Chapter 2: strong ideals vs jaded worldview

It was typical day in the Rosewood mansion, the sun was shining, the flowers were blooming in the garden, the air was getting warmer thanks to the approaching spring.

Usually people wake up to this kind of scenery with high hopes of today being a calm and peaceful day to just sit back and relax right? Markus was of the same opinion (although his idea of "relaxing" is more akin to "training").

But unfortunately like most things in life, that day didn't pan out as he had expected, and since Markus made the mistake of not using the [eyes of the puppeteer] that morning, he was taken by complete surprise when that moment came.

"Markus!"

The young lady shouted the moment she was finished with her meal which is usually a bad sign according to what Markus had managed to learn for the past 2 years.

((Oh great, what is it this time?))

Although he wouldn't say it, Markus already had a bad feeling at that time.

""I'm right in front of you, please don't be so loud first thing in the morning""

With a tired voice and an even moodier gaze Markus admonished Sophia.

"I've recently come to notice something..."

But Sophia ignored it and stated as if she had just received a divine revelation.

((Oh no...))

A chill ran down Markus's spine, which marks this one of the very few times in this life when he had felt true fear.

When Sophia is like this there was only one possibility that Markus could think of and that mere thought is enough to give him a throbbing headache, he has already begun to regret deciding to only use his overpowered precognitive skill on battles and not using the [eyes of the puppeteer] this morning, maybe then he would've been able to prevent this from happening beforehand somehow.

"I am happy, everyone in the mansion has been kind to me and I have a strong knight like you"

Sophia suddenly started to comment on her own life for the past 2 years for some reason.

((Oh lord, I don't like where this is going one bit...))

Markus gulped.

"Thank you your feelings alone are more than enough, so please don't..."

Not wanting to know what Sophia had to say next, Markus tried to subtly defuse the situation.

But it was already too late...

"I think I should share my happiness with everyone!"

Sophia just screamed out something ridiculous again, it was just a typical occurrence at this point.

((I fvcking called it!!))

Facepalming himself internally, Markus cursed at himself for not seeing this coming and not preparing for it

Lady Sophia never listens to what people have to say. No, she listens when she has to, but whenever Markus's thinking :((Please move on to a different topic already, or skip to the part which has nothing to do with me)), she almost never ever listens.

Previously, she said "I want to climb up to the roof!" and didn't listen even when Markus refused like 7 times, so he gave in and carried her up to the roof. The scenery was amazing, but the Cold-Blooded Lord (that's what Markus had begun to call him) of the Rosewood house who was usually busy and absent from the mansion suddenly came home and summoned Markus at night and stared at him for 15 minutes straight without saying a word, just smiling silently. That's when Markus decided he never wanted to see that scenery again. The Cold-Blooded Lord seems to be over doting when it comes to his daughter, despite how he's usually missing from Sophia's life.

Another time, she said "I want to go out into the city and see how the people live there!" What a cliche young lady line, Markus thought, while refusing her about 12 times without giving up. But of course, there was no convincing the young lady and Markus had to give up one again.

He bought worn-out clothes for both of them to wear, and also hid the young lady's beautiful hair in a cap–or at least a sack which looked like a cap and took her to the city. As a result of his thinking, where Markus thought :((I'm not gonna be able to stop her when she's like this, so might as well save my energy and take her to the city)), backfired. When they returned home, a search party was formed and they were only a hair's breadth away from alerting the city guards. The maids screamed (2 of them fainted) when they saw the young lady's rugged appearance.

Markus was once again locked together with the Marquis in his private room until midnight, having a heated discussion about "What is a knight?" The Marquis Altera's idea was "knight means keep away from danger", and Markus's opinion was that ""there is a problem with parenting"". Although their opinions didn't match, when Markus recalled the grim expression of Syph-sensei who was appointed as the leader of the search party, even he felt slightly sorry for making everyone in the mansion worry, except for the Marquis of course.

((God please give me patience, for the moment you give me strength is the moment I strangle her))

Sighing loudly, Markus rubbed his face in frustration, his face may not be very expressive but his gestures was more than enough to convey his exhaustion to everyone present.

""Rouche? Please call the house's physician, tell him that a terrible fever has befallen the young lady""

Not having enough energy to deal with this sh*t so early in the morning, Markus tried to indirectly ask for help from the lady's personal maid Rouche.

"Understood, I'll ask for Zerry-sama right away..."

Sympathizing with Markus's current predicament, Rouche bowed respectfully before trying to leave to find the physician.

"Hey wait! What are you guys implying?!! I'm perfectly normal you know?! And don't just bother old man Zerry for no reason!"

Seeing this, Sophia shouted in indignation, stopping Rouche from leaving the dining room.

((Normal people don't have to shout out :"I'm perfectly normal" to absolutely everyone in the room...))

Markus thought, concluding that something was definitely wrong with Sophia.

""Then perhaps you've suffered from a head concussion somewhere?""

Not being able to take it anymore, Markus's trademark sarcasm leaked out, although a knight daring to say this to their master would usually get their head separated from their shoulders but Markus was anything but an ordinary knight so most of the mansion's resident tolerated his behavior, after all the lady seemed to enjoy it so what's the harm?

"How rude! I'm completely serious! I think it's unfair that I get to enjoy this happiness while other people don't, I am a noble after all! It is my duty to ensure the happiness of the people under my care, small actions can sometimes make big differences, I may have little ability to actually help many people right now but I won't ever be able to do it if I don't at least try!"

Sophia was completely serious, she wanted to make a positive impact on people's lives, no matter how small it may be, making Markus confused as to where she got such a conviction.

((How idealistic, well at least that means that my efforts to shape her character have been successful...but seriously?! How naive can one girl be? What does she think this world is? Kirbo's dream land? Also didn't she hate being a noble like 2 years ago?))

Markus would be lying if he said he didn't looked down on Sophia's intentions at least a little, as a person well accustomed to hardships, suffering and injustices in both of his lives, his pragmatic view on the world was completely mismatched with Sophia's ideals.

But he couldn't openly disagree with her, so Markus gave in to Sophia's intentions albeit reluctantly.

""Milady, do you mean by giving away money?""

Happiness can't be shared literally but most people would be happy to receive money, that's what Markus thinks.

"That's not it, Markus. We have to solve problems that money can't solve. In other words, structural problems!"

Structural problems are such as nobles having a clear advantage over commoners, sum of tax unilaterally decided by the feudal lord, or if you go to the countryside, the feudal lords can snatch away virgin brides, something like "droit du seigneur" ("droit du seigneur" was a supposed legal right in medieval Europe, allowing feudal lords to have sexual relations with subordinate women, in particular, on their wedding nights).

((What the actual h*ll?! What kind of 11 year old am I talking to right now? Is this really the same girl who got bullied by the maid who was supposed to work for her? The fvck are they teaching her in those private tutor lessons?!))

Markus was blindsided by the unexpected insight that Sophia had just displayed, since he didn't teach her any of that so she must have developed it on her own or had someone else teach it to her while he wasn't looking.

A while after Markus became an escort for Sophia, He had a private tutor assigned to him, and started learning knowledge necessary for nobles namely politics, administration, law, etc. (which he didn't really studied too deeply before)

However, Markus was sure the young lady was taught from the perspective of the powerful, such as, "You are in a position to use these rights and power, young lady."

((Who was the guy that taught the young lady the perspective of the commoners, and instilled a sense of duty that "We must be more fair!"?!)) (Author: who do you think?!)

Being surprised again and again during the course of one morning has even thrown Markus's quantum computer brain for a loop so he couldn't really think straight anymore.

"I realized after watching you, Markus. You speak and study on an equal footing with your tutor despite being from a knight house, right? You are more willing and strive to study than I. If given the opportunity, regardless of who it might be, noble or commoner, anyone can study and acquire knowledge!"

The young lady presented her case, like a dutiful student reporting her homework to Markus.

""...…""

Markus was silent.

((It was my fault, apparently...))

Finally realizing that everything that has been going wrong with the young lady for the past years were repercussions of his attempt to shape her into the ideal protagonist, Markus wanted to slap himself even more now.

((Okay, maybe I might have gone a bit overboard with the whole "making Sophia into a fine lady" thing...what an oversight, the Sophia in the game had strong ideals of equality between classes but not to this extent, she was a bit more pragmatic in her approach than this, hmm...this might be a problem))

By manipulating her into becoming the perfect lady and making a huge impact on her life, Markus had inadvertently inspired her to develop a strong desire to make a good impact on other people's lives which was what Markus had intended, but not quite like this.

""My lady, that's not it. I just, uhh...""

((Well crap! How the heck am I gonna fix this?!))

Markus was completely lost on what to say for the first time.

"Markus, you don't have to say anything more"

Sophia interrupted Markus, as if she already knew everything that he was about to say.

((PLEASE stop! For the love of god this conversation is more painful than any battle or beating that I've been a part of))

""My lady...""

Markus desperately wanted to stop Sophia.

"Your thoughts are the same as mine. I know!"

The young lady exclaimed as if she's finally found someone who could understand her.

((Yeaaah, it's not!))

"Markus. Let's go meet my father!"

""Pardon?""

Markus looked at Sophia as if he would an alien

((Well...sh*t, it's official: she has completely lost it. The Marquis? I can already see this not ending well))

Seeing his life flash before his eyes, Markus wanted to ask where he had gone wrong.

"I want to ask my father permission to eradicate the illegal slavery that is spreading in the imperial city!"

Sophia revealed her true intentions.

And that was the story of how the slave trader crushing duo came to be, some people asked :"how could such a pair exists?!" Since everything about them was incompatible, the apathetic and jaded Markus and the overly caring and idealistic Sophia, the stark contrast was like night and day.

But hey, people with opposite personalities tend to attract each other after all so who knows...sometimes the greatest miracles are born from mistakes like these.