CHAPTER 12……………………………………………..
“……What?”
The duke’s eyebrow twitched.
“Marianne, I don’t like repeating myself. And I don’t think you failed to understand me.”
“Ah, yes, sir.”
I couldn’t ask anything more and had no choice but to keep my mouth shut.
The duke rose from his seat as if the conversation was over.
I wanted to stop him, but no sound came out.
He already seemed to have wrapped up everything regarding Krimu.
Well, the wicked ones were punished, and the former nanny is coming back soon… I guess it’s all settled.
Still, I thought I’d get to sit and talk with the duke for a while.
Maybe even brag a little that I was the one who saved his youngest son from the villains.
I clicked my tongue in disappointment.
Then suddenly, I remembered something the duke had casually thrown out earlier.
“Wait! You said I can find a wizard?”
What a jackpot!
It was an unexpected stroke of luck.
I could meet a wizard years earlier than I was supposed to when I became an adult.
If that happened, I’d be able to use magic — to gain power no one could ignore.
“Heugh! Wow! This is ama—!”
I barely stopped myself from shouting out loud and hurried past the maids, leaving the office.
The duke had been reading a thick tome for half a day.
When he noticed the sky had darkened, he gestured, and a servant approached to light the lamp.
Warm light spread across the pages.
The Delvay family…
Long fingers tapped on the desk.
For days now, he had been immersed in books about the Empire’s magical bloodlines.
Duke Keraïs recalled the day he first brought Marianne Delvay to his mansion.
He had once dreamed that by borrowing the power of a magically gifted child, the Keraïs family would rise to new heights.
But strangely, that ambition had been waning lately.
No… that can’t be.
At that moment, he sensed movement outside the door.
“It’s the young master.”
At the servant’s words, the duke granted entry.
Father and son faced each other for the first time in a while.
Syeverth, who had been away for training, seemed to have grown.
His solid build and cold expression reminded the duke of his own youth.
The duke gauged that his eldest son must be about seventeen this year and spoke.
“How are things?”
“It’s quiet, perhaps because winter’s coming. No civilian damage reported.”
A report about monsters.
Around this time of year—between autumn and winter—monster activity increased.
The duke had sent Syeverth to the western border for training and defense.
“Good. You may go.”
Conversations between them were always like that—
No greetings, no pleasantries.
Just the exchange of necessary facts.
They rarely spoke for more than five minutes.
Just as the duke turned back to his book,
he realized his son was still standing there.
He looked up at him.
Even when staring into those same red eyes—so like his own—he couldn’t read what the boy was thinking.
“Father.”
“Yes.”
“I heard a strange rumor during training.”
“A rumor?”
The duke’s brow furrowed.
He was someone who used rumors for his own ends but detested hearing them from others.
Syeverth, of course, knew this well.
Still, his son’s expression hardened with resolve.
“They said I might be engaged to that girl.”
Syeverth’s face twisted in visible disgust.
The duke’s lips curved faintly.
It wasn’t exactly false.
It would depend on what the girl proved capable of in the future.
“Get along well with her.”
“Father…”
Syeverth’s crimson eyes widened.
“She’s of the Delvay family.”
“I know. They were once a family of sorcerers powerful enough to command the Empire centuries ago. But now they’re nothing but a fallen house.”
“Most of them died without heirs. They lived short lives.”
The duke rested his chin on his hand.
The red lamplight flickered in his scarlet eyes like fire.
“But that child survived. She’s the pure Delvay bloodline — untouched by any other.”
His eldest son was as sharp-minded as he was.
Even with few words, Syeverth understood at once.
“No way…”
“Yes. That girl might do something truly great for our family.
So wouldn’t she make a suitable fiancée for you?”
Syeverth Keraïs, the duke’s firstborn, was unmistakably his father’s son.
Especially in his coldness — as if he had neither blood nor tears.
He gazed up at the moon in the sky, eyes devoid of warmth.
“She’s only thirteen.”
Besides, everyone believed the Delvay line’s magic had long since died out.
His eyes hardened, then softened again.
The Keraïs family is one of the founding houses — the Empire’s finest.
From the moment he could understand words,
his father had told him that repeatedly.
It had been drilled into him — almost brainwashed — deep in his heart.
Shaking off his thoughts, Syeverth left his room.
“Young Master Krimu has just woken up.”
Following the servant’s words, Syeverth entered the open doorway.
Nom, nom, munch, munch. The sounds filled the room.
“Krimu.”
The small boy immediately dropped everything and ran to him, clinging tightly.
Though thirteen years apart and half-brothers, Syeverth had rarely paid much attention to him.
But after Krimu’s mother passed away, he had begun visiting him occasionally.
“Hyung (Brother)!”
Krimu looked up suddenly, milk stains around his mouth.
Syeverth wiped them away with a casual motion.
Then he noticed the child’s arm — still faintly bruised.
So that’s what it was…
When he had returned home, the servants had reported everything — including what had happened with the nanny and maids.
How could I not have known…
Syeverth gently lifted Krimu into his arms, guilt pressing on his chest.
After setting him on the sofa, Krimu picked up a half-eaten cookie and munched again.
Syeverth glanced at the ointment jar on the table.
“She’s the one who noticed, right?”
“Yes, young master,” replied the head maid, who was serving as temporary nanny.
Just then, Krimu gulped down his cookie and said suddenly,
“Noona.”
“What?”
“Noonaaa.”
Syeverth frowned, and the head maid quickly explained.
“Since yesterday, Young Master Krimu has been calling Miss Marianne that. ‘Noona.’”
“…”
Syeverth’s face darkened.
Krimu, oblivious, just laughed brightly and kept calling out, “Noona! Noona!”
“S-stop that!”
“Noona?”
“Stop it, Krimu.”
“Hyung, Noona~”
But Krimu wouldn’t stop, thinking it was a game.
With a throbbing headache, Syeverth left the room, entrusting the child to the maid.
“Haah…”
Noona, really? That little brat had already won over his youngest brother.
“Unbelievable, that tiny thing…”
Along the long corridor stood the guards.
At the end of it, Syeverth saw the door to her room — the girl’s room.
The duke’s and his own rooms were far from this side.
Marianne’s was right next to Krimu’s.
No wonder she’d been the first to notice something was wrong.
That child might do something great for our family. She’s a fitting fiancée for you.
Among nobles of the Empire, such arranged matches were common —
marriages made for benefit, not affection.
Syeverth had expected as much,
but never imagined a magician would be chosen for him.
And worse, that it’d be the girl who had once called him “loudmouth.”
He could still recall the humiliation vividly.
He had trained hard every day since, determined to surpass her.
He was staring at the tightly shut door when —
The door suddenly creaked open.
“…!”
Caught off guard, Syeverth instinctively stepped back.
Through the narrow gap peeked a girl with red hair shining faintly under the light.
Her black eyes looked straight up at him.
Under that unreadable gaze, Syeverth blurted out awkwardly,
“What? I was just passing by.”
“Can I talk to you for a moment?”
“What—what?”
His sharp eyes widened in confusion.
While he hesitated, wondering whether to accept this bold girl’s request,
he felt a small hand tug lightly at his collar — pulling him inward.
“H-hey! Wait—!”
Flustered, Syeverth found himself being dragged by someone whose strength was barely half of his own.
So much for all that training — utterly useless now.
