Chapter 6

Two weeks later.

While preparing to leave, I waited for my fiancée to visit, just in case.

What should I say to her if she comes? How should I apologize? How would she react?

Such thoughts kept swirling in my head, repeating over and over.

“Butler.”

“Yes, Family Head.”

“Has any letter from her arrived yet?”

“Unfortunately… no, it hasn’t arrived yet.”

“I see.”

Even though I’m leaving the capital tomorrow, my fiancée, who hates me, hasn’t even sent a letter, let alone visited.

“I wasted my time.”

What should I say? How should I apologize? What tea and snacks should I serve? Should I let her know about my condition? How should I react if she gets angry? How should I react if she cries? What if… she tries to stop me?

All the time I spent worrying about these things was nothing but a waste.

“…Butler. From now on, can you write down what I say and deliver it to her?”

“Of course.”

Even though she wouldn’t hear it, I quietly cleared my throat.

“My lady. I know that all the feelings you hold toward me are justified, and I respect all actions that stem from those feelings.”

“My lady. Please understand that I am leaving due to circumstances I cannot bring myself to speak of. I will not ask for forgiveness, understanding, or even to be remembered. I have no right to do so.”

“I will leave, hoping that you find someone who can make you happy.”

The butler quietly wrote it down, then stopped his pen and asked again.

“Are you sure this is enough…?”

“For me… no. That should be enough. Anything more would be a waste of time and ink.”

The butler quietly left the study to send the letter, and I took out the snacks I had prepared for her and gave them to the crow.

I thought the crow would like them since they were quite expensive, but I was wrong. Instead of eating the cookies, the crow suddenly started yelling.

“Hey, you idiot!”

“I’m just curious, but are crows usually this angry?”

“Even a saint would lose their temper looking at you!”

When you think about it, why get angry over something that’s no one’s fault? She just didn’t reply to my letter saying I’d visit. So she didn’t come.

And I, expecting her to visit, got all excited and prepared to welcome a guest.

I just wrote a letter and prepared to welcome a guest, and she just didn’t reply and didn’t come to see me. That’s all it was, so why get angry?

“Damn it…! Ugh…! You clueless idiot! Why are you so hung up on someone who’s not even family?!”

“Others might not, but she has the right to hate me.”

“What…?”

“I…”

Something painful seemed stuck in my throat, making it hard to speak.

“I killed her sister with my own hands. On the battlefield, I pierced her chest and crushed her heart.”

“That was…”

“That’s also why I entrusted the letter to the butler. Writing a letter with the same hands that crushed her sister’s heart? There’s no greater deceit than that.”

The crow seemed at a loss for words.

“…I guess I don’t have the right to feel hurt by something like this.”

Now that she’s the head of a family, she has the right to refuse my request.

“Actually, I’m glad. My dear friend’s sister has grown so much.”

“Your expressionless face makes it really unconvincing, you know?”

“Adding lies for the sake of persuasion is called fraud.”

“Anyway, you’re such an old man. A real weirdo.”

I thought there wouldn’t be much difference, given that I don’t have many days left.

“It’s quite awkward to be called a weirdo by a crow that talks like a human.”

Recently, I’ve learned a few things from talking to this crow often.

This crow has quite refined tastes.

This crow thinks too highly of my position.

And this crow has a very foul mouth.

“By the way, what have you been doing all this time?”

“Even though I’m leaving tomorrow, I can’t neglect my duties as the Family Head.”

“…Ah! That’s it, that’s it!”

The crow suddenly started clapping its wings in a way that resembled applause, celebrating on its own.

“That’s what I’m talking about!”

“May I ask what you mean by that?”

“It’s a common pattern, isn’t it? To make them realize how much they’ll miss me after I’m gone by giving them a hard time!”

The crow’s words left me puzzled.

“That makes no sense.”

“Even though you’re a stiff-faced idiot, you’re someone who works hard, right? After you’re gone, they’ll be swamped with work, not knowing what to do or who to ask, pulling all-nighters! Making mistakes left and right, realizing your absence while eating crap! Right?! Right?!”

It was even more incomprehensible. I’d rather listen to the crow’s cawing; it’d be easier to understand.

“…I’ve prepared manuals for when my younger sister succeeds as the Family Head. There are also retainers to help her. There will be no confusion, no wandering, no all-nighters.”

I’ve written down everything I know about managing the family’s assets, the family’s knights, the family’s businesses, the events the Family Head must oversee, and even how to manage subordinates.

“Why did you…? No, don’t you want to see them strutting around like nothing’s wrong without you?! They need to make mistakes to feel your absence, you idiot!!!”

“Because I truly wish for that. I don’t want my absence to be felt, nor do I want my younger sister to make mistakes.”

“Wow, such great love for your sister, huh? Has that sister ever even made you a cup of tea when you were struggling?”

“…Foolish. This isn’t for my sister. It’s not for me either.”

I took out a document about the family’s businesses and showed it to the crow.

“It’s for these people.”

“What…?”

“The Family Head’s mistakes are borne by countless subordinates. And the repercussions reach their families as well. I know how disastrous even a single mistake born from ignorance can be.”

The crow quietly bowed its head.

It’s only natural for confusion to arise when the head of any position changes.

“…I can’t easily conclude what I gain from this, but if the purpose of such actions is to feel self-satisfaction by watching others make mistakes after I’m gone.”

If it’s an act of deceiving oneself into thinking, “You’re foolish, and I’m superior,” by exploiting others’ inexperience.

“That would be truly terrible and selfish.”

There’s nothing more cowardly than ignoring the repercussions of such actions and the people who would suffer. If someone commits such acts to prove their worth, they deserve to be treated like trash.

“…You turned out to be quite a nobleman, unexpectedly.”

“You speak as if you knew me in the past.”

“Well… looking at the state of this household, I can make a rough estimate, can’t I?”

I wanted everyone to live as if nothing had happened after I left, to have the same tomorrow as yesterday, or even a better one.

The crow seemed convinced and started pecking at the peppermint cookie I handed it. Watching it eat reminded me of someone from the past, making me feel a bit proud.

And as the crow was finishing the cookie, there was a knock at the door.

“What is it?”

“Family Head, a reply from her has just arrived.”

“Come in.”

The butler handed me a black envelope with an elegant gold pattern.

“Family Head, she must have taken her time choosing her words. Please don’t be too upset…”

“I have no reason to be upset, butler.”

I opened the envelope with a slight sense of anticipation.

Inside was nothing but a blank white sheet.

Not a single word could be found on the pristine white paper. The paper itself was high-quality, but not even a simple greeting was written.

Like the blank minds of everyone in this study, the blank sheet soon brought anger to the butler and the crow.

“That bitch!!!”

“…This is too much, Family Head. No matter what, how could she do this to you?”

Even I could understand why they were angry.

This blank sheet was a silent message: “I have nothing to say to you, so get lost.”

“Don’t be angry, butler.”

“Without your help, that young girl wouldn’t have been able to sit in the Family Head’s seat.”

“…Butler. Can you add one more line to that letter?”

It seemed I needed to revise the letter.

“As you wish, I will never be happy again.”

The butler nodded with a somber expression and quietly left the study.

“Hey, get angry! That’s why everyone thinks you’re an idiot! Why are you like this?”

“…There’s no need.”

Right now, I feel no sadness, anger, or regret.

“A dead friend taught me how to kill my surging emotions and bury them in a corner of my heart.”

“Wait, you mean…”

“I can easily bury this much in my heart.”

Those killed and buried emotions could rot like actual corpses.

A giant tree grew from the nutrients of those rotting emotions.

And the name of that tree was ‘Familiarity.’

Today, a new branch simply grew on that ‘Familiarity.’