Joel decided he wouldn’t hold back any longer.
He stood up abruptly, fork in hand.
He then proceeded to stab the chunks of ham on the plates of the mother and her three sons, placing two large pieces each in front of Becky and Rob.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“It’s my ham. From now on, I’ll be the one distributing it. If you have a problem with that, don’t eat at all.”
Joel snapped coldly at the woman and snatched the knife right out of her hand.
Becky, who had been watching the confrontation with bated breath, tried to quietly push back the ham Joel had given her.
Even while glaring at the mother, Joel didn’t miss the movement.
“Becky, stop. I promised I’d make a sandwich for your brother too, didn’t I? That’s why I brought out this ham. It’s thanks to you that your family is getting to taste ham and bread at all. It makes no sense for you not to eat a single piece. So, eat it.”
“M-My Lord. I ate that sandwich you gave me earlier, so I’m full….”
Becky answered in a shrinking voice.
It was true that after eating a sandwich packed with six thick slices of ham, she likely was full.
“Then give it to your brother,” Joel said. Madame Nora muttered to herself just loud enough to be heard.
“Good grief, no sense of gratitude for being given a place to sleep….”
“Gratitude? I’ve been lenient because of Becky, but you keep overstepping. Fine, I won’t stay here. Do you want to return the silver coin I gave you?”
Joel spoke with the sharp authority he used when dealing with insolent servants.
Having endured much harassment in the capital due to his own background, Joel was well-versed in handling subordinates who looked down on him, and his arrogant demeanor was truly aristocratic.
Madame Nora, unable to withstand Joel’s feline ferocity, finally backed down.
With a triumphant air, Joel picked up the knife.
He sliced the ham half as thin as his own and dropped it onto the mother’s plate as if throwing it.
He intended to give the three sons—who looked just as unpleasant as their mother—small portions as well, but thinking the children were innocent, he cut them reasonably sized pieces.
After that uncomfortable first day, the mother woke up late the next morning, prepared a lackluster breakfast, and disappeared somewhere with a basket.
Joel tried to help Becky with the housework, but she waved him off, saying, “My Lord, that is out of the question.
Please rest,” leaving him with nothing to do but sit around.
Joel observed the house carefully.
Unlike Becky and Rob, who woke at dawn to work busily, the other three sons spent the whole day idling about.
Though they were only four, five, and six years old—arguably too young for heavy chores—the dynamic was still strange.
The three brothers treated their much older sister like a servant, even bullying her by pulling on her braids while she was mopping.
Becky didn’t even scold them; she simply focused on her work.
With three young children to look after, she didn’t have a moment to catch her breath.
Unable to watch any longer, Joel tried to scold them, but Becky immediately dropped her rag and stepped in front of her brothers.
She looked as though she was actually afraid of them.
“My Lord, come to think of it, my brother said he’d look after your mule as a thank you. If you’re bored, why don’t you go check on them?”
Becky said, practically pushing him out the door.
When he approached Rob, who was hauling hay, and relayed Becky’s words, Rob sat Joel down in the shade.
“Ah, right. Sit here and I’ll bring the mule over shortly.”
Joel watched from the cool shade as Rob tended to Jack the mule.
“He’s a very sturdy and handsome fellow. This guy must have cost a fair bit, didn’t he?”
Rob struck up a conversation energetically while combing the mule’s mane.
Joel, feeling proud since he had picked the mule himself, replied with a shrug, “Well, he wasn’t exactly cheap.”
Rob then checked the mule’s hooves.
“No inflammation; they just need a little trimming,” he said, skillfully tidying the hooves.
Under Rob’s care, Jack the mule closed his eyes comfortably and snorted contentedly.
“You’re quite skilled. You seem a bit young to be a herder, though.”
“I’m not that young. I’m already fourteen.”
“What?”
Joel was shocked; he had guessed Rob was around ten.
As it turned out, Becky, whom he thought was fourteen, was actually seventeen.
It seemed the siblings looked much younger than their age because of their small, frail frames.
Even if the family was struggling, the three younger brothers were plump—so why were only Becky and Rob starving?
Angry, Joel pressed him.
“Why are you and your sister treated differently? Are you half-siblings or something?”
Rob only responded with a troubled smile.
“Ah….”
Joel realized he had hit the mark.
“I knew the mother’s attitude was strange. But then, is your father just standing by and watching you two be treated like this?”
“Haha, well….”
Rob laughed awkwardly again. In truth, his father was a drunkard and a gambler.
He had been sold off to the mines due to massive debts and only came home three or four times a year.
When he was home, he was constantly drowned in alcohol.
Furthermore, he actually got along well with the stepmother—so well they had three children in three years.
But explaining all of that to a sheltered noble would be a waste of breath. Rob simply said, “…Father is a miner and rarely comes home. He doesn’t know much about the household situation. And my stepmother isn’t that bad of a person.”
However, Joel, who had lived a life of abuse for the past three years, guessed much from the look of resignation in Rob’s eyes.
He went back to the house and called Becky over.
He grabbed her thin wrist and forced her sleeve up; sure enough, her skin was covered in the pinch and scratch marks he had suspected.
“…So that’s why you were looking for a fairy.”
After staring at Becky’s arm in stunned silence, Joel finally managed to whisper.
When a person encounters a hardship that feels impossible to solve by human strength alone, even the most rational person is forced to lean on hollow hopes.
At Joel’s meaningful words, Becky looked as though she might cry.
The Crown Prince, who had arrived in the Kingdom of Palain certain he would find Joel, found his face contorted in anger once again.
Based on Lord Bennett’s confession and the letters Joel had exchanged with a foreign lord, he had been sure he’d reclaim Joel this time—but he was met only by the bewildered face of the foreign noble.
Using frantic gestures toward the translator, the foreign lord argued vehemently: while it was true he had signed a tutor contract with an Imperial noble named Joel Lucas, he had no idea the man was a candidate for the Crown Princess, and Joel had never actually arrived at his estate.
Unable to believe the lord, the Crown Prince searched the manor himself.
He spent nearly half a day interrogating the servants, but the conclusion remained the same: Joel had never set foot in Palain.
“Where on earth did Joel go?!”
The Crown Prince slammed his hand on the desk, unable to contain his frustration.
He felt as though his blood was drying up.
If Joel were even half as smart as Benjamin, he wouldn’t be this anxious.
As the Prince began to pull at his hair in agitation, Abe, the Knight Commander, tried to soothe him.
“Your Highness, please stay calm….”
“Abe, you said there was a report of someone resembling Joel crossing the border near the North. What happened with that?”
“We successfully tracked and captured him, but it turned out he was just an ordinary merchant.”
“Dammit.”
The Crown Prince cursed, running his hand through his already disheveled hair once more.
“Your Highness, we have searched the northern territories thoroughly but found no trace of Young Master Joel. Is it possible… that Master Joel anticipated the tight security in the North and went somewhere else to throw us off?”
Abe tentatively offered his opinion.
However, realizing Joel wasn’t likely that meticulous, his voice trailed off uncertainly.
“Or perhaps he misread the map and is wandering somewhere else entirely. Regardless, it seems unlikely he is in the North right now.”
“Impossible. No matter how much common sense Joel lacks, there’s no way he doesn’t know how to read a map—”
The Crown Prince, who had been rubbing his face irritably with his hands, suddenly froze at the realization that, if it were Joel, it was entirely possible.
That made it even worse.
He had been somewhat relieved when Lord Bennett said he sent Joel off with a map and a compass, but what if Joel had taken the wrong path entirely?
Images of Joel lost and sobbing in the woods or falling off a cliff and being gravely injured flashed through his mind.
Unable to bear the anxiety, the Crown Prince bolted upright from his seat.
