Chapter 366
There were two reasons why Harriet hesitated to tell me about her conversation.
First, because no matter how it was perceived, it would ultimately lead to speaking ill of a friend's parents.
Second, she was worried that I might be hurt by hearing it.
After returning to the temple, Harriet and I had a conversation in the empty laboratory of the Magic Research Society mansion.
Harriet had been invited to breakfast.
The people present were the Duke of Grantz and the Duchess.
Harriet said the Duke of Grantz seemed flustered, as if he hadn't expected her to join them for breakfast.
Of course, Harriet, who was the only one invited to breakfast, must have been even more flustered.
"At first, they asked me about how our parents were doing, whether they had any plans to come to the royal capital, things like that."
It seemed that the Duchess was quite curious about Harriet de Saint-Owan, the daughter of the Archduke, rather than Harriet, the temple student.
Harriet hesitated, unsure if she should share this part of the story.
"And then... suddenly, they started saying they weren't sure if life at the temple was really a good thing... because..."
"What do you mean?"
"At the temple, even commoners receive education. So... when nobles or royals are ready to marry, their time at the temple can become a subject of gossip... Although it's an unwritten rule not to talk about it, rumors still circulate... about who did what with whom, things like that..."
Ah.
I understood what she meant.
"So, they were saying that since anyone with money can enter the temple, noble-born students who mingle with commoners might face obstacles in marriage or other aspects of their lives later on?"
"What... what a way to put it! That's so vulgar!"
Harriet's face turned bright red as she exclaimed in response to my blunt description.
However, as I expressed it so coarsely, Harriet seemed to give up and slumped over the table.
"Anyway... what you're saying is true. Just being from the temple can make it difficult for both men and women to find a suitable marriage partner later on... That's the situation."
Harriet's braided hair was strewn haphazardly across the table.
Cute.
"So their 'value' decreases?"
"Va, value?! Your choice of words is really... But I can't help but agree. Yes, their 'value' decreases. That's why it's better for well-behaved young ladies to maintain proper manners and receive education from a private tutor at home, rather than associating with low-born people at a place like the temple... That way, they can find a good marriage later. That's what they were saying..."
"A marital dispute?"
"Yes..."
The Duke of Grantz exploded, and he and the Duchess had a huge fight in front of Harriet.
That's why the Duke of Grantz apologized. He inadvertently showed his daughter's friend the spectacle of their marital discord.
Being of humble origin was ultimately an insult to all her friends who had come to play, so Harriet must have felt quite uncomfortable.
It wasn't something one should say to a friend's parents, but it seemed that the Duchess had not acquired the level of refinement that matched her pride.
"Anyway, you understand why I didn't want to talk about it?"
"…Yeah, I do."
In the end, it would inevitably become slander against her friend's parents, and she didn't want to speak of it, as it might hurt me with all the talk of humble origins.
"Honestly, I don't really know."
Harriet heaved a deep sigh.
"Seeking one's worth from others, who they marry, how they appear in the eyes of others. Focusing only on such things and living a life for that purpose… Yeah, as you said, the price of their body. Focusing only on their own value. If that's the proper behavior of a noble…"
Harriet looked at me.
"What's the difference between that and being a slave?"
Focusing too much on one's own value ultimately leads to becoming a commodity.
Living a lifestyle where one must behave demurely and not associate with the lowly in order to find someone who will buy them at a higher price.
Harriet said she didn't see how that was any different from the life of a slave.
"I don't think my value comes only from myself, but it doesn't come solely from other things either. That's why… it was uncomfortable."
Oh dear.
"Wow, it's incredible how much you've grown."
It's so impressive that I want to bite it, is it not?
As I vigorously ruffled her hair, Harriet's brow furrowed.
"Ah! What are you saying? Am I a child? Stop it!"
With her hair disheveled, Harriet yelled back.
"If the child who complained to Ludwig last year about how unpleasant it was to have B-class students in the A-class dormitory has come this far, it's a big deal."
"!!!!"
At my words, Harriet's face turned so red it looked like it would melt.
If there's a way to express 'I want to die from embarrassment' with a facial expression, it would be her.
"Well, don't bring up the past… It's not about nobles and commoners… I don't know… Idiot. I hate you. How can you remember that…?"
In the end, Harriet had nothing to say, pouting her lips and sulking.
She's fatally cute today. What should I do? Does she become like this when she realizes she has nothing to say?
Of course, the Duchess's attitude is not commendable, but it's not that strange either.
Rather, for those who have lived their whole lives receiving noble treatment, such a mindset might be natural. In fact, the setting is that many people refuse to enter the Temple because they dislike having to be educated alongside commoners and being without status, even though there are numerous royals and nobles in the Temple.
So, a noble with a position like that of Duchess Grantz would actually be quite common.
In truth, even Harriet was ashamed of her past self, who used to judge people by their talents and status. If I hadn't forced her to undergo immunity training, she would still be that kind of person.
"Come to think of it, the nobles and royals around me were surprisingly kind."
"Huh? All of a sudden?"
"No, really. Even though the Temple prohibits discrimination based on status, people could easily rely on their authority or status. But no one did that to me, right?"
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At my words, Harriet gapes at me, dumbfounded.
"You insane… Do you really say that knowing how you've been treated at the Temple?"
They didn't bother me because they found it disgusting if they tried. Harriet nagged for a while, saying that I shouldn't be the one to talk about the kindness of the people around me.
I shouldn't be talking, considering I used to curse and throw punches when someone tried to suppress me.
No, that's not what I meant.
"No, not that, there were adults too."
"Adults?"
"Yes, like your parents or... you know, others."
The Duke of St. Owan said that status didn't matter since they would all end up in the same place.
Bertus claimed that everyone was equal under him.
Charlotte grew comfortable with me over time for her own reasons.
Even the Duke of Grantz seemed like a neighborly old man, given his actions.
Even the Emperor himself didn't necessarily expect me to show him respect when he treated me as an equal. Of course, that could be because of the positions Ellen and I held.
So, there were no arrogant and prideful nobles like the Duchess of Grantz around me.
No.
There were some.
Like Erich and Heinrich.
Heinrich became kinder after receiving a few blows from me, and Erich shrank back after seeing him get hit. Wait, didn't Erich get hit by me too? I completely forgot about that.
Hmm...
Harriet wasn't wrong.
Those people did suffer some kind of consequences because of me.
As the Duchess of Grantz exemplified an arrogant noble, I began to question what I had taken for granted.
"But Liana never really cared about status in the first place, did she?"
"Huh?"
Liana de Grantz.
She exuded an unapproachable atmosphere and had a cold expression, but in reality, she was easygoing, without any pretense. She treated people as they were.
She even dragged around a hopeless prisoner during the festival.
"It seemed that way…"
Liana would dislike or reject someone because of the person, not their background.
I had taken it for granted that the nobles and royals around me, whether they were students or parents, never mentioned status to me.
It turns out that treating commoners indifferently, like the Duke of Grantz, is the exception rather than the norm.
It's evident that Liana, despite pretending to dislike her father, was more influenced by him than her mother.
Everyone admired the way Father treated everyone equally, his noble demeanor and pride, and Mother, who valued authority very highly.
Because Liana took after her father, she had a laid-back and fearless personality.
Now, it was the final stretch.
Only one more step remained.
"What did they say to each other during their marital disputes?"
"Why do you keep asking me about that?"
"Watching a fight is the most entertaining thing in the world, isn't it? Besides, aren't you curious about how even the prestigious Duke's family has marital disputes?"
"No one is interested in that! You're really wicked!"
Unable to withstand my malicious question and persistence, Harriet grumbles with a tearful face.
Though Harriet didn't want to be in that position, her memory was excellent.
"Well... the Duke said that status doesn't define a person... that if one treated people like that, no one would remain by their side. His wife said... that such an attitude is why the nobles end up ruined in the temple... something like that..."
Though some of the words were unclear, it was now certain.
The Duke must have lost his temper, having his daughter's friend brought to the breakfast table without his daughter and being forced to listen to his wife's imposing thoughts.
Anger can make one lose their reason.
Status does not define a person.
That statement said it all.
Duke Grantz must have been involved with the revolutionary faction.
Three days later.
"He is very thorough."
I was listening to Sarkegaar's report in my dormitory room in the temple.
"How thorough?"
"To the extent that I think your suspicion might be unfounded... I couldn't find anything at all."
Upon my instruction to investigate Duke Grantz, Sarkegaar immediately took action.
Although he wouldn't be able to enter places with excessive security, Duke Grantz's residence wasn't like that.
However, he couldn't find anything that would prove the Duke was connected to the revolutionary faction.
"If he really is involved, we might discover it with time... But someone that thorough wouldn't leave any evidence behind. It's impossible to decipher encrypted letters until we identify their patterns and methods. Nobles frequently use written correspondence, so it's hard to determine which of the many documents and letters written daily are related to the revolutionary faction. Even if we knew, we couldn't tell what the encrypted content contains. A seemingly mundane letter asking about one's well-being could very well be an encrypted message."
The last visit from Owen de Gatmora was likely a business visit rather than having anything to do with the revolutionary faction.
My suspicion that Duke Grantz might be part of the revolutionary faction was due to several circumstances and the confirmed involvement of Owen de Gatmora.
If Duke Grantz really was part of the revolutionary faction, it meant that, contrary to the impression of a pleasant neighbor, he was a very thorough individual.
Sarkegaar had not discovered any concrete evidence.
"However, I believe your judgment is sound."
"Why?"
But Sarkegaar agreed that Duke Grantz was a member of the revolutionary forces.
"I too am involved in the imperial social circles under the name of Count Argon Ponteus."
"I see."
"Everyone knows the rumor that the current Duke of Grantz, Arthur de Grantz, eloped with a commoner woman he met at the temple."
"Ah."
So, the typical story of someone who ruined their life by going to the temple was referring to this.
"And then, what happened?"
"If he had succeeded in eloping, he couldn't be the Duke of Grantz, could he?"
Elopement with a commoner.
And failure.
"Isn't that enough of a background to make someone resent their own social status and origins?"
Sarkegaar, dressed as a maid, showed her white teeth and wickedly smiled with her elegant and graceful face.
Please.
Didn't he realize that his expression made him appear about three times more wicked than he actually was?
Anyway, that meant the current Duke and Duchess of Grantz were in a marriage of convenience.
"Of course, the Duchess of Grantz wasn't originally that sensitive about social status."
"I don't know much about her, but the Duchess seemed like a rather stubborn person?"
I'm sorry, Liana.
But your mother is really stubborn.
Ah, sorry... I apologize.
At my words, Sarkegaar tilted her head with a "Hmm" expression.
"When you think about it, the Duchess of Grantz has her own story. She had no choice but to become that kind of person."
Having spent a considerable amount of time in the aristocratic life, Sarkegaar had quite a bit of background knowledge about social circles and the nature of nobles without any prior investigation.
"The Duke of Grantz doesn't involve himself in social circles, but the Duchess is a bit different."
"Hmm..."
"However, at every social gathering or party she attends, she unknowingly bears that kind of label."
Sarkegaar laughed ominously.
"The person who married the Duke of Grantz, who failed to elope for love, under the pressure of the family."
"The person who was bound to have a failed marriage."
"The person doomed from the start to never receive her husband's love."
"The wicked woman who married the Duke of Grantz, enduring the shameful rumors for the allure of his power."
Listening to this was chilling.
"She is an aristocrat whose status rose because she married the Duke of Grantz, a man surrounded by rumors. Originally, she was just the second daughter of a poor count's family without even a fiefdom. She became a pitiful and foolish woman whose very existence turned into a scandal."
What she gained by marrying a man with scandals was the power of the title, Duchess of Grantz. 𝗯𝗲𝐝𝐧𝗼𝘃𝗲𝐥．𝗰𝗼𝐦
But in the social circles, she was followed by rumors of being a wicked woman who discarded her dignity for a rise in status.
That's why she couldn't help but become a person obsessed with the power and prestige of being the Duchess of Grantz, which she had obtained by enduring all those things.
Despite loathing the cold wind, in the end, they couldn't deny the fact that they had gained everything because of it.
"Such a marriage could not have been smooth."
The duke, who had failed to escape the bonds of love and was ultimately caught.
Knowing his situation, the duchess had entered into a strategic marriage with the noble family for the sake of social advancement.
The duchess became obsessed with the power and prestige she believed she had gained from the failed marriage. For if she denied even that, it would mean she had chosen a failed life.
The duke had been forced into the marriage.
The fact that they had no children apart from Liana was evidence that their marriage had failed. At least they were fortunate to have Liana.
The duchess, who had no choice but to become fixated on social status.
The duke, who must have constantly pondered and cursed the nature of social status while watching his wife.
Moreover, he was from the Orbis class, which had long been a cradle of revolutionary forces.
As Sarkegaar had said, there was no evidence, but there were too many suspicious circumstances.
Just as Charlotte was convinced that Valier was the successor to the Demon King due to an overwhelming amount of circumstantial evidence, though there was no decisive proof.
Due to too many suspicious circumstances, the Duke of Grantz was now in a situation where it was impossible for him not to have joined the revolutionary forces.
They had thought about various concerns regarding the Duke of Grantz being part of the revolutionary forces, but in the end, there were no answers.
"Fine. Either way, whether the Duke of Grantz is really involved or not, we'll naturally find out when we make contact with the higher-ups. What's their opinion on me not attending?"
"They seemed disappointed, but the meeting with the higher-ups is about to take place, and Your Highness is expected to attend. If the duke is a core member, he will be there as well."
"Good. Everything will become clear then."
However, in the end, a possibility was merely a possibility.
There was still not enough information to come to any conclusion, and even if I knew the Duke of Grantz was part of the revolutionary forces, it was still not a stage where that could become a card for me.