Chapter 34

Flinch.

“…….”

I tried to answer that I would go get an umbrella, but somehow the words wouldn’t come out.

I moved my lips a few times, but instead of answering, I nodded vigorously and turned my back to walk away.

‘It’s okay, Melony. You’re used to being treated coldly!’

I’m not someone who would be intimidated by that level of coldness.

Yeah, it’s really okay-.

Why is it that I can’t put any strength into my slumped shoulders?

It was when I was trudging along, looking at the ground listlessly.

Thwack.

“Ouch-!”

Thud.

I banged my head on something that suddenly popped out and fell flat on my bottom.

‘Ouch. I think my butt is split in two…’

Wait.

Wasn’t my butt already split in two to begin with?

As I rubbed my sore bottom with a profound question in mind-.

“Ah, damn! So damn dirty!”

“Hey, are your eyes just for decoration?!”

Sharp curses poured down from above my head.

* * *

Seeing the little child sitting on the floor and shivering, Speldia’s two sons, Ethan and Noah, smirked.

The two silently exchanged glances.

‘Just as planned.’

‘Yeah. We caught one.’

The two deliberately bumped into Melony and started a fight.

After hearing from a servant that Louis was in the backyard, when they arrived here to find him-.

“Why did you call me. I told you not to talk to me. Are you ignoring me?”

“I don’t need that.”

“You’re like an idiot. Don’t be a nuisance, do whatever you want. Because I don’t care about you.”

They had discovered Louis treating a young, shabby brat coldly.

Judging by her clothes, the other child seemed to be a young servant or a servant’s child.

Or perhaps a child who took beatings on the Young Master’s behalf.

Whatever it was, one thing was certain.

“Looks like that unlucky bastard hates that beggar-like kid, doesn’t he?”

“Yeah. Seems like it.”

“Hmm, this makes things simpler.”

Louis and the two of them had only ever exchanged a passing greeting.

A relationship of exchanging a greeting in passing, nothing more and nothing less.

So they were agonizing over how to get close to that unlucky bastard, and thought this was perfect timing.

“If we punish the brat he hates on his behalf, that unlucky bastard will like it, right.”

Above all, it seemed like bullying that beggar-like brat would be more fun than just constantly trying to please Louis.

And so, at present.

The two of them snarled fiercely at Melony, who was sprawled on the floor.

The flustered child’s gaze busily scanned their faces.

“Well, well? Aren’t you going to lower your eyes?”

“How dare you stare at us with wide eyes, knowing who we are.”

“…A-All human eyes awe wound…”

“You dare talk back?!”

At the sudden shout, her already small body curled up even more.

The two of them giggled at the sight of the trembling child.

Bending over, Ethan poked the child’s forehead with his index finger.

“Hey, beggar. People hate cocky brats like you.”

“Right. Because you crawl up without knowing your place.”

At the voice full of cruel laughter, Melony swallowed hard.

Words she would normally brush off today pierced her like daggers.

‘…Did Wouis weally stawt hating me because I’m cocky?’

It was because her spirits had already been completely crushed by Louis’s coldness.

The two boys smirked at Melony, who was visibly becoming dispirited.

“This won’t do. We’re going to have to educate you a bit.”

A rough hand grabbed Melony by the scruff of her neck and pulled her up.

“Eep!”

The two boys tightly grabbed Melony’s wrists from both sides as she staggered to her feet.

“If we discipline you properly, your master will like it.”

“Is there somewhere we can lock her up?”

“I know, right. I think she needs a little prison experience to come to her senses.”

Prison experience?

They’re going to lock me up where?

Melony’s face quickly paled as she repeated their words in her head.

It was because a similar incident from the past came to mind.

The time she spent in the orphanage before her regression.

“Because of you, there’s not enough food for us to eat!”

“The director is always nagging too. Let’s just lock this kid up somewhere.”

“Yeah, let’s do that! We’ll teach her a good lesson!”

Some of the children had locked young Melony in a warehouse before.

“I-I hate it! Pwease save me!”

She didn’t remember the faces of the children who locked her up in detail, but the pure malice of their smiles at her pleading was still vivid in her mind.

As a similar situation unfolded, the terror of that time began to quickly resurface.

The memory of being locked in a cold, dirty, and dark warehouse for an entire day, crying alone until she collapsed from exhaustion, also revived along with it.

“Wet go of me…! I hate it, I hate it!”

As the pale Melony struggled with all her might, the two young masters furrowed their brows.

“Stop flailing and just follow! Do you want to get hit?!”

“Stay still. I said stay still!”

However, the panicked child’s struggling did not stop.

“A-Abby! Gwandpa! Owdeww bwotheeeer-!”

Rather, as she screamed in a louder voice, it was the Speldia brothers who fell into a panic.

“Damn it, this is really…!”

It was just when Ethan roughly covered the child’s mouth.

“Why on earth is it so noisy. I told you to stop calling m- What.”

Louis, who had run over scratching the back of his head, stopped in his tracks upon spotting the three of them.

The two boys he vaguely remembered meeting at some point, and Melony, held by them with her mouth covered.

Amidst this utterly incomprehensible situation, Melony’s desperate eyes turned toward Louis.

Dewdrops were welling up in her violet eyes.

At the same time, Louis’s face grew chillingly cold.

“What is this situation. You guys, what are you doing right now.”

“It’s been a while, Young Master. Have you been well-“

“Skip the useless greetings. I’m asking what you’re doing right now.”

At the voice that was cold beyond chilling, the two young masters unwittingly flinched.

A moment later, their cheeks flushed red.

It was both frustrating and embarrassing to have been momentarily scared by a kid three years younger than them.

“Haha, ha. We were just trying to correct this cocky child’s bad habits.”

As Ethan answered with a forced smile, gritting his teeth, Noah also laughed and chimed in.

“That’s right. She was so cocky without knowing her place. We were going to educate her properly on your behalf, Young Master-“

However, the words could not continue any further.

Thwack-!

Louis lunged and punched Noah square in the cheek. At the same time.

“Kuhuk!”

With a groan, Noah flew through the air in an arc.

It was an event that happened in the blink of an eye.

* * *

It didn’t take long for the commotion to reach the Duke’s ears.

“It’s a big problem, Your Grace! The Young Master is fighting with the guests. And the Young Lady is with them as well-“

Contie, who had been listening to Count Speldia with one ear and letting it go out the other, shot up from his seat.

“Where is it.”

“Near the backyard…!”

Before the maid could even finish speaking, the Duke threw himself into his shadow.

“Y-Your Grace! Me too…!”

Count Speldia hurriedly stood up to follow, but Contie had already vanished.

“Damn it…”

The Count, snorting softly, rushed frantically to the backyard.

Arriving at the backyard gasping for breath, the situation was already over.

The Panteyebe Young Master was standing with his fists clenched, eyes glaring, and panting, and his sons were…

“N-Noah! Ethan!”

“F-Father…!”

“Daddy! Waaah!”

They were wailing, their noses bleeding profusely.

Rushing over in shock, their faces looked even worse up close.

One of their front teeth was completely gone, and dark bruises were forming around their eyes.

It was a stark contrast to the unscathed Louis.

“What kind of behavior is this, Young Master! How could you do this! To beat my children so thoroughly!”

Despite the Count’s furious shout, Louis just glared at the two brothers without an answer.

That only made the Count’s blood boil even more.

“At least you answer me, Your Grace. What is the meaning of this!”

“Can’t you see. The kids got into a fight.”

“It wasn’t a fight, my children were unilaterally beaten!”

At the Count’s words, Contie shrugged.

“Louis.”

At the flat call, Louis’s shoulders flinched up.