# 18 - 18
* * *
“What kind of paradise is this place?”
I tried hard not to look around like a complete idiot as I walked forward
Have you ever walked on the wavy surface of the sea?
This is what this huge room looked like.
The light blue marble floor with flowing wave patterns had edges that meticulously interwoven with each other.
Thanks to this, the space looked like a beautiful bedroom built over water.
It was secluded and luxurious at the same time. This room, where I felt two contradictory impressions at once, had crystal-decorated curtains hanging from the main walls and columns.
Is this the reason?
This huge bedroom with thick curtains covering all the walls looked like a space that had been asleep for a very long time
Despite its distinctive wealth.
Maybe that's why it felt like a bedroom without an owner.
There was no fragile little luxury item.
Instead, there was only a grand piano with heavy tones, a large beautifully carved lyre with a golden statue of a goddess, and a heroic milky white porcelain vase, all resting quietly like sleepy ruins in time.
It was a place where vitality was almost nowhere to be found.
Grand Duke Fraser, whose steps were much longer than mine, was walking quickly and pulling a milky tassel hanging on the wall.
Then, with a delightful “cracking” sound, the sunlight beautifully illuminated the gloomy room.
"wow."
I subconsciously widened my eyes.
Like the office, this place also had an entire wall as a floor-to-ceiling window
In this world, glass of uniform thickness was an expensive luxury item. The more transparent the glass and the larger its size, the more expensive it is.
A single glass panel installed in that floor-to-ceiling window is probably more expensive than those long, thick damask curtains with gold threads hung to the ceiling.
In modern terms, is this the level of the best suite even in a five-star hotel?
In this unknown space filled with so much money, Grand Duke Fraser put his hands behind his back and spoke.
“Tulia Fraser.”
His voice sounded ominous, and I quickly answered him respectfully.
“Yes, grandfather.”
For a while, I felt confused.
Until now, I had been constantly prostrating like a submissive eunuch in front of Grand Duke Fraser's assistant, so I didn't notice it, but Fraser's assistant's gaze reflected partially transparently through the glass window was strange.
I felt like I'd seen this before.
It was similar to the expression of a stray cat suddenly stopping in front of me and showing affection, even though it was completely broken without any treatment.
“But unlike me who was truly broke, Grand Duke Fraser has an enormous amount of wealth.”
Even that quickly disappeared when the bright sunlight caused Grand Duke Fraser's face reflected in the glass window to disappear.
“Well… does this have to be my imagination?”
“You've never been to a Fraser council meeting before.”
Meanwhile, there was a frightening sound echoing in my ears.
“How did you know you could use proxy voting?”
“I remember reading about family law in the main castle library before, grandfather.”
It was fortunate that I had prepared an excuse in advance in case of emergency.
Since Tullia had the character to visit the main castle library regularly, my excuse was perfect as well.
In the library? What a strange thing.
However, as if mocking my expectations, Grand Duke's assistant Fraser continued speaking.
“I've heard from Lilius all this time that the books you read in the library are just superficial old languages good for flaunting in high society and knowledge thinner than paper.”
“…”
“That crazy bastard was even gossiping about the books Tulia reads? What kind of uncle is this?
Well, Lilius was already very wary of Marquis Fraser, who was the eldest son of the Grand Duke and Tullia's biological father.
But I wondered whether there was any reason for him to torture Tullia, the child whom the Marquis had already cast out, in such a grim way.
I swore to give Lilius even hotter revenge.
Yes, these books were the majority. But I was also interested in the Fraser family, so I read about them in my spare time.
“Do you read in your free time?”
Grand Duke Fraser's assistant turned to me and asked.
Do you know which generation of Fraser Grand Duke I am?
"Yes? Seventeenth."
“…When did the Fraser family, originally a ducal house, rise to a grand ducal house?”
Yes? From the fifth generation. Starting with the head of the family, Solly Fraser.
“…?”
Grand Duke Fraser's assistant stared at me intently and asked again.
“What credit did he achieve to obtain the position of hereditary Grand Duke?”
“With his general thanks, he defeated the barbarians on the border resoundingly, and with his special thanks, he deciphered the ancient language and completely discovered dragon bones in the deserted land.”
“…Where did he discover those dragon bones?”
“Under the lower western slope?”
“…”
“…?”
Grand Duke Fraser looked at me with strange eyes.
“These parts are written in the ancient language – when did you learn the ancient language?”
“Oh no, that's right.”
I felt astonished inside. What I've said so far has been information I naturally gained while playing.
Since it was a game, you sometimes had to answer quizzes correctly to choose benefits that lead to good endings.
Thanks to restarting several times, I was able to memorize the answers to most of the tests.
Half of these texts were written in an alien, incomprehensible language, which was called the “ancient language” within the worldview.
The ancient language served as a framework within which different interpretations floated, such as it being the text of an already destroyed ancient kingdom, or the text of a fallen royal family from a distant continent.
“Unknown characters appeared, so I looked for them in the library.”
Fortunately, all the information I mentioned was very short and simple, even in ancient languages. So, it was possible to manage it somehow through self-study…
Of course, it seems I'm the only one who thinks this way.
“I was surprised by you several times today.”
After looking at me with inexplicably sad eyes for a moment, Grand Duke Fraser's assistant quickly returned to his usual cold expression and opened his mouth.
Tulia Fraser. Today, you arbitrarily annulled the voting results.
“…”
“Even though your uncles cast approval votes.”
“…”
“Even though your father is a Marquis, you are clearly lower in the hierarchy than your uncles. This is the law of the Fraser family. What you did just now is no different from disobedience.”
“…”
“And in a public place, too.”
“…”
The heads of large families have absolutely no tolerance for disobedience. The same was true of Grand Duke Fraser's assistant.
It was a fact I knew well too.
In particular, Grand Duke Fraser was not in favor of exposing family feuds in public. Well, anyone would be.
So I can open my mouth fairly confidently.
“I cast my opposing vote precisely because it was insubordination, Grandpa.”
"What?"
“My grandmother is older than my uncles.”
Originally, when the fox has no power, he must live on the back of a tiger
Is it reasonable for me to arbitrarily give up land that an old woman has cherished and cultivated all her life, because of the petty interests of my uncles? This is disobedience, not what I did.
Since I had already become a fox riding on the back of a tiger, I did not forget to speak as clearly and distinctly as possible.
We must adhere to our grandmother's will. The uncles already have a lot.
As I have said repeatedly, if the uncles are poor, it is right for them to try to raise the family by selling land.
But is it right for people who already have so much to sell the land that their mothers personally cultivated for their own paltry advancement?
huh? Is this correct?
“Especially when this business is about to fail completely?”
Ultimately, I'm practically doing the Fraser family a huge favor.
The Grand Duke's assistant, Fraser...
I laughed softly.
Although it was a very short laugh, it was enough to make my eyes sparkle
Originally, Grand Duke Fraser had such a cold personality that he rarely smiled, which earned him the nickname “Duke of Ice.”
“What you said is not wrong.”
As if by magic, a scale appeared above Grand Duke Fraser's head.
"This is it…"