The Villainous Daughter’s Butler ~I Raised Her to be Very Cute~

Lady Sophia, disguised as a commoner, and I were walking beside each other in a coastal town located in the Flamefield Empire. Our true identities were those of a Marquis’ daughter and her butler, but to outsiders, we were just two thirteen-year-old kids taking a stroll alone. It wouldn’t be strange for us to get wrapped up in some kind of trouble, but the townspeople here were very kind and the city was safe.

If the information I acquired was true, the previous feudal lords were outstanding people. However, because of the new feudal lord taking over, the region might eventually lose its vitality. But this would happen only if Imperial Princess Charlotte were to ignore the situation.

“Cyril, what are you thinking about?”

“I’m thinking that if you were to become their feudal lord, this town would become very prosperous.”

“…Ah, you’re talking about the feudal lord the shop clerks were gossiping about…Could it be that the reason we were able to sneak out without any mishaps was because you struck some kind of deal with Her Highness Charlotte?”

I tried to evade her question, but she saw through me completely.

“I am no match for you, Lady Sophia, am I? I was asked to investigate this town’s feudal lord a little. I just don’t understand why she did something that would expose disgraceful matters of her family to me.”

“…Isn’t it because she still hasn’t given up on you, Cyril?”

“Hasn’t given up on me?”

“Yes. She’s letting you expose the wrongdoings of a corrupt feudal lord. If your reputation spreads, others might say that they wish to have you here too. By doing so, it would become very easy for her to bring you into the research institute.”

“…I see.”

Imperial Princess Charlotte wanted the knowledge I had, but a lot of information was being withheld when it came to the Magical Overcharge Illness. Therefore, there weren’t a lot of people who knew the importance of my knowledge. The people around Imperial Princess Charlotte were probably against poaching a mere butler—not to mention a butler from another country. However, if I were to do some kind of meritorious deed, it would provide leeway for her to persuade her family and friends.

It might seem like an exaggeration to conduct a personal background check, but ceremony was very important in these kinds of matters. If she were to give reasons such as ‘Based on the information he gathered, evil deeds were exposed,’ it wouldn’t be difficult for her to say that I achieved great deeds. Of course, it couldn’t just be this one thing. These deeds would have to stack up.

But it was truly amazing how Lady Sophia was able to see through this within a moment’s time.

…Ah, I see. She used the same method when she was trying to make others acknowledge me as her marriage candidate. Since she used the same method, she recognized it immediately. 

“… If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be better not to get involved any further? I can pay my debt to Her Highness Charlotte with information about magical devices and such…”

“Ah, it’s not like it will become a routine after doing this once, and I am with you as well. Moreover… secretly exposing evil deeds, it’s like we’re on an undercover mission. It’s fun.”

The mischievous child in her peeked out its head.

“Then, let us enjoy ourselves to our heart’s content, Lady Sophia.”

“Yes, of course, Cyril.”

Lady Sophia intertwined our arms together a little shyly. Adorable. 

I continued to walk beside the adorable Lady Sophia through the streets. This town had a variety of different shops. There was a store with fashion that was suitable for the Empire’s climate and there was even a store with musical instruments, a piano taking the spotlight at the front. Probably due to the magical airship commuting between here and our country, there was even food we were accustomed to seeing at home. 

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Wherever we went, we enjoyed shopping around, while gathering information about the feudal lord at the same time. After we were done gathering some information, we would proceed to have plenty of fun again, and at the very end of our outing, we stopped by a jewelry store.

“Welcome, what might you be looking for?”

The shop assistant immediately came to welcome us. It didn’t show on her face at all, but she must have been feeling a little cautious about two children coming to a jewelry store alone. That being said, it was a natural reaction considering the security in this town.

“We are tourists from Londonbell. Do you have any accessories that would remind us of the time we stayed here?”

I showed her that we were proper customers and asked her about what I was looking for. 

“Certainly,” the shop assistant replied and smiled. Then, she took out several accessories from a shelf in the back.

“These are accessories made from the pearls found at our town’s coast.”

“…Wow, the beads match perfectly.”

Lady Sophia let out an admiring sigh. Natural pearls were scarce, and collecting pearls of the same size was a laborious task. Hence, it was quite rare to have pearls of the same size. Most likely, this coastal town was growing them. 

While the base for this world was the era during which noble society was mainstream, there were things here and there that added some flair to the otome game. So, these were the kind of products that could be found in the world that had become the stage of the original game.

There were necklaces, earrings, and brooches decorated by small gems and bordered by pearls. Lady Sophia gazed at the accessories, captivated by the pearls' shimmering brilliance. I picked up one of the accessories, a brooch that Lady Sophia had been mesmerized by the most.

“Do you like this one, Lady Sophia?”

“Yes. I was thinking that I could put it on my dress too.”

“Then please, allow me to give you this brooch as a memento of our trip.”

“…Is that alright?”

“Of course.”

“Thank you, Cyril!”

Lady Sophia rejoiced, her voice filled with unconcealed joy. She looked adorable. I told the shop assistant that I would like to purchase the brooch. 

“Of course,” she replied with a smile and was about to clean up the rest of the accessories. Then, a new customer walked into the shop.

It was a young man—that being said, he was a young man much older than Lady Sophia and I—and he was accompanied by his entourage. When the exceedingly high-class man came to stand next to us, another shop assistant rushed to serve him.

“W–welcome. It’s an honor for you to have come to our shop. Although we would have rushed over immediately if you had summoned us…”

“That’s enough of your rambling. I made my way here myself because I have to make a quick choice. Show me something that will serve as a memento of this town to someone from another country.”

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He said this in a very haughty manner, as if he wanted to say:  ‘As if I would have come if it wasn’t an urgent matter!’ 

He gave off this aura even to us, who were just watching from the side. The shop assistant had to be quite frightened.

The shop assistant hurriedly nodded.

“Th–then, how about a pearl accessory?”

“Hm, sounds good. Show me.”

When the shop assistant serving the man went to get the pearl accessories, our shop assistant handed them over without the brooch I had decided to buy.

“These are all we have.…How do you like them?”

“…Wait. There’s one more there, right?”

He was looking at the brooch I had decided to purchase. The clerk assisting us gulped when she noticed. Then, she compared the oppressive customer and us with a look and tightly squeezed her eyes shut.

And then—

“My deepest apologies. This accessory has already been sold.”

Those words were a little unexpected to us. However—

“I see. You’re telling me to make a deal with these children.”

This oppressive customer— actually, there were no doubts about it. This town’s feudal lord— grinned. He apparently interpreted the shop assistant’s words so that they worked in his favor.

“Hey, you. Hand over that brooch.”

“We have already bought it,” I answered, stepping in front of my Lady. 

“Heh, but you still haven’t paid money for it, have you? Or what? Are you trying to go against me, the feudal lord of this town?”

“…So it’s not a rule but you’re just brandishing your power?”

He looked down at me with a sneer in reaction to my question.

“What’s wrong with that? Our social statuses are different, so it’s a no brainer.”

On one hand, he was right. But, at the same time, being a person with a higher social status came with responsibilities. At the very least, his social status shouldn’t allow him to make light of how commoners lived their lives or selfishly tyrannize them.

However, precisely because of that, it was difficult for me to choose an approach. If I were to mention Imperial Princess Charlotte’s name here, he’d probably prostrate himself before us, and his complexion was sure to be drained of color if I just mentioned the name of the Rosenberg Marquis household. 

‘But then, it could be said that I would sink to the same level as him, wielding social status as a weapon. Was it necessary to oppose him to such a degree?’ I wasn’t thinking about any of that. 

I thought about Imperial Princess Charlotte’s wish and Lady Sophia’s wish. After doing so, I pondered over what kind of response I should give.…Well, if he intended to hurt my Lady, I planned on doing whatever it took.

As I thought about it, Lady Sophia pulled at my sleeve. Instead of standing in front of me, she secretly pulled at my sleeve and I understood that she was telling me to withdraw here.

“…I understand. We shall do as you say then.”

“Hmph, you should have said that right away.”

The violent feudal lord gave us a scornful smile, and then purchased all the pearl accessories the shop assistant had prepared for us.

As I watched him do it, I turned around to face Lady Sophia. Although this was the result she wanted, there was no way she was used to such a scornful gaze being aimed her way. That was what I thought, but Lady Sophia was smiling coldly.

“Lady Sophia?”

“It’s nothing. I simply pity his fate.” 

“…Lady Sophia, your expression is very dark.”

I should have been worried about that feudal lord, not her. That being said, he probably always behaved like this. And since he was opposing commoners of low social status, he wouldn’t get scolded even if he did as he pleased. Considering that, I felt no sympathy for him.

“Let’s deal with him later. What do you want to do now? It seems that he only bought accessories with pearls, so perhaps you could choose another one…?”

“You’re right. Is there anything besides pearls?”

My Lady tilted her head, and the shop assistant turned to me. “If it is not too much trouble, while we don't have the brooch in stock here at the shop, we can place an order for it immediately. If you’d like, we can deliver it by today. What do you say?”

Lady Sophia and I exchanged glances. My Lady nodded, so I paid for the cost and wrote down the delivery address onto the order form. The price was lower than I expected—most likely, they gave us a discount. 

Moreover, the shop assistant was surprised when they saw the delivery address, so we were probably found out in more ways than one.

Afterwards, we safely returned to Imperial Princess Charlotte’s villa. The majority of people didn’t know that Lady Sophia had sneaked out, but the news of it seemed to have reached Rouché, of course, and the head of the guards as well. So naturally, the owner of the mansion—Imperial Princess Charlotte, who had arrived a short while ago by the magical airship—must have learned of it as well. But for the time being, the day passed without us being asked any questions.

The next day, I attended the party hosted by Imperial Princess Charlotte. The local nobles and Imperial Princess Charlotte’s family and friends were also attending aside with all of us, the students from the country Her Highness was studying abroad at.

And also—

“Lady Sophia, this is the Count that governs over this coastal town.”

Imperial Princess Charlotte brought the town’s feudal lord over.

“This is Sophia Rosenberg. She’s my friend and a guest of honor. If you’re rude to her, even your post wouldn’t be spared, so be careful.”

She said it jokingly, but she was most likely informed about yesterday’s incident by the guards observing us. When I considered that she made her remark while knowing that it was already too late, I didn’t feel like laughing at all. However, the feudal lord didn’t know that yet.

“Haha, that goes without saying. It’s an honor to meet you, Lady Sophia—”

Given permission by Her Highness, he raised his head and looked at Lady Sophia’s face. Then he spotted the shining pearl brooch on her dress, and at last, he looked at me, standing to the side, behind her. His face paled.

“Nice to meet you. We saw each other yesterday, didn’t we? Thank you for sharing your valuable opinion with me. You said that social status was something to brandish, right?”

The feudal lord of this town foamed at the mouth and fell to his knees in front of Lady Sophia, who was smiling serenely.

“Lady Sophia, could it be that something happened yesterday?” Imperial Princess Charlotte asked, even though she must have already known about it. In other words, she was implying that she wanted Lady Sophia to speak about the incident right here. Understanding this, Lady Sophia told her in great detail about what happened yesterday.

“Oh my! Oh my goodness. To think that such a thing happened to you, our esteemed foreign guest and my friend! Lady Sophia, I sincerely apologize on his behalf.”

“There’s nothing for you to apologize for, Your Highness.”

“Then, would you allow me to take care of his punishment?”

“Yes, of course.”

The conversation proceeded smoothly as expected. And thus, the fate of the current head of this region was decided.

By the way, Imperial Princess Charlotte must have been considerably hurt by this incident too. I wondered why she went this far, but apparently the feudal lord was messing with her little sister as well.

At the end of the day, it was a cautionary tale, that in this world, one shouldn’t incur the wrath of either a siscon or brocon.

And the Count was never seen again…

Thank you for reading! Last chapter next week D:, can you believe it??

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