After making that strong declaration, I cleared my throat and tried to put as much seriousness in my voice as possible.
"Listen carefully, Esther. The true reason for all these actions, just as our true ultimate goal... is to save this world."
...?
"Hmm... was it incomprehensible? One day, this world will be over. It will come to an end. The curtain. Boom, quack and that's it, the world is destroyed, it's gone."
Looking at me with a look of, 'Has Young Master finally lost his mind?', Esther remained silent.
I understood her. If I were her, hearing that the world I had lived in all my life, as well as everything I had known, would be destroyed, I would refuse to accept it, too.
"Honestly, I don't give a damn, Young Master. It's not like I've got anything left in this gray, shitty world to cling to."
...Or so I thought.
"So when exactly is the world going to end? I still have a couple things I want to do before then. Like try to sleep in my bed all day without getting up... or try cream cakes from a coal-fired cafe..."
Before Esther could delve too deeply into her fantasies, my words brought her back to reality.
"A year, maybe a few years. Worst case, a couple weeks."
I gave my rough estimate of this world, though I withheld a few things. If we are really severely unlucky, the world could collapse even in the next second.
[Gallery] was unpredictable, you never knew what surprise it would give you next.
But I couldn't have been that doomed, could I?
Getting into this trash game should have exhausted all my bad karma by now.
Either way, destroying the world didn't seem to bother Esther much. Looks like it's time for a change of approach.
"I'll give you one gold coin for it."
"To confess honestly, I have dreamed since childhood of becoming the comrade of a handsome, great and noble Hero, that will save this beautiful, wonderful world full of colors and happiness. Thank you, Young Master, for this generous opportunity given to this humble servant."
"Ahem, ahem."
I coughed, feeling genuinely embarrassed.
Why is she embellishing my image so much?
Even if all of this is true, it's still embarrassing.
A highly polished gold coin glinted in my hand before I tossed it to her.
Esther jumped deftly, her lush breasts bouncing with her as she skillfully caught the coin with her teeth.
Clap clap clap.
I clapped at her incredible acrobatic stunt. How could she even move like that with those two large portions of fat?
"But may I ask, Young Master? Why do you think this beautiful world will come to an end?
Hiding the gold coin in the area of her chest, Esther asked.
"Because I know the future."
I got out of bed, walking over to the window.
"I know about my older brother's dirty deeds, your assassin identity that you try so hard to hide, my Father's secret affairs that he wants to hide from others..."
Slice!
A scarlet drop of blood dripped off my neck, making me stop.
The maid-assassin, what a cliché. But her reflexes were no joke.
The tingling sensation in my neck and her razor-sharp dagger held to it confirmed it.
"...How did you know?"
"I told you, I know the future."
"..."
"Just like I know the reason you hate this family and me."
In fact, the reason was simple.
Damien once wouldn't let Esther go to her sick mother despite all her pleas, her mother passed away without ever seeing her only daughter and Esther hated Damien for it.
Damien wasn't to blame for her death – the poor old lady would have passed away anyway – but would a grieving daughter care?
"...You think I'll let you go just because you voiced it? You have only brought your death closer, Young Master."
Look, she did not forsake honorable treatment even in such a situation. Her loyalty was commendable.
I'll think about her reward later, but for now...
"Why talk about death? There are plenty of more pleasant things we can discuss."
"I don't want to."
She flatly refused, only pressing her blade harder into my tender neck.
A smile slowly graced my lips.
"Too bad. Then I guess I have no choice."
Huh, did she really think I was unarmed? How naive of her.
"Help! I'm being murdered!!! Somebody HELP ME!!!"
...!
Her body shuddered as Esther recoiled back a few steps.
I smiled even wider. I was sure she'd react that way.
While she really wasn't afraid of death or the destruction of the world, she couldn't die before her revenge was fulfilled.
And in her plan, Damien would be far from the primary target.
It would be pretty pathetic to be caught killing a bug before your true purpose was fulfilled, wouldn't it?
A couple seconds later, the Head Maid, Mariette, burst into my room. Despite her appearance, she was strong enough to snap an orc's neck with her bare hands.
"Young Master, I heard a scream..."
And as Head Maid, Mariette was called upon to eliminate all threats in this House.
"I'm fine."
Covering the cut on my neck, I brushed it off.
"It's just that Esther got first blood, that's all."
The Head Maid cast a glance at Esther, who had once managed to hide her dagger.
"...Enjoy yourself."
With a face even paler than when she entered, she left the room, leaving us alone.
"You look much cuter without the dagger."
I offered my honest opinion to Esther, who was standing a bit away from the bed.
"...Why didn't you report me?"
"I don't remember ever saying I had anything against you or your plan for revenge. In fact..."
While her eyes were filled with doubt, I took the opportunity to make an offer she wouldn't be able to refuse.
"I can help you with your revenge."
"Young Master, have you not forgotten that you are one of the targets of my revenge?"
"Come on Esther, are you really going to ruin yourself because of your stupid grudge against me?"
The main target of her revenge was my older brother and the one who was to inherit the House of Nilfheim in the future.
Compared to him, I was nothing more than a target for venting her anger.
Of course, that didn't change the fact that Damien was a bastard and did unforgivable things... but the one who did that to her was the past Damien. Not me.
I wasn't going to apologize for his mistakes. Not that apologizing was going to fix anything.
A long silence hung between us before Esther spoke again.
"How are you going to help me, Young Master?"
"Didn't I say that? I know the future. Which means all the filth of this Family is also known to me."
My lips slowly stretched into a sinful smile.
"And my older brother is no exception."
The blood on his hands was enough to stain the entire Empire a deep scarlet red.
"...One last question. When are you going to do it?"
"Right now."
Esther and her family were not the only ones who suffered at the hands of my older brother. There were many families that ceased to exist because of him.
His actions even indirectly affected several [Fates], hastening the end of the world.
So the sooner we get rid of him, the better.
"..."
Despite my confident words, Esther still wasn't convinced. After all, my older brother was still the First Young Master and the second person in the Family after Father.
If he had been so easy to destroy, she wouldn't have suffered all this time.
I guess I had something to add.
"Black Magic."
...!
Two words strictly forbidden in this world.
Aristocrats, as the ruling elite, could commit many crimes and not be punished for most of them.
A spoiled aristocrat who breaks the law?
Most would just chuckle at that and let it pass them by.
Just by giving a couple bribes, they could get away with almost anything.
But [Black Magic] was different.
As the source of pure evil in this world, anything concerning [Black Magic] was strictly taboo.
As long as there was even the slightest suspicion, even if the Emperor was involved, there would be serious consequences, up to and including abdication and death penalty.
What about my older brother?
A fool who tried to prove the superiority of his blood with [Black Magic].
From the game, I knew enough about him that he spent the next few eternities in a rotting jail cell.
But it wasn't the end I or Esther wanted for him.
I grabbed a quill and paper from the table.
"How about water torture?"
"It would be better if we replaced the water with burning oil."
Smiling, I began to write.
"Torture by strangulation."
"Burning alive."
"The Judas cradle."
"The pear of anguish."
"Quartering...."
She had a pretty good knowledge of torture, so we quickly found common ground, continuing to exchange words like good old friends.
Should I say, as expected of my personal maid?
Thanks to that, we finished writing the denunciation on my older brother pretty soon. I sealed the envelope with the information I'd gotten from the game and handed it to Esther.
"Send it to the Special Inquisition Division."
"Whatever you say, Young Master."
She took it, hiding it in her maid's uniform. Given that she had a dagger that could fit in there, there should be plenty of room.
When we finished this joint endeavor, I felt a kind of intimacy with her.
In silence, we stared at each other in silence before,
"Pfhahahaha..."
"Hehehehe..."
Laugh evilly, thinking about the future.
Their evil laughter echoed from the Young Master's room for a long time to come, shuddering every maid who passed by.
[Maid-assassin, Esther, has been added to your party.]