CH 32

“Even as of now, we’re seated next to each other, but under normal circumstances—”

“—I don’t want to.”

Usually, she is a good listener, as she says she is loyal to me, but this is the first time Bridgette acted otherwise, although it has only been a few days.

She is also so stubborn.

“Why on earth?”

Considering her situation, maybe she had no other choice.

It may be because, at the moment, she is avoiding her friend, Sufia, perhaps out of guilt, and avoiding her classmates and His Highness Prince Claude.

Since her own father caused it, she probably had no one in her family she could trust, including the servants.

The only people Bridgette knows she can trust now are Sufia, who almost got killed, and me, which means I’m practically the only person she can depend on.

At only fifteen years old, she has neither the power, the financial resources, nor the experience to investigate who was behind this incident.

In other words, I am the only person Bridgette can trust right now.

It was the reason Bridgette chose to stay by my side, even if she had to sign a slavery contract with me.

In Japan, she would still be considered a child, struggling to survive in her own way, which must be quite stressful.

Thus Bridgette couldn’t bear to leave me, even if it meant deceiving others or going against the word of someone to whom she had sworn her allegiance.

Thinking that much, I let out a sigh.

Maybe I’m overthinking it, but overthinking is just fine. It’s my responsibility to take care of her.

“I get it. I lost. You’re a real pain*, you know that?”

[TLN: Another interpretation, “I vowed to take care of you.”]

“T-thank you! Master!”

I stroked Bridgette’s head as I said this, but I couldn’t even imagine at that time that h**l would begin tomorrow because of Bridgette, who interpreted my words in a magnified way.

◆

In the morning, no servants came to wake me up as usual.

No matter how much I say that the servants of the Kvist family have fallen under my control, no one’s going to believe me.

I won’t get suspected because I’m supposed to be stupid, incompetent, arrogant, disrespectful to others, and hated by both my family and servants.

And that is true not only within the Kvist family but for this world.

“Tsk, that sucks. How come I’m supposed to eat now that I’ve seen that trashy face in the morning. You’re not thinking of having breakfast with us, are you?”

“It’s the worst morning I’ve ever had. Let’s get away from here as soon as possible. The scum will get us infected.”

Kaisar was scum, but it was definitely the family who made him like that scum.