Chapter 391 - Chapter One: The Encounter
Mother died. It was an abrupt end.
From the beginning of the year to spring in the year 205 of the Royal Calendar, an epidemic spread primarily through the southern region of the Kingdom of Roadberg. This epidemic, which had occurred several times in the kingdom's history, had established a certain level of countermeasures by now, and thus the damage was less compared to past outbreaks.
In the County of Kivileft, which had a population of approximately seventy thousand, it was said that they got off with only about three thousand infected and slightly over four hundred deaths, primarily among the elderly, children, and those with weak constitutions.
However, among those victims was Noein's mother—the concubine of Count Maximilian Kivileft.
When this disease, said to be transmitted through contact with the infected, began to spread within the territory, Maximilian cut off contact with the outside of the mansion to an excessive degree.
He forbade the servants from going out unless it was absolutely necessary for their duties, fixed the security personnel to live and sleep within the mansion, and allowed even visiting contractors to enter only as far as the front gate.
Maximilian concerned himself only with the safety of himself, his legal wife, and his legitimate heir, and shut himself away in the mansion, leaving the containment of the epidemic within the territory to the voluntary efforts of the residents.
However, the greedy and foolish concubine—Noein's mother—broke the order forbidding her from going out. She sneaked out to play in the city several times and caught the epidemic somewhere.
In this disease, the mortality rate is not necessarily high for healthy adults; however, she, who lived her days indulging in excessive drinking and gourmet food without exercising properly, exhausted her strength as the high fever continued, and died.
"I don't want to die. Why is this happening to me? I still want to live happily. What bad thing could I have possibly done?"
When Noein last saw her, his mother had been saying such things while delirious with fever.
Contact with those who have developed this disease is the primary cause of transmission. Therefore, normally, the elderly and children, who are particularly prone to death, are kept away from the infected.
However, Maximilian said, "Your mother wants to see you," and let Noein into his mother's bedroom. Thinking back on it later, he likely hoped that the disease would transmit and Noein would die.
In normal times, the death of a bastard child would lead to rumors in aristocratic society that "the head of the house disposed of his own blood-related child for his own convenience," but if Noein died of the epidemic, it would be dismissed as "unfortunate." For Maximilian, it was a golden opportunity.
However, whether by a whim of God or a prank of the devil, Noein did not contract the disease even though his mother touched him.
"Why did I end up like this, while you're still healthy? What's the point of you living? It's not right."
Saying so, his mother grabbed Noein's arm. She glared at Noein with resentful, yet vacant eyes ravaged by the high fever.
"I'm sorry, Mother."
Noein muttered without moving his expression at all. The current, frail mother was not scary at all, but out of habit, he uttered these words which he had repeated many times until now to avoid being hit by her.
That became the last conversation Noein exchanged with his mother.
A few days later, his mother died, and the body was burned immediately. The burial took place not in the Kivileft family cemetery, but in the communal cemetery of the capital city, Laden, attended only by Noein, a few servants who had been somewhat close to his mother, and Maximilian.
From Maximilian's perspective, she was a troublesome concubine who spent money lavishly, but she was likely a partner with whom he could exchange affection comfortably without worrying about status. Seeing Maximilian's profile, which looked somewhat lonely as if he felt something about her death, Noein felt like vomiting.
Normally, parents are supposed to adore and cherish their children, but even nine-year-old Noein already understood that the father standing next to his dead mother did not think of him as adorable or precious.
.....
One morning, about a month after his mother died, the head maid came to Noein's room, located at the edge of the mansion.
The head maid, who was always unsociable, directed a sullen face and a cold gaze at Noein today as well, and opened her mouth.
"By the Master's decision, Young Master Noein's residence will be changed. Please pack your belongings."
Because Noein was, nominally, the child of the head of the house, the head maid spoke in polite language, but in a tone that lacked a shred of respect.
Despite being a child, Noein sensed the change in the situation he was placed in. It seemed that from now on, there was no place for him within this mansion.
Noein's personal belongings were very few. He stuffed a few pieces of clothing—high quality but plain in appearance—into a bag that was also sturdy but plain, and followed the head maid.
Leaving the mansion, proceeding through the garden, to the furthest corner of the grounds surrounded by stone walls. For the legs of a child lacking exercise, just walking to the corner of the vast mansion grounds was somewhat tiring.
In a corner of the vast garden, after passing through a small artificially created grove, there was a small hut. Judging by its clean exterior, this was not a storage shed or the like, but something for a person to live in.
His father kept several artists who produced works that brought in money and scholars whose research brought profit, and their residences were in the mansion grounds as huts like this. However, there should not have been such a building in this grove previously.
"This annex will be Young Master Noein's residence starting today. The Master has stated that Young Master is forbidden from leaving the outside of this annex. Please keep this in mind."
"...By 'outside,' specifically from where?"
"It means do not take a single step out from the entrance door of this annex. The area within the annex and the backyard of the annex surrounded by a wooden fence is the range within which Young Master is permitted to move."
The head maid answered Noein's question with a look of annoyance.
"Heh... I get it."
Noein spoke with a cynical smile. He understood that from now on, he was to be locked away in this small annex hut.
If he hid the child of a troublesome concubine in an annex built in the deepest depths of the grove located at the corner of the mansion grounds, his father's heart would likely be at peace. The head of the house would never go out of his way to visit such a corner of the grounds. He would not show it to guests. If he never had to see him, then for his father, it would be the same as him not existing.
That was entirely for his father's convenience, and Noein's dissatisfaction was not considered at all. Since that had always been the norm until now, Noein said nothing at this late stage.
"But what should I do about daily life? Food? Personal care? Am I confined until I starve to death?"
"No."
When Noein spoke in a tone that was intentionally provocative, the head maid answered shortly with an even more bitter expression. Noein did not miss the small click of the tongue that leaked out before that, but he said nothing.
"The Master has ordered that a single slave be assigned exclusively as Young Master's caretaker. I will bring that slave here, so please wait a moment."
Without waiting for Noein's reply, the head maid returned toward the main building along the path in the grove.
Left alone, Noein looked at the exterior of the annex and walked around it once.
Opposite the side with the front entrance, the rear was surrounded by a wooden fence, and the inside of that seemed to be the "backyard" the head maid mentioned. The size of the backyard was only slightly larger than the size of the annex.
To be told not to leave a plot of land of only this size. Just how long did he intend to keep him locked up here?
His father often lamented, "Must I feed such a bastard child until they reach adulthood?" so he would likely be cut off and cast out the moment he reached adulthood. If so, the life of being locked in this annex would be about six years. Even so, it was too long a time to live in a state of house arrest.
For the past nine years, he had not been permitted to take a single step outside the mansion grounds. And now, this situation. He would live with all freedom stripped away until he reached adulthood. Even though he was not a criminal. Even though he had committed no crime.
While gazing at the wooden fence, which was over two meters high and from which Noein's height made it impossible to see the other side, Noein wore a vicious smile drenched in hatred. It was an expression that was far from what a nine-year-old child should wear, but Noein himself did not know that.
"Young Master Noein."
Hearing a voice call him, Noein came to his senses and returned to the front of the annex. There stood the head maid and—a filthy beastman girl sitting on the ground, wearing tattered clothes.
Looking at the long ears extending from the damaged, frizzy black hair, her race was a rabbit-person. It was hard to tell for sure because of the hanging hair, swollen eyes, and bruised cheeks, but she was likely in her mid-teens.
"This is the slave who will be Young Master Noein's caretaker... Come now, show your gratitude."
As the head maid said this, she lightly kicked the rabbit-person girl's back with her foot. The kicked girl swayed forward and bowed her head to Noein with her hands on the ground.
"Meals are to be carried from the main building to the annex by this slave. If there is anything else you need or want, provide for it from the allowance given monthly. If you have any business, have this slave carry a letter and deliver it to the servants of the main building. From now on, do not approach the main building at all, and order this slave to handle all your personal needs. You may treat the slave as you wish, but if you kill them, the cost of the slave will be deducted from your living expenses. That is all for the Master's message."
The head maid, who had been looking down at the rabbit-person girl with eyes as if seeing filth, turned toward Noein with those same eyes and spoke matter-of-factly.
"Well then, I ask you once more not to leave this annex hereafter."
And, as expected, without hearing Noein's reply, she walked away along the path in the grove.
Left behind were only Noein and the rabbit-person girl, who remained sitting.
Noein had never gone outside the mansion, but he had received home education for one year and became able to read, and he had also read books and eavesdropped on the servants' idle chatter, so he knew a bit about society. He had the knowledge that beastmen were severely persecuted in the Kingdom of Roadberg, especially in the south where the County of Kivileft was located.
That was likely why this rabbit-person girl, who had become Noein's caretaker, seemed to have received terrible treatment.
Noein approached her and knelt before her. When Noein, who was small for a nine-year-old, knelt, his eye level became almost the same as hers, as she sat flat on the ground.
Noein reached out his hand toward her face, which was full of bruises and scars, and
"...That looks painful. You poor thing."
He said so with a gentle expression and stroked her cheek.