038. In the name of friendship
Grossen, bordering the western border of the continent, has been the domain of the Malvin family for generations.
The plains covered with thickets and plants beneath the vast mountain range were ideal for large-scale wool production. The wool produced there was of such good quality that it was exported across the continent and to all parts of the world. Thanks to this, the head of the family, Elowey Malvin, was the epitome of a vagrant nobleman who loved to play and eat.
His family was no different. His wife, Pian Malvin, was a poet, song, and art lover who regularly invited artists to her home, while his youngest daughter, Cynthia, was the type of girl whose biggest worry was whether to wear blue or white to a party the following week.
The most incomprehensible figure in the family is Nathan Malvin, the eldest son. He enjoys books more than people, and contemplation more than socializing. He is the most Malvin-like in that he enjoys boredom, but at the same time, he is the least Malvin-like in that he is obsessed with distribution, justice, philosophy, and ideas.
The first to notice that Nathan had been acting strangely lately was his younger sister, Cynthia.
Her brother was the kind of person who would read thick books about freedom and justice with a serious face that would make her shiver just hearing them, but when he played with her, he liked to mess around like a dissolute man.
But in recent months, her brother's smile has completely disappeared.
As Cynthia had worried, Nathan was still lying carelessly on his bed in his room today. He was in the process of accepting and acknowledging the identity of the emotions that had been tormenting him and keeping him up for the past few months.
'I am the Meyer family's fiancée. I don't want to be misunderstood.'
The image of her resolutely refusing won't leave his mind.
That's right. Are you in your right mind to ask a woman who is already engaged to go to the ball with you?
Nevertheless, Nathan could not shake off the strange anticipation at all. She clearly said, 'I don't want to be misunderstood.' Not 'I don't want to.' Furthermore, judging by the many rumors floating around in social circles, Emilia would soon break off the engagement. She would become a free person.
So what?
The boiling blood suddenly cooled down.
Even if Emilia is free, what are you going to do? Try to catch her? What are you going to do with her after you catch her?
Nathan's brow furrowed. He had been through some serious division and conflict in that area for the past month.
What is the difference between Hardy Meyer and me?
A self-deprecating smile appeared on his face as he looked up at the ceiling.
He tried to brag and shout that he was different, but Nathan was always the same. It was the same reason he despised Cavendish and yet found himself in them.
There isn't much the eldest son of the Malvin family can promise a commoner woman. At most, a government position...?
Will Emilia accept it?
"Ha!"
It's ridiculous. Emilia Bern doesn't even give him a glance, and yet he's imagining her as his government.
Yeah, this is clearly a one-sided feeling. It's clearly unrequited love.
Still, he wants to see her again.
Nathan rested his head on his clasped hands. Unorganized emotions surged up again like a damp swamp.
He got up from his limp body and headed to the study. Every time he thought of Emilia, something caught his eye.
< Accounting Principles >
Nathan stroked the book's luxurious leather cover.
He's sure she'll like it. She'll smile for the moment he gives it to her. It'll be brief, like a ray of sunlight shining through the bitter cold.
But he doesn't have to worry too much. He can package it as friendship. That won't be a problem.
Because they're going to break off the engagement anyway.
Nathan's lips formed a soft curve.
“Now, read it, Charlotte.”
Charlotte traced the spot where Mitch had pointed with her fingertips. The rough Braille dots began to make sounds in the child's head.
“Ah... Father... Father?”
“Right. Good job. Next.”
"…...Caw?"
Charlotte tilted her head.
“Cow. It’s read as ‘cow.’”
“Cow? ...Cow...tree?”
“It’s pretty good. Yes, now the last one.”
Charlotte frowned and fumbled for the last Braille letter. After a while, she muttered, “Mo...moza?” and Mitch applauded.
“Wow! Braille genius, Charlotte Bern!”
He patted his sister on the back. Charlotte smiled. She looked almost as if she was crying because of the lump in her eye, but she was clearly smiling.
“You’ve answered all the questions correctly, so tell me what you want. I’ll give you anything you want.”
Mitch said confidently. Charlotte thought she would be able to make him do things like wash the dishes or clean the house. But that was the question that Charlotte brought up.
“Don’t bother her anymore. Stop telling her that it was a good thing you broke off the engagement. Don’t you know what kind of face my sister makes when you do that?”
It was beyond embarrassing; it was absurd. A child who can't see dares to talk about 'expressions'.
“This is the first time she's done this. It was better when she pretended to be cheerful. Now, she's just completely shut up. I wonder what Lord Meyer gave her that day. I’m dying to know.”
“What do you have to wonder about? It’s a divorce paper. Who would be happy to receive something like that? Well, don’t worry too much. Sister will recover quickly. It’s not like they started out of love anyway.”
“No, that’s not it. If she were upset because of the divorce papers, she should have been upset from the very beginning when the topic of divorce first came up. Why is she bringing it up now?”
Is that so? Mitch's eyebrows gathered in the middle.
“The relationship between sister and Master Meyer is not that simple. There is something deeper between them.”
"What?"
This time, the brow furrowed.
“Don’t write novels, Charlotte. How much does my sister hate that guy? Are you stupid? After all that he's done to her, she still gives him her heart?”
“Ha! You don’t know because you sleep with your mom.”
Why are you suddenly talking about bedtime again?
“I sleep with my sister. After meeting the master, my sister won’t be able to sleep at all that day.”
Mitch felt a sudden surge of irritation.
That can't be true...
His sister clearly said that she had no feelings. She was the one who wanted to break off the engagement. She said that she had no attachment to noble men.
Could it be that she lied?
“No matter how much she laughs, her feelings won’t change. Lord Meyer likes her. And she does, too.”
He glared at Charlotte as if she were absolutely astonished.
“Are you completely crazy? You think that just because we give you superpowers, it’s real?!”
“No! I’m not talking about superpowers!”
“Then give me evidence.”
"Evidence?"
“This is proof that Hardius Meyer likes my sister.”
“First of all, he forgives you, Mitch.”
Mitch's face turned bright red like a carrot.
“Hey, forgiveness! Why would he forgive us? After all that we’ve been through...!”
“Yeah, Mitch, what you said wasn’t wrong. But it was wrong to lie like that. It was too much.”
"Ha!"
“And he gave me all sorts of gifts. Uncle Beppy, Brave, you can’t do something if you don’t like it.”
He clicked his tongue madly.
“Wake up, Charlotte. He’s not an ordinary man. He’s a nobleman. He treats us commoners like dogs, pigs, and chickens.”
But Charlotte doesn't seem to be listening at all.
“Yes, let’s say you’re right. Let’s say that guy has strange feelings for our sister. What are we going to do? Do you think he’ll get down on his knees and propose to my sister? Do you think he’ll apologize and ask her to marry him?”
Charlotte's innocent eyes answered yes. Mitch felt a fire burning in his chest.
“That’s why you’re being treated like a pig! Because you’re so naive, you’re being treated like an idiot and you’re just getting screwed over!”
Charlotte is so naive.
It is only natural that the child's only window through which she perceives the world is the books her older sister reads to her. In novels, the protagonist always wins and falls in love. Mitch wanted to awaken Charlotte to the cold reality.
“The feelings that noble men have for common women are not that romantic. Do you know what they usually say?”
“...?”
“It’s called ‘lust.’”
“Lust? What is that?”
As he faced that innocently questioning face, his heart ached belatedly. To say such obscene things to a child that only men would say to each other...
If his older sister finds out, she'll be really upset.
“There is something like that. You will understand it when you grow up.”
Mitch avoided Charlotte's gaze with a flushed face and continued speaking.
“Anyway, do you know what happens when a nobleman lusts after a commoner woman? Not just any commoner, but a poor woman like our sister. There’s nothing more unfortunate than that.”
Charlotte turned her unfocused eyes towards Mitch once more.
“What does that mean?”
“You... have you never heard of something like that?”
“What... are you saying?”
Mitch hesitated for a moment. When he heard the 'words' his classmates were gossiping about at school, his blood also boiled.
Wouldn't that innocent child, locked in the attic, be shocked? And yet, his mouth wouldn't stop.
"Government."
"Government?"
“Yes, the government. It’s a very bad thing. It’s a shortcut to women’s misery. You don’t want your sister to become that damn government, do you?”
At that moment, the door flew open.
It was Emilia in question. Charlotte flinched, and Mitch jumped as if he was going to faint.
...Did you hear that?
“You were studying?”
Emilia smiled brightly and put the chicken feed container she was holding in the cupboard. Light footsteps headed toward the attic. A humming sound was heard, followed by a rattling sound and a voice mumbling, “Where’s the hammer?”
She must not have heard. Mitch looked back at Charlotte, swallowing a sigh of relief.
“The word ‘government’ means ‘lover.’ Not just any lover, but a married man’s lover!”
Charlotte's mouth, which had been gaping open, doubled in size.
A moment later, Emilia reappeared. She was holding the hammer she had been desperately searching for. Mitch asked nonchalantly.
“Why? What are you going to do with it?”
“The fence is shaking. Uncle Beppy is fixing the rope, so I’ll do it.”
“Yes, leave it. I’ll do it later...”
“No, you should do your vacation homework. You almost failed your essay last semester, right? Vacation isn’t for playing around. It’s for making up for your weak subjects.”
Emilia, who had been nagging, muttered, “Charlotte, you should study Braille diligently too. I will start earning money from now on to send you to a school for the blind,” and walked toward the door. The door opened, and before the siblings’ eyes, their older sister disappeared like the wind.
Of course, Emilia heard the word 'government' clearly.
Grossen, bordering the western border of the continent, has been the domain of the Malvin family for generations.
The plains covered with thickets and plants beneath the vast mountain range were ideal for large-scale wool production. The wool produced there was of such good quality that it was exported across the continent and to all parts of the world. Thanks to this, the head of the family, Elowey Malvin, was the epitome of a vagrant nobleman who loved to play and eat.
His family was no different. His wife, Pian Malvin, was a poet, song, and art lover who regularly invited artists to her home, while his youngest daughter, Cynthia, was the type of girl whose biggest worry was whether to wear blue or white to a party the following week.
The most incomprehensible figure in the family is Nathan Malvin, the eldest son. He enjoys books more than people, and contemplation more than socializing. He is the most Malvin-like in that he enjoys boredom, but at the same time, he is the least Malvin-like in that he is obsessed with distribution, justice, philosophy, and ideas.
The first to notice that Nathan had been acting strangely lately was his younger sister, Cynthia.
Her brother was the kind of person who would read thick books about freedom and justice with a serious face that would make her shiver just hearing them, but when he played with her, he liked to mess around like a dissolute man.
But in recent months, her brother's smile has completely disappeared.
As Cynthia had worried, Nathan was still lying carelessly on his bed in his room today. He was in the process of accepting and acknowledging the identity of the emotions that had been tormenting him and keeping him up for the past few months.
'I am the Meyer family's fiancée. I don't want to be misunderstood.'
The image of her resolutely refusing won't leave his mind.
That's right. Are you in your right mind to ask a woman who is already engaged to go to the ball with you?
Nevertheless, Nathan could not shake off the strange anticipation at all. She clearly said, 'I don't want to be misunderstood.' Not 'I don't want to.' Furthermore, judging by the many rumors floating around in social circles, Emilia would soon break off the engagement. She would become a free person.
So what?
The boiling blood suddenly cooled down.
Even if Emilia is free, what are you going to do? Try to catch her? What are you going to do with her after you catch her?
Nathan's brow furrowed. He had been through some serious division and conflict in that area for the past month.
What is the difference between Hardy Meyer and me?
A self-deprecating smile appeared on his face as he looked up at the ceiling.
He tried to brag and shout that he was different, but Nathan was always the same. It was the same reason he despised Cavendish and yet found himself in them.
There isn't much the eldest son of the Malvin family can promise a commoner woman. At most, a government position...?
Will Emilia accept it?
"Ha!"
It's ridiculous. Emilia Bern doesn't even give him a glance, and yet he's imagining her as his government.
Yeah, this is clearly a one-sided feeling. It's clearly unrequited love.
Still, he wants to see her again.
Nathan rested his head on his clasped hands. Unorganized emotions surged up again like a damp swamp.
He got up from his limp body and headed to the study. Every time he thought of Emilia, something caught his eye.
< Accounting Principles >
Nathan stroked the book's luxurious leather cover.
He's sure she'll like it. She'll smile for the moment he gives it to her. It'll be brief, like a ray of sunlight shining through the bitter cold.
But he doesn't have to worry too much. He can package it as friendship. That won't be a problem.
Because they're going to break off the engagement anyway.
Nathan's lips formed a soft curve.
***
“Now, read it, Charlotte.”
Charlotte traced the spot where Mitch had pointed with her fingertips. The rough Braille dots began to make sounds in the child's head.
“Ah... Father... Father?”
“Right. Good job. Next.”
"…...Caw?"
Charlotte tilted her head.
“Cow. It’s read as ‘cow.’”
“Cow? ...Cow...tree?”
“It’s pretty good. Yes, now the last one.”
Charlotte frowned and fumbled for the last Braille letter. After a while, she muttered, “Mo...moza?” and Mitch applauded.
“Wow! Braille genius, Charlotte Bern!”
He patted his sister on the back. Charlotte smiled. She looked almost as if she was crying because of the lump in her eye, but she was clearly smiling.
“You’ve answered all the questions correctly, so tell me what you want. I’ll give you anything you want.”
Mitch said confidently. Charlotte thought she would be able to make him do things like wash the dishes or clean the house. But that was the question that Charlotte brought up.
“Don’t bother her anymore. Stop telling her that it was a good thing you broke off the engagement. Don’t you know what kind of face my sister makes when you do that?”
It was beyond embarrassing; it was absurd. A child who can't see dares to talk about 'expressions'.
“This is the first time she's done this. It was better when she pretended to be cheerful. Now, she's just completely shut up. I wonder what Lord Meyer gave her that day. I’m dying to know.”
“What do you have to wonder about? It’s a divorce paper. Who would be happy to receive something like that? Well, don’t worry too much. Sister will recover quickly. It’s not like they started out of love anyway.”
“No, that’s not it. If she were upset because of the divorce papers, she should have been upset from the very beginning when the topic of divorce first came up. Why is she bringing it up now?”
Is that so? Mitch's eyebrows gathered in the middle.
“The relationship between sister and Master Meyer is not that simple. There is something deeper between them.”
"What?"
This time, the brow furrowed.
“Don’t write novels, Charlotte. How much does my sister hate that guy? Are you stupid? After all that he's done to her, she still gives him her heart?”
“Ha! You don’t know because you sleep with your mom.”
Why are you suddenly talking about bedtime again?
“I sleep with my sister. After meeting the master, my sister won’t be able to sleep at all that day.”
Mitch felt a sudden surge of irritation.
That can't be true...
His sister clearly said that she had no feelings. She was the one who wanted to break off the engagement. She said that she had no attachment to noble men.
Could it be that she lied?
“No matter how much she laughs, her feelings won’t change. Lord Meyer likes her. And she does, too.”
He glared at Charlotte as if she were absolutely astonished.
“Are you completely crazy? You think that just because we give you superpowers, it’s real?!”
“No! I’m not talking about superpowers!”
“Then give me evidence.”
"Evidence?"
“This is proof that Hardius Meyer likes my sister.”
“First of all, he forgives you, Mitch.”
Mitch's face turned bright red like a carrot.
“Hey, forgiveness! Why would he forgive us? After all that we’ve been through...!”
“Yeah, Mitch, what you said wasn’t wrong. But it was wrong to lie like that. It was too much.”
"Ha!"
“And he gave me all sorts of gifts. Uncle Beppy, Brave, you can’t do something if you don’t like it.”
He clicked his tongue madly.
“Wake up, Charlotte. He’s not an ordinary man. He’s a nobleman. He treats us commoners like dogs, pigs, and chickens.”
But Charlotte doesn't seem to be listening at all.
“Yes, let’s say you’re right. Let’s say that guy has strange feelings for our sister. What are we going to do? Do you think he’ll get down on his knees and propose to my sister? Do you think he’ll apologize and ask her to marry him?”
Charlotte's innocent eyes answered yes. Mitch felt a fire burning in his chest.
“That’s why you’re being treated like a pig! Because you’re so naive, you’re being treated like an idiot and you’re just getting screwed over!”
Charlotte is so naive.
It is only natural that the child's only window through which she perceives the world is the books her older sister reads to her. In novels, the protagonist always wins and falls in love. Mitch wanted to awaken Charlotte to the cold reality.
“The feelings that noble men have for common women are not that romantic. Do you know what they usually say?”
“...?”
“It’s called ‘lust.’”
“Lust? What is that?”
As he faced that innocently questioning face, his heart ached belatedly. To say such obscene things to a child that only men would say to each other...
If his older sister finds out, she'll be really upset.
“There is something like that. You will understand it when you grow up.”
Mitch avoided Charlotte's gaze with a flushed face and continued speaking.
“Anyway, do you know what happens when a nobleman lusts after a commoner woman? Not just any commoner, but a poor woman like our sister. There’s nothing more unfortunate than that.”
Charlotte turned her unfocused eyes towards Mitch once more.
“What does that mean?”
“You... have you never heard of something like that?”
“What... are you saying?”
Mitch hesitated for a moment. When he heard the 'words' his classmates were gossiping about at school, his blood also boiled.
Wouldn't that innocent child, locked in the attic, be shocked? And yet, his mouth wouldn't stop.
"Government."
"Government?"
“Yes, the government. It’s a very bad thing. It’s a shortcut to women’s misery. You don’t want your sister to become that damn government, do you?”
At that moment, the door flew open.
It was Emilia in question. Charlotte flinched, and Mitch jumped as if he was going to faint.
...Did you hear that?
“You were studying?”
Emilia smiled brightly and put the chicken feed container she was holding in the cupboard. Light footsteps headed toward the attic. A humming sound was heard, followed by a rattling sound and a voice mumbling, “Where’s the hammer?”
She must not have heard. Mitch looked back at Charlotte, swallowing a sigh of relief.
“The word ‘government’ means ‘lover.’ Not just any lover, but a married man’s lover!”
Charlotte's mouth, which had been gaping open, doubled in size.
A moment later, Emilia reappeared. She was holding the hammer she had been desperately searching for. Mitch asked nonchalantly.
“Why? What are you going to do with it?”
“The fence is shaking. Uncle Beppy is fixing the rope, so I’ll do it.”
“Yes, leave it. I’ll do it later...”
“No, you should do your vacation homework. You almost failed your essay last semester, right? Vacation isn’t for playing around. It’s for making up for your weak subjects.”
Emilia, who had been nagging, muttered, “Charlotte, you should study Braille diligently too. I will start earning money from now on to send you to a school for the blind,” and walked toward the door. The door opened, and before the siblings’ eyes, their older sister disappeared like the wind.
Of course, Emilia heard the word 'government' clearly.
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