Although I felt a renewed sense of crisis when my second sister's dedicated maid visited the mansion, I still had to do what needed to be done.
"Oh, you've come. Young Master."
"Hellooo..."
"Wait a moment before you go in. Let me straighten your collar."
For instance, stamping my presence in Mother's office first thing in the morning.
Even though I had eaten my third sister and her friend (she insists they're allies), my position in the mansion was still somewhat unstable.
"Young Master, your hair is all messy again today."
"...Oh my, you have some eye gunk too. Schwarz, honestly."
"Everyone, calm down.... Eep."
For instance, the maids waiting in front of the office today, petting me as usual, were the same ones from a few days ago.
No matter how naive I was about the world, I could tell by now that these women were Mother's closest aides stationed in the mansion.
"Hehe, did you sleep well, Young Master?"
"I wonder what clever thing you'll show us today. Hehe."
"Ever since Young Master arrived at the mansion, it feels like there's more energy around here. Don't you all think so?"
And the retainers who always greeted me inside the office were the same familiar faces.
Of course, including those who had shown displeasure at the last retainer meeting, more than half of them still wouldn't even speak to me.
'...It's not easy, as expected.'
Well, in a Monster Ducal House where people dying is an everyday occurrence, I should be satisfied that I've made this many allies so soon after arriving.
But I had no intention of settling for this level. To survive in Belverk going forward, I had to diligently build up more allies.
"You've come."
Of course, to do that, Mother's cooperation was essential.
"Mother, I hope you're well..."
"Hey, kid."
It was right at that moment, as I was bowing to Mother, who was sitting at her desk flipping through documents as always.
"You're small as ever today."
"...Huh?"
A familiar voice rang out, and when I turned to look, Lilien was slouched in a simple chair with her legs crossed improperly, waving at me.
"...I definitely told you to stay confined in your room."
"..."
"Why are you in here?"
I was baffled as to why she was here, and apparently Mother felt the same.
"Sorry, but I made a promise with the kid staking my name on it."
But Lilien wore a brazen expression and suddenly dragged me into it.
"That we'd take any punishment together."
Sorry, but this was news to me. When did we ever make such a promise?
"...Do as you please."
Before I could say anything, Mother reluctantly spat that out and turned her head away.
"Kairen, come sit here."
Mother then moved her legs to make room for me to sit comfortably and patted her thigh to urge me on.
"Up you go."
"Hm."
By now, my desire for accumulating quests outweighed any embarrassment, so I climbed onto her lap without a second thought. For some reason, a satisfied sigh escaped Mother's lips.
"...?"
But when I glanced up subtly, her chest blocked the view, though her expression seemed to be her usual cold one.
'Was it my imagination?'
And Lilien, from whom I'd felt a chill, was still twirling a knife on her finger in her sloppy posture, unchanged.
"Ah."
But as I scratched my head and turned my gaze to the side, I caught their reflections in the window and froze with a blank expression.
- Hummm...
While I wasn't looking, the two were glaring at each other with cold eyes.
For reference, Mother—with me on her lap—was wearing a cold smile, while Lilien was spinning the knife in her hand even faster, probing for an opening in Mother.
'...It's so clichéd.'
In the early parts of romance fantasy parenting stories, the parent and third sibling who get close to the protagonist having a stare-down was also a cliché.
Of course, I never dreamed I'd be at the center of that fight.
"..."
For reference, to avoid witnessing that spectacle, the maids and retainers were desperately averting their eyes everywhere.
If this kept up, the mansion's work wouldn't get done, so should I put in some effort?
"...Kairen would like it if Mother and Big Sister got along well."
With that thought, I uttered words of command over Belverk's monsters, paying the price of my own shame and humiliation.
"That might be a bit hard..."
"Wh-what are you saying? We're close, Kairen."
"Y-yeah. Right, right."
The delayed shock of speaking in third person shook my entire body, raising goosebumps, but the effect was definite.
"Then, let Big Sister sit on your lap too!"
Since things had come to this, maybe I should push forward with the relationship improvement project?
"..."
"..."
The moment I said that, the office atmosphere sank.
Mother and Lilien, who had been glaring seriously, suddenly broke into cold sweats, while the maids and retainers bowed their heads in solemn silence.
"...I-it's nothing. That much is fine. Right."
In that atmosphere, Lilien suddenly gritted her teeth, stood up, and approached with a resolute expression.
"Kairen, do you really want that?"
Meanwhile, Mother urgently checked my reaction and asked, but I had no intention of taking back my words.
- Swish...
After hesitating for a moment, Lilien finally squeezed her eyes shut and sat on Mother's lap, plunging the room into silence.
"Hehe."
In that silence, only my innocent laughter echoed softly.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"...So, the overall budget for this quarter seems to be up 2.2 percent. Am I wrong?"
About an hour later.
"Ooh, that's impressive."
"To do calculations like that at your age isn't easy..."
"As expected of Kairen."
Right after I safely passed the self-proof time that always came after my previous performance.
"I-I can do this much too?"
Lilien, who had been sitting on Mother's lap with a half-dead expression until then, suddenly snatched an investment document from the desk.
"So, uh..."
But soon, her pupils began trembling violently.
"Hey, Kairen."
"Yes?"
"Wh-what's a standard deviation?"
To her following question, I just gave an awkward smile.
'Sorry, Big Sister. That's third-year middle school material.'
Of course, I knew it since I'd taken the college entrance exam, but explaining it simply to Lilien, who was still elementary school age, was impossible.
"Hmph. I-I can make money easily without knowing crap like this?"
"...How?"
"What else? Storm in on the shitty bastards and take everything they've got."
But from what she said, Lilien seemed like she'd live well even without knowing such things.
"Watch your language, Lilien."
"What? Since when did you care..."
In the midst of that, when Mother pointed out Lilien's foul mouth, she flared up with red eyes.
"...Kairen is here."
"That's true."
But upon hearing that, she glanced at me and nodded as if convinced.
"Mother, Big Sister. I have a question."
Feeling like I was becoming the restraint for these two monsters, I gave a wry smile and tossed out a question that suddenly came to mind.
"What kind of person is my second sister?"
Lilien flinched for a moment, then lowered her voice and whispered first.
"...She's got a punchable face. Always going around with half-lidded eyes and that smile."
"Aha..."
"Her body's frail, but... hm. How to put it. Strong in another way."
Aha, that kind of setup. It seemed my second sister didn't stray much from romance fantasy parenting clichés either.
"She's a genius. Never lost first place at the academy, and she finished imperial studies before turning ten."
"...Wow."
"Of course, Kairen, you're amazing too. You haven't been formally taught, yet you've reached this level through self-study."
Mother's following explanation confirmed my thoughts. This world was indeed following the romance fantasy parenting plot to the letter.
"That's important too, but the biggest trait is..."
As I nodded quietly, Lilien beside me whispered again with a lowered voice.
"...That her outside and inside are totally different."
As she said that, Lilien's face had drained of color.
"L-let's stop talking about this. Okay?"
Just as she suddenly looked around and tried to change the subject.
"Duke. A letter has arrived."
Suddenly, a maid entered carrying a basket full of letters adorned with ornate crests.
"Come to think of it, Kairen's news should have spread across the entire empire by now."
As I stared at it with my mouth agape, Mother, resting her chin on her hand, murmured with a cold smile.
"I can roughly predict what letters have come from where."
At first, I didn't grasp the meaning, but soon I realized what Mother meant.
"These bastards must have lost their minds?"
"...Seems like more families are looking down on Belverk lately."
The letters Mother and Lilien began pulling out were mostly marriage proposals for me.
"M-marriage?"
A chill ran down my spine as I looked at them, and when I asked just in case, Mother and Lilien's faces turned fierce in an instant.
"Absolutely not."
"They're crazy, right?"
Good thing—I wouldn't have to worry about engagements or marriage for a while.
"Still, wanna check out what kind of bastards they are?"
As I inwardly sighed in relief, Lilien snatched the basket from Mother and started grabbing letters haphazardly.
"Let's see, a northern frontier count? Too cold, rejected. Swordmaster Sharhen Marquisate? Punchable guys, rejected. The rest aren't even worth reading... Huh, why'd the Holy Church send a letter?"
For some reason, it felt like letters from the empire's most prominent families were all being tossed into the fireplace beside us, but since I wasn't thinking of marriage anytime soon, I stayed quiet.
"...Wait."
But Lilien, who had been mercilessly throwing letters into the fire, suddenly froze with wide eyes upon discovering something.
"This is..."
Mother, impassively reading family names, reacted the same way.
"Uh..."
It was because a letter from the Opstein Marquisate was in Lilien's hand.
"K-Kairen. Look at this. Even the Holy Church is paying attention to you."
"..."
"Weird, right? These guys usually only care about their own stuff. Haha..."
Lilien hurriedly shoved it into the fireplace and waved the half-burnt Holy Church letter at me.
"St-still. Shouldn't we at least open it?"
But having already seen the Opstein Marquisate letter, I asked Mother with a somewhat fearful expression.
"...No need."
Mother firmly shook her head and began stroking my hair.
'Now I'm curious...'
Of course, they were overreacting because of me right now, but Belverk originally had bad relations with Opstein.
So, what exactly was Opstein's connection to Belverk?
Come to think of it, back at the marquisate, Marquis Opstein often called me that bastard's illegitimate child and said he didn't want to see my face.
So, my biological father was probably from the Opstein Marquisate. But beyond that, I knew nothing.
My curiosity only grew, but the timing wasn't right now. I'd ask Mother casually later when her maternal affection level rose more.
"Alright, next..."
As I was thinking that, Lilien picked up another letter as if nothing had happened.
"..."
But this one also bore Opstein's seal.
[Dorsia von Opstein]
The sender was none other than Lady Dorsia.
"Has this bitch lost her mind..."
"...She still hasn't come to her senses."
Killing intent leaked from Lilien and Mother on either side of me as, of all things, ten Opstein letters in a row were drawn.
"Alright, we'll stop opening letters here..."
As I quietly held my breath watching their eyes, Lilien dumped the entire basket into the fireplace and turned back to me.
"...Pardon the interruption, Duke."
But right then, a maid who had been bowing her head beside us held out a letter from her bosom.
"Actually, there's one last letter."
"...Burn it. No matter where it's from."
Mother issued the order without even checking it.
"But, that's not possible..."
The maid bowed with a troubled expression, and only then did Mother glance over, her eyes widening slightly.
"...That's the imperial seal."
Lilien, with similarly widened eyes beside her, explained instead.
- Swish...
Thanks to that, I tensed up as well. Mother quietly took the letter, tore open the envelope, and read the contents in a cold voice.
[Kairen Nox Belverk is invited to the Imperial Debutante Ball to be held this month.]
And an even colder silence than ever descended upon the office.
"...Huh?"
Wait, why am I invited there?
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Meanwhile, at that same time. Before the jade throne of the Imperial Palace.
"...Living like you were dead all your life, and now this is surprising."
The person leaning precariously on the empty throne room's jade throne, unlike usual, looked down at the girl kneeling before them with interest and spoke.
"Is that request important enough to use up the one wish permitted to royalty?"
After those words echoed, a brief silence followed.
"...Yes."
"Why?"
The silence was broken by a golden-haired girl who appeared to be around Kairen's age.
"There's someone I want to meet again."
The scroll in the hand of the girl who answered that way was still damp and soiled from the rain.