After finishing lunch with Marie and the others in the dining hall, I checked my plans for the afternoon again.
The tutor won’t be coming this afternoon, and I don’t think there are any training assignments from Damon, so it’s a day that Lady Isabella and I can spend freely together.
With the other servants seeing me off, I head to Lady Isabella’s room.
When I knocked on the door of the private room, Lady Isabella came out dressed in the everyday clothes of an aristocrat’s child. Lady Isabella wears a dress when she has tutors or guests, but she usually wears pants when she is training or has free time like today.
She also keeps her hair in a bun or in a single tight braid to keep it from getting in the way, as she dislikes having it cause problems or restricting her movement.
“Miss Isabella, you’re free to do whatever you want today. What would you like to do?”
“Yeah, it’s probably going to rain today, so I guess I’ll do some research in the archives.”
As she said that, I looked out the window. It was indeed slightly cloudy and I couldn’t see any blue sky, but it was bright outside and there was no sign of rain. The laundry maids were hanging out the laundry outside.
But when Lady Isabella said it, there was a high probability that she would be right.
As far as I know, Lady Isabella’s weather forecasts have never been wrong.
Both Damon, the combat servants, and the gardeners had a high opinion of Lady Isabella’s ability to read the weather, and they speculated that she might possess some kind of skill.
“Uh oh. I’ll go tell the laundry maid that it might rain.”
“Very well. Well then, I… I’ll be waiting for you at the library, so be careful on your way. There’s no need to rush, just be safe. I’ll wait for Ursch to arrive, so anyway… no, I’ll go with you.”
“It’s okay… I think the laundry maids would be surprised if my lady came accompanied by me. I’m fine, so please go to the library first.”
Saying that, I pushed Lady Isabella towards the library.
Lady Isabella looked a little sad , but after emphasizing, “Don’t rush, don’t panic, just be safe,” she headed towards the library.
During the time we spent together, I got the impression that Lady Isabella was quite overprotective of me.
It’s true that I am probably weaker than Lady Isabella who is being trained by Lord Damon, but I feel that it is a concern for a boy my age.
Maybe it’s because I’m the middle child of three siblings and was somewhat neglected at home, but I felt like maybe this was going a little too far.
I told the laundry maids about Lady Isabella’s weather forecast, and then saw them off as they hurriedly went to bring in the laundry. As I was about to return to the library, other servants called out to me.
As a thank you for the weather forecast, I was given some sweets. After receiving two sweets, including one for Lady Isabella, I decided to head back to the library.
As I walked alone down the mansion’s wide corridor, I dropped my gaze to the sweets I had been handed and a sigh naturally escaped my mouth.
“What should I do with these sweets?”
However, there was nothing I could do but hold the sweets in my hands as I made my way to the library and went inside.
Lady Isabella, who had gone to the library earlier, was nowhere to be seen. This was as expected. Lady Isabella should be in the spacious library as promised, even though she was nowhere to be seen.
At first I thought she was hiding, but now I understand that She probably didn’t mean that.
I understood, but I didn’t know why she was always hiding. But I knew she had no intention of bothering me. So, without even searching, I called out to Lady Isabella, who was probably somewhere in the library.
“Lady Isabella, I’ve returned.”
Then, without making a sound, Lady Isabella appeared out of nowhere.
And as she stood in front of me, Lady Isabella, showing her overprotective or anxious side as well, asked me a question while quickly checking me out from head to toe.
“Ah, Ursch. I see you were able to meet up safely. So… is there any injury?”
“Just going back and forth within the mansion is not likely to cause any injuries.”
“I see. If there are no problems then that’s good.”
Saying that, Lady Isabella nodded .
Then she returned to a serious expression and pointed at the sweets I was holding.
“So, what happened?”
“The servants gave this to me as a thank you for the weather forecast. There’s one for Lady Isabella too.”
“I see, I don’t need it.”
I guess that’s what will happen after all… I thought, but I gave her a follow-up.
“I have appraised the ingredients and found that there is nothing strange in it.”
“I see, if Ursch is investigating then I can relax. I don’t need it, so you can keep mine as emergency rations for when Ursch gets hungry.”
I think it’s Lady Isabella who needs emergency food, not me. But since Lady Isabella won’t need , I decided to just accept it.
Like this, the sweets and snacks I received from Lady Isabella are increasing day by day, so I save the ones that last a long time and have Marie take them home when she goes home on the weekends. Marie is happy because there are so many younger brothers and sisters, but I feel a little guilty because I’m giving them away.
I felt a little awkward, so we sat side by side on the sofa in the library and decided to talk about something that had been bothering me for a while.
“By the way, Lady Isabella, why are you always hiding?”
“Hmm? Wouldn’t that be safer?”
While laughing cheerfully as if to say that it was obvious, her thoughts seemed to have become a habit as opposed to being stiff or rigid.
Even Lord Damon isn’t that cautious within his own mansion.
I had wondered if it was possible that Lady Isabella was unable to let her guard down even inside the mansion due to the raid training that Damon had been conducting, but I still felt that Lady Isabella’s vigilance was far too strong.
It’s like…
“Lady Isabella… is someone that acts kie her life is always in danger, or perhaps there’s an assassin who is constantly trying to kill her.”
When I pointed this out, Lady Isabella raised one side of her mouth in a self-depreciating smile, then her expression went blank as if she was exhausted.
“Yeah… maybe that’s true.”
Saying this, with rough gestures not befitting a young lady, she put one foot on the sofa and raised one knee, then placed one hand on that knee and leaned her body back against the sofa.
She looked more like an exhausted mercenary than a duke’s daughter.
“Ursch, I’m only telling this to you, and I trust only you. Since I trust you, don’t tell this to anyone else.”
Without making eye contact, her gaze was fixed, but her voice was strong and completely serious.
Before even hearing it, I could tell that what I was about to hear was of paramount importance to Lady Isabella and an incredible secret.
Never make fun of it. Never doubt it.
Lady Isabella trusted me, so I trust Lady Isabella.
This is where mutual trust is put to the test.
“I’ve never even told my family this story because they would question my sanity. In fact, I may not be sane. But will you listen, Ursch? And will you not tell anyone? And will you believe me?”
“Yes, I know that Lady Isabella wouldn’t just say random things. After all, Lady Isabella may be very innocent and act childish in front of her family, but in reality she is very talented and very serious. And yet, I’ve noticed that she’s a very kind person.”
Even though she’s a child , I often felt that the vocabulary that comes out suddenly is not of people my age.
I was often told by the adults around me that I wasn’t like a child and wasn’t cute, but I thought there must be something different about Lady Isabella that was different from me.
“It seems that the number of tutors that Lady Isabella receives and the number of hours of tuition are several times more than other young ladies of the same age. The Duchess said that even the children of the royal family living in the royal castle don’t receive this many lessons at this age.”
The Duchess seemed surprised to see me suddenly joining the class and following along, and told me this story.
I myself felt that the lessons were quite advanced, but since it was within the scope of what even a commoner like me could understand, I thought that this was normal for a high-ranking aristocrat who was so enthusiastic about education. However, after hearing the Duchess’s story, I realized that this was not the case.
“It seems that Damon’s training was originally meant to start with something a little gentler, just building up basic physical strength. Well, even if it was gentle, I think it was a little early to start training, but the reason the training hours have increased like now is because of Lady Isabella’s own wish, and also because Lady Isabella has been saying since she was a young child, before she even knew what was going on, that she “has an abnormal tendency to get killed by someone ” and “is determined to survive no matter what “, so Damon, worried about this, wanted her to be able to respond in an emergency… and it seems that he was thinking of a training menu to prepare her for when she was about to be killed by someone.”
Miss Isabella was listening to me in silence, staring up at the ceiling, so I leaned over and looked at her expression.
“I’m sure the story you’re going to tell me from now on will be related to those things, right?”
Lady Isabella looked at me with a faraway look in her eyes as I asked her that question and then muttered.
“Ah, you really do look like ‘Sloth Indigo-tan’ and ‘Shu’.”
“You said it before, Miss Sloth Indigo-tan. This is the first time I’ve heard of Shu though.”
“Oh, they both come to me in my dreams.”
“Is it a character from a dream?”
“Ah, that’s right.”
With that, Lady Isabella pushed me aside and made me sit next to her again, then she raised her body, which had been leaning against the chair, and turned to face me.
“I’ve been dreaming ever since I was old enough to understand. They are so vivid, and I’ve been dreaming for such a long time that sometimes I can’t tell the difference between dream and reality. I lose track of who I am. What’s real? I get confused and wonder if the real me is the me here, or if the world I think is a dream is the reality. No, I know that. The me here, Isabella, is the reality, and the world they’re in is the dream.”
“This is about the dream you mentioned earlier, in which Miss ‘Sloth Indigo-tan’ and Lord ‘Shu’ appeared.”
“Oh, that’s right. No, it’s a little different.”
Saying this, Lady Isabella stroked her chin and continued speaking as if trying to organize her thoughts on her own.
“There are two kinds of dreams. One is from the perspective of a single woman with an ordinary job, living in a world where magic doesn’t exist and science and chemistry have developed. In that dream, a character from the story called “Sloth Indigo” appears. “Tan” is something you add to the end of a name.
“It looks like a fictional character.”
It’s a little hard to react to being told that you resemble a character from a fictional story, even in a dream , but the true identity of the mysterious “Slow Indigo”-tan has finally been revealed.
And since things seem peaceful for now, it doesn’t seem like this dream is the cause of Lady Isabella’s diamond-level vigilance.
“And the other dream is from the perspective of a prince, in a world different from this one, where magic exists and conflicts constantly break out between various races such as demons, beastmen, fairies, and humans.”
“I see, Lady Isabella is living in a dream world as a prince in another world, not this one.”
It makes sense that a prince from a world where conflict is never-ending would be in danger. Perhaps the dreams affecting Lady Isabella are the same ones.
Perhaps the reason why, no matter how much lady’s education she receives, her speech remains masculine and is never corrected is because they are influenced by this dream.
It seems that Damon is worried that he may be the reason Lady Isabella’s condition hasn’t improved, but it seems that it may not be his fault. I probably won’t have a chance to tell Damon about it, though, because I want to keep it a secret.
“That’s right, and in that dream, during the time when we were fighting for survival and fighting for the right to inherit the throne, the humans were summoning a hero to destroy us, and a girl named ‘Hagi Shu’ was summoned.”
“…Wait, wait, there’s too much information. There’s too much information. It’s a bit confusing, so please wait a moment.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“First of all, what race is Lady Isabella from in your dream?”
“Hmm? Ah, a demon.”
“And they are killing each other over the succession to the throne.”
“That’s right, how many siblings do they have? I think it was around 200 people? All of them will be released all over the world, and they will have to kill each other on their own as they make their way back to the royal castle until only one person is left. By the way, everyone is forced to participate, with no right of veto, whether they are interested in the throne or not, so if you want to survive you have no choice but to kill all of your siblings other than yourself.”
“So, in your dream, Lady Isabella was…”
“The 16th prince of the Demon Royal Family, Beizerard. Son of the Demon King.”
Well we have another plot twist! It looks like we are learning more of the backstory of the world.
Sorry for the slow updates. I was hoping that more chapters would come out by the time I finished moving and then I was going to do a mass update. But this is the last one for now. I’ll start updating as they come out. For now, I will be working on translating the older chapters and release them all at once.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you for reading!
