Ah, the Red Demon...
“Bwahaha. Look at that, there’s a white pig over there. A pig, a pig.”
That was Landfas’s voice. That idiot was badmouthing people again.
The young lords and ladies around him avoided looking in the direction he was pointing. Though some of them had faces like they were trying to suppress laughter.
At the end of his finger stood a young silver-haired girl.
She certainly was chubby. Pretty noticeably so.
But that’s not something you say loud enough for the person to hear, and you absolutely should never mock someone over their appearance. Absolutely never.
“L-Land-kun, don’t. T-that girl is Duke Halterius’s daughter, Evangeline. S-she’s supposed to be super scary.”
Hm? Scary?
“W-wha! T-that’s Eva, the Red-eyed Demon!?”
Ah, Red Demon... W-well, she definitely did have red eyes.
The children around them began whispering among themselves.
They say when she was a baby, she used to rip out cats’ fur for fun.
My, how scary.
Apparently she punches maids whenever she gets upset.
That’s why maids keep quitting one after another.
I heard she kicked a boy for greeting another noble girl before greeting her.
I heard that too. They say she kicked him *there*.
There’s even a rumor she executed a commoner for calling her fat.
I heard the duke’s family worships pigs or something.
The Red Demon.
The Red-eyed White Pig Demon Eva.
That was what the children whispered.
Judging people by eye color or body shape is awful. If having red eyes makes someone bad… ah, look, there’s another one over there. She’s quite a beautiful girl, though she still can’t beat our Tiffany.
Hm? Behind that pretty red-eyed girl over there. The maid standing beside her has an injury on her arm…
“Look. The maid attending Lady Eva of the duke’s house. It looks like her fingertips are injured.”
“My, you’re right.”
“So the rumors were true.”
“Ugly, fat, and a demon too? She’s a disgrace to the duke’s house.”
“Can’t believe she even showed up to the tea party. Stupid white pig demon.”
I told you not to judge people by appearances. Seriously, kids these days… oops, my old-man-from-my-previous-life side slipped out there.
And also, that last comment was Landfas, wasn’t it? You’re really one to talk.
You weren’t even invited here in the first place, and you still came shambling in anyway.
“Ah, Niicha… kya!”
Huh!? That voice was Tiffany!!
I whipped my head toward the sound and spotted Tiffany sprawled face-down on the floor.
Oniichan’s coming right now! …Ah, huh?
That silver-haired duke’s daughter was helping Tiffany back up.
She’d probably tripped over a step or something. She’d gotten new shoes for this occasion, and maybe she wasn’t used to walking in them yet.
Before I could even rush over, the duke’s daughter had already gotten there first.
The children called her the red-eyed demon.
What part of her looked like a demon?
She was an incredibly kind girl.
She was probably about Tiffany’s age. Same height too.
Tiffany even had a smile on her face. She seemed to instinctively sense nasty people, she’d made a displeased face the very first time she met Uncle’s family.
And Tiffany was smiling at this girl. That duke’s daughter had to be a good person.
After bowing to the duke’s daughter, Tiffany noticed me and ran over.
Hey, what if you trip again!?
Ahh, I wanted to thank her, but the young lady started walking awa… ah.
This time, she tripped and fell.
Snickers rose around us.
Honestly, these kids...
“Niichama, where are you going?”
I pulled a handkerchief from the inside pocket of my jacket. I had one of the marquis house maids wet it with water from a pitcher, then hurried over to Young Lady Eva.
“Please, use this.”
“Huh?”
Those slightly teary red eyes. No, more crimson than red?
A deep, beautiful color. Much prettier than plain red.
“For the dirt on your hands.”
I offered the damp handkerchief to her maid.
“But your handkerchief will get dirty.”
“It’s already wet anyway, so please use it. Otherwise I won’t look cool.”
I gave them a smile as I said that, and the maid looked toward the young lady, unsure what to do.
The young lady herself was staring at me too.
“Aniue!”
At that moment, I heard Zeke’s voice. Landfas was nearby too. Sir Robert was with him, but I still needed to stay close myself.
“Excuse me, my little brother’s calling for me, so I should go. Good day.”
“Ah, um!”
“Yes?”
When I turned back at her voice, her face was bright red.
Had she hurt herself somewhere? Was she in pain?
“Y-your name…?”
“Ah. My apologies. I’m Dermont Spanberg, eldest son of Baron Spanberg, Young Lady Evangeline.”
“Dermont… -sama...”
“Well then.”
I returned to Zeke and Tiffany. It seemed Landfas had fled after seeing Sir Robert. Sir Robert gave a proud snort through his nose.
Even the children who’d been gossiping earlier had somehow gone quiet.
“Der, it’s been a while.”
“Ah, Little Marquis Felix-sama. Thank you very much for inviting us to this tea party.”
“Thank you very much, Little Marquis-sama.”
“Thank you very much, Felix-sama.”
The one who called out to us was the host of this tea party, Felix-sama, heir to the Hohenberg Marquis House.
Behind him stood his younger sister, Young Lady Lucette. Miss Lucette was one year older than Tiffany, but she always fidgeted shyly behind Felix-sama.
“Has it been half a year? The twins have grown again.”
“Please say I have become a lady.”
“Hahaha. My apologies, milady.”
Felix-sama lightly kissed the back of Tiffany’s hand.
Tiffany’s face turned bright red. That girl absolutely adored Felix-sama.
But as her big brother, I think dating is still way too early.
“I’m sorry, Felix-sama.”
“Hmm? About what, Der?”
“About Landfas. He already caused trouble right away.”
“Ahh, don’t worry about it. You stepped in immediately afterward, didn’t you? That child was delighted with the wooden horse.”
I really wanted to avoid causing trouble for the marquis house, but as long as that idiot existed, that was probably impossible.
“By the way, Der. Do you believe baseless rumors?”
“Huh? Rumors?”
“Yes. Apparently there are far too many fools who judge others by appearance, believe rumors without confirming anything with their own eyes, and then insult those people.”
Ahaaa. So that’s why the kids gossiping earlier had suddenly gone quiet. Felix-sama must’ve lectured them.
“No. I only believe what I see with my own eyes. You can’t judge whether someone’s good or bad by appearance.”
“Mm. Well said, Der. That’s exactly what I’d expect from someone worthy of being my friend.”
And with that, Felix-sama and I exchanged a firm handshake.
What do you think about this chapter?
