Chapter 114 : Chapter 114
Chapter 114
The carriage arrived at the Adeline Branch Residence. But the unexpected sight before me instantly cleared my head.
“Why are they all gathered like that?”
I pulled the half-open curtain all the way aside and looked out the window.
Something felt off. Normally, there would only be a single Butler standing guard at the entrance, but now several butlers were outside. On top of that, Knights had appeared as well, talking among themselves.
It did not seem to be an emergency, but all of them wore serious expressions.
“Did something happen today?”
“I haven’t heard anything in particular. Maybe guests are coming?”
“There wasn’t anything scheduled for today.”
Among the people currently staying at the mansion, the highest-ranking person was Young Lady Sapiela. Senior Butler Brituang was here as well, of course, but since I was her Attending Secretary, I knew her schedule in full.
I shot Arthas a suspicious look.
“You haven’t committed any crimes, have you? Like showing your face to innocent women while you were out?”
“......I’m not that ugly, you know?”
“That’s what every man thinks when he looks in the mirror. That he’s at least average.”
“Average? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means something.”
Once the carriage stopped, I opened the door and jumped down at once. Then I quickly headed toward where the butlers had gathered.
No matter how urgent things were, I was wearing a tailcoat right now. Running when I could avoid it would have been poor manners.
“It seems our noble Attending Secretary has arrived.”
“Oh, Dilen.”
“We’ve been waiting for you so long our necks nearly gave out.”
The people around me each threw in a word as they turned my way.
They had been waiting for me?
I glanced around. Everyone’s eyes were on me. At once, I had a vague idea why they were all gathered here.
Had news of what happened at the ducal house already made it this far?
People were already jumping the gun.
But where I came from, there was a saying: if you got ahead of yourself too early, you were bound to fail.
The rumor would make its way here eventually, of course, but there was no need to get excited. All I had to do was calmly enjoy whatever honey overflowed from it.
“I completed my assignment safely and returned without issue.”
“Come along, then.”
Brituang was among the butlers. He grinned and walked toward me. First, I politely bowed to him.
It was time to make my report.
“Senior Butler, I didn’t realize you would be out here. Did the Academy registration go well?”
“Of course. She is the Young Lady of the Adeline Marquis House, not just some minor house. There was no chance she would be treated poorly anywhere. We are just returning from meeting with the headmaster. The Young Lady was quite satisfied as well.”
“I see.”
I let the remark about the Young Lady’s satisfaction pass by without comment. Young Lady Sapiela was not the type to show her emotions easily. She had probably just given a single nod, and that was all.
Standing close before me, Brituang clasped his hands behind his back and spoke gravely.
“From now on, you will escort the Young Lady yourself. She has lectures three times a week, so you will need to accompany her to the Academy each time.”
“That is welcome news. I will obey.”
“But is that all you have to report?”
I dipped my head slightly in apology and began my report.
“I am returning from the Bahamut Ducal House. I delivered the letter and received word that they are grateful we accepted the invitation. His Excellency the Duke seemed very pleased.”
“I heard you did something quite significant at the ducal house.”
So that was what this was about after all.
But how had word spread this quickly?
“That is how it turned out somehow. It happened so suddenly that I hardly had time to think. But has the news already spread here?”
“Immediately after the accident, a butler from that side contacted me personally. I have some acquaintance with Senior Butler Elwin.”
“I see.”
Elwin was the Butler who had received me at the entrance of the Bahamut Ducal House. So my guess had been right. Someone at least on the level of a Senior Butler would have to be guarding the entrance of a ducal house.
“You truly seem to be a Butler by nature. First there was what happened with Young Lady Sapiela, and now you’ve saved the life of the duchess as well. Protecting the body and mind of the one you serve. You possess every virtue a Butler ought to have.”
“You praise me too highly.”
“It is not excessive praise. It is fitting praise. Now then, this has gone on long enough. I would like to hear the full details inside.”
“Let us go in.”
Receiving a warm welcome from my seniors and the others, I entered the mansion.
As I reported what had happened at the ducal house while we walked, I realized that there was one incident Brituang did not seem to know about.
The offer I had received from Head Butler Hermes.
Hermes had said something of the sort during our interview. That high-ranking butlers had their own information networks.
If Brituang had known I’d received an offer, he would have brought it up at once, but he gave no sign of it all the way until we entered the office.
So I spoke first.
“W-what?”
As expected, Brituang looked genuinely startled, as though this were the first he had heard of it.
You could tell how shocked the butlers were by the fact that he stumbled over his words. They were trained to speak calmly and distinctly, after all.
I gave an awkward smile and quickly added,
“Of course, I have no intention whatsoever of changing houses for the ducal house. The grace my master has shown me is something I could never repay in an entire lifetime. How could I commit such a betrayal?”
I used a rather extreme word to defend myself. Perhaps betrayal was going a bit too far. Still, it softened Brituang’s expression somewhat.
“That is truly beyond anything I imagined. What terms did they offer you?”
“That is a little difficult to say......”
“Say it. My mouth is heavier than iron.”
“Even so, it is rather difficult.”
“I said, say it.”
I deliberately held back. I did not want to speak too easily and end up branded as someone with a loose tongue.
More than that, I felt I needed to let him stew a little longer.
“There is no need to rack your brain like that. If you had truly never intended to speak of the terms, then you would not have brought up the offer itself to me in the first place.”
As expected, this man was sharp. It seemed he did not spend his time reading at the Academy for nothing. Wearing an embarrassed expression, I lowered my head.
“That was not my intention. Please understand that it is awkward for me to speak of it.”
“All right, enough. Recite the terms.”
“The offer was that I would be appointed directly as an Assigned Butler without going through the Apprenticeship. We did not discuss the finer details of salary, since I refused immediately.”
“I see.”
Brituang crossed his arms and sank into careful thought.
To be honest, there was one part I did not quite understand. I alone knew that I was hiding my strength. Eluna had come close to the truth, perhaps, but she had no connection to the Adeline House.
So was there really any reason for them to pay this much attention to me, when I was still no more than a special apprentice?
No matter how capable one was, a Butler was still just a Butler.
“Would this cause some kind of problem? I have heard that it is uncommon for butlers to change houses, but not unheard of.”
“Not unheard of, no. In fact, highly capable butlers are sometimes lured away by generous salaries. Of course, that also means their loyalty comes under suspicion.”
A Butler might be a profession, but strictly speaking, it was not a profession in the modern sense. One had to place loyalty to the house above one’s own value.
You could not entrust an important position to someone who moved according to terms and conditions. It was much like the reason traitors were never placed in key offices.
Of course, there were still people who valued money more, so transfers happened anyway.
“What concerns me is something else.”
Rather than asking what he meant, I calmly waited for what he would say next. With a sigh, he continued.
“In truth, ever since you saved the Young Lady, there have been many voices asking why you were not appointed a Full Butler then. And now, after making a great contribution at the ducal house as well, are we simply to keep you as an apprentice? That is impossible.”
“I see.”
It was a reasonable point, so I did not particularly deny it.
One could refuse a favor once, but refusing it twice was difficult. Special appointment would probably come up again. If I continued to be left as an apprentice after making a contribution at a ducal house, it would cause uproar in a different sense.
“I will make an official report to the main house about this matter. It seems like something Lord Yanrof must decide personally.”
“Then will I be becoming a Full Butler?”
“Was that not what you entered as an apprentice hoping for? It seems the only question left is whether you begin as a Regular Butler, or receive a one-rank special promotion and begin as an Assigned Butler.”
Assigned Butler, was it?
How would the Regular Butlers who had been throwing their weight around with me until now react when they heard that?
Brituang, who had been sighing only a moment ago, let out a faint smile.
“In any case, you’ve done well. Do not burden yourself too much. Let us wait and see what word comes from the main house.”
“Understood.”
“This time, I hope there will be no refusal.”
I nodded calmly. But what came next was rather unexpected.
“It will take over a week for word to come from the main house, so in the meantime I will instruct them, at my own discretion, to treat you on par with a Regular Butler. You’ll be carrying yourself with a bit more authority from now on.”
***
When I returned to my quarters, Arthas relaxed his posture. Making no effort to hide how tired he was, he grumbled,
“What were you talking about for so long?”
“About that job offer I received.”
“What happened with it?”
“It’s not at the stage where I can say much yet. He said he would contact the main house. I suppose they can’t just let things rest after what happened at the ducal house this time.”
“So you’re getting promoted?”
I nodded without much expression.
“Wow! Your wish finally coming true! Well, you did have a chance to become a Regular Butler before, didn’t you? So what kind of wind has blown through you that you didn’t refuse this time?”
“If I kept refusing, I felt as though life itself might end up refusing me.”
“Hahahahaha!”
Arthas laughed for a long while, then patted me on the shoulder.
“So you’ve finally come to your senses. You can’t keep turning down every opportunity that comes your way. This time, hold on tight.”
“By the way, for an Apprentice Knight to lay hands on the body of a near-Regular Butler so casually... just what kind of knight order does the Adeline House have......”
“Damn it!”
“If you think it’s unfair, then get stronger.”
I humored him a little, then stepped inside.
First, I took the bracelet from my pocket and placed it on the table. It was the bracelet Arwen had given me as a gift. Unfortunately, it had snapped while I was stopping the horse’s charge.
“Arwen’s going to be disappointed if she sees this.”
Then again, maybe not. If I told her it had protected my body like a protective charm, she might even be delighted.
“For now, I should wash up. Using that much strength has left me drenched in sweat.”
I tossed off my clothes and entered the bath. The Maids had followed my request well. The tub was already filled with water.
At first, bathing had been terribly inconvenient. You had to carry all the water yourself, one bucket at a time.
But being treated like this had changed my mind. I had belatedly realized that if you made those below you do the inconvenient work, everything was solved.
I felt a little sorry, but what was there to do? One had to enjoy what one could.
I slipped into the bath.
The weather was hot, so the water was lukewarm. I recalled the bitter winter wind and stirred my mana. At once, an icy chill poured out, rapidly cooling the water.
“Ahh, that’s refreshing!”
A cold bath really was the best thing in the heat of summer. I closed my eyes and rested.
How much time had passed?
Then I heard movement outside.