The Arrow of Destiny Cuts Through the Night

#53

“That will be all for today.”

The teacher, finishing the lesson on other imperial families, said while adjusting the monocle worn on his right eye. Then he greeted Marchioness Elmerila, who was sitting at the large desk in the office doing other work.

“Marchioness, I’ll be taking my leave then.”

“You’ve worked hard.”

“I’m just glad to be of help to the Gerold family.”

The teacher gave a formal bow before leaving the head’s office.

As soon as the door closed with a click, Elmerila spoke.

“Well, you’ve had a week of heir education. Tell me your thoughts.”

At the words of Marchioness Elmerila sitting at the head seat, the two sitting at a table specially prepared for the young masters receiving heir lessons raised their heads. The Marchioness, seated at the large office table, was waiting for their answers.

In one corner of the large office used by the family head, a desk was set up for Jersian and Hernin, and the education took place there. During that time, Marchioness Elmerila had paid no attention to Jersian and Hernin as if she had forgotten they were there. Despite being in the same space, she had spent more time talking with other retainers than with the Marchioness.

The Marchioness, who had said she would decide on an heir, seemed so uninterested that one might think she had spoken in the heat of the moment. Even Hernin Gerold, who had been on edge for days afraid of making a mistake, now seemed a bit more at ease. He had even cracked a joke to another retainer yesterday. Of course, the joke wasn’t funny.

“Yes, yes?”

But as soon as he heard that question from Marchioness Elmerila just now, Hernin’s shoulders immediately tensed up. Jersian, sitting next to him, was used to this behavior from Marchioness Elmerila. He looked at the Marchioness with an indifferent face and thought,

‘…She’s so nasty, as always.’

She enjoyed seeing others intimidated and nervous about her reactions. And if the target was Hernin Gerold, it would be even more fun. I should show this side of her to Kain Starchis. Then he would acknowledge that my personality is quite normal compared to the Marchioness.

“…May I, may I speak first?”

Hernin, oblivious, seemed to think answering faster than Jersian would score him better points. Jersian made a disgusted expression right next to Hernin, who had raised his hand high to get the right to speak as if this were an academy class. Like Marcus Gerold, that family tended to desire much more than their actual abilities.

“Yes, Hernin. Go ahead.”

Marchioness Elmerila gave Hernin the opportunity first with an unreadable expression. Immediately, Hernin glanced at Jersian with a triumphant look before speaking.

“For, for a week, I learned how important the work of the Gerold family head is…”

However, having focused only on answering before Jersian, the words flowing from his mouth had little substance.

…Isn’t this just a diary entry?

Even though he thought there must be a reason why the Marchioness had chosen that guy herself, no matter how much he observed from the side, he couldn’t quite understand what that reason might be. The interest in Jersian’s eyes, quietly listening to Hernin’s words from the side, quickly disappeared.

It seemed the same for Marchioness Elmerila as well.

“…And I also learned a lot from the regular meetings held every day…”

Hernin continued speaking as if he intended to recount everything he had done over the week. Marchioness Elmerila, who had been listening patiently for a few sentences since she had asked first, waved her hand in the air as Hernin was about to open his mouth again and said,

“Yes, yes, Hernin. You’ve listened diligently.”

– She summarized Hernin’s long-winded impressions with this short sentence and then looked at Jersian beside him. Jersian, sensing it was his turn, opened his mouth.

“During the week of lessons, I… became more curious about your thoughts, Marchioness.”

“My thoughts?”

One of Marchioness Elmerila’s eyebrows shot up as she rested her chin on her hand. Usually, people from the Gerold family found it difficult to properly express their opinions to her. But Jersian was different. He continued speaking in a clear voice with his back straight. To be honest, this was his true feelings disguised as impressions.

“In fact, I don’t think I’m the right person to succeed as the head of the Gerold family.”

He could feel Hernin’s gaze, meaning ‘Are you crazy?’, touching his cheek from right next to him, but Jersian didn’t turn his head in that direction, maintaining eye contact with the Marchioness.

“…Oh? Is that so?”

Marchioness Elmerila’s eyes narrowed at the unexpected statement. She hadn’t expected to hear such words from Jersian. Is he saying he’ll hand over the position of family head to Hernin? He has less ambition and lacks spirit than I thought. How disappointing. Marchioness Elmerila, who had been resting her chin on her hand, sat up straight and looked at Jersian with sharp eyes before speaking.

“So, what are you trying to say? Are you withdrawing after just a week of lessons?”

“Aren’t you going to ask why I think I’m not the right person?”

“…”

Although she was displeased at seemingly losing control of the conversation to her young nephew, Marchioness Elmerila decided to go along with Jersian’s lead for now. As long as she had her eye on him as the heir to succeed the family, she planned to be a little more lenient with the two children.

“…Why do you think you’re not?”

“First of all, I’m not as desperate for the position of family heir as Hernin here.”

“I’m well aware of that much. But the position of heir isn’t given just because one is desperate.”

“Then I’m even more curious about your thoughts, Marchioness. Why did you specifically choose Hernin and me for this position?”

“Are you asking me to tell you why I chose you two? How impertinent. What meaning would there be if you can’t figure that out for yourselves?”

Swish, swish. Hernin’s head moved restlessly every time Jersian and Elmerila spoke. It was because his name had appeared in the conversation. Jersian, ignoring Hernin, said,

“Secondly, in terms of affection for the Gerold family, I would probably be last. Ah, not just among the cousins, but even within this mansion.”

At those words, Marchioness Elmerila’s eyes sharpened.

“Jersian Gerold. You don’t seem to know what’s appropriate to say in front of me, the family head.”

“Didn’t you already know this as well?”

“There’s a big difference between just knowing something and having an ungrateful brat blabber it directly to me.”

“…”

Jersian’s red pupils turned towards Marchioness Elmerila. Despite the content of her words, his aunt didn’t seem particularly angry.

“I never expected you to have affection for the Gerold family anyway. But wouldn’t it be fair to receive some repayment for protecting and raising you all this time?”

“I think I’ve been repaying that sufficiently until now.”

Over the past few years growing up in the Gerold family, Jersian had taken on numerous tasks. It was completely different from how other cousins, including Hernin, grew up comfortably in their own mansions without knowing much about the world. The Marchioness had unhesitatingly carried out orders from the imperial family, which she called “missions,” and didn’t keep them secret from Jersian.

“Why do you think I’ve been giving you such tasks all this time?”

“…”

Wasn’t it to properly show the dirty side of the imperial family that usually isn’t visible to the outside? If the purpose was to foster hostility towards the imperial family, it had worked perfectly.

When Jersian remained silent for a moment, Marchioness Elmerila waved her palm in the air and said,

“Alright, alright. I believe you’re not stupid enough to think you can abandon the position of heir with such flimsy excuses. Regardless of what you think, I won’t change my decision.”

“Yes, Marchioness. I’ll continue to study hard!”

“…Yes.”

After listening to their responses with dissatisfaction, the Marchioness stood up. Still not feeling at ease, she added one more thing.

“I’ll decide who’s the right person. You just need to focus on your lessons diligently.”

“Yes!”

Hernin Gerold answered quickly. He might think he had properly passed the test the Marchioness had just given. The Marchioness, who was about to leave the large office, turned her head back. It was towards Jersian’s face, who hadn’t answered yet.

“Jersian Gerold, do you understand?”

“…Yes.”

“Isn’t your engagement ceremony coming up soon? It would be more beneficial for you to help with the engagement preparations rather than having useless thoughts. Many important guests will be coming.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Jersian smiled, twisting his lips upward. Marchioness Elmerila looked at Jersian with disapproval once before closing the door with a bang.