In the office of the honorary viscount Eberun estate, Lucas Eberun—Rest's father—irritably slammed his fist against the desk.
"Aargh, honestly... that good-for-nothing! What on earth is he doing!?"
A few days prior, a letter had arrived from House Rosemary.
Because his eldest son Cedric had endangered the sisters of the marquis's household, Lucas had opened the letter with trembling hands—only to find it was, of all things, an invitation.
They wished to invite Rest, the good-for-nothing son, to the marquis's estate.
Receiving this wholly unexpected invitation left Lucas genuinely bewildered.
Rest was indeed the second son of the honorary viscount Eberun household, but in practice he was no different from a servant.
He was not even permitted to live inside the manor and was made to reside in the stable, fed on leftover scraps.
If he had possessed any talent for magic, perhaps somewhat decent treatment might have been arranged—but at infancy, his mana evaluation had diagnosed him as having "zero mana."
Without some political motivation, they would never have taken him in at all.
(Where on earth did that boy even make a connection with House Rosemary in the first place? He's practically a commoner with no mana—even if he managed to slip out of the estate, there's no way he could have forged ties with a marquis's household...!)
Rest had claimed he met them at the manor, but Lucas didn't believe it for a second.
For starters, Rest was forbidden from entering the manor outside of breakfast hours.
The Rosemary sisters and Cedric were supposed to have been together, and there should have been no opportunity for the good-for-nothing son to encounter them.
After accepting the invitation and departing for the Rosemary estate, Rest did not return even as night fell.
Only the carriage he had been sent in came back to the honorary viscount's estate, bearing the message: "Young Master Rest will be staying overnight at the marquis's residence."
(What in the world could have happened for that good-for-nothing to end up staying at the marquis's estate...!? It makes no sense—what is going on!?)
Lucas clutched his head in distress, but even by the following day, Rest still had not returned.
He could feel all too keenly that something was unfolding beyond his knowledge, and the stress was eating away at his stomach.
"Damn it...! Why do I, of all people, have to worry about that good-for-nothing? I was planning to kick him out next year...!"
"Dear, something terrible has happened!"
"Sir, this is an emergency!"
"Wha—!?"
Two people burst into his office.
Without even knocking, Lucas's wife Lisa and the butler working at the estate rushed in.
"Wh-what's going on suddenly!? You startled me!"
"This is no time for that, dear!"
"Exactly, sir!"
"Wh-what on earth is going on...?"
"The marquis... has arrived!"
"Hah?"
At the butler's words, Lucas blinked in disbelief.
"Marquis Rosemary has come! He is here, at this very estate!"
"Wh-whaaaaaaaat!?"
Stunned by the unexpected report, Lucas threw his upper body backward in shock.
○ ○ ○ Lucas hurried to the reception room, where Marquis Rosemary was already seated on the sofa, waiting.
Behind him stood the marquis's own butler as well. If Lucas's memory served, the man was a former court magician by the name of Diebl.
"M-Marquis Rosemary, how wonderful of you to grace my estate with your presence...! The weather is lovely today, and the garden flowers are in full bloom...!"
"Enough with the pleasantries. Sit down already."
Marquis Rosemary—Albert Rosemary—pointed at the sofa across from him. This was Lucas's estate, yet the marquis carried himself as though he owned the place.
Lucas sat down on the sofa, feeling sweat trickle down his forehead.
(Th-The Marquis Rosemary came here in person...!)
Lucas desperately fought the urge to let his knees buckle.
To Lucas, Albert was his superior as a court magician.
By and large, he was a generous, good boss.
He never flaunted the privileges of a high-ranking noble to throw his weight around, and he was willing to listen to his subordinates' concerns.
Unless someone made a truly egregious mistake, he would rarely scold them harshly.
Among the court magicians, many spoke of Albert with admiration, calling him the ideal superior.
But... Lucas also knew that Albert was soft on his own family and doted on his wife and daughters.
He had used Cedric to get close to the Rosemary sisters, hoping to somehow win one of them as a bride for his son—because he wanted to exploit that very side of Albert and secure the marquis's backing.
(If Cedric had managed to win over either of the sisters, our household would have become relatives of House Rosemary. We would have been under the protection of a marquis who dotes on his own kin...!)
Had that happened, his own advancement as a court magician would have been assured.
And Cedric's position would have been ironclad, too, since he would one day enroll at the Royal Academy and become a court magician himself.
However, those plans spectacularly backfired.
He had been certain that his pride and joy, Cedric, could definitely capture the hearts of the sisters... yet instead, he had managed to earn the marquis's wrath.
"I came here today to discuss your son."
"Y-You mean Cedric...! I am terribly sorry about the other day! Truly, truly... please, forgive me...!"
Lucas prostrated himself on the floor and offered his deepest apology.
He had done something unforgivable. All he could do was apologize.
"No, not that. I'm talking about your other son."
"Trash... I mean, Rest? Don't tell me that worthless brat committed some offense against the marquis...!?"
"Worthless brat? Trash? I dare say... is this how you treat a child of your own blood?"
"I, no...!"
Lucas blanched at his own slip of the tongue.
His lips trembled as he desperately tried to cobble together some excuse.
"...Well, never mind. I didn't come here today to chastise you for your character."
Albert snorted and settled onto the sofa, crossing his legs.
"I've come today with a proposition. I'd like the marquis's household to take in young Rest... your son."
"T-Take... him into the marquis's household...?"
"Yes. We intend to have him work as an apprentice servant. Surely you have no objections?"
"W-well, of course I don't mind, but... he has no mana, you know? Why on earth would the marquis want...?"
He couldn't make sense of it. Lucas was bewildered.
If they wanted Cedric, the magical genius, that he could understand... but he couldn't fathom why anyone would want a good-for-nothing with no mana whose only skill was mucking out stables.
"...Am I under some obligation to explain myself to you?"
"N-no, not at all! If he'll do, I'd be more than happy to hand him over! Please, use him however you see fit!"
"I see... I'm glad you're so agreeable about it. That concludes my business here."
Albert rose to his feet, and the attendant who had been waiting nearby immediately opened the door to the reception room.
"M-Mr. Marquis..."
「In exchange for him, I'll overlook the blunder your precious son pulled off. Now, if you'll excuse me.」
"Th-Thank you so very much!"
Lucas prostrated himself once more.
As he rubbed his forehead against the carpet on the floor, Albert's footsteps grew more distant.
"D-Did I... make it...?"
Cautiously, he raised his head.
Albert was already gone. He had left the estate.
The marquis, who was soft on his own family.
Lucas could have been dismissed as court magician, and Cedric's future could have been ruined as well — that would have been entirely within reason.
And yet... for reasons he couldn't understand, he had been spared.
"That good-for-nothing actually proved useful for once... I've no idea what the marquis saw in him, but..."
Could it be... that one of the Rosemary sisters had fallen for Rest at first sight?
The thought crossed Lucas's mind, but he let out a scoff. "As if that's possible."
(...Maybe with Cedric, who is outstanding in every way... but I can't imagine that *thing* catching the eye of a noble young lady. It was probably just a whim.)
Unable to judge anything beyond visible talent, Lucas refused to acknowledge Rest under any circumstances.
(He made a blunder this time, but... well, there are still opportunities ahead. Next year, they'll be attending the same academy!)
Even after committing a mistake that could have been fatal, Lucas still hadn't given up on winning over the Rosemary sisters.
The arrogant, narrow-minded father thought to himself: This time he'd simply had bad luck, but once they got to know Cedric properly, the marquis's daughter would surely take a liking to him.
After all, Cedric was a genius.
Because he was a wonderful son who had firmly inherited his own talent.
Not some worthless failure of a commoner's child... his one and only child.
"When he enrolls in the academy, I must tell him to properly court the marquis's daughter... take his time, go slowly..."
A fool is a fool precisely because he never learns from his failures.
Lucas grinned to himself as these foolish notions swirled through his mind.