CH 6.1

Velvet Witch [Part 1]

The man, Rolf, was born as the third son of a not-so-affluent family.

It seems that his ancestors were of nobility, but as of a few generations ago, they were tricked by a commoner merchant and stripped of their title, territory, and even dishonored.

A merchant family taking over a noble family. It was not uncommon at the time, but Rolf, who grew up hearing about it, came to despise the commoners who took the honor of being part of nobility from him.

Rolf was the only one in his family with a talent for magic.

Although there were commoners who were sorcerers, almost all the nobles above the rank of count in this country were sorcerers, and this fact made Rolf very aware of the fact that he had noble blood in his veins.

Rolf could not forgive his family for bowing down to the commoners to do their work. Rolf’s family was angry with him for acting so arrogantly and mocking the commoners who came to their house, and thus kicked him out of their house.

The Young Lady, who was the daughter of a count, saved Rolf from the fallout because she herself could not work alongside the commoners. Fascinated by her beauty and aristocratic power, Rolf fell in love with the Young Lady, trained further in magic and martial arts for her, and began to serve under her.

The Young Lady, Mary, also fell in love with him and was romantically interested in him, but Mary already had a fiancé arranged by her parents.

Rolf, wishing for Mary’s happiness, pledged a vow to serve her as her butler and protect her for the rest of her life.

Mary married into a frontier family and gave birth to a legitimate son, but her happiness did not last long. The second child she gave birth to was an Abominable Child, which was an abomination in the aristocracy of human supremacy.

Mary was grieved and wished not to have this Abominable Child, but she was stopped by a priest who had come to bless the child and suggested that she sell the child to another nobleman who had a bad reputation instead, leaving her with nothing but shame.

Mary and the Count, who had forced the disgrace on his wife alone, were separated, and Rolf began to meet with her in secret at a spring on the outskirts of the forest, comforting her body and soul.

Before Mary’s heart could heal, the Abominable Child caused her further set of problems.

To her horror, the Abominable Child had somehow placed a curse on her apprentice young lady, who was working diligently. The Abominable Child also cast a curse on Dirk, his legitimate son, causing him to sprain his leg.

As a butler, Rolf took care of the situation, but when Mary embraced Rolf in a dark corner of the hallway, she asked him to ‘take care’ of the Abominable Child in secret.

To protect the honor of his beloved “Young Lady,” Rolf nodded his head in agreement to her request. Rolf could not forgive the commoner for stealing his honor as a nobleman, as well as tainting her with the blood of the Abominable Child.

Rolf then took care of the Abominable Child by kidnapping her that night.

＊＊＊

It’s late at night – as I pass from shadow to shadow in the trees under the bright moon, a man is running soundlessly with me in his arms.

I’d like to scream like a baby girl, but I’m wrapped up in a blanket up to my mouth, so it wouldn’t have much effect. It might have the effect of irritating him, but it’s too much trouble to do that, because he’ll just hit me.

Maia said that the “remote house” was roughly a quarter of an hour’s walk away, so the abandoned house may be at the periphery of the boundary of the property, or maybe even beyond it.

A little while later, when I could smell water, the kidnapper threw me onto the ground.

If it hadn’t been for the thick blanket, I might have scraped myself. But it almost didn’t hurt, probably because of the [protective collar] I was equipped with.

“You don’t even cry… Do you even have human emotions?”

“…”

Under a bright moon. In a spring-like place surrounded by trees, the person said that.

It’s a beautiful place… It looks like a good place for a man and a woman to meet, but unfortunately, we don’t have time for such a pleasant mood around us. A problem occurred.

The kidnapper who called out to me as I sat down on the blanket was a brown-haired man of about 30 years old – the same butler who had taken care of the magic gun incident.

Come to think of it, I’ve never been good at expressing my emotions, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have them. I’m still scared. I’m just calm enough that it seems troublesome to be distraught.

Could it be because I became a Player Character?

When I quietly nod my head at such a question, the butler’s face contorts in disgust and he spits out the words.

“Can’t you even understand human language, you dirty blood?”

“…”

Dirty blood… Maybe he’s referring to subhumans?

I don’t know the details, but for now, let’s not be so naive as to think that this person will take pity on me and let me escape from that house.

This person alone? No matter how much I despise him, will he ignore the wishes of the head of the family and try to harm me? If that’s the case…

“Mother?”

“Don’t you dare call her that, Abominable Child!”

I think I pressed the butler’s wrong buttons.

The butler, who until then had been calm even with a scowl on his face, twisted his face in anger and kicked me.

“Huh?”

Ouch! It hurts quite a bit. I was kicked away, and I curled in a fetal position, unable to speak due to the shock.

Normally, such a kick would have caused broken bones…no, as a three-year-old toddler, my internal organs would have ruptured as well alongside other internal injuries, but thanks to the [collar of protection] I’m equipped with, I didn’t suffer any serious damage.

“I wish you experience even a millionth of what Young Lady is going through, you little pest!”

“…”

This person called the mother [Young Lady], not [Madame].

In other words, this butler was not hired by the Arceides Count, but someone who came from mother’s family.  That’s why he cares so much about Mother.

“Do you know how much the Young Lady was hurt by your birth? Do you know how much suffering she has endured because of you? If only you hadn’t existed in the first place, Mary-sama would have been happy!”

“…”

See you in the next chapter. It is going to be really exciting. Thanks for reading.