Villain Family’s Strongest Butler - Chapter 53

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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 56

I wanted to turn the question back on him.
‘Why is the Grand Duke bringing up Serhine’s name right now?’
I hid my confusion and looked at Kardrian as I spoke.
“Your Highness. Isn’t that the name of the Crown Prince of the Tenasis Empire?”
I continued with an innocent expression, as though I couldn’t fathom his question.
“It’s a name any member of House of Balot should certainly know.”
I laughed—ha, ha, ha—but Kardrian cut through my laughter with a cold voice.
“It doesn’t sound like a name you’d call out tenderly in your sleep.”
“Pardon?”
I looked at Kardrian with startled eyes.
“You’re saying I spoke that name in my sleep talk?”
Seriously?!
I’d talked in my sleep? And of all names, it had to be Serhine’s?
‘Damn it…….’
Causing trouble even while asleep!
Kardrian then regarded me in silence. His violet eyes held a decidedly sharp edge.
But all that suspicious scrutiny would do him no good.
‘Does he think I’m just going to admit it?’
Not after all this time keeping my identity hidden. Pfft.
I decided to become shameless about it.
“I must have been dreaming. I don’t remember it, but perhaps in the dream I was lopping off the head of an enemy crown prince.”
…….
“House of Balot has been locked in a long confrontation with the Crown Prince of Tenasis over the Lemart Disputed Territory. I’m aware of this.”
…….
“So as a steward in service to House of Balot, how could I not harbor resentment? I suspect that feeling simply manifested itself in a dream.”
As I shrugged and spoke without a care, Kardrian let out a soft chuckle. It was unmistakably mockery.
Ahem. I turned my head away from his piercing gaze, feigning indifference.
A dream, he said. And in that dream I’d supposedly severed an enemy crown prince’s head.
‘What’s he going to do about it?’
I returned his mockery with my own, silently.
But still…….
‘Why does Serhine appear in this body’s childhood memories?’
Were this body, Kardrian, and Serhine somehow entangled?
I couldn’t find any connection between the three of us.
‘There’s something there…….’
As I stood there with a serious expression, lost in thought, Kardrian had drawn near and pressed his palm against my forehead.
“Huh?”
What? ……What?
I looked up at Kardrian with wide eyes. His expression remained unmoved, but the warmth in his palm was gentle.
The turbulent worry that had been churning through my mind a moment before evaporated in an instant.
Kardrian spoke.
“At least you don’t seem to have a fever.”
…….
Then his hand withdrew from my forehead. He gazed quietly into my eyes.
“Steward.”
The light in his gaze and the tone of his voice held something difficult to face. I turned away, avoiding his eyes, and answered obediently.
……Yes, Your Highness.
“If you collapse this frequently, I’ll prevent you from participating in the Hunting Festival.”
“What?!”
I lifted my head quickly, looking at Kardrian with surprise. He sighed and spoke.
“It means you need to take care of your health. There isn’t much time left before the Hunting Festival.”
“Ah……. I will, Your Highness.”
“Eat more.”
I tilted my head in confusion.
……More than this?
I’m already eating quite a lot as it is.
The Grand Duke nodded.
“That’s right. Don’t hold back—eat as much as you’d like. I won’t deduct it from your wages.”
Eat as much as I’d like. Won’t deduct it from my wages. At those words, I opened my eyes wide and answered with utmost sincerity.
“Yes, Your Highness. I shall repay such boundless grace with unwavering loyalty.”
…….
The Grand Duke looked at me with an expression of mild bemusement, then let out a soft laugh.
‘Oh…… He laughed.’
Not the usual derision or mockery he showed—but genuine laughter.
‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen him laugh like that before.’
The Grand Duke rose from his chair and walked to the window. I watched his back in silence.
In truth, I had never felt self-conscious about eating at the Grand Duke’s Estate.
‘The people of the House of Balot have always been kind to me from the start.’
They would press more food upon me to eat, not make me feel awkward for taking it.
Yet there was no denying that his words—eat more—settled something in my chest, warming it with a sense of belonging.
‘This Grand Duke. He knows exactly how to use my weakness for food against me.’
He truly was clever and meticulous.
I withdrew my gaze from his back and let the thought settle.
By now, I had to admit it.
‘Everyone in this Estate is genuinely good.’
That, of course, included the Grand Duke himself and Anette as well.
Over these past two years, though I remained an outsider, I had never felt the sting of alienation or loneliness.
‘Even Anette, whom I’ve known for mere days……’
My heart twisted. This was guilt—unmistakably so.
That feeling I’d sensed in Anette’s kindness toward me. That feeling from the people of the Estate who treated me so well.
With each passing day, that emotion—the one I’d tried so hard to ignore—gnawed at my chest and tormented me.
‘This is it…… This is not where I belong……’
I slipped down from the bed and glanced sidelong at the Grand Duke’s bedding, which I had left in disarray, and spoke.
“I am sorry for the trouble I’ve caused you, Your Highness.”
At that, the Grand Duke turned to face me.
“Don’t return to your duties until your body has fully recovered.”
“……I beg your pardon?”
When I asked in surprise, he spoke with even firmer resolve.
“You are forbidden from using your Aura to maintain the wards around the Estate, and from entering the Private Training Grounds.”
“Pardon me?! No, Your Highness. Why would you suddenly—”
“It is an order.”
…….
Ah…… As I stared at him in bewilderment, he simply turned away without another word.

***

I came down to the first floor after leaving the Grand Duke’s Bedchamber. It was to tidy up the bed I had left in chaos.
‘I was told not to do Steward duties, so I’ll have to ask the people in the laundry room downstairs.’
As I arrived on the first floor, Barisol, the head maid, happened to pass by and spotted me, hurrying over.
“Freya!”
“Oh, Barisol. Perfect timing. About the Grand Duke’s Bedchamber—”
“Freya!”
“Oof!”
Barisol pulled me into a strong embrace, her voice trembling.
“You collapsed?! I knew it would happen! Didn’t I tell you to take it easy?!”
“B-Barisol.”
Barisol loosened her hold slightly and ran her hands over my face and body.
“Are you hurt anywhere? Your head doesn’t still ache, does it? Your stomach isn’t upset?”
“No. I’m truly fine now.”
“Then why does your face look so gaunt?”
“No, that’s—”
“You eat three or four times as much as most knights, yet you never gain weight—that must mean you’ve been pushing yourself too hard.”
…….
“But why did you come down? You should go back upstairs and rest. His Highness has ordered that you refrain from duties for some time.”
…….
He’d already made that known?
‘It seems the decision was already made while I was lying here.’
As I hesitated, Delia, who managed the laundry room, emerged as if she’d heard the commotion downstairs.
“Miss Freya!”
“Oh, Delia. Sorry, but the Grand Duke’s bedsheets and—”
“Whoosh!”
“—Oof!”
Delia rushed over at the same speed as Barisol and swept me into an embrace.
What on earth is wrong with these people?!
“Delia?”
“From now on, I’ll handle all the bedsheets and covers! Miss Freya, don’t lay a finger on them! This happened because you keep rushing in to do our work first!”
“…Delia, that’s not really—”
And then Rend, the cook who’d suddenly appeared, pressed a Picnic Basket filled with snacks into my hands, his nose twitching slightly.
“You must have collapsed from not eating enough. I’ve put together some things I know Miss Freya likes. Eat up and regain your strength.”
“…”
After that, Patrick the gardener brought flowers he said had healing properties, cutting them from the Temple Garden and arranging them in a Flower Pot for me, while Ert from the library mentioned he’d already left some books in my room for me to read during my rest.
I told them all several times that I was perfectly fine, but they wouldn’t believe me.
Like people who’d been waiting for this moment all along, they were all desperate to push me into my bedchamber.
“Go on up and rest now.”
“Yes.”
“Wash up first, then straight to bed, understood?”
“Yes…”
“Steward! This is dried herbs that help with sleep. If you keep it by your pillow, you’ll drift right off.”
“Thank you, Celi.”
“I’ll send up some warm tea, so go on up ahead, Freya.”
“Riel, you don’t have to go that far…”
“No arguments! Off you go!”
“…Yes.”
I made my way back to my fourth-floor bedchamber with all the items and food they’d given me, when a bundle of fur came flying and draped itself over my head.
[Steward! I saw you collapse! Are you all right? Is it really okay for you to be moving around already?!]
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
I set the Picnic Basket and various gifts on the desk, then walked to the bed and collapsed onto it face-first.
[Steward!]
The startled bundle of fur called out to me. I answered with my face buried in the quilt.
“I’m okay. Just resting like this for a bit.”
At last, the world around me fell silent.
No more worried voices urging me to rest, no more careful and tender hands of affection.
The silence I’d so desperately wanted, with everything gone.
Yet somehow, my eyes and the tip of my nose began to sting.
I never asked for this…
This warmth, this affection, this tenderness.
They were all far too much for someone like me, who could never honestly reveal anything.
‘If only…’
If only I were truly the master of this body, how wonderful that would be…

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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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