Obsessed with Regressors

“Are you engaged?”

Count Burns put on a look as if he didn’t know what to say. Then he came to her side and poked his head out the window on her side and said.

“Where did you see him?”

They already passed him. The carriage was still running, so it was quite a distance from the alley where she found the Awning.

It smelled good. Count Burns’ body touched the back of her head as she checked outside. He smelled pretty good. It was a cool, masculine scent. Even though it was midsummer, she felt refreshed.

“That alley. The one you said I was better off not knowing.”

“Ah.”

When she told him where she had seen Awning, Count Burns reacted strangely. He glanced at her and he immediately went back to his seat and straightened his posture.

“You must have seen it wrong.”

‘Huh?’

She was bewildered by his sudden change, then she narrowed her eyes and looked at him. His claim made no sense at all. Because Count Burns didn’t know Awning… No, wait. Did he?

She asked suspiciously.

“Do you know Awning?”

“No.”

He answered as if he’d been waiting for it. She looked at him for a moment as she heard the answer that came out of her words.

“Then how do I know if I’m wrong?”

Surprisingly, a troubled expression appeared on Count Burns’ face. He hesitated slowly and opened his mouth.

“We’re here.”

Then, the coachman shouted. Suddenly, the carriage stopped in front of a house. She waited for Count Burns to speak, but he immediately opened the carriage door and went out and held out his hand to her.

“Hold my hand.”

She did not like it. She wondered why he avoided answering so far. She admitted that the subject had changed while she got out of the carriage with Count Burns help. And quickly checked the distance.

It’s a bit far from the street where the nobles lived, but it was a good street there too. The houses were neat, mostly two-floors. There were even three-story houses. Sir Albert’s house was the largest of them all. Come to think of it, that was the first time she had been to Sir Albert’s house.

She looked up at the three-floors building and wondered how Sir Albert would have handled it. Sir Albert was titled Sir, but strictly speaking he was not a nobleman. He was that because his grandfather was an aristocrat and his father was the third not to inherit a title. Naturally, the title of Sir was a title that could only be used up to Sir Albert’s father, but they were just calling him Sir Albert.

“Sir. Albert.”

Count Burns knocked on the door knocker and called out to Sir Albert. Did he write Sir. Elbert on the list, not Sir Albert? While thinking that, Count Burns knocked on the door knocker a few more times, but no one came out.

“That is strange.”

When she couldn’t hear anyone from inside, not even a sign of presence, Count Burns turned to her and said, ‘That’s how it is’. She also stared at the tightly closed window and put on a strange expression.

It’s a bit strange to have all the windows closed in this hot weather. Was there something going on?

“The people who lived there ran away.”

They were talking and thinking about what to do when a passer-by talked to them. Looks like the house was empty? The man looked at her face and hesitated.

Then he looked alternately between her and Count Burns, and said:

“Oh, sorry. I thought he was a debtor.”

Was he in debt? That was the first time in her life that she had been mistaken for a debtor. The man said to her, puzzled.

“Two days ago, some nasty men chased after him and made a fuss about coming out. Are you looking for Sir Albert?”

Was he saying that tough men were after him? She nodded at the man’s question and asked.

“Did he run away?”

It was an unbelievable story, but it must have been true. The man smiled and said.

“Last night. You didn’t lend him money, did you? If so, it will be difficult to receive it back.”

Due to the shocking news, she stood stunned for a moment. Did he run away at night because of debt? The man continued to speak to her in her bewilderment.

“It looks like his father won’t help this time. Well, it must have been a debt that couldn’t be resolved even if he sold that big house.”

It seemed so. She heard that story too. Sir Albert’s father, the real Sir Albert, was tired of looking after his son. She heard that it was the real Sir Albert who paid off his son’s gambling debts each time. So, it must have been thanks to his father that Sir Albert was able to live in that large house.

She thanked the man and sent him away. She wondered where Sir Albert had fled, but finding out didn’t help her right now.

“There’s no one here.”, said Earl Burns as he left Lord Albert’s house. The way he shrugs his shoulders was boyish. 

How to do this? She said sorry to him.

“Sorry. I will find someone else.”

If it doesn’t work out, Oliver was there. It was Oliver who offered to help him in the first place. But as far as she knew, and her mother and Heavens too, Oliver wouldn’t be of much help. He would always do things like that, left it to her or their mother to clean up for him, and then ran away. Still, wouldn’t it be possible to come forward if she stimulated the sense of responsibility in her brother’s heart? She thought so, but Count Burns said.

“it’s okay. It’s etiquette, I can learn it step by step. The problem is… ”

Problem? She blurted out appropriately, and looked up at him from the front of the carriage and made a face for him to continue.

“I got some invitations. I don’t know how to deal with that.”

“I can help with that.”

Growing up in an aristocratic family, the natural thing to learn was to write replies to letters. In particular, the tips for classifying invitations and selecting suitable places to attend, and how to write replies for acceptance and rejection, were learned naturally from an early age. Come to think of it, Count Burns was the most popular person in the capital lately. He would have quite a few invitations flying in and he would have to learn to deal with them.

“Oh, and I was invited to dinner, and I said I would stop by because I was sure to go.”

She was about to say that she would help with Count Burns’ words, but she hesitated. Wait, what was that supposed to help? When she didn’t say anything, he continued.

“I heard that nobles have different dining etiquette.”

“I can help with that too.”

No big deal. The tableware used for each dish was slightly different. Oh, and there were things like where to sit or something to talk about after dinner.

Grunt.

Unbeknownst to her, a moan came out. Indeed, Count Burns had much to learn. What did she urgently need to teach him? First of all, there were names and greetings. How many times had he got her name wrong? There was also the case of Sir Albert, as before. There were people who didn’t actually have a title, but out of courtesy, you have to call them with a sutra.

She was organizing in her head what to teach him first, when Count Burns opened the carriage door and said,

“Then I will go see you tomorrow.”

“Yes? What are you say…? No, what?”

“Supper.”

Dinner? Confused, she grabbed Count Burns’ hand and climbed into the carriage. Was he inviting her to dinner now? Where did Count Burns live now? She heard he’s still in the palace?

“Ah, the explanation was insufficient.”

She was confused about what dinner he was talking about, but Count Burns climbed into the carriage behind her and after sitting across from her with his back bent, he carefully straightened his back and continued.

“I have been invited to dinner tomorrow evening. I ran into him a few times at the palace, and he asked me to come over to eat.”

Anyone he met in the palace would be a nobleman. And asking people to come to eat wasn’t just about eating. Of course, the behavior differs depending on whether only Count Burns was invited or whether his partner was also invited.

She asked cautiously.

“Who invited you?”

A strange expression appeared on Count Burns’ face. At first glance, it was a smile, but it also seemed a little contemptuous. It couldn’t be. She thought she was looking at it wrong. There was no way he could despise the person who invited him. And there’s no way he’d deliberately ask her to go with him.

After a very short time, Count Burns opened his mouth.

“It was Duke Germarot.”

Was the Duke of Germarot? It was such an unexpected person that the name and person in her head didn’t match right away. He was such an unexpected person that she wondered if he was mistaking him for another person. Of course, she knew he would be the first to be invited by a noble family with a daughter who was about to marry. Or by someone who was kind to the upstart nobility and liked new things.

The Duke of Germarot was a man who did not belong to either. He had only one son and was not very close to the new nobles as well as the lower nobles. To be more precise, he could be said to be a man with a high nose. He was the uncle of His Highness the King of Hagiya. Of course, one had to have a high nose in that position, but without appealing.

Someone like that invited Count Burns to dinner? She could anticipate the intention even without a hint.

“Why, why did you accept it?”

Seeing Count Burns, who did not know what he had done, she asked cautiously. If it were her, if she were Count Burns, she would have refused for any excuse.

Did that man have no aristocratic friends who could tell him what kind of a man the Duke of Germarot was? Where the hell was Oliver and what was he doing?

“Why?”

Count Burns asked strangely. He smiled and said.

“Because I was invited. Isn’t it polite to agree?”

Her head, which was messed with fear and confusion, was neatly organized with the thought of Count Burns being so naive. Damn, why was that guy so handsome?

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Translator Note:

Burns was fast in get rid of her fiancé, right?