CHAPTER~45
This was getting troublesome.
Mela frowned without realizing it as she looked at the annoying brothers blocking her path.
She had wondered why they hadn’t shown up.
The brothers, Lazar in particular, had pestered Mela all day even in the study room.
Didn’t they ever get tired?
If they’d spent that time studying instead, they would’ve already ranked near the top.
“L-Lazar!”
Rina panicked, unsure of what to do in the face of this unexpected situation.
She had heard about the Lazar and Morris brothers while working here.
They were the twin boys favored by Nanny Quina, Grimora, the true power behind Artemene’s estate.
Because of that, the brothers acted as if they owned the estate, and they treated the servants especially poorly.
Some servants disliked the brothers for acting as though they were members of the Decart family.
Rina rolled her eyes downward, anxiously thinking things over.
They attend the same study room, I think.
Maybe they don’t get along.
It was obvious that Lazar was bullying Mela.
Rina looked at Mela with a worried expression.
Just as she was about to say something.
“……Tsk.”
An unbelievable sound came from Mela.
It was clearly a click of the tongue.
When Rina glanced at her, Mela’s face looked utterly fed up.
There was even a heavy, world-weary boredom about her that didn’t suit a child at all.
Thinking she must have seen wrong, Rina asked in shock.
“M-Miss Mela?”
“H-huh?”
Mela flinched and instantly relaxed her expression, as if nothing had happened.
Even she thought the expression from before didn’t suit her at all.
Then she gently tugged on Rina’s sleeve.
Rina noticed and bent down.
Standing on her tiptoes, Mela whispered so only Rina could hear.
“Rina, can you do me a favor and call Aunt?”
“Ah, yes! But if I go, then Miss Mela—”
“I’ll be fiiiine, so please go quickly, okay? I’m counting on you, Rina!”
Mela mouthed the words ‘thank you.’
The way Mela smiled sweetly at her was so adorable that Rina felt her heart drop with a thump.
“Alright!”
Rina nodded vigorously and hurried off.
As Mela watched Rina’s retreating figure.
“Hey, curly-head.
“What did you say to that maid to make her run off like that?”
“W-What?
“Curly-head?”
Lazar picked another fight.
Wait a second.
Curly-head?
She wondered who that was, only to realize he meant her.
Calling her curly-head instead of using the pretty term ‘wavy hair’ was something she’d never experienced in her life.
Dumbfounded, Mela let out a hollow laugh.
Kids really did have incredible naming sense.
Though in Lazar’s case, it was clearly meant badly.
Nearly losing her temper, Mela took a deep breath and spoke calmly to Lazar.
“She’s not ‘that maid.’
“Her name is Rina.
“You live in the same estate and still can’t remember the servants’ names?
“What’s wrong with you?”
Startled by Mela’s clearly changed attitude and gaze, Lazar flinched but snapped back.
“W-What?
“Why would I remember that!
“They’re just servants who clean up nobles’ crap anyway!”
“The only one taking a crap here is you.”
Mela replied indifferently, unfazed.
Her relaxed attitude left Lazar visibly flustered.
His pride wounded, Lazar’s face flushed red as he started shouting.
“Y-You’ve really said it now!
“I heard you saved Miss Reia!
“I know it was all something you staged to look good!”
“H-Hyung, stop it now.
“If Artemene shows up—”
“Stay out of this!”
Morris, who had been standing by nervously, stepped forward to stop Lazar.
But he was no match for the enraged Lazar.
“Ugh!”
Morris cried out as he was shoved backward.
Just as he stumbled and was about to fall.
“Are you okay?”
Mela rushed forward and grabbed Morris by the back of the neck, pulling him upright.
Thanks to her, Morris didn’t fall.
She saved me.
Morris stared at her in a daze, about to thank her.
But the murderous aura coming from his brother made him clamp his lips shut.
It felt like Lazar would kill him if he said thank you.
“You don’t have to thank me.
“I would’ve done the same for anyone.”
After confirming Morris was standing steadily, Mela sharply turned her gaze to Lazar.
Then she walked straight toward him without the slightest hesitation.
“W-What.
“Why are you coming closer?
“Are you crazy, you damn brat—”
As Mela approached him expressionlessly, Lazar shrank back without realizing it.
“Apologize.
“To your little brother.”
“Ha!
“Why should I?
“What business is it of yours what I do to my brother?”
Lazar scoffed.
He’d come all this way just to demand an apology?
It was ridiculous.
Then came a firm, unwavering response.
“That’s exactly why you should apologize.
“He’s your only brother.
“You should treasure him.”
Mela’s eyes were so clear they looked transparent.
They were unnecessarily straight and sincere.
She had always been like that.
No matter how much he bullied her, she never cried.
Instead, she stood back up and looked straight ahead.
As if someone like him didn’t matter at all.
Damn it.
I hate her.
Who does that brat think she is, refusing to bend?
Pushed to the limit, Lazar finally lost control and raised his hand high.
“Y-You little—!
“How dare you try to lecture me!”
“Hyung, stop!”
Morris rushed in belatedly to stop him.
And then.
“Aah!”
Someone went flying backward with a scream.
“Aaagh, that hurts!
“I-I think I hit my head on a rock!
“It hurts!
“I think my skull cracked!”
“Does this look okay to you?”
The one screaming was none other than Lazar.
Mela had finally lost her patience and headbutted him.
“Hey.
“You.”
Mela rolled up her sleeves and approached Lazar, who was clutching his forehead and whimpering.
“……Eek!”
Overcome with instinctive fear, Lazar clung tightly to Morris.
The small shadow cast over him felt like a towering giant.
Her presence and aura were overwhelming.
Standing before them, Mela planted both hands on her hips and shouted with full diaphragmatic force.
“You should be grateful I stopped at a first-stage headbutt.
“Tsk.
“If I’d been serious, you would’ve—!
“Your skull would’ve really split into two, got it?”
So there were second and third-stage headbutts too?
Lazar’s face drained of color.
“……T-That—”
“Answer me!”
“I-I got it!”
Men really only listened once they were subdued by force.
Clicking her tongue, Mela drove in the final nail.
“Good.
“If you get it, then scram.
“Big sister doesn’t feel like looking at you right now.
“So go on.
“Shoo, shoo.”
“But you’re only five—”
“Hey!
“Don’t you know the rules?
“In the Decart family, the strong one is the older sibling.
“Want to get headbutted too?
“If not, take your brother and get lost!”
“……O-Okay!
“I get it!
“I’m sorry!
“Let’s go, Hyung!
“Hurry!”
“Hey!
“Let go of me!”
Determined to avoid a headbutt at all costs, Morris grabbed his brother by the nape and bolted away.
Wait.
Was Morris always that fast?
“Tsk.
“Those little brats have some nerve.
“His face is already swollen up.”
She should’ve headbutted him sooner.
She didn’t want to use violence on kids, but still.
Landing that one blow felt unbelievably satisfying.
“Phew.
“Now then—”
Mela dusted off her hands with a much lighter expression and turned around.
“Eh……?”
Two shadows fell before her.
“M-Miss.”
One was Rina, trembling as she watched the situation nervously.
And the other.
“I wondered what all the noise was.
“So it was you, little one.”
It was Aunt Artemene.
Oh no.
I’m doomed.
She didn’t see everything from start to finish, did she?
Seeing Artemene, who she didn’t even know had been standing there, Mela screamed internally.
She was already on her bad side.
If Artemene found out she’d fought the son of the nanny she doted on, she’d never let it go.
The thought of Evlyen Leella getting scolded because of her made her feel dizzy.
Okay.
There was still a chance to make excuses.
Pretend nothing happened and greet her politely.
That’s how you earn affection.
Having decided, Mela straightened her rumpled clothes and approached Artemene, clasping her hands politely.
“H-Hello, Artemene.
“I didn’t mean to cause a disturbance on purpose—”
Artemene didn’t reply.
Her expression was fierce, as if she were in a foul mood.
That murderous look.
This won’t end with just a scolding.
I’m doomed.
Intimidated by the pressure, Mela drooped her head.
“It won’t happen again.
“I’m sorry for causing a scene.
“Please don’t scold Mother because of me—”
Mela spoke more urgently and desperately than ever before.
Then Artemene, who had remained silent, reached out with a cold expression.
“I-I’m sorry—!”
Just as Mela shrank back in fear.
What followed was a completely unexpected question.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
