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Please help me, Mother.
I just want to live a quiet life at the academy, but these idiots keep getting in my way.
「Hein-sama, I would like to apologize for what happened this morning」
This is a classroom.
While I was meditating to shut out the background noise of nobodies, a girl from my class said that to me.
She’s probably connected to the Fafnir family. If she’s referring to this morning’s incident, then there’s only one thing it could be.
Not that I’d remember the name of a girl who isn’t even the head of her house.
Still, if I said that out loud, it would only cause trouble.
「Very well. Leave」
I showed her the utmost courtesy I could manage and forgave her.
And yet—
「Hey, don’t you think that was a bit harsh?」
Some boy started picking a fight with me.
I think his name was something-or-other.
What exactly about what I said was harsh?
Is he saying I should’ve scolded the girl even more harshly for her rudeness?
That I was too lenient?
I decided to ask, just in case.
「What do you mean?」
When I asked, the boy said.
「I mean, she’s apologizing to you, right? So that means she did something wrong. But even though she’s bowing her head like that, isn’t it kind of cold to just brush her off like that?」
「W-wait, Azel-kun! Don’t say things like that! That’s not how I feel at all!」
The girl said something like that.
So even the boy and the girl don’t agree with each other.
Please help me, Mother.
Even with my intellect, I cannot understand what this boy is trying to say.
Since there’s no helping it, I decided to explain everything to him from the beginning.
Mother told me to get along with my “f.r.i.e.n.d.s.”, so I’ll try to respond as gently and politely as possible.
「Listen, inferior being. That young lady over there from the Fafnir family is from a viscount house. And I belong to a duke’s house. Keep that in mind. This morning, the Fafnir family’s carriage had a broken wheel and ended up blocking the road. My carriage was behind theirs, which naturally delayed my travel. Among the nobility of this country, such a thing is considered a grave discourtesy. While the academy claims there’s no class distinction, that only applies within the school grounds. Outside, the rules are different. In situations like this, the Aster family would normally demand the Fafnir family pay a monetary penalty. However, I took a different route and chose not to file a complaint. That’s what the young lady is apologizing for. She probably doesn’t want me to come back later and demand compensation. So I responded in that way to make it clear I won’t. Or are you saying I should’ve gone ahead and demanded a large settlement? Ignorance taken too far becomes a crime. Don’t irritate me first thing in the morning. If you understand, never speak to me again in your life.」
Perhaps, receiving Mother’s love each day is helping me grow mentally.
To think I had such a merciful side to me.
But in the next moment, I suffered an outrageous offense.
Unbelievably, the boy slammed his hand on my desk.
To make matters worse, he shouted things like, 「Don’t screw around! Quit mocking people already!」
At this point, even I could not simply let it go.
If I forgave such insolence, it would tarnish the name of the Aster Ducal House.
This is a case of justified retribution.
I couldn’t care less about the academy’s rules.
This fool is an enemy attempting to disgrace the Aster family.
If he’s an enemy, then there’s no helping it—he’ll have to die here.
I pointed my index finger at the boy’s brain, intending to apply pressure and rupture it.
This method of killing looks like sudden death, which makes things easier to explain later.
However—
A voice cried out, 「The one being ridiculous here is you, Azel-kun!」
It was the girl from the Fafnir family.
「Wha…」
The boy, apparently named Azel, was struck speechless. The idiotic look on his face was amusing enough that I decided to spare him for now.
「I’m sorry for yelling, but Hein-sama is right. I was let off the hook. Normally, I’d have to pay a considerable amount of money. I’m glad you stood up for me, Azel-kun, I really am, but the more you argue like that, the worse you make things for me. I can’t believe the Count Alphide family wouldn’t have taught you proper noble customs… Hein-sama, I’m truly sorry. Would you please find it in your heart to forgive both me and Azel-kun?」
The girl from the Fafnir family bowed her head so low I could see the crown of it. I found it all too bothersome and thought it might be fine to forgive them.
Come to think of it, when a stray dog barks at you, will you take it as a sign of disrespect?
Things like courtesy and etiquette cannot be understood without a certain level of intelligence.
And that boy clearly lacks that level.
「Very well. Go」
So I decided to forgive him.
More precisely, if I had killed the boy then and there, even I would be questioned to some degree.
And that would delay my return home.
That would be—unforgivable.
My priorities are Mother first, Mother second, and Mother always.
Nothing is more important than the time I spend with her.
I had almost made a terrible mistake.
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Classes were unbearably dull.
Everything taught was already known to me.
Yet somehow, the stress itself felt almost pleasant.
Bear witness, Mother!
This Hein is enduring the unendurable and withstanding the insufferable!
So please… praise me.
–– Just as I was mentally congratulating myself while getting ready to leave,
A girl spoke to me.
「You seem quite different from what I’d heard. I expected someone a bit more rough-mannered.」
I knew this girl, of course.
She was Esmeralda Ira Sarion of the Sarion Ducal House.
There was a time when talk of our engagement had come up, but at some point the matter quietly disappeared.
That was convenient for me, so I had no intention of bringing it up again.
Had the matter not dissolved on its own, I would have rejected it myself.
I fully intend to remain unmarried for life.
「Is that so?」
「Are you still angry about the engagement talks?」
I had no idea what she was talking about.
「Who knows.」
That was all I said as I quickly gathered my belongings and left.
The gaze of the Sarion girl—Esme or whatever—stabbed sharply at my back, but I couldn’t be bothered to even complain right now.
◆◆◆
In the original timeline, at the moment Hein tried to unleash magic on Azel, it was Esmeralda who canceled out the spell.
At that time, Hein had become intoxicated by his own power, grown arrogant, and neglected his training. That was why someone like Esmeralda could stop him.
From then on, Hein came to see Esmeralda as a dangerous element, and became a major obstacle on his path to dominance.
Incidentally, if this parallel-world Hein had done the same thing, Esmeralda’s intervention would not have changed the outcome.
This world’s Hein had never stopped striving to improve himself.
Because the harder he worked, the more his mother, Helga, would smile.
And for someone as deeply attached to his mother as he was, there was no stronger motivation.
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