CH 11

Teriot’s eyebrow shot up, and the space fell silent for a second.

Ronell froze, Ruby remained irritated, but Teriot thought nothing of it.

When he touched the center of his forehead, he finally glanced down at Ronell.

“What is it, Kiddo?”

“…I wanted to say good morning.”

“Okay. Aren’t you eating?”

“Sis…ter invited me.”

“Who?”

“Sister Aicila.”

From Miss Aicila to Sister Aicila. You’ve improved.

Teriot thought impatiently, and soon a thought came to him. Now that I think about it, my father, Reinhardt, returned home early this morning.

I’m sure this kid will meet Father at breakfast.

Meet Father.

…To meet Father.

“Is Mister Teriot coming?”

I’m not going. There’s no way in hell I’d ever go there. Before he could reply, Teriot sat down and rubbed his face.

“Haa… I seriously.”

“Mister?”

His daughter looks like a black leopard. It was true. There were nicknames floating around like the Black Panther, the Black Jaguar, or the Cougar.

And his father, perhaps because of his grayish hair, looks like a snow leopard.

Great. To my left is a woman who looks like a black leopard, and to my right is an old man who looks like a snow leopard.

There’s a cat next to me who seems to draw every bit of evil in the world. And that kid, Ronell.

“I was leading a good life without a conscience…”

Living without a conscience is not a good life. Ronell thought, but she astutely kept her mouth shut.

“You’ve stabbed my nonexistent conscience…”

What is Ronell?

A canary? A lark? A chick? I’m not sure. She might as well be a bird that’s going to get chewed up. A bird I tell you.

“…I’m sorry, Mister, but I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

Ronell wore a downcast expression.

Teriot got back to his feet, massaging his face while the child with bright yellow hair followed his footsteps.

“You don’t have to know. I’ve just spent the last few seconds giving careful consideration to the essence of my own existence.”

I really don’t understand what you mean. Ronell embraced Ruby, who was hissing angrily, and rolled her eyes.

“Let’s go, Kiddo.”

“Yes?”

“Let’s go eat breakfast.”

For the first time in decades, Teriot Duncan made an appearance at the restaurant of Duncan Mansion for breakfast.

So the moment Teriot appeared.

The butler, who was preparing breakfast, the maid, who was decorating the table and the windows with flowers, and the chef, who heard the news, all did the same thing.

They dropped the things they were holding.

The butler dropped a glass of water, the maid dropped a flower bouquet, and the chef dropped a pepper shaker.

“Huh.”

The old man sitting at the head of the table quietly clicked his tongue. As soon as she spotted the new person she was meeting, Ronell immediately ducked behind Teriot.

“It’s okay, Kiddo.”

Teriot sighed.

“He won’t eat you. Maybe.”

“What maybe? What an ungrateful son. You’re driving your father to cannibalism!”

Reinhardt grumbled and rose from his chair. Then, squatting on his knees, he set his eyes on Ronell.

“Hello, little girl?”

Ruby waggled its tail and put a paw on Ronell’s cheek.

It’s okay, Butler. It meowed out loud. He’s just my old butler. You don’t have to be jealous.

Though he might be weird and annoying at times, he’s not a bad person.

Mew mew, hearing its meows, Ronell sneaked out from behind Teriot to politely greet him.

“H… Hello.”

“What’s your name?”

“M… my name is Ronell.”

During the tearful moment when Reinhardt and Ronell managed to continue their conversation, Teriot averted his gaze.

Aicila slowly rose from her seat. Once he noticed what was in her palm, Teriot smirked.

The gaze of her red eyes swept across Ronell. After ensuring once more that the child was fixated on Reinhardt—

“Huh.”

—Aicila hurriedly tossed the salt. She murmured, as if she was truly sorry to see the white powder collide with the man and fall.

“I thought it was a ghost.”

“You should have told me if you wished for my death, daughter.”

Teriot responded calmly, wiping the pure white powder off his face. Her memory served her well, and she recalled that it was a custom in the Fernburg Kingdom to sprinkle salt over the dead.

Aicila arched an eyebrow and answered in an unabashed manner.

“Is that what you should be saying to your daughter?”

“What’s the point of throwing salt?”

“I thought you were possessed.”

Why are you doing something you wouldn’t normally do?

During their snarky back-and-forth, both parties simultaneously clamped their lips together. That’s because Ronell, who was still holding the cat, was alternately looking at them. Reinhardt’s light brown eyes glinted with a sharp outburst of rage across from the child.

Teriot and Aicila reflexively made an excuse.

“We didn’t fight.”

“That’s right, Baby. We didn’t fight. A fight is against an equal opponent.”

That b*stard isn’t on the same level as me.

Aicila finished it, swearing until the very last second.

“Baby, let’s eat now. Hm?”

“…Yes.”

Ruby healed me, so I feel fine.

Ronell’s face grew increasingly grim. Her stomach, which had been starved too frequently, couldn’t digest the food easily.

Nausea and vomiting. The one person who truly cared about her, Mary, hated to see it.

I… I shouldn’t throw up here.

Grunting inwardly, Ronell hugged Ruby tightly.

The soup should be fine. But meat can be hard to eat.

Ronell checked her stomach again and grimaced at the table. She was apparently ignorant to the three concerned looks being sent her way by the House of Duncan.

Only Ruby, the carefree cat, was happily purring.

Right, Butler. Eat a lot! Eat a lot to lift me up!

Come to think of it, even if I don’t lose weight, it’s okay if Butler gains weight, right?

Ruby gracefully wagged its tail and didn’t hold back the curses, its thoughts representing the height of egocentrism in the eyes of anyone else who overhears them.

“Baby.”

Reinhardt stared at his granddaughter, wondering why the ‘little girl’ was suddenly like this, so under her grandfather’s urging gaze, Aicila spoke slowly.

“The table will be pierced.”

“A-ah! I apologize.”

Does she have to be so blunt.

Reinhardt sighed, and next to him, Teriot was just minding his own business. As Ruby continued its relentless eye cursing, Aicila forced down her shame.

“No, Baby. I’m not trying to blame you.”

“Y-yes.”

“I was just wondering what you were thinking.”

Her telling the chef that she has to puke would be really rude. To begin with, it shows a lack of respect to your dining companions.

When Ronell hesitated and lowered her head, Ruby pressed its white front paw against her.

It’s okay, Butler. The cat cried as hard as it could. Ruby was under the false illusion that it could soothe Ronell more effectively than the wicked Aicila.

No matter what kind of tricks you have up your sleeve, you’re no match for me! This body can ruin such chances well! (The purportedly misbehaving cat had no idea that its butler, if she had known cat language, would have kindly reminded it that it should stay out of trouble.)

Teriot was the one who spoke after Aicila.

“Kiddo.”

“Yes? Yes, Mister.”

“Tell us if you don’t feel well.”

I heard she was abused. Given her bony wrists, starvation would have been part of it. A growing child must have suffered so much, so it would be amazing if her stomach is fine.

In spite of his sullen tone, Ronell smiled softly.

“Yes, thank you.”

Oh my gosh. The child said thank you, not sorry.

Realizing that, Aicila tried really hard to not smile brightly. She was fully conscious of the unsettling effect her ‘bright smile’ had on others.

How come he’s the only one who keeps scoring?! Teriot, however, was too busy basking in the afterglow of triumph to worry about Aicila’s disapproval as he casually sipped water.

“Sir Duncan.”

Just then, the butler appeared and handed Reinhardt an envelope. Ronell, like the others, automatically shifted her head and saw a pattern she was familiar with.

Camellia. Black Camellia.

The crest of the House of Count Artes.

Ronell’s lips quivered at the pattern she knew so well, and she felt herself descending into a panic, unable to cry.

It’s reality. This was a reality.

When she saw the pattern she dreaded the most, she knew those glorious moments hadn’t been dreams but rather a very brief and sweet reality.

The miraculous experience has finally come to an end.

As the weight of truth began to bear down on her, she went into total immobility. Shatter, the sound glass breaking was heard as a distant auditory hallucination.

What if I return like this. I ran away from her at that time, so if I just go back, the Countess will never forgive me…

“I refuse.”

Reinhardt wrinkled his brows. The child’s expression reflected in the corner of his field of vision was so terrible—

“Erm… that.”

—that it was bound to upset the viewers.

Three pairs of dazzlingly glistening eyes stared at Butler Amon.

No, no. Don’t look at me. I didn’t do anything wrong. In spite of wanting to yell out in protest of the unfairness, the butler timidly settled on his answer.

“Count Artes is already in the drawing room on the 1st floor.”

Crash, there was the sound of a glass breaking. The cat cried violently before the noise died away.

After the harsh meow, there was silence, and Aicila, who had been in pain as if her eardrums were about to burst, opened her mouth, grateful for the peace that had finally arrived.

“Baby.”

Ronell came to her senses and began to plead with a blue face.

“I’m sorry!”

I’m sorry I broke it. Only this one time. Don’t throw me away. So please, I’ll do anything. Don’t send me back. I’m sorry.

For someone who has previously broken every door, wall, and other object in her path, Aicila felt a searing pang of guilt, while Reinhardt, who would quietly compensate for the destruction his granddaughter had done, reflected on his educational policy in silence.

When he noticed Ronell leaping from her chair, Teriot, who was only listening passively, opened his mouth.

“Sit down.”

The child sat back on the chair in a stiff position. Aicila let out a small sigh as she looked at her small face, which seemed to be facing death.

“Baby.”

“…Yes.”

“You’ll be punished if you throw away your pet.”

P-punished.

Although Ronell’s pupils were trembling so wildly that they might shake the heavens and earth, Aicila continued speaking at a moderate pace.

“Where are you going when your pet cat is here?”

“I-I would never abandon it! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that… Th-the punishment—”

“You’d better just shut up.”

Ronell slammed her lips shut. Teriot rubbed his chin thoughtfully and turned to his daughter, who had really made that remark.

Aicila’s expression began to shift one by one, starting with mild annoyance, building to shock, and then falling into a glum disposition. At last, she spoke in a hushed voice.

“Sorry… I didn’t mean it like that.”

The once-confident, once-dominant woman was now honestly apologizing. Ronell, hearing her melancholy tone, worked her brain but could think of no good way to respond. Her pale green pupils danced around.

“No. Don’t shut up.”

Teriot poked the broccoli on his plate with a fork, his gaze fixed on the door.

“Go handle the Count with that razor-sharp mouth of yours.”

“I should.”

While Aicila rose up and wiped her lips with a napkin, Ronell stared up at her, perplexed.

“Wait for me, Baby.”

She winked playfully.

“I’ll be right back.”