“It’s not for a child to say things like that. Besides, we were feeling a bit lonely living here as two old folks, so this works out well. Why don’t you stay here?”
Thanks to the kindhearted elderly couple, Laslo felt a weight lift off his shoulders and headed straight to the mercenary guild. He remembered eavesdropping on a conversation when a friend of his father’s had come to visit.
“Commoner boys start working as errand runners at the mercenary guild as soon as they hit ten. Why is it that my son can’t seem to detach himself from his mother’s apron strings yet?”
Without even knowing what a mercenary guild errand runner actually did, he had just marched in and asked for a job.
Men with menacing appearances looked down at him with eyes that seemed ready to devour him, but Laslo didn’t take a single step back.
He knew instinctively that if he backed down then, he would end up doing nothing but even worse work.
“Got some guts, haven’t you? Fine, I’ll give you a shot. What’s your name?”
“……Laslo. I’m Laslo.”
He used the name of the protagonist from a hero’s tale his nanny had read to him when he was little.
From that point on, Laslo became an errand runner for the small mercenary guild, delivering letters and transporting items of unknown origin. Starting the following year, he followed mercenaries on long journeys, taking care of their meals and luggage, performing odd jobs, acting as a lookout, and tailing people for surveillance.
Thus, him picking up a sword was only natural.
First, he had to protect his own body, and second, he needed to become a mercenary who could earn more money.
To Laslo, who had been silent while rummaging through his memories, Lynnia asked again, as if pestering him.
“I asked how you lived. Well?”
“How I lived, you ask? I lived tooth and nail.”
“Don’t brush it off like that! My memory of the meat pie grandma’s house from when we were little is getting fuzzy.”
“They were good people. If only they had lived a little longer, I could have treated them to a life of luxury.”
The elderly couple who had taken them in left the two of them sooner than expected. The grandfather passed away when Laslo was fifteen, and the grandmother when he was eighteen.
Of course, their quality of life had improved significantly with the money Laslo brought home, but he always felt regretful and sorry that he hadn’t been able to do more for them.
“There was only one window and the house was cramped, so it would get dark as soon as the sun went down. But we were quite happy there.”
Even though they didn’t share a drop of blood, they cared for Laslo and Lynnia with love. The affection he received from them was the only reason Laslo didn’t grow up completely cynical.
“If they hadn’t taken care of you, it would have been hard for me to go out and work. They were the ones who saved our lives.”
“I see. As for me, well, I figured that as long as I had my brother, nothing else mattered.”
Lynnia, recalling the taste of that meat pie she could still never forget, finished the piece she was holding.
“Ah, that was delicious. So, what shall we go eat now? I heard there’s a place across the bridge that makes chicken skewers. Shall we go there?”
It was while they were crossing the bridge, crowded with portrait artists and passersby, that Lynnia made her suggestion.
‘Hmm? I feel like I just heard a voice that sounded just like Edele’s…?’
Thinking it was impossible, Laslo looked around anyway.
However, he didn’t hear Edele’s voice, but rather a woman’s voice that was grating and shrill. Following the glares of the people around him, he easily found the source.
As Laslo walked toward them, as if possessed, the words “mercenary scum” struck his ears.
“That great Edele Canyon, not content with being sold off as a second wife to an old man, must have even become a mercenary’s mistress.”
Why did those words grate on him so much? Without realizing it, he spoke up.
“I wasn’t aware I had a mistress.”
His opponent looked panicked, but he only saw Edele’s face.
She looked significantly troubled. Seeing Daisy holding onto Edele’s sleeve tightly beside her, Laslo guessed the situation.
‘Right, they said they were going out together today. It’s their first time out since coming to my house; I can’t let them get caught up in annoying business.’
If he had his way, he would have loved to turn the husband’s family and the maiden family of that noisy woman into a complete mess, but for the sake of Edele’s peaceful day, he held back.
Using the surrounding stares as an excuse, he thought it might be nice to go to a private studio and have portraits painted.
It was pleasant to have a portrait with Lynnia, who was still just as cute as ever, and it was also good to allow the stoic yet loyal Marco to be in the same frame as his daughter.
Then, when he had Edele stand before the artist again under the pretense of sending it to Barbara, Laslo stared at her face, momentarily lost in thought. Her smile was as dazzling as the sunset on a clear day.
“It’s all finished! Ah, to whom should I give this painting?”
“Give it to me.”
Receiving the finished portrait, Laslo was quite pleased with it, as it was drawn almost exactly like the real thing.
“Thank you once again, Count.”
“Ah……. Well, there’s no need to thank me so many times. It was, in a way, for my own sake.”
Even though Laslo said that with a strange prick of conscience, Edele smiled softly.
Upon returning to the mansion, Laslo tucked the painting into his desk drawer and would often look at it and sigh.
‘I should send it to Grand Duchess Celestine, but it feels a bit abrupt to send it now that it’s done. I’ll just keep it for now.’
It was, in his mind, a truly reasonable excuse.
* * *
There was much work for Edele to do as Lynnia’s dedicated maid. It was what she had expected, so she wasn’t particularly surprised.
For the first five days or so, she taught her what suited Lynnia and what didn’t, and what items a lady of a Count’s family should avoid choosing.
The next five days were spent sorting through Lynnia’s belongings into “items to keep,” “items to sell,” or “items to discard.”
Once everything was cleared out, Lynnia’s wardrobe, jewelry box, and vanity were quite bare.
Naturally, the next task fell upon them like destiny.
“Now that it’s empty, we must fill it.”
Lynnia declared this with a somewhat heroic expression, then turned to Edele and beamed. Was it a sign that she trusted only her?
That afternoon, people from a dress shop visited the mansion first.
“Nice to meet you. I am Dora, a tailor from the dress shop .”
Lynnia had called for a tailor from one of the shops Edele had deemed acceptable. Even in Edele’s view, was a decent choice.
“I’d like to order one outing dress, one garden party dress, and one evening gown.”
“Then please, take a look at our shop’s catalog and choose the designs. Once the designs are finalized, we will take your measurements.”
Dora’s face was full of delight at the mention of ordering three dresses at once, but Lynnia, holding several heavy catalogs, looked troubled.
Just then, Edele placed her hand gently on Lynnia’s shoulder and whispered.
“May I help you?”
“Ah! Of course. Well, what should we choose first?”
“I don’t think the order matters, but why don’t you look at the outing dresses first?”
“Yes, let’s do that.”
Lynnia began to flip through the catalog for everyday dresses.
She was slightly surprised to see designs listed that were completely different from the dress shop Marsha had recommended.
“Since you already have two in bright colors, it might be good to have one in a more subdued tone.”
“Oh, yes, I suppose so. I think this green dress looks nice, what do you think?”
As Lynnia pointed to a simple green dress, Dora interrupted with a strained smile.
“Instead of that, how about this white muslin dress? When you think of summer, you think of muslin! We’ve just secured a small amount of premium-grade muslin, and I think it would look wonderful on you, my lady. In fact, several other clients have been eyeing this fabric, but I suggest it because I think it suits you perfectly.”
With an explanation that sounded like she was doing them a favor, Lynnia seemed half-convinced.
However, Lynnia already owned one white muslin dress. Not only had the massive craze for muslin subsided, but they couldn’t afford to fill the wardrobe with the same type of dress when they needed to prioritize variety.
‘Besides, it’s obvious she’s just trying to offload problematic inventory.’
Edele saw right through Dora’s intentions.
She must have heard rumors about Lynnia before coming here: that she was a commoner ignorant of noble trends and unable to distinguish between high-quality and low-quality materials. In fact, that might have been a generous way of putting it.
Edele shook her head at Lynnia, who was glancing at her cautiously.
“You already have a white muslin dress, my lady. In my eyes, the green dress you picked out is much prettier. It will make your turquoise eyes stand out even more.”
At that, Dora tried to coax Lynnia again.
“Of course, that dress would look lovely on you as well. But isn’t it a bit plain? If you don’t like the muslin dress, how about this design instead? It’s a new design added just this year.”
What she pointed to was an excessively bold style. No matter how trendy naval-inspired designs were, that dress, with its dark blue horizontal stripes and sailor collar, was something one wouldn’t be able to wear often.
After wearing it just a couple of times, people would point and say, ‘That’s the dress she wore last time.’
‘But I’m sure it’s expensive.’
Edele began to feel annoyed.
It was clear that Dora was trying to deceive the naive Lynnia and fleece her for all she was worth.