Hours flew by and our discussion shifted into strange directions. We ended up talking about trade, worker rights, and the way our society functioned - all valuable knowledge to an outsider like me. Eventually we even segued into philosophy, a subject I was a hopeless amateur in, but I still remembered a few things from my classes. I particularly enjoyed Albert’s reaction to Theseus’ paradox.

“Let’s say there’s a ship. Over the years, it suffers damage multiple times and parts of it have to be replaced with new, stronger timber. When every part has been replaced at least once, is it still the same ship? If not, at one point did it cease to be? And what if we took all of the old broken parts and formed them into a ship as well? Which deserves to be called the real one?”

“Of course it… hm. Huh.”

The old man pondered it for several minutes before he shrugged, claiming that there was no objectively correct answer. As if annoyed, he countered with a medieval variant of the ‘trolley problem’ - was it ethical to kill one innocent person if it will save five others? Albert was firmly in the utilitarian camp, and said that it was not only acceptable, but morally imperative to save the greatest number of lives. Not taking action would be cowardice.

It was hard for me to agree, though. Would you let a doctor kill a perfectly healthy patient so that he could use his organs to save five others? Violation of the Hippocratic Oath aside, this would have the same result, but I have never met anyone who can easily support the doctor’s actions.

Or take this as an example. If I could get away with killing the protagonist of Lost in Love, all but ensuring that the demonic invasion in the True Ending never happens, should I do so? No. That would be trading one life for potentially thousands of innocents, but I don’t even want to consider it.

Mary might have been a dolt in the game, but she was also a sweetheart who brought happiness to everyone around her. I needed to find some other way to prevent that crisis.

So we argued about that for a while, discussing whether it was appropriate to ‘weigh’ the value of human lives and the ethics of murder versus letting people die. It became a fairly heated exchange.

Time continued to pass with neither of us noticing.

__________________________________________________________

Tip, tap, tip, tap.

A steady rhythm of tapping sounds echoed in the hallway as Christine Halesworth made her way to old Albert’s study. Her usually cold expression was a bit softer today, and one could say that she was in a good mood. Then again, this wasn’t too strange.

If Alexander was a sadistic, perverted beast, then Christine was an ice princess with an unpredictable temper. One day she would be aloof or even somewhat friendly, then the next morning she’d be taking her anger out on a random maid. Her favorite hobby was making the servants run pointless errands and scolding them regardless of results.

“Useless! Why didn’t you arrange them alphabetically!? Do it again, and then get out of my sight!”

But at the very least, this type of abuse was the lightest that the staff had to deal with, so nobody truly hated the young miss.

In Christine’s hands was a binder stuffed full of notes, illustrations, and lesson materials. A tiny smile played at her lips as she thought about how fun and relaxing the next few hours would be. Nothing to worry about, no appearances to maintain. If only it was always like that.

“Hmm?”

She spotted something odd. A maid was standing outside Albert’s study. She wasn’t cleaning, nor did she have any papers in her hands to be delivered - the girl was simply waiting there looking somewhat restless. A square bandage was on her cheek, which she occasionally touched in an absent minded fashion.

Are the servants so free now that they can just idle around like this? Feeling irritated, Christine drew closer. The maid didn’t even notice her approach until she spoke.

“You. What are you doing here?”

“Awawa-!"

The maid panicked as she turned around, but quickly collected herself and bowed when she realized who had called out to her.

“Um, good afternoon young miss! As young master Alexander ordered, I am waiting for him to finish his lessons.”

Hah?

Christine was baffled. My brother should have left thirty minutes ago! And what was the deal with him having a maid wait for him here?

She impatiently pushed past the maid and rapped her knuckles on the door.

__________________________________________________________

Albert stroked his beard while lost in thought.

“While that method does have merits, the execution is too difficult. You would have to-”

Knock knock knock!

His words were interrupted by a series of knocks, surprising both of us.

“Excuse me.”

The door opened and a pretty head of golden hair peeked in. When she saw me, her expression instantly soured.

“Albert? Elder brother?” Christine asked in a voice full of displeasure. “Your lessons should be done by now.”

The old man apologized while awkwardly scratching his head. “I am sorry, young miss. I must have lost track of the time.”

I laughed and stood up, not forgetting to take my notes with me. “It was my fault for asking so many questions. Come on in Christine, I was just about to leave. Until tomorrow, teacher.”

“Young master.” Albert bowed politely.

My younger sister’s nose wrinkled as I passed by. I think I even heard a snort as I closed the door behind me. While I did get the feeling that she disliked me last night, the problem seemed to be worse than I thought. What in the world did Alexander do to piss this girl off?

Shaking my head, I decided to investigate the specifics of our relationship later.

I turned towards the maid who was patiently waiting for me outside the study, and gave her a sheepish grin. I had asked her to pick me up once my lessons were over, yet completely forgot about it. If Christine hadn’t arrived, I wonder how long this poor girl would have stood here.

“Emma. So sorry, have you been waiting here long?”

“Not at all, young master! Please do not mind it.” She said politely. I noticed that although she was still a little wary of me, she was no longer afraid of making eye contact.

“Good. Let’s go have lunch, I’m hungry.”

And there’s something we need to talk about.

__________________________________________________________

Within Albert’s study, the atmosphere became much lighter after Alexander left.

“Goodness, Albert. If he cannot learn, there’s no need for you to try so hard.” Christine sighed dramatically as she sank into the plush chair. “I feel sorry for you; Alexander is hopeless, he’s not interested in anything other than swordsmanship! Such a typical boy.”

Albert let out a guffaw as he poured two new cups of tea.

“My lady, you would be surprised. Do not be so quick to judge him.”

“Oh?”

“Indeed, the young master was brilliant today! It was a shocking difference from his usual apathy and - forgive me for the term - ignorance. I felt like I was talking to a peer, not a youth without a scholarly background. Such a diamond in the rough, he might even be more gifted than you are! Now that he is taking his education seriously, I cannot wait to see how high he’ll soar. For instance, while I don’t agree with his thoughts on...”

Albert excitedly blabbered about his earlier lesson with Alexander.

But he didn’t notice that with every word, Christine’s expression grew darker.