Aeli, who had forgotten to even breathe for a moment, slowly blinked her eyes.

“……”

She had thought it was strange since the time she stayed by the child’s side as a ghost.

That Lutis had gone to war, and that the child was being neglected in such a state.

She had been hurt and her heart ached countless times by the situation that was completely different from what she had imagined.

‘But……’

Wasn’t there something else that was even more incomprehensible?

She could somehow understand the news of Lutis’s deployment.

Even though he had quit now, Lutis was the captain of the Imperial Knights at the time.

It wasn’t impossible for him to be deployed if the situation became complicated, even if the timing wasn’t good.

She couldn’t be sure that his choice was the best, but she also couldn’t say it was a completely useless idea.

[……I’m sorry.]

At dawn on the day Lutis discovered her as a ghost.

Aeli, who recalled him confessing in a completely cracked voice that he hadn’t expected the war to last this long and that it was all his fault, with the sleeping child between them, gulped.

She remembered saying that the person who should answer that apology was not her, and that he should say it again when the child woke up, and then she had closed her mouth.

‘……At least that appearance was real.’

She hadn’t forgotten the time when Lutis had spewed out harsh words without even coming to see the child.

However, she didn’t think what he said that day was a lie.

She couldn’t not know when he had a very similar look in his eyes to when Aeli looked at the child.

Unless Lutis was an actor, it wasn’t the kind of thing that could be imitated by pretending.

Lutis and Noel’s conversation reached Aeli’s ears as she thought about it.

“-What do you mean,”

“If you don’t have the confidence to protect even that much, it’s impossible for me to let you stay in Ratliff any longer.”

“……”

“I see that you seem to know how to use magic, so it might not be a bad idea for me to personally teach you and raise you in Mason instead.”

Noel, who said that there was no way they had properly educated the child when they had neglected them until this age, had a crooked smile on his lips.

It was clear to anyone that he was in a very bad mood and was angry.

……Well, it was natural since grabbing his collar in the first place already meant he was furious beyond her imagination.

Aeli brought one hand to her ear, feeling like the sound was strangely muffled even though she wasn’t wearing earplugs.

Of course, doing that didn’t really change anything.

‘……No matter how much I think about it, it’s strange. Judging from how angry Noel is, it doesn’t seem like he’s lying either.’

In the first place, there was no reason to fake anger, and having lived together for a long time, Noel wasn’t the type to plot such a troublesome conspiracy in this way.

‘If he didn’t like something, he would have said it outright long ago.’

To the point where it was thought that Lutis’s straightforward way of speaking was influenced by Noel to some degree, it was already said.

-That’s why it was even more incomprehensible.

Aeli, who recalled the first time she met the child’s purple eyes through the shaggy hair, bit her lip.

She wasn’t unaware of the child’s situation at the time.

Assuming what Noel said was true, he would have continuously received reports on the situation in Ratliff through Mari, so he would have known it too.

‘If it was his nephew, he would have died to bring him, but he just listened to it?’

It didn’t make sense.

If Noel hadn’t taken action, her parents should have tried to take the child themselves.

For this situation to make sense, it could only be explained that, as Noel said, someone had repeatedly blocked that attempt-.

“……”

“……”

Aeli and Lutis’s gazes intertwined in the air.

‘……I’ve never heard of a trial or a restraining order.’

Lutis told Aeli that he hadn’t realized the child’s situation.

In common sense, does it even make sense to say that someone who doesn’t even know what state the child is living in has blocked a trial and filed a restraining order?

Even if he had, it would have been strange for him not to confide in her that day in the first place.

It was clear that the situation could not coexist unless one of them was lying, but it was too clear-cut in terms of cause and effect to say that both were lies.

In short, there was a victim, but there was no one who actually committed the deed.

What did this mean?

“……Wait, let go of this for a moment.”

Lutis, who had been looking at Aeli, turned his gaze to Noel and opened his mouth.

“Answer me first.”

“……”

“Huh-,”

“……I just heard about the trial for the first time.”

“……What?”

“I have no knowledge of the trial that you said the Count requested. So I’ve never blocked it either. Of course, I’ve never made any requests like a restraining order either.”

“……”

Someone had intervened.

The strength in Noel’s grip on Lutis’s collar loosened.

“……What do you mean,”

“I’d rather ask you.”

“……”

“I had instructed that if the Count found out about it later, to allow him to take the child. Although I cast a protective spell, I couldn’t ignore the presence or absence of an adult to watch over the child’s side.”

Nevertheless, during the prolonged war, he had not heard any news of them taking the child.

Wasn’t he the one whose heart was burning, unable to even confirm the child’s well-being in person upon hearing that they had not even visited the ducal residence?

Noel’s eyes trembled finely at Lutis’s voice, which sounded as if he had suppressed some complex emotions.

Aside from being flustered, it seemed like a reaction of not even properly recognizing what all this meant.

‘……When I heard Noel’s words, I was like that too, so I think I can roughly guess what he’s thinking.’

Even though it was a complete sentence in the imperial language, it would take quite some time to understand.

The moment one heard it, their mind would go blank, so there was no other way.

‘Rather than not having any thoughts, it’s more like having too many thoughts that the mind goes blank.’

She could understand that he needed time to organize his thoughts.

Likewise, Aeli also pondered with a deeply sunken expression.

Someone had intervened to drive a wedge between Mason and Ratliff.

Based on what she had learned so far, there was no other way to express it.

‘……Who on earth?’

Isn’t there no reason to do that?

She knew that from the beginning, there had been talk about the union of Mason and Ratliff.

There may have been forces that were wary of the combined power of the two, but not many would have held a grudge even after her death.

Even if the child was the only link between the families, how many people would engage in such an obvious conspiracy that would be quickly exposed just by meeting and talking?

“So, what you’re saying is……”

“……”

“……There’s a spy within the family?”

“I don’t know if it’s on my side or the Count’s side, but based on the circumstances.”

“And you want me to believe that?”

“What are you going to do if you can’t believe it? Are you going to duel me at the training grounds right now?”

“……”

“You know the current situation is strange too.”

But if he really wanted to make a fuss, Lutis said, frowning, that he couldn’t help it.

After glaring at Lutis for a while, Noel pulled his body back and sat down.

She thought it was strange too, so in a way, it was natural.

At the moment, his anger may have narrowed his vision and he may not have thought about it, but if he used his head a little, it couldn’t help but be strange that the trial was blocked in the first place.

[Is this kid really from your belly?] [……Then did I vomit it out of my mouth?] [Not that, but it’s a bit strange to say that a child gave birth to a child.] [Uaung……] [Adi, elder brother, you’re being noisy. Be quiet.] [Adi is the name?] [No? It’s the fetal name.] [Then let’s name him Jalapeno.] [……Are you crazy by any chance?] [Why, you named that too. Are you ignoring the mole now? That’s mole-discriminatory remarks. Apologize right now.] [……]

Aeli, who recalled Noel spouting nonsense with a dubious face and picking fights for the first time, narrowed her eyes.

For someone who ran away at every opportunity saying he missed his nephew, Noel didn’t excessively dote on the child as soon as he saw them.

He didn’t really like babies in the first place, so it was expected and she wasn’t too hurt by it.

Rather, he picked fights like why the baby was so red and wrinkled, but fortunately, the child didn’t seem to take after her blockhead since they already opened their eyes and looked bright so soon after being born.

To the point where he was chased away after being hit on the back of the head by her parents.

[Ah, why is he normal outside but only like this to me?!] [……I think I kind of know.] [Lutis, what did you say?] [……Nothing.]

As Aeli, who had once overheard somewhere that Noel was a quiet and neat cold male during his academy days and was shocked, she couldn’t understand.

Why is he so eager to pick fights only when he sees me?

She also didn’t consider at all the fact that she herself wasn’t much different in that regard, feeling unjustly wronged.

So she didn’t expect him to get so angry and was quite flustered.

‘No, that’s not it.’

Anyway.

As time passed, what made Noel completely fall for the child who had become chubby like any other baby was unexpectedly nothing special.

[Look at the cheeks, they’re about to burst.] [Kkyaaak!] [……! Wh-what?] [Your face is funny so it’s fun.] [My face?] [……Elder brother’s face. No, anyway, doesn’t Adi’s smile resemble me? I thought it was a miniature version of Lutis, but that’s not exactly the case.] [That’s funny. This kid is much cuter, you know? How can you say they resemble you, do you have a conscience?] [……]

Strangely, after that, whenever he saw the child, he would dote on them with an intensity as if he would suck half of their face.

So why did she tell this story? It was simple.

Even though Lutis didn’t openly dote on the child as much as Noel did, the fact that Lutis cherished the child no less than her was something Noel knew.

So Lutis intentionally blocked Noel’s access?

Although he said he had the child stay inside a separate residence just in case, if the guardian replacing her in her absence had even filed for a trial, there would have been no need to request a restraining order.

It was then, as Aeli was thinking such thoughts and looking at the two.

Noel, who had been confronting Lutis, stopped and turned his head to face Aeli, and opened his mouth.

“But is it okay for someone unrelated to hear this kind of story?”

“……”

Aeli trembled her eyes for a moment and then replied.

“I-I’m your younger sister.”

‘I’ll leave.’

……Huh?

“……”

“……”

“……”

Aeli, who hurriedly covered her mouth, inwardly gave a small gasp.

It seemed like she had messed up.