All the guests, including my parents, were staring at us in shock.
Ilran and Jeremy were there too, trembling like leaves.
“This is a setup!” Count Ward shouted.
“I haven’t seen it all myself, so don’t accuse so hastily,” Marquis Persis replied coolly.
It seemed all the adults had been watching from the start.
“Our Ilran, shoot an arrow and hang it on a tree? He’s only seven years old!” the Baroness of Neneri cried.
“Didn’t you just brag a quarter of an hour ago about how your son is a prodigy at archery?” my father asked coldly.
“……!”
The Baron and Baroness Neneri dropped their heads in shame.
Cornered, Ilran finally broke down.
“Julia! Julia told me to do it! I’m sorry!”
“That’s right. Julia often made me tease Titania!” Jeremy added quickly.
Now there were three things against her—evidence, testimony, and witnesses.
The adults’ expressions froze. They looked so thrown off, they didn’t even know whether to scold us or smooth things over.
“Ethel, come here. Let me hold you.”
My father came forward and lifted me gently into his arms. Then he whispered only for me to hear.
“Ethel… I’m sorry. I should have protected you sooner.”
“…Dad.”
My chest swelled, and I clung to him tightly.
“Hmm. In that case, I’ll stand with my nephew too,” said Marquis Persis with a broad grin.
“Marquis Persis…!”
“Everyone here is busy defending their children. I’ve always wanted to do the same—take my child’s side.”
“You…!”
Count Ward’s fists clenched, his face twitching with rage.
“I was wrong!”
Julia suddenly shouted, her eyes darting about.
She tried to look pitiful, tears dripping down her face. But her trembling voice revealed she knew she couldn’t escape anymore.
“Titania’s so annoying… I only told them to tease her a little.”
“Julia!” Count Ward roared, but it was too late.
Whether she called it “teasing” or not, the truth was I had nearly fallen to my death—and it all began because of Tani.
This was no small matter.
“Madam, pack at once! We’re leaving!”
“Julia, hurry!”
Face red with fury and humiliation, Count Ward dragged his family away.
“Uh, what about us…?”
“What should we do, Madam…?”
The other parents whispered nervously among themselves.
Meanwhile, I leaned closer to my father.
“Dad, let’s just leave it here. Tani’s birthday is coming soon… we shouldn’t spoil it.”
“Are you sure?”
I nodded firmly. I didn’t want things to get even more awkward.
With a conflicted expression, my father turned to the others.
“As you heard, I’ll let it go this time. But I expect proper apologies to my daughter.”
“Thank you, Viscount.”
“Let’s go back inside,” Marquis Persis said, neatly ending the confrontation.
In my father’s arms, I glanced over and saw Jar following silently behind us.
‘If I’m not imagining it…’
How long had he been in the backyard? And how had he produced Julia’s bracelet at the perfect moment?
It felt as though everything had been set up to make her confession happen exactly when the adults arrived.
‘Could a ten-year-old really plan all that?’
Of course, as Marquis Persis’s nephew, Jar had surely received excellent education. Still…
“…….”
“……!”
While I was staring, Jar, who had been quietly walking with his eyes down, suddenly lifted his head.
His gaze met mine—dry, unreadable.
‘H-huh?’
At that exact moment, a fresh stream of blood gushed from my leg.
The bandages were soaked through—I hadn’t even realized how bad it still was.
‘Oh… right. I’m still bleeding.’
A wave of dizziness hit me, and my head tilted sideways.
“Ethel—!”
‘So this is how the world spins, huh…’
That was my last thought before I fainted.
‘Ugh, I feel so dizzy I could die.’
When I opened my eyes again, it was late at night.
Beaty was sitting at my bedside, clutching my hand tightly, tears brimming in her eyes.
“Miss…! You’re awake!”
“…Beaty.”
“The bleeding almost wouldn’t stop. I thought something terrible would happen! I should never have left the room!”
I learned there had been chaos after I collapsed, with Tani fainting as well from the shock.
The only relief was that my leg, though heavily treated, no longer hurt at all.
‘Ah… I don’t regret speaking out, but maybe I made things too awkward. Tani’s birthday is coming soon…’
But contrary to my worries, the atmosphere in the mansion had shifted in a very strange way.
“Marquis Persis, why didn’t you ever tell us you had such a clever nephew?”
It was lunchtime the next day.
Unlike Tani and the other children, who were eating in their rooms, I was invited to join the adults at the dining table so apologies could be made properly.
But throughout the meal, the adults spoke of only one person.
“I’ve never seen a child as sharp as Ethel,” my father said politely, though I could hear the faint surprise in his tone.
My eyes widened.
‘Even my father thinks Jar is that brilliant? But I thought he looked like an old man in a child’s body…’
“Ah… haha, but he’s still just a child,” Marquis Persis said, waving modestly under their stares.
I leaned toward my father and whispered.
“Father… is Jar really that smart?”
He smiled softly.
“Well educated, certainly. And yesterday proved it.”
So the adults had realized too—that Jar had deliberately staged everything yesterday.
And not crudely, but with grace and polish.
But it wasn’t only the adults who had changed.
“Hey, Knightley. Are you okay?”
“…Huh?”
After the meal, when I entered the drawing room, Jeremy and Ilran were waiting with uneasy faces.
‘Did they just ask if I was okay?’
That alone was shocking enough. But then they went even further.
“We’re sorry. We won’t bother you again, Titania… not crybaby, Titania.”
“Yeah. I didn’t mean for you to get hurt. I’m sorry about your leg.”
“Anyway, make sure to tell Brother Jar we apologized, okay?”
The two boys blurted it out and ran off immediately.
I stood frozen in place.
‘Did the sun rise in the west today? And “Brother Jar”? They’ve never called anyone that respectfully before.’
It felt like I had missed something huge while I was asleep—the whole atmosphere was different.
‘It’s like everyone’s been enchanted… No magic could be more effective.’
After a long hesitation, I muttered to myself:
“Maybe I should talk to him directly…”
When I went to the study to find Jar, I was met with a sight that stunned me.
“Have you read all the lines on this page?”
“Mm-hm…!”
“Tani! What are you doing here…?”
Tani, sitting snugly beside Jar, jerked his head up in surprise.
“Unnie…!”
He jumped from his seat and rushed over to me.
“Unnie, are you okay?”
“I’m fine, but…”
Ah. So this was the other strange thing.
Since yesterday, Tani hadn’t come to see me once. Normally he would have barged into my room first thing in the morning.
But today, this was the first time I saw him—and he hadn’t even cried or fussed.
‘What on earth…?’
“Hello, Edelweiss,” Jar greeted calmly.
“…Hi.”
Before I came in, Jar had been sitting with Tani at his side, reading aloud from a book.
Tani had never sat so close with anyone but me, our parents, or Beaty.
“What were you doing, Tani?”
“Jar… was reading… book… to me.”
“That book?”
Tani pointed to the thick, dark, and gloomy-looking tome I had noticed yesterday.
‘That doesn’t seem very child-friendly…’
I was grateful he was looking after Tani, but really—did it have to be that book?
I took Tani’s hand.
“Why don’t you come play with me now?”
“Sorry, Edelweiss.”
Jar’s voice cut in gently but firmly. He had already gotten down from his chair.
“I’m teaching Titania how to read difficult texts. Let’s finish this first. After that, you two can play. Until then, you’re welcome to stay here with us.”
“Uh…”
“Titania, come here.”
“Mm…!”
Tani slipped free of my hand and went right back to him.
‘What is this… this polite but unshakable authority?’
He was my younger brother.
And yet the two of them sat shoulder to shoulder again, turning back to the book as though I wasn’t even there.
“See this picture?”
“Wow… it looks scary…!”
‘This feels so strange.’
Feeling awkward, I sat down a little distance away.
I half-worried Tani might cry at the frightening illustrations, but to my surprise, his expression was the brightest it had been in days.
And Jar remained so kind, so attentive.
It was as if I had faded out of the room.
‘Well, if Tani’s happy, that’s good enough… Wait. Could it be…?’
A sudden thought made me cover my mouth.
‘In the original story, wasn’t Jar the only one who ever treated Titania kindly?’
Titania’s feelings for the male lead, Cain Brahms, had been born from that—her “first love” had simply been the first person who showed her genuine warmth.
And here Jar was—right now—the only child her age treating her well.
What if her first love wasn’t Cain at all, but Jar?
It was more than possible. Especially considering Cain lost points later for letting Titania get kidnapped.
After all, childhood friend and first love—those are the biggest clichés in romance.
For now they looked more like brother and sister. But in the future… who could say?
‘Changing her personality is impossible… but maybe changing the story itself is another matter.’
Good. I had a new goal.
As I slipped out of the study quietly, I couldn’t hold back a sly grin.
‘Jar, you’ll be the new male lead instead!’
