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Florian didn’t respond right away but remained silent.
Since the barracks where my dad stayed wasn’t far from ours, we arrived at our destination fairly quickly.
Florian stood blankly at the entrance of the barracks, unmoving, even after the night guards had finished their shift and gave us a slight bow before returning to their posts.
“I’m not the current Empress’s son. And…”
He hesitated, as if there was more he wanted to say, then slowly looked me up and down as if measuring my height.
What? So what if I’m a four-year-old?
It seemed he realized that whatever he was about to say wasn’t appropriate for a child and simply shut his lips tightly, shaking his head ever so slightly.
Apparently, there's more to the story than just not being her biological child—but he wasn’t going to say it.
Fine, I won’t pry.
No point in lowering his guard only to provoke him again.
“When we get to Grandpa’s house, there’ll be lots of food. If you eat and rest well, you’ll get better.”
If I explain that Florian has poor digestion and request a proper diet tailored to that, his health should recover quickly.
After all, he’s still young.
Even after I said all that, Florian’s expression didn’t brighten in the least.
He cast his eyes downward with a gloomy face.
“There’s no time…”
…Is the Emperor really that sick?
He’s such a worry-inducing kid.
'I’ll help him.'
I might as well repay the life debt I owe.
I’m not a doctor, but I am well-versed in dietary planning.
Once we get to the Duke’s estate, I’ll help with Florian’s recovery meals—and even his workout diet.
Looking at his scrawny arms, like winter tree branches, he’s going to need a bulking diet for a while.
Silently, I ran through various possibilities in my head, repeatedly crafting the most suitable meal plan for Florian.
***
The sight of main family’s castle signaling the end of this exhausting carriage ride brought a rush of emotion that I had to fight hard to suppress.
I could cry…
It really had been a long and grueling journey…
“Ugh, I thought I was going to die.”
As expected, Dietrich felt the same way I did.
As soon as we entered Calena Castle, main family’s estate, we changed into the nice clothes we had prepared in advance, per Dad’s instructions.
Still, the faint traces of travel-worn grime on Dietrich’s face stirred a quiet sense of kinship in me.
My face probably wasn’t looking much better.
Among the three kids, Florian was the only one who still looked neat and presentable.
He's so used to hiding his feelings that it’s hard to tell whether he’s actually okay or just pretending to be.
“But nanny, there are way too many people and carriages.”
“That’s true. The traffic is terrible today.”
“Does Dietrich even know what he’s talking about?”
“Hey, Baby Ella, what do you think I am normally?”
“...Do you want the truth?”
Even if it might seriously worsen our relationship?
When I looked at him with that meaning in my eyes, Dietrich scoffed as if it was ridiculous, then squished my cheeks hard.
Even if my face turns into a fish mouth, the Earth will keep spinning!*
“It’s the time of year when the Young Duke’s birthday banquet is held.”
Our nanny offered a distraction from our bickering, naturally reaching out to rescue me from Dietrich’s grasp.
Uncle’s birthday?
“How do you know that?”
I was just about to ask the same thing.
“I heard it from Sir Walter. He said the roads will be packed for a week because of the banquet.”
“A whole week?”
“He’s the heir to the Northern Duchy. Considering guests come from all over the empire, a week isn’t that long.”
If that’s how it is for Uncle’s birthday, then Grandpa’s must be on an even grander scale.
As I looked out the window at the endless line of carriages, I could finally feel the true weight of the Northern Duke’s power.
I’d heard he was the lord of the North, but it hadn’t really sunk in until now.
The massive, sky-piercing castle, the grand and colorful city, the streets lined with all kinds of luxury carriages—
So this is Calena, the heart of the Callenberg Duchy.
Finally...
The nanny kept fiddling with the ribbon she had already tied in my hair.
“When you meet the Duke, you must be on your best behavior, understood?”
“Mhm.”
“Good girl. The Duke is a very scary man, so don’t act up.”
Her repeated warnings came with a hint of anxiety on her face.
I figured it must be because of Dad, who barged in with knights like he was storming the place, without even asking for permission.
And that’s not all—
The butler from the main house, revealed as a spy and treated like a prisoner of war, was brought here locked in an iron cage.
When the magical beasts Gigantia assaulted our home, the surviving servants from the main household were captured and brought here, bound with ropes.
'Grandpa was the one who sent those people…'
Sure, they were terrible people who deserved that treatment, but that’s not how others would see it.
On top of that, Grandpa had never once asked about me or Dietrich.
Even after his grandchildren were born, he hadn’t shown a speck of interest.
A cold-blooded man.
It was strange and a little unsettling that someone like Grandfather, who had never shown any interest in me or Dietrich, was actually raising my eldest brother, Erich.
“We’ve arrived.”
Because our carriage bore the emblem of the branch family, we passed through the main gate’s inspection much faster than the others.
The scenery outside the window grew even more majestic and lavish.
To suppress my nervousness, I looked over at Dietrich and Florian instead of out the window.
Dietrich looked as carefree as ever…
“It’s okay.”
When I lightly patted the back of Florian’s pale hand, his eyes widened slightly—then he gave me a faint smile.
The carriage came to a full stop, and the door opened.
Dad jumped off his horse and approached. As I was the smallest of the three, he lifted me up and gently set me down on the ground.
Standing on solid ground and looking up at the duke’s estate in person—it felt even more overwhelming and grand.
“Please show your invitation.”
Two knights standing in front of the banquet hall approached and blocked our path.
“Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten my face?”
“E-Even if you are Sir Leopord, we still can’t let you in without an invitation…”
Seeing him tremble like that meant he did recognize Dad's face.
So why did he still block him? Was it out of professional duty—or maybe Uncle’s orders?
Considering how Uncle once sent a servant to spy on or possibly harm Dad, it wasn’t hard to guess that he wouldn’t be thrilled about Dad’s visit.
Even though Dad didn’t send notice in advance, he came with knights—there’s no way rumors didn’t spread.
“So Dominic is still a scaredy-cat, huh?”
Dad gave a teasing smirk, which made one of the knights muster up all his courage to respond.
“It’s… disrespectful to speak of the Young Duke like that.”
That was it—the moment our knights burst into protest like a swarm of bees.
“What the hell did you just say?!”
“You dare block our commander’s way when he’s returned victorious?! Are you crazy?!”
“You punk! Your captain trained with me, we even went to the public bath together, huh?!”
Honestly, if it were me, I’d have cowered from sheer intensity—but knights from the main family were clearly made of different stuff.
“Quiet! Low-born knights shouldn’t meddle!”
“What did you just say?! I ought to feed you to a magical beast and use your bones as toothpicks!”
Of course, the knights Dad brought weren't ordinary either.
As the tension between both sides rapidly escalated, Dad finally stepped in.
“That’s enough.”
Maybe the knight thought Dad was backing down now—because instead of being scared like before, he now looked rather smug as he glanced us over.
…Are we seriously going to back down like this?
“W-What do you think you’re doing?!”
Just as I was racking my brain for a way to smoothly resolve this situation, a voice suddenly rang out like a scream. I instinctively looked up.
The one who shrieked was one of the guards from the main estate.
‘Why is he so startled?’
I understood immediately once I turned my gaze toward Dad.
He had slowly started removing the gloves he’d put on after changing into formal attire for this visit to the main family.
The sight of it made the main estate’s knight turn pale.
“Y-You can’t be serious! This is a huge problem!”
“Since when did Northern knights get such wagging tongues?”
“I-I was just… just doing my duty... I…”
Face drained of all color, the knight began retreating step by step, while Dad closed the distance at a slow, deliberate pace.
Gloves… Could it be that kind of glove?
The kind that, when slapped across someone’s face by a knight, signifies a life-or-death duel?
🍓; *This is embarrassing, but who cares?
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