Chapter 3: First Part ②

“Good day, everyone.”

“My name is Iris Camellia.”

“Today, I will introduce the strongest and most dangerous butler in Ewig Breme—Nelke Monat.”

With vivid strawberry blonde hair, amber eyes, thin lips, slightly drooping eyes, and a tear mole… he appears at first glance to be a gentle and refined handsome young man.

However, in the game, he is a scheming strategist with a black-hearted dual personality, patiently plotting revenge against Iris.

…His mother, Anne Monat, was a maid assigned to Iris, and like her son, she was a beautiful woman with strawberry blonde hair.

Iris, who was selfish and prided herself on her own hair more than anything, grew jealous of Anne’s beautiful hair.

On top of that, Anne was the only one who sincerely admonished Iris for her selfishness, continuing to advise her in an attempt to set her on the right path.

However, finding Anne an eyesore, Iris had a drunken thug assault her, shaved off all her hair, and even had her violated.

Iris had only intended to have her hair cut off, and the assault was unexpected, and she had no intention of killing Anne.

Well, she was only ten years old, so she likely had not thought that far ahead.

However, being the type who conveniently forgot things that were troublesome, Iris quickly erased Anne’s death from her empty mind.

That shallowness would later become something she deeply regretted in Nelke’s route…

Anne was a single mother who loved her deceased husband more than anyone.

Yet she lost her chastity, and her hair—once cherished by her husband—was brutally cut off…

In her despair, she froze to death under the cold sky.

The son she left behind was Nelke Monat, three years older than Iris, who would later become her butler.

Pitying him after losing his mother, my father, the marquis, took Nelke in, employing him as a page, and eventually he became a butler.

And Iris, having completely forgotten Anne, took a liking to Nelke’s appearance and made him her personal butler…

Allowing the son of the woman she drove to death to serve her—what a truly cruel villainess, wouldn’t you say?

That is precisely why Nelke’s route is treated as a hidden route.

In the normal routes, Iris remains an ordinary villainess, but after clearing all main character routes, Nelke’s route unlocks, and Iris escalates from ordinary to utterly evil, only to be thoroughly crushed.

It is essentially a story for players who were not satisfied with Iris merely being imprisoned after all her wrongdoing.

Thus, fans, having built up frustration in the normal routes, eagerly clear all characters to unlock Nelke’s route, where they can send Iris straight to hell.

Moreover, the appeal of this route lies in being able to take away the beautiful, polite, sweet-talking man who once stood by Iris’s side.

Nelke’s route is the story of uncovering the truth behind his mother’s death and driving Iris, the cause of it, to ruin.

However, when the heroine discovers his hidden side, he has no choice but to involve her in his revenge.

Sharing secrets, the two gradually grow closer, overcoming hardships together, and ultimately capture Iris.

But the contrast between his cruel expression when he betrays Iris and the refreshing smile he shows the heroine at the end moved countless girls to tears.

And now, that Nelke stands before me.

“Young lady, this is my son, Nelke. From today onward, he will serve as a page.”

“I may be inexperienced, but I will serve you with all my heart.”

Standing beside Anne, who smiled gently, Nelke greeted me with visible nervousness, and I could not help but show a look of genuine surprise.

Iris is currently seven years old.

Nelke is ten.

He is far too young to be working as a servant.

By the way, I had completely forgotten about the Anne event flag.

To be honest, I could never do such a terrible thing to a kind maid who handles my post-blood-vomiting care and first aid.

More importantly, without Anne, who is practically a professional caregiver, I would likely die.

Because of the excessive magical power weighing down my body, I cannot even walk to the bath or toilet, so without Anne and the other two maids, I would certainly die… as a woman.

“…Anne, Nelke is still a child, isn’t he? What about his schooling? He is far too young.”

“Young lady, Nelke has already completed higher education. When you grow older and enroll in Breme Academy, he will enroll alongside you in the housekeeping department so that he may continue to care for you.”

“But… Nelke is a boy. It would be inappropriate for him to assist me with bathing or using the toilet…”

“It is alright, young lady. It has just been decided by the master that you will not stay in the girls’ dormitory, but will instead be hospitalized at the affiliated hospital within the academy.

In other words, you will commute to the academy from the hospital. Nelke will assist you at the academy, and I will remain in your hospital room as your attendant.”

Ah, I see… since there are many classroom changes, I will likely be confined to a wheelchair, so having a strong male attendant would be better.

Though sending Nelke into the girls’ restroom is a bit of a problem, aside from that, he is well suited for the role.

Anne will accompany me at night, so I need not worry about changing clothes or bathing…

I have already become accustomed to being cared for.

I miss the days when I could run freely.

For now, Nelke has become my caretaker and playmate.

…Perhaps because of my previous life memories, I find the black-hearted Nelke a little frightening, so I try to act like a quiet and proper lady.

But for some reason, there are moments when I find Nelke truly terrifying.

“…Nelke, could you please fetch my pink cardigan?”

“Certainly. Would you like the one with the rose decoration or the rabbit decoration?”

“Yes, the one with the rabbit.”

“……(A rabbit… oh my god…)”

“W-What is it?”

“No, it’s nothing. (…My lady is way too cute. Seriously, an angel.)”

Is it just my imagination, or is his breathing a bit heavy?

And so, while the revenge route of this slightly frightening butler has completely disappeared…

For some reason, I feel a different kind of danger instead… perhaps due to the influence of my previous life.

It is unsettling.

Nelke had always loved cute things.

He especially liked small animals, often bringing home kittens and puppies, only to be told by his mother to return them.

However, animals tended to dislike Nelke.

His overwhelming affection drove them away.

One day, his mother took him to a mansion, where he was to become the playmate of the marquis’s daughter.

The moment he saw her, bells rang loudly in his mind.

…His destiny was right there.

Calling it destiny might be accurate… though from the heroine’s perspective, it would likely be a rather unsettling first impression.

In other words, Nelke felt an intense sense of “adoration” toward Iris.

For the record, it was the pure kind of adoration one feels toward small animals.

A small body, a small face, pure white hair, and translucent skin like porcelain…

Though she had slightly sharp, cat-like eyes, her troubled expression made one want to protect her.

She was like a pure white kitten.

Moreover, she was ill and lacked physical strength, requiring a cane to walk, and even then, she could only manage about thirty meters.

Thus, she usually moved in a wheelchair.

Her current state was like that of a small child wearing full armor.

Watching her grit her teeth and struggle to walk every day was truly painful.

Seeing this, Nelke’s instinct to care for others awakened.

‘I have to take care of my lady!’

Thus, a sense of duty completely opposite to the original story was born within him.

This sense of duty often ran out of control, which was why Iris sometimes found him frightening.

“Nelke, I’ll leave it to you.”

“Yes.”

In Nelke’s hand was a letter and a small bouquet.

It was a get-well letter from Crown Prince Julius, Iris’s first love.

Though not frequent, Iris and the Crown Prince exchanged letters.

Perhaps because she was once a fiancée candidate, or perhaps due to personal reasons… their correspondence was somewhat ambiguous.

To Nelke, however, it was extremely unpleasant.

It was not jealousy that made him uncomfortable.

Rather, it was the Crown Prince’s half-hearted actions.

The letters themselves contained nothing more than casual conversation, such as mentions of recent festivals…

And yet, the flowers sent were pale pink roses from the imperial garden, reserved only for royal fiancées and women of distinguished lineage.

These roses symbolized [Supreme Love], [Glory], and [Thinking of You].

…It was as if he were saying, “You are still a fiancée candidate.”

It was infuriating.

…Though perhaps the Crown Prince was simply ignorant about flowers, it was certainly not something to send to a sick person.

It was said that even a single one of these roses could build a house, yet fortunately, Iris simply saw it as an ordinary pink rose.

However, seeing Iris smile happily when the rose was displayed made Nelke feel oddly frustrated as her attendant.

“Excuse me, my lady.”

“…Nelke…”

When Nelke entered the bedroom with the rose placed in a vase, Iris was staring at her breakfast.

It was a meal carefully prepared with nutrition and balance in mind, gentle on the stomach, with finely chopped and pureed ingredients—hospital food.

Today’s menu was mashed potatoes, vegetable soup, and a fish hamburger patty.

However, more than half of it remained uneaten.

“Have you left it again?”

“…Yes, well… (…I cannot exactly say that Western food in the morning feels heavy…)”

“You must eat when you can.”

Furrowing his brows with concern, Nelke looked at Iris, causing her to stiffen and avert her gaze.

“…I’m sorry.”

“…Excuse me.”

Approaching her, Nelke placed the vase on the table, took up a silver spoon, scooped some mashed potatoes, and brought it to her lips.

“Here, say ah.”

“…(A spoon-feed from young Nelke!!)”

Iris blushed deeply at the sight of the beautiful boy smiling gently as he fed her.

…This was my first time being fed like this in both my previous and current life.

I had only ever observed such things from afar, thinking they were for people with fulfilling lives, but experiencing it myself was incredibly embarrassing.

“N-Nelke, I am not a baby.”

“Now, don’t be afraid. It’s alright.”

“Are you even listening to me?”

“Of course. Your lovely voice, like that of a canary, reaches my ears.”

“This is what one calls talking to deaf ears… ah, Nelke, what is that letter in your left hand?”

“(Tch)… It is a letter from His Highness the Crown Prince.”

“Oh my, p-please, quickly give it to me.”

“Yes.”

Seeing Iris’s face light up so brightly, Nelke reluctantly set down the spoon and handed her the letter.

Iris eagerly opened it and began reading, but her expression quickly turned pale.

“What is the matter?”

“…What should I do…”

“My lady…?”

“…His Highness… he wishes to formally correspond with me…”

“What?”

The Crown Prince’s official correspondence partners were extremely limited, and if such a partner were a noble lady, it would naturally be assumed she was his fiancée.

This was not something that could be accepted lightly.

What was that Crown Prince thinking…

…No, most likely, with Iris gone, a flood of fiancée candidates had begun to surround him, becoming a nuisance.

By formally acknowledging Iris as his correspondence partner, it would serve as a warning to the families of those noble ladies.

It seemed that only now had the Crown Prince realized just how significant Iris’s presence had been.

Her intimidation had kept other noble ladies away, but with her gone, he now had to deal with many at once.

In other words, dealing with only Iris had been easier than dealing with many others.

…Furthermore, recently, Iris had become more gentle in personality, and the letters she sent in reply were thoughtful, filled with considerate words and engaging topics.

Even Nelke, who had read them out of curiosity, had been impressed.

It was no wonder the Crown Prince had taken an interest.

“…My lady, His Highness’s proposal is not yet official. Let us first consult with the master.”

“…Yes.”

Nelke and Iris let out a sigh at the same time.