Chapter 141: The Familiar at the Table

‘Weren’t Karbaldr’s siblings supposed to be staying at the town house in the Capital? Why was she waiting for me here?’

The question left me feeling uneasy, but I couldn’t refuse to board the carriage. So, after climbing inside, I took a closer look at the face of the first passenger.

Her long, snow-white hair flowed down smoothly without a single curl, and her eyes were a pure shade of violet. Her expression was more indifferent than cold, and her gaze as she looked at her younger brother’s Possession Body was equally impassive.

Karbaldr’s features were the spitting image of the portrait of the late Duchess. The woman before me, however, was a carbon copy of the Duke—not just in her features, but in her gaze, expression, and the very atmosphere she exuded.

“I heard the news. You lost your memory?” Ragfrid spoke up as the carriage began to move.

“…Is that why you came to meet me?”

“Our schedules just happened to overlap. I finished my business in the Capital, and it happened to be the day you were returning.”

She could have at least offered a white lie, saying she came because she was worried about her brother whose memory was fractured. Then again, if she cared enough about her youngest brother to do that, she would have found time to visit me before I left for the Academy, no matter how busy she was. It wasn’t as if traveling took days; it’s a quick trip if you use a Gate.

The fact that neither of my two older siblings had even shown their faces back then came back to me.

“Even so, isn’t it a waste of time to wait specifically for me?”

“Taking time out of my day to talk to you would be a greater waste. On the other hand, if I wait just a moment, I can use the travel time to have a conversation. It’s efficient.”

“Do you have something to say to me?”

“Hmm… let me rephrase that. It wasn’t that I wanted to have a conversation, but rather, I wanted to see the appearance of the newly born Familiar with my own eyes. And I wanted to check the condition of my brother who supposedly lost his memory while I was at it.”

Now that I think about it, I had skipped over it in my narration because I thought it didn’t matter. A few days after Yor was born, I received a letter from the Possession Body’s family. They told me to visit once during the weekend with the Familiar.

“Hearing the rumors, I was skeptical, but your eyes really are sky blue.”

It seemed those rumors had indeed leaked outside the Academy. I would have to return anyway once the break started, so I was glad I had refused their request, citing that wasting time on the road was inefficient.

“To me, he is a precious family member that I wouldn’t trade for anyone.”

I hugged Yor tightly and glared at Ragfrid with wary eyes. I wanted to convey my resolve that if she spoke carelessly about Yor, I wouldn’t let it slide.

“To say such a thing while showing hostility toward me, your real family. Even if you’ve lost your memory, don’t you think you’re being out of line?”

“Weren’t you… no, weren’t you and I never on affectionate terms to begin with, Sister?”

“How can you be so sure if you’ve lost your memory?”

“If there had been even a single family member I could rely on, the version of me before the memory loss wouldn’t have attempted suicide by consuming poison. That’s why I’m certain.”

When I said that, the sister of this Possession Body fell into silent thought for a moment. Then, maintaining her rigid, expressionless face, she nodded as if she understood.

“Indeed, that is a logical argument.”

“Is the inspection over now?”

“Not yet.”

“Then please continue.”

“Are you… planning to try again?”

The subject was omitted, but it wasn’t difficult to guess what she was talking about.

“I have no intention of doing that. Since I now have a being I must take responsibility for.”

“The Familiar?”

“Yes.”

“I see.”

“……”

“…What is his name?”

“It’s Jormungand.”

“I see.”

With that, the conversation came to an end. I spent the rest of the time fiddling with the baby dragon’s mane while holding him. Ragfrid lightly scratched the scruff of her Leopard Familiar’s neck and gazed out the window.

Only after a long time had passed and the carriage stopped in front of the Duke’s Territory was I finally able to escape the space filled with uncomfortable silence.

“Welcome back, First Young Lady, Third Young Lord. Was your journey peaceful?”

Unlike when I left for the Academy, quite a few people were in sight. The one who stepped forward to greet us was an elderly head butler. I recognized him because I would inevitably run into him while living in the Duke’s Territory, but…

‘He probably wasn’t waiting here to welcome me anyway.’

The people gathered here could be divided into two main categories: those who supported the Young Lady as the next Duke, or those who, while not supporting her directly, wanted to leave a good impression.

Therefore, the butler mentioning the ‘Third Young Lord’ was only because he couldn’t ignore me when I was standing right there; he didn’t sincerely welcome the return of the Possession Body.

I passed by him without a word and stopped in front of a young servant standing in the corner. In this crowd, this boy was likely the only one waiting specifically for ‘Karbaldr.’

“Yon. Were you waiting for me?”

“Yes! I am the Young Lord’s exclusive servant, after all!”

“I see.”

I nodded lightly at the boy’s energetic response and walked ahead toward my destination. However, I had to stop after only a few steps because of a voice from behind.

“Little brother, where are you going?”

“I’m going to my room.”

“When you return home after a long absence, it is basic etiquette to first pay your respects to the elders of the house.”

Ragfrid spoke in a flat, monotone voice as if she were lecturing me. It seemed she assumed her brother, having lost his memory, had forgotten basic manners and was about to commit a rude act unintentionally.

“I know that much. But if the person receiving the greeting feels uncomfortable, wouldn’t that be even more of a discourtesy? You might have matters to report to Father regarding your work in the Capital, so it might be proper for you to visit him, but it’s different for me.”

“Then what is the etiquette you should observe?”

“For a mere nuisance like me to bother Father, who is busy with work, just to offer a greeting would be nothing but a burden, wouldn’t it? Therefore, I believe the greatest courtesy I can show him is to wait for him to call for me when he has time.”

“Why did you come to think that way…?”

“As you know, I… have decided to stop acting like a spoiled child. Once I threw away everything I wanted from Father, I could finally see it. I saw what it is he wants from me.”

Only a very few people within this Duke’s Territory knew the fact (?) that Karbaldr had taken poison and lost his memory. So, I had to be vague, but fortunately, Ragfrid seemed to understand my words correctly. Then again, if someone aiming for the position of Duke couldn’t even catch on to something like this, they would be unqualified.

“Then I’ll be resting in my room until Father calls for me.”

“…Go ahead.”

A hint of hesitation appeared on her expressionless face. Based on her reaction, she didn’t seem to fully accept my argument as correct. Even so, the reason she let me go so easily was likely because she couldn’t think of a counterargument.

As I turned my back on Ragfrid to head to the Possession Body’s room, the faces of various people—including the head butler—passed through my vision.

Because Karbaldr has a ‘flaw’ in his Ether Characteristic Ability, he will never become the Duke, so it is a certainty that he will one day leave the Dukedom. Thus, they didn’t pay him much attention and viewed him more as a guest. It wasn’t that they particularly hated or looked down on Karbaldr.

‘As I thought, they pity me.’

Contempt disguised as pity is bad, but pure feelings of compassion aren’t inherently wrong. At least, that’s how it felt to me. Wasn’t the young servant following right behind me proof that such feelings could be helpful?

‘It’s much better to be treated as a poor young master who gave up on seeking his father’s affection than to be an arrogant Third Young Lord who can’t even get a shred of interest from the Duke!’

Furthermore, this came with the added benefit that as long as Hard didn’t call for me first, I didn’t have to go looking for him. Not only could I skip formal greetings like today, but if I had any requests, I could just relay them through the butler or servants, so there was no need to go to him and say things I didn’t want to say.

Pride doesn’t put food on the table. I don’t know why Karbaldr ignored this easy path. If he had acted as I do now, he would have received interest and care in the form of sympathy from many.

“Ah…!!”

The moment I opened the door to the Possession Body’s room and stepped inside, Yon suddenly let out a frantic cry.

“What is it?”

“I forgot to bring your luggage from the carriage…! I’ll go get it right now!”

“No, there’s no need for that.”

I wondered what was wrong, but it was nothing special. I took off the Cintamani Bracelet and handed it to Yor, asking him to take out the luggage.

As the cute baby dragon replied with a “Nyang~!” and shook the Yeouiju, which had returned to its original form, the luggage bags popped out with a *poof*.

The young servant let out an exclamation of “Whoa!!” at the mysterious sight.

“Where did you get such a miraculous item?!”

“My Familiar has had it since he was born.”

“Then do other Familiars have artifacts like that too? But why didn’t I know about it?”

“It’s probably because there has never been a Familiar born with such an artifact until now.”

“Heh…”

The servant looked back and forth between the baby dragon’s eyes and the Yeouiju in his hand, letting out a strange sound.

I suspected he might think I was pulling a scam by secretly obtaining a rare artifact to make Yor seem special because I was anxious about the fact that the Familiar’s eyes weren’t violet. Even if I voiced this suspicion, it would only hurt me to create an awkward relationship with my exclusive servant. So, I decided to just ignore it.

“I want to rest after having lunch as soon as I’m finished washing up, so make the preparations.”

“Yes! I’ll prepare the bathwater and then inform the kitchen!”

“For your information, my Familiar prefers to eat neatly plated food using cutlery, so please relay that to the kitchen as well.”

“……Yes?”

“Just tell them to bring two portions of human food. And bring two sets of cutlery.”

“Ah..? Y-Yes..”

Even though Yon looked bewildered, he carried out my instructions faithfully. When I finished my bath and stepped out of the bathroom, two portions of food and cutlery sets were neatly laid out on the table.

The young servant’s expression, which was half-doubtful and half-expectant when Yor took his seat at the table, quickly turned to complete astonishment.

I hadn’t had the right opportunity to mention it in the narration until now. Despite having a different finger structure than a human’s, My Baby Dragon was becoming increasingly proficient in using tools day by day.

As a result, his once crooked handwriting now reached the level of a master calligrapher, and his table manners were near perfect.

After finishing his meal without spilling a single drop of sauce, the sight of him dabbing his mouth with a napkin even felt elegant. Naturally, the young servant who saw this repeatedly exclaimed “Whoa!” with sparkling eyes.