CHAPTER 42……
“How am I supposed to say something like that?”
At Dietrich’s muttering, Irene felt a surge of irritation.
His constant petty complaints were starting to get on her nerves.
But when she turned to glare at him and saw the expression on his face, the strength in her gaze melted away.
Seeing him looking so dejected reminded her of herself in the past.
He doesn’t even have his nanny with him anymore.
Mia Renier had been banished to the outskirts of the Lycaon territory long ago.
Knowing how much Dietrich had depended on her, Irene let out a sigh and said,
“A child can at least tell his father he wants to play together. If you can’t do it, then ask those two instead.”
Her hand pointed squarely at Mikhail and Chloe. The two, suddenly singled out, quickly exchanged flustered glances. Faces that rarely showed emotion were now clearly tinged with discomfort.
“With my brother and sister?”
Even Irene, who had just suggested it, had to admit to herself that she’d gone a bit overboard.
Them asking the Duke to play with them?
She couldn’t picture it at all. But there was one person here who thought otherwise. Dietrich’s eyes lit up like someone who’d just heard a brilliant idea.
Between Chloe and Mikhail, who both caught Dietrich’s expectant gaze, a silent game of hot potato began.
You do it.
No, you do it.
Their eyes said as much. Seeing this, Irene offered a crisp solution.
“Settle it with a spar.”
“Then I’m at a disadvantage.”
Chloe tilted her chin proudly.
“I’ve only just started receiving instruction from a senior knight. If we’re going to do this, I should at least get a handicap.”
“…A handicap?”
Mikhail frowned, but his desire to win the match—by any means, fair or not—was strong.
Standing nearby, Irene nodded.
“I agree. Sparring as-is wouldn’t be fair.”
“What kind of handicap?”
Dietrich asked. Chloe thought for a moment, then spoke.
“I can think of one—”
And a little while later, the spar ended with Mikhail’s perfect defeat.
**
On the way to the Duke’s office to fulfill the forfeit he owed from losing the bet, Mikhail still couldn’t believe the outcome of the match. His eyes, more serious than usual, replayed the events in his mind.
The handicap was to keep my right eye closed.
Chloe’s proposal had been a simple one.
Mikhail thought such a handicap would have no real effect on the match’s outcome and accepted without hesitation.
Chloe’s training period is short, and she’s just a girl…
He believed closing one eye would still leave him more than enough of an advantage.
…And yet.
From the small blind spot in his slightly narrowed field of vision came a sharp attack.
He had sparred with Chloe before and already knew her attack patterns.
Naturally, he assumed she would attack in the same way as before—only to be proven completely wrong.
Momentarily flustered, he was defeated before he could recover.
…She’s really improved.
Mikhail had no choice but to acknowledge Chloe’s remarkable progress.
He recalled how she had once wanted to receive lessons from Chiron.
Back then, Mikhail himself had subtly suggested to Chiron that he take her under his guidance.
“The lady is not yet ready to learn from me.”
Mikhail believed those words and let the matter drop.
Later, after Chiron was executed on corruption charges and Chloe was trained by Erica instead, her skills had skyrocketed.
Could it be… Chiron was deliberately holding Chloe back?
If it was Chiron—the man who had used his power to suppress Erica—it was entirely possible he’d tried to assert his influence by not training Chloe.
If that’s true, then the knights under him would have found it hard to go against his will.
Chloe had essentially been isolated.
A sudden anger welled up inside Mikhail.
At the same time, he felt foolish for having taken Chiron’s words at face value.
It was Irene who stepped in and dealt with Chiron, wasn’t it?
Realizing that left a bitter taste in his mouth.
When Mikhail arrived at the Duke’s office, his face hardened.
For now, that wasn’t the main problem.
He had lost the bet and was now stuck fulfilling Dietrich’s wish on his behalf.
“Haa…”
He leaned his head against the door and let out a sigh. Passing servants gave him puzzled looks.
What’s wrong with him?
It was the first time they had seen the young lord in such a state since the Duchess had passed away.
As they passed by, the servants whispered to one another.
It must be something serious…
Completely mistaken, they began to speculate about what could have happened to the eldest young master.
**
When Mikhail returned to the training grounds with the news, Dietrich could hardly contain his excitement.
“Really? We’re really going on a picnic later?”
“It’s not a picnic—it’s just an outing. Don’t overinterpret.”
Chloe tried to rein him in. To her, his giddy excitement seemed undignified.
Still, her cheeks were slightly flushed—perhaps at the thought of going out together as a family.
In contrast, Mikhail’s lips were still pale.
Must’ve been tough for him, Irene thought with mild sympathy as she noted his complexion.
This was probably the first time he’d ever asked the Duke for such a favor.
Even she had found that kind of awkward, suffocating encounter difficult.
“Well, I’ll be going then.”
When Irene, finished with her noon training, tried to leave, Dietrich grabbed her arm.
“What? You want me to go change?”
“…Training’s over, so I should rest.”
“But we’re going on a picnic in a bit!”
“Right. Have a good time.”
She couldn’t understand why he was telling her this, but she nodded.
Dietrich stomped his feet impatiently.
“You’re not coming?!”
“…Why would I?”
Irene was even more bewildered. A family picnic.
Once, she would have secretly longed to tag along, but the Irene who had returned was different now.
Besides, she had learned another truth—
I’m not the Duke of Lycaon’s biological daughter.
If they found out, what would that do to their feelings toward her?
Just imagining it was exhausting.
I hate the foolish me from the past who so badly wanted to be family with them.
Self-loathing and regret reared their heads in her chest.
Misreading her cold expression as dislike for him, Dietrich flinched and let go of her arm.
Then he asked quietly,
“Can’t you just come with us?”
Seeing Dietrich’s hesitant, almost nervous face, Irene was reminded again of her former self and sighed. That worried, bracing-for-rejection expression was far too familiar.
“…Alright.”
She nodded reluctantly. Dietrich’s gloomy face instantly blossomed into a bright smile.
At the dramatic change, Irene couldn’t help but chuckle.
What was so important about her coming along that it made him that happy?
He was such a strange kid. Chloe, watching them, spoke up first.
“You don’t have a carriage, right? You can ride in mine.”
Dietrich and Mikhail exchanged glances, looking caught off guard.
Then Dietrich blurted out,
“Ride in mine! It’s really spacious!”
He spoke as if he were making a generous offer.
“No, ride in mine,” Chloe said. Dietrich frowned.
“What? Why! Yours is cramped!”
“Irene would be more comfortable riding with another girl.”
Chloe tilted her chin with a smug expression, as if that were obvious. Irene stayed silent, thinking, Maybe she’s right.
She had ridden in Chloe’s carriage once before, so doing it again would probably be even easier.
It didn’t feel cramped at all, really.
She was just leaning toward Chloe’s offer when—
“Ride in mine.”
Mikhail cut in.
“What?”
“Huh?”
Chloe and Dietrich both stared at him, as if they’d just heard something absurd. Irene’s expression was no different. What had Mikhail just said?
“I have business with you,” Mikhail said flatly.
“Just the two of you?”
“Alone together?”
Chloe and Dietrich interrogated him in quick succession.
“What business? I’m curious too.”
“Yeah, tell me!”
Cracks began to form in Mikhail’s previously blank expression, as though he were barely holding back his irritation.
“I’m not telling you.”
He continued, “I’m the one who suggested to Father that we go on this outing. It’s my call.”
“Wow, weighing pros and cons even between family members. What a heartwarming sibling relationship.”
“Ugh, you’re so petty. Dictator!”
Chloe and Dietrich took turns hurling sharp criticisms at him.
Irene realized the scolding she’d gotten earlier didn’t even count compared to this.
…They’re really fighting over something so pointless.
She’d never imagined they’d fight over her one day, and even less over something like this.
As the bickering showed no sign of dying down, Irene thought of a simple solution.
“Then let’s all ride together.”
It was an easy fix, but their faces turned peculiar at her suggestion—like people forced to eat something unpalatable.
