“Benefactor, huh…”
At Luciard murmured Leitner’s eyes widened slightly. After thinking for a moment, he called for his son, Gallian.
“Since we have guests, shouldn’t we at least offer some tea? Of course, I’m not the master of this house, but still. If the guests are curious about *Tears*, I’m sure Lord Jerome would be happy to show them the store.”
Gallian quickly caught on that his father wanted to be alone with Luciard.
He looked around at the still noisy mercenaries.
“Alright, everyone! Since we’re here, why don’t we take a quick trip to the *Tears* store? It’s only five minutes away. If you mention you’re a guest of Lady Hestia, they’ll welcome you.”
“Kyaaa! That would be amazing!”
“Should we check it out too?”
“Ugh, sounds like a hassle. Maybe just the Vice-Captain should go…”
“Neville, you’re coming too.”
“Stop pretending you don’t get it.”
“Ugh! Why are you twins always like this?!”
The clueless Neville was dragged away by Ivan and Yovan, leaving the room with just Leitner and Luciard.
“Do you not like Lady Hestia?” Leitner asked cautiously.
Luciard thought for a moment before shaking his head.
“I’m not sure.”
At first, he definitely wasn’t fond of her.
He was surprised to find out she was the same girl who had helped him when they were younger, but when she mentioned not giving up guardianship so easily, he began to suspect she had some ulterior motives.
But seeing the way people spoke of her, the enormous amount of work she handled, and the blind faith Leonhard seemed to have in her, it became clear she was genuinely working for the benefit of the duchy.
“… Honestly, I feel like I’m the one causing all the confusion by showing up.”
He had come because he was worried about Leonhard being left alone, but his concerns were unfounded. Leonhard was doing great—safe and sound under Hestia’s strong protection.
Now, Luciard began to wonder if his presence was only disturbing the balance and throwing the duchy into confusion.
“You’ve always been one to blame yourself whenever something went wrong, haven’t you?” At his remark, Luciard lifted his head.
“Maybe it’s because I grew up always watching my back,” Luciard muttered.
Luciard, the illegitimate child.
Everyone knew about the abuse he endured at the hands of the former duchess, but no one stepped in to help him.
No one dared risk getting on the bad side of the duchess by offering him a hand.
Leitner, too, had done nothing, despite being the head butler at the time.
“I wonder what we were so scared of that we couldn’t reach out to help a child in need.”
To be honest, when Luciard left for the academy, Leitner had felt a sense of relief.
At first, he thought it was because the tension within the duchy would ease without Luciard there.
‘No, it was because I no longer had to face the guilt.’
Everyone who worked in the duchy was just a bystander—a partner in crime, really.
Seeing the child they had turned their backs on receive the Duke’s love and grow up relatively normally made them all feel a subtle unease deep in their hearts.
That unease was guilt for having abandoned the boy.
“I know it’s far too late to say this now, but I’m sorry, young master.”
Despite his still-weak body, Leitner sat up straight and bowed his head. Luciard froze.
He wanted to say, “It’s okay”, but the words wouldn’t come out.
“As an adult, I behaved cowardly. I’m deeply sorry for apologizing so late.”
Instead of feeling reassured, Luciard felt a lump rise in his throat.
“…You’re the second person to apologize to me.”
“Someone else apologized?”
“My brother.”
“Oh…”
“When my brother would get drunk, he’d always tell me he was sorry.”
‘I’m sorry, Luciard. I should’ve helped you sooner…’
At the time, Luciard hadn’t understood why his brother kept apologizing so much.
After all, he was just an illegitimate child. He wasn’t someone who had any right to complain if Icarus decided to cast him aside.
But now, Luciard was starting to understand what his brother had meant.
“My brother was so naive. He could’ve just let it go, but he was always so desperate to make up for everything he couldn’t do for me.”
It was both heartwarming and burdensome at the same time. But because of that, Luciard had been able to open his heart to Icarus and grow close to him.
“Thanks for apologizing. I thought I’d be fine, but maybe I’m not.”
Leitner, unable to hold back his emotions, teared up.
“Young master, I’m glad you came back. After the Duke and Duchess passed, I was so worried about young Lord Leon being left alone.”
“But now Leon’s not alone. He’s got Hestia… I mean, Lady Hestia, and plenty of others too. Even if I’m not there, he—”
“No, young master. The role you play is different from theirs. No matter how much they care for and protect the young lord, they’re still outsiders. If Lady Hestia were ever costed by Count Humphrey, those relationships would be severed in an instant.”
But Luciard was different.
“You’re the young lord’s only blood relative, and you truly care for him, don’t you?”
“…Yes, that’s true.”
“Honestly, even if you claim the Duke title and kicked young Lord Leon out to take the title for yourself, I wouldn’t mind.”
“That’s ridiculous!”
Luciard shot up from his seat, his chair clattering to the floor.
Panting, Luciard caught sight of Leitner’s calm expression and realized how rash he had been.
“Haha, see? Most people would be easily swayed by ambition and draw their swords, but not you, young master.”
“I don’t even trust myself. Sure, right now I’m looking out for Leon, but what if I end up wanting the title later? It’d be better to just cut the possibility off from the start.”
“Isn’t that why you’ve been acting as his guardian instead of trying to take the title?”
“…Yeah. Honestly, the reason I disappeared after graduating was because of that.”
He was afraid his presence would become an obstacle in Leonhardt’s future.
That’s why he had intentionally enrolled in the Academy’s swordsmanship department and avoided showing any interest in other subjects.
To make it clear he had no desire for the title.
“As an illegitimate child, if I tried to become Duke, the branch families would revolt. They might even try to use me to control the duchy to their advantage.”
Not that Luciard would ever join forces with them, but he wanted to cut off any false hopes they might have had.
“At first, I thought Hestia might be scheming something like that, too…”
Now, he was starting to think he had misunderstood her.
“I understand. You’ve had no choice but to be suspicious of everyone. And I’m sure Lady Hestia feels the same way.”
Both of them had been on guard to protect what was precious to them, which naturally led to them hurting each other in the process.
“Why don’t you both sit down and talk openly? I doubt Lady Hestia wants to be on guard against you for no reason.”
“…What do ‘you’ think of her?”
“Lady Frost is a benefactor to me. She saved my life, helped my son find a new job, and, most importantly, she rooted out all the spies within the duchy.”
Luciard had been shocked when he heard that Count Humphrey and some of the duchy’s staff had been conspiring together.
And even more so when he found out that it was Hestia’s plan that led to their capture.
“When I met her, she was just as sharp and kind as she had been when she was young. Didn’t you also receive her help back then?”
“Yeah.”
“Didn’t you trust her back then? Didn’t you think she was a good person?”
“I did. But that was 10 years ago. A lot can change in 10 years, especially people.”
Just because someone was a good person once didn’t mean they still were.
Luciard had spent the last two years meeting all kinds of people and learning about the world.
“It’s too big of a risk to rely on past memories.”
Hestia was in a position of great influence within the duchy. That alone meant Luciard couldn’t afford to be swayed by old memories.
He had witnessed too many people get backstabbed because they let their emotions get in the way.
‘But maybe I’m being too extreme about this,’ he thought to himself.
“I get what you’re saying,” Leitner replied. “But there’s still time. No need to rush. Why not take your time and observe her more closely? I’m sure you’ll be able to figure her out.”
Leitner was right. He needed to ease up.
“Yeah, I’ll do that.”
The sharp tension in Luciard’s eyes gradually softened.
━━━━━ ∙ʚ(✧)ɞ∙ ━━━━━
“Thanks to your help, Sir Luciard, we were able to wrap things up quickly. I’m sorry for being late—I went to visit my father,”
Gallian and Luciard returned to the duke’s residence and were now reporting the events in the town of Chest to Hestia.
Hestia hadn’t moved an inch since Luciard had last seen her; she was still working tirelessly. The only noticeable difference was the stack of papers on her desk, which had shifted from the right side to the left.
“You did well. Make sure to summarize the feedback you got from the townspeople in a report later.”
“Of course.”
“If it’s alright, can I make a suggestion?”
Hestia and Gallian both turned to Luciard.
“Some of the people who lost their homes also lost their jobs and have no way to support themselves.”
Among those people were some who had been shopkeepers on the first floor of the tenements and others who had worked as day laborers. But now, they couldn’t find work or go far to look for new jobs because of what had happened.
“Even if we provide them with homes, they’ll still need dishes, clothes, and other essentials. To get those, they’ll need money.”
But how could people who suddenly lost their jobs find the money for that?
“So, my suggestion is: Why don’t we hire those people to help with the tenement restoration? They’d be rebuilding their own homes, so I’m sure they’d work hard. Plus, it’d solve their financial issues…”
“…At the same time.”
Hestia finished his thought. Luciard paused and then nodded.
She tapped her fingers on the desk thoughtfully, and then a smile crept across her lips.
“That’s an excellent idea.”
Luciard’s hand twitched.
“I’d been wondering how to handle that issue. This way, we solve both the labor shortage and their financial troubles. It’s killing two birds with one stone. No, three birds—because we’ll get the homes built faster, too.”
Luciard felt a strange flutter in his chest.
When he had first brought it up, he had been worried she wouldn’t take him seriously.
Turned out it was a pointless worry.
‘If anything, she accepted my suggestion too easily… I wasn’t expecting that.’
“You definitely got a good grasp of the situation. Well done, Luciard.”
At her continued praise, Luciard clenched his fist and quickly turned his head.
“I just did what needed to be done.”
“No, not at all.”
Hestia’s tone was firm.
“Most people, when you tell them to survey the area, just look around and take notes on what people say. They don’t bother coming up with solutions because they don’t see it as part of their job.”
But Luciard had been able to truly empathize with the victims, thinking of ways to ease their suffering and make their lives more comfortable.
In short, he cared for the people of the estate with the heart of a lord.
