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“Ekaterina… Must you truly leave?”

Aleksei took his sister’s hand and said sadly.

“Onii-sama, I—”

She began to speak, but when Ekaterina saw the grief on her brother’s face, her lips trembled. She squeezed his hand tightly in return.
I’m sorry, I won’t go anywhere, I’ll stay by your side forever—

“My lord, my lady.”

The one who called out sharply, as if to stop the words that were about to spill from Ekaterina’s mouth, was Aaron Kail, the head of the mines.

“It is only for a few days. You yourself approved that the young lady would go to the Temple of the God of Mountains as your representative, my lord.”

Aaron, the youngest among Aleksei’s close aides and usually rather reserved, was pressing his point this time.

“The professor… your great-uncle sir Isaac, who is waiting at the old mine, would surely be delighted if he could meet you, my lady.”

Honestly, Aaron, you are far too devoted to Great-Uncle. That said, neither my brother nor I are in a position to criticize anyone for loving someone too much.
After all, this is already the fifth time we’ve staged this scene of lamentation.

.

The background that led to this “scene of sorrow”—or rather, this farce—goes back to the new morning that followed the night of the banquet and the purge.
That day, Ekaterina awoke feeling the fatigue from the many events of the previous night’s celebration, yet she rose in a refreshed mood.

She headed to the dining hall to have breakfast with her brother, but Aleksei was unusually absent. Instead, Raisa appeared and informed her of Novadine and the others’ arrest and subsequent “disappearance.”
And also of Anna’s dismissal.
She had not been told the details, but given the timing, there was no way it was unrelated.

“I see… thank you for telling me, Raisa. I’m only worried that your burden will grow heavier.”
“You are most kind, my lady. Anna was an experienced head maid, so her absence is indeed significant, but we will all do our utmost.”

Saying so, Raisa smiled calmly.

At that moment, two young maids came pushing a wagon. Ekaterina recognized them as the two who had helped prepare for yesterday’s banquet and smiled at them.

“Thank you for yesterday. Thanks to you, our guests spoke very highly of everything.”

One of them, properly trained, bowed respectfully. The other, however, broke into a bright smile and said enthusiastically:

“My lady, you were so beautiful! And His Grace’s words were wonderful too—I was completely captivated! Even such a scary person can be gentle with his little sister, can’t he?”
“Hey.”

At Raisa’s glare, the smile instantly turned into a flustered, panicked expression, on the verge of tears.
Ekaterina gave a wry smile.

“I’m happy you praised me. But what you just said was not appropriate behavior for a maid of House Jurnova. My brother is a splendid head of the family and lord of the domain. If he appears strict, it is because he devotes himself to governing the land for everyone’s sake.”
“Yes…”

The maid drooped her head, though she did not look like she fully understood.

Well, it can’t be helped. If anything, maybe it’s better that he’s thought of as scary for now.

*“My view is that it is desirable (for a ruler) to be both loved and feared; but it is difficult to achieve both and, if one of them has to be lacking, it is much safer to be feared than loved”*

A famous line from Machiavelli’s The Prince, a classic from my previous life.
At eighteen, my brother is too young to be either loved or feared by the powerful figures of the domain as its lord. But by wiping out Novadine’s faction last night, the influential people who attended the banquet must now fear him.
That someone so young, not even a year after inheriting his title, managed to inspire fear—was remarkable.

And Machiavelli also wrote this: *”Men shrink less from offending one who inspires love than one who inspires fear”*. Gratitude for kindness is easily severed once interests are involved.

My brother is loved by the people of the domain because he has protected their lives. It is not mere goodwill; their interests are aligned with his.
But among the powerful in the domain, there were surely some who found it more convenient when Father neglected his duties as duke. Some may even have tried to oppose my brother to protect their own interests. Yet after seeing how mercilessly he crushed Novadine, they must have reconsidered defying him.

So I will not try to defend my brother and tell everyone that he was actually a kind soul.
I want to respect the way he chooses to be, just as it is.
After all, Onii-sama is most wonderful as he is!

“My lady really is amazing. Even though you’re younger than me, you’re like someone much older.”

The incorrigible maid’s words hit Ekaterina right in the heart. Sorry! I’m in my thirties on the inside—sorry!

Mina had appeared beside the maid at some point and was looking down at her expressionlessly.
Then Raisa smiled faintly, strode over, and grabbed the maid by the collar.

“My apologies for her rudeness, my lady. As the housekeeper in charge of the female servants, I offer my apology.”
“It doesn’t bother me.”

Ekaterina laughed lightly, but from today on, that cheerful maid’s working life would probably turn into something like a Spartan boot camp.
Good luck.

“Has my brother eaten breakfast? I’m worried about his health.”
“He has. At first he said it was unnecessary, but then he said that if he did not eat, you would worry, so he told us to prepare it after all.”

As expected of my sister-obsessed brother. I’m glad he’s taking care of himself.

“I see. That makes me happy. I would like to greet him later.”
“I will inform him.”

Seeing Raisa leave while dragging the maid away, Ekaterina finished breakfast served by Mina, and while waiting for Raisa to return, looked out over the garden through the dining hall windows.
The air felt tense somehow. It was as though the atmosphere Aleksei carried had spread to the entire castle.
Jurnova Castle—no, the Jurnova domain—had been completely seized by its new master. That was how it felt.

.

When Raisa returned, she was accompanied by a servant carrying a large package, saying that it was a delivery for the young lady.
Upon hearing the sender’s name, Ekaterina immediately asked for it to be opened, and she was overjoyed at the contents that emerged from the careful packaging.