Chapter 35: I am not angry!

Lavia stared at Harvey, intentionally letting him continue to feel uneasy.

She had been waiting.

Waiting for Harvey to speak up on his own and nervously ask her one thing—

“Eldest Miss, can I stay by your side for the next few days?”

For a servant to take the initiative to seek protection from their master out of fear of danger was a perfectly normal thing.

In this way, she could not only protect him but also make Harvey remember more clearly exactly who he should be staying with.

However, to her surprise, the more she looked at Harvey like this, the less he dared to speak.

In his view, the fact that things had turned out this way was because he hadn’t handled them well, leading him to be inexplicably targeted by that Princess.

He was just a slave with a lowly status.

If something really happened, it wouldn’t be strange if he were punished or even lost his life right then and there.

With the situation having reached this point, how could he feel comfortable adding more trouble to his master?

The two remained there, each lost in their own thoughts, at a stalemate.

After a long while, Evelyn finally broke the increasingly heavy atmosphere.

“Eldest Miss.”

As soon as she spoke, the two in the room looked over, their expressions changing in different ways.

Especially Lavia.

She had been thinking about asking why these two had appeared together just now.

But Evelyn chose this specific moment to speak.

No matter what she was about to say, it would carry extra connotations in Lavia’s ears.

Ignoring Harvey’s expectant gaze, Evelyn said with a stern face, “Setting aside the foolish thing Harvey did, shouldn’t you consider the stance of the Rune royal family and prepare a reaction in advance?”

“Even if the Princess herself is not in favor, what if the royal family uses this as a pretext to summon the Duke? You would be…”

Her words were flawless, pulling Lavia’s mind out of her personal emotions.

The current politics of the Kingdom of Rune were far from stable.

As the one managing the Duke’s Mansion, she knew this better than anyone.

In name, the royal family still held the high ground, commanding legitimacy and order.

But the magical talent of the royal bloodline had been constantly declining for several generations.

Even the King himself was merely a mid-level water and earth mage.

Because of this, the royal family had become increasingly cautious over the years, unwilling to easily alienate the nobility.

Growing more powerful in recent years was the School Council, supported by the Magic Association.

Using the Academy, the mage system, and the resources of the Spell Formula, they were expanding their influence step by step, aiming to pull everyone with magic talent into their own order.

They claimed it was to improve the status and treatment of mages, but in reality, they wanted to completely separate “those with talent” from “ordinary people.”

This was a situation the royal family could never accept.

Because of this, the royal family needed the nobility to stabilize the local regions, and the nobility needed the legitimacy held by the royal family to maintain rule over their territories.

No one dared to easily break this balance.

Under these circumstances, the Academy placing Veronica in this mansion was no coincidence.

If everything were peaceful, outsiders would naturally see it as a sign of the decorum maintained between the royal family and the nobility.

But once something went wrong, and the Duke’s daughter of the Astarea family came into direct conflict with the Princess of the royal family, it would no longer just be a personal dispute.

It would become a pawn that three major factions could use for their own agendas.

If it truly reached that point, Harvey, the one inexplicably dragged into this, would be the easiest target to push to the forefront.

By then, even Lavia might not be able to protect him.

Lavia looked at the upright Evelyn, a faint shadow pressing beneath her eyes.

Was Evelyn’s remark truly just a simple reminder?

Or was she using this incident to tell her not to focus her heart on the wrong things?

The room went quiet for a moment.

Lavia tapped her fingertips against the desk and said coolly, “Don’t worry, she doesn’t dare to take this to the King and Queen.”

Harvey was slightly stunned.

Lavia said calmly, “Regarding today, she was the one who was rude first. Even if she goes back to complain, she won’t tell the whole truth.”

“Besides—”

A very faint curve tugged at the corner of her lips.

“Veronica was sent to the Academy by the royal family against her will. To put it nicely, she is here to learn etiquette and gain knowledge of magic. To put it bluntly, she was just thrown out of the palace by the King to avoid having her annoy him.”

“Furthermore, she still has two elder brothers above her. As long as those two are fighting for the throne, they won’t tolerate this fool causing trouble.”

Harvey stood before the desk, stunned by what he heard.

In his mind, he could not help but picture that gold-inlaid, jade-encrusted carriage.

According to Lavia, this Princess wasn’t even considered favored.

If it were an actual favored member of the royal family, what would that be like?

Regarding the internal politics of Rune, Evelyn did not voice an opinion.

She only continued to ask, “Then, regarding Harvey, does he need to be arranged elsewhere?”

This time, Lavia did not answer immediately.

Her gaze fell back onto Harvey.

Harvey felt a tightness in his chest under her look and stood up straighter subconsciously.

Lavia looked at him for several seconds before saying coldly, “From today on, do not leave the mansion alone.”

“If you must go out, report to me in advance.”

She did not say to let Evelyn follow him; that was not something she wished to see.

Not being able to make Harvey request it voluntarily was imperfect, but it would not affect the arrangements she had already planned.

Harvey asked hesitantly, “But if I hide away, wouldn’t it look even more like I’ve done something wrong?”

“So you do know.”

Lavia said faintly, “Therefore, don’t hide, just keep from hovering in front of her.”

Harvey was choked by her words and didn’t dare to respond carelessly.

Seeing him still worrying, the Eldest Miss finally relaxed her tense mood.

“You are overcomplicating her.”

“With Veronica’s brain, she doesn’t have the ability to take things that far, nor is she so easily provoked by me.”

Harvey stared at her, stunned, not knowing which part to be more surprised by.

Was it the “brainless Princess” part, or the fact that she had provoked the Princess for his sake?

Lavia held her arms, watching him with a look that was half-smile.

Looking at Harvey’s expression, the slight unpleasantness in the bottom of her heart finally dissipated.

She was very satisfied with Harvey’s flustered look.

Only in moments of such helplessness did he finally look like someone who belonged by her side.

“Next time—”

“When someone else tries to order you around like some kind of disposable object, you had better open your mouth first.”

Harvey felt his heart skip a beat and nodded repeatedly.

Seeing that Lavia had already made her arrangements, Evelyn continued, “There is one more thing. Since the Princess has already noticed Harvey, should the kitchen and water usage areas be re-zoned starting today?”

“Leave this to you. Contact the person in charge at the Academy tomorrow and convey my meaning.”

Lavia said coldly, “If they dare to watch a farce between the nobility and the royal family, they should have the courage to accept the consequences.”

Evelyn bowed her head slightly.

“Yes.”

—

The sun had already poked its head out, and the morning breeze blew through the shrubs of the courtyard.

THUD!

The stone table shook violently.

The silver platter placed on the side jumped, and the untouched pastries rolled off, coating the ground in fine powdered sugar.

Veronica stood in the stone gazebo outside the courtyard, venting her rage.

She had brought her palm down with such force that her knuckles had turned white, but she seemed not to feel the pain at all.

“How dare she—”

The voice was almost squeezed out from between her teeth.

That face, which was already quite round, looked somewhat ferocious due to her fury, and there was an undeniable fire pressing in her eyes.

No matter how magnificent her dress was, it could not hide how disheveled she felt at this moment.

She kept replaying the scene in the foyer in her head.

That damnable woman had stood right in front of her as if she were looking at something worthless.

And she had even held that male servant’s hand right in front of her.

What was the meaning of that?

Was she mocking her for being unable to even get the support of a servant?

Veronica’s fingers tightened sharply, her nails almost sinking into her palms.

“…P-Princess, please calm your anger.” The maid at her side comforted her cautiously.

She tried to soothe the agitated Princess just as she had done yesterday.

But—

THUD!

“I am not angry!”

Another blow landed, frightening the two maids until they trembled.