The Male S*ave of the Count Sianella Family

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I was flustered.

Just who was this author to have recognized and called out to Shione?

Before I arrived, Shione had been holed up in her room, leading a life devoid of social interaction, yet it seemed she knew this person’s name.

Since we were a bit distant, if we whispered, the young master wouldn’t hear us.

I cautiously asked Shione.

“Do you happen to know him?”

“…Yes.”

As Shione nodded, the warm smile that had graced her face while complimenting my clothes had vanished.

She stared at me, her expression stiffening as if she was trying to lock my face in her gaze.

Looking into her blue pupils, I could sense fragments of emotion reflecting back.

Right now, Shione was trembling in anxiety, as if she felt like a criminal.

It was a state of emotion that ordinary people wouldn’t notice, but having been by her side for so long, I understood it well.

Realizing this, I came to know that her cold expression was not just a sign of annoyance or fatigue from meeting Noah, but rather something deeper.

“Are you okay?”

“What, what are you talking about?”

“Aren’t you trembling?”

Shione silently pressed her lips together at my words.

It seemed she was trying to hide her feelings beneath a seemingly indifferent facade.

But perhaps due to my remarks, her eyes briefly flickered in uncertainty.

Gathering herself, she then said.

“…I’m fine, so you don’t need to worry.”

What on earth was happening between that Noah and Shione?

I lowered my head, observing her closely.

From a distance, Noah, who had murmured Shione’s name, was approaching with his escort knight.

“Um… Shione, right? It’s been a while. How have you been…?”

What an awkward greeting.

As Shione received this awkward greeting, she hid her hands behind her back.

Her hands were trembling slightly.

“…Yeah, I’ve been fine.”

“I didn’t expect to run into you here… How many years has it been, haha….”

With Noah’s gloomy inquiry, Shione responded with a facade of calmness.

However, it was undeniable that her reply was shorter than necessary.

As Shione faced Noah without much response, a deeper awkwardness began to consume the atmosphere.

It seemed that even the other guests and staff noticed the unusual tension here, their gazes slowly drifting towards us.

Moreover, why was that knight looking so coldly down on my lady?

Hmm, this feels a bit suspicious.

“Since Shione is here… Does that mean you’ll participate in the princess’s coming-of-age ceremony?”

“…Right.”

“I see, then that dress….”

Noah’s eyes were fixated on Shione’s attire.

It was unlike Shione, who usually wore casual clothing picked out by me, to be wearing a dress and showing off her beauty.

He couldn’t seem to tear his eyes away from her for a while.

Despite the suffocatingly awkward atmosphere, Noah subtly expressed his goodwill toward Shione.

Yet Shione—

The more Noah’s goodwill registered on her skin, the more her face took on an expressionless mask.

Ultimately, it was natural for Noah to stumble back when he noticed Shione’s forced expression.

“…Noah, if there’s nothing more to discuss, I’d like to look at other clothes.”

Shione stated, as if squeezing the words out.

At her callous remark, Noah’s shoulders slumped.

Simultaneously, the knight, who had been quietly observing the situation like me, had a moment of his expression wrinkling before smoothing out.

Even if Shione had awkwardly disrupted the atmosphere, well—

Looking at Shione’s trembling hands, I couldn’t shake the feeling there was more to the story.

I didn’t want to berate her.

“Uh, sorry…. I’ve been holding you up too long while you were picking out clothes….”

Noah stumbled over his words, but I couldn’t properly hear him.

My focus was solely on Shione.

As Noah, having lost his momentum, hesitated for a moment, he finally spoke again.

“…So, Shione! Could we possibly talk at the ball tomorrow?”

I knew very well that Shione didn’t want to engage with him.

But given the situation—

With him expressing such a desire to talk with Shione, it seemed inappropriate to outright refuse.

I secretly crept behind Shione, poking her gently in the back, prompting her to turn her head.

-You should do it.

I signaled my thoughts with my lips, and after a moment of mixed emotions crossing her face, she eventually nodded slightly.

“…Okay.”

“Really…?”

“Let’s talk at the ball, Noah.”

Upon hearing Shione’s words, Noah’s gloomy expression finally lightened.

“Thank you, Shione…! Then I’ll see you there…!”

With a somewhat brighter atmosphere, Noah returned to his escort knight.

Once his knight acknowledged us with a nod, I broke the stillness that had settled.

“…Why not try on some other dresses? Just one isn’t enough, right?”

“Yeah, let’s do that.”

I continued dress shopping together with Shione, who still acted nonchalant in front of me.

Yet, it didn’t take long.

Shione didn’t want to stay here for long, so I quickly suggested dresses that would suit her and settled the bills right away.

I got myself a plain black suit that wouldn’t stand out.

After finishing shopping swiftly, we returned to the carriage.

“We’ll be departing now.”

With the driver’s announcement, the carriage began to roll forward.

Sitting across from Shione inside the carriage, she opened her mouth.

“Are you not curious?”

“About what?”

“About what just happened.”

Shione stared at me intently.

I lightly brushed off her gaze and responded.

“If you’re asking whether I’m curious, then yes… but I don’t have the heart to insist on hearing something that might make Shione uncomfortable.”

“A story that might make me uncomfortable, huh? Rather than uncomfortable…”

Shione remarked self-deprecatingly, full of longing.

“It’s more like a foolish story that just makes me angry.”

With that, Shione began to unravel her story as she wished.

“Noah Belreia, the only son of Count Belreia. He frequently visited our territory as his count house is west of this kingdom, so back then, we were fairly close… like childhood friends.”

“Childhood friends, you say?”

“Yeah, childhood friends. Nowadays, it’s even a bit much to call him just a friend… but Noah, who was always kind and considerate to others, was the only one who stood by me until I locked myself up in my room.”

“Then why do you hesitate to call him a friend…?”

“Of course, due to my mistakes, we ended up with a strained relationship now.”

“…Could you explain what happened?”

“Isn’t that why I’m saying all this?”

Shione let out a hollow laugh.

She stared blankly ahead as if reflecting on the past, then began to speak.

“It was when I was exhausted. When everyone was tearing me down, and I was becoming disillusioned with all my relationships.”

“At that time, Noah was certain that I still had hidden potential. He kept telling me that. In hindsight, it was merely his way of cheering me on, but—”

“…It seemed that, at the time, those words hurt more than anything anyone else had said.”

Visions of Shione from her past flashed in my mind.

The day I witnessed Siabel rise as a knight with my own eyes.

I recalled Shione, tucked away in her room, lost in thought, wrapped up in self-deprecation.

When I told her to find other talents aside from swordsmanship, she displayed a level of agitation I had never seen before.

Having bottled up her feelings for years, she ultimately accepted it, but the mere word “talent” was something that made her particularly sensitive.

When Noah uttered that word, Shione must have been overwhelmed with emotions more than ever.

“It seems emotions got the better of me back then. To that Noah, I delivered a curse—”

Shione covered her eyes with her hand, as if she were frustrated.

I understood the curse part.

But what happened next?

“If you think you can spew such ridiculous nonsense in front of me, then just go away… I told him never to show his face in front of me again….”

“Ah….”

This girl really has no middle ground.

It made perfect sense why Shione had trouble facing Noah.

How could she face someone who she had openly cursed and told to go away?

If she had any shame, surely she couldn’t say anything so brazenly.

Besides, I had heard whispers among the servants about Shione’s terrible remarks that had passed through her.

Shione must have insulted Noah far worse than those words.

That knight, who now looked at Shione with cold eyes, must know something about the old Shione as well.

Just as my understanding of what Shione had done was starting to take shape, she spoke again.

“Not long after that incident, I locked myself in my room… The relationships that had soured couldn’t be fixed, and here we are now.”

The relationship with Noah Belreia, which had been so awkward it could stifle anyone watching, was a result of Shione’s self-loathing, helplessness, and a bit of rage.

“Don’t you think it’s foolish?”

I couldn’t just outright agree with her claim of foolishness as her attendant.

I merely remained silent and watched Shione, who forced out a weak laugh.

[A quest has been formed.]

“Past Resolution”

“Thanks to your efforts, Shione Shianella has definitely changed. However, the unresolved relationships with various people from her past continue to weigh on her mind. As her attendant, it is only natural to help relieve her worries. Mend the broken relationship with Noah Belreia, who is the most representative figure among them.”

“Reward: Acceleration of Shione Shianella’s growth rate.”

I glanced at the status window that appeared.

Reflecting the quest title of “Past Resolution,” it seemed I was being encouraged to progress the awkward relationship between Noah Belreia and Shione.

And more so, they were saying it was my duty to support Shione.

The reward for successfully completing this quest was the acceleration of Shione’s growth rate.

Unlike previous quests that simply mentioned the enhancement of abilities, this time it specifically referred to growth rate.

It seemed that if I successfully completed this quest, Shione’s archery skills could grow faster, fitting the capacity of the talents she had developed.

With that reward in mind, I could make up for the missed opportunities to practice archery during our recent carriage travels.

However, this quest was bound to be a considerable hassle.

“…May I ask one thing? Does Shione wish to mend her ties with Noah Belreia? Or—”

Since there wasn’t any mention of the penalties I’d receive if I failed, I inquired about Shione’s true intentions.

“Would you like to sever that connection completely?”