The Male S*ave of the Count Sianella Family

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“I don’t want to! Let’s rest for a bit. I’m tired from talking with Mother.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to resolve this now and then rest afterward instead of going out while taking a break?”

“I wish I could, but…”

Shione weakly flailed around, wrapped up in her blanket.

Her pitiful state reminded me of the pesky mermaids from that dungeon—it wasn’t exactly funny.

Those guys, always splashing around in the pond, spewing water, were a real hassle.

Just thinking about how many arrows I wasted on those creatures still brings tears to my eyes.

While quietly watching her, wondering what on earth was wrong, Shione finally stopped flailing.

“With such little strength, how can you go see Siabel?”

Our Shione had a point, didn’t she? I thought she was simply throwing a tantrum to avoid going out, but she had a valid excuse.

I couldn’t help but chuckle and shake my head.

Such a flimsy excuse wouldn’t keep me from pushing through.

I spread my arms wide.

“Would you like me to carry you, or can you walk on your own?”

“Uh…?”

“You said you had no strength to get up… so it’d be better if I carried you.”

“Uh, uh-oh.”

As Shione stammered without giving a proper answer, I stepped closer with my arms still open.

With each step I took, her eyes widened like a startled deer.

When I reached her bed and prepared to lift her, she seemed to tense up, staring at me with a dazed expression.

Looks like she thought I’d give up if she didn’t react quickly enough.

Little did she know, she underestimated my determination.

Now, unlike the heavy baggage she once was, Shione was at a level I could carry without any trouble.

If I wanted to, I could easily haul her around.

Shione quickly shook herself back to reality.

“I’ll walk.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to carry you?”

“I’m not a child anymore… I can walk on my own.”

“Understood.”

In the end, Shione surrendered first.

She should have done this from the start!

Why make everything so complicating?

With a burst of energy, she jumped off the bed and started fixing her outfit.

Just as she was about to rush out, I grabbed her.

“Hold on a sec.”

“Why?”

“Your hair’s all messy.”

She had been flailing around on the bed, and her hair was completely tousled.

I slowly began to untangle her hair.

Shione waited, head bowed, until I finished sorting it out.

It didn’t take long before her hair looked neat again.

“It’s done. Now let’s go see Siabel.”

“Uh, yeah. Let’s do that.”

Thud, thud.

She said she had no strength, yet she strode out with lively steps.

Siabel usually spent her days training with swords during the daylight, so Shione and I headed to the training ground.

However, within the month since we last visited Marquis Family, something must have changed as I couldn’t find Siabel anywhere.

Shione approached an instructor resting briefly to ask about Siabel’s whereabouts.

Her expression had shifted to an emotionless one, unlike our earlier chat.

“I’m looking for Siabel. Do you know where she is?”

“If it’s about Siabel, she likely injured herself recently and is resting in her room.”

“Injured?”

Shione’s eyebrows twitched at that news.

Seeing Shione’s displeased expression made the instructor flinch.

I, too, was grimacing for a different reason.

The monster hunt in the Beltlin Mountain Range would be done alongside none other than Siabel.

So, her being injured was not an ideal situation.

“Can you explain in detail?”

“Um… Four days ago, during training, Siabel hurt her ankle and right arm…”

Shione continued to stare silently, causing the instructor to sweat as he continued speaking.

“I called for a priest, and it’s not a severe injury, so she should be fine.”

“If a priest was called, then everything should be healed by now. There’s no reason for Siabel to not appear at the training ground.”

“Uh… all I could see was this…”

“I understand. Thank you for your efforts.”

Shione turned back from the instructor.

“It seems we need to go to Siabel’s room instead of the training ground.”

“I will follow you.”

“By the way, it’s surprising that Siabel is skipping training due to an injury. Such unusual things happen.”

As Shione spoke, her expression grew dark.

It looked like she was genuinely worried about Siabel’s condition.

Even if her relationship with Sion was now strained, her bond with Siabel seemed somewhat different.

After all, the quest indicated they were not at each other’s throats like one might expect, but rather their relationship had become awkward.

“Maybe we should ask Siabel how she’s feeling?”

“…Yeah.”

With that, Shione and I made our way to Siabel’s room in silence.

Upon arriving at the door, Shione took a deep breath.

“Ah, this is nerve-wracking.”

“But she’s family. Just talk to her comfortably.”

“Family means different things. I wouldn’t want the previous version of myself as family, either.”

“You’re different now, aren’t you?”

“I can’t even say that.”

Shione seemed to relax a bit as a faint smile appeared on her face.

Then, for some reason, she affectionately patted my head.

Confirming that my hair was indeed messy, she finally knocked on the door.

“Siabel… can we talk for a moment?”

“Shione?”

“Yes, it’s me.”

“It’s been a while. Come in.”

Once Siabel granted permission, Shione opened the door and looked back at me.

“I’ll wait here.”

Nodding, Shione stepped into Siabel’s room.

As I stood at the door, lost in thought about how long I’d have to wait for Shione to come out, the door creaked open after some time.

Curious about who it was, I turned my head to see a familiar face.

“Ah.”

That person was definitely…

Siabel’s personal attendant who had wanted to gossip about Shione with me.

Fortunately, thanks to the quest, my loyalty to Shione ran deep, and that had put a bit of a rift in our relationship, making things awkward.

Still, it had been a month, so I hoped things might be a bit better.

“….”

“….”

Upon seeing me, his face froze in shock—seemed like he was still hung up about that incident.

What a grudge he was holding.

I didn’t expect it to last this long.

Instead of ignoring each other and going about our business, it seemed impossible to bear this awkwardness, especially since he kept stealing glances at me.

At least when I was wedged between Diolia and Evan Feiosha’s servants, they had no interest in me.

But why was this guy so fixated on me?

With a sigh, I decided to break the tension.

“It’s been a while. How have you been?”

With my friendly greeting, he finally stopped glancing sideways.

Now he was fully turning his body to face me.

With a sturdy build and sharp features, plus that ridiculous mustache on top.

And to top it off…

“Hmm… it’s been a while. That outfit… you must have become Shione’s personal attendant, haven’t you?”

With that obnoxiously cheerful voice, I could barely resist the urge to stuff his nose with something.

“Ha-ha… Well, here I am, serving Shione.”

“Um…”

What was he dissatisfied about now? His eyes roamed over my body with disdain.

The fact a sturdy man was scrutinizing my form sent chills down my spine.

Ian had never behaved like this over the span of a month, so why was this guy acting like such a creep?

“Congratulations. As Shione’s personal attendant, it seems you’ll have a tougher time ahead.”

Naturally, he still treated Shione with this dismissive attitude.

I couldn’t wrap my head around why he openly insulted Siabel’s people like that in front of her and Shione.

Even if Shione was still struggling mentally, she was making progress, and it stung a little to hear someone badmouth her.

Shione would only be subjected to my remarks.

“Hmm, not at all. Thanks to Shione’s determination to change herself, things have been quite easy on me lately.”

A strange tension began to brew between me and the attendant.

Shione stood behind me.

And Siabel was behind him.

We gauged who would hold the upper hand in the conversation.

But Shione’s current aura seemed a far cry from Siabel’s power.

Soon, the attendant donned a near mocking smile and nodded.

“Well then—good luck.”

“Ah, thank you.”

The attendant extended his hand as if he were doing me a favor leading to a rather unpleasant interaction.

It was irksome, but I shook his hand nonetheless.

While shaking, I couldn’t help but ask a question.

“May I have your name?”

He grinned at my twisted lips like he found satisfaction in my discomfort.

“Call me Bronte.”

I gave him a somewhat artificial yet bright smile in return.

“Nice to meet you, Bronte.”

I hadn’t expected this fellow, who hadn’t even awakened his mana, would disregard me right off the bat.

Bronte, I’ll remember that name.