I Became the Older Brother of a Villainess - Chapter 7.1
As I took a step, the butler hurriedly stood politely next to the office door. I checked the butler’s status window, who seemed frightened.
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Name: Dandel
Occupation: Butler
Personality: Timid – Prone to easily experiencing changes in state. Receives a constant evasion rate increase effect.
Special Traits: None
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Looking at his personality, I felt like I knew why his favorability was ringing like a siren. He was inherently a timid fellow. Searching my mind, I recalled finding information about him in the data I received from the butler yesterday.
“Oh, right. Dandel.”
If it was Dandel, the butler who entered my study room, he came under me after the former Duke’s demise. He was young, but his job performance was good. No need to dismiss him.
“Wanna come with me, Dandel?”
I gave Dandel’s shoulder a light tap. After all, I needed someone to guide me to Daria’s room.
Dandel stared at me blankly for a moment. Soon, a heart icon above his head changed from one to two. Dandel puffed up his chest like a proud bird and roared with vigor.
“Yes! Understood! I’m honored that you called my name! Feel free to call me ‘This guy, this fellow, hey, you!'”
“Oh, well… Sure. Um, Dandel will do. The examples you gave are a bit much.”
Daria’s room wasn’t far from my study room. On the way, I encountered a few butlers, but they didn’t seem to care. They had no particular traits, and their favorability toward me was non-existent. Just not hating me was good enough for now. I was prepared to be a little disliked.
As we reached the large door of Daria’s room, Dandel cleared his throat like a rooster. Could it be that he was preparing to announce my arrival?
“H-Highness, you have visited!”
It wasn’t a false alarm; he really had. Even in my own home, was this necessary? Dandel was looking at me with an unusually cheerful expression.
“Yeah, thanks…”
It was noisy, but it was a gesture of goodwill.
Was there some rule that the butler had to make a noisy entrance in this house? Well, I didn’t know such rules well, so I could overlook the details. I still didn’t know this place well.
Then, suddenly, I had a good idea.
“Are you busy today?”
“Um, what do you mean? If there’s anything His Grace wishes me to do, I can do anything.”
“That’s good. Just wait here for a moment.”
I gave Dandel a light tap on the shoulder, pushed open Daria’s door, and walked in.
“Your Grace!”
An elderly maid jumped up from the chair. It hadn’t been long since she got up, and she was still in her night clothes. Even without checking the status window, I could tell. It was Muriel, Daria’s maid.
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Name: Muriel
Occupation: Maid
Personality: Loyalty – Constantly receives a boost in attack and defense. If betrayed, suffers a significant debuff.
Specialty: Charisma – Enhances/restricts the target’s actions.
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My assumption was correct. It was the maid Muriel. She had a connection with the lady of the mansion and ended up working here. It’s been over 25 years since she started working.
She had been one of the people on guard, but upon closer inspection, she seemed a bit softened. Her liking towards me was represented by three hearts. Except for the butler, it was the first time I had a servant who liked me this much.
“Visiting the lady’s room from early in the morning?”
“The lady’s room?”
I took a slow look around Daria’s room. It was a stark space that was hard to believe a child was the owner.
The bookshelf was packed like a library, and there were no particular toys in sight. The dark wood furniture was luxurious but seemed rugged for a child. Even the bed with a white canopy looked more suited for an adult.
It seemed like Daria had been roughly thrown into any guest room. It was evidence from the game that she wasn’t a beloved young lady.
Perhaps that’s why. Daria’s expression is strangely gloomy, and her voice is blunt. The slightly hesitant tone compared to her peers might be because, in some ways, she may not have experienced much love.
“The room seems mature. It’s like the room of a wealthy gentleman.”
Examining the unsatisfactory interior, I approached the bed. The maid observed me cautiously while tidying up the bedding.
“It’s not yet time for the young lady to wake up.”
“I told you to wake her up early yesterday, didn’t I?”
“I was planning to wake her up soon. If you give me some time, I’ll wake her up and send her to the study room.”
“There’s no need for that.”
Daria was curled up on the bed. With frills scattered all over her pajamas, she looked like an overturned vanilla ice cream.
“Daria, Daria.”
“….”
“Daria, you need to get up.”
“Ugh….”
“Get up!”
I shook Daria to wake her up. She just whimpered like a puppy, refusing to open her eyes. The maid seemed embarrassed and murmured, “She’s not usually like this…”
“We have a busy schedule today. Wake up right now.”
I grabbed Daria and lifted her from the bed. She sprawled over me as I carried her. I brought slippers with my foot and placed Daria on them. Daria swayed, looking like she might collapse at any moment, and blinked her eyes.
“…Brother, good morning. It’s morning….”
“Get yourself together and look at me.”
There was something I needed to check first. I had to see if Daria could see everyone’s favorability like me. Turning away from the maid, I faced Daria. She was standing, half-asleep.
After forcefully steadying the swaying figure, I pointed to my head.
“Daria, can you see a heart shape above my head?”
“Heart?”
“Like this.”
I demonstrated the heart shape with my hands. Daria alternated between looking at my hands and the space above my head, then fidgeted to create a heart shape above her own head.
“Heart…”
“No, I didn’t mean for you to copy me… Though it’s cute.”
Daria’s expression changed rapidly from making the hand heart to a more serious one. It was incredibly cute. I wanted to take a picture, but there were no smartphones in this world, which was a bit disappointing.
“…I messed up. Please don’t be mad.”
Daria said, folding her hands apologetically. It was no longer a heart shape. It now resembled a snowman lying on its side.
