There are reasons why nobles are nobles.
Some say it's because of the bloodline abilities passed down through their blood.
Others claim it's due to the greater responsibilities they bear.
And some just say they got lucky.
I don't know about any of those fundamental reasons.
What catches my eye are simply the things nobles possess and the luxuries they enjoy.
They have a lot and can enjoy a lot, so they're nobles.
"Ah, this is life."
I sank deep into the plush chair set up on the wide-open terrace and opened my mouth.
Right on cue, a maid slipped a piece of fruit, cut to the perfect bite-sized portion, into my mouth.
Of course, it wasn't Karen.
She's my exclusive attendant, but she's a butler, not a maid.
I'd just grabbed one of the maids scurrying through the corridors and dragged her here.
Her face was decently pretty.
She seemed young, though.
Being a newbie, that was only natural.
This was part of the spoiled brat project.
Forcing a freshly arrived maid to attend me like this... it was a small but sure way to tarnish my image.
...Or so it should have been.
"Does it suit your taste, young master? I heard you lived elsewhere before coming to the south for the first time. The south is famous for its fruits—have you heard about them?"
Why is she so cheerful?
She's practically beaming.
The taste? Well, what can I say.
I hadn't shown it, but exaggerating just a bit, it was a moving flavor.
Fresh fruit was hard to come by in Calypso Territory.
I'd wondered why people insisted on living in the south with dungeons constantly spilling out monsters every day...
Without the monsters, it really would be a great place to live.
I nodded absentmindedly, and the newbie maid's face lit up even more.
"Well... I've heard southern fruits are delicious. And yeah, they really are."
"Right? I'm from a fruit farming family myself, but I've never tasted anything this good. We always sold it to others or offered it up tribute. I really wanted to serve it to you someday!"
"I-is that so."
"Yes! You're risking your life fighting dangerous monsters, so this much is the least I can do!"
"..."
This is dizzying.
Is she one of the people who saw me take down the orc leader?
The knights fighting on the walls hadn't seen it since the battle was inside the castle.
I thought civilians had all fled far away because the combat range was so wide.
But no—someone must have called for support, because knights swarmed in, and the territory folk, who had no business fighting, just stood around gawking instead of running.
It complicated everything.
Amid the busy postwar cleanup, I'd spotted this flustered newbie maid mumbling to herself and roughly dragged her over to serve me snacks.
Normally, she'd worry about what might happen next or be scared.
But there wasn't a hint of unease in her demeanor.
Surprisingly, she wasn't special.
Everyone who'd seen me fight directly or heard the stories reacted the same way.
I'd tested her since she was new and might not know better...
But even that was a bust.
A sudden wave of reality hit me.
Ever since the dungeon appeared, the south's history had been one of struggle.
The culture of worshiping the strong was far more deeply rooted than I'd imagined.
Deep enough to blow away all the dislike I'd steadily stacked up in an instant.
At this point, I had to admit it.
With ordinary methods, it was impossible to be treated like a spoiled brat or get banished anymore.
So what now...
Crunch—
As I savored the fruit juice filling my mouth and pondered, a flat, emotionless voice came from behind.
"You look like you have it good, young master."
"Of course. It should be good."
I flicked my hand toward my upper body, wrapped tightly in bandages.
"I got this injured saving the territory, so isn't it fine to slack off and eat for a few days?"
"You seem fully healed... but you have a lot of backlog."
"Eh-hey. Not healed yet."
"..."
Karen eyed me suspiciously.
But she only gave me that look and didn't press further.
No matter how you sliced it, I'd worked hard to take down that orc leader.
The battle had basically ended with my finishing blow.
It was a greater victory than expected.
There were casualties, but far fewer than we'd braced for.
Orc byproducts weren't that expensive, but with the sheer numbers, the profits would be substantial.
Enough to cover the families of the fallen and repair the broken walls with plenty left over, they said.
Postwar processing was underway in a pretty upbeat atmosphere.
I later heard the one I caught was some dangerous monster called an Orc Warlord...
Karen wasn't heartless enough to make me work after I'd gotten hurt fighting something like that.
Well, I was fully healed, truthfully.
But even though I was healed, I was pretending to be sick, trying all sorts of ways to overturn my elevated reputation.
This maid was my latest attempt...
"Ah, one more?"
"No thanks. Go share the rest with the others."
"Pardon? But you haven't even eaten half..."
"Lost my appetite."
I waved her off, and the maid looked a bit disappointed at first.
"Go on. Didn't the young master say to 'share with others'?"
"Ah...!"
Her face suddenly lit up with realization, and she bowed her head.
"Thank you! We'll all share it just as you commanded!"
"Uh? Uh..."
Something got lost in translation.
I'd meant for her to take the leftovers and scram.
But now it looked like I'd generously shared luxury fruit that commoners could never taste.
As I sat there stunned, wondering if this was right, the maid vanished into the distance with the fruit plate.
...Yeah. Confirmed.
No matter what I do now, everyone interprets it positively.
I let out a deep sigh and stared blankly at the sky.
Then Karen spoke up cautiously.
"Young master Enoch? Are you really not fully healed?"
"Yeah. Not yet, not yet."
I gave a vague answer, still needing time to think...
But honestly, my body had healed long ago.
My regeneration was one thing, but House Zahav's treatment was no joke.
Even half-ruined without an heir, a noble house is a noble house.
The moment I collapsed, they poured top-grade potions like water.
They even paid the huge teleport fee to bring in high priests for healing rites.
I never imagined wounds that would take a week of bandaging and rest in Calypso would heal completely in under two days.
If it didn't heal after that, I'd suspect something was wrong with my body.
The simple reason I kept pretending to be hurt despite being fully healed...
Besides worrying about what to do next, the pure respect pouring in everywhere—like from that maid just now— was honestly burdensome.
Treatment I'd never gotten even in Calypso, let alone my previous life.
How impressive was that last battle?
Territory folk aside, the knights were shedding tears of emotion just from my breathing, exaggerating a bit.
It felt like I'd become king—or a cult leader.
It's not that I'd abandoned the reputation-ruining expulsion plan for no reason.
It just didn't have the right angle anymore.
Hell, they might applaud if I just ate well and fought well, saying my digestion was strong.
Better to lounge around doing nothing.
"Sigh. The world is so vast, yet all I can go is this tiny terrace."
"Your legs look fine, so why the sudden nonsense, young master?"
"...Isn't your tone a bit harsh, Karen?"
"The real harsh one is the young master who summoned the tutor but never once met them, using fake illness as an excuse."
"I love how consistently rude you are, Karen. And it's not fake."
"I didn't want to know your tastes in this way."
"Heh. Then how did you want to know them? Wanna tell me secretly?"
"...I'll take that back. I don't want to know at all."
A laugh escaped me at Karen's heated reaction to my casual jab.
But my solo giggling didn't last.
It was time to face the truth I'd been avoiding.
"So, Karen. How much time until the succession ceremony?"
"Two weeks already. But before that, you should meet the other lords first."
"Not easy..."
That's right.
While I'd been lounging, the surrounding territories under Zahav had all sent oaths of loyalty.
Even though the succession was still far off...!
"Meeting lords or their proxies is one thing, but the succession ceremony is different. You need to learn at least the basics of etiquette, young master."
"Urk!"
Learning just the minimal etiquette for the ceremony sounds simple, but the etiquette used there is insanely complex to begin with.
Honestly, the hassle of learning it made plotting to escape House Zahav seem more worthwhile.
...The problem was, I'd been agonizing for days with no ideas.
No helping it.
No matter what I did, my reputation only improved.
With nearby lords gearing up to pledge loyalty, escape routes were closing.
In the end, only one option left for me.
Night flight.
I'd have to risk pursuit from House Zahav later and bolt.
Preparations were mostly done.
Did I just veg out eating fruit without a thought?
I'd gathered sellable jewels from my room and some gold from dignity upkeep funds.
I'd even mapped the perfect escape route.
All that remained was vanishing quietly as planned and erasing traces.
"Alright. I've decided."
"Pardon? What suddenly..."
"I'll properly do etiquette, studies, whatever from tomorrow. Let me play till then."
As I unwrapped my upper bandages, Karen cried out louder than usual.
Probably moved.
"Young master...!"
"Yeah, yeah. Advance praise isn't bad..."
"You can't push today's work to tomorrow."
"..."
Her unwavering attitude wasn't entirely pleasant either.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
As if he'd made up his mind, Enoch psyched himself up with newfound motivation.
Karen felt an odd sense of pride at his demeanor.
The next morning, she opened his door early, excited to start the day.
As always, to announce the start of the day and go over the schedule.
"Young master Enoch. It's Karen."
But Enoch was not there.