4 – Contract with Foreign Power (2)
My father, Arnold von Reinhart, had two wives.
A woman truly in love when marrying, ‘Reina’, was my mother and first wife.
The woman who entered a contract marriage for the future and glory of the family, ‘Lejean’, was the second wife.
The girl in front of me is a child born to the second wife.
Seti von Adelwine Rheinlandt.
A girl born between Adelwine, an illustrious upper class family dominating the entire northern galaxy, and Rheinlandt, the largest medical family in the South.
A child of two noble families, she was born with all sorts of talent and charm.
“Do you have economic sense or not…?”
Seti came into the room, her hair fluttering.
Her silver hair, shimmering in the light, was clearly natural.
Such hair is not common. It was also noble at a single glance. She was certainly from the Adelwine bloodline.
“Seti.”
“You told me not to call my name, didn’t you? It’s disgusting.”
Also, the characteristic unfriendly attitude of second mother-in-law’s family.
It seems that the Adelwine family’s bitter temper is not very different from the novel.
Of course my half-sister, Seti, was seriously off the day, even considering that.
“What’s that catchphrase to speak to your brother?”
“Brother? What kind of brother is someone like you? A trashy bastard.”
Seti looked at me with contemptuous eyes and clicked her tongue.
I understand.
Over the years, Aidle has hurled numerous slurs at Seti.
– A bastard child from a concubine.
– Your mom.
– Born the daughter of a woman who couldn’t even gain her husband’s love, it’s no wonder your personality is the way it is.
That’s the extent of just what’s been described in the novel.
Ah, I suddenly feel sorry. Even though it’s not my doing, it’s incredibly embarrassing.
Anyway, Seti and I could be said to have a relationship worse than strangers right now.
I kept that note in mind and raised my head.
“I’m sincerely asking because I can hardly believe it. 2,000 trillion, really? You wasted that much money?”
“That’s what they say.”
“You just shut up. I asked Sonia, okay?”
Before I knew it, Seti’s gaze went to Sonia. She doesn’t seem to want to interact with me.
It’s okay. Apologizing right now would be like rubbing salt on the wounds.
I’ll apologize when the atmosphere is right, and for the moment, I should move on and keep studying.
[- ‘The God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ appreciates your academic attitude.]
[- You’ve received a donation of 50 Fron!]
What’s this, it’s already coming in. It’s out of the blue.
While quickly flipping through the status window floating in the air with my estimation, Sonia and Seti’s conversation ended.
A vein in Seti’s face was somehow protruding.
She looked at me and said,
“You insane person.”
“How dare you talk back to your father like this?”
“Crazy people should be called crazy, so what should you call them?”
Darn it.
It’s exhausting dealing with an imbecile.
I’ve read a lot of web novels about dealing with imbeciles, and I can’t help but wonder how the heroes in those books were able to overcome this level of contempt and disregard. It seems like everyone but me has a mental constitution of steel.
[– ‘The God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ scoffs.]
Seti is standing tall, his arms crossed, looking down on me with an arrogant expression. His eyes, glittering like molten gold, are full of malice.
“You wasted money on gambling and now you’ve spent another 1 million credits on the entrance exam prep book?”
“My father insisted that it was a good idea.”
Seti let out a hollow laugh. It was both mockery and delight.
“Didn’t they say that you’ll be removed from the family register if you fail to get into Stellarium?”
“That seems to be the case.”
There’s also the option of repaying the two quadrillion or enlisting to maintain the Line Lant surname, but I didn’t mention it. After all, it’s a road that I won’t take.
“Heh, good. Get lost.”
Seti seems confident that I will fail.
It doesn’t matter. Now is not the time to progress the relationship with my younger sister. I promised myself that I would simply let her words flow past me until she left the room out of exhaustion.
“Miss Seti.”
That was, on the condition that Sonia did not interrupt.
“Please look at this.”
“Huh? What’s this?”
“It’s a math workbook that Mr. Adel solved earlier.”
I tensed up.
Hey, you metal maid, why are you showing her that?
***
– My stepbrother messed up again.
That was the first thing Seti heard when she returned to the main house of the Line Lant family.
It seemed Adel had gambled away a fortune. He had apparently been scolded by their father.
To make matters worse, he spent 1 million credits to purchase a Stellarium entrance exam workbook.
It was preposterous.
Unacceptable.
Seti had been doing well in trade. At the young age of fifteen, she was making substantial monthly profits by helping with her father’s business. Her share was significant in the total asset of the Line Lant family.
There was someone else working hard to make a living, but the ones who spent the money were her incompetent stepsiblings.
Could they even be called ‘siblings’?
They probably couldn’t.
To Seti, Adel von Line Lant was nothing more than a human parasite, tied to her by a blood bond.
Normally, she didn’t even want to deal with him, but this time she simply couldn’t tolerate it.
“I will kill him.”
She was ready to settle this issue once and for all.
Grinding her teeth, Seti walked into a corridor that she usually avoided.
Following the confined pathway led her to a room that reeked of filth and decadence.
This is Aidel’s room.
Setti flung the door open and stepped inside.
“You gambling addict!”
She started out strong with her comment, knowing Aidel was thick-skinned enough not to flinch at this. If one was going to deal with a low-life, after all, one needed to act like one to some degree.
But what came back to her after all the twists and turns was neither swear words nor punches.
“Watch it closely from start to finish.”
“…..”
A workbook handed to her by Sonia, an android maid assigned by her father to monitor Aidel.
“‘White Blossom’ series, huh?”
The prestigious educational publishing company ‘Blossom’ published it. It was a high-level practice problem book.
This is a bit difficult, Setti nodded her head.
“Yes. Sir was solving these problems just a short while ago.”
Setti burst out laughing.
“Sonia, I thought you were still straight-laced. Have you learned to joke in the meantime?”
“Not a joke, Miss. Just look inside the book.”
Sonia’s attitude toward Setti was remarkably serious. This attitude seemed like she was trying to defend Aidel.
Setti felt something strange about this.
Despite being a dedicated maid, that Sonia.
An android who disciplined Aidel with Muay Thai every time he acted out.
‘Aidel is defended?’
Setti glanced at Aidel while rolling her eyes. Aidel was fluttering his hands to his face.
“Miss, isn’t it amazing?”
“Amazing what?”
“Sir was studying. It’s something that happened after eight years and three months.”
“Sonia, please stop.”
Aidel sighed. He was visibly embarrassed. His usual arrogance was nowhere to be found.
“I will use the restroom.”
Aidel sighed and left the room with a Korean mock-test book.
“Hey, where are you going!”
Setti tried to hold Aidel back, but he ran away too fast.
“…..”
She was prepared to give him a piece of her mind, but her opponent fled from the battleground.
“Why the hell is he acting like this…?”
Aidel wasn’t the type to run away.
On the contrary, he was the one who would keep throwing swear words until satisfied.
‘Has he really gone mad…?’
Upon careful consideration, she found no answers. She just thought he might have gone nuts because he’s being kicked out of the family soon.
From noble mtl dot com
Setti thought back on it casually and flipped through the workbook that Sonia gave her.
Then she couldn’t help but exclaim.
First of all, the handwriting was neatly polished beyond recognition.
There’s a saying that handwriting is a mirror of one’s mind. For instance, if someone writes hastily, they are likely to have a speedy nature. Judged in this way, Eidel was a terrible writer.
But were they not now calm and creative? A profound writing strength could be felt.
Of course, this was only apparent on the surface.
Their methodical approach left no room for chaos.
They were concise but penetrated the core of each problem, reaching the correct answer.
Contrary to the original assumption that they would falter at a single problem, all problems were clearly solved.
Seti, who had been called a genius and had solved a lot of such workbooks since childhood, quickly noticed.
“It doesn’t match the solution in the answer sheet.”
It also wasn’t something Eidel could have written.
To begin with, Eidel was so dimwitted they needed to relearn even how to calculate fractions.
The fact that ‘Eidel’ and ‘studying’ were incompatible was widely known throughout the entire galaxy.
“I checked the answers, and there were no mistakes.”
“Hmm.”
Exteriorly, Seti feigned calm, but was startled.
It was because there was no reason for Sonia, an android, to lie to him.
“Perhaps they copied from someone else’s workbook.”
“It was new.”
“So, how many days did it take?”
Seti took at least a month to solve this workbook. It was a struggle to solve even five problems a day because of its insane level.
“Three hours.”
Eidel solved it in just three days.
“…What?”
He must have heard wrong.
Not three days, but…
“Three, three hours?”
It was a time measurement he couldn’t even imagine.
Once in a while, a genius would solve and discard a workbook of this level in a week.
But breaking the three-hour mark was impossible. Unless associated with a calculator or reincarnated as a Von Neumann.
That’s why.
The shockwave that hit Seti’s heart soon faded.
“Sonia, at least make a lie credible.”
“I am not lying.”
What could a robot deny conclusively?
Sonia doubting Eidel meant that she had some kind of weakness.
Even an android could make a mistake because they had emotions. He decided to be generous and let it go.
However.
“Whenever you struggle with something, feel free to share.”
Seti softened his voice, patting Sonia’s shoulder.
“…?”
Sonia looked as if she didn’t understand, but soon nodded her head as if she would soon understand.
“Anyway, I have to go to the academy, so I can’t stay long. Sonia, you keep an eye on him. Absolutely, absolutely, you have to absolutely prevent him from spending more money. You understand?”
“I understand.”
Even after that, Seti gave Sonia the same warning several times before heading out.
“Sigh….”
‘Something’s fishy.’
Seti packed her school bag and climbed onto the ship.
***
[— ‘the god of wisdom and curiosity’ applauds your passion for learning exhibited by setting up a study room in the bathroom.]
“…Did he leave?”
Aidel returned to his room about an hour after that.
An old language exam paper somehow appeared in his hands.
