The Hostility Of The People

“Hm… a guest of Marguerite’s, I take it.”

A stern-looking man with a beard entered the dining hall.

“F-Father! Is it all right to leave your work?”

Marguerite’s face lit up like a blooming flower as her voice rang with joy.

From her words, it was clear this man was none other than Marguerite’s father—Count Hagenberg, Lord of the domain.

“I was simply getting hungry. By the way, that small guest over there…”

“Ah…! I-I’m Jonah!”

Jonah shot to his feet and bowed deeply.

“I see. Welcome to the Hagenberg house, Jonah.”

“Y-yes, sir.”

Though his expression remained stern, his voice and gaze carried unmistakable warmth.

Jonah realized Marguerite’s kindness must have come from her father.

“B-but it’s been so long since you’ve eaten in the dining hall, Father…”

“Has it? Well… work has been piling up lately.”

Saying so, Count Hagenberg rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck.

Indeed, the Count looked somehow exhausted.

“So, may I take it that Jonah is a friend of Marguerite’s?”

“Y-yes…”

Jonah explained the circumstances.

That he had come alone from the imperial capital to Zwerg to visit relatives.

That upon arriving in town and searching for his relatives’ house, he had met Marguerite.

That they had searched together but couldn’t find it, and thanks to her kindness he was staying the night.

“A child traveling this far alone… what of your parents?”

“I-I… don’t have parents…”

“Hm… then how did you live in the Imperial Capital?”

“U-um…”

Pressed by Count Hagenberg, Jonah stumbled over his words.

After all, the part about having no parents was a lie, and he had never actually lived in the imperial capital, so he had no answer.

“…Very well. Some questions are difficult to answer.”

With that, the Count asked no further.

It seemed he had taken pity on Jonah for supposedly being an orphan.

“Father! Tomorrow morning I plan to help Jonah look for his relatives’ house again! S-so…”

“Yes, do help him.”

“…! Y-yes, sir!”

With her father’s permission granted, Marguerite’s face broke into a wide smile.

Since those relatives didn’t actually exist, no amount of searching would ever find them—Jonah was filled with guilt.

Afterward, Count Hagenberg left midway through the meal, saying he still had work to do.

Yet Jonah couldn’t help noticing how Marguerite sometimes gazed sadly at her father’s empty seat.

“Um, Lady Marguerite…”

“…? What is it?”

“Ah… n-no, it’s nothing…”

“Huhu, you’re so strange, Jonah.”

Jonah pulled himself together and decided to enjoy dinner with Marguerite.

So that, even just a little, she wouldn’t have to look so lonely.

“Haa… your parents really should have given clearer directions…”

“Ah… ahaha…”

The next morning, Jonah, Marguerite, and Hans were once again searching the streets of Zwerg for his “relatives’ house”—naturally, it was nowhere to be found.

Jonah could only give an awkward smile at her increasingly irritated expression.

However—

“…………………………”
“…………………………”

Ever since they had started searching, Jonah had grown wary of the townspeople’s stares.

He had thought it might be the usual suspicion of outsiders common in small towns and villages, but it didn’t seem that simple.

Because the hostile glares were directed not at Jonah, but at Marguerite—the Lord’s daughter.

Then—

“…!?”

Suddenly, a stone came flying toward them.

Looking over, a boy even younger than Jonah was glaring at them.

“K-Kurt! What are you doing!?”

A girl hurriedly ran over to the boy and protectively hugged him.

She was probably the boy’s older sister.

“I-I’m terribly sorry! Please forgive him!”

“…………………………”

Marguerite regarded the groveling girl with an icy stare.

Throwing a stone at the lord’s daughter—even if the culprit was a child—could not be overlooked.

No—precisely because she was the Lord’s daughter, she could not let it slide.

If the people thought they could get away with it, governing the domain would become impossible in the future.

Yet—

“…Go home.”

“Eh…?”

“Go home already! Do you have any idea how much the Lord is making us suffer!?”

“That’s right! He squeezes everything he can from us poor folk—we can’t even live like this anymore!”

With one voice as the trigger, the townspeople began shouting their anger all at once.

Hatred burning in their eyes.

“…Lady Marguerite, I shall summon the guards at once.”

“No need. …I’m sorry, Jonah. Let’s go home for today.”

“Ah… y-yes…”

Marguerite turned on her heel and strode away.

Jonah and Hans hurried after her, leaving the scene behind…

‘Lady Marguerite…’

In stark contrast to the proud, confident figure of a count’s daughter she had been just moments ago, her back now looked small and fragile—Jonah gazed at it with worry.