CHAPTER. 5
Knock knock
“Come in.”
The dark brown door creaked open, and there stood Haldeir and Reyna, nervously fidgeting in the hallway.
Kaelan closed the book he had been reading and rose from his chair. With a slight tilt of his head toward the sofa across from him, Haldeir quickly grabbed Reyna’s hand and led her over to sit.
Once even the attendant nearby had been dismissed, Kaelan began his interrogation.
“Tell me everything that happened in Father’s study yesterday.”
As Reyna and Haldeir sat with their heads lowered like guilty convicts, Kaelan continued, his voice colder.
“Dragging this out won’t help you. You’re not leaving this room until you tell me everything.”
They’d expected he wouldn’t go easy on them—but the sharp edge in Kaelan’s voice left Haldeir faltering. He was the first to speak.
“Well… it’s just… Yesterday was the first time Father’s study was opened, and I told Reyna I wanted to go take a look. Stepmother always kept us out before.”
Kaelan didn’t reply, signaling with his silence for Haldeir to keep going.
“So… we tried sneaking in while she wasn’t around. We were planning to just take a quick peek and leave before anyone noticed, but then we started looking around and—”
“What about that so-called prank she mentioned?”
Kaelan abruptly cut in, his patience wearing thin at Haldeir’s rambling. Startled, Haldeir blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
“That was when Reyna—”
Grip!
Reyna, who had been laser-focused on stopping Haldeir from saying anything stupid, grabbed his hand tightly the moment she heard her name escape his mouth.
Realizing his mistake, Haldeir quickly changed course.
“No, no! I mean… Reyna told me we shouldn’t go in, but once we were there, it reminded me of Father, so I stayed. I, uh… climbed up on the chair to get a better look at his desk. And then the chair… it tipped over, and—”
“Haldeir. Speak clearly.”
“I… I fell off the chair in the study.”
Even after admitting part of what had happened, Haldeir still left out the worst part—that they had spilled ink all over the Duke’s documents. The fear of Kaelan finding out was overwhelming; he’d become especially sensitive about anything related to the duchy since their father had gone missing.
“That’s it?” Kaelan crossed his legs and folded his arms.
The posture alone said he wasn’t buying it. Haldeir began to think he might have to come clean after all.
He’d promised to take the blame so Reyna wouldn’t have to, but with Kaelan’s piercing gaze fixed on him, panic started to rise.
“You’re telling me you panicked over a toppled chair and stopped her from saying anything?”
“…”
“And I’m supposed to believe that?”
Though Kaelan spoke to Haldeir, his eyes had been locked on Reyna, who still hadn’t looked up.
“…Y-Yes.”
“Don’t lie to me, Haldeir.”
It wasn’t working.
The air grew heavy, and Haldeir’s hands started to sweat. Trying to defuse the tension, Reyna forced herself to smile and lifted her head, though her lips trembled visibly.
“Kaelan… don’t be so harsh.”
“…”
“We didn’t mean to do anything wrong. It’s just… it was Father’s study. It felt kind of embarrassing for you to find out we snuck in there.”
Only now did Reyna realize why Haldeir had stumbled so much over his words—it was hard to lie in front of Kaelan.
Stay natural. Keep the story straight.
“And there are a lot of important things in there. We were worried you might think we messed something up.”
Her eyes darted around before landing briefly on Kaelan.
“So I asked her to keep it a secret, but then at dinner, she tried to bring it up!”
“Technically, she was complaining about the backlog of paperwork.”
“…Still, she didn’t have to say that.”
Even if Reyna told Kaelan that “that woman” had deliberately brought up the study to unsettle her, he wouldn’t believe it. Not after what happened.
She shot a sideways glare at Haldeir. Even you didn’t believe me—why would Kaelan?
When Haldeir noticed her stare, he seemed to take it as a cue to speak up.
“She didn’t mean to cry. Reyna just panicked when that woman brought it up during dinner. She thought the secret was out…”
Reyna quickly jumped in.
“Exactly! It was just so sudden, I couldn’t help it. It was only yesterday, so when she mentioned the study, I thought she was talking about us.”
“That’s your full story? What a joke.”
Kaelan scoffed openly.
“…What?”
The way he spoke made Reyna’s heart drop. He knows. He knows something.
“What do you mean, Kaelan…?”
“You really think that’s the whole story?”
Reyna couldn’t stop her voice from trembling.
Why is he saying that? Could it be…?
She thought back to the dinner table—after she and Haldeir left, the only ones who remained were Kaelan, Anna, and…
That woman!
Reyna’s expression twisted.
She must’ve told them everything after we left! That’s the only way Kaelan could know!
Realizing they’d been found out, Reyna’s eyes welled with tears. She was mortified. How stupid must she have looked, sitting there pretending like nothing had happened?
The more she thought about it, the angrier she got.
He knew and still toyed with me?
“You already knew and still acted like that?! That’s just cruel!”
“Reyna!” Haldeir called out in alarm.
He still doesn’t get it. Idiot!
“You moron! That woman told him everything! She told him we spilled ink all over the documents!”
“Ink…?”
Frustrated by Haldeir’s slowness, Reyna snapped—but then Kaelan’s voice cut in, clear and sharp.
“Oh? So I didn’t know?”
“You didn’t know the documents were ruined?”
“Wait—no, I thought you… didn’t you already know?”
“You just told me yourself.”
“But you sounded like you already knew!”
“I said it didn’t sound like the full story. That’s all.”
“…What?”
Reyna froze as the realization hit her—she had confessed everything on her own.
“Haldeir. You explain.”
“Uh… okay.”
Still stunned, Reyna said nothing as Haldeir reluctantly laid it all out: how they’d snuck into the study when their stepmother wasn’t around, how he’d climbed onto the chair and knocked over the ink, ruining the documents, desk, and carpet.
As he listened, Kaelan’s face grew darker.
“So, you decided to use an ink pen you’d never handled before, spilled it all over the desk and carpet, and ruined the documents?”
“…”
“And the guilt made you crack at dinner.”
Haldeir never mentioned that it was Reyna who’d actually spilled the ink. But Kaelan’s eyes never left her. He already knew.
Under that icy stare, Reyna couldn’t lift her head.
Her anger now turned outward—toward Bella.
If that woman hadn’t said anything at dinner—none of this would’ve happened!
But… why did she say something?
Reyna’s mind reeled.
She always tried to stay on our good side. Why bring it up now? Unless…
[Reyna… didn’t you realize?]
[Stepmother never said it was okay.]
Haldeir’s words from earlier echoed in her head.
Could that be true?
Back then, she’d been too flustered to think straight. But now… did Bella really never say it was okay?
Before she could dwell further, Kaelan spoke again.
“So if you were in the study, that means she wasn’t.”
“…”
“It was the first day the study was opened. She wouldn’t have left it unattended for long, yet you just happened to go in at that time?”
“That was just—”
“Coincidence? Unlikely.”
“…”
“Which means, she was deliberately lured away.”
Neither of them could respond.
And with Kaelan pressing on, Reyna began to worry their other prank—the defaced portrait—might come to light too.
It’s not a big deal… right? But why do I suddenly feel like it is?
“And the steward sent a message to the court painter today.”
Flinch.
“Commissioning new artwork doesn’t make sense right now. So it must be about an existing painting—and from what I hear, all the family portraits are accounted for.”
He knows. He already knows.
“The only ones not verified are Father’s and her portraits, which were stored separately. If something happened to one of those, she’d have panicked—and left the study.”
Which is when you snuck in.
“Meaning, if the portrait was damaged, it was your doing.”
“…”
“I warned you.”
Kaelan tilted his head with a cold smile.
“Do not disgrace the family.”
“Kaelan…”
“Brother…”
“I thought you understood. Seems I overestimated you.”
No…
He’s disappointed in us.
“No! I only scribbled on her face! I would never touch Father’s!”
“Reyna…!”
“You know how much I love him. Right?”
“Reyna, wait—”
“I was just so mad she hid them separately. I thought… if I ruined hers, she’d be upset. I wanted to see that.”
Reyna’s voice trailed off.
“So… that’s why we went in.”
Kaelan sighed and shifted in his seat. Reyna hoped maybe, just maybe, he was done being angry.
The study incident—okay, that was serious. But the portrait thing? That should’ve been a minor offense.
“Brother, I know I messed up.”
“…”
Even now, Kaelan said nothing. Reyna began to resent it.
She had never apologized like this to anyone except their father.
“But the portrait thing—you would’ve let that go, normally…”
“Reyna.”
His voice cut through her thoughts.
“When everything’s normal, sure. But you destroyed the Duke’s official documents. You think I can just overlook that?”
Kaelan sat alone in a pitch-black room.
Though the wind howled outside, the tightly shut window muffled the noise. Every now and then, a gust rattled the glass.
[It’s nothing serious, she said.]
Reyna’s face had lit up at those words—but her expression quickly fell with what followed.
[Until Father’s will is made public.]
Pretty hair doesn’t make up for a hollow head, Reyna.
I only ever ignored your childish pranks because they weren’t worth the effort. If your ‘brilliant’ little mind couldn’t even figure that out—then stay quiet and keep your head down from now on.
Oh, Reyna.
The coddling ends here.
Remember what I said after Father’s will was read:
[Until I come of age, she will lead this house.
Don’t give her credit for anything.
Don’t give her leverage.
Don’t give her a reason to cover for you.]
Until I become Duke—
Stay. Out. Of. My. Way.
Reyna’s face turned ghostly pale.
Even as she stepped out the door.
