elodie. His pride wouldn’t allow it.

‘I don’t understand why those two Perdia men are so subservient to that woman.’

While Pavo was receiving a tour of the Perdia mansion, Jansi and Carlot tried their best to look good in front of Elodie.

Their devotion was so touching it could bring tears to one’s eyes.

The Perdia mansion was certainly spacious, and also unique.

A room collecting portraits of past family heads, one of the 36 rooms gathering family heirlooms, the hall that was said to be opened for banquets.

Up to that point, it wasn’t much different from Severes, so Pavo wasn’t particularly impressed.

‘Perdia isn’t all that special after all.’

After touring each place in order, the last stop was the magical beast breeding room.

Since there was no such place in Severes, Pavo’s curiosity was piqued about the magical beast breeding room.

Having been raised gently, he had never seen magical beasts up close except during subjugation missions, so he wanted to see them even more quickly.

Pavo pointed at the tightly closed door and asked.

“Is it here?”

“That’s right.”

Without even asking for permission to enter, Pavo just opened the door.

He had the careless thought that there would be safety measures in place anyway.

“Wait-!”

Elodie tried to grab Pavo, but it was after the incident had already occurred.

As soon as the breeding room door was opened, a medium-sized magical beast attempted to escape and pounced over Pavo’s head.

“Aaaaargh!”

Pavo fainted.

***

‘Crazy Perdia. Crazy household!’

Pavo, having regained consciousness, abandoned his duties and left the Perdia mansion, heading home.

As soon as he arrived, he barged straight into the bedroom where his parents were said to be together.

He entered without knocking and immediately yelled at his father.

“I won’t do this duty anymore!”

“Why so suddenly, Pavo. You’ve been doing well until now.”

“Doing well? Do you know how hard it’s been for me? Always being scolded for not speaking politely, being ignored……”

“It’s only natural for a vassal to show respect to the young lady who is the heir, Pavo.”

“I can’t acknowledge her as the heir!”

“Stop talking nonsense and go back to the young lady.”

“Father, you don’t know anything!”

He stomped his foot and protested, but Viscount Dorus didn’t even blink. Rather, the timid Viscountess fretted, looking back and forth between her husband and son.

Gritting his teeth and glaring at the floor, Pavo suddenly raised his head.

“Listen. That woman gave me poison…!”

“She made you eat it?”

“Ah, no?”

It was just water from the fountain splashing, so it certainly wasn’t intentional.

But who knows, maybe she deliberately led him there.

“Pavo. What on earth are you doing?”

Viscount Dorus’s voice dropped an octave.

“No, I was just exposed to a little poison by accident, but she lied and said I was poisoned. Father, I don’t want to serve that woman!”

Viscount Dorus quietly observed his son who was making a fuss.

Having recently taken charge of Elodie Severes’s education, he could roughly guess what kind of personality she had from his observations.

Elodie was clever. And she was cunning.

No matter what was said, she had a knack for making people take it back.

When such an Elodie said she would correct his son’s bad habits, well, it was an opportunity.

The last chance to take in his son.

If he didn’t repent now, she would surely cast him out. While he himself was still in good health now, what if the generation changed?

His son would surely be eliminated.

Unable to take responsibility for his son’s future, Viscount Dorus had no choice but to keep him by Elodie’s side.

“Serve the young lady well, Pavo.”

“Ah, Father!!!”

Unable to stand by any longer, the Viscountess approached Pavo, wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and tried to soothe him.

“Pavo, dear. How can you throw a tantrum at your father……”

“Ah, I don’t know. Mom, you’re annoying too!”

Pavo shook off his mother’s touch and stormed out, slamming the door.

The Viscountess sighed deeply and lamented.

“Oh my. Darling, what should we do with that boy?”

Unlike his worried wife, Viscount Dorus muttered seriously.

“To push that boy, who doesn’t even listen to his own father, this far, she’s impressive.”

His evaluation of Elodie, whom he had dismissed as a thoughtless lady, was gradually changing.

***

Members-only club. It was a place where only nobles with a certain amount of wealth could enter due to the expensive membership fees.

“Filthy life. Filthy family……”

Glug glug.

Pavo filled his glass to the brim with strong liquor and downed it in one go.

As his throat burned, his mind became hazy and his mood improved.

“Father tells me to serve diligently. That witch….. I won’t do it!”

Because of that woman, Elodie Severes, he had nearly died several times. With the poison fountain, with the magical beast……

“What are you going to do if I say I won’t do it……”

Pavo panted and gulped down more alcohol.

How much time had passed like that?

After emptying the second bottle, barely keeping his eyes open, someone sat down next to him.

“Do you have some worries?”

Hearing a kind and pretty voice, Pavo turned his head while keeping his face planted on the table.

At an awkward angle, he saw a woman’s face.

‘I feel like I’ve seen her somewhere before, but who is it……’

Maybe because he had drunk too much, his mind wasn’t working well. He just couldn’t remember who she was.

“Are you alright? It seems you’ve had too much to drink.”

“This much is…… nothing…… piece of cake……”

Rather than that, only instinctive impressions filled his mind.

‘She’s really pretty…… Is this woman interested in me……?’

With the final thought of wanting to try hitting on the woman in front of him, Pavo lost consciousness.

***

Pavo Dorus went missing.

Upon returning to the Severes mansion and not seeing him, I thought he might finally be on strike, so I left him alone, but he really had gone missing

It was determined to be a disappearance rather than running away because there was a letter attached to an arrow that flew towards the main gate of the mansion.

[I have Pavo Dorus. If you want to get him back, offer the Sealing Stone of Envy as ransom.]