CH 3

As I watched during the luncheon, there was a clear hierarchy in the Ergen family.

Duke Ergen is at the top, below him is the eldest son, Kaverion, and Helis.

Carberion's next one should have been in his place, but somehow the youngest took his place.

In the ranks of this family, Rylenne was treated as if she were completely absent.

However, this collapsed hierarchy would never be good for Duke Ergen.

Everything collapses from the bottom, step by step, how to reach the top.

Right now, Helis is only arrogant with me, but no one knew if his attitude would carry over to Duke Ergen in the future.

That's why I dared to mention the old-fashioned things about hierarchy and rank.

Due to Duke Ergen's personality, he wouldn't be able to let go of this unpleasant family.

As expected, the duke finally nodded.

“Lylaine, you are right.”

"Father… …!”

“Helis. I've overlooked your actions so far, but from now on, behave respectfully towards your sister, Rylenne.”

Rylaine corrected the corner of her mouth that was about to rise and bowed her head respectfully.

“Thank you, Father.”

And he didn't forget to say a word to Helis, who had a miserable expression on his face.

"Helis, if you act rude again, then you'll have to whip the calf."

* * *

After that, the meal was quiet.

There is only the sound of rattling dishes.

Helis blushed a lot from resentment, but for now, she won't be able to disobey her lofty father.

After the bloody and heavy luncheon, Duke Ergen stood up first.

He looked at his children before leaving the dining room.

“You shouldn't be careless just because you won the Battle of Yeongji. Always keep an eye on the dynamics of the Bedsian duchy and the imperial family.”

“I will keep this in mind, Father.”

Kaverion bowed his head politely.

Lailene and Helis also bowed their heads in agreement with his wishes.

Duke Ergen disappeared from the dining room with a solemn face.

I was about to leave as well, but Helis grabbed my wrist.

"Sister."

Turning around, Helis was making a scary expression.

"You've been lying down for a long time, so you've lost your mind?"

As soon as Duke Ergen left, Helis changed his attitude.

The expression of anger was still evident on his face.

Conversely, Rylaine laughed heartily. Gosu did not raise his voice easily.

“Helis. There is a magnolia flower in my room, and its strong stems make it perfect for whipping.”

Helis couldn't win the minute and screamed out loud.

“I am not old enough to be whipped!”

“Then you should act appropriately for your age.”

As I shouted at him with a cold voice, Helis glared at me fiercely.

“It’s older sister who doesn’t act according to her age. On the subject of being unable to attend social parties at that age because of social avoidance... ….”

“Helis.”

It was Kaverion who put the brakes on Helis who was raging with excitement.

“Did you not hear what your father said? Didn't you tell Lailene not to do anything recklessly?”

“But my brother… …!”

“Helis.”

The voice of Kaverion, who called for Helis, lowered. There was a momentary chill in the soft voice.

It seemed that Helis felt the same way. Helis rolled her eyes anxiously.

"Yes… …. older brother."

“I hate to say it twice.”

I felt as if the inside of Kaverion's walls had become dark.

In addition, the eyes that could be seen between the slightly narrowed eyelids even felt creepy.

It's like the appearance of a beast before biting its neck.

“Ah, I see.”

Helis was visibly nervous.

Kaverion stood up from his seat with an indifferent expression.

"Then I'll go first."

When Kaverion left the dining room, Rylaine jumped up from her seat and followed Kaverion out.

Part of it was because I didn't want to be with Helis, but it was because I wanted to say something to Kaverion.

Just in time, Kaverion stood right in front of him as if he was lost in thought.

“Me, brother.”

When Rylenne cautiously called Kaverion, Kaverion turned his head.

Kaverion, who discovered Lailene, narrowed his eyes for a moment.

For some reason, he doesn't like Rylenne either.

Soon, cold words flowed out.

“If you’re here to say thank you, you don’t have to. I want you... ….”

“It’s not like that.”

Lailenne reached out to Kaverion's neck.

Kaverion did not lift his hand, but as if surprised, he flinched now.

With or without it, Rylaine carefully rubbed his neck with her fingers.

"Done."

Rylaine withdrew her hand and showed what was on her thumb.

"There's dirt on your neck."

There was mud all over his throat, which bothered him throughout the meal.

I was worried too.

'Isn't he still doing that today?'

I hated being cold only to myself, so I thought about whether to tell him dozens of times.

In the end, he took my side against Helis, so I decided to tell him.

Kaverion looked embarrassed when he confirmed that there was dirt on his neck.

'It must be embarrassing.'

Lailene comforted him as if she knew everything.

“Your brother will always be at the training ground because of the knights, so there must be a lot of dirt like this. I wiped it myself out of concern.”

“… … .”

“I will go back to my room. I am not feeling well yet.”

Kaverion was speechless.

I didn't know if he was sparing his words because he originally hated himself, or if it was because he was embarrassed about being soiled.

'Well, either way doesn't matter.'

Lailene left Kaverion standing still behind and headed to her room without any regrets.

* * *

Back in the room, Rylane had a lot of work to do.

First, I needed to know more about myself and the members of my family.

The reason why she kept quiet at the dinner table was that she tried to act like the usual Lailene, but the main reason was that she could get into trouble if she made a mistake.

First, I remembered the memory of Duke Ergen.

Duke Ergen perfectly matched the description in the novel. The attitude of indifference to his children, and his trusting and relying on Kaverion.

The good news is that he is not a difficult and scary person to deal with.

Just a little while ago, I was entrusted with monitoring Aiden.

The second was her younger brother, Helis.

Helis appears briefly in the original story.

Like Lailenne in the original story, Helis appeared when Aiden reminisced about the past. A role that haunted him as a child.

Although I thought that the Duke of Ergen itself was a villain family, and that Helis was also a villain... ….

'It wasn't much cheaper than I thought.'

I shook my head at the rudeness that reminded me of my younger brother from my previous life.

But I warned you this time, so I won't be rude in public.

Next was her older brother, Kaverion.

'Actually, he's the one I need to be most careful with.'

Not only did he have excellent abilities as an Awakener, but he was also an excellent tactician.

Duke Ergen didn't know at all, but the duke was moving around according to Kaverion's strategy.

In front of him, Kaverion was extremely polite and courteous, so he was completely unaware of it.

In fact, Aiden runs out of control and everyone in the family dies, but Kaverion, who survived alone, is not greatly shaken.

'It was like that when I looked at the way I treated my family earlier.'

He didn't seem very attached to his family.

The reason was not incomprehensible.

'I don't like this kind of family, even me.'

It was not only Duke Ergen and Helis who made Kaverion that way, but also Rylenne in the original work. I could tell by looking at his cold eyes.

'Come to think of it, did you say that Rylenne had social phobia?'

Rylaine remembered what Helis had said.

[The one who doesn't behave according to her age is my older sister. About being unable to attend social parties at that age because of social avoidance... ….]

I traced Lailene's memory to see if it was true. Most of the places in my memory were the Duchy of Ergen.

Except for her childhood, her entire life has been confined to the Duchy.

'Looks like you have a phobia... ….'

To be precise, rather than being afraid of meeting people, it was a feeling of being reluctant to go to places where there are many people.

Then I suddenly realized that the young Lailene in my memory enjoyed horseback riding.

His complexion was not as pale as it is now, and his face was full of energy.

'I guess I haven't been in a bad shape since I was young.'

There were also people around, so it seemed that he didn't even suffer from social phobia at this time.

How did my body become weak, and did I even develop social phobia?

Is it a reward for bad deeds?

Deep in thought, Rylaine shook her head.

'Today's memories of Lailene end here.'

With this amount of information, there's no way I'm going to make a mistake.

Next, I had to think about how to get Aiden, the male lead, to escape.

According to what we talked about during the luncheon, Aiden was taken here as a prisoner a week ago.

In my memory, Aiden was dragged like a criminal with shackles on his hands.

At that time, Rylenne looked at Aiden as if she were looking at the greatest villain in the world.

Because the people of the Bedsian duchy that Rylenne knew were the worst of them.

'Therefore brainwashing is scary.'

The old enmity relationship continued like brainwashing to the family members, and Lailenne in the original work also inherited that bad habit.

Probably the same for Kaverion or Helis.

Rylane was curious.

'Of course, Aiden hates me, right?'

In the original work, it is said that Aiden hates Duke Ergen and Kaverion, but there is no description of his feelings for himself, a dusty supporting character, so I couldn't know.

Presumably, he would still have a long-brained distaste for him, so there was a high probability that he would hate Lailenne, a member of the Duke of Ergen.

Like himself, he had to act like he hated Aiden if he didn't want his family to find out about his plan.

If, after all, he was kind to him and the family looked at him strangely, the watcher might change.

Lailene had to keep this fact in mind.