# Chapter 42: Servant Cedric (8) – Lord of Eched
“Doesn’t it seem like Miss hasn’t changed since the last apology?”
“That’s right. There haven’t been any reckless physical altercations, and even when she scolds, it ends with just words.”
“I, I, last time I was praised for doing a good job polishing the shoes. I thought she didn’t care about what we did at all, but it seems she was observing us all along.”
“I had to suddenly go home because my mother became ill, but Miss granted me a day off. How could she be so considerate?”
“Perhaps Miss isn’t such a bad master after all? At least, there’s no issue with delayed wages, right?”
“Is that so? Well, still, the wickedness in the past…”
“Ah! What nonsense! Those were just temporary lapses, lapses! Everyone goes through that phase at a certain age!”
“Last time, you complained that she was only tolerable because of her pay.”
“W, what are you talking about? Don’t make things up that never happened!”
Mutter, mutter.
Gossip, gossip.
At the Redbell residence established in the Eched Barony.
The servants there chattered daily about the changes in their “young mistress.”
At first, the servants eyed her with suspicion and unease, but as Claudia actively displayed goodwill and dignity, they gradually began to loosen their tense grips.
This sudden change was indeed perplexing and disconcerting.
However, if asked whether this change was disliked, it would naturally be preferable.
Isn’t it obvious which is better between a mad dog that might bite you at any moment and a gentle, dignified young noblewoman?
Only, Claudia, at the center of all this gossip, had a somewhat different perspective.
“I’m tired… this is too difficult…”
In Claudia’s room.
She moaned while laying her head on the table.
To continuously maintain attitudes and actions to secure others’ goodwill and respect while always being aware of someone’s gaze required an unimaginable amount of mental strength and physical stamina.
For Claudia, who had always lived by venting her frustrations immediately and doing exactly what she desired without hesitation, this was even more exhausting.
“Cedric. Until when do I have to keep doing this?”
“Ha ha ha, miss, are you asking an obvious question? Naturally, it’s for the rest of your life.”
Hearing Cedric’s answer, Claudia’s face was painted with indescribable despair.
“Really? Do I have to keep up this pretense for the rest of my life?”
“That’s how people live in civilized society. Showing every desire and dissatisfaction we feel makes us more beastlike than human!”
“Are you saying your master is a beast?”
“Which do you prefer: a truthful opinion with personal feelings mixed in or just an objective truth?”
“…Fine. I don’t want to hear it.”
“What a pity. I was looking forward to offering another valuable piece of advice to you.”
Claudia glared at Cedric, who feigned disappointment, and sighed deeply.
However much she complained, Claudia was not unaware that people’s opinions of her had improved dramatically.
Frankly, the effect was so extreme over such a short period that she felt a bit dazed.
“As good as this result is, it’s just the beginning. There’s still far too little to show Lord Redbell in terms of achievements.”
At Cedric’s words, delivered with a sense of urgency, Claudia momentarily frowned but straightened her posture and asked.
“Well then, what should I do next?”
“Let me confirm again—aren’t you the Lord of this Eched Barony?”
She nodded.
“Officially, yes. Practically, it’s managed by the Lord’s proxy. Honestly, this backwater doesn’t even interest me.”
“First, let’s correct this perception. This place is in no way a rural fief.”
“What?”
Claudia looked confused, but Cedric remained resolute.
To him, Eched Barony was far from being underestimated.
Bern, the adventurer, mainly operated out of the eastern guild branch, located in a city with a few thousand residents. But Eched Barony had a population surpassing 10,000 and a territory almost five times larger.
Yet Claudia perceived this place as rural simply because other Redbell fiefs were much more “prime properties.”
’Now I understand why even though the adventurer’s guild, with its semi-noble tendencies, spreads its influence across the kingdom, it doesn’t recklessly draw swords against incompetent rural nobles. The power of the nobles near the capital is simply too strong.’
The territories of the three pillars of the kingdom—the royal family, the marquis family, and the count family— combined didn’t exceed 30% of the national land.
Yet, in terms of population, the 30% accounted for an equivalent, or even greater, number compared to the remaining 70%.
This density brought about rich human resources and capital, as well as highly developed fiefs.
Cedric saw it as a structure that caused many problems but currently, it also benefited him.
Had this not been the case, the Marquis Redbell wouldn’t have handed such a fief off to his out-of-favor daughter, dismissing it as a “rural” area.
“Listen carefully. From now on, the task before you is—”
*
“Starting today, I’ll be managing this place directly, so you can take some rest.”
When Claudia abruptly invaded the mansion offices and made that demand, the proxy Lord of Eched felt an immensely complicated array of emotions.
If all those emotions were distilled into a single word, it could be summarized as “ridiculous.”
Maintaining a pleasant smile like a mask, the proxy Lord turned to Claudia and said.
“Claudia-sama, your sudden request is hard to understand. What do you mean by asking me to step down out of the blue?”
“I am the Lord of Eched, am I not? If the Lord decides to manage the fief personally, what’s the problem?”
There was a problem.
Moreover, a very significant one.
Claudia’s title of Lord wasn’t granted with any real intention.
Due to her atrocious personality, activities like attending social functions and volunteering at the temple, expected of a noble young lady, were impossible. The title of Lord was thrust upon her to create an excuse that her absence from public activities was because she was busy with duties.
It was a mere entry on her résumé, meant to increase her value slightly when the time came to arrange a political marriage.
Beneath his smiling facade, the Lord proxy internally sighed.
In his position, managing this fief on behalf of the marquis, every second spent conversing with this ignorant child felt like a complete waste of time.
“Hah hah, Claudia-sama, managing a fief requires a tremendous sense of responsibility and a great deal of effort. If you attempt it lightly and bring chaos to the fief, Lord Marquis would surely be very distressed.”
Claudia’s body stiffened at this, and the proxy Lord didn’t miss it.
He felt a sense of vindictive satisfaction.
‘Hmph. Someone as base as a mere servant might fall for your tantrum, but do you think your whim will work on me, who receives direct orders from Lord Marquis?’
Had someone other than Claudia arrived, the proxy Lord wouldn’t have shown such an overt attitude.
However, Claudia was an exception.
Though her mother was from the Birka royal family, the support her mother received from her natal family was less than even an average rural noble. The Birka royal house was embroiled in constant power struggles due to a lack of outstanding heirs, and they were reluctant to waste resources supporting a former member of the royal family who had become an outsider.
While her half-siblings, who also lost their mother, inherited and absorbed the various tangible and intangible resources of the first wife, Claudia had to solely rely on the Marquis, her father—and their relationship wasn’t exactly friendly.
A seemingly intact noblewoman with no actual power.
To such a Claudia, he, a trusted retainer who was responsible for an entire fief, didn’t need to feel any fear or intimidation.
‘At least, sensibly speaking.’
“Let us pretend this conversation never happened. Thus, it would be suitable for you to leave now—”
“—Hey.”
Claudia’s chillingly low voice.
The Lord proxy realized he had been seized by the floor when the crimson twin-headed weapon had somehow appeared beside him.
KRRLRRRR!
KRRLRRRR!
The creature, a blood twin-headed wolf formed as if out of liquid blood, growled from its two muzzles.
Struck by the blood demon beast’s menacing posture that promised an instant attack, the proxy didn’t scream but only gasped helplessly in terror.
“Y-y-young Lord!!”
The bodyguards, who had entered the reception room with the proxy, tried to unsheathe their swords in shock. But it was too late.
Long before, blood demon beasts with similar ferociousness and intimidation had appeared behind them.
Facing these beasts that could attack at any moment, the bodyguards swallowed hard.
Being retainers of the Redbell family, they were aware of the power of these blood demon beasts.
They were not just unmatched in brute strength. These beasts were reckless in their nature, unaffected by any wounds. Even a large group forming a proper phalanx would hesitate to fight them. In an indoor ambush situation like this one, the chances of success were slim.
Eventually, all they could do was raise their voices in a desperate plea.
“Young miss!! Are you in your right mind?”
“Actually, it seems you’re the ones not in your right minds.”
Claudia’s gaze, filled with irritation and disdain, pierced through the proxy and his subordinates.
Overwhelmed by her eyes, which were like icicles jabbing their chests, they froze.
“How dare a mere proxy threaten the fief’s Lord? And you! You called him a ‘Lord Proxy,’ but referred to the real Lord as merely ‘young miss.’ Very amusing, isn’t it? Hmm?”
Corresponding to Claudia’s anger, the blood demon beasts intensified their murderous aura.
Feelings are akin to consumables. Those expressed too frequently often become trivial. But emotions suppressed and pent up for a long time are overwhelming when they finally surface.
After enduring her savage nature while pretending to be composed in front of her servants for so long, the sudden release upon provocation left the proxy and his cronies utterly breathless.
Claudia declared, enunciating each word slowly and deliberately to the proxy pinned to the floor.
“Tell Father this. I’m going to change Eched. After I’ve done it, it will be fine to decide my fate based on the results.”
“G, yes, understood.”
“If you twist my words, you know? I’ve memorized your faces. Even if I’m thrown somewhere distant, I have the ability to find you and make you into wolf fodder. So behave yourself.”
“…”
“Not answering?”
“A, understood! I will convey it! Please, remove this demon beast!”
Claudia smirked, and the blood demon beast that had its forepaws on the proxy retreated and sat by Claudia’s side.
Even after the demon beast moved away, the proxy continued to pant for breath several times.
Though his face glanced at Claudia with much to say, he ultimately left without uttering a single complaint, and his guards followed silently.
Claudia ordered her butler-in-chief, Bastian, and a few trusted servants brought from her villa.
“Tell the servants in this manor that I’ll be governing here from today. Those who agree will be absorbed, others will be dismissed, and you will take their places. However, ensure that even those being dismissed fully disclose the details of their duties before leaving.”
“Understood, my lady.”
Due to her careful selection of only those who displayed remarkable loyalty to her back in the villa, no one expressed dissatisfaction or voiced concerns.
After the other servants left the room,
Claudia, now seated in the chair where the proxy lord had previously sat, asked the sole remaining servant, Cedric.
“…Can I manage this?”
Cedric answered.
“Unfortunately, as I lack the ability to foresee the future, I can’t give you a definite answer.”
“Hmph, well, that’s to be expected. Fair enough.”
“But…”
“?”
Cedric smiled.
“Compared to the Miss who wasted each day mindlessly venting her frustrations, it seems the current Miss is more suited to be my master.”
It wasn’t his usual smirk, but rather a gentle smile with soothing words.
“…Hmph.”
Though her cheeks flushed as if struck by something unexpected, Claudia soon sneered and puffed her chest.
“A servant talking out of turn much?”
“…”
—End of Chapter—
