Published: September 6, 2025
Upon arriving in Arensbach, the Winter Social Season began immediately. Unfortunately, Aub Arensbach had passed away just before our arrival, and there was hardly anyone to help us establish connections with the nobility. I was somewhat relieved that Lady Leticia and her close attendants managed to form at least some connections during the journey.
When I sent the letter to Ehrenfest, it seemed that Aub Arensbach was truly in critical condition, which was why Lord Ferdinand was summoned to fill the void left by Aub.
Because Aub had died, Dietlinde, the heir, could not come to greet us. Georgine, who had the closest ties to Ehrenfest, set out to receive us but apparently fell ill on the way due to mourning her husband’s death. Lady Leticia was urgently called upon, and with the help of a Mount from her attendants, she caught up to the carriage and acted as a proxy to welcome us.
...I cannot fully trust Georgine’s words.
Georgine spared no effort to become the next lord, scheming to trap her enemies and steadily securing her position. If she is said to still cling to Aub Ehrenfest, I can understand that without question. She is tenacious and intimidating to that degree.
I have loved gathering information since I was a child. It’s a hobby, so to me, all information is equally important, but to others, it’s a mix of good and bad data. There’s a huge amount of it, ranging from trivial to critical.
Georgine once said my information was “poor in accuracy and useless.” That comment completely extinguished my desire to share information with her and simultaneously wiped out my will to serve her.
However, I was in the same class as Georgine. Since Mother and older sister served as attendants to Georgine, I was told in my childhood room, “If you want to serve me, you must become a civil servant; male attendants like Justox cannot be close aides.”
...I see. Then...
I decided to pursue the attendant path. Since Mother and older sister were serving Georgine as attendants, I thought there was no need for me to serve her directly.
But by choosing the attendant path, I was labeled a traitor and untrustworthy by Georgine, and her treatment of me became extremely harsh.
At the time, I didn’t know that when I chose this path, it coincided with the birth of Sylvester and rumors that Mother would be transferred as Sylvester’s chief attendant. It was probably assumed that I chose the attendant path not to serve as a civil servant myself but because I wanted to serve Sylvester.
Honestly, I didn’t care what anyone thought. I didn’t want to serve either of them. Despite putting on the polite face of a noble candidate, inside me swirled fierce emotions. Neither Georgine, who would use any means to defeat enemies, nor Sylvester, who was a fragile child until about three but became an incredible troublemaker when healthy, had anything about them that made me want to serve.
“Justox, please brew some tea.”
“At once, Lord Ferdinand.”
The one I truly wanted to serve, even at the cost of my name, was Lord Ferdinand. He skillfully used my information and gave me a fair amount of freedom—a good master.
Lord Ferdinand was disliked and targeted for removal by Veronica, the former principal wife, but he skillfully dodged their attempts. Ironically, his patience, caution, and diligence could be said to have been cultivated inadvertently by Lady Veronica.
“Zelgius, could you show me the way to the kitchen?”
“Yes.”
I called to Zelgius, the attendant assigned from Arensbach, and he showed me the way to the kitchen. At the same time, I needed to teach Zelgius about Lord Ferdinand’s preferences.
“Currently, we are in the guest rooms, so it takes a bit of effort to get to the kitchen. But once the starbinding ceremony with Lady Dietlinde is over, we will move to the main building’s Aub residence, and it will be easier.”
Lord Ferdinand was assigned a guest room. Since he wasn’t married yet, he could not enter the main building where Aub’s rooms were. After the starbinding ceremony, the room transfer would take place.