At those words, Evelyn’s hand stilled mid-stroke.
She met Elysia’s eyes through the mirror before setting the brush down on the table and rising from her chair.
She crossed the room toward her sister, that faint smile still resting on her face.
“I understand exactly how you feel. Elysia, I wanted to pounce on him too, when I went up to him earlier today.”
Elysia looked at her, and noticed her sister’s face had gone just as red.
“What do you mean?”
Evelyn didn’t answer right away.
She just smoothed down a few of Elysia’s stray hairs, then gave a small smile.
“Don’t rush this.”
“But I—”
“I know.”
Evelyn’s voice came out so calm, like she’d understood exactly what Elysia was feeling from the very start.
She reached out, took her sister’s hand still wrapped around the sword, and slowly lowered it.
“If you go now, you might just scare him off.”
Elysia stayed quiet for a moment before finally looking away.
“…Fine.”
Evelyn smiled faintly and pulled her sister away from the door, leading her back to bed to lie down together on the big, soft mattress.
Elysia still looked a little sulky, but she didn’t argue any further.
Evelyn pulled the blanket up over both of them before closing her eyes.
“Good night, Elysia.”
“…Good night.”
* * *
The next morning, Elias was up bright and early, running through the same routine he’d always kept back in the village.
Even here at the Nocturne estate, he hadn’t let go of the habits he’d built for himself.
After a jog around the market, he came back carrying a box of bread he’d picked up along the way.
‘I’m starving.’
With the morning air still cool, he stopped by the training field to run through the swordsmanship Randolf had taught him.
However he looked at it, he had to admit Randolf’s technique was genuinely excellent.
Better, honestly, than any sword skill he’d ever had back in the game.
‘Thinking back to what I used to have, a few of those old skills would be seriously useful right now, considering I’m basically walking a tightrope over a cliff at this point.
But…
would I even be able to get them again?’
He drove the wooden sword in his hand forward in a single thrust, the strike kicking up a sizable gust of air before he finally called it quits for the morning.
[Ding!]
[Your Swordsmanship Skill has risen to LV.4]
“Hmm… my Swordsmanship’s up to level four.”
[You have 5 unused Stat Points.]
“Ah, right, I forgot I had five Stat Points sitting around from before.”
He thought it over for a moment before finally making a decision.
“Not gonna overthink it. Three into Perception, two into Agility.”
With every point allocated, he closed the system screen and headed back to his room, bread box still in hand.
Today was his first official day as Caretaker.
Considering the head of the household had put at least some expectations on him, Elias needed to show up sharp and put on a good performance.
Was he trying to score points with the Marquis?
Not entirely wrong, sure.
But the real reason was a lot simpler: he was terrified of his head ending up separated from his body.
Just imagining that sensation was enough to raise every hair on his neck as he kept walking toward his room.
A while later, the sun climbed higher and the air slowly warmed.
Birdsong drifted in from around the estate as the birds went out looking for their morning meal.
“Thank you for waiting, Head Servant Alistair.”
“It’s my job. This way.”
Alistair gestured ahead and the two of them started walking.
“It’s your first day. How’s it feel?”
“So terrifying I could honestly just die right now.”
“Hoho… turns out Elias here is quite the jokester.”
‘I’m dead serious!’
“Lady Evelyn and Lady Elysia aren’t quite what you’re picturing. Didn’t you already meet them yesterday? You even went out walking together.”
“That’s exactly what’s making me more terrified.”
Alistair just smiled faintly and kept walking.
“Before we get there, let me walk you through what your duties as Caretaker will actually involve.”
Elias gave him his full attention.
Being a Caretaker meant more than just tagging along wherever Evelyn and Elysia went.
He also had to make sure their needs were taken care of, accompany them through certain activities, help prepare them before training, keep an eye on their condition, and report anything important back to the head of the household.
“For now, your main job is making sure both ladies stay comfortable throughout their day. If they need something, do whatever you can to help. And if a problem comes up that you can’t handle on your own, report it to me or the head of the household right away.”
“Understood.”
“Good. After this, we’ll head to the dining room. Both ladies are usually already there by this time.”
‘I said I understood, but I genuinely have no idea how I’m supposed to keep them comfortable.
And even if they end up comfortable, I sure won’t be.’
On their way to the dining room, Elias and Alistair crossed paths with a woman heading to the same place.
The moment Alistair spotted her, he bowed respectfully and greeted her.
Reading the situation from Alistair’s reaction alone, Elias realized this had to be someone important and bowed along with him.
The woman approached them with graceful, unhurried steps.
“Is this the new boy?”
“Yes, Madam. He’s the one who’ll be serving as Caretaker for Lady Evelyn and Lady Elysia.”
Hearing Alistair address her as “Madam” was all Elias needed to figure out this had to be Evelyn and Elysia’s mother.
“Hello, Lady Nocturne. I’m Elias Veyron. Eighteen years and four months old.”
“Veyron?”
At the sound of his last name, her brow furrowed just slightly.
The Marquis had shown pretty much the same reaction yesterday, hearing that same name.
What was it about “Veyron” that kept getting this kind of response?
“Is something wrong, Madam?”
‘Guess I’ve got a new goal now: figure out where my name, and my parents, actually came from.’
After studying him for a long moment, she stepped closer and reached out to touch his hair.
Elias, with no idea what was happening, could only freeze in place, choking down his nerves.
How could he not be nervous?
Standing right in front of him was a stunningly beautiful grown woman.
The fact that she already had two daughters, despite looking this young, was almost impossible for him to wrap his head around.
He even felt a little envious of the Marquis, having a wife like this.
‘I can pretty much guess what those two get up to every night.’
After touching his hair, she took a few steps back before speaking.
“Who gave you your name?”
Elias raised an eyebrow, curious.
It felt like she was questioning something about his name too.
“If I may ask, what exactly is it about my name that keeps getting this kind of reaction out of you and the Marquis? It’s like something about it caught you both off guard, or brought back some old memory.”
“Elias…”
Alistair nudged him in the shoulder, a clear sign he’d stepped over a line.
Elias caught himself and immediately bowed toward her.
“Forgive me! That was disrespectful of me.”
I’m so dead!’
“…Straighten up.”
“…?”
“I don’t know what you were thinking or what you meant by all that. But it sounds like you’ve gotten the wrong idea. When I asked who gave you your name, it was because I was impressed, it sounds like it could belong to a noble. And when I touched your hair, I was just checking the quality of it. Though that’s on me too, I suppose. Sorry about that.”
“N-no! Not at all! If anything, I was the one being rude, jumping to the wrong conclusion. I’m sorry…”
Elias got the sense this woman was far gentler than she looked, gentle enough to apologize to a commoner like him without a second thought.
‘Marquis.
You are one lucky man, having a woman like this by your side.’
He muttered that to himself, practically tearing up from sheer envy.
“There was nothing strange behind any of that. I just realized something, you’re the one my two daughters keep talking about.”
“Keep talking about? I only got here yesterday, and I only met them yesterday too.”
“I know. But they’ve always said their type is a man with long black hair and sky-blue eyes. And that description happens to fit you perfectly.”
“I-I see…”
‘Please, let it not be me.’
“Ah, and this man only has one arm.”
“One arm? Isn’t that a little…”
“I know exactly what you’re thinking. I thought the same thing, Elias. They’re still young girls, they’re beautiful, and their breasts are already just as big as mine, even at seventeen. Finding out they both have the exact same type was shocking enough on its own. Add in that this man only has one arm, and honestly, it just makes me worry about my daughters’ future.”
‘She suddenly won’t stop talking.’
Given how flat her expression stayed the whole time, it was oddly fascinating watching this woman suddenly turn so chatty.
‘A man with one arm?
Is that some kind of fetish now?
Well, at least this proves it isn’t me.
Thank god…’
“Ah, sorry. I got carried away talking. Let’s head inside.”
All Elias could do was laugh it off awkwardly and let her walk in ahead of him.
“Well done, kid. Getting Madam to talk that much on your very first day is already a good sign.”
“Thanks. Honestly, she’s a lot more unique than she looks.”
“Her name is Valeria Nocturne. She comes across as cold and distant, but underneath that, she’s genuinely gentle. Once she feels close to someone, or gets interested in them, she flips a full 180 from that face of hers.”
‘Huh, so that’s how it is.
But why didn’t I ever see her in the game?’
“Sadly, though, she’s suffering from a fairly serious illness. The Marquis has called in healer after healer, but the outcome’s always the same. The illness just keeps eating away at her, and her remaining time can basically be counted on one hand.”
“What? What illness is it? And how old is she?”
“Mana Decay.”
Hearing the name of the illness, Elias went quiet for a moment.
‘Mana Decay…’
Of course he knew what that was.
Mana Decay was a fairly well-known illness in the world of Eternal Arcana, one that slowly stripped away the body’s ability to hold and circulate mana until it could no longer sustain life at all.
‘But wait, now that I think about it, wasn’t Valeria never even mentioned as having this illness in the game?’
“As for her age…”
Alistair continued, and honestly, that was the part Elias was more curious about.
“She’s only forty-two.”
Elias didn’t know what to say to that.
From the way Alistair described it, Valeria sounded like someone standing right at death’s door, despite being, by any measure, still fairly young.
‘So then, what actually happened to her?’
“Anyway, let’s head inside.”
“Right!”
Elias followed him in as they stepped into the dining room.
For now, all he could do was hold onto that question in the back of his mind.
He still had no idea what had actually happened to Valeria.