The Grand Duke of Osilote’s House fell very slowly. So slowly that even those falling did not realize it at first.

After the crown prince seized real power, the projects being promoted in the prime estates of the Grand Duke’s House were abandoned one by one, and eventually all of them were scrapped.

The literary salon, the pride of the Grand Duke, had to close its doors, stigmatized as a depraved establishment.

Anthony’s application to the academy was put on indefinite hold for various reasons, and Eve was being ostracized from noble society in subtle ways.

And all these things happened very slowly over several years. So subtly that one could not suspect it was someone’s intention.

Sometimes Nigel invited the entire Grand Duke’s family to imperial events.

Then, looking at the Grand Duke fawning over him, sweating profusely, Nigel would give a very generous and big smile. Everyone would praise Nigel and despise the Grand Duke in turn.

Fortunately, Leon, as a member of the Holy Knights of the Great Temple independent from noble society and the imperial family, was not greatly affected by Nigel and rose to the position of Deputy Commander of the Knights.

Ridiculously, due to his looks resembling his father, he even earned the childish nickname “Jewel of the Empire” and gained a following.

But it was common knowledge that the imperial family had recently been tightening its grip on the temple’s funding and expanding its control. And at the forefront of that movement was none other than Crown Prince Nigel, beloved by the entire empire.

Nigel had recently begun receiving regular work reports from the Commander of the Holy Knights. Soon, an environment would likely be created where he could easily tighten the noose around Leon’s life.

The crown prince wanted the quiet and slow destruction of not just the Grand Duke of Osilote, but the entire Grand Duke’s House.

At the wedding where Leon stood as the crown prince’s attendant, he painfully realized this anew.

The crown prince, shining ever brighter in contrast to Leon, who was miserably crumbling, engulfed in a curse. The fact that he kept the Grand Duke’s House alive was solely to have their miserable figures before his eyes to admire.

If Leon were to confide this realization to anyone, they would likely dismiss him as a paranoid delusional and laugh heartily.

But shouldn’t the very person involved, the Grand Duke of Osilote, the father who is the root of all this misfortune, face reality?

Leon looked at his father with a pained expression. The foolish old man who turned a blind eye to reality falling into the abyss, clinging to the ghosts of the past.

“Father, you committed a crime. And an immense one at that – attempted regicide, for which there is no room for excuses even if one’s limbs are torn apart. So now wake up from your pipe dreams and live in atonement. It’s the only way we can survive.”

“Shut up, shut up! Can’t you stop talking nonsense! Before I burn you all to ashes!”

Crash.

Before Leon could even finish speaking, the Grand Duke flashed his eyes like a madman. Then he kicked over the side table next to him. Eve’s terrified scream rang out, but he didn’t care.

As the items on the side table spilled, the candle that had been lit beside it also fell. The Grand Duke, who had been glaring at the candle smoking black on the reception room floor without going out, picked it up, panting.

The Grand Duke, who had been waving his arm as if he were about to thrust it at Leon, suddenly changed his target at Leon’s cold gaze.

He threw the candle at the hem of Kasha’s dress, who was tightly hugging the trembling Eve. Without a moment’s hesitation.

“I’ll burn it all down! Everything!”

“Aaah!”

Boom. Bang.

As Eve screamed, thunder rumbled as if heralding a great misfortune.

Kasha, realizing her dress had caught fire, pushed Eve away and rolled on the floor herself, and Leon threw himself towards her at almost the same time.

The reception room floor was hard marble, so Kasha anticipated pain from the impact. But while the floor was solid, it was unexpectedly serene and cozy…?

A moment later, when she lifted her head to check her skirt, she realized she couldn’t move her body freely. A much stronger and longer arm than hers was holding her tightly.

While Leon nimbly used his legs and other arm to put out the remaining embers on her skirt in that position, all Kasha could do was meekly tuck her feet to one side so as not to get in his way.

All the while, the sound of a fiercely beating heart could be heard in her ear. The arm holding her was also stiff with desperate tension. Leon’s tension and fear, felt entirely. It rather quickly calmed her startled heart.

Finally, when the remaining embers on the skirt were all out, Leon released Kasha. Kasha sat up and only then could see Leon’s face.

He had become remarkably haggard in a short time. His eyes, which met Kasha’s, trembled with pain and anger.

Leon placed his hand on Kasha’s foot, exposed up to the shin under the burnt skirt. Golden divine power brilliantly enveloped that hand. In an instant, Kasha’s body, which had stiffened with tension, regained stability.

“Are you alright? May I check your leg?”

Leon looked as if he wanted to lift the burnt skirt and check the condition of her entire leg right away if she would only allow it.

To reassure him, Kasha shook her head calmly.

“I’m fine. The underskirt is intact too. It wasn’t hot at all.”

It was a lie that it wasn’t hot, but seeing Leon’s face at that moment, she couldn’t tell the truth. When she tried to say more to reassure him:

“What are you doing now, Father! How could you do this to Sister Kasha!”

Eve’s shout, shaking with shock and anger, rang in her ears.

“Wh-what? This useless wench, how dare you to your father−.”

“I’m not useless!”

As Eve shouted, the Grand Duke, who had been frozen in surprise, began to grumble again.

“The nerve of this little thing!”

“Sister Kasha said so! I’m not a useless child! Father is the strange one!”

“Y-you impudent thing− do you want a taste of the heat too?”

With that, he reached over the fireplace and grabbed a silver candlestick that was standing up. The shadows of the anxiously wavering candlelight danced wildly over the Grand Duke’s violent eyes.

What stopped the rampaging Grand Duke was Kasha’s voice.

“Stop it.”

“What? Who are you to interfere? Looks like you didn’t get a proper taste of the heat, did you?”

Cackle, cackle.

The Grand Duke babbled like that, flashing his bluish eyes. No trace of a sane person’s reason could be found in them anymore.

Leon got between the Grand Duke and Kasha, but Kasha made him back away with a look. And she spoke clearly to the Grand Duke.

“I can… report you right now, Grand Duke.”

“What are you saying? Heh heh heh.”

“I’m a noblewoman. The second daughter of the Lyuschino family. If I tell my father and elder brother that you… threw a candle at me on purpose and did this to me… this will become a feud between families.”

“…You little.”

“Does the Grand Duke’s House… have the military strength to go against the Lyuschino family’s private army, known as the Emperor’s Shield?”

“Ha!”

The Grand Duke still sneered, but Kasha noticed a flicker of hesitation in his expression. It seemed he still had some reason left after all.

“You think I can’t?”

“Shut up!”

“I was also invited to the crown prince’s party. If I go there right now and… reveal what you did?”

“What?”

“Is it still really alright?”

When the crown prince was mentioned, the Grand Duke’s face tensed up. And very slowly, the madness in his eyes began to subside.

“I, I.”

That’s when Leon stepped in.

As if there was no more need for words, he grabbed the Grand Duke’s arm and twisted it.

“L-let go, let go!”

The Grand Duke thrashed about, held by Leon.

“If you don’t like it,”

Leon growled in a low voice.

“I’ll have you dragged out by the guards.”

The Grand Duke flinched at the coldness in that voice. He glared at Leon with what little defiance remained, but upon facing the anger in his gaze, he pursed his lips and lowered his head.

Watching the Grand Duke being dragged out by Leon, powerless, Kasha reached out her arm to Eve.

But unlike before, Eve didn’t come running right away. Instead, she sobbed, her eyes brimming with tears.

“Sister. Because of me, you… I’m sorry. I’m sorry……”

Seeing Eve collapsing to her knees, Kasha hurried over. The burnt hem of her skirt fluttered open, but she didn’t even care.

“That’s not it, Eve. It’s not because of you.”

“No. It’s my fault… Since I was born, everything went wrong, Father always.”

“Eve. Shhh.”

Kasha lowered her voice and made Eve face her.

“Your father is unwell right now.”

“Father is…?”

“Sadly, yes. So don’t take to heart the words of a sick person. Or else you’ll… get sick too.”

“But… it’s because of me that you got hurt.”

“Eve. Our kind Eve.”

Kasha murmured like that and knelt down to meet Eve’s eye level.

At Kasha’s warm voice, tears gushed out from Eve’s eyes again.

“Don’t cry. Believe me. And believe your elder brother, Leon. We’ll protect you.”

“Sob… sob.”

“You’re a very pretty and precious little one. I like you very much. I like you so, so much, Eve.”

Kasha whispered endlessly, holding Eve in her arms.

The terrible scenes witnessed at a young age do not easily fade from the mind. They become old scars that ruin a person.

‘Hey, throw stones!’

‘Let’s bet on who can hit more?’

‘Hey, crazy witch! Look here! Why, are you threatening to curse us again?’

‘Stop it….’

‘What was that, witch?’

‘Before I kill you all.’

‘Aaah!’

‘Should I really kill you all? Heh heh heh. You bug-like things, should I gouge out those eyeballs first so you never see sunlight again? Hmm? Kyahahaha.’

‘Aah! Run!’

‘Someone save me!’

‘M-Mom. Stop it. Stop.’

Although it’s a memory from over 10 years ago, the manic expression on her mother’s face as she exuded genuine murderous intent towards kids Kasha’s age was still vivid in her memory.

Her mother’s eyes, clouded with confusion, looked down at her daughter who clung to her skirt in fear, unable to recognize even her own child.

Most of her memories of her mother were like that. And that fact became the reason Kasha couldn’t love herself as she grew up.

When she first went out into high society and people called her a ‘troublemaker’ or a ‘lunatic’, she shrank back instead of getting angry.

The fear that the blood of a lunatic like her mother might really flow in her veins. The instinctive self-loathing of not even being able to stand up to people’s rejection.

Kasha hoped Eve would not have to bear the same pain as her.

So with all her might, she whispered into the wounded girl’s ear.

“You’re fine. You did nothing wrong. You’re just such a lovely child. Don’t worry about anything.”

Don’t get hit by stones thrown by people who don’t care about you.

Don’t let them ruin you.

I’ll protect you. Definitely.

Kasha firmly resolved once more.

But.

Before the night of raging storms passed and dawn broke.

The voice of a guard rang out from Eve’s room, tearing through the silence of the night.

“Catch him! An intruder! Young Lady Eve, the young lady…!”