Chapter 32
“Then rest.”
With those words, as if they had been waiting for the signal, the women who had been standing by the door entered the room. Their expressions clearly showed what kind of treatment the twins would receive in this place.
Polite on the surface, yet devoid of emotion.
“They’re my children.”
Make sure to take good care of them. The Grand Duke applied silent pressure as he said that, then turned as if he were truly about to leave—only to stare fixedly at Rohen.
“There is something you need to do here.”
“Are you talking to me? What, do you want me to call you ‘Dad’ again or something?”
“No.”
“Live as you wish. That is what you must do here.”
“As we wish?”
“Yes.”
Caught off guard by the unexpected words, Rohen merely moved his lips, unable to respond.
I hadn’t expected him to say anything absurd like how much he loved us, but this was so dull, so bland, so lacking in affection. And yet, strangely enough, those words left a stronger impression on me than anything else could have.
More so than expressing feelings through lies. Even more so—how should I put it—a strangely ticklish feeling.
Perhaps he himself found what he had said a bit odd, because without another word, he left. As soon as he was gone, the servants quickly approached us. Though they maintained formal etiquette, there was no way their manners toward children who knew nothing could be perfect.
Subtly, strangely, their gazes felt that way, and a single remark tossed casually toward Lari grated harshly on my nerves.
“Then we will assist you with bathing. Please follow us.”
“Huh?”
“I said you need to follow us, young lady.”
To them, the twins were nothing more than blood relatives with no backing. They weren’t even sure whether the twins were truly the Grand Duke’s children, and even if they were, the Grand Ducal household already had Ron, who had been chosen as the heir.
So, from their perspective, there was no real need to treat the twins well.
But coercive behavior? Toward the children of the Grand Ducal house?
In that instant, my fist clenched tightly. Just then, Lari—who had no way of knowing how I felt—pressed herself close to me.
“I don’t wanna! I’ll bathe with my big sister!”
At her words, the faces of several servants who had been wearing relatively gentle expressions stiffened.
“You were listening so well—why are you suddenly acting like this?”
“……That’s….”
Lari’s large eyes flicked back and forth between me and Rohen.
“Just follow us.”
“Yes. If you behave like this, you’ll be disliked. You’ll be scolded.”
“Do you want to be disliked?”
“…….”
Pressuring a child like this. Just thinking about it made irritation surge up. But perhaps Lari sensed that this wouldn’t work, because she loosened the grip of the hand that had been holding my arm.
“O—kay….”
As she was about to say okay, I firmly grabbed her arm.
From now on, being the bad one, being the disliked one—that would be my role. These were people we would face anyway, situations we would face anyway; they were simply arriving sooner rather than later. So I stepped forward and stood directly in front of them.
“What are you?”
“…….”
When I suddenly inserted myself between them, the maids looked at me with deeply uncomfortable expressions, clearly broadcasting the question of whether they should even bother answering.
“…Do we need to answer that? No—before that, I don’t think we need to hear such words from you. Unless the two of you are the ones who feel uncomfortable.”
As if to say: Who do you think you are to speak to us like that? Why are you butting in?
Those unspoken words seemed to echo clearly. The servants were already openly directing those feelings toward me. Familiar gazes.
They were gazes I had endured countless times—at the orphanage, and in my real life as well. These were nothing I couldn’t handle. Compared to those times, this was almost trivial. So I ignored their stares and spoke again.
“I’m just curious. The way you’re talking, it sounds as if the children are being treated the same way I would be. When it comes to the children of noble families, servants don’t usually threaten them like this, do they?”
In an instant, their eyes wavered violently. While they were flustered, I pressed them even harder.
“Isn’t that so?”
“Well, that is….”
“Am I misunderstanding? But that’s how it sounds. Saying they’ll be scolded? That they’ll be disliked? Are those things you should be saying to these children? You sound like the ones with higher status—rather than people meant to serve them.”
At my words, they couldn’t respond at all. Probably because even they knew what I said was true. Most likely, the Grand Duchess had ordered things this way. Using excuses like the children’s education, she would have selected and placed these servants here.
The Grand Duke wouldn’t concern himself with such details, and outwardly, the Grand Duchess appeared to treat Lari—who arrived first—well.
Among the people sent by the Grand Duchess, every single action of Lari and Rohen was reported to her. As a result, the children gradually lost the ability to do anything on their own.
Children who had no choice but to submit to those sent to monitor and suppress them.
Because they were shadowy figures in the novel, there hadn’t been much detailed description—but growing up surrounded by people who watched them 24 hours a day, the twins could never have grown properly. From a very young age, that must have been their normal.
Pitifully. Tragically. Children who would grow up thinking this kind of disregard, oppression, and surveillance was only natural—without a single adult to protect them. I wouldn’t let that happen anymore.
“…That’s a misunderstanding.”
“If it’s a misunderstanding, then are the servants here poorly educated?”
Seemingly flustered that a child not even ten years old was speaking like this, they busily whispered among themselves, as if trying to show how unsettled they were.
That only made me speak in an even firmer tone.
“If that’s not the case, then please don’t say things like that from now on. These children aren’t ones you can intimidate and control as you please—they are children of the Grand Ducal house, who are free to do whatever they want.”
“Well, that is… we, of course….”
“You’re not saying you’ll definitely do so till the end, are you?”
If a proper adult had been present with the children, the servants wouldn’t have been this flustered. The Grand Duke likely thought the Grand Duchess was taking good care of the children, and that if they were given good things, they’d naturally grow up fine.
Personalities shaped by such neglect. That was why I stared them down.
“But truly, we had absolutely no intention of doing anything to the two of you….”
“Answer.”
“…Understood.”
The servants—so agitated that their faces had gone from red to nearly black—finally nodded heavily.
“We were immature, as we hadn’t considered how this might appear to others. Young Master Rohen. Young Lady Lari.”
They glared at me for a long while, then finally forced out the words, one by one. I thought that was enough—but Rohen, arms crossed, stared at them intently.
Then, clearly dissatisfied, he spoke bluntly.
“Then why aren’t you apologizing to her?”
“…Pardon?”
“Her—not ‘that person.’ Her name is Aisha, and she’s more important to us than you are. You spoke badly to her just now.”
“That’s right! It’s fine if you treat us badly, but I’ll never forgive you for doing that to my big sister!”
Perhaps because she’d been eating well and living comfortably, Lari was far more articulate than before, and she eagerly agreed with Rohen. The servants’ lips trembled in disbelief.
“…We….”
“Apologize.”
“Do we… need to apologize?”
Perhaps unwilling to apologize to me, they bit down hard on their lips.
“You won’t?”
“…….”
“It’s an order. Apologize. Aren’t you people working under our command?”
“Th-that’s correct.”
“Then apologize.”
The maids, who had hesitated when I spoke, finally bowed their heads.
“We are sorry.”
Seeing those words forced out of them, I almost laughed without realizing it. At the very least, it showed that the children’s treatment here wasn’t the absolute worst—and that outwardly, the twins’ words were acknowledged.
Whether I should call that fortunate or not….
“Are you really sorry?”
“…….”
“She—Aisha—is the same as us. If you treat her harshly even once more, or ignore her, or say that Aisha should leave this place, then we’ll leave too.”
“Young Master, that is….”
Like a condensed version of the Grand Duke himself, Rohen was expressing his irritation without hesitation. Even if other threats wouldn’t work, the threat of Rohen leaving this place seemed to have an effect—the maids who had been acting arrogantly could only shake their heads.
“Understood… We will remember that.”
I was just about to feel a bit moved by the sight when—
“She’s mine. So I’m the only one allowed to bully her.”
My emotion shattered completely. Of course.
