I was now alone in the center of the room with the second most powerful man in the Kingdom. I struggled to keep my knees from shaking while body felt like curling into a ball just from his intense stare.

Suddenly, a knock broke the silence.

"Lord father, I'm here"

The door opened and a young man clad in silver armour entered. His face told me that he was somewhat weary, fatigued even, but I did not dare to assume.

He was maybe in his teens, his body was evidently built, even under the armour I could tell. He had silver blonde hair which was very much like Lady Juliette's own. What's intriguing however was his left eye. His right eye was colour blue, much like the young lady's, but his left eye was strangely enough a dull color of gray.

He sent a fleeting glance at me that, for some unknown reason, sent a shiver down my spine as he walked towards the Lord's desk.

He lightly bowed before the Lord before taking a sit at the sofa.

"So, this is the boy, huh?"

The young man addressed me as he took his sit. His eyes were surveying me from head to toe, as if looking for my value.

The first to speak was the Lord,

"Boy, do you know who I am?"

His aura was now calmer than what it was before, but it was still pretty intimidating.

".. only what I was told, my Lord. You are Duke Carmine"

"Hoh? So you can speak"

The duke cupped his chin as he spoke.

"Nevertheless, I'll still introduce myself, my name is Jules Von Sera Carmine, I am the duke of the Carmine territories in the west. This here is my son and heir, Jorgé Von Sera Carmine, he has travelled from our territory to here in order to help me decide what to do with you"

It seems that the young man was Juliette's older brother.

"He came here even though he's very busy running our territory, so I'd like it if you cooperate with us so we can make this quick"

The Duke seemed somewhat displeased, but he's still keeping up with appearances,

"Why don't we start by you telling us your name, who are you?"

The Lord asked me a pretty reasonable question, but I was at a loss as to how I answer his question about my name, so I decided to just use the name Lady Juliette gave me.

"My lord, my name is Larc--"

"I meant your real name, boy"

His tone seemed more displeased now,

"... I'm sorry, my lord, but I have no name save for the one the young Lady gave me"

The Duke looked at me, and then at his son, as if asking for something.

The young lord nodded and spoke,

"He's telling the truth"

I was confused by these words,

Could he tell if I was lying or not?

The Duke nodded and faced me again,

"Hmm, very well, then. I shall address you as Larc. So, Larc, where did you come from, how did you stumble upon my daughter?"

He continued his questioning.

Seeing the silver armoured young man stare straight at me made me very uncomfortable. Although I had nothing to hide, his intense stare made it seem like he was digging through my mind.

I wanted to pick my next words carefully, but decided to just lay it all on the table, of course excluding the fact that one half of me came from another world.

"I came from the slums, my Lord." I answered meekly as I broke eye contact with lord Jorgé.

"Al my life I had lived there. My meeting with your daughter was purely coincidental. I had stumbled upon her in the alley as I was looking for a place to rest"

The duke once again looked at his son.

With his eyebrows raised, lord Jorgé exhaled and fixed up his sitting position.

"He's telling the truth." He answered as he crossed his arms."

I wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, but his next words sent my insides to a disarray.

"However I can see that there's something else" He said.

[Oh shit! Did he figure out that I left the part where I have two memories inside me? So he can tell a if a person is lying!]

I cursed myself.

[how will I explain that to them, will they even believe me if I told them? Shit]

My thought was disrupted by the Duke's sudden shout.

"So he's keeping a secret?! Is he a spy?!"

The young man merely shrugged at his father's anger,

"Well, it's not exactly as if he's keeping it a secret, there's just something else in there that even he doesn't know of, and regarding the spy business, I highly doubt that. I would have already seen through him if he was.. His black hair is quite peculiar though"

[It seems that I haven't been found out yet, thank god.. but what's wrong with my hair, is it not common in this world?]

The young man had noted my hair color, as if it was something weird.

[...Come to think of it, I hadn't seen anyone else with black hair since I came here, even Barko had brown hair]

I thought to myself as the young lord continued his explanation,

"That hair color is more prominent in the North, to be precise, in the Kingdom of Ferahim, maybe your parents came from there and migrated here"

".. I'm sorry, but I never met my parents"

[I've been alone for as long as I can remember, so this is also not a lie]

"We'll leave that matter for the time being, I still have a question to ask, You, boy!"

The Duke addressed me yet again,

"I heard from the Knight that he saw a dead person where my daughter was, along with your body. What exactly happened there?"

[Oh? So the young miss hadn't told the Lord yet?]

"...My lord, I was walking through the alley, when I encountered your daughter, she was crying, and alone.. So I wanted to help her"

"We encountered the man, Barko Flay, in that same alley, he wanted to take the young miss.. so I killed him. But I was too injured, so I passed out." I continued my story as I meekly held my head down and clutched my clothings.

I wondered why I was acting like so. I was supposed to be a college student, and yet my emotions couldn't help but feel scared in front of these two people.

Perhaps it's the demeanor of the child from the slums? I really couldn't tell.

The duke's expression suddenly turned pale, and then angry. He then looked at his son for another time, this time with a more concerned look.

The young lord only closed his eyes and nodded.

The duke looked down on his desk and solemnly spoke,

"..So it seems that you did save my daughter, I have misjudged you. Allow me to apologize"

The duke was about to bow his head, when I stopped him.

"P-please don't! My lord, the young miss also saved my life, it was nothing special, I only did what was right"

"But still.. when I think about what could have happened to my beloved daughter, had you not found her--"

The duke clutched his hands and bit his lower lip, it seems that he was very worried.

"My daughter had always been free spirited, she said that she wanted to go to a store in the commoner's district, so I allowed her, accompanied by guards, of course. I didn't think that she would hide from the guards like that, I was naive"

"Lord father, don't blame yourself too much. Nothing happened in the end, right? Besides, we still have the matter of this boy to talk about"

The duke looked back up, he stared at me and nodded,

"Umu.. yes, Larc"

His sudden mention of my new name surprised me,

"Y-yes, my lord!"

"Allow me to offer you my sincerest gratitude, for bringing back my beloved daughter to me"

The duke then bowed his head

I was so surprised by his sudden actions, I couldn't do anything, I just stood there mouth closing and opening. The young lord merely looked at me with a smile.

"So, now that that's done, Lord father, will you excuse me? I also want to make the best of my time here in the capital"

Seems that the young lord had other businesses to attend to,

"Umu, you're free to leave. Thank you, Jorgé, also, why don't you visit your fiancee, It would be disrespectful not to"

"By your will, lord father"

With that, the young lord bowed and walked to the door, he lightly pat my shoulder and whispered in my ear as he walked by me.

"Good luck"

His words were quiet, but I could hear them.

I looked at his back in confusion, but he didn't spare me another look, he continued to walk towards the door and exited.

"Now then"

The lord spoke up once again, he gestured to one of the knights flanking the door,

"Go call for Juliette"

"Yes, my lord"

The knight bowed and exited the room.

The duke addressed the young lady standing before him,

It hadn't been long since the young lady entered the room with her handmaiden. She glanced at me before walking straight to the Lord's desk,

"Yes, Papa! I'm here"

"Umu.. after careful deliberations I have considered your proposal to hire this young boy"

The girl looked at her Papa in anticipation.

The lord sighed,

"I shall allow it"

"YES!

"However"

His next words were like cold water that doused the young lady's enthusiasm,

The lord held out two fingers.

"I shall allow it, under two conditions. first, Larc will train under my personal butler, Alford. He will teach him the duties that are expected of a butler, and how to properly execute them"

"Secondly, you have to promise me that you will properly attend your lessons from now on, and you will not sneak away like the last time"

The girl smiled as if saying 'thats all?' she then happily replied,

"Yes Papa! I promise to properly attend my lessons from now on! And I won't sneak away ever again!"

"Umu.. good. Now then, what do you say, Larc? Would you accept being my daughter's personal butler and bodyguard? If not then I can give you compensation for the trouble my daughter caused you, and send you back, the choice is yours"

"Wha-- Larc! You want to stay with me right?!"

The young lady was visibly panicked by her father's proposal.

She looked at me with pleading eyes, her pair of sapphires, glittered as if she was crying, her hand clasped together.

[Cute]

I unconsciously thought to myself.

[Wait! That's not the problem right now!]

I contemplated for a moment,

The young lady must have misunderstood my silence for refusal, because her eyes were now even more moist than before,

[Good lord, in the end, I'm weak to this girl huh, very well]

"My lord"

The young lady and the lord looked at me in anticipation,

I then lowered my head and took to one knee,

"I shall accept, my lord. Please allow this one to serve under Lady Juliette. And though I'm lacking right now, I shall strive harder in the future in order to be a servant suited for the prestige of this house"

"YES! Then from now on, you are my pe-- er- I mean, my butler!"

The young lady was even more enthusiastic than before. She smiled as she thrust her fist in the sky, frankly, she was quite cute.

"Umu, very well said, Larc. Complete your training with Alford, and I'm sure you'll grow into a fine servant"

"By your will, my lord"

As the young lady continued celebrating, I couldn't help but wonder about my future. However, all those worries were washed away by the big smile and shining eyes of the cute girl I met in the slums.

"Then, do well on your training, Larc!"

"Yes, my lady"

Neither Ryouma nor the boy from the slums answered the young lady. Both of those people had died, I'm no longer them, and they're no longer me. From here on out, I am Larc, a servant of House Carmine, and the personal butler (pet?) Of Lady Juliette. I could only look forward to my future with this energetic young lady.