At sunset that day.

Although the child’s condition had clearly improved from before, the fever still showed no signs of breaking, and eventually, as urged by the attending physician, a priest was called.

I heard that Lutis had given permission, given the considerable cost involved.

Aeli glanced at the carriage entering the duke’s residence through the darkness beyond the window.

‘I guess even those heavy-bottomed priests can’t resist money in the end.’

They were the type who, due to their strong pride, hardly ever made house calls, and even when they did, unless the patient was on the verge of death, they would insist on dragging the patient to the temple for treatment.

Given that they had agreed to treat at the duke’s residence and were now on their way, Aeli suspected that a considerable sum must have been offered.

Well, what did a few coins matter if it meant curing the child?

Honestly, Aeli thought Lutis’s actions were somewhat unexpected.

‘I didn’t think he would allow it to this extent.’

Even though she had somewhat resolved her resentment towards Lutis, the fact remained that he had been neglecting the child.

Given the conversation she had overheard in the study that dawn, she had been prepared for an attitude of ‘as long as he’s breathing, that’s enough’.

Knock knock.

“Young master, those from the temple have arrived.”

At the sound of the polite knock, the child, who had been faintly opening his eyes, met Aeli’s gaze.

Recognizing the familiar voice of the head servant, Aeli nodded slightly.

-These are people who have come to make Adi feel better.

“… Come… in?”

Not knowing the priest’s position, the child seemed unsure whether to use formal or informal speech, awkwardly elongating the end of his sentence.

Aeli shook her head with a faint smile.

-They’re probably mid-ranking priests at best, so Adi doesn’t need to use formal speech. Only high-ranking priests are treated as equals to marquises.

So if the duke’s son were to use formal speech, it would probably be appropriate for a cardinal or higher.

At Aeli’s words, the child rolled his eyes while lying down. This was because the head servant and two priests entered the room with the reply.

“So this is the rumored young master. Indeed, he has a splendid appearance.”

Upon discovering the child lying in bed, the middle-aged priest threw out a compliment with a kindly smile.

It was truly a benevolent-looking smile, but Aeli, Mari, and the head servant’s expressions were not particularly pleasant as they understood the hidden meaning behind those words.

‘This good-for-nothing… Is he trying to size up the abandoned young master who summoned them here?’

Aeli glared at the priest, gritting her teeth.

Taking advantage of Lutis’s absence and assuming the child was still too young to understand, he seemed to be acting as if he were the highest-ranking person present.

Aeli clicked her tongue, feeling as if she could clearly read his snake-like intentions. And he calls himself a priest.

“The duke has instructed that anything unrelated to treatment should not be mentioned.”

“… Father, given the late hour, it would be best to proceed quickly with the treatment-”

“… Ahem! Well then, let’s take a look now.”

Aeli had no doubt that if the head servant hadn’t cut him off at the right moment, that middle-aged priest would have eventually gotten himself into big trouble.

As the lower-ranking priest, who seemed to have his wits about him, cautiously intervened, the middle-aged priest cleared his throat repeatedly and moved closer to the child.

Soon, a bright golden light burst forth.

“… Huh?”

“What are you standing there dazed for? The treatment’s done, so let’s go now.”

“What? Oh, yes.”

For a moment, Aeli had the illusion of making eye contact with the lower-ranking priest who suddenly raised his head.

He didn’t seem surprised or agitated, just tilted his head curiously, so it probably wasn’t real.

The mid-ranking priest, seemingly offended by the head servant’s earlier attitude, turned his back and left the room as soon as the treatment was finished.

As a result, the child, who had no idea what was going on, could only peek at Aeli’s expression before quickly ducking under the blanket.

Of course, his eyes remained visible.

“Roses are blooming even in this season.”

“I thought it was a bit early for such flowers to bloom.” The lower-ranking priest muttered as he stepped out of the annex to board the carriage.

It was clear that he was trying to break the chilly atmosphere between his superior, the mid-ranking priest, and the head servant with a casual remark.

Of course, this was to be expected, as it was now barely the beginning of April, let alone May.

“…?”

However, as the head servant followed the lower-ranking priest’s gesture, he soon realized that his words were true.

Among the rose vines awkwardly planted in a corner of the annex garden, as if someone had tossed a sack of barley there, roses were indeed blooming.

The head servant, who had been watching the lush red buds that seemed ready to burst into full bloom at any moment, soon lost interest.

After all, it was just a single flower.

Knock knock.

“It’s Ailton.”

“Come in.”

Lutis, in the middle of processing documents, shifted his gaze towards the office door upon hearing the knock. Yet, his narrowed eyes betrayed a hint of irritation he couldn’t quite conceal.

With so much work to handle already, various troubles popping up here and there were bound to sour his mood.

Lutis, who had been straining his tired eyes, opened his mouth to ask as soon as the head servant appeared.

“What about the matter I asked you to look into?”

“It has been confirmed that no new clothes have been tailored for nearly a year.”

“And the rest?”

“There appear to be numerous discrepancies between what is recorded in the ledgers and the young master’s actual life regarding toys, writing materials, hiring of private tutors for education, and other such matters.”

“…”

“Moreover, there are items in the ledgers suspected of being falsified since about two years ago…”

As he listened to the head servant’s ongoing report, Lutis put down the quill he was holding and thought to himself.

‘What a mess.’

From hurriedly calling the estate’s physician only after the child collapsed with a cold in this season, to fumbling around unable to summon even one priest despite sufficient allocation of personal funds, finally reporting to him…

Having instructed a thorough investigation of the child’s life in the annex from his departure for the campaign until now due to many questionable points…

This was an even bigger disaster than he had imagined.

As Lutis’s mood began to sour, the head servant gulped at the intangible killing intent that began to seep out. He felt a chill down his spine at the fact that there was still quite a bit left to report.

Just as he was beginning to wonder if he might not make it out of this room alive,

“I’m sure I instructed that trustworthy individuals be selected and sent to the annex before I left for the campaign, didn’t I? Am I mistaken?”

“… No, sir.”

“Then explain to me in a way I can understand why things have ended up like this.”

Answer carefully, as your life may depend on your response. Lutis continued in a nonchalant voice, as if the killing intent he had been emitting until just now had been a lie.

But the head servant could only try to hide his trembling hands behind his back, feeling even greater terror at this.

To the casual listener, it might sound like an offhand remark, but this was…

“Did you fall asleep in the middle of your report?”

This must not be mistaken under any circumstances. The quiet anger breathing behind the seemingly dry voice was no ordinary matter.

It was embarrassingly incomparable to the previous situations where anger had been openly expressed.

Thinking that even the thin sheet of paper in his hand could effortlessly take his life, the head servant took a deep breath and opened his mouth to answer.

“Regarding the personnel transfer to the annex, I heard it was handled by the head servant of the capital mansion who was in office at the time, though he has since passed away.”

“And?”

“Although it seems there was a lack of replacement staff due to the sudden… death, it was judged that the capital mansion where the young master resided couldn’t be left empty while you were away on campaign, my lord.”

Sudden death. It was exactly as it sounded.

Due to the voluntary end of life, the servants within the duke’s estate who knew the former head servant’s character well were reluctant to take up the new position of head servant.

Yet, finding someone from outside with sufficient expertise was also difficult, setting aside the loyalty and pride that came with being Rattliffe’s head servant.

“So, I gave my son the temporary position of head servant in the duchy and came up to check, but…”

Continue. With a slight nod conveying this meaning, Lutis prompted the head servant to go on.

“It’s estimated that the allocated personal funds began to decrease gradually about two years after your departure for the campaign, my lord. Calculating the timing, it seems to coincide with when the assistant came down to the duchy on business—”

“…What?”

“There’s clear evidence that the maids and servants managing the ledgers were involved in falsification. However, even so, the amount missing in between is considerable…”

“…”

“…By the time the former head servant passed away, it had probably been reduced to about a tenth of the original—”

Bang!

The head servant tightly shut his eyes at the sudden blade of energy that grazed past his head.

After a while, when he glanced sideways, he saw a large hole had been punctured next to the door he had just entered through, accompanied by a loud noise.

The source of that hole was, of course, Lutis, who was now emanating a menacing aura right in front of the head servant.

“Is that all you have to say?”

“…”

“Then let me ask one thing. What have you been doing since you came up after the former head servant’s death?”

“…”

“So you, who came later, are blameless, and it’s all the fault of the previous head servant and the annex servants.”

“…”

“It seems the world is a wonderful place where one can escape responsibility by making excuses for their mistakes.”

Isn’t that right? Instead of answering the sharp question, the head servant chose to bow his head even lower. That wasn’t a question expecting an answer, after all.

From the beginning, he had sensed that something was amiss.

Since he couldn’t enter the annex directly, he only helped the young master’s personal maid a little from behind the scenes, merely checking the incoming ledgers and reports without setting aside time to investigate further.

It was indeed his negligence in management.

Yet, only today did he grasp the reality of the situation and belatedly add a few words, which was undoubtedly a ridiculous state of affairs.

“If you hadn’t been in the capital mansion for less than half a year.”

“…”

“If you weren’t someone who had been guarding the duke’s family since I was very young, I would have killed you right now.”

“…I apologize.”

“I’ll be appointing a new head servant soon, so return to the duchy as soon as the handover is complete.”

“…Yes, I understand.”

“You may keep the position you said you temporarily handed over to your son.”

You seemed to have trouble understanding properly last time, so it appears you might be going senile. It seems it’s time for you to retire from the front lines.

As Lutis frowned and gestured casually as if tired of talking further, the head servant who was about to turn and leave hesitated.

Come to think of it, there were a few more issues that hadn’t been resolved yet.

“My lord, then how should we handle the treatment of the maids and servants in the annex…”

“…Ah. That’s right.”

I almost forgot in all the confusion. Lutis, who had been deep in thought for a moment, nodded slightly.

“The ringleaders should be made an example of, so cut the tendons in their hands and feet, and their thumbs, cut out their tongues and throw them to the wild dogs. For the rest, it’s at your discretion whether to cut their pay or dismiss them.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“However, for those who are merely having their pay cut rather than being dismissed, tell the head maid to reassign their duties so they no longer catch my eye. Additionally, look into the details of the personal funds issue.”

“…Yes.”

“Ah, lastly, tell the attending physician to pack up and leave by today as well.”

What? Caught off guard by the unexpected order, the head servant asked back without thinking.

Slightly frowning as if displeased by this, Lutis sighed and opened his mouth.

“He failed to properly cure his master who merely caught a cold, so that’s reason enough to be fired. Cut him loose.”

“…Yes.”

Thinking about it, that made sense too. Even though he had frequently seen the man working overnight in the duke’s estate’s inner sanctum laboratory.

In the current situation, he should be grateful that his head wasn’t cut off, considering himself lucky. The head servant was certainly in the same boat.

‘So I should withdraw at this point…’

That’s what he should have done. That’s what he should have done.

Just as he was about to completely leave the office, bowing his head in farewell, the head servant tightly shut his eyes as he recalled a fact.

The question was whether he should risk having his head cut off to deliver this final piece of information or not.

The story related to the late madam that he had seen with his own eyes, and the story he had heard from the young master’s maid named Mari.