The talking crow drew far too much attention, but the other two people also had rather unusual appearances.
A burly man who looked at least twice the size of an average person, and a child so small he didn’t even come up to the man’s waist.
It was quite a strange combination.
Even more so because the former looked visibly intimidated, while the latter kept shooting him disdainful glances, as if he were pathetic.
“I’ll introduce them one by one from the left. This is Levi. As you can see, he’s a crow. He’s the master’s pet. He can understand human speech, but nothing he says is useful, so feel free to ignore him.”
“I’m a pet! You’re a slave! I’m a pet! You’re a slave!”
“Thanks for the help, Levi. As you saw, there’s no need to engage with him.”
After saying this, Guillermo took a step to the right and stopped in front of the large man.
He was wearing a suit of metal armor that was rusty and broken in several places. It looked so pitiful that one might wonder why he would wear such a grotesque thing at all.
If it was meant to kill enemies through tetanus, that was one thing—but the far more serious problem was that it likely made him even more vulnerable.
“This is Sir Maximilian Hark. Three years ago, he boldly infiltrated our castle and was captured. He is now paying for his crime through labor instead of his life.”
“Yes… you can just call me Max…”
So that’s why he looked so intimidated—he was a captured intruder.
Ivnia recalled Guillermo’s earlier shout when she first arrived here.
It seemed that ignoring that warning would land someone in a situation like this man’s.
As she nodded in understanding, Guillermo stepped forward again.
He pointed at a boy with a rough expression, lowering his hand quite far down.
“This is Seven. He has fairy blood, so he ages extremely slowly, and on top of that, a curse has stopped his physical aging entirely. So he ended up like this. Don’t let his appearance fool you—he’s actually older than both the master and me.”
“If you talk to me like a kid, I’ll kill you.”
Seven warned them while shoving his hands into his pockets in a rebellious posture.
He looked to be about ten years old at most, yet he was actually older than Ram—who was over four hundred years old.
While Ivnia had been distracted by the crow, she had missed that the most unusual being here was actually this one.
Guillermo, who had known him for a long time, seemed less concerned with his age and more with his attitude.
He spoke up to scold Seven on Ivnia’s behalf.
“Seven, you must address the lady with respect regardless of age.”
“Lady? What lady? She’s not even Nina. Why bother?”
At the same moment Seven spoke dismissively, Hanna and Sir Max glanced at Ivnia as if checking her reaction.
It was a moment that clearly revealed who was human and who was not.
So Nina was his late wife.
Ivnia quietly came to that conclusion.
Being treated as an imposter unworthy of attention didn’t bother her. Because it was true.
Not wanting to make the atmosphere even more awkward, Ivnia bowed politely.
“My name is Ivnia. It’s nice to meet you all. I won’t be staying long—I’ll be leaving soon, but I hope we get along in the meantime.”
She deliberately left out the Hesse family name as she introduced herself.
As she slowly raised her head again, she wondered if Ram had not given them any instructions regarding her treatment.
Everyone was looking at her with puzzled expressions.
“You’re leaving? Staying? What do you mean, ‘I’ll stay a little and then leave’?”
Seven, the oldest among them, asked on behalf of the group.
Then Hanna, snapping back to her senses, shouted desperately.
“Do you not like it here? I’ll do better, so please don’t leave, Lady Ivnia!”
Hanna turned to Guillermo as if seeking help, but he only stroked his chin with folded arms, looking intrigued.
“This is a first. I’ve never seen this kind of development before.”
“Stop acting like this is some unexpected outcome, you fish-headed bastard! I told you nothing you do ever goes smoothly!”
Seven raised his voice and shouted at Guillermo.
Startled by the sudden outburst, Ivnia took a step back—but Seven turned to her with a frown.
Despite his cute appearance, there was an undeniable pressure that came from years of experience.
“Hey. If you want to go back to your family, don’t hesitate—just leave now.”
“Pardon?”
“You got dragged into this place because of that fish-head’s schemes, right? Don’t worry about being harmed or anything—just go wherever you want.”
Because of his sharp tone, it took Ivnia a moment to understand his true intention.
It didn’t look like it at all on the surface, but if she examined the meaning behind his words…
Is this… consideration?
The problem was that, to her, “go home” sounded no different from “go die.”
Not wanting to be thrown out of the castle, Ivnia quickly replied.
“Oh, I… I don’t get along well with my family. We’re practically estranged. I don’t really have anywhere to go. Lord Ram said I could stay here for a while, so I was thinking I’d stay for a month or two… I won’t be staying long. Please bear with me for now…”
After hearing her desperate explanation, Seven let out a deep sigh.
He glanced at Guillermo with a scornful look.
“So that’s it. I see it now. You thought she was some girl being sold off and dragged her here, didn’t you?”
Ivnia stayed silent.
The truth was more complicated than that, but there was no need for them to know she was like leftover scraps no one wanted.
If she spoke ill of Emilia’s family, Ram—caught in the middle—would also be put in a difficult position.
And more than that… she didn’t want to see someone so kind become cold toward her because of her sister.
She had already experienced enough of that in the Hesse territory.
“If you’ve got nowhere to go, just stay here. Ram will just laugh and say, ‘Still here today? Going tomorrow?’ even if you live here until you die.”
“N-no, I can’t impose that much…”
Ivnia shook her head awkwardly.
She couldn’t keep deceiving them forever and simply take her sister’s place.
Even if the Hesse count and his wife intended to sacrifice her, it would be reckless to immediately announce Emilia’s return. But thinking of Emilia’s future, she would have to be reintroduced into society within a year or two at most.
Before that, it would be cleaner if Ivnia herself revealed that Emilia was alive.
Emilia, suddenly dragged to Rittberg, would be briefly devastated—but soon enough, she would inevitably come to love this place.
After all, it was a castle full of good people.
Moved by the unexpected kindness, Ivnia blushed slightly and said softly, “Still, thank you for worrying about me.”
At that moment, Sir Max, who had been quietly observing, seized the opportunity and stepped in.
For some reason, his gaze toward her looked unusually earnest.
“Um, Sister… if you’re planning to leave, may I ask where you intend to go?”
“Well… I haven’t decided yet.”
“My goodness, you mean you intend to travel to an unfamiliar place with no connections? Alone?”
“I said I haven’t decided where yet…”
“For a young woman to travel abroad without a guardian… anything could happen. You absolutely need a reliable escort. Wouldn’t you agree?”
That was undeniably true—but a knight wearing a battered suit of armor did not look reliable in the slightest.
Perhaps sensing her doubt, Max looked around anxiously as if seeking agreement from others.
He didn’t know how things had been for him here, but one thing was certain.
He desperately wanted to leave this place.
