Chapter 5: I Tried Asking About the Lonely Villainous Noble’s Past
As my first move, buying Liese with gold was a success.
Honestly, I haven’t thought about what comes next. For now, if I can make them happy without making them miserable, I should be able to avoid the ending where I self-destruct and am condemned.
“Lord Serios, recently, words of gratitude have been arriving from the fief’s populace. Moreover, by lowering taxes, the number of merchants has increased, and the fief is becoming more vibrant. I believe your parents would also be pleased with your growth, Lord Serios. Sniffle…”
Since Arnaud is getting on in years, he’s become prone to tears.
While standing in the spacious gardens of the Aegrid Estate, I suddenly found myself listening to the silence that this mansion seemed to hold.
There are many retainers living here, and there should certainly be the hustle and bustle of daily life, yet somehow, this entire estate feels “quiet.”
That was something I had felt ever since I was reincarnated.
“Lord Serios, is something on your mind?”
The Butler, Arnaud, has served in this estate for many years; he is the Aegrid Family’s most senior retainer. A gentle light resides in his eyes, but it also seems as if a shadow lurks somewhere in their depths.
“…From your perspective, what kind of master was the previous me?”
It was a direct question. However, Arnaud’s eyes widened slightly in surprise, and then he answered quietly.
“Lord Serios… became the Head of the House at a young age. You must have faced many hardships.”
At those words, I furrowed my brow slightly. That’s right, Serios von Aegrid. The original owner of this body wasn’t an arrogant and villainous noble from the very beginning.
Serios’s parents, the previous Head of the Aegrid Family and his wife, lost their lives in a sudden accident when Serios was still very young. Their deaths were unexpected, and the house was instantly thrown into chaos.
“Young Master, please don’t cry…”
Young Serios wailed before his mother’s coffin. Though the Butler and Maids desperately tried to console him, his sorrow wouldn’t cease.
The sorrow of losing both parents at once. That same pain exists in my heart too. My sister and I struggled desperately to survive together.
When my sister came of age, just as I finally felt a weight lift from my shoulders, I died.
I had my sister, but for Serios, it must have weighed heavily on his young heart. However, what he was allowed was not “time to grieve.”
As the heir to the prestigious Aegrid Family, young Serios was immediately placed in the position of Head of the House.
Upon Serios, who became Head of the House in name only, numerous heavy responsibilities were thrust. Managing the estate, administering the fief, his duties as a noble.
None of these were things his young self could comprehend, but the retainers had no choice but to treat him as the “Head of the House.”
“Young Master, here are the documents for the next meeting.”
“Lord Serios, we request your decision regarding the fief’s tax revenue.”
The words directed at the young him were all solely for him as the “Head of the House.” No one treated him as a mere child.
He struggled desperately in his solitude, but gradually, his heart began to grow desolate.
To meet the expectation of being the “perfect Head of the House” demanded by those around him, he gradually adopted an attitude that pushed people away.
By the time he reached adolescence, Serios finally stopped outwardly showing the emotion of “loneliness.” That was also the moment his personality began to lean towards being insolent and villainous.
“Hurry up, don’t keep me waiting!”
“If you can’t listen to what I say, you have no right to be in this estate!”
The words he directed at others became extremely harsh, and gradually, his reputation as an “arrogant and cruel noble” took root.
But, at the root of it all, there must have been a loneliness and sorrow that prevented him from opening his heart to anyone.
The heavy burden of “Head of the House,” forcibly thrust upon him by adults when he was young.
While continuing to bear that weight alone, he had come to reject everything other than himself.
It seems he had guardians and such, but they weren’t suitable for Serios.
At that time, perhaps it was the surrounding retainers who should have corrected him. However, none of the retainers, including Arnaud, could bring themselves to reprimand Serios.
“Lord Serios… I believe you truly suffered a great deal.”
Regret was evident in Arnaud’s voice.
“If only we had been able to better empathize with Lord Serios’s loneliness, he might not have become so wild. However… we couldn’t even conceive of the idea of ‘reprimanding’ Lord Serios, our Head of the House.”
Serios, while feeling lonely, chose to reign as the Head of the House.
And the retainers could only “treat Serios as the Head of the House.”
As a result, Serios’s loneliness deepened further, and only arrogance came to cover his surface.
However, a slightly different atmosphere has begun to flow through this estate now.
That is due to my own changes, and since Liese and Maria came to this estate.
“Lord Serios, I feel you’ve become a little calmer recently.”
To the words Arnaud let slip, I quietly nodded.
“I just thought I needed to change. That’s all there is to it.”
If I don’t actually change, there’s no future.
“Have I become even a slightly better master, I wonder?”
Such a soliloquy escaped me naturally.
However, what I can say is that the feeling of wanting to save Serios himself has also been born within me.