SRNVW 09

Chapter 09 …

I stormed out before even hearing whatever more Erios was trying to say.

“Bellona!”
“Shut up! If you say one more word or follow me, I’ll use magic!”

I shouted furiously, and perhaps he sensed I meant it, because thankfully Erios didn’t come after me.
But that didn’t stop him from yelling from behind.

“Artea is going to need both of us!”
“I told you to shut it!”

Fwoosh!

Only after a huge flame floated up in midair did his voice finally stop.
My specialty was non-combat magic, and in terms of fighting ability, that bastard who’d rolled around on monster-subjugation fields definitely had the upper hand.

But if he didn’t want to put on a show of us fighting in front of his niece, then backing off was the obvious choice.

‘That bastard talks too much. If I keep listening, I’ll just get dragged in!’

I huffed as I quickly left the neighboring mansion.

Right. I should’ve known from the moment he smiled so strangely earlier.
That smile people always talked about—the rare expression from someone usually so blank-faced, the one supposedly made countless women lose sleep!

‘No, this is going to keep people awake for a completely different reason!’

That bright white smile was seriously, seriously going to haunt me so much I’d be kicking my blankets all night!

Ugh, how infuriating!

Still…
There had been some reward for Erios persistently winning Artea over for the past few days.
Just a few days ago, she had been declaring, “I hate Uncle,” but now she was clearly starting to care about him.

“Um, what’s Uncle doing at night? Not that I miss him or anything.”
“This is something Uncle likes too….”
“Huh?! Did I hear something from next door?”

She said things that made her feelings completely obvious, or hovered around constantly bringing him up.
Sure, he was a terrible jerk who’d suddenly asked to break up while things were going well between us…

But to Erios, I was an outsider, while Artea was his niece.
Maybe he hadn’t treated a little child the way he treated me?

After Erios moved in next door, Artea did seem brighter, so at least that was a relief.
Because thanks to that, I could also confirm and ask about various things.

‘For her emotional well-being, would it be better to let her see her uncle?’

But then there was the runaway incident, and her protective magic had also been broken.

‘Maybe it’d actually be better for her to not see him at all… Ahh, I don’t know!’

It’s not like I’ve ever raised a child before.
No—even people who had probably agonized at moments like this.

Feeling troubled, I walked heavily through the garden.
I’d heard somewhere that walking could help calm your mind.

But this walk unexpectedly led me to meet someone surprising.

“Good day, Miss Bellona.”

It was the butler of Duke Killiet’s household.

Hmm, well, with the wall lowered this time, it had become easier to run into people… but I hadn’t expected to meet him here.

“Lovely weather for a walk, isn’t it? That dress suits you very well today.”

This was completely different from how he’d charged at me the first time we met.
Now he was blatantly trying to get on my good side.

My question was quickly answered.

“I heard the Duke proposed to you.”
“Ah.”

Even if the boundary between neighboring estates had been lowered, these gardens were enormous.
It would be difficult to just happen to meet here.

Had the butler been waiting here specifically to meet me?

‘Why did he want to meet me?’

Was he being friendly toward me?
Or was it the opposite?

“When we first met, I was so busy defending Duke Killiet that I believe I behaved rudely toward you. It has weighed on me ever since.”

The butler’s manner was exceedingly polite.

“To think you may soon become our lady. I truly lacked foresight.”

“……”

“Didn’t the former Duke and Duchess also get along splendidly? Killiet and Sortis seem well-matched.”

Judging by his attitude, the proposal clearly hadn’t been a joke.

‘So he’s approaching me because he thinks I might become Duchess.’

Marriage between Erios and me.

The servants here and the people from the ducal household who’d seen me caring for Artea might think better of it…
But others definitely wouldn’t see it positively.

“I heard you two had broken up, but it seems Miss Artea is the one who brought you back together!”

Right. So people would say I used my niece as an excuse to marry the Empire’s greatest bachelor.

Well, I didn’t really care if I got criticized.
What truly mattered was Artea.
As for everyone else besides her, I honestly couldn’t care less right now.

Watching my reaction carefully, the butler gave me a warm smile.
Unlike our first meeting, he was being extremely friendly.

“If anyone dares say something rude to the future Duchess, please tell me. As a loyal servant of this house, I have long awaited Duke Killiet’s marriage.”

The butler went on and on about how Erios had always shown no interest in women, how he rejected every marriage proposal.
Apparently, he’d guessed it was because Erios feared shaking Artea’s succession position.

“He dotes on his niece deeply, after all. Though the monster subjugation was nearing its end, I never imagined he would rush back midway through. But to marry the aunt who treasures Miss Artea more than anyone—this truly is wonderful.”
“…I haven’t accepted the proposal yet.”

‘At this point, he clearly already assumes I’ll become Duchess, so using formal speech feels pointless….’

I casually dropped formality.

“Haha, of course, you’ll need time to think!”

Still, the butler didn’t seem to consider for even a second that I might reject him.
Did he think I was just shy?
He clearly knew I’d been proposed to, but had no idea how utterly absurd that proposal had actually been.

“Since you may become Duchess… have you considered dismissing the nanny?”
“What do you mean?”
“The people of the ducal house are too soft. To leave the very person responsible for Miss Artea’s disappearance by her side… at this rate, the same thing may happen again.”

‘The one responsible for her disappearance,’ huh.

The butler let out a heavy sigh.

“You do know Miss Artea disappeared while out on an excursion, yes? But do you know what the nanny was doing then?”

Artea had vanished during an outing.
The person with her immediately beforehand had been the nanny.

And yet, the nanny had apparently been taking a nap.
She didn’t wake until evening.
When she finally realized Artea was gone and belatedly reported it, her face was still groggy, and according to the butler, she could barely answer questions.

“If the nanny hadn’t taken Miss Artea on such an outing—or at least had properly watched her—things would’ve been different.”
“……”
“A nanny of the ducal household taking a nap? Does that make any sense? Whether it was an excuse or a genuine mistake, either way it’s a problem. We should investigate whether she was in financial trouble, and who she associated with.”

So this was his real reason for approaching me.

‘There’s some logic to what he’s saying… but only because he doesn’t know about the sleep incense.’

As I carefully chose my words, the butler pressed me anxiously.

“Unlike the others in the ducal household, I trust you, Miss Bellona, to make a wise decision. You haven’t met that woman yet, have you? And despite being a nanny, she doesn’t even seem particularly close with Miss Artea—”

But before he could continue—

“Miss Bellona! Something terrible has happened!”

A servant from the Sortis household came running frantically with a report.
There was a serious issue with the newly released magic tool.

I wanted to avoid leaving Artea as much as possible, but this was something only I could handle.

“You must hurry!”
“Understood. I’ll leave as soon as preparations are complete.”

I told the butler we’d continue our conversation after I returned.
He seemed disappointed by the unfortunate timing, but quickly composed himself and bowed.

“Artea. Auntie has to go out for a little while. I’ll be back soon.”

At the mention of me leaving, Artea’s eyes widened like a startled rabbit’s.

“A-Auntie. Don’t go!”
“Miss Artea, your aunt has important work to do. All right?”

Artea, who had seemed fairly stable lately, suddenly went deathly pale.
Her breathing quickened, and her body began trembling.

“Auntie’s not leaving forever. I’m just going out for a little while.”
“T-Then take me too.”
“It’s too dangerous for a child. You can’t.”

The moment she heard no, Artea’s eyes shook violently.
I held her and soothed her, but I could feel her emotions spiraling.

‘Had she always been this anxious? Every time Erios left for monster subjugation… and every time work took him away?’

Then, suddenly, what the butler had said came back to me.

“The nanny came for Artea’s stability, right?”

Before, when Artea had been panicking, Erios and I had talked about this.
If she was going to feel secure, she’d need the familiar things she was used to.

So along with bringing over her clothes and belongings from the ducal estate, we also called in the people she’d supposedly feel closest to.

“Miss Artea!”

The nanny, who’d been standing anxiously in the distance the whole time, burst into tears the moment she saw Artea.

“I can’t tell you how worried I was when you disappeared, my lady…”
“Miss, shall we read a storybook together? You used to love this one.”
“I was so worried about Miss Artea, I could barely eat….”

But even as the nanny kept approaching, Artea merely darted her eyes around nervously.
She didn’t act shy because it was someone familiar—
yet her tension didn’t ease at all.

“Miss Artea must have been through so much.”

The nanny looked deeply hurt, but seeing Artea’s discomfort, she at least took a step back.

This was hard to understand.

These were the people who spent more time with Artea than even Erios, who was often away on monster-subjugation missions.

So why… was the atmosphere like this?