98. A Crumpled Report Card (3)
Just a moment ago, a warm current had begun to flow through the chilly atmosphere between them.
But that warm current had vanished before it could even fully emerge.
For some reason, it felt like a cold wind had suddenly blown in from Karcen.
With that single gesture.
Somewhat startled, Isabella asked once more.
“Does it displease you to hear this, Karcen?”
“Not at all. Your words are entirely correct.”
“…Then.”
He must have thought that she was angry because he had pushed her hand away.
Isabella shook her head inwardly, wondering why she had made such a mistake. Karcen’s attitude wasn’t twisted in any way.
He obediently acknowledged and accepted his wrongdoing, which was a stark contrast to his past behavior.
Furthermore, he accepted the criticism without making excuses or offering justifications, which was perfectly acceptable.
Finally, it wasn’t a challenge but a simple question. Wasn’t that all there was to it?
‘I’ve become rather sensitive, it seems.’
Isabella inwardly scolded herself for thinking unnecessary thoughts.
Feeling apologetic, she changed the course of her hand, which had been about to caress his cheek, and stroked Karcen’s hand instead.
“In truth, that amount of money is more than enough to cover the duchy’s expenses. No matter how we do it, it’s easier to make the equivalent of your allowance from the profits of various businesses than from the territory’s taxes. I only wished to instill in you a sense of caution regarding money, so please don’t be offended.”
“As I said before, I am not offended in the slightest.”
“I see. You’ve grown considerably.”
Yes. He was different from before.
There was no Karcen shouting that the money was his and that he could do as he pleased with it.
There was no Karcen throwing a tantrum because he couldn’t spend the money as he wished, or complaining that he wasn’t as free as his two older sisters or his younger sister.
Karcen had grown into a fine vagrant and was much different from the boy he had been back then.
Thanks to that, Isabella could finally unburden her heart and confide in him.
“As for the Eastern Nobles’ Assembly… I can no longer help you directly. But don’t worry. You know what your sisters are like. They’ll help you more than enough.”
Of course, Arina had threatened to strip Carsein of his right to participate in the Eastern Nobles’ Conference, but she wouldn’t be too harsh. After all, we had already done some work on his behalf.
So, if the two sisters helped him a little, Carsein would be able to pass this test without any problems.
Then, there was only one thing to be careful about.
“Don’t worry about the Shatran territory. You just focus on your test, Carsein.”
The Shatran territory.
The trauma of the past could still be lingering there.
Carsein might be cornered if he couldn’t forget that time.
Isabella had to shake off that anxiety first.
“Even though things turned out that way, Claire is sending some of the money she earns from her boutique business as support funds. The Shatran territory isn’t saying much about it, so let’s just prepare little by little.”
There was no need to overcomplicate things; some of the money Claire earned was going towards support funds.
The Shatran territory was receiving these support funds and reducing their resentment towards Carsein, so we just had to leave them alone until the territory recovered.
But then, Carsein suddenly said something strange.
“I remember something from a long time ago. You used to water these donations in the past.”
“When I watered them…?”
“At that time, I dug up the garden that you were tending to with your dirt-covered hands. Do you remember?”
“Well… I do remember…”
Today, as we were waiting in the donation center, the three daughters came and handed us their report cards.
But why was he asking about this now?
Before Isabella could finish speaking, she looked at him with a questioning gaze, and Carsein readily answered.
“The reason I dug up the ground back then was to bury my pathetic report card there.”
***
Carsein’s report card was a perfect score, without a single mistake. Unlike his two older sisters and one younger sister.
Of course, just because he had covered more material than his peers didn’t mean he had done a better job.
Arithmetic was not comparable to quadratic equations or exponential and logarithmic functions, and even those quadratic equations and exponential and logarithmic functions were not comparable to calculus, statistics, geometry, and vectors, so one had to consider the level of difficulty.
But how should we evaluate a report card that was earned by studying all of those subjects at the same time?
Objectively, I would say that it far surpassed the other three.
They had not studied the same material in the same amount of time; they had mastered everything that they were supposed to learn in a very short amount of time.
That was the report card they had received.
The report card they had earned while facing discrimination.
This was it.
Carsein really did have a report card that deserved praise.
The words on this piece of paper were not pathetic; they were evidence of brilliant effort.
So, I will lie.
At least these people are not the ones who will recognize Carsein’s efforts.
No. They must not know.
They must remain ignorant until the very end. I think that, at least.
“You tried to bury your report card in the ground… I guess that happened.”
Isabella shook her head and held my hand tightly.
“It’s only natural for people to make mistakes. It’s also natural to make mistakes in learning. I don’t intend to look unfavorably upon the process of your growth.”
Likewise, don’t worry about getting me mixed up.
She says,
“You must have suffered a lot because of it at the Eastern Nobles’ Conference this time. Yes. I will tell my Arina. If I tell her about this old story, she will naively accept it.”
-Ti-ring!
[1. Then please tell Arina. She’s worried about my authority.]
[2. Don’t tell Arina, but Claire. Claire is also sending support funds to Shatran’s territory.]
[3. No need.]
Originally, the answer would have been 2.
Sometimes, hints are written in the choices without any notice.
Commonly, if there is no one taking care of Shatran’s territory, which Carsein said he had ruined, then that in itself will quickly bring about a dead trigger.
Therefore, that is the correct answer.
Since Claire is sending support funds to Shatran’s territory to clean up Carsein’s mess, it would have been much easier to receive her help.
However, I don’t choose that.
[3. No need.]☑
“No need.”
“…Carsein?”
“What is the point of barely passing the Eastern Nobles’ Conference’s test with the help of Arina or Claire? If I solve it that way, I will continue to stay in this position.”
“Carsein…”
“And the same goes for the Duchess’s power.”
I pushed away Isabella’s two hands.
“It is a problem that I have to solve on my own. If I can’t improve those poor grades myself, I have no choice but to stay where I am. And this situation is the same. If I just receive the power of the dukedom or the power of the people around me and go up, I won’t change. Don’t you think so?”
Isabella’s slightly parted lips narrowed.
There was also information I got from the choices.
I put it into words without hesitation.
“The support funds that Claire was sending to the territory. Please give all of that to me.”
“What? What are you…!”
“Shouldn’t I pay it back properly? Even my money is the dukedom’s money, and I am using Claire’s private funds to cover up my work. At least it would be right for me to solve it myself.”
“If you do that, all your allowance will be gone. Claire is spending more money there than you think.”
Of course.
They said that Shatran’s territory was so damaged that it was difficult to recover.
If you say that she sent enough support funds to feed them, then Carsein, who has no income, would have to spend all his allowance.
However, I don’t even care about that.
That is the dukedom’s money, and it is money that I have to pay back.
“I will receive it as a punishment.”
“A punishment… Carsein, you…”
“I will solve the authority to participate in the Eastern Nobles’ Conference and the test I will see there all by myself. I don’t plan to be a beast who just eats in the dukedom forever.”
After saying that, I said that I will go now.
Isabella didn’t say anything more to me.
I turned around as soon as I heard that I could go, and instead of Isabella, the status window followed me.
-Ti-ring!
▶Hidden Episode. Crumpled Report Card Cleared!◀
▶Succeeded in triggering a result beyond the choices!◀
■Reward
[ ??? ]
‘Another Hidden Episode.’
This time, a Hidden Episode that I didn’t even know I had started had been automatically cleared.
The reward window was incredibly shabby.
As a player who chose this option, I had rejected not only Isabella’s power but also the help of both Arina and Claire.
However, the reward that was completely empty except for that one thing was the real reward, without a doubt.
The fact that I’m gradually cutting ties with the Duke’s family is the reward. What other reward could there be?
To be honest, it was the most satisfying reward I had received so far.
It’s a bit annoying since it seems like I’ve had this experience twice now, but…
In the meantime, I glance at the progress window.
▶The event, Extravagance is Prohibited, is in progress.◀
▶Head to Arina’s office and have a conversation.◀
‘Ah. That’s right. Wasn’t Arina the one who would solve this event?’
Meeting Isabella at the sponsorship doesn’t mean I’ve cleared this event.
That probably means there’s a high chance I’ll have to experience something even more f*cked up.
It’s true that I got annoyed because I let my emotions get the better of me, but this is just a momentary feeling.
I decided to leave the sponsorship, thinking I should just shake it off.
However…
From Noble mtl dot com
As soon as I left the sponsorship, someone grabbed my arm.
“Carsein. Why did you do that?”
Pink hair. Glaring eyes.
It was Claire.
Why is she meeting me here? I thought I had to meet Arina to resolve the event.
At that moment, my status window turned on again.
-Ding!
▶A hidden reward has been revealed!◀
■Reward
[ You will be able to receive help from those around you in the next event. ]
[ Due to this effect, Claire has overheard the conversation with Isabella! ]
‘She overheard it.’
▶An additional event has occurred due to the revealed reward!◀
▶Claire’s intimacy may change due to the event.◀
[ Current Intimacy: 47% ]
Before I knew it, my status window had added an additional event for me.
There was no such event in the original development.
I don’t know what’s going on, but I don’t know about a situation where I have to finish a conversation with Claire while she’s holding onto my arm and there are choices.
However, the fact that Claire overheard it shouldn’t be a big problem.
“Just answer the same way as before.”
-Tring!
“Not much different from Isabella.”
Claire also looked like she had a lot to say to me. Maybe she planned to point out something wrong just like Isabella.
“What else is wrong?”
I waited for Claire’s response with an indifferent expression.
“You idiot! You wouldn’t have gotten scolded if you had told Mom straight!”
Claire shouted in frustration.
“You used your money to buy the Ruthmayer estate, right? If you had just told Mom that, she wouldn’t have scolded you. Are you really going to say you didn’t know that?! Come on!”
As expected, her voice was quite sharp.
But still.
The answer is this.
[ 1. Why do you care? ]☑
“Why do you care?”