Your Majesty, Dinner Is Ready. Chapter 223 - You're More Than Welcome

Chapter 223: You’re More Than Welcome

 

A spacious basement illuminated by the bright glow of mana lamps.

Shadows cast by objects of various sizes stretched across the room.

“Lady Michelle, are you prepared?”

“Does it look like I am?”

With only four of her chains removed, leaving her somewhat less restrained, Michelle scratched her thigh with her heel.

“Undo a few more. How am I supposed to train anyone looking like this?”

“Oh?”

I blinked innocently and covered my mouth with one hand.

“Surely you aren’t saying you can’t display your usual abilities while merely restrained?”

Rather than mocking her, I tilted my head as though I were genuinely disappointed.

Anyone would have every reason to fly into a rage at that response, yet Michelle merely turned bright red again.

“Grrrrgh…!”

[That’s a severe case. Exactly the sort of human that filthy S’ueje or the depraved Erpha would adore!]

I had no way of knowing what Erpha the Evil God of base lust and wretched ugliness would think.

But the Exalted One was undeniably delighted.

Crackle, crackle!

They had been continuously scattering lightning ever since, thoroughly enjoying Michelle’s reactions.

It had gotten so noisy that even Lord Lriria, who disliked loud sounds, had temporarily excused Himself.

“…So.”

Michelle finally regained her composure after grinning foolishly for a while.

Avoiding my gaze, she asked,

“Who’s the lucky one getting lessons first?”

I walked over, making sure to meet her eyes before replying.

“Lady Rosalia.”

“……”

Standing as far away from Michelle as possible, Rosalia immediately shook her head vigorously.

Seeing that, Michelle frowned slightly before curling one corner of her lips upward.

“Our Rosa’s throwing another tantrum? Want another proper scolding like old times?”

Considering her normally dreadful personality, this was actually an unusually gentle way of speaking.

Though, judging from her icy tone and voice, it would be difficult for the listener to feel that way.

— I don’t want to…

The taciturn assassin even sent a telepathic message, looking at me with increasingly pleading eyes.

“The butler and I will stay here throughout the training.”

I reassured her.

“If you’d like, I’ll even call in the Demon King.”

Once I added that I’d personally act as her half-elf shield if anything happened, Rosalia finally nodded slowly.

She was clearly frightened, but there wasn’t any helping it.

At present, Michelle was the only person capable of guiding Rosalia forward.

“Lady Michelle. Beginning today, please steadily train Lady Rosalia and improve her mastery of [Shadow Kin].”

[Shadow Kin]. The exclusive Mystery possessed only by House Brites, allowing its user to enter the Shadow World.

“How strong does she have to become?”

“Until she can step onto one shadow and move directly to another.”

“What?”

Michelle frowned.

“Maybe you don’t know this, but even among Shadow Kin users, only a tiny handful ever reach that level.”

She looked Rosalia up and down.

“Impossible.”

She shook her head.

“Even if it’s our Rosa, expecting that all of a sudden is unrealistic. Give me an achievable goal.”

“You’re right.”

I nodded.

“However, something unusual happened during our last expedition.”

During the Interracial Grand Harmony Festival, Butterfly Karr, while residing within Rosalia’s body, had shown me a fragment of her future potential.

The ability to move through space simply by stepping onto shadows.

It had only been temporary, so Rosalia herself couldn’t reproduce it.

But the experience undoubtedly remained engraved within both her soul and body.

“I see.”

Michelle nodded slowly.

“Then… ..it’s not completely impossible.”

After hearing my explanation, she shifted into a slouched stance before speaking again.

“Rosa. Let’s begin.”

Rosalia nodded.

“Don’t just nod.”

Michelle glared.

“Answer me. Before I smack your butt.”

“…Yes.”

“Good.”

Michelle continued.

“First, stand on any shadow. Focus your entire mind on the Shadow World.”

“……”

Rosalia repeatedly glanced toward me and the butler, making sure we were still there, before finally following Michelle’s instructions.

“The trick…”

Michelle explained,

“…is imagining the outside world collapsing until only the Shadow World remains. Only when you completely become one with shadow can you move on to the next stage.”

Perhaps because I’d promised such an extraordinary reward, Michelle was teaching far more earnestly than I’d expected.

“Lady Rosalia’s skills have stagnated for quite some time.”

Watching the training beside me, Sergius quietly remarked,

“It seems they’ll finally begin improving.”

“This will certainly be of tremendous help during future expeditions. Lady Rosalia remains the Moonlight Expedition’s core combat strength.”

“Exactly.”

The nameless Demon King had already declared he’d only occasionally accompany us.

I couldn’t rely on him all the time.

As for Michelle, she was simply too strong, so I had no intention of bringing her along on expeditions.

Therefore, Rosalia would inevitably remain the backbone of the Moonlight Expedition.

“…Lord Karr.”

After remaining silent for a while, the butler spoke cautiously.

“To be honest…”

He smiled.

“…I wish you’d continue working as a maid in our mansion.”

“Have you, too, completely fallen for my charms, Butler?”

I struck a subtly cute pose.

Sergius responded with a warm smile.

“Lady Michelle doesn’t show ‘that sort of reaction’ toward just anyone. Because of her naturally violent and rough personality, she always hides her true feelings.”

Had I not mastered [Half-Elf Survival Technique], I never would have captured the Madam’s heart.

“Lord Karr.”

The butler continued,

“You’ve probably already realized this… ..but Lady Michelle and Young Master Odilon actually care about one another very deeply.”

A mother and son who outwardly maintained nothing but icy attitudes, yet inwardly regarded each other as their only remaining family.

However, Odilon refused to place his trust in his mother.

Michelle likewise had no intention of openly showing affection toward her son.

The one responsible for the enormous gap between their actions and their true feelings… was the very person who had thoroughly rotted the hearts of everyone in House Brites.

“…When the family head raised his children…”

Sergius spoke quietly.

“…there was one principle he constantly emphasized.”

The famous saying that symbolized Isidore Brites, head of the family governing District Four.

“Those precious to you are nothing more than weaknesses.”

The elderly butler, who had served House Brites for many years, gave a bitter smile.

“To engrave that principle permanently into everyone’s minds…”

He sighed.

“…whenever someone in the family made a mistake, the family head punished not the person responsible… but the person they treasured most.”

Sometimes, it was merely striking their palms. Other times, it escalated into horrific torture.

Even by the standards of Pletica, the City of Harmony, Isidore Brites’ methods of raising children constituted severe emotional abuse.

There was a reason Odilon, his older brother, and his older sister had all become broken people.

“Well…”

The butler continued,

“Lady Michelle’s uncontrollable temperament has nothing to do with the family head’s methods. However… the reason the two of them began deliberately pushing each other away despite once being close… was because of him.”

“You seem rather dissatisfied.”

“Naturally.”

Sergius laughed softly.

“Not just me. Among the household staff, there aren’t actually many who sincerely respect the family head.”

He stroked his beard.

“I’ve already given up trying to fix Lady Michelle’s personality.”

“But…”

He smiled.

“…I believe it’s entirely possible for those two to treasure one another once again. What do you think?”

“Of course.”

I nodded confidently.

“They can absolutely return to being a happy family.”

I poked both cheeks with my index fingers.

“Provided that I…”

I smiled brightly.

“…the lovable half-elf maid Karr… step in.”

Compared to conquering the Nightmare Dungeon, repairing a mother-and-son relationship was nothing more than a simple pastime.

“…By the way, Lord Karr.”

Suddenly narrowing his eyes, Sergius lowered his voice as though afraid someone might overhear.

“This may be unnecessary concern… but from this point onward, you should be careful. After winning the exploration tournament organized by the Interracial Association… Young Master Nicholas and Lady Flora will undoubtedly recognize the Moonlight Expedition as an enemy.”

“Yes.”

I nodded.

“That much is inevitable.”

The Moonlight Expedition had defeated Jerix and won the championship.

Our performance had been so outstanding that we could no longer hide behind the position of ‘Please go easy on us… we’re weak.’

That was precisely why I’d gone out of my way to recruit Michelle.

“Of the two…”

The butler warned,

“…Young Master Nicholas is especially dangerous. Because of his obsessive personality, he’s painfully slow when making decisions. But once he finally reaches one… there isn’t any extreme measure he won’t resort to.”

Kidnapping. Torture. Threats. Murder.

Such underhanded tactics had always been inseparable from the struggle to inherit House Brites.

And Nicholas fit the family’s cold and ruthless traditions better than anyone.

“The most likely scenario…”

Sergius said gravely,

“…is that he’ll kidnap you, Lord Karr. Starting today, perhaps you should ask the Demon King to act as your bodyguard.”

[Suggestion — The Demon King doesn’t do anything most of the time anyway, so it’d be safest to keep him inside [Land of Nothingness]. Though you’ll have to accept the side effects!]

[Land of Nothingness] wasn’t merely a convenient pocket dimension.

Every time I stored something inside, my mind suffered damage.

That was also why my Godfather constantly suffered from extreme lethargy.

The greater an object’s value, or the higher the rank of the person stored inside, the heavier the burden became.

I couldn’t simply cram anything and everything into it.

“Butler.”

I gave him a warm smile and a thumbs-up.

“Thank you for your concern. But I’ll be fine.”

Sergius chuckled.

“It seems I worried for nothing.”

“Indeed.”

Nicholas’ usual method… kidnapping a promising young explorer, doing all sorts of disgraceful or unspeakable things to them, and ultimately forcing them into becoming his subordinate.

“That actually sounds wonderful.”

I would be more than happy to accept.

 

***

 

That evening, the very day Michelle began training everyone.

“Lord Karr!”

A booming voice echoed through our house.

The holy knight whose dazzlingly white teeth stood out… Valentin, Vice Commander of the Spear of Order.

“Have you been well all this time?!”

“I’ve always been perfectly healthy.”

After politely bowing, I met the eyes of the priest who had accompanied him.

“Father.”

I smiled.

“For some reason, it feels like it’s been quite a long time since we last met.”

“Haha.”

Lucius smiled gently.

“Does it?”

“Apparently…”

I smiled back.

“…I’ve unconsciously been missing you very much, Father.”

“My apologies for not visiting more often.”

Lucius bowed.

“Preparations for the festival kept me extremely busy.”

I led both the holy knight and the priest to the dining table.

Once seated, Valentin repeatedly glanced at me before cautiously asking,

“By the way… that outfit?”

“This?”

I lightly lifted the hem of my golden maid uniform.

“Beginning today, I have become both the captain of the Moonlight Expedition… and Young Master Odilon’s personal maid.”

“I-I see…!”

“…Please don’t take him seriously.”

Marlin muttered quietly as she and Abel brought refreshments.

Smiling warmly at the children, Lucius spoke.

“Lord Karr. What did you summon us here for?”

“Nothing especially important.”

Sitting across from Lucius, I winked with even greater sincerity than usual.

“I’d simply like to find a new home.”

“Oh!”

Valentin flashed his brilliantly white teeth in a huge grin.

“Just tell me exactly what you’re looking for! I’ll run around personally and find the perfect house for you!”

Being friends with this excessively passionate holy knight was truly useful at times like this.

“And if you tell me what kind of interior decorations you’d like…”

He thumped his chest proudly.

“…I’ll personally supervise decorating the house as well!”

“Thank you.”

I smiled.

“Then I’ll leave everything in your capable hands. As for the money–”

“You can pay later!”

Valentin interrupted immediately.

“You’re an honored guest of the Church of Harmony! That much consideration is the least we can offer!”

Thanks to Valentin, I was able to skip every troublesome procedure.

If I had nothing else to do, I honestly would’ve enjoyed even a long, exhausting process.

Unfortunately, I no longer had much free time.

“Then I’ll get started immediately!”

“You could stay a little longer–”

Before anyone could stop him, Valentin had already rushed out.

“…Then, Father Lucius.”

I looked toward him.

“I’d like to ask something of you as well.”

Tap.

Using [Hand That Grips the World] telekinesis, I brought over an object that had been resting nearby and placed it on the table.

A murky yellowish-green sheet of stationery. It was the entrance to a labyrinth.

[Entrance to the [Rotten Crossroads Black Market].]

Leaning forward slightly, I made my request to Lucius.

“Would you kindly sell me…”

I smiled politely.

“…at the human trafficking auction in the black market?”