Swan bit his lip and resented Sisi. It might have been possible to overlook this unreasonable outburst, but the problem was the reactions of the other kids at that time—Embrose, Lucien, and even the calm Cylarus. Wasn’t everyone stunned and bewildered by Sisi’s words? Ariante couldn’t have missed the strange atmosphere.

“Lady and Lord! You’re back! Why are you standing here? Come inside. You’ll catch a cold.”

Meiana rushed out. She had come out to greet them, curious about when the children would return, but she saw Ariante and Swan standing blankly in front of the stairs.

“Lady.”

Meiana immediately noticed that something was strange with Ariante. She gestured towards Swan. Although he was worried about what to say, Swan just lowered his head. He was worried about whether it was something he could talk about, and it was even more confusing where to start.

“Lady, what’s wrong? What happened? Are you feeling unwell?”

Ariante still didn’t respond. Seeing Meiana’s expression becoming serious, Swan suddenly spoke in a voice that he had artificially brightened.

“You, you had so much fun playing that you feel like this. We played a lot of games. It’s tiring, you know. I’m really tired too.”

Meiana turned to Ariante.

“Is that so, my lady?”

Swan stared at Ariante with helpless eyes. He worried about what would happen if he got angry for telling unnecessary lies. However, Ariante’s target of anger turned out not to be Swan.

“Stop asking! Swan already answered!”

Ariante yelled at Meiana, who was sitting on the ground, as she clenched her shoulder blades with all her might. Ariante screamed at Meiana again.

“Don’t talk to me! It’s annoying! I’m tired and annoyed! Liar!”

Without waiting for a response from Meiana, Ariante turned and ran into the mansion. If she bumped into a maid on the way, there was a sound of her apologizing and Ariante screaming.

What is all this about, Meiana wondered. There was no instance in the past few months where Ariante behaved so violently.

Sometimes she cried and got irritated, but there was usually a reason, and when calmed down, she quickly cheered up.

But not today. Today, it definitely wouldn’t be resolved easily.

“Meiana, are you okay…?”
Swan carefully helped Meiana to her feet. Meiana, with a smile on her unexpressive face, brushed off her skirt and stood up.

“It’s okay, Master Swan. But… What happened at the Duke’s mansion? Otherwise, the lady wouldn’t act like this. She was in such a good mood when she went out. Do you know why?”

Maybe she fought with Cisi or some other friend. It wouldn’t be Swan. If he had fought with Swan, he might have been irritated with him.

Is it the daughter of Duke Hierius, the girl named Cisi? Meiana considered various possibilities, recalling that Cisi and Ariante often chatted.

“Master?”

“Sorry. I… can’t talk about it. I can’t tell you, Meiana.”

“Why can’t you tell me? Don’t you know the reason, Master?”

Swan shook his head.

“It’s not that. I know why. But I can’t say. It might be better for Ariante to hear it from her.”

After finishing his words, Swan also rushed into the mansion, leaving Meiana behind.

Meiana looked around the darkened garden. The gardeners were lighting lamps scattered around.

One, two… Even though the view gradually opened as the lights turned on, she felt an inexplicable unease gnawing at her toes.

Then, the east window opened. Soon after, Venti’s loud voice echoed.

“Meiana, what are you doing there? Come up quickly!”

At the moment she raised her head, a sound of something breaking was heard. Although it was distant, it was a sound that could be clearly heard. Meiana, holding her skirt tightly, ran up the stairs and entered the mansion. It was clear that Ariante was breaking something.

The old forest keeper, Becker, was dragged to Cedilloy’s study. Jemero sent out Aint and Gels and locked the door, leaving the study in silence.

Cedilloy could see at a glance that Becker had aged and weakened remarkably compared to a few years ago. When he worked as a forest keeper, he was timid but had a large build, drank very well, and was quite boastful.

“Long time no see, Becker.”

Cedilloy’s voice was heard, but his face was not visible. In fact, Cedilloy’s face was not something Becker wanted to see. As Becker trembled with his forehead on the ground, Cedilloy spoke again.

“Look at me.”

“…I-I’m sorry. Your Grace, I’m sorry…”

Without raising his head, Becker pretended to touch his forehead several times. When he didn’t lift his head, Cedilloy’s gaze became colder.

“Did you not hear me, Becker? Look at me. Lift your head.”