Young Belion’s day was like any other. After training, he took a bath and headed to the dining hall for dinner.

“…….”

However, the scenery in the dining hall was different from usual.

“Oh, Belion. You came?”

Marion opened the dining hall door and grinned at Belion, who was standing there absentmindedly. Belion’s gaze shifted to three children sitting together in the dining hall.

“……Who are they?”

Whether they had rolled down from a mountain or not, the children’s appearance was out of the ordinary. Moreover, they were eating voraciously, indicating a considerable hunger. Marion approached, smiling, and spoke to Belion.

“Don’t you remember? Belion, you must have seen them several times in the palace. Over there is Lady Elpisha, next to her is Lord Diamon, and the last one is the princess.”

“I recognize their faces. But why are they here?”

Seeing the children’s unconventional presence, Belion asked again. Marion responded.

“They secretly came all the way here out of curiosity about the Duke’s mansion. I was surprised too.”

As Marion finished speaking, Estelle enthusiastically said,

“Look at this. I said I could drive away wolves with the medicine I developed, and it worked so well.”

“Right. The problem is that the smell is so strong that even people avoid it.”

Whether something drastic had been reversed, a foul smell emanated from the children’s bodies. Grace chuckled at Edwin’s response.

“Still, thanks to Estelle, we even got the Duke to come here. Right?”

“Yeah, that’s true, but…”

Edwin noticed Belion standing by the door and faltered in his words.

Following his gaze, the other children also noticed Belion’s presence and blinked as they looked at him. Then, Marion approached Belion with them.

“You’ve probably seen them before. Say hello. My brother, Belion.”

At the mention of Belion, the children’s eyes widened. Estelle was the first to shout.

“Oh, that… weren’t you wearing a mask?”

“That’s right. Belion doesn’t like people’s attention much, so he wears a mask whenever he goes out. Now that I think about it, you guys are probably seeing Belion’s bare face for the first time too.”

The children stared at Belion’s bare face in amazement. Edwin smiled satisfactorily.

“Definitely worth coming to the Duke’s mansion. A mountain of information.”

Grace, looking into Belion’s eyes, murmured in admiration.

“Really beautiful. Your eyes.”

“I know.”

Nonchalantly responding to Grace’s compliment, Belion looked back at Marion. It seemed like a glance asking, “What are you going to do with these kids?” Marion grinned.

“Since it’s already late, everyone should sleep here. What do you think?”

Saying so, Marion looked at the children’s scrawny appearances and added.

“Once you finish eating, let’s all take a bath. I’ll provide new clothes. Elpisha and the princess can wear the clothes I wore when I was young… and Diamon, you can wear Belion’s clothes.”

“Yes! Thank you! We appreciate it!”

“We’ll be in your debt.”
“I’m thankful too. Oh, and you can speak comfortably to me as well.”

Excited by Marion’s words, Estelle greeted, followed by greetings from Edwin and Grace. However, Belion still appeared uncomfortable. Marion, noticing this, approached Belion and whispered.

“Since father and mother are currently on a trip, it’s okay for now.”

“…….”

“And, isn’t it fun? Finally, kids of your age came here. Let’s play together.”

“Why should I?”

“Stop that and play with them at least once.”

In response, Belion’s eyebrows raised in disbelief. Finding his younger brother’s reaction cute, Marion affectionately patted Belion’s head.

“Until bedtime, would you like to play in the Duke’s playroom? Oh, Belion, you can be the guide.”

“…….,”

Due to Marion, Belion reluctantly ended up in the playroom, sitting on a slide and observing the children moving around.

The children, thoroughly washed by the servants, curiously explored various corners of the playroom.

“Wow, the Duke’s playroom is enormous! Can we also tour other places?”

Belion firmly answered Estelle’s question, “No.”

“Why?”

“Because there are many devices here, and you can’t navigate them alone.”

“Devices?”

Even more excited at the mention of devices, Estelle asked, “Right. I heard that the Duke has interesting devices here. What exactly are these devices? How do they operate? When did they start using them? What types and how many are there?”

Estelle’s eyes sparkled as she bombarded Belion with questions. Meanwhile, Edwin, who had been tapping the wall of the playroom as if looking for a secret passage, mumbled.

“Certainly, it would be fascinating if there were secret passages in a place like this.”

Seemingly intrigued, both Estelle and Edwin enthusiastically explored the playroom. Belion, appearing quite tired, sat down, and Grace came and sat beside him.

“You must have been surprised when we suddenly came. Thank you for playing with us.”

“……I’m doing it because my sister told me to.”

“Still, you could have refused, right?”