Chapter 145

When the carriage carrying Yurina and Marchioness Carthia arrived at the mansion, the twins Edwin and Justin were practicing in the training field behind the mansion.

Their physique and skills were similar, and neither of them were sparing any effort in the duel, so it seemed like it would never end. The duel had been going on for so long that their faces were covered with sand and sweat.

The two of them, fully immersed in the duel, were interrupted by the hasty voice of a servant running towards them.

“Young masters! Madam and the young lady have returned!”

No more dueling was needed. In fact, the real duel was about to begin.

Without considering who was first, the two of them threw their wooden swords on the ground and started running towards the main gate.

The wooden swords, which should be more precious to a knight than his life, rolled tragically on the sand, but the two of them didn’t look back, running like bulls focused only on what’s ahead.

Edwin and Justin, born as twins, have always been compared to each other since birth.

Even though they clashed a lot as they both had stubborn personalities and followed the same path of a knight, contrary to the worry of the Marquis and Marchioness of Carthia, they considered each other more as inseparable friends than competitors.

There was one thing that neither of them could ever yield, and that was their youngest sister, Yurina.

Usually, when a younger sibling is born, older siblings often become jealous, but Edwin and Justin never disliked Yurina. Rather, they both strained to stay close to Yurina. As there were three brothers for one sister, they fiercely competed to monopolize Yurina.

While the slightly older and calmer Riggs was less involved, the two twins of the same age were in fierce competition.

When they were young, they would roll around on Yurina’s bed, each claiming they would sleep with her. When they were at the academy, they would each send a carriage full of gifts to Yurina to make sure she didn’t forget them.

Now that Yurina had grown up, they both tried to escort her wherever she went.

Even now, the two of them had an unspoken agreement that the first one to arrive would escort Yurina, and were running at full speed.

The winner was Edwin. Edwin, who arrived first by a narrow margin, dusted off the dust from his dueling clothes with a proud expression. Seeing Justin grinding his teeth in annoyance was satisfying.

But as he was about to approach the carriage to escort Yurina, he saw someone who had jumped out before him and frowned. Reynard, who had arrived unexpectedly, was escorting Marchioness Carthia out of the carriage.

Behind him, Yurina also came down from the carriage, holding Reynard’s hand. Not only did she get out of the carriage, but she continued to hold his hand as they walked towards the mansion.

Before Edwin could think much of it, he met eyes with Yurina who was smiling brightly at him, and he smiled back.

His always lovely and adorable younger sister seemed even more adorable after not seeing her for over a week. Despite Yurina’s protest about their overprotectiveness, the two brothers saw her as their young and delicate little sister.

So what if she’s soon to be an adult! Regardless of Yurina’s age, she was still their younger sister.

During this time, Edwin noticed something strange in Yurina’s hand. A ruby ring on her ring finger.

She definitely didn’t have it when she left the mansion. Only then did he notice Reynard’s arm wrapped around Yurina’s waist.

The two of them were so close there was no room to insert a piece of paper, Yurina was smiling happily, there was a ruby ring on her ring finger, and Reynard’s red eyes resembled the ruby.

Even the clueless Edwin and Justin weren’t so slow as to not realize the situation. The two of them looked at each other in surprise, then turned towards Reynard with flushed faces and yelled.

“Follow us to the training ground right now!”

* * *

Reynard headed towards the training ground, following the twins who were fuming as if they were ready to grab his collar and drag him there.

Before going, he told Yurina not to worry and to rest, but Yurina couldn’t feel at ease.

‘I knew the brothers would be upset, but I didn’t expect this as soon as we arrived.’

Originally, Yurina planned to observe the family’s mood after returning to the mansion and bring up the topic subtly when the brothers were in a good mood. She didn’t expect to be found out as soon as they arrived, especially by the clueless twins.

Before coming back, Yurina, Reynard, and Marchioness Carthia had a discussion about the four men.

The three of them concluded that the ones who would most oppose the proposal were not her father, Marquis Carthia, but the twins.

So they planned to approach the twins with the most caution, but it felt like running into the final boss right as they entered the dungeon.

‘If I had known this would happen, I would have cast an invisibility spell on the ring.’

In fact, it wasn’t that they hadn’t thought about it. However, when they casually brought it up, Reynard looked very upset and asked if they were really going to hide it, so they couldn’t ask for the spell to be cast.

If they got caught because of the ring, they would have to speak honestly at that time. They vaguely thought so, but suddenly Reynard was asked to follow to the training hall. What were they going to do at the training ground of all places?

If they thought positively, it was a duel; if negatively, there was nothing but a beating. Even if it was a duel, Reynard wasn’t a match for the twins based on pure swordsmanship.

Then, wasn’t the outcome obvious?

Looking anxiously in the direction where Reynard and her two brothers disappeared, Marchioness Carthia opened her mouth as if it was nothing serious.

“Let it be. Your brothers won’t make a fuss, will they?”

But Yurina shivered at the thought that her two brothers could make a ‘fuss’.

Despite the Marchioness urging her to go in, she didn’t move, and soon started walking towards the training hall instead of the mansion. Betsy followed her with an equally anxious face.

Cheers from the knights could be heard even before they reached the training hall. Between them, they could also hear the dull sound of wooden swords clashing. Yurina’s steps quickened a little.

Making her way through the knights surrounding the training ground, Yurina found Reynard who was solely receiving Edwin’s attacks.

Even though there was a skill difference, he should not have been so unable to make a single attack and just take it, but he was only defending against Edwin’s wooden sword strikes.

It was definitely strange compared to when he had actively attacked during the duel with the two twins not long ago.

Was Edwin relentlessly pushing with all his might, or was Reynard taking it all to vent his anger? She couldn’t tell which it was, but Yurina didn’t feel good about it.

Why should Rey suffer like this? It’s not as if he forced a marriage onto Yurina against her will; they both liked each other and decided to get married. Even if they are family, why are they making such a fuss if both parties are okay with it?

Even if they are the brothers who since childhood said, ‘Our little sister is the prettiest, Yurina is the best!’ and cherished her, this wasn’t right!

So she couldn’t get angry with her brothers. Yurina endured the anger welling up from the tips of her hair and tried to approach the two.

But when Reynard staggered and fell, unable to withstand the furious strength of Edwin’s wooden sword, she couldn’t bear it anymore and screamed out.

“Brother!”

At her sharp voice, Edwin, who was urging Reynard to quickly get up, froze with his wooden sword raised. Yurina hurriedly ran and tightly embraced the fallen Reynard.

“It’s okay. Let’s go in quickly.”

How pitiful was the sight of Reynard, drenched in sweat and looking after his body first.

He’s not one to be treated like this.

Yurina wiped his sweaty forehead with a handkerchief and turned to look at Edwin. Edwin’s eyes trembled like an earthquake as he looked at Yurina.

“Are you a knight, or a lowlife, brother? If you have something to say, say it with words. Where else would you drive someone who’s not even a formal knight to this point under the guise of a duel?”

“Yurina, brother is…”

Edwin tried to excuse himself, but upon seeing Yurina’s determined face, he closed his mouth. At the same time, a dull thud echoed in the silent training hall. It was the sound of Edwin’s wooden sword falling to the ground.

A dull sound echoed again in the training hall where sand was flying around. This time it was the sound of Justin, who was watching the situation, dropping his wooden sword.

* * *

Edwin sat on the sofa in the parlor attached to Yurina’s bedroom with his arms folded determinedly. Yurina, who had changed into her nightclothes, peeked out of her bedroom and stared at Edwin.

“You’re really not going?”

“Not going.”

“I’m going to sleep, are you really going to stay there? Go to sleep.”

“I’m staying here.”

From his determined expression, it looked like he really had no intention of leaving.

The reason he was guarding Yurina’s room like this was simple. He wanted to prevent Yurina and Reynard from secretly meeting in the night when everyone else was asleep.

Even after hearing what Yurina had said in the training hall, he still couldn’t accept their relationship.

Justin also couldn’t accept it, but he wasn’t making as much of a fuss…

Yurina let out a deep sigh.

“Even if you keep guarding my room like this, my feelings won’t change.”

“I know. But I’ll still be here.”

“Alright. Do as you wish. I’m going to sleep.”

Instead of persuading him, Yurina went back into her bedroom. Edwin stared blankly at the tightly closed door. He still couldn’t believe the relationship between Yurina and Reynard.

He didn’t think that Reynard would dare to look at Yurina. Although Reynard was a commoner and an orphan, Edwin didn’t look at Reynard with such prejudice.

Even to other men, he was quite attractive.

With his tall and handsome appearance, which anyone would fall for, and being a genius wizard who graduated early from the prestigious Crohn Royal Academy, which was difficult to get into and even harder to leave. In addition, he was soon to be ennobled for his role in capturing a rebel.

It was a lowly title compared to the esteemed house of Marquis Carthia, but what did the title matter? He had the ability to shut up anyone who talked behind their back.

Moreover, his love for Yurina was no less than that of any other man. So, if you looked at it conditionally, he was the perfect husband for Yurina.

However, Edwin was not yet ready to accept this.

‘My little sister is getting married…’