Chapter 47
Most of the papers ended up becoming toys for Pii.
As soon as Pii returned to Elysia’s room, he dashed toward the stack of papers on the table.
The papers scattered all over the floor.
Pii didn’t stop there—he ran over the papers with his muddy paws. Some were torn by his claws, others ripped by his fangs.
Elysia was startled for a moment, surprised by Pii’s behavior, especially since he rarely caused such trouble.
But she quickly got down to the floor and crumpled some papers to play fetch with him.
Pii flinched a little when the paper ball hit the wall and fell to the ground, but he soon pounced after it.
Crumpled balls of paper were strewn across the floor.
“What an unpredictable personality,” Elysia muttered as she cleaned up the mess before Rachel arrived.
Pii, who had had the most fun, sat on one of the crumpled papers like a cushion. Without even meowing, he stretched his hind legs and began grooming.
At that moment, Elysia thought—yep, still a cat after all.
“You and your sister both have no chill.”
With a sudden rude comment, a small rock rolled to Ariel’s feet as she played under the shade of a tree.
Ariel looked up in the direction the rock had come from.
Of course, it was Bonn with his usual sour expression. Ariel’s face instantly crumpled.
“You better go inside before your skin gets sunburned.”
“What’s the big deal?”
Not wanting to make eye contact any longer, Ariel snapped her head away and retorted.
“Men like fair skin.”
“So what.”
Ariel replied in a bored voice, not understanding why he had come to pick a fight out of nowhere.
“You’re just as touchy as your sister. I’m saying this for your own good, so listen up.”
Bonn kicked another rock.
This time, it hit Ariel’s ankle and dropped. A white scratch appeared on her skin. Grinding her teeth, Ariel stomped on the rock that had fallen in front of her.
Then, she kicked it back toward Bonn.
The rock hit his knee dead-on and bounced off.
“Ah! You little—!”
“You kicked first!”
Bonn grabbed Ariel’s shoulder and barked at her.
But Ariel didn’t back down and shouted in return.
“Why are you picking a fight with me to vent your anger!”
Ariel didn’t know what had happened between Elysia and Bonn.
But whenever he acted like this toward her, it was usually after he’d been humiliated by Elysia and came to her to take it out.
So it was obvious.
Ariel grabbed Bonn’s wrist as he held her shoulder.
Mocking her resistance, Bonn gripped her shoulder tighter.
“Young lady!”
Roah’s voice called out from afar.
Roah had soaked a handkerchief in water out of concern for Ariel overheating.
He hadn’t expected a fight to break out between Ariel and Bonn in the brief time he looked away.
From a distance, the scene looked serious.
Since Bonn was bigger than Ariel, it was bound to appear threatening.
Ariel saw Roah sprinting toward them and summoned the last of her strength to slap Bonn’s hand away.
“Young lady! Are you alright?!”
Roah rushed between them and asked breathlessly.
Seeing the tears welling in Ariel’s eyes, her fiery temper began to cool.
“You brought the handkerchief for me, right?”
Ariel answered with a question.
“Yes! Of course! I was worried you’d get too hot…”
Even in his panic, Roah answered sincerely. He held out the handkerchief.
Ariel snatched it from him and wiped the dirt from her ankle.
She thought she had a cut, but it seemed she didn’t.
Relieved, Ariel glared at Bonn. He raised his eyebrows and sneered.
As if to say, What are you gonna do about it?
“You just keep picking fights because you think you can get away with it.”
Ariel muttered loudly enough for him to hear.
She had just been quietly enjoying the garden when this nonsense happened.
“I’m going to tell my sister everything.”
She shot him a fierce look.
Bonn snorted.
Watching their endless argument made Roah anxious. He nervously looked around.
The surroundings were eerily quiet.
No one else was around to intervene.
“You told me to grow up, didn’t you? Then what about you? You’re older than us, and yet you act so petty!”
“Petty? When have I ever been petty? You two are just too sensitive!”
Bonn yanked at his collar with a sharp tug and shamelessly replied. This time, Ariel scoffed.
“You think we don’t know you’re scared my sister might become the next duke?”
Bonn’s hand twitched, veins bulging slightly.
“You’re nervous, so you keep pressuring us to get married. That’s petty! Really petty!”
Ariel’s shoulders tensed and rose—like a cat ready to pounce.
“Please, Miss Ariel, calm down.”
Roah, who’d been watching Bonn nervously, hurried to stop her.
He feared that the ill-tempered young master might actually hit her.
After grabbing her shoulder, who knows what else he might try?
But Ariel, not one to back down easily, wasn’t about to let this slide.
“You’d better be smart, Bonn. There’s no way you’re going to win against my sister.”
“Hey!”
“Marriage? You should be the one getting married. Even if it’s just to save your baronial house from ruin. Keep being stupid like this, and it’ll be over for your family in no time.”
“Watch it.”
Ariel didn’t hold back. Unlike Elysia, she had no need to consider appearances or keep her composure.
She was already labeled a troublemaker—so people just shrugged things off when she caused a stir.
Ariel knew that all too well.
“If you do get married, I hope it’s to a smart woman. Otherwise, your family’s doomed.”
Oh? Was that a bit rude to the woman who’ll end up marrying you?
Ariel made an exaggerated show of covering her mouth, pretending to regret what she said.
Watching her, Bonn finally lost control and raised his hand.
He always restrained himself in front of Elysia, knowing the duke was watching.
But he felt no such need with Ariel, who had long since fallen out of favor.
Startled, Roah quickly shielded Ariel with his own body.
His stance said: If someone’s going to get hit, it’ll be me.
Ariel, ready to take the hit after saying her piece, was caught off guard by Roah’s move and was about to tell him to move—when…
“Causing a disturbance at the estate is unacceptable.”
Lizbeth appeared, holding a food tray in one hand, and grabbed Bonn’s wrist.
His body jolted at the sudden grip.
Red-faced, he turned around and yelled without hesitation.
“Let go! Do you even know who I am?!”
“You’re the heir of the Aste family, aren’t you?”
She knew—and still stopped him.
Lizbeth, also from a noble family, was well aware of who Bonn was and what was said about him.
That since the duke had no sons, the next heir might come from the Aste barony.
When Lizbeth responded calmly, Bonn looked dumbfounded.
“You know and still stop me? Let go before—”
“If I let go, you’ll hit Miss Ariel. Then I’ll have no choice but to cut off this wrist. I’d rather not do that, so I can’t let go.”
Lizbeth said it with a blank expression, like it was the most normal thing in the world.
“What?!”
“As a knight of the Partine duchy, this is only natural.”
Indeed, it was.
Ariel watched Lizbeth helping her and thought quietly—This is what should’ve always been done.
It was the first time she’d been treated that way.
Ariel looked up at Lizbeth, who was speaking so clearly and confidently.
“Let’s calm down first. Once your pulse returns to normal, I’ll release you.”
“Who do you think you are?!”
“I already told you. A knight of the Partine duchy.”
“A mere knight talking to me like this?!”
“I’m still a rookie, yes—but not just ‘a mere knight.’ Plenty of knights outrank young heirs like you.”
“You saying you do?”
Bonn’s eyes bulged with veins.
Seeing his reddening face, Lizbeth tilted her head slightly and said:
“Not above you—but not beneath you either.”
In other words: they were equals.
As a knight, it was childish to argue over titles—but this was a special case.
There was no other way to handle such an unruly young master.
And she really didn’t want to cut his wrist off.
In the end, Bonn couldn’t withstand Lizbeth’s grip and stormed off in a huff.
As the situation resolved quickly, Roah bowed deeply in gratitude.
“L—”
“It’s an honor to finally introduce myself properly, Miss Ariel.”
Lizbeth deliberately cut Ariel off. Roah froze at her boldness.
“My name is Lizbeth.”
“Ah!”
Ariel almost responded like she knew her already, then clapped her hands with a surprised face.
Lizbeth gave her a gentle smile in return.
“Thank you, Dame Lizbeth.”
A soft blush appeared on Ariel’s pale cheeks.
“Dame Lizbeth, I’m grateful for your help, but interrupting a young lady’s words is very rude!”
Roah scolded Lizbeth on Ariel’s behalf, wearing a stern expression.
Lizbeth bowed her head slightly in apology.
“My apologies.”
“No, no, it’s fine, Roah. I’m okay, so that’s enough.”
“Huh?”
Roah was surprised by Ariel’s oddly forgiving tone.
But at that moment, Ariel wasn’t paying attention to Roah at all.
“Are you eating outside?”
Lizbeth was still holding the food tray.
She had come by the estate briefly to deliver Eden’s lunch—and just happened to stumble upon the scene between Ariel and Bonn.
Initially, she hadn’t planned to intervene.
She would’ve walked right past them…
If not for seeing Ariel screaming in frustration.
“Yes.”
Lizbeth replied quickly, glancing at Roah.
“Sorry for making a scene and disturbing your lunch.”
“Not at all. I’m actually glad I could help.”
“…”
Roah looked back and forth between them with a confused expression.
Ariel was acting calm and polite—a rare sight.
Her personality had flipped so fast that Roah didn’t even notice the food tray anymore.
