Curious, Nigel concealed himself in the underbrush and focused on the commotion. One person was angrily lashing out at another—completely one-sided.
“I told you to work properly! Are you going to take responsibility if we get in trouble because you screwed up?”
“N-No, I was just…”
“Don’t make excuses. Not like you’ve got anything better to do!”
“I mean… I just…”
“You can’t even handle a simple job in your free time? Do you have a death wish or something?”
It wasn’t so much a fight as it was relentless verbal abuse from one side.
The voice sounded familiar. Nigel listened more closely—yes, the one shouting was definitely his attendant. The very same one who had stolen his jewelry and been murdered for it in a previous timeline.
Nigel hadn’t recognized him at first. He was used to that oily, sycophantic tone accompanied by a smiling face. Now, discovering the foul nature hidden behind that mask made Nigel’s expression turn cold.
“Don’t get cocky.”
Nigel crept closer. As he got a better look, he confirmed it—it was indeed that attendant. The attendant looked to be four or five years older than Nigel, while the servant he was berating seemed about Nigel’s age. What started with words had escalated into raised hands and threatening gestures.
This was going too far. Nigel didn’t normally meddle in servants’ affairs, but standing by while watching blatant bullying happen right in front of him wasn’t an option.
He was about to step out and intervene when someone grabbed him. Startled, he turned to see who it was—it was Inas.
“Please stay here,” Inas said calmly and stepped out from the brush.
The yelling stopped at once. It had clearly seemed like they were alone—until Inas appeared.
“Cut it out,” he warned quietly.
Even without raising his voice, Inas carried himself with the kind of composed severity that could make someone shrink without him needing to lay a finger on them. If this were the adult Inas—tall, well-built, with that cool, hard demeanor—he’d be terrifying.
But this Inas? He was pitifully skinny, a borderline unwanted guest in the mansion, openly rejected by the heir of the household. Since he served near Nigel, the attendant was fully aware of Inas’ uncertain standing—and scoffed at him.
“What, you think you can lecture someone when even the young master doesn’t acknowledge you?”
Inas didn’t respond. The attendant sneered and strode up to him, then suddenly slapped Inas across the face.
Has he gone insane?
Nigel leapt out from the bushes, horrified. Inas stood still, silently looking at Nigel with a downcast face—the perfect image of a victim.
Both the attendant and the unknown servant froze in shock at Nigel’s sudden appearance. Nigel scowled and grabbed Inas’ hand, pulling him behind himself.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Y-Young Master! I, um…”
“You struck someone who entered this mansion as my knight? Are you out of your mind—”
Nigel stopped mid-outburst, realizing how odd his tone sounded coming from a twelve-year-old.
“…Anyway, cut the crap.”
He trailed off awkwardly but continued glaring at the attendant. He saw it clearly—a flicker of annoyance crossing the man’s face.
“Young Master, I apologize. I’ll offer my sincerest apologies to Sir Inas.”
His tone and expression were polite enough, but Nigel could see right through it. The man clearly didn’t take him seriously—probably thought it’d be easy to manipulate some brat once the situation calmed down.
“Why don’t you apologize to that servant too?” Nigel said.
“Pardon? But…”
“I said apologize.”
The attendant paled. There had to be some bad blood between them. Still, glancing back and forth between Nigel and the servant, he realized he had no way out of this and muttered a half-hearted apology.
“…Sorry. You don’t have to finish the job.”
It couldn’t have been more obvious how insincere he was, but Nigel didn’t bother calling him out on it. From the moment that man dared act so arrogantly, Nigel had no intention of forgiving him. A single word to his father and the man would be thrown out tomorrow without so much as a reference letter. That was enough.
With the matter settled, Nigel grabbed Inas’ hand and turned sharply. Inas followed silently, not even blinking.
When they were far enough away, Nigel let go of Inas’ hand and turned around. Inas looked back at him with a gentle smile.
“Nigel.”
His expression was as calm as if the events moments ago had never happened. Nigel narrowed his eyes, unsure what was going through Inas’ head.
“What the hell was that?”
“What do you mean?”
“You let him hit you just to make me look stupid? Why didn’t you do anything?!”
Nigel’s temper flared, but Inas blinked slowly, as if surprised by the accusation.
“I’m sorry. I was going to kill him, but then I realized you might get upset.”
“You didn’t have to kill him—just stop him. It’s not like you don’t know how to handle yourself.”
“…Were you worried about me?”
Inas’ voice was feather-soft. The kind of voice that tickled the ears just by hearing it—enough to sour Nigel’s mood even further.
“Don’t play games with me. I don’t even want to look at you.”
“Then what should I do to make you look at me again?”
The honesty in Inas’ words caught Nigel off guard. Truth was, he had been coming to find Inas. Still, without showing it, Nigel scowled.
Inas dropped to one knee and, without hesitation, took Nigel’s hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it.
“If you reject me, it breaks my heart.”
His gentle, serene expression gave away nothing—just as always. Nigel acted on sudden impulse.
“Enough to die?”
Inas’ eyes widened at the abrupt, brutal question, then he nodded without hesitation.
“Of course. If you reject me, I’ve got no reason to live.”
“Smooth talker, aren’t you?”
Scoffing, Nigel yanked his hand away.
“If you really mean that, then stay put. No more killing people. No more unnecessary effort. Just live quietly as the sixteen-year-old Inas Idenbach.”
“And if you’re in danger?”
“If you don’t kill me, there won’t be any danger.”
With a sharp tone, Nigel turned and walked away.
***
The next day, the abusive attendant was immediately kicked out of the mansion. In his place, Nigel appointed the previously bullied servant as his personal attendant.
The new attendant came to Nigel’s room looking terrified.
His name was Danil. Nigel had assumed he was around the same age, but he turned out to be fourteen—two years older. Still, that was very young to be working as a servant.
Danil’s mother had been a servant in the Magnus Duchy, and his father a soldier. Both had died in a monster attack. With nowhere to go, the household had taken Danil in as a servant.
That had been two years ago. He’d been sharing a room with the now-expelled attendant ever since…
Easy prey, with no guardians. Knowing Danil’s background made his fear more understandable.
“U-Um, Young Master…”
“Why are you so scared? I’m not going to eat you. Straighten your back.”
“Y-Yes…”
Nigel had meant to put him at ease, but Danil just seemed more terrified.
“Don’t tell me… you’re not happy about being assigned to me?”
It was a joke, but Danil’s face went white as he frantically shook his head. Nigel shrugged awkwardly.
“I was just asking. Figured you might’ve been forced into this.”
“N-No! I—I would never…”
“Hm. What’s your name?”
He already knew it, but Nigel asked anyway to sound friendly.
“…Danil.”
“Nice. Sounds like a Lemad name. Are you from Lemad?”
“Yes. My grandmother… came from there.”
“Got it. Danil, you don’t need to be so afraid. Just do your job properly and no one’s going to yell at you again.”
Danil looked around nervously.
“You really won’t scold me?”
“Nope. Believe it or not, I’ve been chosen by Glarus. Do I look like the type to do evil?”
Nigel had been checking Danil’s Character Info Window. His faith stat was nearly priest level. At the mention of Glarus, Danil finally relaxed and nodded.
Guess even useless people come in handy sometimes. Smiling, Nigel told Danil he was counting on him.
***
Time passed peacefully for a while—though without much meaning.
Winter in the Magnus territory was brutal. As December approached and snow piled up, going outside became nearly impossible. Even the knights trained indoors. Naturally, the sickly Nigel had no choice but to stay holed up in the mansion.
He grew a bit closer to Danil. The boy still seemed scared of him, but not to the degree he couldn’t meet his eyes anymore.
His relationship with Inas, however, remained distant. Word was Inas had started knight training. Still, the gap between a trainee and the heir of a ducal house was enormous. Nigel barely left his room, so they didn’t even run into each other by chance.
Still, at night, Nigel sometimes felt someone watching him—or soft, lingering touches brushing his hair or cheek. He’d stir faintly, but never quite wake up.
And the dreams that had once shown him the past? They were gone. Come to think of it, those dreams had always been triggered by some sort of intense stimulus.
He wanted to recover his memories. But staying away from Inas made that impossible.
It was about time to bring Inas back to his side.
But before that—Nigel made up his mind to finish the quest to resurrect Etna, the one that had been bothering him for some time. He headed off to find Ruder.
