“What does crying have to do with being sick?”

“If you don’t know, stay quiet, Lucian!”

“What’s with the ‘you’ to your older brother!”

Another fight broke out. Swan couldn’t adapt to this noisy atmosphere and just stared with wide eyes, and Umbrose, accustomed to the fights of the two cousins, was focused on eating cake.

Ariante, watching Cici trying to pull Lucian’s glasses, leaned slightly toward Sailorus.

“Why is Cici in such a bad mood today?”

Sailorus, holding a teacup, pursed his lips and nodded.

“I don’t know either. He seemed fine when he came… ”

“Is he still mad at me?”

Sailorus awkwardly laughed for a moment, uncharacteristically like a child.

It was true that Cici didn’t particularly like Ariante. Last time, when the three of them got lost in the forest, he seemed to be opening up a little, but…

Today, as soon as he heard that Ariante was coming, he suddenly started getting irritated, and he picked on everything Umbrose and Lucian said.

“It’s probably not that. Cici is… well, he easily gets angry. He’s always like that.”

“Hmm…”

Ariante blinked her blue eyes and stared at Cici for a while.

If the children were a bit older, they would have known why Cici always glared and got angry only when he saw Ariante. Cici liked Sailorus.

Until Ariante showed up, Cici had always monopolized Sailorus’s care and attention in the group they always played together. Since he was the youngest and had a fantastic talent for flattery.

But after meeting Ariante, Sailorus’s attention was entirely directed towards her, so there was nothing left for Cici.

Lucian and Cici’s little fight eventually ended with Lucian closing his mouth. While chatting exaggeratedly about how frustrating it was during the no-going-out order, they were eating cake.

Amidst this cheerful atmosphere, Lucian, with a mischievous look over his glasses, spoke.

“But Swan, why are you living in the duke’s mansion? What about your house?”
Swan, who was quietly eating cake, flinched and looked around. Not only Lucian but also the gazes of other children were all directed at him. Swan, whose face twitched in a flash, swallowed what was in his mouth in a gulp and calmly spoke.

“Well, actually… His Lordship is my guardian. My father… passed away due to illness. So, His Lordship takes care of me.”

Umbrose, who was poking the cake with his fork, widened his eyes.

“His Lordship is your guardian? Wow, that’s nice! I have a great-aunt, and she’s incredibly old, and she nags a lot. Even more than our mother!”

Sailorus chuckled, fidgeting.

“Our Lord is the same. Whenever he looks at me, he always has this expression.”

Sailorus said so, and as he wrinkled his forehead and showed his front teeth, the children laughed, tapping the table. Swan also relaxed only now and could laugh along with the other children.

Ariante said, “Swan doesn’t hear nagging. My father doesn’t nag at me or Swan. And Swan always gets praised by Ash.”

Cici snorted.

“Why is he acting like he’s your older brother?”

Ariante glared at Cici.

“Cici, stop behaving badly.”

“When did I behave badly?”

“Right now! You’ve been behaving badly since earlier!”

The situation was about to escalate into a full-fledged fight. Seeing the bewildered Lucian, Sailorus made a facial expression as if asking for help, then looked at Cici and Ariante alternately and said.

“Let’s play a game! My father bought it for me recently, but my little brother is too young, so we’ve never played it yet.”

“Well, okay. That’s a good idea. We’ve finished the cake, anyway.”

Umbrose suggested. Cici, still expressing dissatisfaction, rejected Lucian’s hand and walked alone towards the playroom. When other children followed Cici, Swan subtly pulled Ariante’s hand. Ariante turned around.

“Why?”

“That kid… does he hate you?”

Ariante glanced in the opposite direction, then looked back at Swan. There was no anger in her expression; rather, she seemed relieved.

“Is it Cici?”

“Yeah, uh-huh. That’s right. Cici.”

“It seems like it. He’s always been mean to me. I don’t know why.”

Ariante’s attitude in answering was unusually dignified. Perhaps because of meeting Cici. Swan felt that Ariante, who had always been the youngest and received flattery with fantastic talent, had become somewhat like a peer after meeting Cici.

Ariante said, “It’s okay. Even if Cici behaves badly, Sailorus always stops him.”

Swan didn’t know how to respond, hesitated for a moment, then nodded. A strange emotion brushed through the boy’s tender heart. It was a feeling he had never felt before, a mix of disappointment and sorrow.