Chapter: 33
“Let’s go, Count.”
Philip spoke cheerfully from behind.
“We’ve placed the five sacks of wheat over there. Let’s go together.”
“Hahaha! I was just looking around anyway—certainly not because of the five sacks of wheat! But how on earth did Seers manage to obtain wheat?”
Wheat was not a crop that grew in the central region.
Even five sacks would be extremely valuable.
Last night, I had told everyone this:
“If outsiders ask questions, just say you don’t really know.”
There was no need to advertise that it was connected to a black mage.
As expected, Philip answered just as instructed—well, mostly.
“Hahaha! It’s all thanks to our Lady Brisa, who graduated second in her class from the Capital Academy, speaks five languages, has perfect court etiquette, and was even invited to Her Majesty the Empress Dowager’s banquet! How could people like us possibly understand the depth of her wisdom!”
…That’s not exactly how I told him to say it.
Anyway, Alpheus carried me in his arms all the way to the marquis’ residence.
Dangling from his arms, I pressed him.
“Explain what happened.”
I was too curious about the situation, so I threatened him to explain first.
“Otherwise, I’m getting down.”
The war hero immediately surrendered.
“Well, thanks to your gift, I survived. But the poor Awakening Herb… um, it eventually lived out its brilliant life.”
“It had already lived out its life. I had dried it beforehand.”
“Thanks to it, we saved the Second Prince and all survived—but then the warp broke, you know? Waiting around helplessly while perfectly fine… well, that would be too shameful to the Awakening Herb I carry in my heart.”
“In your stomach, you mean.”
Answering calmly, I quietly set a goal for my relationship with Alpheus.
He was the protagonist of this world. There was nothing to gain from being on bad terms with him.
Just like my mother advised, sharpening my attitude would only hurt me.
Now, Alpheus was the master of Seers, and I was practically in his grasp.
‘That’s why I gave him the Awakening Herb in the first place.’
In the end, it helped him, so it wasn’t a bad first step.
‘We should be able to live together peacefully… to some extent.’
Unlike the original story, the Second Prince survived, and Alpheus didn’t fall into darkness.
But there was a side effect.
The clothes Alpheus wore didn’t “darken” either.
Unable to tolerate it any longer, I looked at the floral-patterned handkerchief dangling in front of my eyes and said:
“Take off that horrible floral handkerchief right now.”
Getting along reasonably well didn’t mean staying silent.
I had saved him. I had every right to say this on behalf of everyone.
“It’s an eyesore.”
Alpheus looked flustered.
“Huh? This, um, represents my belief in protecting the beauty of nature—”
“Keep your beliefs in your heart. Not in your fashion.”
“Wait, don’t pull it! It’ll tear!”
“That saves me the trouble. I was planning to shred it anyway. Wouldn’t want it to get recycled by mistake.”
He actually went to the Imperial Palace wearing that thing around his neck. Truly a tragedy for the House of Seers and an act against the public good of the Empire. I had to prevent this from ever happening again.
‘Though now the Marquis of Seers is Alpheus.’
And since I had prevented his dark transformation, I felt somewhat responsible.
‘Maintaining the dignity of this name still feels like my job…’
Even if I hadn’t inherited the title, my surname was still Seers. My reputation was tied to his.
‘The precious reputation I protected by suppressing both laughter and tears just to avoid being called crazy!’
At this rate, Alpheus would be completely ignored in noble society.
Receiving encouraging looks from the knights, I continued:
“If you’re going to use your face like that, go ask God for a refund. It’ll help the household finances. Actually—no. Refund the soul and keep the face. That’s best for the future of this marquisate.”
“Is that even possible?”
“I’m planning to find out starting tomorrow. I just added it as a candidate in my new study plan.”
“…That’s a joke, right?”
“And you should stop making that ‘um’ sound. It’s far too uncultured for a marquis.”
“Really? Got it. I’ll fix it right away. Um… how do I fix—ah.”
“It’s simple. Every time you say ‘um,’ you get hit on the calves. You’ll fix it quickly.”
I glanced down at Alpheus’s overly sturdy calves.
He frowned and asked,
“…What did you say?”
“Don’t worry. If you apply ointment, it won’t scar. We have plenty at home.”
At that, even Wendy—who had been hurriedly disposing of the floral handkerchief—froze.
After a brief silence, Alpheus asked slowly,
“…Did you also get hit on the calves?”
Seriously. Was he comparing me to himself?
I snorted.
“At least I didn’t get hit for saying ‘um.’ In my case, it was ‘uh…’”
There was a big difference between “um” and “uh.” At least, I thought so.
Alpheus’s eyes widened.
“When did that happen?”
“When I was six.”
“What? Which bastard dared to hit a child like that—”
“My mother.”
I answered calmly.
Behind me, Wendy quietly pressed her forehead.
I could feel Alpheus’s body stiffen.
Tilting my head, I reassured him.
“Well, she’s already passed away, so I won’t press charges for attempted murder.”
“I-I see… Um, let’s go inside and sleep quickly. Children shouldn’t be awake this late.”
“Well, if you keep saying ‘um,’ I’ll have to keep correcting you, so I’ll end up sleeping even later.”
By the time we arrived at the marquis’ residence—
The maids came rushing out, and right then Alpheus said:
“So, Bribri, I finally ask—how have you been? What happened? Were things hard?”
…Wait.
I think I just heard something extremely strange, horrifying, and disturbing.
“…Bribri? Did you just call me that?”
“Huh? Uh… isn’t it a cute nickname?”
Alpheus winked again.
“You can call me Big Brother Alphy too. What do you think?”
The triple attack made my head spin.
I took a breath, then spoke to the maids:
“Call Rangsi. We need to allocate a budget to send to the temple.”
“The temple?”
“Yes. We need to dispatch a priest.”
With tears in my eyes, I made a decision for the sake of the Seers marquisate.
“For the honor of the house, we don’t need a soul like this. I’m going to reserve an exorcism that leaves only the shell.”
“Bri—”
“What are you doing? This is urgent.”
Faced with my firm resolve, Alpheus surrendered.
“Sorry, Brisa! I’ll call you Brisa!”
“Make sure you keep the evil spirit in your heart properly sealed. If it wakes up, it’ll be a disaster. Now, put me down.”
Reluctantly, Alpheus set me down.
I dusted off my skirt and looked up at him.
The same platinum blonde hair. The same sky-blue eyes.
Originally, I didn’t know how to rely on family.
Even when I had to prepare to be left alone in the territory, I wasn’t particularly shaken. I had never trusted anyone to begin with.
‘You must not trust family.’
I steadied my heart.
‘In the original story, Alpheus and Brisa never lived together. There’s no telling how he might change.’
My mother usually cherished me dearly. But when her madness flared at night, she didn’t even recognize my existence. She would cause chaos and end up locked in her room.
My father wasn’t any different.
He never once looked at me warmly, busy searching for his eldest son. One day, drunk, he said:
“While you and your mother live in comfort here… my child might be suffering somewhere. So, Brisa, even paying attention to you makes me feel guilty.”
Even in that moment, all I could see was his back.
I didn’t want to see someone’s back again.
Rather than that, I’d rather close my heart first and just live moderately, peacefully…
“Hmm? Isn’t that the Marquis? At this hour of the night—am I seeing a ghost? When did you die? What regrets brought you all the way here?”
Rangsi came running out from inside the residence.
“I just ran here—I’m not dead. No regrets yet. Ah, I didn’t eat dinner…”
Wait.
“I’m just a bit hungry, haha.”
What?
Hungry?
After struggling in a foreign land and finally returning home… hungry?
My eyes flashed.
This was absolutely unacceptable.
