Free Web NovelChapter 2: Loving Family
The maid fell silent after her first remark, moving instead to the washbasin where she arranged the toiletries with precise, practiced movements.
"Master Vincent, please wash up. Lady Vivienne is expecting you for breakfast."
The maid bowed lightly after speaking and wheeled the cart out of the room.
"Okay. I’ll be there in a bit," I said, stepping toward the washbasin.
In the corner of my vision, I noticed Anastasia pause.
She turned slightly and looked at me.
Not for long, just a few seconds.
Then she quietly left the room.
’What? Does this maid have a crush on me or something?’
[Negative. There’s absolutely no Entanglement between the host and the housemaid.]
’Tch. I was joking. I know my stuff so no need to rub it in my face.’
The system probably forgot the fact that I have no experience with women. Not to mention, I don’t think I’d luck out hard to actually have someone love me in this life without putting in any effort.
Positive self-talk was talked about in my past life for better mental health, but sometimes one needs to be realistic and accept that they’re a loser.
I was one and look at how pathetically I died.
I splash some warm water on my face.
Though, now that I have a second chance at life and a system—which somehow is more useless than anything—I don’t think I’ll waste it. I’ll make a decent effort and maybe... just maybe...
I wash my face with a towel and move towards the closet.
Maybe in this life I’d have someone whom I can call a wife and two children of my own. I could only dream then and make fake scenarios of a happy life at 3 am, but now... maybe I could turn things around?
Let’s see.
I searched the closet for the best fit and got dressed, stepping out of my room to head downstairs.
The mansion was already awake. Servants moved quietly along the corridors, their presence felt more than heard. Doors opened before I reached them, then closed just as silently behind me.
By the time I reached the dining hall, the doors were already open.
Inside, the atmosphere shifted.
It was quiet.
Heavy.
And a lot more formal than what I thought.
I stepped in.
A long table stretched across the room, set with polished silverware and neatly arranged dishes.
Two figures were already seated, and neither of them bothered to look up. There was only the sound of faint clinking of cutlery against porcelain.
[Appraising profiles...]
I ignored the system for now and focused on the two.
Among the two, the one closer to me was a young lady with neatly tied red hair. Her posture was straight, too straight to be honest, and she wasted no movement with her fork and knife like a trained soldier.
Her deep crimson eyes rested on her plate, calm, focused, as if my arrival wasn’t worth acknowledging.
She wore a fitted black dress with red accents along the sleeves and collar, matching her hair and eyes.
Everything about her was quite intimidating, even though she looked only slightly older than me.
My gaze then fell on the lady seated at the head of the table.
Black hair fell smoothly over her shoulders, contrasting against the dark fabric of her dress. Her features were composed, almost cold, with an effortless authority that didn’t need to be shown. It simply existed.
Her eyes, a clear, piercing blue, remained on her meal.
She hadn’t looked at me either.
For some reason, that felt even more oppressive than if she had.
’What a warm, loving family.’ I sighed inwardly and went to sit opposite the young red-haired lady.
"Good morning, mother." I greeted the head of the family and made my presence known.
"Good morning, sister." I turned to the young lady and said.
There was a slight pause among both.
A brief silence followed.
Both of them looked up at the same time.
’What? Did I misread the protocol?’ I felt somewhat on edge.
"You’ve finally learned to greet your family when you sit?" The mature lady asked in a neutral tone.
From the lady’s comment, it seemed like the previous Vincent was not greeting his family during breakfast.
What a weird guy to not show even basic respect to family.
While I did not know how exactly the relationship between the previous owner of this body was with his mother, I knew I had to do something about this atmosphere or it would stay like that for a long time.
I put my hand on my chest and gave a small, slightly stiff bow.
"I... I think I was wrong before. I’ll try to do better."
’That came out worse than how it sounded in my head.’
I cleared my throat and continued,
"Please... uhh... bear with me."
Mother’s eyebrow was slightly raised. It was subtle but I could see it nonetheless.
She put her fork and knife down, locking her fingers in front of her and placing her chin on it, staring at me with an interested look, as if I was some interesting animal.
At the front, the red-haired young lady had put her fork and knife down too.
She was staring in my direction with an emotionless gaze, probably questioning what I had just said.
’Tch. The situation seems to keep worsening the more I say something. Should I just keep quiet?’
It was this point that something interesting happened.
[Ding!]
[Behavior deviation detected in host interaction patterns.]
[Entanglement threshold adjusted.]
[Subjects affected: Vanessa D’Arc, Vivienne D’Arc.]
[Entanglement increased!]
[Fate Deviation Rank increased slightly.]
[Current Rank: F → F+ (unstable)]
[Starter Pack Unlock Condition Progressed: 1/3]
Notifications kept flashing in my vision while the mechanical voice kept speaking in my mind.
Apparently I did something out of the norm and it triggered a lot of things. I would need to have a look at what each of these are, but not now when I am being stared at by two seriously intimidating women.
’Welp. At least I now know my mother and sister’s names. Just need to figure out which is Vivienne and which is Vanessa.’
Mother met my gaze, giving me no room to look away.
"What brought the sudden change?"
"Well..." My mind quickly thought of multiple reasons, almost short-circuiting. "Call it a sudden moment of self-reflection."
Mother raised her eyebrows slightly, not expecting such an answer.
"Or have you finally stopped drinking?"
’Tch. So this guy had that kind of reputation.’
I let out a visible sigh to express myself better. "That’s right. I am not only stopping that but every other bad habit so I can be better."
"Mh-hm."
Mother’s response was just her humming. I couldn’t tell whether she was agreeing, disagreeing or thinking of something else.
At the side, I caught a slight frown on my sister’s face.
’Is my relationship with my sister so bad that she gets annoyed over me wanting to change myself? Just, just what did the previous Vincent do to make the relationship this sour?’
I look away from her, turning to my mother again. She was still staring at me, having not turned her gaze.
"Is there something you want to tell me, mother?" I asked, confused by her response.
"Yes." Contrary to my belief, she was straightforward in responding. "You wish to change but those are empty words. You need to back them with action." frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
I wanted to sigh again.
’Can’t she just agree with me so we can get done with the breakfast? I haven’t had a single bite of food yet. I am hungry...’
Before death, cup noodles were my staple for lunch and dinner. I haven’t had a proper meal for a long time, and now in front of me was a table full of good food.
The aroma of warm bread soothed my soul even though in my past life I belonged to an ethnicity that ate rice.
I forced out a polite smile and said, "Of course. What can I do for it, mother?"
Mother had a slight smile on her face as if was amused by my agreement.
"Duke Leurox is hosting a masquerade ball tonight for his daughter’s nineteenth birthday. I want you to represent the house."
Before I could respond to it, my sister interjected.
"Mother..." my sister’s brows were furrowed. "Are you serious about this?"
The smile from my mother’s face was gone.
She glanced at my sister, and her gaze did not contain the gentleness of a mother.
"Did I ask for your opinion, young lady?"
My sister slightly frowned but then eased her brows and said, "My apologies."
She went back to quietly having her breakfast, not interfering with our conversation again.
’It’s so cold out here...’ I let out an internal sigh, pondering about my bleak and arduous future in this family.
My mother turned to me again. She had a neutral look on her face as she asked, "What do you think of the ball, Vincent? Will you represent the house?"
I let out a slight nod and tried my best to be as polite as possible. "I can but..."
I paused.
’Wait, can I make any requests? Let me see...’
"...but?" Mother tilted her head.
I cleared my throat and continued, "It’s a lot of responsibility to represent the house, so to ensure I don’t sully the name, can you assign someone by my side?"
My mother raised her eyebrows as she heard that.
She leaned back on her chair.
’Did she not understand me properly?’ I thought.
"Ah well, you know it’s like—"
Clap! Clap!
Before I could explain everything in a more easy to understand manner, my mother clapped twice.
A brunette maid steadily walked in and stood beside my mother.
My mother didn’t glance at her but instead stared in my direction, saying,
"Vincent will be representing the house at tonight’s ball. Prepare for his departure and ensure to assign someone with political know-hows as his attendant."
"Understood. I’ll tend to it immediately." The maid bowed and left the dining hall.
"Anything else?" My mother asked me in a casual tone.
I shook my head. "No. Thank you."
[Ding!]
[Starter Pack Unlock Condition Progressed: 2/3]
’Wow. Did agreeing to the ball cause that?’ I wondered.
Mother said nothing more and neither did my sister.
The conversation died down and everyone focused on breakfast.
I had a hearty meal and was satisfied, feeling the regrets of my past life slowly vanishing.
Getting out of the dining hall, I saw the blonde maid Anastasia again.
She had a slight look of confusion on her face as she saw me. It was for a short duration before she wiped it off and bowed.
"Master Vincent, please follow me to the courtyard."
I nodded and followed her.
As we moved through the mansion, I could see many maids and wondered why it was only Anastasia I kept seeing so often.
’Is it because she’s my personal maid or is it that she’s super obsessed with me and just can’t let any opportunity slip?’
Her reaction from earlier lingered in my mind. That split-second confusion didn’t look ordinary.
’...yeah no, it’s not like she found something off as a regressor and is now following me. I mean, it’s not like it is abnormal for Vincent in the fifth iteration to suddenly attend a ball, right?’
I shake my head lightly.
’She most definitely is following me because she has a crush on me. Tsk, tsk, women in love are so clingy...’
We reached a study where there were a few maids waiting.
Apparently the last time I went to a ball was a few years ago due to reasons the maids did not state. Some customs had slightly changed so I was being taught everything from scratch so that I did not mess anything up.
It was boring work and mostly etiquettes which a modern man would find meaningless.
Anastasia stayed throughout, performing her role as my attendant as we practiced.
I later had a small lunch which was meat and some bread. I was given a strong wine as per ’my’ taste, but I rejected it and went with plain water.
Then followed some more etiquettes. Then more.
And just when I thought it was over...
More etiquette.
By the time it ended during the afternoon tea, I had learned one important thing—
I would rather fight a war than attend a ball.
I sat across from my mother and sister again, a small pastry placed before me.
Straight back. Small bites. Slow movements.
I followed everything I had just been taught.
No rushing. No mistakes.
Even when I really, really wanted to just grab it and be done with it.
’Stay calm... don’t pounce on it like an uncultured swine.’ ƒгeewebnovёl.com
Outwardly, I kept a composed expression.
Inwardly, I was fighting for my life.
I could see my mother and sister staring at me throughout, probably amused by the sudden refined sight I was exuding.
The conversation was as light as the pastry I had, and finishing up, I went to get dressed and finally left for the ball in a horse-driven carriage alongside Anastasia as my attendant.
...
A/N: Mc pov ends here.
