Chapter 42
“Huh?” Franz blinked, looking completely dumbfounded.
I glanced at him, then firmly poked Levi’s cheek again.
“Don’t like it? Then option two—beep.”
“…I was wrong.”
“Last chance. Option three—beep.”
“…I won’t do it again.”
“There. Now you can pick whichever one you like best.”
For his sake, I had already prepared neat, sensible options.
Apologies aren’t supposed to be long-winded anyway.
But even faced with such kindness, Franz just stood there frozen, mouth hanging open.
“What is this supposed to…?”
“Need me to play it again?”
I was more than ready to press again—though Levi’s cheek might not appreciate it.
When I wiggled my eyebrows, Franz finally shook his head with an odd look on his face.
He seemed disgusted. Then again, he also looked like he might laugh but couldn’t quite manage it.
After fidgeting on his own for a while, he suddenly asked in all seriousness:
“…Brother, did he catch you in a weak spot?”
“…Want to fight?”
“Yeah, he caught you. Otherwise, no way you’d…”
Once again, sparks practically crackled between me and Franz.
Ugh. Can’t even have one peaceful moment.
Sure, it was a misunderstanding—but this guy’s temper was rotten from the start anyway.
“Now you apologize too!”
“…Sorry!”
“Forgiven!”
As we cackled and staged our model reconciliation, Betty returned carrying the tea and desserts.
Forget the tea—for all the trouble we’d been through, sugar came first.
I grabbed a macaron and popped it into my mouth.
Mmm. The taste that makes even your soul put on weight. Perfect. Maybe next I’d try a dacquoise.
I picked one up, caramel-flavored, but then I felt eyes on me. It wasn’t Levi, sipping his tea with elegance. Which meant…
“Heeyah.”
“Mmff—what…?!”
I darted forward and shoved the dacquoise into Franz’s mouth before dusting off my hands.
“If you like caramel, just say so. I’ll graciously yield it.”
“W-who said I… like…!”
Yeah, you do.
Just like that dacquoise melting in your mouth, your expression’s softening too.
Meanwhile, the chill seeping from the side made me quickly stuff a macaron into Levi’s mouth as well, pacifying him.
Honestly. The men in this house were so much work.
Grumbling, I crunched my way through the sweets, only to find Franz staring blankly at the desserts again.
“What? Not going to eat more?”
“…This isn’t like Bastion.”
“What isn’t?”
“Bastion hates sweets.”
What the hell was he on about?
I corrected the nonsense with a hard fact.
“Father loves sweets.”
“Khmm, khm.”
For some reason Betty coughed awkwardly, but it was the absolute truth.
Franz narrowed his eyes.
“…Father… likes sweets?”
“Yup.”
“No way.”
“Way. At the townhouse, during tea every day, he’d clear a whole plate of cookies without blinking.”
“…That’s impossible…”
Staring in shock, Franz absentmindedly bit into a chocolate scone—then quickly spat it out in disbelief.
Unbelievable.
I snatched the scone mid-air and finished it myself.
“What’s this about being like Bastion or not? Is there a law about it?”
“Well… no, but—”
“Then who told you that?”
Let me guess.
“Eva.”
At that name, spoken simultaneously, Franz’s face froze.
I crunched the last bit of scone and licked the crumbs off my palm before speaking.
“Let’s cut to the chase. Aside from the rat, everything else—Eva’s doing, right?”
“…How did you know?”
That dinner back then had been his last real chance to make things right with me. Apologize, or else…
“You just looked too clueless.”
Or, he could’ve shown proof of his innocence.
When I’d warned him about the blanket, he’d looked at me like I was spouting gibberish.
If he really had set my shoes on fire, he would’ve flinched, or at least shown some guilt—he’s human, after all.
But he hadn’t even understood what I was talking about. Hard to believe someone capable of such a nasty trick could be so genuinely confused.
Even when he saw my injured leg, his only response was blunt surprise, like it had nothing to do with him.
He hadn’t even noticed the chaos—servants running about, the doctor being called.
Spending all his time alone upstairs, with no one to tell him what was happening…
Not a trace of burns or wax stuck to his hands either. They were spotless.
“Truth is, you never actually wanted to hurt me.”
You just… though in the wrong way…
“You just wanted some attention, didn’t you?”
“W-what do you know…!”
“I’ve seen it plenty.”
At the orphanage.
When there aren’t enough caretakers, some kids misbehave—not to get rejected, but to make sure they’re noticed. To grab even a moment of someone’s gaze, someone’s touch.
Yeah. I’d seen it so many times.
I looked at Franz with softened eyes.
“You’re just like a black kitten starved for love.”
“…A black… what?”
“A kitten.”
Wink.
“So relax already.”
His face flushed scarlet.
“Y-you’re more like a dumb puppy!”
“Hey! Thanks!”
Finally, not a mutt—but a puppy! That’s right, I do have puppy vibes!
My delighted reaction only made Franz huff harder, his eyes wide with outrage.
What a cute little kitten, even good at hissing.
I was just admiring him when suddenly my vision went dark.
I didn’t even need to guess who.
“Jealous thing, put your hand down.”
“…”
“My baby deer, down.”
The hand lowered.
Satisfied now, are we?
In the light returned to me, Franz sputtered dacquoise crumbs.
“Baby… d-deer…?”
“Fawn.”
“Not a stag, but a flowery… fawn…?”
Wow, just hearing “flower” makes him break out in hives.
Resting my chin on my palm, I stared at him.
“So, bottom line.”
“…What?”
“Do you still like Eva?”
After a long pause, Franz gave the smallest nod.
Of course.
I sighed.
She was like his mother. It had already reached that extreme of love and hate. No outsider could tell him to cut ties.
“…But I know I can’t stay with her anymore.”
“…”
“When Eva’s happy, I’m happy. When Eva’s sad, I’m sad. But now, when Eva hurts… I end up hurting too.”
I caught sight of his palm—scraped raw, just a little.
And for a second, it overlapped with the image of Eva’s bleeding hand.
“Sharing happiness, sadness, even pain—that’s love too. But…”
I almost told Betty to fetch the medicine box, then realized I didn’t need to. The seat beside me was empty.
“If someone truly cherishes you, they won’t drag you into their suffering.”
Levi had moved over to Franz, quietly wrapping his hand with a handkerchief.
“…Sorry.”
“…”
“I was wrong.”
“…”
“I won’t do it again.”
Without even the push of buttons, Levi had offered an unprompted chain of apologies.
After a long hesitation, he even took it a step further.
“When I said not to lie like that again… it’s because I never want to feel that way again.”
“…Feel what way?”
“I was angry.”
“Then why didn’t you get mad? Why didn’t you or Father…?”
“…Because I was more worried about you.”
After a pause, he whispered one more word: “…a lot.”
No doubt Franz had heard it.
“Aw, Franz is gonna cry!”
“I am NOT!”
Yeah. He definitely heard.
“Leave Eva to Father now. Once we all speak together, it’ll be settled.”
Sniffling with red eyes and nose, but still swearing he hadn’t cried, Franz declared this.
I immediately scolded him.
“You spineless little lordling!”
“…What?”
“If that’s how it is, you shouldn’t have started. If you start, you see it through to the end. Above all else—ah, forget it.”
I clamped my mouth shut.
No way I’d say out loud what really worried me.
Why does Eva have Wolfgang’s clothes?
If it was just some creepy stalker collection, that’d be fine.
But if—just if—
The two of them were actually… like that…
Ugh. The thought made my skin crawl.
Sure, Wolfgang had been widowed long ago and Eva was unmarried, so technically no issue. But my heart—and Levi’s, and Franz’s—wouldn’t accept it.
If she remarried, it had better be someone decent. But Eva being Eva…
Even if she wasn’t in that kind of relationship, even if her “become the lady of the house” project was nothing but empty ambition—still, the best way was to expose her reasons and methods for being cast out.
That was my thought.
Maybe it was because I wasn’t from this world. Maybe it was because I wasn’t raised a noble.
A noble would fire a servant without a second thought. Who cares about reputation or gossip?
But me? I always ended up thinking like a common worker.
Imagine—you head to the office like usual, but your competent, decent boss suddenly disappears.
You’d pretend to send an email while messaging, “Hey, where’s Manager Kim Eva?”
And then you hear a rumor: the CEO didn’t like her, so she was canned. Productivity and morale? Straight into the ground.
Even if later an official announcement went out—“False rumors, actually she did wrong”—it’d be too late.
No, the truth was, those were all side issues.
“Hey, I nearly ended up eating rice gruel in the neurology ward, you know.”
“…”
“My calf flesh got carved off like a credit card bill, and if not for my holy body, I’d have caught every illness under the sun by now.”
No way I’d let Manager Kim Eva off easy. Even if she had to go, I’d make sure she left unforgettable memories behind.
Muttering to myself, I shadowboxed the air until Franz whispered to Levi:
“Break off the engagement.”
“…Not happening.”
“Run away.”
“No.”
“I’m saying this for your own good.”
“What are you two mumbling about?”
Wanna spar with me?
I crooked my finger, and Franz instantly straightened his posture.
“…So what’s your plan?”
“Hmm. A fun little game.”
“…What game?”
We’d played tag all afternoon.
“At night, it has to be… hide-and-seek.”
