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328. Siblings Ep – Zauer Countdom

“Sister, I can’t do this! This isn’t some wedding night right, and at this rate, I’ll never get married.”

“No, little sister. Just think about it again…”

“Sister, you should think carefully too. Even if your husband understood, he wouldn’t be happy about it. Then I’m leaving.”

With those words, the maid, who had been hard to find, stormed out of the entrance.

Nella, the head handmaiden who was still under twenty, let out a sigh.

In fact, even though she was called the head maid, there were only four maids working at the Zauer Count’s household including her… no, just three now.

The others were just a servant and a seamstress, so she was the only one working as a dedicated maid.

The Count’s finances were tight. Actually, that wasn’t the only reason.

More than that, she was worried about who would take her place tonight since there was no one on duty. Oh, she had to hurry to see the Count… Just then, the door rattled, and an outsider entered.

“Are you the head maid? The guard told me to find the head maid since there’s no butler.”

“Ah, yes. What can I do for you?”

She thought he was someone here to demand repayment.

During harvest season, debt collectors would swarm in like an annual event, but this young lad seemed a bit late.

With the harvest, the granary was empty, and there only remained the need to borrow money.

It had been a long time since she could even pay the knights who had protected the Count’s household, having already given away land as payment.

The primitive accounting method used back in the Acaian Empire made the knights sigh in exasperation. They either left to seek rent farmers or left without a second thought.

It would have been nice if the butler had stayed behind. That guy had run off in the middle of the night.

Nella, with an expression that said “I’m really sorry,” now waited for the debt collector’s demand. Eventually, the small debt collector spoke.

“I’ve come to see Count Zauer. I am Lean de Yeriel.”

“I’m sorry. I can’t let you see the Count. If you have something to discuss, please tell me.”

“…Did you not hear? I am Lean de Yeriel.”

“I’m really sorry. I understand you’re of noble birth, but please state your business. If you’re here to demand repayment, I’m truly sorry, but we have nothing to give. You said Lean… de what was it? If you could come back around the time of the Radimu harvest in winter…”

“…”

“How rude! How dare you speak like that in front of him! This is Lord Lean de Yeriel!”

“Ugh! I-I’m sorry!”

“……”

Lean stood there, speechless, in disbelief.

It wasn’t just that they didn’t know what the ‘de’ in his name meant, but that the plea for forgiveness was directed at the knight, not him.

The law is far and the fist is close, and the knight recognized who he was. Lean, well, he had grown up not feeling well-fed, so he was small in stature.

Feeling his pride being wounded, Lean simply waited for the knight to clear up the situation. He was thankful that he had borrowed the knight from Count Peter.

The knight loudly reprimanded the inexperienced young head maid.

Soon, Nella bowed at a 120-degree angle to apologize. However,

“I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry! I didn’t know you were royalty…”

“…That’s enough.”

The sight of her over-apologizing was so ridiculous that Lean couldn’t help but tell her to stop.

The supposed head maid was hunched over, her long hair flowing left and right, looking like she was needlessly tormenting a common girl.

He had recognized from the moment he stepped into the Countdom that things were not normal.

A supposed noble land, which should serve as a small local town or marketplace, was desolate and sparsely populated.

The lord’s castle was overgrown, and with no butler and a mere inexperienced young maid in charge, it was obvious there was no one managing it.

Lean asked again.

“I’ve come to see Count Zauer. Can you guide me now?”

“Um… about that…”

Sigh. ─ When the knight narrowed his eyes, Nella quickly replied.

“I’m afraid the Count is not in a state to see anyone right now. He is probably drinking…”

Since morning?

But Lean didn’t scold her. He didn’t have the right to.

“Then, while it may be improper, please let me have a room. I think I’ll be staying for at least a month, so a furnished room would be appreciated.”

“Yes, yes. Two rooms should be enough, right?”

“There’s no way that’s sufficient. At least four rooms are needed.”

“Huh? Why? The room for the royal person and the one for the knight should be enough, right? The other rooms need cleaning…”

“…You should go fetch our maids. That would be faster.”

The knight hurried off to fetch the maids that Lean had brought along (borrowed from Count Peter). He had narrowed it down, but with Lean and Reriana, both royalty moving together, there couldn’t just be a single knight.

They had just three carriages.

One high-quality carriage for Lean and Reriana to ride in, one for storing the clothing and belongings of the two royals, and a third carrying the personal items and food supplies for the knights and the coachmen.

If they didn’t catch the town on time, the two maids and Santian would end up sleeping in the back of the baggage carriage, while the two coachmen would drape themselves over the seats of their respective carriages to catch some sleep.

The carriage that carried Lean and Reriana was driven by a knight, but that created a problem for the knight.

Knights should be treated much better than maids, servants, or coachmen. It was already a big faux pas to have the knight drive the carriage.

So, ideally, Lean should have slept in the carriage where the belongings were stored, but he would’ve had to pull another carriage along, so Lean decided to sleep with Reriana in the large carriage. Some might think that’s inappropriate, but they were siblings, so it was just shy of acceptable.

In this way, they had managed to fit Lean, Reriana, one knight, and five servants into a thrifty setup across three carriages.

But two rooms would be enough?

That’s far-fetched.

Even if he hadn’t known about Reriana, he should have suspected that at least two more servants would be necessary given a royal was present.

Though the circumstances were a bit different, when Prince Anolf de Klaus of the Austin Kingdom came to Orville, he brought along dozens of maids and more than five knights. There were also many soldiers.

Soon, Count Peter’s knight arrived with two maids.

Having experienced all kinds of situations in the heavily populated Orville, they disappeared with the young head maid from the countryside.

Before going to do their work, they first found the reception room and left Lean seated there, returning to discover the head maid had her long hair bound up neatly.

It seemed discipline had been firmly established, as her demeanor was vastly different from before.

The oldest maid (in her mid-thirties) spoke.

“Your Highness. Fortunately, we have some decent rooms available for your use. There’s one that is warm as it’s on the upper floor of the kitchen, so we can give that to Princess Reriana, while you could use the guest room on the first floor. We’ll finish cleaning up and ask you again.”

“Thank you.”

“What is all this?”

Just then, a man stumbled in, leaning against the door frame.

His bloodshot eyes indicated he hadn’t slept or was drunk, likely both, exuding a strong smell of alcohol. Lean was at a loss for words.

‘Why is this person here?’

The owner of the Orange Theater.

The owner of the theater had appeared when the club where his sister worked had disappeared; Lean was briefly thrown off balance.

Then it dawned on him. That theater owner’s name had also been ‘Brestin’.

But if that was the case, then back then, it would have meant that the brother of Count Brian Zauer was the owner of the theater…?

Lean was utterly flustered by how absurd the situation was.

And he didn’t know.

When his sister had rushed off to the club, the manager of that club had indeed been Brestin Zauer.

“Count!”

Nella ran over with a teary face and supported Brestin.

The knight was intimidating, and that man was royalty, and the suddenly arriving maids were unbearably harsh.

Just when she was flailing uncontrollably, someone arrived to save her.

Count Brestin Zauer, now appearing somewhat steadied, asked.

“Nella, what is all of this? Who are these people?”

“We have a guest. Not a debt collector, but… er, Lean de Yeriel? They say he is a prince.”

“Lean de Yeriel?”

Brestin wobbled and straightened his posture.

“What brings you here, Highness of the Conrad Kingdom? I had heard you had returned, but I seem to have been mistaken.”

Seems he was somewhat uninformed. Lean nodded appropriately.

“Pleasure to meet you. You must be Count Brestin Zauer.”

“Yes, well… it’s an honor to meet you. It’s been a long time since we’ve had a guest… would you like something to eat? I’m quite hungry.”

“I already had breakfast.”

Both of them thought simultaneously, “This doesn’t match up.” A royal shouldn’t have to wait for a noble to finish eating, hence Brestin had to settle for the snacks.

In the reception room, where dust coated the curtains, they shared cheap tea while Lean wondered.

Why was this person drinking so early in the morning, and how had he ended up like this? When he appeared as a theater owner in the past, he had been a rather gentle individual.

He had been friendly with Oberg and had allowed the courtesans to live in the upper levels of the theater, showing considerable generosity.

Yet now that he was a count, he seemed to be in disarray. The fact that he had become a count stemmed from a change in the engagement scenario…

– “How did Brestin inherit the title? He is the son of a concubine, so Brian, you should be the rightful heir.”

Though he didn’t really know why Brestin initially appeared as the theater owner, he had asked Brian Zauer for clarification just before he departed from Orville.

To understand why Brian wasn’t a count anymore.

Brian had replied thusly.

– “Correct! This is all due to Arista de Klaus, the tyrant of the barbarian kingdom.”

It was because the Asran Kingdom was not torn apart by civil war.

The king, Arista de Klaus, who was presumed dead due to being assassinated by Malpas and Halpas, had been quite focused on strengthening his royal power since he was a prince.

Brian Zauer’s mother was from Austin… no, the Asran Kingdom.

She was the young lady from the Brina Zauer household in the Asran Kingdom, who had married into the Zauer House in the neighboring Belita Kingdom, securing her status as the main wife.

However, she was unable to bear a child, and the Zauer Count, needing an heir, took a concubine.

The child born from that concubine was none other than Brestin Zauer.

Brian was born a little later from the legitimate wife. Thus, Brestin and Brian were half-brothers.

Half-brother. It’s easy to guess what kind of problems could arise. There must have been a conflict over the claim to inheritance.

And the victor had been Brian Zauer. No, had been.

This was where things changed. King Arista de Klaus intervened in the dispute over succession.

– “A catastrophe occurred. My father and that concubine died in an accident. My mother tried to establish me as the heir. However, at that time, Prince Arista de Klaus intervened, and it all fell apart.”

It seemed that he thought the Brina Count’s family was becoming too powerful.

He sent his daughter to marry into the Zauer Count’s family, and now her child was set to inherit the countship.

It was a situation similar to how Marquis Gaidan wanted to arrange a marriage for Hirie, but the king of Orun Kingdom suppressed him.

It was likely that Arista de Klaus thought the accident involving the Count Zauer and his concubine was orchestrated by the Brina Count. Thus, he worked to ensure Brestin, not Brian, would ascend to the countship.

But why was this person now in such disarray? Strangely different from before.

‘Figuring that out is key.’ ─ Lean thought as he spoke up.

First, to settle in.

“I apologize for causing a disturbance. We’ve arrived, but since we cannot meet with you right now, I took the liberty of unpacking my belongings. Would it be alright if I stayed for a few days?”

Brestin grimaced and replied.

“That’s fine. We certainly have enough rooms. But I must inform you, we are not in a position to host the prince. Don’t expect more than just providing you rooms.”

At least it was okay to stay…

Lean motioned to the maids to go clean.

“That’s fine. However… it seems your territory is quite impoverished.”

“That’s exactly how it is.”

“…I’ve heard managing a territory is difficult. It appears the yield isn’t very satisfactory.”

“Well, that’s right.”

“…”

It seemed Count Zauer was not interested in conversation.

Since he was just devouring the snacks, Lean decided to probe him a bit. He wanted to expand the conversation to external trade.

“Well, how’s business? It looks like this would be a great place for trade.”

“Did Marquis Tatian send you?”

Without warning, Brestin asked.

“Or are you acting on my younger brother’s orders? Just to clarify, I’m not interested in smuggling or anything of that sort.”

His eyes were colder than ice.

Lean quickly replied, “I don’t know what you mean,” with a look of feigned innocence.

He thought this wouldn’t be easy.

Having successfully changed the subject, Lean next called over Reriana, who had been reading a book in the carriage, to introduce her.

However, Brestin seemed to become defensive, or perhaps he could no longer take it, and said he needed to eat. He took the head maid, Nella, and left.

“Here’s your room. Do you like it?”

“Wow! The floor is warm! It’s below the kitchen? Is there food being made? Where’s your room, brother?”

Leo guided his sister to the now tidy room. Scratching his head, he entered the room he would stay in and flopped down.

Theater owner.

This was a big deal. He didn’t have any knowledge related to this. What should he do? He pondered.

And…

‘Why isn’t Ray here yet?’

He pondered about Ray and Leira Ainar. Those friends, who should have arrived before him, seemed still far away.