Chapter 41
“Uh?”
Seeing the twins not understand my sudden remark, I broke into a grin.
I had struck first. I warned them not to lay a hand on our kids. Even if they were still young, we had a solid hidden card on our side—the Grand Duke. In effect, this was no different from launching a preemptive attack directly at the Grand Duchess.
So she would definitely get in touch.
“Anyway, from now on, I’m going to share everything with Lari.”
“Everything… with me?”
Since eating together wouldn’t put us in the same situation, we’d start with clothing and make everything identical.
‘Rohen seems perfectly fine, so it must be something Lari does that Rohen doesn’t—that’s the problem.’
Smiling, I took Lari’s hand.
“Alright, alright.”
“Mmng… are we sleeping together tonight?”
“Yes. So close your eyes tight and sleep well. Lari. Rohen.”
“Yeah! That’s great.”
Lari smiled as brightly as a child, hugging both dolls tightly, smiling as if she were truly happy.
Watching Lari like that, I closed my eyes too.
‘This time, I’ll protect you. I’ll change things so you won’t need me, and then I’ll leave.’
Even if I only had a single month, I would at least make it unmistakably clear to the Grand Duchess that you weren’t people she could treat lightly. And then…
‘So you won’t be in pain, so you can be healthy.’
Holding Lari’s hand tightly, I prayed to a god I didn’t even believe in.
That the children who had suffered so much would suffer no more.
And so the day passed quickly.
Two days later.
On the second day of living exactly like Lari—wearing the same clothes, holding the same doll she carried around, eating the same way—just as we finished our meal, a servant I had never seen before appeared in front of us.
A man who barged in without knocking. When he saw me dressed exactly like Lari, his expression stiffened.
His face clearly said, Why are you wearing those clothes? Naturally, my expression hardened as well.
“What is it?”
“The Grand Duchess requests your presence.”
Blair, the Grand Duchess. So she was finally calling for me. I nodded with an expression that said, So it’s come.
“All right.”
“Is that all?”
“Is there a problem?”
“When the Grand Duchess calls for you, it is proper etiquette here to go immediately.”
Apparently thinking little of me, the servant clicked his tongue and looked me over. Again, Rohen seemed about to step in, pushing back his chair to stand. I shook my head slightly at him and instead met the servant’s eyes.
“Excuse me.”
“‘Excuse me’? Where did you learn such impolite—”
“Isn’t the one being rude and ill-mannered you?”
“Hah… hah. Are you really saying that to me right now?”
Well. That reaction was only natural. I wasn’t even a noble—I was just a common child. A child with no guaranteed status. Just a hanger-on who had entered the Grand Duke’s household thanks to the twins, wearing expensive clothes and eating good food.
So for a guest child like me—one who might not even be a noble—to talk back to him was bound to offend him greatly.
“Yes.”
“Yes? Yes, you say! As expected of some outsider child with no known status—no manners, no etiquette.”
“Who do you think is standing in front of you?”
Tilting my head, I set down the fork I’d been using.
“Who else? A guest.”
“Perhaps your eyesight is failing with age.”
Perhaps because he was being disregarded by a child of unknown status, the man’s cheeks flushed red.
“Right now…!”
“Be quiet. The ones sitting in front of you are the Grand Duke’s son and daughter.”
“Ah…”
Only then did he let out a small gasp and look at the children sitting beside me.
“My apologies. Young master, young lady.”
“Grand Duke’s son. Grand Duke’s daughter.”
“……”
“What is it? Is that difficult to say? Since you were sent by the Grand Duchess, I thought you’d have better manners than anyone. But it seems not. You appear even less polite than I am.”
I was returning word for word what the servant had said to me about lacking manners and etiquette.
I didn’t care how he treated me. But the twins were different. This was the Grand Duke’s household. And they were merely servants subordinate to it. The twins were the masters of this family—the ones these people were meant to serve.
I would never let this be glossed over.
“……”
“And without even stating who you are, you barge in as if to interrogate us during the Grand Duke’s son and daughter’s mealtime—where did you learn such etiquette? Even I, an orphan raised without parents, know better. I thought the Grand Duke’s household would be impressive, but I guess it’s nothing special.”
I looked at him with a slight scoff. Perhaps because he was being looked down on by someone like me, his lips trembled violently.
Exactly. How dare he belittle the twins in front of me.
“Am I wrong?”
I stared at him calmly. Did he really think I’d just go running the moment he told me to come?
If he hadn’t disrespected the children, I would have gone. But the moment he did, all desire to go vanished.
“So it’s etiquette to go when the Grand Duchess calls, but not etiquette to show respect to the Grand Duke’s son and daughter? In that case, I won’t go.”
“You must go.”
“And this too is etiquette and proper conduct? If so, then you should practice it yourself first.”
Don’t lecture me about nonexistent manners. No matter how much I might be a guest, who in the world would come and go just because they were told to?
I wasn’t even officially employed here. What kind of rule was that—ordering a guest around?
With that thought, my eyes drifted to the pudding placed in front of me.
“We’re not finished eating yet, you see.”
“I offer my greetings, Grand Duke’s son, Grand Duke’s daughter. I apologize for causing a disturbance during your meal.”
“Fine.”
As if he’d been waiting, Rohen nodded.
That seemed to irritate the servant even more. He clenched his fist tightly, then looked at me, as if asking whether that was enough.
“Is that sufficient?”
“No, you need to apologize to her too.”
Rohen immediately echoed my words, as if he’d been waiting for them. The servant recoiled in shock and shook his head.
“I don’t think that’s appropriate, young master.”
“Why not? I think it is. Haven’t I told you several times to treat her the same as me?”
“……”
“You interrupted not only Lari’s and my mealtime, but Aisha’s as well. So you should apologize.”
Though he spoke without emotion, there was something powerful in Rohen’s voice—something very similar to the Grand Duke’s.
And so, as if forced, the servant bowed his head, as though he knew he couldn’t waste any more time.
“I have been rude.”
“That’s enough.”
“Then let us go.”
“But shouldn’t you introduce yourself first?”
I had no intention of backing down easily to the very end. At my words, he snapped and let out his irritation.
“Ah! It’s Ter.”
“Ah! Ter. You must be angry. You’re shouting like that.”
I deliberately repeated his name exactly as he had said it.
“Angry? Not at all. I merely almost sneezed for a moment. Now, may we truly go? The Grand Duchess is waiting.”
“All right.”
I sprang up from my seat.
“If you go, I want to go too.”
“Me too.”
Lari and Rohen spoke in succession.
“That won’t be possible. The Grand Duchess specifically instructed that only this. per. son. be brought.”
“Okay. I’ll go alone.”
“No. I’m worried.”
Rohen was quite firm. Lari clung to my arm and wouldn’t let go.
“No, it’s fine. What could Ah! Ter possibly do? And if I don’t come back on time, you can just look for Ah! Ter.”
At that, a red light flared in Rohen’s eyes. As if he wouldn’t let anything slide if something happened, the child’s expression was fierce and sharp.
“Uuung… I don’t wanna. But since sister says so, I’ll let you go.”
Lari released my arm and looked at Akter.
“If even a little thing happens to sister, I’ll kill you. Hehe. So you’d better bring her back safely.”
The words spoken with an innocent face were anything but innocent.
It was hard to tell whether she understood what she was saying or not.
After being threatened—if it could be called that—by both Rohen and Lari, Akter let out a deep sigh.
“Don’t worry… I’m so scared I won’t even dare come back to this room.”
Grumbling, he looked down at me quietly.
‘The Grand Duchess can’t do anything to me anyway. If she truly intended to harm me, she wouldn’t have openly taken me away at a time when so many people were around.’
Which meant there was a reason she needed to meet me publicly, with everyone knowing.
So I waved cheerfully at the two children in farewell.
“I’ll be back.”
“Come back quickly.”
“I’ll save your pudding, sister!”
“Okay.”
With that, I left the room with Akter. The moment we stepped outside, he looked at me with obvious displeasure.
Of course, even so, there was nothing he could do to me—nothing but glare. After wearing an extremely uncomfortable expression, Akter started walking quickly, almost running.
As if daring me to keep up. As though trying to provoke me, he rushed ahead, so I deliberately walked at a very leisurely pace.
In the end, Akter, who had been running ahead without looking back, returned to me belatedly.
I had stopped to look out the window once he disappeared from sight, and I found myself face-to-face with him as he burst out in irritation.
“What are you doing here?!”
“Oh. You were going so fast, I thought you’d left me behind. Didn’t you?
