Of all times, how could I blurt out something like that now?

Aeli, who had been rolling her eyes to assess the situation, slowly closed her mouth that had unknowingly opened at Noel’s instantly souring momentum.

Well, I’m not sure about other things, but I can tell this is a crisis right now.

‘Sh… I shouldn’t say it was a mistake, right?’

His gaze towards me was never very friendly to begin with.

It seemed to have gotten worse due to my recent remark.

After all, in Noel’s eyes right now, I must look like the worst− no, a terrible person that doesn’t exist anywhere else in the world. I have no excuses even if he treats me like a lunatic spouting nonsense on top of that.

Aeli, whose eyes met Noel’s, fidgeted restlessly, unable to keep her hands still.

Judging by his face, she felt she should be grateful for not being instantly grilled.

Aeli fiddled with her hair with dazed hand movements and thought of excuses, then sighed deeply inwardly.

‘Why did I have to get distracted…!’

It wasn’t for nothing that I had stopped myself from revealing my identity to Noel from the beginning.

Anyone could see it wasn’t the right timing to intervene, so I had judged that I should wait until the conversation was over before casually bringing it up.

I unnecessarily got lost in past reminiscence and messed up.

Aeli groaned as she ended up thoughtlessly intruding into a serious situation.

It was too late to regret what had already happened anyway.

‘…Can I still take it back now?’

Aeli reflexively looked at Lutis.

However, at Lutis, who lowered his head and placed a hand on his forehead as if he had expected this, Aeli lifted the corners of her mouth and gave an awkward smile.

I guess not.

Noel, who had been glaring at Aeli with a displeased and surly look, opened his mouth with a stiff expression.

“What are you trying to do?”

I had made a choice that I thought would make me look as harmless as possible.

Seeing his gaze, which I thought couldn’t get any sharper, become even more pointed, it was clear that I had done something worse than not doing it at all.

Aeli chewed the inside of her cheek and then clasped her hands together.

She knew that rather than clumsily avoiding it, she had to face it head-on.

But.

“……”

“Have your ears gone bad all of a sudden?”

“……”

What, what should I say?

It was true that I was in the middle of thinking, ‘I should say it like this.’

But that thought wasn’t finished yet.

It was a moment reminiscent of being thrown into an academy exam after mistakenly thinking the exam date and only memorizing the first two lines of the exam scope.

Aeli, who had been tormenting her innocent hands by pressing them with her nails, finally shook her head and spoke.

“…Lorens, the grandson of Michel, the stable keeper of the estate.”

“What?”

“When you were seven years old, you saw Lorens, whom Michel had dressed as a girl, and fell for him, saying you would live in the stable from that day on, but you slipped and ended up covered in horse dung that had been piled up on one side, and cried.”

“……”

“For three days straight, the smell wouldn’t go away, so the people in the mansion would gag just by going near− You went out to see Lorens without listening and made the weak-stomached Lorens vomit at the sight of you.”

“……”

“Knowing it was your fault, you tried to secretly give him a dress from my room to change into, but when you found out he was a boy, you were bedridden for two days.”

Aeli continued.

“When you were still attending the academy, you arbitrarily tore up a scroll and returned to the estate in the middle of the term, and got caught striking cool poses while looking in the mirror in the bathroom, right?”

“……”

“What you said then was definitely ‘You are a good-for-nothing, the champagne I drank’, mmph! Mmph!”

Aeli’s eyes widened at the mouth that suddenly clamped shut.

Wondering what this was about, she looked at Noel and saw him glaring at her with a flushed face.

Then, what had shut her mouth must have been Noel’s magic.

Noel spoke with a beet-red face.

“How… How do you know that?”

“Mmph mmph mmph mmph.”

I told you I’m your younger sibling.

Unable to speak with her mouth blocked, Aeli mumbled instead, her face showing no signs of fear.

The gaze glaring at her was still sharp, but− even with his face, neck, and ears turning bright red, Noel couldn’t exude the same intimidating aura as before.

Aeli thought.

‘The role of a family tree mate is to be like a living video stone that reveals embarrassing pasts to others that they want to hide.’

No matter how much she racked her brain, the most surefire way was to say something impactful enough to be shocking from the very first words.

If she didn’t do this, it was obvious that Noel would have cut her off the moment she uttered the first sentence, saying it wasn’t even worth listening to.

‘…I negotiated not to tell anyone about the latter in exchange for bringing desserts sold at the academy, since only I know about it.’

In a situation like this, there was no reason not to talk about it.

By the way, these two stories were unknown even to Lutis.

That’s because the former was before Lutis had even stayed at Mason, and the latter was when I had been caught trying to secretly enter Noel’s room to borrow some magical tools, so it was something only the two of us knew.

“……”

Aeli, who had rolled her eyes and glanced at Lutis, smacked her lips.

Her gaze, looking at Noel with a dull expression, seemed as if she was looking at something pathetic.

Noel must have felt that too, as he could be seen deeply sighing and burying his face in his hands.

‘No, well. …It was an age when that could happen, so it’s understandable.’

Back then, not only Noel but some children of the same age would complain of similar symptoms, so it could happen.

People can do some embarrassing things while living, that’s all.

Aeli clearly thought so, but wisely didn’t say it out loud.

Otherwise, it seemed like the gaze glaring at her would soon bore holes through her.

Aeli, who avoided Noel’s gaze, opened her mouth.

“Mmph.”

“……”

“……”

Correction. As Aeli looked at Noel as if she had something to say and tapped her lips, she could finally spit out the words as her mouth opened.

“About sneaking out of the academy and saying weird things while looking in the mirror, we agreed that I would keep it a secret in exchange for desserts.”

“……”

“I didn’t say it then, but in fact, other than that, your parents know that you sneaked out of the academy. But they just let it slide.”

“……”

The truth was, I had deliberately added it to the secret because I wanted to eat more snacks.

Needless to say, Noel’s expression became strange upon hearing Aeli’s words.

He seemed angry, and annoyance flashed across his face, but his subdued eyes looked troubled.

…It was fine even if he didn’t believe it from the beginning just because she said such things.

Noel, who had been restlessly bending and stretching his fingers, frowned and opened his mouth.

“So. You expect me to believe you’re claiming to be my already dead younger sibling after hearing this nonsense?”

“……”

“There’s a limit to taking things lightly. It’s not even funny.”

Noel let out a scornful laugh as if it was absurd and remained silent for a while.

It was the moment when Aeli’s head tilted at the calmer reaction than expected.

Chhing!

“…!”

“…What is the meaning of this?”

A sharp sound was heard, and a stinging pain was felt on the cheek.

Reflexively raising a hand to touch her face, Aeli’s body stiffened at the faint blood oozing out.

For a moment, her vision flashed, and at the same time, the sound of something solid colliding was heard along with the pain.

The teaspoon, presumably thrown by Lutis, was badly crumpled and rolling on the table.

Based on the circumstances, it seemed that Lutis had blocked the attack flying towards her.

And the person who launched that attack was,

“From the looks of it, you don’t seem to be a noble either.”

…Noel.

‘−He really intended to kill me.’

The attack itself wasn’t strong, but it would be a different story if it hit a vital spot.

If Lutis’s interference hadn’t caused the trajectory to deviate, it wouldn’t have ended with just a cut on the cheek.

Instead of grazing the cheek, the neck would have been pierced.

Aeli, who instinctively realized that fact, trembled her pupils.

Noel spoke with pitch-black eyes.

“I really don’t understand what nerve you have to cause trouble like this. Do you think the duke will protect you even if you act like this?”

Unlike his tone that sounded as if he was gritting his teeth, his face was cold and expressionless.

“Impersonating a noble is a serious crime, even if the target is a deceased person. No matter how much the duke is backing you, there’s a limit to protecting a commoner who crosses the line without knowing their place.”

“……”

“I don’t think it would be a problem if someone like you disappears from this spot.”

“…Th-That’s not it−”

“What do you think?”

Noel’s question was not directed at Aeli.

It was clearly aimed at Lutis, and Aeli continuously moved her lips.

As Lutis was about to open his mouth.

Clang!

“Y-You bad Noel! I told you I won’t stay still if you bully Mommy…!”

They turned their heads towards the direction of the sound. Aeli’s eyes widened in surprise as she confirmed that the sound-blocking magic Noel had cast was broken.

‘…Did Adi break that?’

He shouldn’t have the skills for that yet, right?

When Aeli’s brows furrowed slightly, unable to hide her doubts.

“−Ah.”

Instantly, a look of realization appeared on Noel’s face.

Then Aeli could notice. It seemed that a crack had formed in the magic when Noel had gotten very angry earlier.

Even if it wasn’t entirely impossible for the child to notice that and focus on breaking through that spot, it was still unexpected.

However, it was still an unforeseen situation, so the three adults couldn’t help but flinch at the sight of a five-year-old child.

Tap-tap!

“Get out! Get out of our place, you bad person!”

“…Wait, that’s not it−”

“Mommy got hurt, can’t you see! Get out! Get oouut!”

“……”

Tap-tap! Tap-tap, tap-tap!

Ice formed in midair and fell on Noel’s head with a thud.

Even so, the ice the child created was very small and petty, probably out of concern that it might accidentally hit and injure someone.

It wouldn’t even hurt if it hit.

“Get out! If you don’t get out, I’ll make bigger ones and smack you! Get out, you bad person! I said get out!”

“……”

Noel, who suddenly got hit and scolded by his beloved nephew, seemed to be hurting more from something other than his head.

Tap-tap, tap-tap! Tap-tap tap-tap!

“……”

Hmm.

…Looking again, it seemed like his head might hurt a bit too.