I Am a Ruined Noble of a Ruined Kingdom

Chapter 6: Dangerous Element

"Huuuuh. Another clear day."

Watching the sun high in the sky, I stretched leisurely. Then, I roughly tidied up the bird's nest on my head and changed from my gown into formal attire.

Today marked the one-month anniversary of living in the grand mansion in Eldrion.

I expected it to be quite busy days, but the Emperor hadn't asked anything of me since the day I had an audience with him. Thanks to that, I was getting frustrated with the increasing number of questions every day, but I was living comfortably enough to bear it.

"It's about time she came."

Sure enough, she was no saint either. After the sound of knocking, she came in without hesitation.

A woman with impressive snow-white hair that reached her waist, and a being who was the trauma itself to me.

It was none other than Iruealfi Yustiha.

"You're being lazy again today."

"I'm being considerate so it's easier for you to work."

I retorted shamelessly.

Iruealfi and I had been living in the same grand mansion ever since we had an audience with the Emperor. She had been acting nervously at first, but now she had adapted, and had become much more relaxed.

"Do you know that because of Nephi, I have to cook every morning, something I never wanted to do?"

"If I knew, I would have asked you to do it sooner."

"Is that so? There's nothing I can't do, though."

Iruealfi was filled with an inexplicable expectation. I ignored her words and headed for the hallway like an arrow.

"Don't ignore me!"

Only Iruealfi didn't know that her cooking skills were terrible. Perhaps it was because she had lived her whole life holding a sword, but when she cooked, the smell of metal permeated the air.

I vividly remember being horrified by the smell I accidentally caught while passing through the kitchen where Iruealfi was cooking, and passing by without acknowledging her.

It was an everyday occurrence in the mansion for the servants to be unable to dare give advice to the Marchioness Yustiha, who was worth more than ten thousand men, and to fret.

"...Never mind, let's eat out."

"Geez, who's fault is this?"

"If you're upset, why don't you become immortal too?"

"Tch..."

This time, I was the one who was wronged. On the day we had an audience with the Emperor, we moved into the grand mansion that belonged to the Ruined Noble of a Ruined Country.

There were already many servants residing in the mansion, and I told them not long after.

[Just clean well. You can use the mansion like your own home, and I don't need meals or anything.]

At the time, all the servants showed an astonished reaction.

[You're saying we don't have to use honorifics? Hey, it's okay. And just think of the mansion as employee welfare and use it as you please. Whether you have a party or invite someone...]

It was Iruealfi who poured cold water on my opinion at that time.

[Wait a minute, then what about my meals?]

[Ah... then I'm sorry to bother the servants, but could you just serve the Marchioness here? Ah, no, I'm fine, really? I don't want to increase the workload of the people who are already working hard!]

Iruealfi's face turned redder and redder as she listened to my words, and she finally exploded.

[What is it, really? It just makes me look like a bad person for no reason! Fine. I don't need it either. I'll just cook the meals myself!]

In fact, Iruealfi had nothing to feel guilty about. It was abnormal for me to tell the servants who were hired to work not to work.

Perhaps Iruealfi was in a state of losing her mind at the uncomfortable cohabitation that had just begun at the time, so she blurted out such a declaration.

'I think I'm starting to understand how to handle Iruealfi.'

It was an involuntary cohabitation, but it was enough time to grasp Iruealfi's tendencies.

"We're going to the strawberry cake shop today."

"Do you know that lunch and dinner have been all cake for the past two days?"

"It's delicious. You're not going to eat it anywhere anyway."

"Ugh."

Iruealfi presented me with a dramatic compromise, seeing that I was constantly making a face of disgust.

"Haa, okay. Then I'll change the menu to chocolate from lunch today. Strawberry chocolate for lunch, chocolate chocolate for dinner."

"Tell me the truth. Do you have regeneration abilities like me? Or are all my teeth baby teeth right now? What about nutritional balance?"

"Are you perhaps worried about me?"

I sincerely contorted my features.

"What?"

"If that's the case, it's okay. Cake and chocolate are perfect foods."

As if she didn't want to waste time talking, she turned around and left. She was truly a great dessert lover and bizarre foodie.

After all, Iruealfi is not a normal person.

'Is it okay for someone like that to be the strongest in the world?'

I wondered if she was putting protection abilities on her teeth and eating, and I followed Iruealfi.

◇

On a noon in a store where the sun was blazing, there was a strange person who caught the eye. She monopolized the attention of the people around her. Mentions of us were constantly rising and falling in the murmuring sounds of the people.

The result of Iruealfi's strikingly beautiful appearance... how great would that be? I was sitting face to face with Iruealfi, but it was impossible to capture Iruealfi in my sight.

All I could see were piles of strawberry chocolate and carbonated drinks stacked on the table. The sweetness was so bad that the store seemed to be filled with the scent of strawberries.

It was a torturous time for me, whose five senses were in the realm of the superhuman.

"...Are you happy?"

"The taste and quantity are so-so."

I closed my mouth at the words that the quantity was so-so. I had been eating with Iruealfi dozens of times already, but I couldn't get used to this amount of food no matter how I looked at it.

Surprisingly, the stacked chocolates gradually decreased as if they were disappearing somewhere, and I was soon able to face Iruealfi's eyes.

"Nephi should feel sorry for me."

"The one who has to follow you to meals against my will?"

"It can't be helped with the close surveillance that doesn't distinguish between day and night. And spreading your senses all over the mansion when you sleep is more annoying than you think."

This woman was now saying that she could feel even the tossing and turning of all the creatures in the mansion during sleep. And it wasn't tiring, it was just annoying.

Since it was impossible to share a bed, it must have been the next best method she had chosen. The real monster wasn't me, it was Iruealfi.

"...Are you afraid that I'll do something unnecessary?"

"Yes. Thanks to that, I can't have strength unless I eat this much?"

Iruealfi quickly added.

"I don't usually eat this much."

'Ah... yes...'

"And if I had eaten at my Marchioness's mansion, I could have eaten more without being conscious of it."

"More than this?"

Iruealfi put her hands on her chest like a tragic girl. If it weren't for the red syrup on her lips, she might have really looked like that.

"I sacrificed all of that because of Nephi's surveillance. Always be grateful to me."

"Thank you for cutting off my waist and limbs."

"Muuut."

Her mouth closed at my unexpected counterattack. She had only carried out the Imperial Order, but as a result, she was sitting face to face with the man she had butchered and talking.

Considering my unfair bad reputation, I didn't think Iruealfi would feel guilty, but...

"...Thank the Emperor, who is self-willed."

"Is that okay for a knight to say?"

"It's okay. No one will know if Nephi keeps his mouth shut. In the first place, I have the right to unilaterally restrain His Majesty's safety for the sake of His Majesty's safety. But the opponent happens to be Nephi, so it's only this far..."

It was when Iruealfi was getting heated up. A man who was making a troubled face from right next to him intervened.

"Um, I'm listening."

"Excuse me, but who are you?"

"I have come with His Majesty the Emperor's business... Originally, I was going to tell you after you finished your meal."

The man slightly took out the crest of the golden chain from his chest. And I saw it. Iruealfi's pupils were shaking as if an earthquake had occurred.

I widened my eyes and said.

"In that case... you'll have to report everything you saw and heard as a person of His Majesty."

"Nephi?"

"I hope you'll be sure to tell him that I was reprimanding Marchioness Yustiha for cursing His Majesty."

"W-wait a minute. Nephi is an accomplice..."

The man chuckled and looked at me. Soon, he joined our table and spoke.

"How about you tell him yourself? His Majesty the Emperor wants to see Marquis Alteon."

Alteon was my surname, newly bestowed after the audience with the Emperor. I am now making a new start under the name 'Nephi Alteon'.

"That's great. I'll report everything I know and don't know!"

"Yeah, Nephi? You can't make things up!"

The Emperor's envoy laughed cheerfully, then lowered his voice and carefully opened his mouth.

"His Majesty wants a private meeting with Marquis Alteon. So Marchioness Yustiha will be escorted to the mansion as is..."

"Denied."

Iruealfi's atmosphere, which had seemed foolish, was instantly reversed. Even while dealing with the Emperor's envoy, she was firm and cold.

Her momentum was so strong that the chattering people around her were silent in an instant. The man couldn't dare to continue speaking and looked at Iruealfi.

"Marchioness, um, that's..."

"Based on my duties and rights, I refuse the Imperial Order. I will accompany you to the Imperial Palace."

The man swallowed and trembled his lips. Seeing this, I stepped in to stop her.

"Okay, okay, I get it. Will you ease up a little? Don't interfere with business."

"I'm not particularly..."

I ignored Iruealfi's words and pulled the envoy's hand.

"Come on, let's go. Hey, did you bring a carriage or something?"

"Yes, yes! It's right in front of the store, so you can get on it."

"Okay, let's get on it quickly."

And so, the incident was resolved as quickly as a crab's eyes close in a headwind. Iruealfi and I got into the carriage, but the envoy stubbornly refused to sit with us, saying that he would stay outside with the coachman.

Not long after we set off, I could hear the conversation between the envoy and the coachman.

"...This kind of thing happened, so I think I'm on Marchioness Yustiha's bad side."

"Don't worry, sir. High-ranking people don't even remember our faces. Nothing will happen."

"You should have seen that angry Marchioness... Oh, oh. Honey... I'm sorry."

Of course, it was a conversation that only I, whose hearing was in the realm of the superhuman, could hear. Iruealfi was still sulking and staring out the window.

'There's a pecking order here too.'

Thinking such bitter thoughts, I stepped into the Imperial Palace.

◇

"Welcome, Marquis Alteon. ... And Marchioness Yustiha."

The Emperor was embarrassed by the fact that I had brought an uninvited guest. However, he guessed the situation from my bored look and nodded.

"Have you been well, Your Majesty?"

"I greet the Emperor."

Iruealfi and I took turns greeting. Unlike Iruealfi, who knelt on one knee, I stood tall.

The Emperor gestured to me, who had missed the timing to kneel because I wasn't familiar with etiquette.

"I have been too busy with official duties to call Marquis Alteon. Let's talk more inside."

We were now in front of a huge glass greenhouse. The Emperor, I, and Iruealfi were about to enter the greenhouse. The Emperor stopped Iruealfi.

"Marchioness Yustiha will wait outside."

"Your Majesty, that is not something that can be..."

"I deliberately chose the glass greenhouse as a meeting place because of you. Anyone will know of any abnormalities here right away."

The Emperor meant that he had given as much as he could give. In other words, this was also a trust in Iruealfi's ability.

Even if I suddenly turned violent, he was confident that Iruealfi could save him.

"...I will obey."

Since Iruealfi knew that, she accepted and stepped back.

As soon as we entered the glass greenhouse, the Emperor locked the door himself. Iruealfi flinched at the action, but as soon as the greenhouse was closed, the Emperor laughed loudly.

"Actually, it's half an excuse, and this greenhouse is my favorite place."

"It's quite scenic and nice."

"I'm glad to hear that!"

The Emperor sat down at a table where refreshments were prepared and offered me a seat. As soon as I sat down, the Emperor made a steeple with his hands and said.

"In fact, I don't particularly want the knowledge of the Ruined Noble of a Ruined Country... no, Marquis."

I was a little embarrassed because I didn't expect him to get straight to the point.

"Why is that?"

"To be exact, it's not yet the time to want it. Rather, I called you here because I wanted to hear the Marquis's opinion."

"I don't know if my opinion will be helpful."

"Hehe, feel free to speak your mind."

"...Ask me anything."

The Emperor's eyes sank. Facing his eyes, I once again tasted the mysterious feeling I had felt during the first audience.

'It feels like everything inside is being seen through.'

Soon, the Emperor's mouth opened.

"What do you think is the biggest threat to the security of the Eld Empire right now?"

I thought for a moment and carefully answered.

"Well. There are neighboring countries that are steadily growing, and the 'Chainreach' phenomenon..."

Then, the Emperor asked me back as if he was quite interested.

"Do you really think so? Do you have any other opinions?"

"That's... um."

I looked straight into the Emperor's eyes. He certainly knew that I wasn't showing my true feelings. I was now convinced that the sense of déjà vu that I was being seen through was probably not just a feeling.

This was a judgment closer to the animalistic instinct latent in Netionpies's body than logical reasoning. The Emperor asked for my 'opinion' rather than 'knowledge', but the answer I chose was knowledge.

The Emperor let out a low exclamation at the answer that came out after much deliberation.

"Iruealfi Yustiha. She is the greatest strength and threat to the Eld Empire."