Villain Family’s Strongest Butler - Chapter 23

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 26

“Be my eyes.”
[Eyes?]
I pointed with my fingertip, alternating my gaze between my own eyes and the creature’s.
That was it. I was taking this ball of fur into my service, and at the same time, I intended to use it as my information network.
Confined as I was within the Grand Duke’s residence, I needed someone to move freely in and out, to be my eyes. And that someone was this furry creature.
‘First, get it healthy. Put some meat on those bones.’
Right now it was so starved it looked pathetic. I’d feel guilty asking it to do anything.
Perhaps this was a blessing in disguise.
Who would ever suspect that a cat understood human speech and relayed it faithfully to another person?
‘If this were a real war, it would be far more useful.’
If I’d sent it into an enemy camp, it could have extracted tactical secrets.
But there was no use in despair.
In truth, this Grand Duke’s residence was no different from a battlefield to me.
My enemy stood before me, and this place was their stronghold. What else would you call it but a war zone?
I looked down at the furry creature with barely concealed anticipation.
‘If I use this creature well, I’ll be able to overhear the Grand Duke’s conversations with his advisors, catch the whispered rumors in the dark corners of this place.’
I smiled what I hoped was a friendly smile.
“All right then. Is there anything special you’d like to eat?”
The ball of fur pondered for a moment, then spoke.
[Meat! Lamb today, Steward!]
“…….”
That creature might not be a real cat after all.

***

In the Tenasis Empire, within the Grand Hall of the Imperial Temple.
Crown Prince Serlhin stood motionless, staring blankly at the statue before him.
The statue was of a goddess said to protect the empire, yet there was no reverence in Serlhin’s gaze as he looked upon it.
Then Leonel, his advisor, approached and stood beside him.
“At this rate, you’ll collapse. You should eat something.”
But Serlhin’s response did not come at once. After a pause, he kept his eyes fixed on the goddess statue and spoke.
“Wouldn’t it be better simply to die?”
“Your Highness. How can you speak such words?”
“What use is living alone? Without her.”
“Your Highness…….”
Leonel exhaled heavily, his expression one of exasperation.
“You must stop this. You must forget……at last.”
Then Serlhin’s head, which had been raised toward the statue, turned slowly toward Leonel.
His eyes were empty and devoid of feeling, yet somehow unsettling.
“Do you believe the same? That I should forget her?”
“It has been more than two years. Sia herself would not wish to see you like this—.”
Then it happened.
Clang! Before Leonel could finish, Serlhin had drawn Leonel’s sword.
The movement was impossibly fast for someone who had been standing limp and listless only moments before.
And a scream erupted from an unexpected place.
Crash!
Serlhin, having drawn Leonel’s sword, had severed the throat of the knight accompanying Leonel without a moment’s hesitation.
“Your Highness!”
Leonel cried out in shock. But Serlhin, his expression as indifferent as before the knight’s death, spoke calmly.
“He died in your stead.”
“…….”
“I cannot afford to lose you as well, having already lost her.”
“Sire, Your Highness…….”
“Though not as precious as she is, you too are someone I cherish.”
“…….”
“However.”
Serlhin brought the blood-stained blade close to Leonel’s chin, his voice soft and measured.
“Speak that child’s name one more time, and next time I’ll take your head. Remember that.”
“…….”
With a sharp clang, Serlhin hurled Leonel’s sword to the floor. Then he turned and walked back toward the statue.
Serlhin gazed up at the sculpture with the same expression, the same eyes as before.
“What was I hoping for, really.”
All I wanted was to keep you by my side.
It was always that simple.
‘From the moment I first saw you, I knew I had to keep you close.’
And so you became my blade, my shadow, standing guard at my side.
‘Yes. Up until then, it was perfect.’
But how did it come to this?
‘Where, what went wrong?’
I don’t know.
‘Hundreds of times, thousands of times I’ve gone back over it, and still I don’t understand. Why did this happen.’
This was never part of my plan.
“Sia.”
Serlhin called the longed-for name softly.
“Sia…….”
He turned his gaze from the statue and looked out toward the window.
A cloudless blue sky stretched before him like a painting.
A blue sky that resembled that child.
Serlhin gazed at that sky and spoke to the aide behind him.
“The last place left is there, isn’t it?”
“……Yes, Your Highness.”
“Then there’s no choice. We must go. We must verify it ourselves.”
“…….”
Serlhin withdrew his gaze from the sky and turned to leave.
“Let’s go, Leonel. Bring her to me at once.”

***

A chill ran down my spine.
‘What?’
I spun around quickly.
‘What was that?’
I rubbed the back of my neck and tilted my head, puzzled. A sudden cool breeze had swept across my nape for no reason.
‘Strange.’
As I felt at the back of my neck and glanced around, Allen, walking beside me, asked.
“Is something the matter?”
“No, it’s nothing. Just a sudden chill.”
“Are you catching a cold?”
Allen looked startled. I shook my head.
“No. You know I’m not one to get sick easily.”
I laughed lightly.
Allen had returned from the battlefield to become my escort once more.
But had Ed, who’d been watching me in Allen’s place, returned to his post? That wasn’t the case either.
My master, Allen, and on top of that, the aide Ed.
‘How many people are assigned to watch me anyway?’
Even after becoming a steward, the number of those keeping watch had not diminished.
‘So you still don’t trust me that much, Grand Duke.’
I couldn’t think of any position more trustworthy than steward…….
As I sat with such weighty thoughts, Allen and I arrived at the Laundry Room.
“Starting with the bed sheets. Please make sure to separate them properly so they don’t bleed color.”
“Yes, I’ll be careful.”
Then I went through the Garden, the Smithy, the Medical Room, and the Stable, checking each one thoroughly.
Since this was the first time I’d made the rounds with him after becoming a steward, Allen looked quite surprised to be accompanying me.
After helping a mare give birth in the Stable, Allen spoke.
“Does a steward normally handle all these duties?”
“I’m not sure. I don’t know what stewards in other houses do. But I……I do them.”
“…….”
“This is a matter of House of Balot, after all.”
It was a rather convincing answer. Especially with Commander Allen standing there as my supervisor.
‘Now, hurry along and report to the Grand Duke.’
I’d never seen nor heard of a butler quite like this one. Now you could say you believed it.
‘Pour out all the good things about me right in front of the Grand Duke, Commander Allen.’
I turned away, smiling inwardly with satisfaction.
Just then, the main gate of the Grand Duke’s residence opened, and an ornate carriage rolled through.
Commander Allen, recognizing the crest on the carriage, muttered under his breath.
“It’s an Imperial Carriage.”
“Imperial?”
Commander Allen explained.
“There’s a red flag planted on the carriage.”
I nodded.
“Yes, that signifies an Urgent Message.”
The flags planted on Imperial Carriages come in three colors, broadly speaking.
Red means an Urgent Message, blue concerns diplomatic matters or imperial ceremonies, and black means a death notice.
I watched the carriage come to a halt in front of the Main Building and walked toward it. Receiving messengers from the palace and delivering their letters to the Grand Duke—that was a butler’s duty.
As I walked toward the carriage, Commander Allen’s voice reached my ears from behind.
“Go on, then.”
I turned back briefly and nodded at him.
“Yes.”
For some reason, an ominous feeling crept over me.

***

“What? An Alliance?!”
Advisor Ed burst out in alarm.
The news the palace messenger had brought concerned an Alliance request from the Tenasis Empire.
After the palace messenger left, the three of us gathered at once in the Office.
The Grand Duke spoke.
“There’s no need to be alarmed. Nothing’s been decided yet.”
Then Ed nodded in agreement.
“That’s right. It’s not the kind of decision one makes lightly, that’s true. But those brazen bastards—the audacity of them! Now they come asking for an Alliance as if we’d welcome them with open arms?!”
Ed let out a harsh laugh. At that moment, the Grand Duke gazed at me quietly and said.
“You leave.”
“……Yes, Your Grace.”
The Grand Duke had dismissed only me from the room.
‘Tch. I could listen too, couldn’t I?’
My work as a butler was done, wasn’t it?
And yet I was curious…….
I left the Office, keeping my true feelings hidden.
For a moment, I considered lingering at the door to eavesdrop, but soon abandoned the idea.
The Grand Duke would certainly notice that.
Still…….
‘An Alliance, you say…….’
As I walked the corridor, my thoughts churned in confusion.
The man who despised and loathed the Kadea Empire more than anyone else was Crown Prince Serlhin of the Tenasis Empire.
And yet now an Alliance—one requested by the Tenasis Empire themselves, no less?
Ah.
A thought struck me suddenly.
‘Could it be that Serlhin is dead?!’

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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