Chapter 24
“Michael’s always a bit sharp with his words… but he’s especially bad today. Shouldn’t someone step in?”
Jaina thought she should slowly step into the situation.
She didn’t know what would happen if she stayed out of it — the other party was Michael, who behind his bright appearance had the worst personality.
“How can I change the mood? Ending this peacefully would be best…”
Right — turn the topic toward herself.
Maybe taking some of the heat would help.
“Come to think of it, I think he didn’t like being called ‘older brother’ earlier…”
A memory suddenly popped into Jaina’s head. Last time, when someone called him “oppa” in front of a street stall, Michael had been very flustered.
“He even gave me his cloak so I wouldn’t get wet… I should help.”
He wouldn’t kill a relative, of course, but if the boy in front of her got hurt because of her, she wouldn’t be able to feel at ease.
“Um, excuse me…”
Jaina closed her mouth. Normally she would have been embarrassed, but since she had a purpose, she could do it.
“Michael oppa?”
“…!”
“…!”
When Jaina called Michael, both Michael and Rozian’s eyes registered shock. One of them was nearly fainting. Jaina acted as if she didn’t notice their reactions. Her gentle, calf-like big eyes blinked a few times.
“Huh?”
Before Jaina could say anything, Michael suddenly scooped her up. Whatever she was about to say felt pointless now. Michael, unable to hold back a mischievous smile, snorted at Rozian as if he’d never been angry.
“Why can’t I interfere? It’s about my sister.”
“‘Your sister’?”
Rozian, who had been teasing smoothly until now, rubbed his arm in stunned disbelief. He looked chilled to the bone, unable to bear it.
“You idiot. I wasn’t talking about you.”
“I never misunderstood from the start. Oh my, what a relief I’m not that ‘sister,’ really.”
Rozian, smiling as he replied, then looked at Jaina with a face that showed he’d realized something.
“So that child in the tower—turns out she’s Michael hyung’s beautiful little sister.”
Jaina, who met Rozian’s gaze, also looked at him with surprised eyes. Through the previous conversation she too had figured out who the boy in front of them was.
“Blood doesn’t lie, huh…”
The boy had only given his name and not his family name, but Jaina already knew his full name: Rozian El Shiphor Delraid. He was the protagonist of the novel Blade of Vengeance, the one who swears revenge after Diamide killed his mother.
Meeting the protagonist so suddenly made Jaina’s attention snap toward him.
“After Diamide killed his mother, he vows revenge…”
Jaina stared quietly at Rozian, lost in odd sentiment. She didn’t notice how long she lingered; Rozian interpreted her gaze differently.
“Do you think Michael and I look a bit alike?”
“…Huh? I guess so.”
Perhaps their high noses or prominent double eyelids matched in a few features. Their atmospheres were completely different, though. If Michael was dazzling, flamboyant beauty, Rozian had many layers. He could be pure and soft as if unaware of a bleak future, and when he smiled gently, there was a strange charm that could draw anyone in.
“That such a pure, radiant boy becomes a vengeance-obsessed man later…”
Of course that future was something only she knew, and it was hard to accept. Jaina turned her gaze away with a bitter expression. Thinking about Rozian’s future made a corner of her chest sink.
Meanwhile, Rozian was inwardly amazed.
“Is this really the Michael Bellaphanian I met today?”
“Kid, be careful. There’s a trap here.”
“You told me that already.”
“Little thing… no gratitude even when I look after you.”
Michael acting tenderly toward his sister while being so different normally felt strange and petty to Rozian.
“Has that walking trash finally matured at eighteen? I thought he was irredeemable.”
Rozian shifted his gaze from his cousin to the small-framed girl standing next to him.
“Her name was Jaina, right?”
Rozian remembered the first time he met Jaina: thud! — the girl had fallen through the air wrapped in a gust of wind. At first he thought she was swept up by magic, but she had been struggling to control the wind herself — meaning she could use magic. Given how rare it was for a child to be able to use magic, Rozian couldn’t see it as mere coincidence that Jaina used wind magic like Michael.
“They don’t seem to be just close like siblings from familiarity. Are they really related?”
Rozian stared hard at Jaina. Her sea-like blue eyes felt strangely familiar.
“Michael’s little uncle Diamide Bellaphanian also had blue eyes.”
Knowing more about Michael than anyone, Rozian easily guessed she was the tower master’s daughter.
“A hidden daughter of the tower master who tamed that brat Michael…”
Rozian stroked his chin and looked at Jaina with renewed interest.
“I’m sorry. I acted on my own without the tower master’s permission.”
Hilbenzia bowed her head, admitting her fault.
“Why did you do that?”
Diamide looked down at Hilbenzia with cold eyes that betrayed no emotion. He already knew she’d unilaterally dealt with the mage Moven; he’d been informed. He’d been waiting to hear her reasons because she was usually meticulous and never made mistakes — he expected at least some excuse.
“There’s no excuse. I will accept any punishment.”
But Diamide’s expectation was wrong. The woman who usually responded with sharp words and stood proudly had none of that now. Hilbenzia simply kept silent.
“…”
Diamide remained quiet at her demeanor. By the book, he should punish Hilbenzia and free Moven. Yet oddly, he felt no desire to do so. He was the type to make black-or-white decisions and own them even if wrong, but this time he found making a decision difficult.
“Tower master?”
Diamide shifted his gaze briefly toward the window. From the top of the tower where he stood, he could overlook the whole place. Soon he spotted Jaina playing in the garden.
“Is that the child?”
“…”
“The one you risked punishment to protect.”
Diamide drew in his mana and listened to the garden’s voices.
“I used to make bouquets too, but they’re nothing like the ones His Imperial Highness makes. How did you learn to make wreaths?”
“Oh, I learned from other young ladies.”
He saw an unfamiliar face — the imperial heir. Perhaps he came to the tower because he was Michael’s cousin.
“One time with Lady Friel, once with Lady Tetimia, once when Brina was showing off, once when I made one for Lady Erelly. After doing it so many times it got easier.”
Rozian let out a low “ah” at that.
“And I made one for my mother, and for Sir Juliette, the guard—”
“Hey.”
At that moment Michael cut Rozian off with a deeply furrowed brow.
“How many women call you by your name instead of your title? That kid already has bad prospects.”
But Rozian didn’t care whether Michael picked a fight; he continued speaking.
“So—”
Initially Michael had been angry, but as time went on he began to chuckle at Rozian’s words.
“What’s so amusing?” Michael wondered.
It was none of his business. Diamide’s gaze, however, was fixed only on Jaina. The girl who resembled Bezric was laughing at the boy in front of her. Diamide’s eyes, which had been cold toward Jaina, softened.
“Did that heir give her the cloak wrapped so tight?”
An uncomfortable feeling rose in him. At that moment Rozian reached out toward Jaina’s face.
“There’s some whipped cream on you.”
“Oh, thank you.”
Diamide watched Jaina’s calm acknowledgement intently, feeling uneasy.
“She’s only ten. Even if she’s a child, how dare a boy touch a girl’s face so casually.”
For Rozian it was an ordinary kindness and for Jaina it passed without thought, but to Diamide it looked peculiarly significant.
“He says he cares but never really does anything right.”
Even now Diamide sat there stupidly, doing nothing. He couldn’t see that one of the many young ladies Rozian had named could be Jaina.
“…It’s very irritating.”
Diamide glared coldly at Jaina. He couldn’t understand why he kept being drawn to her. The reason couldn’t merely be that she was the daughter of Bezric — that wasn’t sufficient.
“Is it that some lingering desire for revenge remains? Does he want to see Bezric’s daughter betrayed by the one she loves?”
Bezric, who had once whispered love to him, had toyed with him and ultimately tried to kill him. Watching her daughter be abandoned by a loved one would be a fitting end, he thought.
“Tower master?”
Hilbenzia’s voice pulled Diamide back from his thoughts. He murmured softly.
“Send them away.”
That was surely why. Even though she was bothersome and irritating, he had not killed her. He had accepted Bezric’s daughter into the tower despite knowing nothing of her place — letting the one who claimed to be the blood daughter of the woman who betrayed him remain in his tower.
