“Your new mother is weak to Chersion’s aegyo. So I’ll leave that task to you.”

“Yes! I’ll do my best, brother.”

As Chersion’s eyes lit up, Euphemina tilted her head with a blank expression.

“Then what should I do?”

“You…”

Kardiel pondered for a moment before saying.

“Think of ways to drive the tutors out of this house.”

“We’re going to drive out the tutors?”

“There’s no way the people Baron Baden wants to place here are proper tutors. You haven’t forgotten how the tutors have treated you so far, have you?”

When he said that, a memory simultaneously came to the siblings’ minds.

“…Hmm.”

“…”

The past tutors their father had assigned instead of sending them to the academy.

The tutors who had educated the children even before Lieselotte became the Duchess of Daiern were actually all influenced by Baron Baden.

They uniformly looked down on the ducal children.

Corporal punishment was not even considered unusual.

They probably thought that level was acceptable since the duke abused the children.

Among those memories, there was one particularly memorable incident.

“I’m scared…”

Chersion, who had dredged up a certain memory, clutched his chest with tears welling up in his eyes.

The boy held that incident as a trauma, to the point where just recalling it made breathing difficult.

“What if I get locked in the closet again this time…”

This incident occurred when Chersion was only five years old.

A tutor introduced by Baron Baden and hired with the duke’s approval had locked Chersion in an old wardrobe in the corner of a dilapidated storage room.

Although the excuse was ‘Young master needs some time to reflect’, in truth, the only reason for reflection was getting a multiplication problem wrong.

That day, from the afternoon, a heavy rain accompanied by thunder and lightning poured down.

However, the tutor didn’t know that the old storage room where Chersion was confined would be half-flooded when it rained.

If Lieselotte hadn’t returned home early due to the rain…

Chersion would have surely met his death trapped in the fallen wardrobe, submerged in rainwater.

“To prevent that from happening, we must absolutely not accept any tutors recommended by Baron Baden.”

Even if we do accept them, we need to create an excuse to drive them out as quickly as possible. It would be better if they left on their own.

“So don’t cry. This isn’t the time for tears.”

“O-okay… *sniff*”

“Crybaby Chelsy. You’re still a baby, that’s why.”

“I’m not a baby!”

As if even bringing up the topic was painful, Chersion trembled, visibly terrified.

While Kardiel felt sorry for his younger brother, he couldn’t bring himself to approach and comfort him with gentle pats.

Rather, thanks to Euphemina’s teasing, Chersion seemed to calm down a little.

Meanwhile, Kardiel was contemplating the complicated adult circumstances.

‘Tutors will definitely be hired.’

However, their new mother won’t always be able to help like she did back then.

To put it bluntly, Chersion’s safety then was a stroke of luck.

At that time, neither Kardiel nor Euphemina knew what was happening to Chersion because they were with their tutors in different locations.

‘So we can’t just passively endure like we did then.’

We can’t keep waiting for our new mother to rescue us, can we? Especially not at fifteen years old.

Just then, Euphemina suddenly tilted her head in the opposite direction.

“By the way, are there any male tutors among the new ones coming?”

“What?”

“Are they handsome? Do you think they might propose to Mom?”

“…”

He didn’t know that much. After all, he hadn’t met them yet.

But as Kardiel was about to reprimand her for such foolish questions, he suddenly realized something he had been overlooking.

‘A handsome tutor?’

As far as Kardiel knew, no one fit that description better than Lord Joseph.

No, he thought there probably wouldn’t be anyone like that in the future either.

Such remarkably attractive appearances, regardless of gender, weren’t that common.

Moreover, that man he first met at the duke’s funeral wasn’t some young noble fop, but quite a splendid adult.

His seemingly relaxed attitude, yet with an aura that made him difficult to approach casually, was honestly something Kardiel wanted to emulate a little.

‘So he’s probably already married.’

Although he didn’t come to pay respects with his wife, the same was true for Baron Landgritz and Baron Baden.

Several other nobles were the same.

It was perfectly understandable, given that the social season had just begun.

‘Above all, our new mother didn’t seem to be averse to Lord Joseph.’

Lieselotte, who had managed the duchy alone for a long time, had quite an accurate eye for people.

The reason why the tutors hired for the Daiern mansion so far couldn’t last more than a week before being driven out was because they failed to meet her sharp insight and strict standards.

For reference, there was a reason why the tutor who tormented Chersion was able to stay at Daiern for a long time.

Until then, Lieselotte had no authority to intervene in the children’s education.

After a big argument with Duke Daiern over that incident, she began to get involved in the siblings’ upbringing.

The tutors hired by Baron Baden finally came face to face with Lieselotte, the lady of the house.

…They were all fired within three days.

Some of them were even driven out without exchanging a single word.

Ah, especially the tutor who caused the wardrobe incident was sent straight to prison without a trial.

‘So Lord Joseph must know how to maintain boundaries.’

To indulge in a bit of wishful thinking here.

Even if someone approached Lieselotte with ulterior motives, they would inevitably lose their resolve the moment they faced Lord Joseph.

Unless their ego was exceptionally inflated, that is.

“That’s not likely to happen.”

Kardiel answered Euphemina’s question indifferently.

“If such a thing really does happen, then we’ll have to teach them a lesson.”

“You mean kill them?”

…No.

“Euphemina. Stop talking about killing.”

“Sister Euphy is scary…”

Chersion, who had just stopped crying, began to whimper again.

Regardless, Euphemina only blinked innocently at the barrage of reproaches.

She didn’t forget to mutter, “But that’s the easiest way.”

“Anyway, let’s summarize.”

Kardiel neatly ignored her nonsense and gave strategic instructions.

“If anyone seems to be presumptuous enough to propose to our new mother, I’ll handle it. So you two focus on your assigned tasks for now. Let me know if you need support.”

“Yes! I’ll use my charm on Mother to prevent her from remarrying…!”

“For the tutors, we just need to drive them out, right?”

“That’s right. Absolutely no thoughts of killing them. I’ll give you three days to write up how you plan to act.”

“Do we have to go that far?”

“Listen to me. Chersion, you also supplement your plan over the next three days.”

“Alright, I’ll give it a try!”

“Brother always tries to make things too complicated…”

“…”

It’s probably you who’s trying to make it too simple.

After confirming that even Euphemina nodded her head, Kardiel satisfactorily recorded today’s strategy meeting contents.

The next strategy can be devised after being introduced to the new tutors.

“Hey… Brother Kar, Sister Euphy.”

It was then that a voice, still tinged with moisture, called out to Kardiel and Euphemina.

Before they could make eye contact, Chersion hopped down from his chair and preciously clasped both their hands together.

“Don’t you think we’ve become a bit happier lately?”

Dang dang, Chersion’s lively movements made Kardiel and Euphemina’s arms create a large rhythm in the air.

“Now Mother smiles every day, and I can talk loudly with Brother Kar and Sister Euphy like this, and it’s not so scary to walk around the mansion anymore.”

“…”

“Plus, when we finish our meals, we can have ice cream for dessert!”

“I prefer pudding to ice cream.”

“Hehehe. I like pudding too. How about you, Brother Kar?”

“…I prefer sherbet.”

“That’s good too!”

The atmosphere had clearly been serious just moments ago.

It felt like a warm air was rising in the study room like cotton candy.

Thanks to Chersion’s kind smile that tickled their hearts.

“So, let’s become even happier in the future. With Mother, and Butler Grandfather, and the teacher and nanny, and the other servant brothers and sisters, and also…”

‘The Angel of Daiern.’ It truly was a nickname that suited Chersion perfectly.

Kardiel thought that this positive and affectionate nature was a talent unique to Chersion that no one else possessed.

So.

‘It’s my duty as the eldest to help you continue to speak of happiness.’

He wanted to protect his younger siblings so they could feel happiness now and in the future, just like this.

‘And our new mother too.’

He now had to protect her as well. He needed to be able to protect her.

Because he had received so much.

‘I should indeed learn swordsmanship.’