By Zephyria 
‘Hello, Noah Hamilton. My name is Allen, and I will be working as your exclusive servant from today. I look forward to working with you.’
No matter how well I had prepared my mind, Allen, who was a big shock just to encounter, came to me the very next morning with a bright smile. No one will ever properly understand the complex emotions I felt at that time.
An ordinary servant would not dare to speak to me first, but Allen brazenly stuck his head in front of me with a strangely confident attitude.
Ever since the Crown Prince designated me as his Royal Consort, he occasionally visited the mansion himself. Consequently, selecting servants to attend to me became an incredibly meticulous process over the past few years. Among those who had served the Count family for at least two generations, anyone with even a hint of suspicion or a frivolous nature was immediately dismissed. Only those with tight lips and quick wits could serve me under Nicole’s supervision.
Yet, someone who had barely joined was suddenly assigned as my personal servant. It was an absurd measure by any standard.
I asked Allen, who was smiling brightly, who had pushed him into this position.
“The Young Count appointed me directly.”
And Allen said that Andrew had directly thrust him before me.
I immediately went to find Andrew, wanting to grab his collar and ask if he had lost his mind, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I intended to ask him what he was thinking, assigning a servant whose trustworthiness hadn’t been verified to my side.
However, Andrew repeatedly avoided me with various excuses. He claimed to be too busy with the upcoming succession to the Count title in a few years, so I had no reason to press him for a meeting. Judging by his domineering attitude that day, I thought he would imprison me by his side immediately.
If this was his intention, why did he utter such insane things like he couldn’t let me go or that I should give up? It was such a cowardly act that I couldn’t help but wonder. Perhaps my seizure and fainting in his arms were quite shocking to him.
“Hey, what are you doing, not moving?”
Nicole’s voice, sharp and edgy, reached my ears as I was lost in thought.
Aside from my animosity towards Frederick, Nicole in this iteration seemed to have a particularly bad first impression of Allen. Normally, she would only dislike Allen after he found his place and was constantly compared to me. Before that, she would often act quite affectionately, saying he resembled me in some ways.
“Stop it, Nicole. Freddy, come sit here. Ah, Allen, could you go to the kitchen and bring us a cool juice?”
After pulling Frederick to sit next to me, I subtly gestured to Allen, who seemed strangely dejected. Allen bowed once and disappeared towards the main building. He soon returned with a tray holding a glass of cool juice filled with ice.
“Young Master, should I place the juice in front of Frederick?”
Watching his beaming face, I was overcome with a sense of unease.
…There’s definitely something. Just as I am different in this iteration, Allen is also… definitely different.
It was difficult to pinpoint exactly what was different, but I felt it instinctively.
A docile nature that smiled readily at anyone, and frustrating bangs that covered half of his face. On the surface, it didn’t seem much different from the early stages of the previous iterations. Just as my minor changes in behavior had drawn the Crown Prince to my side and accelerated the conflict in the North, perhaps Allen’s appearance had simply been hastened by some unknown action… It would be easy to think that way, but there was still an unsettling feeling.
‘Yes. Good work, Allen.’
That day, Andrew had definitely said that. The esteemed Young Count, who wouldn’t remember the name of a mere servant, remembered the name of an employee who had barely joined and even called him by name.
“Yes. Thank you.”
“Please let me know if you need anything else.”
I couldn’t let this continue. I had to meet that pathetic coward who kept avoiding me somehow.
It was a peaceful afternoon tea time.
“So. My brother is busy again today? So busy that he can’t spare a moment to see his younger brother?”
“Well, Young Master…”
“How amusing. He said ten minutes would be enough, but even that’s difficult. At this rate, my esteemed brother won’t even have time to eat properly for days.”
At my cynical mockery, the person standing before me shrunk his shoulders in distress, unsure of what to do. It was Evans, the assistant head butler who would be appointed as the head butler of the mansion when Andrew inherited the Count title.
“Open the door immediately.”
“Young Master Noah…”
According to Nicole, Evans was quite strict with his subordinates, but fortunately, I wasn’t one of them. The Young Count is busy, please be understanding, Young Master, he would politely plead, and I would usually give in, saying, “Alright, alright,” and back down. But now that I was acting so resolutely, he seemed at a loss.
“You won’t open it? Then I’ll go in myself.”
“H-Hey, Young Master Noah!”
I brushed past Evans, who was trying to block my path, and stood in front of Andrew’s office. Evans couldn’t dare to lay a hand on a nobleman and could only fidget anxiously. Considering the nobility’s tendency to value appearances more than their lives, barging in despite such a clear refusal would be shocking… wouldn’t it?
I decided not to be held back by such useless concerns anymore. I had to say what needed to be said. And frankly, even if it wasn’t for Allen, I needed to see Andrew and sort things out between us.
“You’re listening, aren’t you, brother? I’m coming in.”
Without knocking, I simply grabbed the doorknob and pulled.
“…”
Despite hearing all the commotion outside, Andrew Hamilton didn’t even look up, maintaining his businesslike expression.
“I have something to discuss with my brother in private, so don’t let anyone in.”
I warned Evans, who was neither dragging me out nor welcoming me as a proper visitor, but simply sweating profusely, and then slammed the office door shut with a loud bang. Andrew didn’t even glance at me as I roamed around his office like a lawless person. But that thorough indifference clearly proved his heightened nerves.
As evidence, he was currently…
“Brother.”
“…”
He was pretending to concentrate on his work, repeatedly tracing the short, simple phrases written on the document with his hand, something his intelligent brain couldn’t possibly fail to understand. How pathetic. A scoff escaped me involuntarily.
“It’s not the first time you’ve done something I don’t understand, brother.”
“…”
“If you’re going to do something, could you at least tell me the reason?”
I was trying to remain calm and collected, to rationally understand the situation, but once the floodgates opened, I couldn’t help but speak faster.
It was a disgusting fact, but Andrew had said that he loved me.
Affection: 87%
Looking at the high affection score floating above his head, it was clear that it was the unvarnished truth.
But how? How could he send Allen as my personal servant when he loved me, when he had… longed for me all along? I didn’t care about his rotten affection, but despite that, an irreversible sense of betrayal and disgust writhed deep within my heart.
Even if he didn’t know Allen’s true identity at this point, my deep-seated anger wasn’t the kind of emotion that could be resolved with logical rebuttals. It was Allen, wasn’t it? Allen Hamilton, who had repeatedly defeated me and thrown me into the mire.
It would be better to receive Andrew’s kiss than this, even if it was equally disgusting. It would be better to pant pathetically at his Pheromone and beg him to kiss me without any pride. It was truly much better than Allen being placed so close to me by his command.
“You’re listening, aren’t you? Say something.”
“…”
How dare you inflict such humiliation on me when you don’t even have the courage to meet my gaze?
The anger I had painstakingly suppressed for days was now spitting out fierce sparks. I strode over and snatched the document that Andrew hadn’t even managed to turn a page of. Only then did his sapphire-like deep blue eyes clearly capture my image.
“Even that damned incident last time had a plausible reason.”
“…”
“You said it was because you loved me.”
“…”
“Andrew Hamilton.”
Affection: 87.7%
Affection: 88.5%
If I simply maintained eye contact, his affection score would inevitably rise. Hahaha. I let out a dry laugh. It was a sharp laugh mixed with mockery and contempt.
“…His hands are quite skillful, aren’t they?”
“What did you say?”
What could that possibly be a reason for… I was about to ask back in disbelief.
“He was hired temporarily, so there’s a need to observe him further… But from what I’ve seen so far, he doesn’t seem like a bad person to have as a subordinate. He’s tight-lipped and has skillful hands. I know what you’re worried about. But there’s nothing to worry about.”
I sensed a strange dissonance. His deep blue eyes, which had at least been somewhat clear even if he couldn’t meet my gaze due to guilt or despair, suddenly lost their focus and became hazy. The praise for Allen that followed was undeniably artificial.
Andrew Hamilton. The well-bred Young Count before my eyes, who often looked down on me, even though I was a noble from a cadet branch, for my humble origins. And yet, he was scrutinizing and praising a mere servant so thoroughly?
It didn’t make sense. Considering the deeply rooted character settings of “Andrew Hamilton,” there was no way to explain it. In the original story, as well as in all the repeated iterations so far, Andrew had never paid attention to Allen as a servant. It was only after Allen completed the verification at the temple and was confirmed to be a member of the Hamilton Count family that Andrew became rapidly devoted to his rediscovered younger brother. Until then, no matter how many times they met, Allen was nothing more than an anonymous servant to Andrew.
“What… are you talking about…”
I felt a strange chill at his blank, hazy gaze. The corners of the mouth of the pathetic coward who couldn’t even meet my eyes… twisted upwards at a very strange angle.
“I won’t accept any objections. Allen will continue to be by your side. Forever.”
After speaking, Andrew pushed my shoulders roughly, as if he were an actor who had finished his lines. I stumbled backwards, pushed by an external force. I didn’t have time to distinguish whether I had been chased off the stage or pulled onto it.
And in front of the office door where I had been kicked out.
“Ah, Young Master.”
“…”
“You were here. I was so worried when you disappeared without saying a word.”
Allen was waiting for me.
“Shall we go back now?”
Armed with an exceedingly gentle voice and an exceedingly kind smile. My oldest nightmare.