Chapter 36
Liam hurriedly glanced at Adrian and Rodellia.
They avoided his gaze, pouting their lips defiantly.
Pointing fingers at each other, they showed no signs of remorse.
A sigh escaped Liam involuntarily.
“This is truly embarrassing. Ever since Madam removed the doors from the young lady and young master’s bedrooms, there haven’t been any major fights.”
Jasmine’s tiger-like disciplinary methods had been impressive enough to erase the siblings’ adolescence in one fell swoop.
Yet here they were, all grown up and bickering again.
“What on earth were you fighting about?”
“Our Delly started dating without telling the family.”
Liam’s eyes widened; he’d been expecting something trivial like arguing over side dishes.
“Wh-what?!!”
No. Our young lady, dating! Dating!
His head whipped toward Rodellia, but she had already averted her eyes.
“Wh-who exactly is this rasca— I mean, who is the gentleman?”
“Why, you know him too, don’t you? That white-haired one who’s been diligently stamping his attendance at our house. Turns out that cute kid had his sights set on our youngest.”
Despite her chilly tone, Jasmine wore an expression of deep satisfaction.
The one she affectionately called “whitey” was none other than the Duke of Ainluk.
“Gasp! So our young lady has finally succeeded in her one-sided crush?”
“Something like that.”
“Wait! One-sided crush? What do you mean by that, Liam!”
Startled, Rodellia let out a shriek, then quickly checked Jasmine’s reaction.
Liam scratched his cheek as he explained.
“Well, you’ve been trailing after Lord Alferen since you were little, haven’t you? And you kept singing about breaking off the engagement, so I assumed you liked him.”
“That was…!”
To avoid the prison ending! The words caught in her throat.
Anyway, since they were pretending to date, it didn’t matter who liked whom first.
“Th-the confession came from Brother Len.”
In a last-ditch effort to preserve her pride, her words made Liam and Jasmine’s eyes grow wide.
“Oh ho. So you succeeded in inducing a confession.”
“Oh my, our Delly is so clever.”
Rodellia felt a tightness in her chest at their unexpected reactions.
‘Th-this isn’t right.’
They were making it sound like she’d schemed and seduced Alferen hook, line, and sinker.
At that moment, Adrian muttered darkly.
“The scheme wasn’t our Delly’s—it was that wolf-like bastard Alferen’s! Look at this, Liam! Sneaking around Delly all creepily, then cheaply tempting her with a ring that perfectly matches her tastes!”
Strictly speaking, in the original story, Rodellia had done far worse stalking, so she wisely kept her mouth shut.
Adrian buried his face in his hands and murmured mournfully.
“I’ve… I’ve raised a tiger cub!”
“But Brother Len grew up on his own…”
Adrian, who had somehow caught Rodellia’s quiet murmur, wore a look of betrayal.
But mindful of Jasmine’s presence, he didn’t escalate the argument further.
“Tch!”
With an expression like a tragic heroine contrasted by his cocky attitude, Adrian clicked his tongue and swiftly disappeared.
“Sniff!”
The Duke of Peris, his eyes suddenly reddening, followed after his son.
Left alone as just mother and daughter, Rodellia said.
“Why are all the men in our family like that?”
“You reap what you sow.”
“Should I go comfort them?”
“Let them be for today. Adrian’s just feeling hurt. It’s his best friend and his precious little sister dating, after all.”
Jasmine stroked Rodellia’s hair with a tolerant expression.
The gentle warmth caused Rodellia’s spirits to sink heavily.
“…I’m sorry for causing a scene.”
“Sorry for what? Love isn’t a crime, is it?”
“Still, it’s true that we made it public in such a noisy way.”
“They say to win a beauty, you have to deal with the noise. Times like this are when you need to declare war on everyone—it makes things easier later. I did the same when I seduced your father.”
“Father seduced you, didn’t he?”
“Your father fell right into my trap.”
Jasmine winked, and Rodellia’s mouth fell open.
Goodness. My mother was a schemer.
“As they say, for men, being handsome makes romance smooth. No rough edges means no weird pride issues. You’ll soon learn what it’s like to have your anger melt away just by looking at their face.”
Once again embarking on her “Mother says” lecture, Rodellia nodded affirmatively.
“Like how you’re especially weak to Father’s face?”
“Yes. I’ve been tricked by that face into childcare at this age.”
Jasmine clutched her head as if in pain.
“Anyway, things are going to be lively from now on. Judging by Lian’s attitude, you’ll have a tough few days.”
True, given her brother’s personality, the chances of him interfering with her meetings with Alferen were very, very high.
“I’ll manage somehow.”
“If you need Mother’s help, just say the word.”
The way she clenched her fist made it seem like no joke.
“Then rest well.”
After a polite bow, Rodellia scurried back to her room.
It was right after she arrived in her room.
Flutter.
A hawk flew in through the open window.
“Eek!”
Startled, Rodellia shrank back, and the hawk tilted its head curiously before neatly placing a note on the desk.
It then presented a basket tied to its back and settled down.
‘Huh, looking closely, that looks like a Windor?’
A magical creature used by mages as messengers, a Windor.
It was larger than an ordinary hawk, exuding an imposing presence.
Sneaking into the duke’s estate undetected with that size must be thanks to magic.
“Could it be Brother Len’s familiar?”
She’d heard that Windors take on the color of their contractor’s aura, changing their feather and eye colors.
The hawk before her had silver feathers and blue eyes, matching Alferen’s traits.
Rodellia checked the note the bird had delivered.
[I’ll come pick you up at 2 tomorrow.
Let’s go on a date, Delly.
-Your Len]
“Yep, it’s him.”
At the straightforward date invitation, Rodellia fiddled with the letter unnecessarily.
The Windor waited patiently for a reply.
She quickly wrote a response, placed it in the Windor’s basket, and added some nuts as a treat.
As the Windor flew off into the distance, Rodellia sank into thought.
A love letter arriving in the dead of night.
“This really makes it feel like actual dating.”
She sat there dazed for a while.
Suddenly jumping up from her seat, Rodellia began rummaging through her wardrobe frantically.
For the monumental first date of their contract romance, battle attire was essential.
* * *
The next day.
Alferen headed to the Peris ducal residence. By now, Adrian should have gone to the knight order, making it the perfect time to meet Rodellia.
But Adrian wasn’t that careless.
“I-I’m sorry, Your Grace. The young master has strictly ordered that from today, Your Grace’s entry is to be thoroughly prohibited.”
The gatekeeper wore a troubled expression as he pointed to a sign.
<Alferen Ainluk Entry Prohibited>
The savage knife gouges suggested it was Adrian’s handiwork.
To use the Peris swordsmanship for crafting such a crude sign.
‘As if that would stop me.’
Unfazed by his friend’s childish threat, Alferen didn’t even blink.
He calmly addressed the distressed gatekeeper.
“If that’s gone, it should be fine, right?”
“Pardon?”
The gatekeeper was about to ask what he meant.
Alferen smiled brightly and snapped his fingers.
In that instant, the sign burst into flames and turned to ash.
As the gatekeeper swallowed a yelp, Alferen said.
“Now I can enter, yes?”
At the intimidating question, the gatekeeper bowed deeply and welcomed the Duke of Ainluk.
“W-welcome!”
It was either faint from the young master’s nagging or risk being roasted by the Tower Master’s fire.
