TDS 05

Chapter 05

She opened her eyes wide in front of him and even boldly asked him to get her a tutor.

He was so shocked he couldn’t believe it.

He decided he had to make sure she would never come looking for him again.

“Get Erusha some random low-level family tutor. Someone with no real skill, so she won’t learn anything.”

“…Pardon? Ah, yes, sir.”

“Make sure it’s someone who skips lessons as much as possible.”

“Yes, sir.”

“No, better yet, bribe them to skip classes completely.”

“Yes.”

“Oh, I know just the person.”

Only then did Leo feel a little better.

‘Kids should play like kids. Why is she talking about studying already?’

Anyway, since he gave her what she wanted, Erusha probably wouldn’t come to see him again.

He could never let her get close to him.

* * *

“Miss! Something terrible happened!”

Early in the morning, Ebot rushed into my room.

I had just woken up and rubbed my sleepy eyes.

The place I lived in was one of more than twenty mansions owned by the Shablin Ducal family. But it was the oldest building, and no one liked it.

That meant I had the lowest position in the family.

Meanwhile, my father—the Marquis—had taken the most beautiful building made of marble and jewels five years ago.

That mansion was supposed to belong to the heir. But these days, some relatives wanted to take it away from him.

The only official heir, the eldest son, was such a mess that the family succession was starting to fall apart.

Grandfather had four sons and two daughters. And among their children, including me, there were six grandchildren.

“…What happened?” I asked, rubbing my eyes.

Then suddenly, a terrible thought flashed in my mind.

“Am I being thrown away?”

“N-No! It’s not that. The Colson Count family—the one your father hit yesterday—has canceled their business contract.”

“Oh my goodness.”

“The Duke has collapsed again.”

“What?!”

It felt like a bell rang loudly inside my head.

That was the sound of my life ending.

Trying to calm myself, I asked,

“Is… is Grandpa okay?”

“Yes. The doctor said he just needs some rest. He collapses often anyway.”

“…That’s good.”

“Count Colson must be very angry. Not only did he cancel the contract, but he’s also demanding a huge amount of money for medical fees. It’s so much money that even the Duke was shocked. He said he’ll take it to court if he doesn’t get paid.”

“Ugh…”

I held my head with my small hands.

The Colson family disaster happened so fast.

The Colson family had amazing technology for making chandeliers—more beautiful and stronger than anyone else’s. The Shablin Ducal family had won an exclusive contract to invest in them.

If those chandeliers were sold, the already rich Shablin family would become even richer.

But now the contract was canceled.

‘Grandfather worked for over a year to make that deal.’

It wasn’t just about money. Grandfather truly loved the Colson family’s chandeliers. He saw them as works of art. All the chandeliers in our family’s mansions were made by them.

Other rival families had wanted that contract too. So Grandfather must have been very happy when he secured it.

But now it was gone. His pride and his heart must both be hurt.

It wouldn’t be strange if my father were kicked out today.

“For now, please eat breakfast. You must be hungry,” Ebot said.

“I guess… but…”

I lost all my appetite.

Ebot cleaned up the bedding and muttered,

“I really don’t understand why the Marquis keeps hitting people. The Duke has already paid enough settlement money to buy several gold-covered mansions.”

“Yeah…”

How much money would we lose this time?

Is getting punched by my father like winning the lottery or something?

Grandfather cared deeply about honor. So he always paid the victims whatever they demanded.

Everyone knew the Shablin family was extremely rich, so people asked for ridiculous amounts of money.

But Grandfather thought losing money was better than being sued.

For nobles, being dragged into court was extremely shameful.

‘And this time, the contract was canceled too.’

It felt like a red warning light was flashing in front of me.

A signal that I would be kicked out in three months.

Thanks to Ebot being on my side, I had already stopped one event that originally got me thrown out.

But my crazy father had many ticking time bombs.

There were so many ways I could end up kicked out and dead!

At this point, Grandfather’s patience was almost gone. If this problem wasn’t solved, his anger would explode—just like in the original story.

“I need to go see Father right now!”

“Miss!”

As I jumped out of bed, Ebot chased after me with my coat.

But meeting my father wasn’t easy. Before I could even open the door, Helen blocked my way.

“The Marquis is still asleep.”

“Huh? It’s ten in the morning!”

“Yes. It is still early for him.”

“When does he wake up?”

“When the sun is high in the sky.”

“…!”

My mouth slowly opened.

He was the richest unemployed man ever.

He wakes up after noon? How does he plan to survive in this harsh world with that laziness?

Is he serious?

‘…I’m jealous.’

Helen spoke firmly again.

“The Marquis will not see you anyway.”

“Why?”

“He ordered that you must not come here again. Until he gives new orders, please stay away.”

…

Cold. So cold.

Just like in my previous life, I was being treated badly by my father’s people again.

It always hurt.

So I forced tears into my eyes, using the natural sadness of a child.

“Why won’t Father see me…?”

“Excuse me?”

Helen looked shaken.

I really felt like crying.

In this beautiful fantasy world, instead of enjoying endless desserts or spending family money, I have to clean up my father’s mess.

“I just wanted to know why Father hit that person yesterday. Maybe… maybe the man really did something wrong? If we know the reason, Grandpa might forgive him.”

…

Helen looked even more shaken.

She couldn’t completely deny my words.

Everyone knew that the Marquis could be removed from the family register at any moment.

But no one dared defend him in front of the Duke.

“If this keeps happening, we’ll all die! We’ll all get kicked out!”

“…!”

“If Father gets thrown out, all the adults working here will lose their jobs too!”

Helen’s eyes widened.

She pressed her chest as if her heart hurt.

“Even so, you cannot enter. Please go back.”

Her skirt swirled as she turned away, a small breeze brushing my face.

Was I really being rejected like this?

“Miss.”

Ebot gently pulled my sleeve from behind.

“Hm?”

“Don’t worry too much. I’ll find out when the Marquis wakes up. I have some close maid friends in this mansion. I used to serve him, after all.”

“…!”

Ebot…

Tears filled my eyes because of her kindness.

“But the Marquis wakes up at different times every day. He eats whenever he feels like it. So I can’t promise when.”

…

Of course. My father is the type who acts without plans and follows his impulses.

My headache only got worse.