Chapter 7: You cant judge a book by its cover (4)

Two years ago, after Marquis Harkur passed away, his eldest son, Sane Harkur, inherited the title.

Despite rumors of his cold-blooded and aristocratic nature,
that alone wouldn’t have been enough to make him the second marquis in a land filled with people who revered Harkur.

His rise to this position was due to his cool-headed personality, inherited from his late mother Alicia, and his exceptional talent as a lord.
His vassals saw the future of the marquisate in his abilities and invested in him.

As a result, the marquisate transformed unrecognizably in just two years.
With his remarkable skill, Sane fostered excellent relations with neighboring lords.

No, it wasn’t just that.
Unlike during Marquis Harkur’s time, when neighboring lords stayed quiet out of fear,
Sane persuaded them, brought them into his fold, and expanded his influence by making them true allies.
He was the epitome of a lord.

And that wasn’t all.
Infrastructure, fortifications, treatment of surrounding villages, and defense—
the gaps left by Marquis Harkur, who was unfamiliar with internal affairs, were filled by Sane.
As a result, many people began migrating to the marquisate,
and the Harkur estate entered an unprecedented period of prosperity.

“Wow, it’s changed a lot.”
“Yeah? Wasn’t it always this developed?”

A week after leaving the capital,
Scarlet’s party arrived at Levascal, the central city of the Harkur Marquisate and Scarlet’s hometown.

“…Well, it was a decent city back then, but it wasn’t this crowded and bustling.”

For Scarlet, this was her first visit since her father’s passing two years ago.
The city’s development was a new sight for her.

“Oh my! Lady Scarlet! You’re back?”

“Lady Scarlet! Come by our shop later! I’ll give you a meal on the house!”
“One meal? Haha, that’s all?”

As they walked through the streets, many people recognized Scarlet and greeted her warmly.
There was no trace of fear toward a noble lord.

It was as if they were greeting a neighborly uncle or aunt—
completely familiar and friendly.

“…Nice city.”
“Right?”

Her companions looked at the scene in wonder.
They’d never seen a city like this before.

“As expected, Sane’s good at this stuff.”

Scarlet nodded enthusiastically, clearly impressed.

The only one of the three siblings to inherit their mother’s knack for politics, economics, and internal affairs,
Sane allowed Scarlet to leave home without worry and enabled Jenny to pursue her heroic talents freely.

For Scarlet and Jenny, having someone to offload the burdensome marquis title to was a relief.

“Marquis Sane, huh… I’m a bit worried.”
“Yeah, I heard he really hates commoners…”

Unlike the family’s view,
people feared him.
Especially commoners.

He was known as an extreme commoner-hater.

The city folk might be at ease with Scarlet, but they wouldn’t dare act this way with Marquis Sane.

“Come to think of it, Jerome and Ron were commoners in human society, right?”

Arna, puzzled, muttered, “Human society is so weird… dividing the same species by class.”

Scarlet tilted her head at their reactions and said,

“Well… it’s probably not what you think.”
“Really…?”

Her response was vague,
as if she meant, “It’s not quite like that…”

“You’ll get it when you meet him. At least you guys probably aren’t the kind of ‘despicable commoners’ Sane has in mind.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Saying a commoner isn’t in the category of commoners?
What kind of nonsense was that?

“Well… if he truly hated all commoners that much, would he have developed and managed this city and its surrounding villages so well?”

Scarlet smirked and headed cheerfully toward the marquis’s estate.

“I’m back~!”
“Who…?! Lady Scarlet?!”

At the entrance to the marquis’s mansion in the heart of Levascal,
Scarlet and her party stood.

As Scarlet greeted them energetically, the guards, initially wary of the strangers,
realized one of them was Scarlet Harkur and hurriedly opened the gate.

“We heard you’d be coming soon, but we didn’t expect you this quickly.”
“Are these your companions? Please, come inside.”

Scarlet and her party followed the guards through the massive iron gate into the mansion.

“It’s smaller than I expected…”
“Yeah, kinda small.”

The mansion they entered
didn’t seem like the residence of the lord of such a vibrant, developed city.

It was about the size of an average provincial noble’s estate?

Sure, that wasn’t small, but for the Harkur family—
a marquis, no less—it seemed underwhelming.

Rumor had it he was aristocratic,
so why would someone like that live in such a modest mansion?

“Come on, let’s go inside!”

As Scarlet brushed past the guards to open the mansion’s door, they panicked and tried to stop her.

“Wait, my lady! We need to report to the marquis first…”
“What’s that between family? You come home, you see their face and say hi!”

Ignoring the guards’ protests,
Scarlet strode in like it was her own living room, leading her companions inside.

‘Well, it was her home back in the day.’
‘…She wasn’t this bold in the city. Does that mean the mansion hasn’t changed at all, unlike the city?’

There weren’t even the usual luxury items or decorative armor you’d expect.
Just plain carpets, plain furniture, plain decor.
Aside from its size, it could pass for a moderately wealthy commoner merchant’s house.

‘What’s this? Don’t nobles love luxury?’
‘I thought there’d be priceless art or legendary swords lining the walls.’

The situation kept clashing with their image of Marquis Sane, leaving her companions confused.

Since the mansion wasn’t that large, they quickly reached Sane’s study.

All they had to do was knock and wait for permission…

Bang!

“Brother, I’m here!”
“…?!”
“What are you…!!”

No such thing.
Scarlet flung the door open without warning and walked in casually.

Her companions, witnessing this utterly outrageous behavior, peeked inside nervously.
And there he was.

“Who taught you such manners?”

A handsome man with long silver hair sat at his desk, holding documents, his face creased with irritation.

Naturally, it was Marquis Sane Harkur.

Unlike Jenny or Scarlet, Sane took after their mother in appearance as well.
Gleaming silver hair reminiscent of moonlight, piercing eyes that could kill with a glance,
and cold blue eyes that seemed to freeze everything.

His overall vibe was like the moon and ice—
the perfect image of a cold-blooded noble.

‘I’m gonna die…’
‘His eyes are practically swords.’

Jerome, Ron, and Arna, who had faced countless battles and danced with death,
still felt chills from Sane’s sharp gaze.
They could probably beat him in a fight, but something about him made them feel like they’d die if they tried.

“Hahaha, you didn’t teach me manners, so here we are! Don’t worry about it~”

Of course, Scarlet was completely unfazed by his glare.

“Come on in! You called us here, so what do we have to feel shy about? Hahaha!”

Laughing heartily, Scarlet plopped down on a luxurious leather sofa meant for guests.

“…”

Sane’s gaze naturally shifted to the three companions lingering nervously outside.

“Uh, um…”
“Ahem.”
“Cough.”

Feeling an inexplicable unease, they cleared their throats and looked away.
They worried his anger might turn on them.

‘He might chop our heads off for not keeping Scarlet in check.’
‘A commoner daring to hang out with our Scarlet? Off with his head!’
‘He wouldn’t actually kill us, right? Right?’

Anyone facing Sane’s piercing eyes and icy demeanor would shrink back and have such thoughts,
especially with the terrifying rumors about him.
The trio was starting to understand why those rumors were so fearsome.

“Come in and sit. I called you, Scarlet’s Party, including Scarlet herself, to discuss something.”
“…Yes, sir.”
“Alright…”

Surprisingly, Sane was quite polite.
His tone and gaze were still cold and stiff, but there was a sense of respect and consideration.

The three hesitantly sat on the sofa.
Scarlet, watching them, grinned as if amused and said,

“See? He’s not what you expected, right?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Either annoyed by Scarlet’s smug grin or uncomfortable that she was talking about something he didn’t understand,
Sane frowned at her again.

“Huh? Oh, nothing~”

Of course, it didn’t faze Scarlet in the slightest.

“What I want to ask of you is…”
“Oh, right! Sane, did you hear?!”

Just as Sane sat at the head sofa to start the conversation,
Scarlet jumped in, as if something had just occurred to her.

“I’m in the middle of talking…”

Sane’s frown deepened, but Scarlet ignored him and continued.

“Kane, you know! He quit the academy!”
“…I’m aware.”

His tone somehow grew even colder.

‘Does he hate Kane?’
‘His face stiffened the moment Kane’s name came up.’

If his earlier vibe was sharp and piercing,
the moment Kane’s name was mentioned, it turned as cold as eternal frost.
Just sitting there gave them chills, like they’d catch a cold.

“So I told him to try being an adventurer instructor. Doesn’t seem like he’s planning to return to the marquisate.”
“…Obviously. That guy shouldn’t come back here.”

His voice was even icier than before.

Jerome, Arna, and Ron were trembling for no reason.

“Oh, right. Isn’t Jenny’s appointment ceremony around now? Don’t you need to go? I left home when she was little, so it’d be awkward for me to show up as her big sister. But you’re different, right?”
“…I’m going to step out for some air.”

Even when Scarlet changed the subject to Jenny, Sane’s demeanor remained as cold as a frozen lake.

Swish—Click.

Only after he left the study
did Scarlet’s companions finally feel like they could breathe.

“Phew… I thought I was gonna freeze to death.”
“Is Marquis Sane secretly an ice mage?”
“Seems plausible.”

The three glared at Scarlet, the source of the frosty atmosphere, with resentful eyes.

“You seriously…”
“Why do you keep poking at him?”
“Well, I thought he’d be curious about Kane’s updates…”

Scarlet scratched the back of her head with an awkward smile, slightly flustered.

“He gets like that just hearing Kane’s name.”

And at her next words,

“Even if he respects him, come on. Kane’s not even here—just mentioning him shouldn’t make him that tense, right?”
“Huh…?”
“What…?”
“Uh…?”

All three expressed the biggest question mark they’d felt in a while.