‘What kind of a Count’s household is this?’
He didn’t really know how a proper Count’s estate was supposed to run, but he at least assumed that when the head of the house returned, someone should be there to greet him.
‘The house is unnecessarily large, too. To maintain a place like this, you need so many people.’
Honestly, by his standards, a mansion this size and a staff this large were completely pointless.
Back when they lived in a decent house on a street occupied by middle-class commoners, he and his sister had managed just fine with one manservant to handle the horses and heavy lifting, and two maids to help with the chores.
That alone had been a luxurious enough life.
However, when the Emperor granted them this mansion, he had advised them to hire at least ten male servants, including a butler, and sixteen maids, including a housekeeper, along with a chef and at least one kitchen assistant. He had even insisted those were the minimum numbers.
‘I haven’t even been able to hire a proper butler, and the maids keep quitting, so there are only ten. Ah, with that woman entering, I suppose there are eleven now.’
Stepping into the mansion, he looked around at an interior that felt entirely incompatible with who he was.
He had told Lynnia to decorate it simply with the help of the housekeeper, but the place still seemed to be missing something. He couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was.
“Tsk. What a bother.”
Muttering under his breath, he headed for the second floor when Lynnia came running out of her room to greet her older brother.
“Oppa! You’re back?”
“Yeah.”
He replied indifferently and headed toward his room, but Lynnia, despite having nothing particular to say, tagged along.
“What did you do at the Imperial Palace today?”
“The same work as always. Why do you ask?”
“No, just….”
Lynnia followed him into Laslo’s room and showed no signs of leaving, even as her brother showed signs of fatigue, taking off his coat and loosening his cravat.
Finally, Laslo asked, “Why? What’s going on?”
Lynnia, shrinking her shoulders at the irritation in his voice, mumbled quietly.
“Well, it’s nothing big, but… I received an invitation to a tea party in two weeks, and they said I absolutely must come. It’s hosted by Viscountess Emerson. Do you know Viscountess Emerson?”
“No.”
“Is that so? Oh, I see….”
Laslo was genuinely frustrated with his younger sister. He wished she would just speak clearly if she had something to say, but ever since they had moved into this mansion, Lynnia had been walking on eggshells around him, beating around the bush.
“If you don’t want to go, you don’t have to.”
“I—that’s not what I meant! Besides, if I don’t go to places like that, I won’t have any reason to wear the pretty dresses we went through all the trouble of making.”
“Then go.”
“But… I don’t know what to say when I get there.”
“When you don’t know what to say, it’s better to just keep your mouth shut.”
“If they ask about you, should I just say I don’t know?”
“Yes.”
Lynnia nodded uncertainly.
In truth, while she was glad to receive the occasional invitation, she also felt burdened by them.
The housekeeper had told her that since she had become a noble lady, she had to mingle with the nobility. She thought that was only natural.
However, whenever she attended the tea parties, gatherings, or banquets, Lynnia was always the target of exclusion or mockery. It was never done overtly, but Lynnia wasn’t so foolish that she couldn’t notice it.
‘If you’re going to treat me like I don’t exist, then why do you invite me at all?’
She had only learned that failing to respond or not attending without a proper reply was a great discourtesy, so she didn’t even know how to decline an invitation.
It was even more depressing that she had nothing else to do if she weren’t attending those gatherings.
So, she kept attending them, forcing herself to go whenever an invitation arrived, but as the incidents piled up, Lynnia lost her confidence and became discouraged.
“Lady Lynnia, it would be best for you to learn etiquette and manners from the very beginning. You are a young lady of a marriageable age; it is quite a problem if you don’t even know how to properly use your utensils.”
After hearing remarks like that, she reached a point where she couldn’t even eat anything when she went out.
“Oppa. Can you… c-can you hire me a decent tutor?”
At those words, Laslo turned a fierce gaze toward her.
“And if I do? Are you confident you won’t throw a tantrum and will actually learn properly this time?”
“No, well, it’s not like I meant to….”
“Lynnia Krissus. Answer me properly. Is this the first or second time I’ve hired a tutor for you? Whose fault is it that those people quit and left without even lasting two weeks?”
Lynnia couldn’t answer and just stared at the floor.
But inside, a sense of injustice surged.
‘Those women were the ones who laughed at me first!’
Those tutors, who pretended to be demure and full of culture in front of Laslo, changed their expressions the moment they realized Lynnia knew nothing—absolutely nothing at all.
The way they looked down on her…
Every time she felt the mockery, contempt, and disdain in those gazes, she would tell herself to endure it for her brother’s sake. But when she was subjected to direct criticism, such as, “You don’t even know this?” or “How many times do I have to tell you?”, Lynnia couldn’t hold back anymore.
“If you’re getting paid, you should do a good job teaching instead of looking down on your employer!”
Whenever she lashed out like that, the tutors, who were from noble backgrounds, would tremble and turn away in a huff.
‘Is that my fault?’
Even if it were Laslo, he surely wouldn’t have stood by and watched.
However, she couldn’t bring herself to explain the details, fearing her brother would be hurt, or worse, that he might commit murder.
“Those women were just raised too delicately. To quit a job just because their employer said a few words.”
“If you mean to say you won’t change your attitude, then there will be no more tutors. Actually, there’s nowhere left to get referrals from, anyway.”
Lynnia pouted at her brother, who wouldn’t take her side at all, when a person suddenly came to mind, and she brought it up as a topic of conversation.
“Oh, right. That woman who used to be the ‘Duchess Lancaster’ actually seemed a bit different.”
Laslo, who had turned away, cast his gaze back toward Lynnia, but she rambled on without paying much mind.
“She was a noble of a much higher rank than all the tutors who came before, yet she had absolutely no pride. I told her to kneel, and she actually did it, you know? I was so surprised!”
“What? You told her to kneel? Why?”
“Just because. I called her over because I wanted to watch her weep, but she kept talking back and acting all elegant. It was annoying, so I told her to kneel….”
“Lynnia Krissus!”
Lynnia was startled and looked up at Laslo’s bellowing shout.
Her brother’s eyes seemed even angrier than before.
“Why, why are you yelling at me?”
“Do you not even realize what a shameful thing you’ve done?”
“What did I do?”
Laslo sighed, running his hands through his hair aggressively.
He understood the confusion Lynnia was experiencing after suddenly becoming a noble, but Lynnia was repeating the very behavior of the nobles that they both detested.
“How is what you’re doing any different from what the nobles who ignored you were doing?”
“…….”
“If you want to keep trampling on people weaker than you by wielding your power, you shouldn’t have any complaints about being trampled upon yourself. Don’t you think?”
Lynnia understood what Laslo was saying, but it only bred feelings of rebellion.
“The nobles who ignored me—I want to ignore them a little, too! Can’t I do that?”
“You didn’t ignore a noble. You toyed with a maid. That woman is no longer a noble.”
“B-but still…!”
“You can’t even utter a single word in front of the real nobility. Don’t you think that’s cowardly?”
Lynnia eventually welled up with tears.
“Oppa… you don’t know anything! Do you have any idea how angry and wronged I felt to do something like that?”
“Lynnia!”
“If you know full well that I can’t even open my mouth in public, shouldn’t you be thinking of ways to help me somehow? What exactly do you expect me to do!”
Seeing his sister crying and shouting, Laslo sighed deeply once again.
It wasn’t that he didn’t understand Lynnia’s heart, but he, too, had no idea how to help her.
“If it’s that hard, just don’t go to noble gatherings anymore. That would solve it.”
“That’s not what I meant!”
“You don’t want to be ignored, but you want to mix with the nobles?”
“Fine, you’re so great, Oppa! You don’t care what happens to me, do you?”
In the end, Lynnia wiped her tears and stormed out.
Laslo felt a weight in his chest.
It had already been three years since he had been caught in the Emperor’s scheme and received a title of Count that he had never wanted. He hadn’t changed much since then, but everything surrounding him was shifting rapidly.
Among those changes, Lynnia, who had already turned eighteen and would soon have to think about marriage, was his most troublesome concern.
*It was much easier when she was just someone who brought in a lot of money.*
Laslo poured water from a nearby carafe and gulped it down to soothe his stifling frustration.
Then, suddenly, he thought of Edel, whom Lynnia had forced to her knees.
*She must have pretended to be composed until the very end in front of Lynnia, clinging to her pride as a former Duchess, but she might be crying alone by now.*
It was none of his business. If she couldn’t even endure that much, what use was she?
However, the thought of Edel, who must have knelt while enduring such humiliation, made his chest feel tight. Impulsively, Laslo left his room and headed toward the west wing, where the servants’ quarters were located.
The servants who hadn’t finished their duties yet bowed their heads upon seeing him, but Edel was nowhere to be seen.