Chapter 5 – Haste only causes anger
When he was young, his father and mother would not listen to him unless it was useful.
In order to get their attention, he had to thoroughly match their interests. Current affairs, social circles, martial arts, his grades at the academy, stories about how he was superior to someone else’s.
If it wasn’t such a story, the Duke and Duchess of Felton would talk to each other alone as if there were stakes in their ears.
Edric was interested in bugs and wondered how fast the animals he chased in the forest could run. He wanted to talk about what he did with his friend, not his grades, and how ridiculous his friend was in reality, but he had to keep such stories to himself or write them in his diary.
At some point, Edric began to think that he was not interested in such things at all and began to treat the interests that were taken for granted by other children his age as trivial.
Then the children his age themselves became funny.
‘They’re childish.’
At the age of eight, he was already able to discuss the state of affairs of the empire with adults, and by the age of ten, he had become competent enough to take charge of some of the affairs of the duchy in his father’s stead.
The recognition of his parents and the praise of the people were sufficient rewards for his efforts, and they also motivated him to grow into a more worthy successor.
He became a role model for noble boys throughout the empire, and a goal for noblewomen raising their children.
“You must grow up to be as great as the young duke of Felton.”
“Please, my child. Don’t act like a child. Why don’t you watch the young duke of Felton and learn from him? How wonderful and mature he was?”
But Edric was also a child.
There was a mischievous, playful, unpredictable child inside Edric. However, he was locked away early because he was not suitable for the qualities of a descendant of a great noble family…
But just like a tree that twists and grows through a hole no matter how much the ceiling is blocked, the boy trapped inside Edric also solved his stopped growth in a distorted way.
He started drinking and hunting at an early age.
Thanks to that, he found that peripheral stimulation temporarily refreshed his stuffy chest.
He also enjoyed cigars, and he immediately felt the sensation of his lungs warming up and his blood vessels dilating, a sensation that others could only experience after several trials and errors.
When he grew a little older, he succeeded in cleverly manipulating the figures of the dividends that would go to his uncles and transferring the difference to himself.
How ridiculous they were when they showed off at family gatherings.
“You understand, Edric? No matter how smart you are, experience cannot be ignored. In the world, experience is more important than brains.”
“Of course, uncle. You are right.”
Those fools. Would they say that even if they knew that they were only receiving half of their due?
The inside of that bright and loving smile was truly evil.
Edric had been releasing his pent-up desires in that way. However… … the frustration did not completely go away.
He wanted a stronger stimulation. Not a secret pleasure that only he knew and enjoyed.
Then, by chance, he saw his close friends falling apart due to a misunderstanding caused by a single word.
Edric smiled with interest.
‘That would be good.’
From then on, Edric enjoyed cleverly starting fights with people while he himself sat back and watched leisurely.
It was like watching a bloody fight between two male dogs in heat who had become very ferocious and let loose in a dogfighting ring.
He felt joy and skepticism at the same time, and in that, he justified his actions.
‘That’s how humans are.’
There was no friendship formed with solid trust in the first place. There was only a pretense that seemed plausible, and he had merely cut off the loose string of fate that had been tied between them.
That day, he was watching with interest the fight between the two housekeepers, and was about to turn around when he heard her say,
“Don’t do that.”
“… … .”
A small girl was looking up at him and saying something incomprehensible.
“What are you talking about?”
“I know what you did, young duke.”
The girl’s eyes were firm. She knew what he had done and was criticizing him. How dare she.
But Edric didn’t waver at all and responded calmly.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. What did I do?”
“You stole Sarah’s ring and put it in Anna’s dresser.”
“What? you got it wrong?”
He chuckled as if he had heard something shocking and continued.
“Do I look like someone who would do something so dirty?”
He made the most angelic expression he could muster to back up my words. That smile that made even men, not to mention women, fall for it.
“Yes. It seems so.”
The smile slowly disappeared from Edric’s face.
What was this impudent woman saying?
“My father was kind and handsome like the young duke, but he also stole things, smoked cigars, and did everything.”
“… … .”
Edric stared at the girl. He had heard the general story of how that girl and her mother, who was living in the dukedom, had ruined their lives.
The fact that the daughter of a respectable count’s family had been seduced by a man of lowly noble rank who looked good but ran away in the middle of the night, and that the man, who had no ability to make ends meet, had been a spendthrift, a thief, and an adulterer, tormenting his wife until she died.
“You have to stop here. Otherwise, you’ll end up like my father.”
How dare you bring me to such trash and worry about the end of my life?
It was so absurd that I laughed, but strangely enough, I didn’t feel any discomfort. It was strange that he didn’t feel embarrassed even though his two-faced nature was revealed for the first time.
It was as if he was waiting for someone to notice and tell him something.
Edric looked down at the girl he was facing.
‘Didn’t you say she was three years younger than me?’
She was less than a fistful, but she looked five years younger than him, not three.
However, the hazel eyes staring straight at him seemed much more mature than he was.
What kind of life had she lived to make a child look like an adult?
He was curious.
“You, come to my room at midnight,”
Edric ordered.
The girl looked scared for a moment, but she kept her promise.
“Eat this.”
Edric pushed his share of the midnight snack in front of the girl who had come to see him.
It was a nutritious midnight snack that the chef had prepared with special care for him, who studied late at night.
The girl waved her hand with a puzzled expression at the luxurious late-night snack that had never been allowed to her.
“Oh, no. You should eat this, Your grace.”
At times like this, she seemed her age again.
Edric laughed at the great discrepancy between when she had given me such bold advice.
“It’s okay, so eat it. It’s the price you pay for listening to my story.”
A question appeared in the girl’s hazel eyes.
“A story? What kind of story?”
“Just this and that, a meaningless story.”
He had no intention of telling her such a story.
He just wanted to feed this twisted girl something, and… … He suddenly thought that he could also pour out his inner chaos to this girl, so he made that suggestion.
The girl looked around for a moment as if lost in thought, then quickly picked up a petit piece and put it in her mouth, while chewing it.
‘She doesn’t have a colorful expression.’
Edric figured out the girl’s personality from the side that was revealed in that brief moment.
It was an indifferent face that could only be seen in those who had experienced all sorts of hardships and were left with only a sense of pessimism.
Of all the people I knew, this girl was the only one who could make such an indifferent face while eating a pretty and sweet cake.
Surprisingly, this fact caught Edric’s attention even more.
She looked like a lake that would accept whatever was thrown at it but never bounce it back.
“Tell me.”
The girl, who had eaten the petit fours as if it were some kind of duty, said dryly.
“I was just saying, that if you keep on doing this, you will have to face the consequences.”
Edric hesitated for a moment, wondering what to say with a troubled expression. He didn’t have much time to think. He quickly came up with a question.
“What’s your name?”
The girl looked down and said timidly.
“It’s Mellie… Mellie Enwood.”
***
As time passed, formal speech became informal speech, and the title of “Master” disappeared.
And the curiosity Edric had for her also disappeared.
The fact that she was the only one who knew both the bright and dark sides of his own, combined with the fact that she was a woman, aroused great curiosity at first.
Even Mellie’s small and unattractive appearance seemed even more beautiful under the aura of his curiosity.
However, the husks soon fell off and he was able to see things as they were.
Thanks to Mellie, who understood his flawed personality and listened to his stories with all her heart, no matter how pointless, the immature child inside Edric was, it soon caught up with his physical and intellectual growth.
He no longer had to satisfy his inner emptiness with distorted behavior, and he no longer had to confide in Mellie his cunning secrets.
He had grown into a calm, gentle, and trustworthy young man. He had never thought of accepting her as the next duchess just because Mellie had helped him. No, he had never even thought of that.
Mellie was not a woman to him.
Except for a few months when he was twelve.
But… … .
‘Lord Blair seems to like you, Mellie.’
The moment he heard those words, Edric was completely embarrassed.
What was his mother so anxious about marrying off a child who wasn’t even twenty?
Blair? That new rich kid?
She was sending Mellie off to that man as if she were doing homework.
He couldn’t let that happen.
He would choose a partner for Mellie, and he would take care of her until then.
“Where shall we go, Your Majesty?”
The opera… … The words began to escape his lips, but he swallowed them back down.
‘Impatience only breeds anger.’
“Let’s go home.”
The real work is there.
A smile appeared on Edric’s lips.
It was the first mischievous smile he had given since he was twelve.
