Chapter 11
“Um…”
Her original intention had been to ask Sisé for advice about what to wear.
Many relatives from the collateral branches were supposed to visit for the Senate meeting, and she didn’t want to be laughed at for dressing poorly.
I don’t know exactly who it is, but someone among them is after me, right?
If that was the case, she wanted to establish her presence from the start.
I’m someone you can’t mess with. Take a good look! Something like that.
But…
Sisé looked utterly exhausted.
He doesn’t seem in any condition to grant me a favor.
It was a wonder he’d even remembered their promise and come to see her first.
She approached the sofa where Sisé had collapsed and crouched down to meet his eyes.
“Are you feeling sick?”
“Just tired.”
“Why?”
“Well, that guy we captured the other day finally started to—”
Sisé abruptly clamped his mouth shut.
He really must have been tired; normally he wouldn’t slip like that.
They must be interrogating the assassin who attacked the carriage.
She recalled hearing faintly that a would-be killer had been captured when she first woke up in this house.
If they were using magic for interrogation, it would be mental magic—a kind that heavily drained the caster’s spirit.
“Anyway, there’s just a lot going on. Nothing serious.”
“You look like you’re about to die, and you call that nothing serious?”
“If I say it’s nothing, it’s nothing. So, what did you want to see me for?”
Faced with someone whose face was so gaunt, how could she bring up dresses and shoes?
Besides, he’s suffering like this because he’s trying to find whoever’s threatening me.
Even though Sisé was her number-one person to keep an eye on, she couldn’t act petty now.
She sighed and pulled gently at his arm.
“Come here.”
Perhaps thinking it was related to her business, Sisé let himself be led without resistance.
But her destination was the bed.
“Here we are!”
“…This is a bed,” Sisé said, rare confusion on his face—he almost looked like Baratheon for a moment.
He really must be tired.
Suppressing a giggle, she patted the space beside her on the mattress.
“That’s right, it’s a bed! Hurry up and lie down.”
“What is this? What are you plotting?”
Suspicion sharpened his expression again. His eyes were full of wariness.
“Weren’t you here to help me? Lie down! It’s urgent.”
Though still doubtful, Sisé slowly climbed onto the bed and lay beside her.
As soon as he settled, she began to pat his shoulder and softly hum a drowsy tune—the kind used to lull a fussy child to sleep.
“You’re… right now…”
“Shh!”
Her firm tone made him snap his mouth shut.
Satisfied, she continued humming.
“Your hands are so thin. Are you eating properly? You need to plump up soon.”
“Why? Planning to eat me yourself?”
“You don’t even look tasty. It just bothers me to see such a pitiful body right in front of me.”
“It’s not that pitiful.”
“No, you’re… terribly… pitiful…”
The longer she sang, the slower his words dragged. His blinking grew sluggish.
“Wow…”
At last Sisé’s eyes closed completely.
Watching quietly, Marina covered her mouth in surprise.
“The young master fell asleep.”
“Mm-hmm. Looks like he’s really out.”
She whispered back, poking Sisé’s cheek, but he didn’t stir.
The normally sharp Sisé had succumbed to a sleep he would never have entered willingly.
With the tension gone, his face looked almost angelic.
He’s really handsome when you look at him like this.
All three brothers were strikingly good-looking, but if she had to choose the most beautiful, it would definitely be Sisé.
Baratheon had bolder, more masculine features, and Lucas’s constant smile gave him a gentle look.
“He’s lovely to look at,” Marina said.
She nodded in agreement.
“Yes, isn’t his face wonderful? If only he always looked this angelic.”
“No, I mean—well, I agree with that too, but…” Marina waved her hands and laughed.
“I meant you and the young master. You two look good together.”
“Me and Sisé?”
“Yes. When you’re around, the young master seems like a different person. Not just him—his brothers too. They pretend otherwise, but an outsider can see it.”
“Different? Really?”
Since she’d only met the three after coming here, she couldn’t quite grasp what Marina meant.
“I’m truly glad you came, miss. Before you arrived, the winter estate was as bleak as its name.”
A bleak mansion—she couldn’t quite imagine it.
Especially Teon. He probably made noise wherever he went.
As she blinked at the thought, Marina smiled gently at her.
It was finally the week of the Senate gathering.
Guests began arriving one by one from afar, and the estate quickly grew lively.
The winter estate was normally a closed-off place.
Visits from outsiders were heavily restricted, so without events like this it rarely opened its doors.
Because of that, Marina explained, this was also when people who had no real reason to come would tag along behind invited guests.
“They say if they announce everyone beforehand, the extra people would be refused, so they hide the numbers.”
“What? But that’s so rude.”
“It is. But you can’t exactly say, ‘The count is off, please leave,’ and chase them away, can you?”
“Well, true.”
Turning them away like that would be quite rude as well.
Not that the grand duke would care about such things, she thought,
but there was no need to give anyone an excuse to take offense.
And it wasn’t as if the estate lacked the means to host a few extra guests.
“Anyway, until the Senate meeting is over, please avoid the guest annex. All the visitors are staying there.”
“Yes.”
She nodded at Marina’s request.
There was no desire to tire herself out by meeting people she didn’t need to meet.
But there was one thing she’d overlooked: guests might break the rules and leave the annex.
“Oh my? Who are you? I’ve never seen you before. A new maid?”
A brown-haired girl, looking a year or two older, stared with wide eyes.
Judging by the look in her eyes, she clearly knew exactly who she was.
Deliberately pretending not to know, huh?
If she answered, I’m the grand duke’s granddaughter, the girl was probably ready to reply, Oh my, you looked so plain I didn’t recognize you!
There was no need to be polite to someone so rude.
When facing a mad dog, you become a mad dog yourself.
Instead of replying to the girl, she turned to Marina.
“Marina, it seems our guest has lost her way. Please guide her back properly.”
“Yes, miss.”
The girl’s face flushed bright red at being treated like she was invisible.
“Hey! Are you trying to kick me out?”
“Marina, tell her we’re not kicking her out, merely returning her to where she belongs.”
“She says that’s what she means, miss.”
Even with Marina’s courteous words, the girl’s anger didn’t cool.
“Ha! That’s still kicking me out! What is this place, some kind of sanctuary? I just wanted to take a walk. Why so uppity?”
“Marina, let her know the annex also has a walking path. Clearly she hasn’t checked.”
“She says—”
Before Marina could finish, the girl stomped closer.
“How dare you ignore me when I’m right here? Talk to me directly!”
“And why don’t you stop trying to belittle someone with sly words? Cutting me down won’t make you any more important, will it?”
“Ugh!”
The girl bit her lip, struck where it hurt.
Amateur. Total amateur.
She didn’t even feel triumphant at the easy victory.
As the girl trembled, another woman, who resembled her, appeared.
“My apologies, miss. My younger sister is still immature.”
Judging by her words, she was indeed the girl’s elder sister.
“It’s fine. I was childish too.”
“Thank you for your generosity, miss. You’re remarkably composed.”
The woman elegantly lifted her skirt and curtsied—a perfectly noble gesture.
“I’m Kana of the Osette family. My sister is Lina.”
Osette—the strongest of the Ashinov collateral families, or so she’d heard.
Kana… That name sounds so familiar. Why does it ring a bell?
