At Briel’s sudden, adorable confession, Kalz responded with a look of pure disdain.
“As if.”
“Never mind! That was just a slip of the tongue!”
“Funny how naturally ‘Master’ rolled off your tongue. Who was it that insisted they could never call me that?”
“Look, taking two years’ wages for breaking a single vase is ridiculous! It wasn’t even new—it was used!”
“Used? Artifacts appreciate over time, you know. Aren’t you a merchant’s son? How do you not know something so basic?”
“Ah, come on! Can’t you give me a discount? Like an employee discount or something?”
“No.”
“Ugh! Don’t be so mean!”
“Keep whining, and you’ll lose the chance to pay in installments too. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”
“Hey, wait! You’re joking, right?”
“Absolutely not. And why are you following me? Shouldn’t you be working right now?”
“How can I focus on work when I’m about to lose all my money?”
As Kalz swiftly walked away with wide strides, Briel followed closely behind, his face a picture of misery.
Left behind, Almond rubbed his throbbing head with a wing. He didn’t dare expect friendly chatter between those two, but why must they argue whenever they crossed paths? They were both decent people on their own, making this perpetual conflict utterly baffling. Almond sighed deeply, only to feel something tugging gently at his tail.
“Marianne? What’s the matter?”
Marianne, gripping the butler’s tail, appeared deeply distressed. Her dark eyes shimmered with unshed tears, and she was trembling uncontrollably.
“Don’t tell me this is all about the broken vase?”
She nodded silently.
Was there really a reason for Marianne to be so shaken over a vase broken by Briel? Almond sensed something wasn’t right. He pressed further.
“Is there something else I should know about?”
***
“Delightful. This tea smells wonderful.”
“It’s exactly the same tea you always drink, Master.”
“Is it? It tastes exceptionally good today. Perhaps your tea-brewing skills have improved.”
Unlikely.
Almond had brewed his master’s tea flawlessly for years—his skills didn’t suddenly improve overnight. The reason for today’s particularly delightful taste had to be something else. Sure enough, Kalz was recalling what had happened earlier that day.
“Kalz—no, Master Kalz—you have plenty of money, don’t you? Do you really need to charge me for that vase?”
“Having money doesn’t mean I should throw it away.”
“Not throw it away—just pass it to me! To someone who’s going to work tirelessly for your castle! Come on, don’t be so stingy. Should I kneel? I’ll kneel, I promise!”
In the end, Briel had knelt down dramatically, pleading so earnestly that Kalz eventually agreed to settle for three months’ wages. The sum was nowhere near enough to replace even a fragment of the vase, but that wasn’t important. What mattered was that Kalz had finally secured a satisfying victory.
“Pfft, that desperate look was truly priceless.”
While his master wore a refreshingly satisfied expression, Almond found the whole situation deeply irritating.
“Are you really so pleased after making a young man kneel?”
“Anyone overhearing would misunderstand. He chose to kneel—I didn’t make him.”
“That hardly makes a difference. Imagine how desperate he must’ve felt. It was just an old-fashioned vase.”
“Almond, have you already forgotten how much that ‘old-fashioned vase’ cost me at the auction?”
“No, I remember clearly. You only bought it because you were embarrassed to return empty-handed from a neighboring kingdom’s auction.”
“Ridiculous. I genuinely wanted that vase.”
Kalz quickly denied it, but inwardly he felt a faint pang of doubt. Was Almond right? It was so long ago that his memory was hazy. But before he could reflect further, Almond had already launched into a lecture.
“I’ve repeatedly begged you to practice socializing through genuine conversation. Yet, you continuously ignore my advice. This butler is deeply disappointed.”
“Are you serious? If I ignored you, why would I go see him every single day? It was tedious enough.”
“What’s the point of visiting if all you ever do is pick fights instead of talking normally?”
“When did I ever pick fights?”
“You scrutinized every bit of work he did, criticizing everything from top to bottom. Everything seemed perfectly clean to me. Surely you didn’t mistake constant criticism for genuine conversation? You haven’t become that socially inept, have you?”
This infuriating parrot.
Almond’s genuine concern, evident in his worried eyebrows, only made Kalz more annoyed. The butler’s comments were irritatingly accurate, adding fuel to Kalz’s frustration.
Conversation wasn’t complicated, was it? They had exchanged words, after all. But alone with Almond, the best Kalz could manage was a weak retort.
“…I really did notice a difference in the shine of the walls.”
“Since when do you care about such things? If Marianne had cleaned it, you would’ve never mentioned it.”
“Marianne doesn’t clean like that.”
“Of course not; she’s a seasoned veteran. Even as a rabbit, she’s cleaned this castle for ages—naturally, she’s skilled. You shouldn’t judge Briel by this castle’s standards. Their current forms as animals might cause minor inconveniences, but experience-wise, they’re all retired master artisans.”
As Almond calmly laid out his points, Kalz made one final attempt at defense.
“Alright, maybe you’re right about the cleaning. But what about the vase? Carelessly breaking something valuable is clearly wrong. Considering that, docking only three months’ wages was extremely generous.”
“Actually, it wasn’t.”
“Wasn’t? How so?”
“Briel didn’t break the vase. Marianne did. She confessed it to me herself.”
Kalz stared blankly, utterly taken aback by the unexpected revelation.
“Nonsense. You heard him admit to breaking it himself.”
“He lied to protect Marianne.”
“Why would he do something so unnecessary?”
“Because he probably thought it was better if he took the blame instead. Everyone knows you’re notoriously strict—one speck of dust can set you off, so how would you treat someone who broke a valuable vase? He must’ve feared you’d punish Marianne harshly. He’s a genuinely kind person, unaware that you’d have actually been far more lenient with her.”
Almond’s words were painfully accurate. Had Kalz known Marianne was the culprit, he wouldn’t have reacted harshly. At worst, he’d have simply reminded her to be more careful next time.
“Yet you relentlessly went after such a thoughtful person, forcing him to repay, making him kneel… Goodness, I certainly never raised you to be so cold-hearted. How did it ever come to this?”
Almond sighed dramatically, throwing a sidelong glance full of disapproval at his master. His gaze carried an unspoken accusation: “This is exactly why your social skills are dreadful.”
That sharp look unleashed all the suppressed emotions Kalz had stubbornly ignored.
Honestly, Briel had been performing his duties far better than Kalz expected. He was quick to learn, quickly correcting any mistakes after being pointed out once. This left Kalz with very little to criticize, which had secretly annoyed him.
Then came the vase incident—exactly the chance Kalz had been eagerly awaiting. He seized the opportunity and thoroughly tormented Briel with satisfaction.
Now, after learning the truth, Kalz was deeply embarrassed and reluctantly felt a pang of guilt.
“…Then why did he have to lie in the first place—”
“Just admit you regret it, Master. Apologize sincerely to Briel for being unfair.”
“Apologize? But I didn’t even know the truth. Do I really have to?”
“Fine, don’t. Why bother with communication or rehabilitation at all, then? It’s pointless if you refuse to put in even minimal effort. I suppose I’ll just resign myself to dying a senile old bird. Honestly…”
Almond’s petulant complaint made Kalz turn away, pretending not to hear. At moments like these, he truly behaved no better than a stubborn seven-year-old. Even when he had actually been seven, he’d shown more maturity than this. Had he really regressed so far after spending all these years isolated in the castle?
Almond’s weary sigh once again echoed into the deepening night.
