The Villain Changed the Ending

003 Whereabouts of the signet ring

*****[Oscar, the main character]*****

There is only one ducal family in this country.

Duke of Weiss.

It was the family I belonged to.

Due to the fact that he was the only duke in this country, the grandfather’s funeral was held with great grandeur.

It is said that most of the lords of the vassal families who govern the dukedom, as well as other nobles in the kingdom, attended.

I also attended, wearing a hastily tailored formal dress.

Originally, young children like me do not attend formal events.

However, my grandfather had already written down an official document that required me to attend your funeral before he was alive.

The documents written by the head of the household with the seal of the duke’s commission cannot be overturned by anyone until the next duke receives formal approval from the king.

This is the reason why I couldn’t stop even though my father disapproved of it.

Besides, among those present at the mansion for the funeral was the king’s representative.

In the middle of winter, the king, who had difficulty traveling from the capital to the dukedom, sent an agent.

My father tried to stop me from attending due to the weather and age until the end, but it seems that he couldn’t help it anymore in the place where the king’s representative was also present.

After acknowledging my presence, my father glared at me with grim eyes.

‘But why do you hate it so much?’

I wondered if my grandfather had ordered me to attend, but it’s even stranger that my father refuses so abruptly.

I quietly watched my father, and was led outside by the butler.

Suddenly, my gaze turned to the sky.

White snow is falling napolapol.

“Why are you doing that, Bocchan?”

“It’s as if the sky is mourning my grandfather’s death…”

Maybe too sentimental.

But on a day like this, when I suddenly saw the soft snow falling little by little, I thought that.

The butler looked up at the sky for a moment and then lowered his head.

“I don’t know if it’s as the young master said. He was a very good lord.”

The butler led me to the carriage with care as if handling jewels.

Mother was already in the carriage.

The place where the grandfather’s coffin is placed is quite far from the mansion.

People carry the coffin on their backs and walk for hours, but my mother and I cannot do that when we are young.

Ride the wagon and follow the coffin.

My father was told to walk all the way with the funeral procession.

As I climbed into the carriage, the butler took a thick coat of fur from the young butler.

I was wearing a sable coat and a hat with a brim. The inside of the hat is lined with soft fur to keep you warm. The shoes were also lined with fur to keep them from getting cold.

However, the butler put a kneecap made of fur on top of it again.

“It’s too hot.”

“Bocchan, please be patient. You are currently the only one who inherits the lineage of this ducal family. If you make a mistake and your condition deteriorates, it will be a big deal.”

“Oscar, the butler’s words are right. You are the only heir to the ducal family. Stay calm.”

From nob le mt l dot com

Join the mother

‘I don’t think it’s good for the child’s health to be wrapped up like this.’

can’t help it now

Sensing the anxiety in my mother’s voice, I quietly covered my fur.

The coffin slowly began to move.

After him, the father and the people followed in a line, and the carriage got stuck in the middle and moved slowly.

As the butler said, the grandfather must have been a good lord.

At the corner of the road where the funeral procession passed, the villagers were flocking to it.

Everyone was sobbing and praying for the lord’s rest.

The procession continued for a long time.

The sun in the sky changed places several times before finally arriving at the duke’s grave.

“young master.”

The carriage door opens and the butler grabs my hand and puts me outside.

Since the funeral process of nobles is very complicated and not generally performed, there are people who conduct funeral procedures or ceremonies separately.

“Oscar Della Sanders Davito Burna this way!”

The presenter shouted loudly in a pleasant voice.

People stepped aside, and I walked straight between them.

As the host said, stand side by side with your father at the front of the procession.

My father glared at me like he was going to kill me.

Perhaps it is only the successor who stands in this position.

Originally, I wouldn’t have been able to sit down.

‘ha’

I let out a small sigh inside.

My father’s gaze was very stern, but I didn’t really care.

He may have been a real child, but mentally he is already a 30-year-old adult man.

It’s partly because she grew up in an orphanage, and it’s not ticklish enough to stare at her.

But I was worried about the future.

‘Looking at this reaction, it might be impossible to continue living in this mansion. I have to come up with a way somehow…’

Moving the procession again, my father and I stood side by side and walked towards the building where the coffin was to be placed.

The tombs of the nobility of this world are different from those on Earth.

Although it is called a cemetery, in reality, a building is erected and a coffin is placed in it, rather than a burial mound.

From the outside, it just felt like a grand mansion.

Leaving the procession behind, the coffin arrived in front of the building.

When the procession stopped, the host approached the tightly closed iron gate.

The presenter stood in front of me and my father and banged on the iron door with the thick cane he was holding.

An old man’s voice came from inside.

“Who’s here!”

The presenter stood motionless and shouted loudly.

“Your Excellency is the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Weber, a Knight of the Red Riding Hood Knights, the proud head of the Burna family, and the Duke of Thomas Pan Bercheru Burna Vais, who rules the duchy with dignity!”

But the door did not open.

Instead, an old man’s voice rang from inside.

“We don’t know who he is.”

After a while, the host knocked on the iron door again.

The old man’s voice rang again from inside.

“Who’s here!”

The presenter shouted in a slightly different tone than before.

“This is the lord loved by all the people, the father of a beloved son, the grandfather of a young grandson, and a wise lord who cares about all of the land!”

Unlike before, when he was powerful, his voice was a little softer and lowered.

But the answer from inside the door was the same as before.

“We don’t know him.”

The host knocked on the door again after a while.

the old man inside asked.

“Who’s trying to get in here!”

“Thomas. A man with nothing.”

The presenter’s voice was calm and even lower.

Then the door finally opened.

It must have been a question and answer in the sense of giving up all the luxurious status of this world and entering the gates of the underworld as a simple human like when you were first born.

That series of conversations, for some reason, touched my heart.

The meaning of a person dying permeated my wounded heart like a stinging disinfectant.

It felt as if his anger at witnessing his wife and friend’s affair in his previous life had faded a little.

Even after coming to this world, it was never forgotten, but now that I think about it, I can’t help it.

let’s forget

‘They’re people I’ll never meet again anyway.’

Now that you have been given a new life, you must firmly plant your feet here.

I forcefully closed and opened my eyes.

Behind the iron gate stood men in frugal clothes.

He could be the manager of a cemetery, or perhaps a monk in a church.

The coffin enters the building first, followed by my father and I side by side.

The procession that followed this place seems to be waiting outside.

He stood still and did not move.

I passed the door and tried to go inside, but I was startled and stopped.

It felt like passing through a thin film of electricity.

Especially the neck and stomach are tingling.

‘what?’

When I stopped suddenly, the presenter looked at me.

I slightly bowed my head to show that it was okay, and followed my father, who had already gone inside.

*

After the coffin was placed, most of the guests from other territories either left or headed to the annex, while the duke’s vassals and lords gathered in the large hall of the mansion.

The lords within the dukedom meet face-to-face with their father, the next head of the family, and discuss the future.

And the scope of the funeral did not end with the laying of the coffin, but also reached the conclusion of the meeting attended by the vassal lords.

Under the pretext of obeying the order of the late head of the family, I sat down in a seat prepared in the corner of the meeting room.

The butler prepared some food for me as a child, with a soft fur on the chair and a small table next to it.

I could tell that he cared about me so that it would be okay even if I fell asleep.

But I have no intention of sleeping.

You have to keep a close eye on what will come out of this meeting and how your father will manage the family and the estate.

Because it will have a big impact on me and my mother’s life.

But the meeting was chaotic from the start, and there was no time to discuss it.

When the father said something in a low voice, loud shouts erupted from the lords.

“What do you mean! The family head’s seal is gone!”

“What a monstrous thing!”

“Who do you think stole it?”

“Nonsense! I heard that the duke’s signet ring does not fall out of the head’s hand, and that there were escorts and soldiers in case of an accident. There’s no way someone stole it.”

The lords are making a fuss.

I asked the butler next to me in a low voice.

“What are the lords talking about now?”

The butler lowered his body and gave a small answer.

“The duke’s signet ring is enchanted with ancient magic. It cannot be removed from the body unless the head of the family takes it off himself.”

“Even if I die?”

“Yes, it is impossible to just take the ring off your finger.”

“…What if I cut off my finger?”

When I hesitated to ask, the butler opened his eyes wide.

He looked at my face without speaking for a moment, then lowered his eyes.

“In that case, it would be possible.”

“…”

“But there was no trace of such cruelty on the head of the head.”

“So you’re saying Grandpa gave it to someone?”

“well.”

The butler kept his mouth shut as if in trouble.

I remembered my grandfather’s last appearance.

“When I got into the carriage with me, my grandfather was obviously wearing a ring.”

“That’s why you’re confused.”

“Are you suspecting that I hid it?”

That was the moment to ask.

Suddenly, the large hall was quiet.

When I looked up, the lords were looking at me.

Suspicion crept into the lords’ gaze.

My father also looks at me with strange eyes.

The butler straightened his back and stood up next to me.

A lord came closer.

He looks at me with a blunt face and asks.

“I’m sorry, Oscar. I’ve heard that you don’t remember the accident at all, but do you know where your grandfather’s ring is? Even a small memory is fine. If you do.”

Before I could say anything, the butler took a step forward and politely opened his mouth.

“I’m sorry, but Oscar-sama is still young, so I’ll answer instead. Bernd-sama, the deputy head of the family, has already investigated the matter, and after considering it from various angles, we’ve come to the conclusion that it has nothing to do with the boy.”

The butler kept his mouth shut and looked around at the faces of the lords.

“Everyone knows the situation at the time. When the accident happened, the escort and soldiers were by his side. Even if the duke gave the ring to Oscar, there was no time to hide it somewhere. And there was no ring on Oscar’s clothes.”

“… I’m sorry. The situation is so bleak, so stop.”

The lord slightly lowered his head towards me.

“Oscar, I asked you too many questions when you were young.

The gaze of the other lords also softened.

A five-year-old child was protected by his grandfather and barely survived.

Everyone seems to have realized that it is unreasonable to doubt a child in such a state.

Of course. What would a five-year-old do in such an urgent situation?

I bowed my head to the lord.

“It’s okay. I fully understand how you feel.”

“Oh! Such a polite word even at a young age. Thank you.”

As if trying to gloss over his rudeness so far, the lord smiled.

“My grandfather has praised Oscar many times. I heard that he is very smart and has a promising future.”

“I also forcibly listened to Oscar’s boasts whenever I met the Duke.

“hahahaha. Gee. Me too.”

The lords each said a word.

The atmosphere of the place, which had been rough, softened a little.

My father doesn’t seem to like it when I talk to the other lords.

He furrowed his eyebrows and opened his mouth to the lords.

“Everyone! There are still a couple of things to discuss.”

“It is.”

The lords turned to their father again.

“But without the signet ring…”

“It’s difficult. In this situation, we can’t get formal approval from His Majesty.”

“If you don’t have a signet ring, how many years did it take to officially become the head of the family?”

“If I remember right, maybe 20 years.”

The meeting continued with a mixture of long sighs.

It seems that the father, without formally becoming the head of the family, governs the territory as the deputy head of the family.

It is the same in terms of the ruling position, but without the signet ring, it lacks authority within the duchy, but outside and in public documents.

Moreover, the decision of the document already stamped with the duke’s seal cannot be overturned.

This is because the decision made by the head of the family cannot be overturned unless it is the head of the head.

It is impossible even if it is the head of the household.

It seems to be a rather difficult problem, so there was talk of searching the accident site and the road that passed through once again.

While carefully listening to the contents of the meeting and memorizing them in my head, I was also thinking about what to do in the future.

“…”

At that time, my stomach felt a little tight.

I must say that something tingling sensation is spreading.

I felt like something was in my stomach.

I quietly put my hand on my stomach.

“Why are you doing that, Bocchan?”

The butler bends over and looks at me.

I shook my head.

“It’s nothing. My stomach hurt a little, but I’m fine.”

“I’ll call the doctor tomorrow.”

“It’s okay. It was just a feeling.”

Seeing a worried light on the butler’s face, I smiled lightly as if telling me not to worry.