I woke up to an unfamiliar ceiling. Peeking faces of Karen and Jevella from both sides were just icing on the cake.
For a moment, I panicked, but the sight of the lace-trimmed bed—one I'd never have any connection with in my lifetime—quickly brought back memories from right before I fell asleep.
Of course. From Karen's perspective, I'd suddenly vanished, so she must have searched everywhere. And this was Jevella's room to begin with, so it made sense for the two of them to be here.
Still, I couldn't just nod along obediently, so I opened my mouth in an unnecessarily curt tone.
"Since when did I become a spectacle?"
"Oh dear. Sorry about that, Enoch. Karen insisted on checking your face."
"...Young Lord might have just pulled the covers over neatly and slipped away somewhere."
"Ha. No matter where I go, it's your job to track me down, Karen."
A boss who dumps unreasonable tasks is always the worst. But Karen nodded with her usual blank expression, as if it were nothing.
"That's why I came looking, Young Lord. I don't know what you were up to in the middle of the night, but sleeping in threw off the schedule quite a bit."
"...Is that what's important?"
"My job is to assist the Young Lord. Naturally, nothing is more important than your safety."
"Heh."
Was this professionalism or indifference...?
I'd left a picture since I still couldn't write, but I hadn't expected this kind of reaction.
I chuckled and sat up. Stretching, I quickly checked my body's condition.
The tangled mana had long since unraveled. No notable pain or discomfort, of course.
And perhaps because the bunched-up mana had spread throughout my body, I felt more energized than usual.
This had always been the case—once the mana tangle cleared, my condition improved dramatically.
Satisfied, I nodded and jumped out of bed.
"Heading out already, Enoch?"
"Ah, sis. With all the work piled up, I should get going... By the way, did you handle the cleanup for me?"
"It'd be awkward calling someone in the middle of the night, wouldn't it?"
"What? Thanks. Still, we should keep yesterday's incident quiet, sis."
It was all in the past now, and Cain—the child abuser—was dead... But that didn't change the fact that Jevella had been publicly treated harshly.
For now, only a few in the castle were whispering about it, but if Jevella ever spoke up about her past grievances and revealed the truth, everyone would know.
To the southerners, who valued strength as a supreme virtue, she wouldn't look like a pitiful victim but a weak woman.
From my position, where I needed to make Jevella the Patriarch no matter what, I had to avoid any negative image sticking to her.
Jevella looked surprised for a moment but soon nodded with a bitter smile.
"I see. The Young Lord can't show any weakness."
"Hm? Well, something like that."
"Don't worry. You can forget about yesterday."
I'd zoned out thinking about something else and missed a bit of what Jevella said, but as expected of a southerner, she got my intent right away.
With those words, we exchanged light goodbyes, and as I was leaving Jevella's room,
Karen, following behind me without watching her step, lightly kicked the trash can.
Clunk.
"Oops. My apologies, miss."
Karen bowed her head and quickly grabbed the trash can, which was tilting as if about to spill, setting it upright.
But for some reason, she froze while staring at the contents inside.
"What are you doing, Karen? Didn't you say we have a lot to do today?"
"...Ah, yes. Coming right away, Young Lord."
She glanced back and forth between me and Jevella before finally moving, her expressionless face unchanged but her movements uncharacteristically stiff and jerky.
What was that about?
I tilted my head inwardly for a moment. Even after leaving Jevella's room and walking down the long corridor without a word from her, I lightly tapped Karen's shoulder and asked.
"Why are you spacing out like this?"
"...Young Lord."
"What's up?"
"Does it normally bleed that much at first... No, it's nothing. Allow me to explain today's schedule."
"Huh? Oh, sure."
She started to say something but stopped, straightened her posture, and stood ramrod straight.
As always, she recited the schedule in her somewhat mechanical voice.
"As I mentioned last time, I've arranged a tutor to teach you reading and writing."
"Good job. A person should be smart enough, at least—not stupid."
"And that person will also teach you etiquette."
"What? Well, that's in the realm of refinement, so it makes sense."
"Finally, they'll teach you basic aura cultivation methods, so stick with them closely for a while."
"...Wait, what kind of person is this who can teach all that?"
No matter how I thought about it, it was absurd enough to make me ask again. Usually, you'd call specialists for each field, right?
Were there really people who mastered all three? And at a level fit to teach the Young Lord of a Grand Ducal House?
Did that even make sense in reality...? But Karen's reaction was lukewarm.
"Yes. It's someone you already know."
"I don't know anyone that impressive."
"Lady Hilda."
"Ah, the knight's daughter I took down."
"Yes. And the one who said to come to your room if the compensation was lacking or if you felt wronged. Congratulations. She might not know your room, but she'll definitely come to the training grounds."
"...Why assign someone like that? She must be full of grudges against me."
"It's a misunderstanding. Lady Hilda volunteered herself."
"What? She was that talented? Didn't seem like it... She looked weaker than me."
"Pardon? You're just learning the basics anyway. And to be stronger than you, we'd need a Swordmaster, which is impossible."
"No Swordmasters here? It's a Grand Ducal House."
"There are only two Swordmasters in the entire Empire... They're in the capital and the north."
What the...?
I thought Grand Dukes kept at least one Swordmaster under them? That's how it was in the novels from my past life!
...Well, novels are novels, and this is a different reality.
I let out a deep sigh, and assuming it was disappointment, Karen quickly added,
"Since you wanted to start learning as soon as possible rather than wait for the best teacher, I selected from the castle's talents. Shall I withdraw her?"
"No need for that. In other words, she's the most suitable talent in the castle to teach me the basics, right?"
Of course, there were other reasons too.
Someone who volunteered to teach the guy who beat her father and humiliated her?
Something smelled off. The scent of ulterior motives. I didn't know what, but there was definitely an agenda.
Whether it was revenge or using her position as teacher to correct my behavior, she was aiming for something.
And whichever it was, it would surely help my plans.
If revenge, I'd let her have a few wins to build her confidence. If correction, I'd show even more trashy behavior to ruin my reputation.
...Of course, now I knew. House Zahav's bloodline was even more arrogant and overbearing than the rumors from Calypso Territory suggested.
I didn't know about the now-deceased brothers, but the previous Patriarch, Cain, was definitely trash.
I should have suspected it from the sheer number of his children alone...
Anyway, I'd roughly figured out that my existing scoundrel project wasn't as effective as I'd hoped.
But I couldn't stop now.
Think about it. A scoundrel's son being a scoundrel is only natural.
But a scoundrel's son being normal? That would deserve praise.
Since the pure scoundrel project fell short, instead of switching tracks entirely,
I should build on the scoundrel base and add something extra.
Whatever that extra is, I'd figure it out from here on.
"Alright. So when do we start?"
"After lunch today."
Let's give it a shot.
I psyched myself up inwardly for a moment. Then, a somewhat out-of-place question popped into my head, and I spoke up.
"By the way, Karen."
"Yes, Young Lord."
"You saw the letter I left, right?"
"Ah, the one saying you'd be back after a short trip?"
"Yeah?"
"I knew you couldn't read or write, Young Lord, but I never imagined you'd leave a picture letter. The crude sketch was oddly cute."
"Cute...?"
No, that was meant to say I'd run away, so don't look for me.
...Anything else aside, I really needed to learn to read and write properly.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Maybe revenge wasn't her goal after all. Hilda taught me quite diligently.
I disrupted the lessons just as diligently on my end.
And as the sun set and all lessons ended, Hilda furrowed her brow slightly but let out a relieved sigh and spoke.
"Kuh! I hate to admit it, but the Young Lord was sincere."
"Huh?"
"To think a Zahav would stick through such a boring lesson to the end without leaving midway...!"
"...Ah."
Was the whole idea of causing trouble during class wrong from the start?
Should I have stormed out midway saying I couldn't take it anymore?
Being a scoundrel is seriously hardcore...