〈 Episode 8 〉 Yandere Youngae 8

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I glanced quickly at Eliza. She was just picking up her tea and drinking it, as if she hadn't seen anything.

"Are you pretending not to see me?

Normally, an earl would be scolded for such behavior in front of someone higher up, but in front of her, my stepmother and mother, it was unacceptable, even if she wasn't an earl.

"Shall I give you more?"

"Oh, no, I think I've moistened my throat enough."

"Hmph. Good."

Noel smiled and sat back down. Eliza set her tea down slowly and opened her mouth.

"There are scouts sent to you from other estates."

"Really?"

"...Yes. Most of them are for arranged marriages, but if you don't want them, I'll send them back."

It had sounded like a beautiful story of the earl being considerate because he favored the young lady, but now my ears told me that Eliza was working hard to keep Noel from becoming angry.

"Tell him to come. You know what?"

"...I'll mail the letter first."

She sighed.

"You're going to bring in someone who's been married before?

The implication is that Noel is also thinking of getting married.

"Oh, are you jealous?"

"No, Noel, no. How could I be?"

"You're lying."

It's not a lie because I'm not jealous at all, because whatever she's doing, it's out of fear, but she's forcing me to believe it's a lie.

"Yes, it is a lie."

"So you're saying you're jealous?"

"Yes."

"Don't worry. None of them are going to make it out alive."

"What?"

She didn't understand why the noblemen who had traveled from other estates for the meeting would not return alive. Noel glanced at Eliza. Gesturing for her to speak instead.

"As a servant, you should know. Noel has come to view all of these conversations as duels. A duel to the death, so that he can decide for himself who will be my husband."

"Ah..."

"And so far, five men have come to me, and all of them..."

She didn't need to say the rest. To win Deckard's hand in marriage, he would have to duel her.

"So...Noel's strength is...

There must have been quite a few others who were confident in the duel, but they all died with their throats cut.

"And in the future...even if courtship letters come, none of them will respond to our replies."

He said he killed five people. Even those with the biggest walls would not come. However, sometimes noblemen who are highly trained in chivalry who live above their station will come to visit... why do you assume they won't?

"Your tea has gone cold."

Eliza said, sounding relieved.

"Are you going without seeing the Count?"

"Hmm, I'll make a special point of seeing him today."

Eliza nods.

"You're going to see the Count?

Samuel Deckard, who had been in the chipper since I was very young, and was therefore almost a legend even within the county. There were rumors in the slums that Eliza had poisoned him to death, or that her men had blackmailed Samuel into eating the estate by the leash.

"He's in his bedroom."

Upstairs, the three began to slowly climb the circular staircase. The servants around them rush to cover them, but Eliza dismisses them with a wave of her hand.

"Kiiiiiind!

The door, more ornately embroidered than the rest of the room, opens to reveal a room filled with shining objects that pale in comparison to Noel's room.

"Will you let the servant come in with you?"

"Yes."

"...Very well."

Eliza doesn't stop Noel. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say she doesn't. Eliza walks in with the squeak of her heels, and I barely make it inside with a squeak.

"...Is that Noel?"

I hear a low, cracking voice.

"Yes, father."

Noel gives me a light, almost rude bow. I snap out of it and bow right back.

"It's been a long time."

"Yes, it's been a long time."

His voice doesn't sound as panicked as Eliza's, but I brace myself for rudeness and look him in the eye.

"Ah.

Just an old man, thin and wrinkled all over. An old man with a white beard and graying hair, looking at Noel with eyes that seemed to be shrinking. That's... Samuel Deckard, the owner of this estate, the sane one. I had expected him to be sick, but I was more surprised to find that he looked like a normal old man, like your local shanty town grandfather.

"You seem to have been healthy."

"Yes, I'm always healthy."

"...The child behind you is a servant."

"Yes."

She replies, amused. Samuel Deckard, lord of the manor and a man who reigns like a god on this estate. He turned to me, his lips curling into a smirk.

"Are you all right?"

It was a question that seemed to mean a lot. I stood dumbfounded for a moment, momentarily forgetting that he was asking me a question.

"What?"

"..."

He didn't repeat the question, just stared at me.

"Ah, I, I was living happily in the Earl of Deckard's household, and now I am again, loyally at your mercy, Noel..."

The Earl's eyes seemed to see right through me, and he just stared. I had to stop myself from speaking. He was a small man, but his eyes were violet, not the lifeless eyes of an old man in a shanty town...but large vessels that seemed to hold something.

"Live...and...have."

"I see."

Pulling back the covers slightly, he started to rise. Quickly, Eliza stepped forward and grabbed his arm.

"Never mind. Today is...not the day."

"...Yes."

Eliza slowly let go of his arm and rose from the king-sized bed, the Earl turning to face me with a hunch of his back.

"So it is."

Slowly, he walked over to his dresser and opened the top drawer, pulling out something.

"This is what I asked for before. Take it..."

Eliza rushes to his side to support him, but he stops her with his hand. Slowly, he approaches Noel and hands him a small box. It's a...

"A ring box?

It's a small black box, just like a ring case.

"Thank you, Father."

"...No. Your happiness is a blessing to me, so..."

He swallowed the last word and looked at me. I could see a hint of guilt in his eyes... guilt.

"I'm glad you came while I was still able to move around, but you should probably get going."

"Yes. Of course."

I hastily duck my head, following Noelle's lead as she lifts her skirt slightly. The Count slowly sits up in his bed and looks at Eliza.

"Eliza, I am thirsty. Fetch me some water."

"Yes, sir. My lord."

It could have been a gentle congratulation.

"Ding!

The door closed quietly behind them, and they slowly descended the circular staircase.

"Hmph, I finally got it."

"...What is it?"

I asked, unable to contain my curiosity.

"It's something I've been wanting for a long time."

Noel's most wanted item...I wondered what it was. What did that greedy monster want? It was like a hint in a scary fairy tale, the kind of hint that allows the monster to divert attention to its desired interest and escape.

"Curious?"

He gave me another look.

"No."

I said flatly.

"Why, you haven't even seen it yet."

"As a servant, I was taught that it is my duty to neither wonder nor covet my master's things."

"Well, you'll find out later, you'll know enough then."

Betsy laughed and took my arm.

"Let's go."

She walked in, arm in arm, no longer holding my hand, and I could feel the feel of her breasts again. The feel of them through the thin silk of her dress was still so unfamiliar and hot.

"Noel...this is your home, isn't it?"

The mansion itself was eerily large, though I doubt there would be many people to see whatever we were doing in the middle of it.

"In such a large mansion, you don't even provide an escort? My feet hurt."

She says, leaning on me to walk.

"When you're obviously running away...

With what seemed like a light trot, she kept up with me as I ran away from the thugs. I'm surprised I didn't try to grab her and drag her somehow, so there's no way her legs hurt now.

"...Let's go."

But it was impossible to disobey her, and they walked arm-in-arm to the front of the carriage, until she finally let go of my arm, took my hand, and lifted me into the carriage. The coachman reined in the horses again, and with a light clatter, the carriage slowly pulled away from the Count's mansion.

"Well?"

"What?"

"You saw my family today, my father, my mother...ah, I didn't see my brother, but we'll go see him some other time."

I had a feeling her brother, Kurt Deckard, wouldn't want to meet Noel.

"Hmmm."

The black case clutched in her right hand as if it were precious. It was unnerving, but more troubling was her steady approach.

"Ms. Noel...I thought you said outside."

"You mean I can hug it all I want once we get inside?"

"No...no, not if it's a hug..."

I think I can use the excuse that I'm close to her anyway, so I'm hugging her out of friendship.

"No...no one would believe that.

A man and a woman hugging in a room together and calling it friendship. No one would believe it. The carriage drove past the count's castle to the citadel for Noel's cottage. Noel's castle was built on a large island in the lake. After crossing the bridge, the gates open, and the ever-hospitable butler greets you with a sack on his back.

"Welcome, my lady."

"Uh, I'm in the mood for something sweet after seeing that bitch's face today. Tonight's dinner will be a sweet white wine and salmon."

"Yes."

I couldn't help but be horrified. Because the annoying bitch she was talking about now was...Eliza Deckard. No one pukes, just moves to do what needs to be done.

"Tirnim."

The butler called me by my first name, adding the sir. Come to think of it, I don't remember him ever not addressing me with respect before.

"Yes?"

"Ah, miss. Do you mind if I take over Tirnim for a moment?"

She touches her lips with a finger, slightly unsatisfied.

"You may."

Noelle turns back to the butler, who gives her a friendly smile.

"Send him upstairs when you're done talking."

"Yes."

As she climbed the stairs, the butler turned slowly to me.

"What happened within the Countess?"

I told the butler most of what had happened, except for what Noelle had done to the maid.

"...I see, and is the Count all right?"

"I'm not sure."

Being able to walk would not be a good answer to the question of being healthy or well. A vague "I don't know" would suffice, since the answer the butler wanted was not a nice sounding word, but a first-hand experience.

"It's just what the lady wanted..."

When I mentioned the black case, the butler stroked his beard thoughtfully, then looked at me.

"Anyway, I see. Soon, it's dinner time, so I'll have the chef prepare the salmon and white wine."

My stomach rumbled for a moment. Come to think of it, I hadn't eaten since I woke up late, except for some black tea... from Noel.

"You're hungry, aren't you?"

"Oh, yes..."

"Come with me, I'll tell the chef and we can get you some of the treats the servants sneak in."

"May I?"

As a butler, a chamberlain, it's only natural that he would speak of sneaking food.

"As long as you're a virtuous servant, I can tolerate a certain amount of good-natured indulgence, and it keeps me on task."

Small deviations prevent laziness and other vices. Something like sneaking a snack was a big prank for servants and maids, and it made other deviations invisible.

"Of course, after a certain amount of time, I must remember to use my authority to issue a stern warning not to sneak food, so that they'll be more focused on the task if they're caught and punished."

"Haha! You're right, Chamberlain. Here you go."

The chef rolled his eyes, as if already in the butler's person, and placed light biscuits and fruit on a plate.

"Is everyone else like this besides the servants?"

"The soldiers are quite lobbyy, too, and sometimes ask to be left out of the delicious desserts. Most of the bribes are cigarettes and special rum sent from home."

"Haha, I prefer rum to cigarettes. Sometimes I enjoy it with my butler."

The chef smiled at me, then picked up the salmon and began cooking.

"Ah..."

"If you suppress everything and act coercive, you might make a pretty good general in wartime, but you'll only make a bad fool in peace. It's important to tolerate and cover up what you can."

I shuddered and slowly took the biscuit and popped it into my mouth.

"Deacon...what kind of person were you in the past?"

I've rarely met a man with such a wide range of experience. I've heard enough stories of middle-aged, legless adventurers who rambled on and on, or of old men who rolled up their sleeves and slumped over in their homes, to know that age doesn't come with much wisdom. The old butler, a man with a straight back and a fine mustache, smiled at me.

"Just another servant," he said, "once upon a time, in the service of the Earl of Deckard."

The Earl of Deckard was a war hero who had served with distinction in the war, and had been granted the estate of Deckard. Many nobles came and went from the manor with letters and gifts, hoping to marry his children to their own, and the nobles and merchants who naturally came and went from the marketplace were good prey for me.

'Many nobles came to take their vows...'

No doubt the story included Noel. The butler casually picked up a grape and popped it into his mouth.

"The former Earl has many similarities to the young lady."

"What?"

"That's why...your position is quite important to us."

I didn't understand what he meant by that. I tried to think about it, but the words were like a difficult riddle to me, a puzzle missing a few pieces, incomplete without knowing much about the former Earl in the first place.

"You may go now."

The butler, having had enough of biscuits and fruit, urges me to go to Noel.

"Yes..."

It was one of the few pleasant refreshments I've had at the Count so far. I've never been so happy to skip a snack in front of a shabby chef's kitchen. I sighed as I climbed the stairs to the ornate balcony and gazed up at the glittering chandeliers.

"Ha..."

My room in the slum, with its unadorned and clunky food counter, was much nicer and more beautiful than this gorgeous balcony at the top of the stairs.

"Tick, tick, tick!"

"Noel."

The vague hour of early evening. I knocked on the door, and when Noel told me to come in, I slowly opened the door and entered.

"Tir♡"

She hugged me slowly. Damn it...there was no way I was getting away.

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