31
‘Just thinking about Helreos’s outrageous remarks makes my head spin again.’
It was obvious that he had no idea how much Waluer had suffered in order to settle the matter that had nearly escalated into a feud between the two families.
She had even been the one to personally visit the family of the Marchioness’s daughter, who had been furious with humiliation, and deliver gifts and an apology.
‘Compared to that, this is rather cute.’
Recalling the past, she could dismiss a graduation assignment as something laughable. Come to think of it, this was actually a good thing for Eliza.
“If I can get a hold of your leash with something as simple as homework…….”
Eliza chuckled. Ah, the more she thought about it, the more impressed she became. How could a seventeen-year-old boy on the verge of adulthood be this immature?
Perhaps the heavens were finally trying to help her. Unlike her dyed red hair, her eyes, whose color she could not change, glinted eerily.
‘I’m starting to look forward to this.’
Fortunately, after carefully looking through the documents, the format was not difficult. The question was how much effort she should put into this task.
Although Eliza had been unable to attend the academy because she had not received her family’s support, she was confident in her abilities, since she had been the one who had earned Helreos’s grades for him.
Helreos, who had not even passed the entrance examination for the academy, received atrocious scores on every test. The only reason he had managed to avoid repeating a year was entirely thanks to his excellent assignments.
“There’s no way he can suddenly say that those weren’t actually his own abilities.”
Eliza’s fingertips moved busily. Before long, a rough outline appeared, and Eliza wrote a working title at the very top.
“I have no intention of studying for you without receiving anything in return anymore.”
Eliza quietly stared at the blank space on the right, where she had not written a name.
Later, Helreos had not even bothered to copy the work himself, merely writing his name in that space and submitting the assignment in her handwriting.
To anyone, it would have looked like ghostwriting, but an academy diploma was merely a formality for nobles. Unless a third party raised an objection, the academy chose to avoid causing a disturbance.
That was, of course, only when there was no accusation serious enough to damage their dignity.
“What are you going to do if I report you, little brother?”
Eliza calmly wrote her own name on the paper. Even so, a diploma was too significant a thing to deal with merely through ‘family affection.’
Then, how would be best to collect payment for all the hard work she had put in so far?
It was truly a delightful dilemma.
***
“Has he gone mad?!”
Helreos, who had been admiring his hunting attire in the mirror, suddenly shouted.
The mirror standing in front of him shook as though it were about to fall from the kick he had delivered in a fit of rage. The servants helping him prepare hurriedly grabbed the mirror in a panic.
Without even sparing the servants a glance, he strode forward, threw down the letter, and shouted furiously.
“Did leaving home make her lose her mind completely?! 3,000 gold? What the—Ha! How dare she try to pull something like this on me?!”
The servants tightly shut their mouths and darted their eyes around, afraid that the anger would spill over onto them.
Pretending not to hear was a virtue for those beneath their masters, but it was easy enough to guess that the letter the messenger had brought contained news of the young lady.
“You need to leave now, or you’ll be late—”
“Shut up!”
Helreos picked up a pewter cup and threw it. The cup struck the servant’s shoulder before clattering to the floor.
The servant swallowed a groan and hurriedly bowed his waist. When the young master was throwing a fit, flattening oneself was the best course of action.
“Get out! No one comes in!”
“Then the carriage……”
“Send it back! Cancel everything on today’s schedule!”
The servants hurriedly left the room. Suddenly canceling an appointment on the very day of the event was rude to the person who had organized the gathering, and it was obvious that it would harm his reputation.
But Helreos, consumed by anger, could not think that far. His harsh, panting breaths echoed throughout the room.
“Damn it! When she was at home, she couldn’t even make a peep!”
Helreos furiously tugged down the hunting clothes he had carefully dressed himself in. Eliza’s reply was so absurd that he was rendered speechless.
「How are you doing, my little brother? As your sister, I can only be glad that you still need my help.
I was more than willing to help you out of my affection for you……. But suddenly, my hand stopped moving, you see?
I wondered why, and then I realized my fingers felt empty. It would be too embarrassing to show my hands outside like this.
A woman’s fingers are meant to shine more when adorned with jewelry than when used for writing, after all. So before I help you, would you help me as well?
With around 3,000 gold, I should be able to acquire something useful…….」
Helreos paced around the room with heavy footsteps, wildly ruffling his hair.
He had never imagined that someone who strangely loved studying despite being a woman would respond like this.
If he failed to graduate at this point, there could hardly be anything more humiliating. Helreos glared at the letter he had thrown down before flipping it over again with his fingertips.
「……But of course, I understand if that is difficult. As you know, I am not particularly vain.
In fact, I do not have such a lavish taste. Rather, I tend to prefer things that bear the marks of time.」
Helreos’s eyebrows shot upward. He had been too furious over the absurd sum of 3,000 gold to notice, but strangely enough, Eliza seemed willing to compromise.
‘Did she dislike flashy things?’
Come to think of it, perhaps she did. Eliza Waluer stood out because of her appearance, but she had never particularly worn expensive things.
Helreos held the sheet of paper and read the next part he had missed.
「For instance, that troublesome ring occupying the second drawer of your desk.」
“Huh?”
Helreos involuntarily looked toward the desk drawer.
His second drawer was usually used to shove away useless things ─items that he felt awkward about getting rid of because of their origins, but did not particularly want to use─ that he had received from his parents.
A pocket watch inherited from the former head of the family, a rosary blessed by the High Priest, an old brooch enchanted with protective magic but whose once-fashionable style had recently gone out of fashion, and so on.
Sure enough, there was one ring he had carelessly tossed in among them.
But unlike the other items, even if he decided to dispose of it, it was not something he could simply hand over to someone else.
“Surely she means this? How did she know I kept it here? It’s supposed to be a secret.”
Helreos reluctantly took out the ring case. The ring inside was one given to the heir of the family.
The family crest was embossed on the inside of the ring, leaving an imprint on the finger when it was worn and then removed.
Since it could not be used as a seal, it was not an item that granted many privileges.
However, it was an old material symbol of the right of succession.
「Of course, you must know that it is worth more than 3,000 gold. It would be a shame to let such a ring gather dust.」
“This?”
Helreos narrowed his eyes as he examined the ring, which looked rather crude on the outside.
No matter how he looked at it, it did not appear to be expensive. When Helreos involuntarily tilted his head, his hair, which was closer to ash than silver, swayed.
「Of course, I do not mean to take complete possession of it.
I merely want to have it in my hands as a token that I helped you. So that I can live with a sense of pride in my heart.
It is not something I would casually give to someone else, but we are family, are we not?」
Helreos scoffed. No matter how he looked at it, it was suspicious that this girl was pretending to be so sweet and gentle.
Yet, at the same time, his own need for Eliza kept creating an opening through which he wanted to give in to her letter.
‘Perhaps. Maybe she suffered after leaving home and finally came to her senses.’
And besides, the favor I asked of her wasn’t that unreasonable. She’s only being asked to finish what she has been doing all along.
Yes, then perhaps she simply wants to receive something in return to preserve her pride.
「Of course, I respect your desire to keep it as well. If you choose the 3,000 gold, I will gladly accept it.
You cannot issue a promissory note yet, can you? Gold coins will be heavy, so you may send them in installments.」
“Where am I supposed to get 3,000 gold……. No, there’s no need to find it. If this one thing is enough, then.”
Helreos closed the ring case. In the end, his heart had tilted toward giving the ring to Eliza.
He felt uneasy about it, but Helreos had a mind of his own, at least to some extent.
As a woman belonging to the family, Eliza Waluer would eventually return to the family.
Then he could simply take the item back when that happened.
‘It’s just a ring like this. I don’t even have any use for it.’
Eliza’s younger brother, who knew nothing of schemes and manipulation, thus made his first choice that would actually help his sister.
