Ms. Verloren placed one hand on her chest, bowed politely and elegantly, then leaned back in the single-person sofa opposite us.
The mansion's servant - Marika - naturally brought another teacup, placed it in front of her, and poured black tea.
"Thank you, Marika. I'll handle the rest, so you can go home and rest for today."
Ms. Verloren dismissed Marika.
"Are you sure? Dinner is not yet..."
Marika answered, hesitating a little. Her look said, 'Can you even eat properly without me?'
"I'll manage. Don't worry and go home."
"...If you say so. Yes, I'll take my leave then, Madam Esther."
But an employee can't refuse their employer's order.
When Verloren firmly dismissed her again, Marika bowed deeply as if she had no choice and withdrew from the reception room.
Not long after, the sound of the mansion's front door creaking open echoed from down the corridor.
So Marika's residence wasn't in this mansion.
It seemed she had hired a local resident for money to work as a live-out housekeeper.
Click.
"...Let me greet you again. It's nice to meet you, Sir Siegfriede, hero of Rhine. And... Lady Brunhilde, is it?"
Right after the front door that had opened slightly closed again, Verloren moistened her lips with tea and addressed me.
"Yes. Brunhilde, knight of Rhine."
"I've heard everything from His Highness. That you need a temporary disguised identity, so you want to borrow my daughter's name."
Her tone was quite stiff.
The smile from when she first greeted us was gone, replaced by a voice that somehow conveyed a hint of hostility and reluctance. Even her blue eyes were cold and frosty.
"Yes, well... that's right."
I nodded reluctantly.
Well, thinking about it, it's a natural reaction. A complete stranger suddenly comes and declares they want to use the identity of your missing daughter.
What parent in the world could accept this willingly?
Honestly, I was amazed at how polite and gentle her response was, considering she didn't tell me to stop talking nonsense and get out.
"Um, just in case I should mention, it wasn't me who chose your daughter for the disguised identity, but His Highness Argentir..."
"I know. It was written in His Highness's personal letter and introduction."
A sharp, immediate answer. I closed my mouth, at a loss for words. Her tone didn't allow for any retort.
"You had no choice. I understand. So you don't need to worry about it."
Ha, even if you say that...
"...Yes."
I answered quietly and lowered my head, avoiding her gaze. As if showing an attitude that although I answered I understood, it was difficult to agree.
...No, honestly, it's like that, isn't it?
She's openly showing her displeasure, so how can I not worry about it? Is that even possible?
Both my conscience and sense of crisis were pricking me so much that I couldn't calm down at all.
"...Haah."
Verloren, who had been staring at me for a while, lifted her head and let out a deep sigh.
It was a sigh that sounded like a lament.
"...Raise your head. I was immature. I apologize for my rudeness."
Then, Verloren lowered her face again and looked straight at me. There was no hostility like before in those eyes.
It was closer to having perfectly suppressed the hostility rather than completely erasing it, but even that much improved the atmosphere considerably.
"No, I should be the one apologizing. My request was an incredibly rude favor, so it's natural for you to be displeased."
I apologized with humility to the extent that I could extend my hand and ask for a handshake.
"...This is a bit different from what was written in the introduction letter."
Verloren muttered these words while blankly looking down at the hand I extended.
"What was written in the introduction letter to make you say that...?"
I tilted my head and asked back. I wondered what kind of evaluation Argentir had written about me to elicit this reaction.
"...It's better if you don't know."
This time, Verloren slightly avoided my gaze. Her attitude suggested she absolutely couldn't tell me due to her conscience.
What is it?
That bastard Argentir, what on earth did he write about me to cause this reaction...?
My curiosity deepened. In the end, I couldn't get an answer till the end.
"For now, I understand what His Highness and you want from me. To be honest, it's a truly difficult request to accept, but..."
Verloren, returning to the main point, clicked her tongue while tapping the sofa armrest with her fingertips.
"Haah... This is really troublesome. If I hadn't owed His Highness such a great debt, I would have firmly refused... but I can't do that."
Come to think of it, Argentir had said something like that. That Verloren Esther owed him a great debt, so she wouldn't be able to refuse his request.
I don't know what kind of debt it was, but judging from her reaction, it seems it was no small matter.
"To think that debt from back then would come back like this..."
Verloren let out another faint sigh and muttered complaints.
"Indeed, His Highness Argentir must not understand people's hearts."
I know, right? I think so too.
If Argentir had even an ant's tear worth of humanity, he wouldn't have even thought of creating a fake daughter for Ms. Verloren.
It's not much different from blabbering that you can just have another child in front of parents who've lost their child.
Only a cruel psychopath without blood or tears could come up with and implement such an idea.
"Haah..."
Verloren just kept sighing and sipping her black tea for a while. She was supporting her forehead with one hand as if she had a headache.
I too, feeling a small sense of guilt and burden seeping into my chest, just kept drinking the tea aimlessly.
During this time, Friede didn't touch her teacup at all and just clung tightly to my left arm. As if marking her territory.
Of course, it was a meaningless act. Verloren seemed too troubled in various ways to even notice Friede's behavior.
Time passed like that, enough to empty a full cup of tea.
And finally, Verloren, who had been pondering for a long time, opened her mouth again.
"If you have a chance to have an audience with His Highness later, please tell him. That I consider the debt fully repaid with this."
"If that's what you say..."
The debt is fully repaid. Although she expressed it indirectly, the meaning of those words was clear. It probably meant she would allow me to act as her daughter.
"...Yes. I'll allow it. Although there are a few conditions."
Verloren nodded while slightly furrowing her brows, and then presented me with three or four conditions.
Avoid contact with the villagers as much as possible.
She won't tolerate any acts that would tarnish Fernhilde Esther's reputation and honor.
If Argentir finally finds the 'real Fernhilde', change the disguised identity to something else.
She would prefer if I didn't call her mother inside the house, even if I do outside.
These were conditions that were natural to mention as Fernhilde's mother, so I swore to accept them entirely without any objection.
...Ah, no. There was just one thing I needed to ask.
"It might be a bit rude to ask, but then how should I address you inside the mansion? Um, should I call you Madam Verloren or..."
"...Madam?"
Madam Verloren's eyebrow twitched for a moment, and then she glared at me with sharp eyes.
What is it, is there some problem with the title 'Madam'? I clearly knew it was an expression used to respectfully address married middle-aged women...?
"Call me Lady Verloren."
Madam Verloren ordered in an absolutely firm tone. Drop the 'Madam' and just call her 'Lady', she said.
How should I put it, it was a tone that conveyed an incredible intangible pressure.
"..."
Friede moved her small mouth silently, mouthing words without sound.
The auntie is trying too hard.
She moved her tiny mouth so quickly that I couldn't make it out clearly, but at a glance, I thought that's what she said.
...Nah, it can't be. How could our Friede possibly utter such a rude thing? It must be an absurd misunderstanding.
Friede isn't the kind of impolite child who would spout such abuse at a benefactor who, after much consideration, accepted my shameless and embarrassing request, unless they were an enemy.
...Right?
* * *
Anyway, thus I acquired a new alias, Fernhilde Esther.
Age 18.
With black hair inherited from her mother and blue eyes, a foolish girl who ran away rebelling against the strict family traditions but finally returned after several years.
That was my new identity.
"Use this room here as your bedroom. It's not my daughter's room, but... it shouldn't be uncomfortable to stay in."
After finishing our talk, Lady Verloren handed over a room to me. A private bedroom with just a fireplace, bed, table, single-person sofa, wardrobe, and storage cabinet.
It's not Fernhilde's room, but a newly renovated room that used to be her divorced ex-husband's private room, she said.
Marika, whom she employs temporarily, sometimes stays overnight in this mansion, so she threw out all the old furniture and brought in new furniture, she said?
"Yes. Thank you, Lady Verloren."
Well, it was a decent enough room. Just looking at the quality of the bed and sofa, it was incomparably better than some cheap inn room.
To be honest, if she had given me her real daughter's room, I probably wouldn't have been able to sleep due to the burden.
"...I said not to call me mother, but you don't need to be so formal."
Lady Verloren, standing next to the door, glanced at me and said.
"We'll be staying in the same house after all. I won't consider it rude if you speak a little more casually."
She was saying I didn't need to be so polite and shouldn't be too cautious.
"Oh, really?"
"...Don't speak too casually though."
Lady Verloren stared blankly at me for a while as if dumbfounded, then shook her head slightly while letting out a faint sigh.
"Ah, yes. I'm sorry."
I lowered my head slightly and cleared my throat in embarrassment.
She told me to speak comfortably, but then immediately became serious when I did. Is this about finding the middle ground? That's actually the most difficult thing.
She's clearly a person to be grateful for, but it seemed her personality would be difficult to accommodate in many ways.