~Chapter 46~
Ruby left the mansion every day to visit the workshops that would soon be established in Cardonia. Sometimes she was rejected, and sometimes her name was added to a list, but the days flew by quickly as she spent time working on these visits. Thanks to the help of the mansion staff, Ruby didn’t have to worry too much about her younger siblings, which made her feel at ease.
However, Ruby still made it a point to check on Maria regularly. Although the nurse she had hired took care of Maria, Ruby couldn’t leave everything to her alone. She worried that something might happen to Maria, like how in some stories, the young heroine might suffer neglect or abuse. The other children would probably tell Ruby if anything happened, but Maria, still a baby, couldn’t communicate yet.
Ruby was also worried about Calix and Sasha. The siblings still believed that Maria was responsible for the death of their parents, and no matter how much Ruby tried to convince them otherwise, they couldn’t let go of that thought. Ruby knew that she couldn’t let her guard down around them.
So, Ruby made sure that during meals, the nurse would bring Maria so the children would get used to her and wouldn’t ignore or forget her.
“How is Maria today, Nurse?” Ruby asked while eating.
“She’s eating well and is healthy as always,” the nurse replied kindly.
Ruby smiled in relief. “Thank you for always taking care of her. If anything happens, please let me know immediately.”
“Of course,” the nurse said, feeding Maria in the corner of the room.
Ruby couldn’t help but focus on Maria, even forgetting her own meal as she made sure the baby was eating well.
Suddenly, Ruby felt a pair of eyes glaring at her from the other side of the table.
“Sis,” Calix said.
“Hm? What is it?” Ruby replied, not even looking at him.
“Why are you only looking at Maria?”
“Hmm?” Ruby finally turned her head to see Calix glaring at her, his spoon in his hand.
“You haven’t talked to us lately,” he complained.
Ruby was taken aback. “Oh, I’m sorry,” she said, quickly apologizing.
“Are you too busy?” Sasha asked, looking concerned. It seemed she had heard about Ruby’s busy schedule from the maid.
“Just a little busy,” Ruby admitted, glancing at both Calix and Sasha.
“Make sure to eat properly,” Sasha scolded Ruby with a serious tone.
Ruby couldn’t help but smile at Sasha, who was repeating something Ruby often said to her. She wiped the puree off Sasha’s face. “Okay, I’ll focus on eating, I promise.”
Calix didn’t say anything else, but Ruby could tell he was unhappy. It seemed he didn’t like that Ruby wasn’t paying attention to him and was only focused on Maria.
As Calix resumed eating, Ruby kept an eye on him, determined not to let any more resentment towards Maria grow. Sasha was very sensitive to Calix’s mood, so Ruby knew she had to be especially careful.
“Calix, are you still keeping up with your sword training?” Ruby asked.
Grand Duke Lux had promised to personally train Calix, and Ruby was curious about how it was going, but she hadn’t had time to observe his training herself.
Calix’s expression darkened. He had always been excited to talk about sword training, but now, he looked upset.
“What’s wrong?” Ruby asked, noticing his change in mood.
Calix stared at his fruit puree, stirring it without replying. It wasn’t like Calix to hesitate when speaking.
“Is something bothering you?”
Calix looked up and quickly shook his head. “It’s nothing.”
But Ruby wasn’t convinced. “It seems like there’s something wrong.”
Before Ruby could press further, Calix suddenly slammed his spoon on the table and stormed out of the dining room.
Ruby was shocked and quickly stood up to follow him.
“Calix!” Ruby called, but the boy was already too far ahead, and she couldn’t catch up with his speed.
When she turned a corner, he had disappeared from sight.
Out of breath, Ruby stopped for a moment, only to see Balt approaching her.
“Miss Ruby?” Balt asked.
“Hah, puff… Balt. Did you see Calix?”
“I think he went toward the garden.”
“Thanks. I’ll go check.”
Just as Ruby was about to run again, Balt stopped her.
“Miss Ruby, wait.”
Ruby turned to him. “What’s wrong?”
Balt hesitated for a moment, unsure whether to speak. Ruby quickly guessed what was going on.
“Is it about Calix?”
“Yes,” Balt said, looking troubled. “I didn’t know whether I should tell you, but I think you should know.”
“What happened?”
“Grand Duke Lux has stopped the sword lessons for Calix.”
“Why?”
Sword training had been something Calix had looked forward to the most. For it to be stopped like this, Ruby could understand why he was upset.
“That’s why he’s acting like this,” Ruby thought to herself. “But why was it suddenly stopped?”
“It seems the Grand Duke is worried because Calix’s progress has slowed. He’s been making mistakes that he didn’t make before, so Grand Duke Lux ordered that the training stop for a while so that Calix can think about what went wrong.”
Ruby finally understood why Calix was so upset. She also realized how neglectful she had been about his feelings and felt guilty.
“Thank you for letting me know. I’ll go find him now,” Ruby said, rushing toward the garden.
The gardener saw her and greeted her first. “Hello, Miss Ruby.”
“Hello, Jackson. Have you seen Calix?”
“Yes, he went that way earlier,” Jackson pointed.
Ruby looked where Jackson was pointing and clicked her tongue. Of course, Calix had gone into the maze-like area of the garden, where trees towered higher than Ruby’s height.
Calix had clearly gone in there to hide from her. But Ruby wasn’t going to hesitate. She quickly entered the maze.
“Calix!” she shouted, but of course, there was no answer.
Thankfully, Ruby’s good memory helped her. She didn’t retrace her steps and carefully searched for Calix. After going around the maze, she still couldn’t find him. It seemed like he kept moving as soon as he heard her voice.
Finally, Ruby spotted a tall tree and decided to climb it to get a better view. Despite the difficulty, Ruby climbed the tree, ignoring the pain in her hands.
“Miss! Don’t climb that tree! Let me bring a ladder for you!” Jackson shouted, surprised to see Ruby climbing.
“It’s fine!” Ruby called back, determined.
When she reached the top, she could see the entire maze below. She immediately spotted some movement among the leaves.
“Calix, wait there. I’m coming!” Ruby called from above.
Without hesitation, Ruby jumped down from the tree, landing lightly on the ground. She quickly ran through the maze to where Calix was.
Fortunately, Calix was still sitting in the same spot. But Ruby could clearly hear his sobs from a distance.
“Calix,” Ruby said softly as she approached him.
As soon as Calix saw her, he yelled angrily, “Don’t come any closer, Ruby!”
“Why, Calix?”
“Because you only care about Maria. You never think about me.”
“That’s not true, Calix. You’re my precious little brother too.”
“But Maria isn’t even part of our family. She killed our parents, and you still take care of her every day!” Calix’s voice cracked as he shouted.
“Calix, that’s not true.” Ruby tried to explain, but Calix couldn’t accept it.
Ruby knew that the pain of losing their parents was hard to bear, especially for Calix. But blaming Maria wouldn’t help him heal. Ruby carefully stepped closer to him.
“Calix, I’m always worried about you. Please, tell me if something’s wrong.”
Instead of scolding him, Ruby gently asked. She knew that if she pushed him too hard, he might close off even more.
Tears filled Calix’s eyes again as he looked at Ruby. “I think I’m just a bad kid, Ruby.”
