A Desirable Attitude to Live as an Heiress of a Chaebol Family

Episode 27: What Fate Is (XIII)

Gertrude’s red eyes glowed with pure interest. When it became clear that Ronell was not Teriot’s child, her trademark sarcasm emerged.

“How much?”

Reinhardt drew a line between his brows as he looked at the results table, Erzel got it right!—it exclaimed happily, squinting its golden eyes.

“It’s 99.9%! A and C are blood relatives and a family.”

“C is a cat.”

“…Aha? Their parents must have had a terrible naming sense. They have to put their whole lives on the line and apologize, and that’s it.”

It’s a shame their name is ‘Cat’. Reinhardt quietly corrected Erzel, who was flapping its wings.

“The race is a cat… Not by name.”

The smiling Erzel hardened. Gertrude and Reinhardt watched silently, imagining its shattering self-esteem.

Its large eyes rolled around in disbelief. The colossal owl flopped on the floor and sniffled. It looked like a kid who had been deprived of candy, so Reinhardt almost gently stroked the owl’s head unknowingly.

It could be wrong. Certainly.

“I’m not wrong! Why would you put cat fur in the first place!”

Erzel shouted as if it’d read Reinhardt’s thoughts. It writhed the next moment. As he stared down with a keen desire to click his tongue, Erzel flew away from him.

“There can be no error because it detects the soul’s mana.”

“No, but. C is from a real cat.”

“…Is it a normal cat?”

It’s… not normal. Reinhardt kept his mouth shut, as he could not call his naughty pet cat normal even with empty words. It would seek out expensive items, enjoy salmon, and use its claws and tail to attack everyone except Ronell…

“Its personality is a little dirty.”

You could say it’s in the same level as Teriot and Aicila? Erzel reacted hard as he asked back.

“Cats can be feisty! It’s hard to find a non-picky cat in this world!”

“…O-okay?”

You’re an owl, but you have a strange fondness for cats, you.

“Not its personality. Is there anything unique about it? Such as whether it’s good at listening to people, or if it’s a little quick-witted.”

“Mmm. It’s good at pretending not to understand what’s bad for it. But it knows exactly what’s in its favor.”

“What about magic?”

Reinhardt slowly lowered his gaze. He remembered what Aicila had reported after rescuing Ronell from the Count’s manor.

‘Grandpa. That cat, I knew it could do something special.’

His granddaughter spoke calmly about Ruby’s healing magic. Contrary to her easygoing tone, Aicila must have known.

Ruby’s ability to use magic is unusual.

Reinhardt looked at Gertrude and Erzel, contemplating whether or not he should reveal the truth. But, once again, the time of worrying had already given off the answer, and Gertrude burst out laughing as if it was fun.

“Mana belongs to humans, Reinhardt. That’s why Erzel never imagined that hair belonged to a cat.”

“Sir Reinhardt Duncan. There is only one non-human being who can use mana.”

Erzel, a Setlain native, solemnly declared.

“My one and only lord.”

The greatest divine beast born with the world, the dragon Michaelis.

Reinhardt was troubled in many ways and wrapped his head in his hands. Next to him, Erzel smiled as if he’d never sniffled.

“There’s no way the great Sir Michaelis could be in the form of a cat. Then there’s only one answer: That cat, it’s a divine beast. It got mana from a human. And it must be from a Duncan. You already know that a divine beast and a human can exchange mana through a ‘contract’, right?”

“Aicila and I have never given Ruby mana. Teriot and Ruby have a 49.9% match rate, so its mana is most likely not his.”

“That’s it. And that means.”

Reinhardt’s face hardened coldly. As it didn’t care about the rapidly cooling atmosphere—since it runs the highest peak of ignorance among all birds Gertrude has ever met—the genius Tower Lord Erzel declared excitedly.

“There’s one more Duncan! Congratulations! You’ve finally realized there was a missing family member!”

“……”

“Well, maybe you didn’t know! understand! But at least you know now!”

Flap flap. Erzel flapped its wings enthusiastically as if congratulating him wholeheartedly.

The dragon and the spirit beasts were initially particularly insensitive to ‘human’ emotions. But he didn’t expect such a being, who showed off its intelligence, to make him explode to the point where he wanted to seize the back of its neck.

Gertrude looked down at the desk.

It was a chessboard carved from a valuable walnut tree. Above it hung a set of chess pieces made from ivory and obsidian. She was mindful of Reinhardt’s wrath, however, which was why she watched him throw the chessboard to Erzel.

“Don’t abuse animals! Gyaaaaak! Being rich is not everything!”

“Be quiet, you damn owl! I’ll pull out all of your hair!”

Once again.

The volatile temperament Ruby possesses originated with Aicila, which in turn originated with Teriot and finally with Reinhardt.

Cheers to Erzel’s still-unbroken skull.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

After dinner with Aunt Elaine, Bertrand worked diligently on the duke’s backlog.

It seemed true that Aicila Duncan was terribly angry with the House of Count Artes. The House of Count Artes was slowly on the descent of bankruptcy as he dealt with the overdue work. Bertrand calmly estimated the time of his downfall when he learned that the painters had filed a lawsuit against the House of the Count.

He’ll go bankrupt on his own, I guess.

Once I go to Duncan Mansion this evening, I would hear more of Aicila’s plans. Aicila Duncan is not always a lighthearted person, so her support for painters suing must have a more in-depth meaning.

Bertrand admitted that her conspiracy—which he sees as a hoax—was hard to fully comprehend because he was still immature.

Let’s not mess with Duncan… That’s the answer.

Bertrand clearly wrote ‘rejected’ on the front page of the nonsensical document. Suddenly, Jeron approached the desk, took the pile of papers, and placed another pile of papers on top of it.

I’ll have to work hard to finish it by today. The boy stretched once and picked up the top piece of paper.

On the white paper, the memory of the pale green-eyed girl flashed through his mind.

She made that rambunctious cat behave. She grabbed that fat, overweight cat that no one would care about and ran away while whining.

Although Ruby didn’t gain that much weight, Bertrand, who had been poisoned by it and its countless tail attacks, relentlessly fabricated the image of the cat.

“Ronell.”

He unconsciously tried muttering her name.

Ronell Artes.

Thanks to a woman living somewhere, his blood pressure would skyrocket whenever he saw blonde hair, but that girl’s blonde hair looked as pretty as honey. As well as her light green eyes that can make spring fall untimely.

She was lovely enough for him to understand why that Aicila Duncan had such a soft attitude.

No matter how hard he thought about it, he thinks he’s feeling ‘more fond’ of a girl right now. Bertrand reminisced with a slight frown, convinced that he was strangely friendly with a girl.

I think it was only an hour-long meeting. But why does she feel so strongly likable?

“Maybe I should see her again.”

Bertrand glanced at the clock. It was around three o’clock in the afternoon. It was a little early for dinner, but it didn’t matter if he went out to play.

“Ah, right. There’s that annoying cat.”

It’s a well-known adage that if you want one, you must give up something else. To meet that girl, he must endure the cat’s attack.

Hmm.

Ronell’s encounter with the boy and the tail of the wicked cat. Bertrand put the two on top of his mental libra, agonized, and came to a clear conclusion.

Whether I’m late or early, that damn cat’s dirty personality will remain the same. So let’s go early.

After sorting out the papers, Bertrand pulled the rope and called Jeron back.

“Do you have any clothes that seem comfortable and uh… decent for today?”

“I’ll get it ready.”

And the competent butler has prepared Bertrand’s appropriate attire. Bertrand dressed in well-fitting clothes, and the butler serving him took advantage of the opportunity to contemplate his master.

“When you visit Duncan Mansion, you usually dress in your pajamas.”

Bertrand pretended not to know the teasing.

“What are you talking about?”

Then he thanked Jeron before he could pour out more questions and ran out. In the background, the butler’s cheerful laughter could be heard.

As he climbed on the horse and grabbed the reins, the cool breeze of the autumn afternoon tickled his cheeks. The wind was carrying a noticeable chill, as if to indicate that winter was fast approaching.

…Blessings are always sprinkled at the end and beginning of the year. That’s why winter was the temple’s season.

Saintess Wirea and her henchman, Count Artes. And the Count’s illegitimate child, Ronell Artes.

Bertrand whirled the three words around in his head as he drove the horse.

It seemed that he had reached the bourgeoisie street. Before his eyes, a familiar landscape of sophisticated and magnificent mansions unfolded. Bertrand drove his horse to the most spectacular mansion of all.

Upon entering the site of Duncan Mansion, a path that beautifully emphasized nature’s atmosphere opened. The horseshoes stomped on the fallen leaves, and when he arrived at the main gate, he could see the servant waiting for him.

He bowed politely and took the horse’s reins. Hiing, the horse that cried once for a long time quietly disappeared into the stable, following the hand of the servant.

Bertrand, who was left alone, raised his eyes to the mansion with a grave expression.

“Um, oh no.”

If I go in there, I’ll be bad at directions again.

“There’s nothing I can do.”

People will come out and show me the way if I wander around. Bertrand thought positively and knocked on the door.

So what he saw through the door the maid had opened—

“Don’t, Ruby! Stop!”

—Ruby was sprinting while Ronell was chasing it from behind.

While running, the girl tripped and fell. A dull sound that seemed painful just by hearing it echoed, and both the cat and the boy froze at the same time with only their mouths hanging open.

But right then.

The girl sprang up like a roly-poly and dusted her skirt. She had a lovely smile on her face as if nothing happened.

A bright smile that shows no signs of pain. Even if she falls, she gets back up.

Bertrand locked his gaze on her, his fingers twitching. While he was completely out of it, Ronell came up and stood in front of him, greeting him respectfully.

“Greetings, Bertrand.”

…He was sure it was just a simple smile.