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The day I first met Sharkis Visenna, we didn't go straight to the North.
A long time has passed since Sharkis signed the contract prepared by the Archduke.
A week’s time had been given and I got ready to leave to the northern region during this time.
The butler had packed my luggage and everything that I needed, so there was nothing else that I had to pack.
What I had to prepare for was to learn basic etiquette so as not to fall onto the wrong side of Duke Eustia.
My physical appearance was that of a six year old, but it was difficult for me to command aristocratic speech because I had already been living for seventeen years.
To address this, fundamental lessons about how to make a greeting with a curtsey and when to greet the Duke when I see him.
Sharkis, who initially treated me like a dumb animal, praised that I was surprisingly a fast learner.
Anyway, my shallow aristocratic etiquette that I forcibly learned was apparently passable.
Seeing as Ferze, who was born a royal, didn’t disapprove of it.
Before I got on the carriage, Sharkis gave me some advice as he picked me up in his arms.
They were simple pieces of advice that were easily carved into my memory.
Show absolute obedience to everything Duke Eustia says. Never spend any time alone with Shurei Visenna, and so on.
Basically, all his advice told me not to be near his father and his brother.
I felt a little bit worried as Ferze agreed to what he said.
As it turned out, Sharkis Visenna was the most relaxed person in the Visenna family.
To the untrained eye, the Visennas are all crazy crackheads, but apparently there were differences among them.
From what I knew, Duke Eustia was a cool-headed and intelligent person.
The only concern was that he was only strategic when he was killing somebody or when he was committing a crime.
The second son Shurei was a careless, irresponsible person who was completely out of control.
He was only obedient in front of the duke, and he rarely listened to anything Sharkis said when he was only a bit younger.
Shurei would on rampages saying that he would massacre people and would only quiet down when Sharkis trampled his brother’s neck with the black soles of his shoes.
As I already knew this tale without the need for him to retell it to me, my face was pale with terror.
The only person that I could trust was Ferze.
The butler also bid me farewell before I left.
It seemed that the Alberto had gotten fond of me, as he was dabbing at his eyes with a handkerchief and looking gloomy at the fact that I was leaving.
I only remembered always running from him lest he would scold me for something, but I felt like I was going to miss him.
The knights at the Archduke’s mansion also acted similar to the butler.
I didn’t really know why, but they were all waving white handkerchiefs – this was also a way of telling me to come back – and saw me off.
But just one person.
The very person who plotted this whole thing, Archduke Ferze Yekart was nowhere to be seen.
I ended up riding the carriage alone with Sharkis, just the two of us.
The moment that we boarded the carriage, Sharkis’s lips which had been wearing a mischievous smile had relaxed down, which made me careful not to get on his nerves.
When Sharkis met my eyes, he put a smile on his expressionless face again.
The smile felt like he was mocking me for some reason and I gulped down my tears.
*****
Half the day went by since I boarded the carriage.
There was no need for me to worry whether Sharkis would assassinate me.
Seeing as I was still breathing fine.
A bigger problem was that I felt sleepy.
As a result of departing at dawn to avoid being seen, my sleep pattern was disrupted and my body was fatigued.
I wobbled like a scarecrow, my head nodding away.
I kept waking up just as I was about to fall asleep, perhaps because I was so nervous.
Some time had pa.s.sed since I woke up from my sleep. I was feeling quite bored so I started singing.
Even though it was a song he had never heard before, Sharkis propped his chin on his hand and closed his eyes like he was listening to my song.
“The pumpkin carriage goes choo choo. You’ve got to pay to ride it.”
Before I knew it, Sharkis was looking at me.
He seemed to have taken an interest in the strange song that I sang.
“Where did you learn that song?”
“In the streets.”
Sharkis paused for a while and asked if I was from the streets.
If you were from the streets, it meant you were either a thief, gypsy, or an orphan. I nodded.
“Which were you?”
“An orphan. My drunkard father made me steal and beg.”
It was before I had turned into a child but the memories were still vivid.
Sharkis seemed to be lost in thought as he listened to my story.
“That’s life, kiddo.”
It didn’t really help.
When he saw my lukewarm reaction, he put on a grin and added.
“And also that a fearless, cheeky kid like you is going to the Visennas.”
“Sob sob.”
“What are you going to do now that you have a monster for a brother?”
It wasn’t a threatening tone.
He was teasing me, and I decided to play along with him.
Sharkie, do you know?
That I’m playing with you.
“There will come a day when you will be thankful that you have a cool, dashing brother like me.”
Our eldest master Visenna was a bit narcissistic.
I shook my head sideways like a doctor breaking the news to a terminally ill patient.
Sharkis, who was pressing my cheek and playing around, suddenly asked.
“Hey, kid. Do you know if your father who you said abandoned you is alive?”
“I don’t know.”
Why is he asking?
When I gave him an odd look, he spoke as if it wasn’t a big deal.
“You have to be meticulous when you clean up your family relations if you want to avoid headaches in the future.”
I decided to pretend that I didn’t hear this.
It was because it didn’t sound like a joke, but like he was being serious. I took a deep breath and exhaled.
“Remember this. Cheap kindness is not something you should display in Visenna.”
It was more of a warning.
I gave neither an affirmation nor a denial, but stared up at Sharkis instead.
“This is our rule of survival, Ciel Visenna.”
Ciel Visenn.
The feeling that I felt from hearing this come out of Sharkis, who was a member of the Visenna family, was indescribable.
The name that flew softly in the air had a strange ring to it.
Two days later, I was still traveling in the carriage.
Luckily, the carriage that I was on was top-class.
It was very astounding, more so because I had never been on a carriage when I worked as a maid.
‘When was it that I had first come to the Archduke’s mansion?’
I wondered if I would still be alive if the head maid of Yekart mansion hadn’t brought me there when I was dying after the accident with the carriage.
Even the emperor’s carriage wouldn’t be as fancy as this carriage.
I slowly ran my hand over the soft leather seat.
It wasn’t even made of fabric, but real leather.
The carriage that was disguised on the outside to look like it belonged to a nameless merchant ran fast.
It was going fast, but I felt only small vibrations and was quite comfortable in it.
Perhaps this could have been due to the fact that I was lying down with my head on Sharkis Visenna’s lap.
I had a strange, inexplicable feeling that it would be bad if Ferze found out, but it was difficult to fight off the drowsiness.
I slowly blinked my eyelids, which were getting heavier.
A robust, large hand gently stroked my head.
Just as I was about to fall asleep, the door suddenly flung open and I jerked awake.
“Hm……?”
I found out that the carriage had already come to a stop.
When I sat up, half asleep, I felt a cold breeze entering through the open door.
A man wearing a black robe was looking down toward me from nearby.
Judging by the sunset that I could see through the open window, it was already evening.
Who could it be?
I stared because I couldn’t make out who it was, but the man did not take his eyes off of me.
“Did you make sure that you threw off the tail?”
The man only turned away his gaze when Sharkis spoke to him, and boarded the carriage.
“Of course. The hallucinogen took care of the temple’s dogs.”
The man took out a crystal bottle with a red decoration and shook it lightly in front of him.
The bottle containing black gas swirling around like a fog inside was quite astounding. That’s a hallucinogen?
As I thought to myself that the man’s voice sounded familiar, Sharkis leaned back on the leather seat and asked.
“Did you also take care of the Emperor’s dogs?”
You dozed off too, didn’t you Sharkie?
His voice sounded somewhat drowsy.
The man pulled back his hood that seemed to be getting in his way and nodded.
I opened my eyes wide as he took off his hood.
‘It’s Ferze!’
Ferze seemed unaffected by the look of happiness on my face.
His large hand got a hold of my body that had been lying on Sharkis’s lap and sat me up straight.
Ferze opened his mouth to speak only after he separated me and Sharkis.
“The security was lax thanks to Visenna’s crazy dog running around the imperial city.”
“What do you mean, crazy dog, it’s Shurei. If my cute little brother heard that, he would be hurt.”
Ah, he was talking about Shurei Visenna.
I stared wide-eyed at the mention of a familiar name.
Before I could even ask what kind of trouble it was, Sharkis answered my question.
“He took three innocent knights and took them to the brink of death, the Emperor is probably frustrated to the core by now.”
“It would have been better not to make a scene, Sharkis.”
“He didn’t make a scene with Visenna’s name. He’s a hunter so he was probably using a face mask when he made a scene.”
Sharkis paused to cover my ears.
Despite the eldest master Visenna’s unbefitting consideration, I heard everything clearly.
If Sharkis was a taxidermy enthusiast, the second master Visenna Shurei’s hobby was face masks.
I will skip the detailed explanations since I still haven’t had my dinner.