CH 19

“Sis, what happened at that sleazy guy’s mansion?”

Britia had been holding onto Leon’s tail and keeping her mouth shut for thirty minutes since she returned from the party.

“Just tell me. If he did something to you, I’ll go and get revenge.”

Leon tried to console her, and Britia lifted her head from Leon’s tail.

“I really hate things like tails.”

“What?”

“Why do I have to see a tail? I’m sick of things like tails!”

Even though I didn’t want to see supernatural things, the way they made me look at the celebration was already unjust. However, I was enraged because, no matter how hard I thought about it, being seen as a person who wants attention by lying about seeing ghosts was unacceptable.

“You hate tails?”

“Yeah!”

Leon looked at Britia who was determined.

But it seemed like she was holding onto his tail precious despite saying she hates it.

★★★

“Lord Lockheart the 1st!”

Leon appeared by banging on Crave’s office door.

“The door will break, Lockheart the 3rd.”

When Crave caught his sight, Leon walked confidently towards his desk.

“Something big happened with Lockhart the 2nd.”

Leon pointed to Britia, who was clinging to her side.

“She wants to cut ties.”

“Lenny, you always interrupt and cut off sentences when you’re in a hurry,” he said, pointing out his bad habit.

“What is Tia cutting off?”

He remembered something and chuckled.

“If she wants to quit drinking, it’s something to cheer for, not a big deal.”

Crave laughed and joked, but Leon didn’t laugh, which he usually followed.

“She wants to cut off ties with the world.”

Crave stopped laughing.

“Is it a serious matter?”

He stood up from his seat and approached Britia, who was clinging to Leon’s side.

“Tia, what’s wrong?”

“….”

“What’s the matter?”

“Ever since she returned from that good-for-nothing party, she’s been like this.”

Crave bent down and looked into Britia’s eyes, which were locked onto his.

“Why? Did that arrogant Marquis make you upset?”

Britia opened her eyes wide and glared at Crave.

“Or is it something else, Tia?”

No matter how much he called her, Britia did not respond, keeping her lips tightly sealed.

“Her mouth is still shut, it seems.”

Crave grabbed her chin with his finger.

“Don’t.”

Britia swatted his hand away.

“I thought her mouth was glued shut.”

“….”

“It’s glued shut again.”

Crave poked her cheek with his finger.

“Why are you like this? Tell your big brother everything.”

At the mention of “big brother,” Britia made a face.

“Okay, I’ll stop teasing you. What’s really going on?”

Crave raised both his hands. Britia gave him a once-over before pushing Leon away and standing up.

“I’ve never thought about wanting people’s attention.”

“Right. If someone wants attention in everything they do, it’s not you, but me.”

Crave affirmed.

“But I’ve been treated like a seed of attention just because I can see tail!”

She thought of the cold gaze of Kyra and the faces of those who pitied her.

“Whoever did this to our sister!”

Crave raised his hands in frustration.

“I’ll cut ties with the world.”

Britia declared.

“If I don’t meet people, I won’t have to worry about seeing tail.”

He narrowed her eyes.

“What will you do?”

Crave stroked his beard seriously before speaking.

“If Lady Robley, with her power, were to try to pull you out of the monastery, what would you do?”

“You know, I’m a bit worried about that.”

Leon furrowed his brow and spoke up.

“If this continues, Lady Robley might end up marrying my sister and the Beaumex’ third son together by force.”

“Don’t say such scary things, Lenny.”

Britia glared at her younger sister, trembling.

“Anyway, it’s difficult to completely sever ties with the world and fate.”

Crave interjected, ignoring Lady Robley’ topic for now.

“But I’ll decline all invitations for a while.”

“Oh, that’s a bit troublesome.”

Crav muttered.

Soon, an invitation to the banquet of Sig Turas, whom he had perfectly coached, was scheduled to arrive for her.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

He laughed and waved his hand.

“Anyway, one thing is for sure.”

He clenched his fist and struck a fighting pose.

“Marquis Slanford, who was briefly considered as Britia’s husband candidate, loses his eligibility from this moment on.”

He raised his fist towards the sky.

“And I declare here that we will make that man our enemy of the Lockhart!”

As he looked at the twins who were making faces, Britia’s lips twitched.

“Making him an enemy is good, but how do we get revenge? He’s just a rascal Marquis.”

“That’s the problem. Besides, he’s a man with considerable influence in society.”

“Never mind. I’ll just become a weirdo again.”

‘You’re already a weirdo.’

Britia muttered under her breath with a resentful feeling.

“Forget something, Tia?”

Crave winked, pointing to himself with both thumbs.

“He might be a slumlord Slanford, but we are the weirdo Lockhart siblings.”

“Leave me out of that weirdness.”

“Did you hear that, Lenny? She wants to exclude herself from the bloodline that connects us?”

Crave’ eyes widened as he spoke.

“Anyway, they are one and we are three.”

Pushing with his intellect, Leon confidently spoke.

“With so many people on their side, how can we win against just the three of us?”

“We have to add Hailey. Then, we’ll be four.”

Still, it seemed impossible, Britia shook her head.

“There is an ingenious way.”

Crave snapped his fingers and grinned.

“Let’s call Sig Turas-nim.”

“Brother, when did you become so smart?”

“When we add your cheerful friends, we’ll have a chance of winning.”

“Okay. When should we attack? Just tell the kids to sharpen their swords and give us a date.”

“Please, don’t say weird things, guys.”

The story was flowing as if Lockhart and Slanford were going to have a brawl.

“Okay, I feel better now.”

Britia heaved a long sigh and chuckled.

“Our love and efforts must have been transmitted, Lenny.”

“Thank goodness, brother.”

The two exchanged fist bumps.

☆☆☆

A few days later, the Valenderg knights gathered for training.

“Why are you standing there trying to set the mood?”

Leon’s cheerful friend, Phillip asked.

“Someone is waiting.”

“I don’t really want to ask why they’re waiting.”

“I’m going to save Beaumex in 40 minutes.”

“If you don’t want to tell me, then why are you answering?”

Phillip frowned.

“Why Beaumex?”

Leon’s eyes flickered with a fierce look. As if he had found his prey.

“Beaumex!”

Leon kicked the ground and delivered a kick to him.

“Ouch!”

As he fell, Leon grabbed his leg and twisted it behind him.

“Who, Lockhart? Suddenly, why?”

“Your little brother dared to insult my sister!”

“What?”

Leon, surrounded by his cheerful friends, stretched and prepared for the upcoming exercise.

The group quickly reacted to Leon’s outburst, asking, 

“Who insulted our older sister?”

“Beaumex, was it you?”

All of them, except for Philip, ran towards the son of Beaumex. 

They pinned him down between them, as if they were making a sandwich, and began to torment him until the knight commander intervened.

“Leon Lockheart, what are you doing on the first day of training? It’s only been an hour!”

He called his over to reprimand him, but his confident expression was so intimidating that it gave him a headache. 

He knew that whenever he saw that face, he would always end up regretting picking a fight with him.

“What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking about my family. We have a strong sense of family ties.”

“Your back talk is giving me a headache.”

“Or, is it about becoming stronger?”

“I have good news for you, Leon. You, who only think about family and becoming stronger.”

“Did my family come to visit? I’m so happy, what should I do?”

The Knight commander couldn’t help but wonder how he could be so childish and yet so mature at the same time.

“The Duke Sig Turas is in the capital, as you probably know.”

“He visited our home, so of course I know.”

“During his stay in the capital, he said he felt like he was getting rusty and asked if he could train with us for a few days.”

Just then, there was a knock on the door of the office.

“He must have arrived.”

The commander raised his hands and opened the door, revealing a tall man. As soon as Leon saw him, her playful expression changed.

“Leon Rockheart.”

His deep voice calling Leon’s name sent shivers down his spine.

Leon remembered how much he had tried to kill Turas at the party.

Yes, the crazy dog he had met in the north was him.

Unlike the determined Leon, Sig was delighted to see him.

“How is Britia doing?”

Although he wanted to attack him right away, he casually asked about his sister’s well-being. 

If Britia had been there, her tail would have wagged a bit.

“My sister is doing well. Oh, wait, maybe not recently.”

“Why not?”

“Someone made her angry.”

After thinking for a moment, Sig nodded his head.

“There was a man at Lady Robley’ party who made her uncomfortable.”

“Oh, Beaumex the Third?”

Leon nodded his head.

“That guy wasn’t that big of a deal. He just annoyed my sister a bit.”

So, someone else had made her angry beyond that.

Sig’s eyes narrowed unconsciously.

“The problem was the bastard Marquis.”

“The bastard Marquis?”

Sig was confused as to who was being referred to. The man sounded like he had a very unpleasant demeanor.

“She went to his party and suddenly threatened to cut ties with the world, so Lockheart was on high alert for a while.”

“Is everything okay now?”

Sig asked with a serious expression. Leon looked at him with narrowed eyes.

“It was okay when I was there, but she’s probably feeling depressed now.”

Sig’s eyebrows twitched. Leon didn’t miss it.

He already knew that Sig had feelings for his sister. According to him, he was completely smitten.

“To be honest, I have a secret method for cheering up my sister, no matter how depressed she is.”

Sig’s facial muscles twitched.

“Would you like me to tell you?”

Leon smiled.

“If you win against me in a fight, then I’ll tell you.”

As soon as the conversation turned to his sister, Sig lost all his liveliness. Leon looked at him.

“How are you going to do that? She’ll definitely like anything you do.”

Sig lowered his eyes for a moment before looking back at Leon.

The way Sig looked at Leon made him shiver, and he unconsciously swallowed her saliva.

Neither his brother nor sister needed to be protected here. They could fight as much as they wanted.

While the two of them were full of determination, the commander of the Valenderg Knights was standing right next to them.

However, he seemed to disappear from his sight and suddenly started asking about their family, continuing on his own without permission.

He awkwardly cleared his throat when his eyes met with Evry, Sig’s adjutant who was left in the room. 

The commander’s dignity seemed to disappear because of Leon.

“Welcome to the Valenderg Knights.”

To save his face, Evry smiled gently.