“If you were the Little Lady, where would you sell weapons from now on?”
Me? If it were me……
The answer came easily.
“To the side that wants to defend and protect.”
Was that the right answer?
Laphiren wore an expression that was hard to read, but he did not refute my opinion. Rather—
“That is correct. Not to those who wish to wage war, but to those who wish to prepare for war. Not weapons for attacking, but weapons for defense. That is what Driblyane should develop and sell from now on.”
“!”
Then I got it right!
Feeling a little proud, I puffed out my chest.
“Furthermore, these modern guns will now be sold to nobles. The age of the sword has passed. From now on, nobles all over the world will learn how to use guns as part of their education.”
So that was the future Driblyane envisioned.
‘It’s an inevitable change brought about by the times.’
The world was naturally transitioning from an age of swords to an age of guns.
‘Then I want to be good at shooting guns, too.’
Swords were heavy and difficult to learn, but guns weren’t. To prepare for the countless threats that would come in the future, I wanted to at least be able to protect myself.
After the brief lesson and questions about weapons were over, Laphiren cleared everything away and brought out a book this time.
“Now then, let us move on to the most basic of the basics. We shall begin with the family tree.”
Ah!
At the appearance of something I desperately needed, I puffed out a little breath through my nose.
“First, if there is one thing you absolutely must know, it is that there are currently ten heirs to the Driblyane family.”
The current head of the family, Immanuel, had three other siblings—brothers and sisters. They had children, and those children had children of their own, resulting in the ten heirs who existed today.
“The heirs of Driblyane are evaluated at all times. Then, from time to time, the head of the family weeds out the weak. There are also cases where they give up on their own.”
“Mhm.”
“So, Little Lady, you do not need to know each of the heirs individually right now. No, please do not even try to remember them.”
Laphiren covered the family tree with his hand, hiding it from view.
Well, I suppose I shouldn’t get close to a child who would eventually be kicked out of the position of heir anyway.
“That is why the heirs are housed separately in the Heirs’ Residence. At some point, there will be those who fulfill the conditions for entering the main house……”
“They will?”
“Only those who enter the main house are the ones you need to remember.”
Ah-ha. Even if there were a lot of them, I didn’t have to remember all of them!
I didn’t know what those conditions were, but I clearly understood the important part, so I nodded.
‘So that’s why, aside from the three male protagonists in the original story, the others were barely even described.’
Now I had a much clearer idea of what I needed to do.
“Only three people can enter the main house. You could also consider them the candidates to become the Little Lady’s husband.”
“Three out of ten……”
“Yes. At present, Lord Gerd, who has considerable political standing, is the most likely candidate.”
I glared at the name.
As luck would have it, Gerd’s name was right there in a part that Laphiren’s hand had not covered.
Watching me, Laphiren bent down and placed a finger over Gerd’s name.
“Would you like to eliminate him?”
“……Eliminate?”
“If so, devise a scheme. Young Master Gerd was raised as a prince, so he is very proud. He will surely hold a grudge and cause trouble sooner or later.”
Laphiren let out a short sigh and shook his head. His tone suggested that even thinking about it was exhausting.
“If possible, it would be best to drive him out before that happens. The faction supporting Young Master Gerd within this estate is quite strong.”
“……What if I can’t dwide him out……?”
“Well, perhaps there might be poison in your meals starting tomorrow.”
Eek! Was that really something he could say so calmly?!
“Even so, they will not make any major moves until it becomes known that Lord Kiraxus is absent.”
“But…… he said he was going to the mountains……”
“Yes. Once that fact becomes known, things will become rather difficult for you.”
For some reason, Kiraxus had said that he would unconditionally take my side.
But the others were sane, so they weren’t going to blindly accept me one hundred percent.
‘In other words, now that Kiraxus isn’t here, I’m in danger.’
How am I supposed to survive?
Should I go to Jeff and ask whether the kitchen staff could personally bring me my meals since there might be poison in them? Or should I just say I’ll go downstairs and eat myself so I don’t make things troublesome?
“As the one entrusted with teaching the Little Lady, I shall tell you what you can do.”
Laphiren looked at me with emotionless eyes.
To him, I was currently nothing special. Even so, he was showing me this kindness……
Was it because of Kiraxus after all?
“First, one thing you can do is find a way for the head of the family to drive Lord Gerd out without causing harm to the family.”
“Mhm.”
That seemed rather difficult.
I stroked my marten whiskers as though I were the greatest schemer in the world.
“Relations between Lichenbium and the Empire are quite close. The Holy Empire also has allied nations, and they procure military supplies from their allies as well, so they cannot simply abandon this country.”
“Mm-hm.”
“Therefore, the head of the family, who must consider the interests of the entire family, will not strip Lord Gerd of his qualifications as an heir over some ordinary matter. His own abilities are not bad, either, so if things continue as they are, he will likely enter the main house.”
Even if I simply chose not to select him, there was one problem: the moment he entered the main house, I would have to watch over that kid until he became an adult.
‘I absolutely hate that!’
I would rather choose someone else for that ticket to the main house and give it to them instead.
“Little Lady, there is something you must understand. A person’s nature does not change, no matter what.”
“So if I don’t dwide him out quickly…… I’ll be the one who suffers?”
“Yes. Lord Gerd does not treat albinos as fellow beastkin. That is also related to the deep-rooted hatred in the Kingdom of Lichenbium.”
“……”
“The successive kings of Lichenbium have ruled the country through hatred and a sense of superiority. Albinos have always been the scapegoats.”
So don’t naively think that you can change their perception.
That was Laphiren’s warning.
Fortunately, I had absolutely no intention of trying to reform some piece of trash.
“Then…… what other way is there?”
“You could achieve a great feat and earn the right to choose.”
“The right to choose?”
“Yes. An ordinary achievement will not be enough. You must accomplish something so remarkable that anyone would have no choice but to acknowledge it. Then the head of the family will grant you the .”
Ah, so this was what he had been trying to get at all along.
“If you say…… the right to choose…….”
“Ten is far too many, after all. He will place in Lady Florin’s hands the right to weed out half of them.”
“!”
“Does that tempt you?”
It does! I really, really want it!
My eyes sparkled.
“Thenk you for telling me.”
“It is nothing. Personally, I consider the Little Lady’s ability, something akin to foresight, to be quite special. I look forward to seeing what other surprises you will show us.”
Laphiren’s attitude was polite, but there was also a certain degree to which he was sizing me up. Still, from this remark alone, I could tell that he was clearly giving me quite a high score.
I briefly wondered how I should respond to that, then made up my mind and decided to invest.
Actually, it wasn’t much……
But it was precious to me.
“Um, Lapi.”
“Yes, Little Lady.”
“Cuz you were nice…… I’ll give you candy.”
I rummaged through the dresser and pulled out a caramel I had secretly tucked away in a corner. It was a super, super delicious strawberry-flavored caramel.
‘I was worried it might have melted and gotten all sticky.’
But I suppose winter had kept it in perfect condition.
I hugged the caramel wrapped in thin paper tightly, then toddled over to Laphiren and held it out to him with both hands.
“I hid-ed it real good. Only you can eat it, Teacher!”
“This is…… caramel. Your nanny is restricting sweets, so you must want to eat it yourself.”
“I…… I’m okay.”
I hesitated for a moment, but it had already left my hands.
I boldly squeezed my eyes shut and turned my head away. If I looked at it, I felt like I might start drooling for no reason.
“……The value of a gift is relative. This caramel…… must have been something very precious to the Little Lady.”
“Mhm.”
“I, Laphiren, shall gratefully accept the Little Lady’s kindness.”
The strawberry caramel disappeared into his hand.
But after hesitating for a moment, he took a step toward me.
“Is there anything else you are curious about? I shall spare you more of my time.”
Ah! What a surprise!
I looked at Laphiren with a brightened expression.
“I have a question.”
I hugged Pompom and carefully typed out my questions.
—There must have been people like Gerd in the past, right? But if they weren’t chosen to become the head of the family, I feel like they would have rebelled pretty badly……
Did everyone really accept the mistress’s choice without a fuss? The candidates to become the head of the family are all alphas, too.
—What happens to the candidates for head of the family who aren’t chosen?
Don’t they start a rebellion or something?
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