Then, he shall do his best. That man was a disgusting nuisance, like a cockroach. If the sight of something offended him, then he shall chase it and squash it.
As soon as he reached his mansion, he shall call for him, who was probably holed up in Marlan. If he was foolish enough to come up with an excuse, then he shall ride there with the Imperial Guards. Marlan was a part of the Volden province. On paper, he had the power to request an inspection.
Linus was making such calculations until the carriage reached its destination.
—But things didn't work out that way.
"Well, well, well, long time no see, brother! And sister-in-law too! Thank you for the long journey."
At a small hill overlooking the state capital of Volden. The person in question who greeted Linus and the others in front of the mansion on top of the hill was the cheerful Tullius Shernan Oubeniel, accompanied by what looked like his vassals.
Linus almost jumped out of his skin in surprise when he heard the voice that came as soon as he got out of the carriage. The butler, for example, instantly turned pale.
"Whoa!?"
He even let out a short scream.
Simone, on the other hand, blinked her eyes in some confusion, but soon replied somewhat happily.
"Oh, Sir Tullius. Thank you for welcoming us. It's been a long time, too."
"Sister-in-law is still the same — no, I'm glad to see you are in good spirits."
When they exchanged smiles, Linus finally broke his rigidity.
With a movement that seemed to be from rust rubbing on each other, he turned to face Tullius.
"......you. Why are you here?"
At these words, Tullius cowered in surprise.
"Why? More like why not? I heard that brother would be arriving today, so I came to welcome him like this. What's so strange about that?"
He was often said to be brazen. The primary purpose of Linus' return to Volden was to use his authority to bind the movements of the man in front of him. One of the ways he had planned to do this was to call him back and forth from Marlan under the guise of welcoming him and discussing the management of the territory. Annoyingly, his first move resulted in him dodging it.
However, it was hard to imagine that Tullius would move out of his domain just for that. With the exception of Linus and Simone's wedding last year, there was no information that this man had moved from his domain, and he did not have the personality to move from his domain like this. It was hard to imagine that a man who usually retreated to his home like a turtle would come to the capital of Volden without being explicitly summoned.
He must have some ulterior motive behind it.
Despite the quizzical stare, Tullius clapped his hands merrily.
"Then let my vassals greet you as well. Some of them you have never seen before."
When prompted, two people stepped forward and knelt, representing those behind them. Linus would know one of them, but the other, as Tullius had mentioned, would not be familiar.
"My name is Victor Delacroix Lorge, a vassal of Viscount Tullius. I hope you will make my acquaintance."
The blond-haired, blue-eyed man, who behaved with more nobility than Tullius, introduced his name in a perfectly polite manner. Linus knew Count Lorge as one of Lavallee's henchmen. He was so obsequious that he heard that the old marquis even took care of his women. He was probably a son from that family. If that was the case, then the ‘grass’ that Lavallee once sent to be taken in was this man? Probably an illegitimate child but if he was the Count’s legitimate son, then the old man must have pulled off something real big…… Linus pondered.
"......Due Schwarzer, sir. It is my pleasure to meet you again."
The rugged man, who was obviously not comfortable with being formal, was a military officer under the command of Tullius who had met Linus several times. His greeting was somewhat more palatable than previously in the royal capital last year, so he must have practiced it a lot.
"Both of you, dispense with formalities. I am Linus Strein, head of the Oubeniel Count family. ......Hey, Tullius. Don't tell me you've come all this way to let me meet with these people?"
When I tried to fish him out with a blank face, Tullius smiled.
A bad feeling overcame Linus.
"What are you talking about, I told you it was to welcome you. Now, please come to the mansion! It's not the same as the one in the royal capital, but I've made arrangements for you all to be comfortable."
"What?"
Linus's heart jumped with a thud at the words.
Tullius took it in his stride and called out behind him.
"Hey, is it ready, Uni?"
"Yes, Master. The cleaning and bed making has been taken care of without a hitch. It will be some time before dinner, but if any of you wish, we can have the refreshments served immediately. The heating of the baths should be completed soon."
There was a female slave who knelt beside her master and reported. As usual, despite being a lowly slave, she served the ‘Slave Murderer’ ever so faithfully — no, more than with just faith.
(You've got to be kidding me!)
The rooms? The meals? The bath? All of it, you say, have been touched?
When Linus realised this fact, he felt as if his eyes were going dark.
If Tullius had entered Volden first, he would naturally have seized the mansion where Linus and the others were staying first. If his goal was brainwashing and assassination, he could do whatever he wanted to set up for that. And Uni's words fueled that fear more than anything else. At least for today, it was as if he had declared that all of the lives in the mansion would be placed under Tullius’ slaves.
"D-don’t mess with me!"
The angry voice that came out of his mouth was more akin to a scream because of his panic.
"What's the matter, brother? Is there something amiss?"
"Everything is wrong! As a viscount, it's thoughtless to enter the Count's residence without permission and take care of the entire house!"
"Oh, really?"
As Tullius feigned ignorance, Linus felt like he wanted to strangle him with his own hands. No, in fact, he really did want to strangle him to death.
"Is that so, Victor?"
"If you ask me, I suppose it is. However, it was done to cater for a banquet of my lord’s brother who came a long way. I don't think it's something to get angry over."
Linus glared at his brother, ignoring the whispering behind his back.
"...... Of course! The fact that you also received a title means that you are formally a member of a different family from the Oubeniel Count family! Just because you're my brother doesn't give you the right to mess with our family's mansion!"
That was the law of this kingdom. That's why Elisha succeeded in distancing herself from her family by becoming a knight and breaking off her marriage to a man she didn't like.
But then Simone interrupted with a look of annoyance on her face.
"You don't have to be so uptight about it. It's not like they broke into your house or sold it off without your permission. Of course you didn't, Sir Tullius?"
"Yes, of course, sister-in-law. I'm proud to say that the children in my service, despite their low statuses, are very good at housekeeping. They haven't scratched a single thing or furniture. We fully paid for the ingredients for dinner, from a grain of wheat to every drop of oil. Well, as for the firewood, I borrowed from the mansion's stockpile, but I can compensate for that if you so wish."
"...and so he says. Isn’t that great, Linus."
When Simone heard the answer, she gave Linus a cold stare. She was probably thinking what a cruel thing Linus had said. It was true that the older brother was rejecting, based on formalities, the younger brother's goodwill and that would be how it appears to others not in the know.
However, it was impossible for Tullius to have such an admirable attitude. If Marquis Lavallee was right, he was the kind of man who brainwashed nobles from other families and used them as pawns. There was no telling what he might be doing under his mask of filial piety in this house.
Linus, distressed, glanced at the knights around him.
"Well, then. Did he consider how to treat these guests? Most of the household members he brought with him are probably slaves as well. Would the dignified members of the Second Order who travelled such a far way from the royal capital accept the reception from my idiot brother’s slaves!?"
"This is......."
Even Simone's expression clouded over and she stammered. Of course. It was outrageous for a slave to be seen by someone else from another family. And yet, they were going to let their guests into a room that had been touched by slaves, make them sleep on a bed that had been handled by slaves, serve them meals that had been prepared by slaves, and make them use a bathtub that had been cleaned by a slave? This was no joke.
