‘Huck!’

Daiban’s head whipped around. He let out a short, hollow laugh and turned his head back to the front.

“You want to try?”

In that moment, Daiban’s eyes flashed and his lips curled up in a sneer.

Although it seemed like he had taken quite a hit, there wasn’t a single wound. Daiban threw his whole body forward, pushing Michael down.

The two of them became entangled, rolling on the bare ground in an instant.

“You hit my face for that, you bastard!”

“I did it because you’re a beast who can’t understand human speech, why!”

“What did you say, you all talk and no action!”

“You brute with nothing but strength!”

Watching the two of them, I gaped in shock.

‘Why are they suddenly fighting!’

I hurriedly ran towards them.

“Stop fighting! Both of you, stop it!”

“You thief who steals other people’s clothes!”

“You think this is just talk!”

They seemed to not hear my words at all. I fidgeted anxiously, then quickly gathered my bag and turned towards the mansion.

‘I need to call someone!’

But then I suddenly stopped, caught in a dilemma. It’s not just anyone fighting, but the twins. Who on earth should I call?

‘Father and elder brother aren’t here!’

Today, the Duke and Clemens had left early in the morning for a domain inspection.

Besides those two, who else could restrain the twins?

‘I guess the knights would be better than the employees.’

There are quite a few among the knights who can use aura.

Just as I turned my steps towards the training grounds instead of the mansion, I saw a group of maids coming out of the mansion, leisurely walking with small flower pots. Delma was among them.

“Ah, Delma!”

“Young lady! Are you playing in the garden again today?”

“It’s not that!”

I said, hurriedly moving towards them.

“Right now, the twins are…!”

That’s when it happened. Before I could take even a few steps, a strong noise loud enough to make my ears go numb erupted.

The maids screamed. Everyone, including me, lost their balance and plopped down on the ground. I saw Delma running towards me.

I slowly turned around, having covered my ears and crouched down.

The one who had just caused an impact strong enough to shake the ground was Daiban. He had mounted Michael and slammed his fist into the ground.

Around his fist that had struck the ground, energy was strongly undulating.

Michael grabbed Daiban’s collar with one hand, as if snatching it.

“Why are you using magic here! Are you crazy?”

“Shut up!”

Before Michael could finish speaking, his body was thrown back. At the same time, the same noise from earlier assaulted my ears again.

After covering my ears, I slowly raised my head as I saw dust rising around.

A tree had fallen in front of me.

That tree was the source of the noise just now. It was one of the larger trees in the garden. It used to cast a wide shadow, and I often played under it every day.

To think such a tree could fall so helplessly in an instant…

“Young lady!”

At that moment, I heard Delma’s voice.

With her path blocked by the fallen tree, Delma looked anxious from afar.

“I’m okay!”

After calming her from a distance, I turned to look at the twins again.

It was the first time I’d heard such a loud noise, and the first time I’d felt the ground shake this much.

Perhaps because I was so shocked, I had no idea how to stop those two.

‘So this is the magic power the twins possess.’

It’s this strong with just a little use, and to think this magic power is infinite.

‘No wonder the magic tower is so desperate to take them.’

In Daiban’s hand, the dark energy I had seen before was strongly undulating.

Michael, who had been thrown over the tree, got up with a hollow laugh, brushing off his pants.

Behind Michael’s back, the same energy was spreading thickly. He had reinforced his body with magic before hitting the tree. If it had been a normal person’s body instead of a reinforced one, the person would have been crushed before the tree.

‘Didn’t they say magic use was forbidden in the mansion!’

Both of them seemed to be so angry that they couldn’t see anything else.

I stomped my feet anxiously. Unable to approach the two due to the danger, I shouted from afar.

“Both of you, stop it!”

Actually, it was extremely close just now. If the angle of the falling tree had been different…

‘Ugh, that was really close.’

And unlike Michael who could walk away unscathed after being hit by a tree, I would have been completely crushed. I felt goosebumps all over.

‘I guess this is what they mean by the shrimp’s back breaking in a fight between whales.’

Caught between the two, I hugged my bag tightly and slowly backed away.

At least I no longer had a reason to run to the training grounds.

Due to the tremendous noise, not only the mansion staff but also the knights from the training grounds had all rushed out.

“Oh my, young masters! What is all this about!”

“Please calm down!”

“Young masters! You mustn’t do this here!”

In the distance, even the knights from the training grounds came running out at lightning speed.

“Young masters! The master will be arriving soon! Please stop this!”

The butler shouted desperately from afar, but his cries echoed back like an echo.

“Won’t you let go?!”

“You let go first, you brute!”

At that moment, I briefly saw Daiban’s eyes flash red.

Once again, thick energy swirled up around Daiban like a vortex.

From Daiban’s hand, energy poured down towards the ground like a waterfall. The released energy seeped into the roots of the surrounding trees, shaking them.

“The, the trees!”

Energy also flickered and condensed in Michael’s hand. Perhaps because of Daiban’s energy, unlike him, it was clearly only a certain amount being released.

‘But something’s a bit strange.’

Unlike Daiban, who was emitting energy steadily from his fingertips, part of Michael’s energy was spreading to completely irrelevant places.

Like water trickling from a cracked jar.

“Gasp! The, the young lady is there!”

“Young lady! It’s dangerous to be there!”

The knights who spotted me ran towards me urgently. As others worried, I quickly got up to leave, but my bag wriggled.

I hurriedly opened the bag to look inside.

[Why is it so noisy?]

“Gasp, why did you wake up now!”

[I’ve been awake for a while, you know?]

Because of the silver snake that was about to come out of the bag, I tightly closed the opening.

“You can’t come out now! Outside, I mean!”

I whispered quietly into the bag. Thankfully, the surroundings were noisy. Otherwise, I would have looked like a strange kid muttering to herself at a bag.

Crack, once again the sound of a tree breaking was heard.

“You always do whatever you want!”

“You!”

The tree Daiban threw was aimed precisely at Michael. Michael had the strength to receive it, and he struck it away without hesitation. The trajectory of the tree flying with magic power was altered.

More precisely, towards where people were.

“No!”

“You idiot!”

In that moment, a large magic barrier unfolded in front of the tree. The tree collided with the barrier, making an ear-splitting impact sound.

The deflected tree fell powerlessly to the ground. At the same time, the surroundings became quiet.

It wasn’t just because the tree had fallen.

Behind the fallen tree, a black silhouette stood tall.

“You two…”

The Duke called the twins in an extremely low voice, his eyes wide open.

[This is the timeline separator]

At first, the Duke rushed towards the twins without even looking around. Then his gaze rolled over to me.

Upon discovering me, the Duke’s eyes widened. Seeing clearly what he was worried about, I waved both hands, shaking my head.

“I’m fine, really!”

“Still, you need to see a doctor.”

Contrary to my words, my body was promptly picked up by the Duke and immediately moved to the doctor’s presence.

‘Then what about the twins…’

Looking over the Duke’s shoulder, I saw Daiban staring at me with a dumbfounded expression.

That expression was like someone who had completely forgotten I was nearby.

In contrast, Michael was pressing his lips tightly, clenching one hand.

‘He must have hurt his hand.’

To be honest, I was really surprised earlier too. I’ve seen them fight before, just hitting each other, but I’ve never seen them fight by lifting trees with magic and shaking the ground.

‘What kind of sibling fight is that vicious…’

I must never get on the twins’ bad side. I firmly resolved.

Upon arriving at the room, Clemens, who had returned with the Duke, was waiting with the doctor. Clemens spoke in a serious tone.

“Check thoroughly.”

“Of course, young master!”

The doctor began checking my condition without even a moment to breathe.

But I was really fine. I did face a crisis of almost being hit by a tree towards the end, but fortunately, I wasn’t actually hit.

“The young lady appears to have no abnormalities, other than being a bit startled…”

“Can you take responsibility for those words?”

“Are you certain?”

Clemens and the Duke muttered threateningly. Naturally, the doctor couldn’t easily leave my side.

“If you feel pain anywhere, please tell me without fail!”

Since the doctor wouldn’t leave my room, other people seemed to think I had contracted some fatal illness.

Sophie, Delma, and the Reviche knights were gathered in the corridor, refusing to leave from in front of my room, so I even had to make the excuse that I was going to take a nap.

‘Everyone’s stubbornness is no joke.’

Only after the corridor had completely quieted down did I open my bag again.

The silver snake, curled up in a ball inside the bag, slightly opened one eye.

[Hmph.]

“You…”

[What is it, you insignificant creature?]

The silver snake leisurely came out. It slithered up to me and flicked out its red tongue.

[Who told you to bring me along? You presumptuous creature.]

Even the grumbling tone was just like before. Something heavy welled up from my throat.

[Having dared to bring me along, you deserve punishment, but I’ll specially show mercy,]

“Hey!”

Overcome with emotion, I shouted loudly, and the silver snake wore a startled expression.

[…Did you just yell at me?]

“Yes! Do you know how worried I was?! If you left like that, you should never have let bad people catch you! You shouldn’t have done that!”

I screamed without even listening to the silver snake’s words. The silver snake, which had been shaking its head as if to provoke me, stiffened its body.

“It could have been a disaster! Can a divine beast reveal itself to people so carelessly? You could have ended up as snake soup!”

[Wh-what, an insignificant creature worrying about me?]

“You always call me insignificant! You’re more insignificant! I saw you trapped in a cage this big, unable to do anything!”

[But you now…]

“Don’t try to change the subject… huh?”

At that moment, the ceiling spun. I could see the silver snake in front of me shaking its head vigorously and opening and closing its mouth, barking loudly.

Fortunately, I didn’t collapse on the bare floor. My head just fell onto the nearby sofa.

As I closed my eyes, I realized. Ah, I think I’m fainting.