Surviving As An Obsessive Servant

Rovel suddenly rushed over and sank onto one knee in front of Edrick next to the knight. 

He was holding something out to him, but where did he get it in such a short time?

“—What is this?”

Contrary to his suspicion, the contents were quite normal. It was a bouquet of a variety of simple flowers. 

But rather than that, his eyes turned to Rovel. It was clear that he had run here from somewhere. He was smiling brightly but sweat was dripping down his forehead. He was also a bit out of breath.

Still, his voice was as clear as always. 

“They are flowers.”

“…Do you think I can’t see that?”

“I promised to repay you.”

When did I? Edrick was just about to argue when he recalled something.

Repay— Rovel had actually said something about repaying him, but he didn’t pay any attention to it because he was annoyed at the time.

But before he could say anything, Rovel quickly approached him on his knees and handed him the bouquet of flowers.

He didn’t even have the chance to refuse. 

Nearby, Edrick could see someone mouthing the words, ‘That crazy guy—’.

Edrick strongly agreed. 

However—it wasn’t that the servant wasn’t helpful at all. This bouquet was better than nothing. 

What Rovel gave him was definitely a much simpler bouquet because the flowers were from this village. But his mother used to love them. 

Edrick awkwardly took the bouquet of flowers.

Rovel immediately recognized this victory and turned to the knight. 

“Sir, did you bring the flowers for the late Madam?” 

“—That’s right.”

Rovel quickly took the bouquet of chrysanthemum from him.

It was almost an extortion.

“The Young Master is thankful for this.” 

The high-quality chrysanthemum flowers were scattered in a single gust of wind.

Edrick was astounded by that servant’s behavior again. But he already had a bouquet, so he decided to let it go. 

Truthfully, he liked this one better. Maybe it was because it reminded him of his mother. 

Right after that, Rovel approached Edrick. Then he leaned his upper body towards him as if attentively listening to something. And then he replied, “Yes, yes.”

“This is the word of the Young Master. He wants everyone to wait here for a moment, except for Captain Blivan.” 

This time, Edrick, who was attempting to say ‘When did I’, closed his mouth.

Even if he disagreed with Rovel most of the time, he didn’t dislike what he had said this time. It would be nice to have some privacy. 

When Edrick didn’t say anything, Blivan, who was quietly watching from behind, came forward. 

The Captain approached with precise and steady steps.

The people around him couldn’t help but be affected by him.

“Shall we go?”

Among them, only Rovel was smiling brightly. 

*****

“That damn illegitimate bastard child—” 

The village chief gulped down a mouthful of wine.

After the boy who used to get books and clothes with his help was gone, he had a sweet fantasy.

He expected the boy to feel indebted to him for his generosity. 

Moreover, since he succeeded in secretly stealing household items under those fearsome knights’ noses, he thought that he could exploit the boy easily too.

But he greatly miscalculated. 

‘He didn’t even come back to visit his mother’s grave— he had forgotten about us!’ 

He even prepared a carriage and took a risk by going to the mansion, but the guards didn’t listen to him. 

Rather, they looked at him with contempt and kicked him out.

He was a fool to have been kind to a cripple in the village. 

Just as he was taking a deep puff on his pipe cigarette, the door swung open.

It was the boy who resembled his runaway wife.

“Father! Father!”

While sober, he always felt annoyed every time he saw the boy. Now, with the alcohol in his system, his annoyance became even more intense.

With a big grin, the boy told him in excitement.

“That punk is back! That punk!”

*****

It seemed the Duchess was well aware of the Young Master’s defiance.

For example, paying condolences through the knight who was behind the death of his mother and giving flowers to the son of the person she killed—.

It was really outrageous. But it was not surprising.

The bouquet of chrysanthemum was also given to Sir Arif by the Duchess in advance, seemingly with careful consideration for Edrick.

So Sir Arif would have handed it over to the Young Master saying that the Duchess had prepared it for him. 

I was covered in a cold sweat as I looked at the back of the Young Master who was carefully putting down the bouquet in front of his mother’s grave. 

‘If I arrived a little later, it would have been a disaster—’

It was a good thing that I could easily spot that good-looking knight.  

If I hadn’t stepped in earlier, Edrick would have reacted violently when he learned the source of the bouquet the knight had handed to him.

Not only would he throw away the flowers, but he would have openly insulted the Duchess. 

Most members of the Black Chain Knight had been given grace or favor from the Duchess at one time or another.

But the illegitimate child, whom she was painstakingly raising, not only did not know to be grateful but was also openly insulting her in this way. 

This would have been the first event that damaged the relationship between Edrick and the knights.

So I had to step in.

I didn’t know about anything else, but I believed it would be a good thing for Edrick to have the trust of the Black Chain Knights. 

It was for that reason that I continued to approach Blivan.

‘Then we can avoid more than half of the things that could be a threat to Edrick’s life—’ 

While I was lost in thought, the Young Master had finished visiting his late mother.

“That’s enough. Let’s go back.” 

He said it in a subdued tone and had a rather gloomy face than usual.

I walked past Edrick and bowed politely in front of his mother’s grave.

“Hello, Madam. I’m Young Master Edrick’s most trusted servant, Rovel. Recently, he has not been eating well or taking his medicine properly. It seems that he is aiming to see Madam in a worse state next year. It hurts me very much.”

“When did I ever have such a purpose!” 

“Isn’t that right?”

Don’t say anything. 

The Young Master, with his mouth tightly pressed in annoyance, seemed to be telling me that.

I ignored his silent command and continued to speak in an exaggerated manner.

“But don’t worry. Now, look. There are trustworthy people by the Young Master’s side right now.” 

“….”

“It’s Sir Blivan, the Captain of the Black Chain Knights, and me, the rising talent of Denkart. The two of us will protect the Young Master well. So don’t worry too much.” 

Blivan, who was standing silently nearby, did not respond. 

But I know that he was listening to every word I said.

“We don’t easily fall for any danger or scheme. Right, Captain?”

At my prodding question, Blivan continued to keep his eyes forward. But his thick eyebrows raised a little. 

*****

The people of the capital wouldn’t even know where it was located because the place was so far out in the outskirts of the village.

There existed a very small and shabby flower shop. It was the home of a poor mother and son pair.

Now the owner had changed and an old couple was currently living there.

Blivan was lost in thought as he looked around the small, narrow wooden house. His head touched the ceiling when he entered.

‘The boy who used to live in a place like this— and yet also very extravagant.’

There had been some subtle changes lately.

The servant dared to wear the clothes of the Master, who was an aristocrat.

The first day he witnessed such a scene, the people around him were also staring at the two with wide eyes. 

Even the stoic Blivan doubted his eyes.

‘No matter how he grew up in this kind of place, how can he not know anything?’

If it wasn’t for Madam’s order to comply with Edrick as much as possible and if there were other nobles around, he would have punished Rovel as it is. It was a lucky thing for the ignorant servant.

However, no matter how other people looked at them, the two did not seem to notice.

In particular, Edrick’s expression suggested that he didn’t find anything wrong with the situation. 

Even if the clothes got dirty while Rovbel was doing all sorts of chores, it appeared that he didn’t mind it at all. 

It was quite unexpected. 

‘—It wasn’t that he cared about his servants in particular.’

From what he had learned so far, it seemed that it was Rovel who was following him one-sidedly. 

If so, how did he gain such loyalty?

And— The words that the servant had said at the cemetery were still in his mind. There must be a reason for saying that.

As he was thinking about it, there was a sudden disturbance at the entrance. 

“Young Master Edrick! Young Master! Please open the door for a second!”

“I have something to say!”

The cause of the disturbance was a pair of a drunken man and a young man.

The knights looked at Blivan, hoping for an order. 

It was not surprising because some swindlers would come begging the nobles from time to time. 

Blivan was about to have his men kick those people out.

At that moment, there was a sound of a wheelchair rolling closer. 

The pair of servant and master, who were looking around the house, seemed to have come out because of the loud commotion.

‘—They’ve met before.’

It was clear from Edrick’s expression.

Judging by those cold eyes, it didn’t seem to be a very good relationship.

Still, he should observe the situation closely.

Blivan glanced at his subordinates. 

Then, the drunken man shouted very loudly in a deep voice.

“Crutches! I….I know where the crutches are! We’ve been keeping them!”

Hearing that, the expression on Edrick’s face completely changed.

His grip on the arms of the wheelchair tightened in urgency. Blivan could easily read the silent command.

The Captain gave an order without further delay.

“Bring them here.”