Around the time Neris and Diane finished drinking their hot chocolate, the lakeside party was winding down, so Betty sent the two children to the playroom.

Slowly, the time for uninvited adults, the evening banquet, was approaching.

Thanks to the open floor structure of the main mansion on the middle of the second floor, the bustling of adults going back and forth on the first floor could be clearly seen even from the second floor. Someone spoke to Neris in a cheerful voice as she leaned her face against the fall prevention railing, looking down at the lower floor alone.

“Curious about what’s below?”

Neris turned her head without moving her body to look in the direction the voice came from. Nualan, splendidly dressed in chestnut color, was looking down at her with a grin.

He let out an awkward laugh when she didn’t answer and just stared up at him blankly.

“Why, upset you can’t go to the banquet?”

“Not particularly.”

An answer finally came from the small, red lips. Nualan’s eyes sparkled at the nonchalant reply, like that of an adult.

“You can be honest. When Muriel was your age, she cried every time, wanting to go to the evening banquet and the evening ball.”

“Even if I’m honest, what will you do for me?”

“Can’t see well beyond the railing? I’ll lift you up.”

The second-floor railing of the McKinnon mansion was a golden fence with intricately twisted patterns and colored glass inlays. Therefore, while very pretty in itself, it obstructed the view considerably, and with Neris’s small stature, it was difficult to freely look down at the lower floor beyond the railing.

Nualan’s offer came in consideration of this fact.

Neris stared at Nualan again. Nualan gave a bitter smile.

“What, don’t like it?”

“You’re kind, elder brother.”

“Thank you. Having a much younger sister, I want to be nice to children.”

“Is that why you’re nice to Diane too?”

“Diane? Diane is young, but she’s also my family. And of course, Diane is…”

Nualan cut off his words at precisely the point where the listener clearly understood without it being directly stated.

His eyes turned to Neris’s skirt. An implication about the body part inside the skirt.

Neris smiled brightly. It was the first smile she showed since meeting Nualan here.

“Just because Diane’s legs are a bit inconvenienced doesn’t mean she’s a foolish or childish person. There’s no need for her cousin brother to be especially nice to her while calling attention to that point.”

“Of course, Diane is smart. In fact, compared to when Muriel was young, Diane is practically a genius.”

Even as he spoke casually, Neris didn’t miss the momentary change in Nualan’s eyes. After finishing his words, he smiled kindly at her.

“Of course, I’m not saying she was as smart as you, little lady. It seems Diane is very happy that you’re being nice to her. So now Muriel is feeling left out because Diane won’t play with her anymore.”

“Elder sister Muriel preferred playing with Heather, didn’t she? What would she do playing with little kids like us?”

“To Muriel, Diane looks cute, so she teases her without any ill intentions. Neris, you’re smart, so you understand adult circumstances, right? The Railing family are important guests to the McKinnon house, and if Diane acts like this now… well, it’s a bit troublesome.”

Finishing his words like that, Nualan looked truly apologetic, sending a gaze of trust. He really looked dependable. That is, if Neris hadn’t already been miserably betrayed by a similar type of person.

Neris knew clearly why she didn’t like Nualan from the beginning. He was the type who acted kindly and thoughtfully on the outside while actually only saying things beneficial to himself.

However, there was no need to outwardly show suspicion of the other person. Neris asked in a gentle voice.

“Adults are doing business together, right? That’s why they’re important guests, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. You even know about that.”

“I’m twelve years old. I know at least what business is. What does Heather’s father do?”

It’s usually cuter when a child speaks coherently like an adult. Nualan looked at Neris as if truly seeing a younger sister and explained kindly.

“Heather’s father sells pharmaceuticals. Yes, you’d understand if I say he sells medicine, right?”

“Of course. You mean medicine you take when you’re sick?”

“That’s right.”

Neris calmly made her eyes shine. She learned one thing, no, two things.

First, Angelo Railing and Sivna McKinnon work together.

Second, unlike mentioning Muriel at the end of every sentence, Nualan must not have paid much attention to his sister’s growth period.

If he had even a little interest in his sister, he would have known that a twelve-year-old girl’s vocabulary is quite rich.

She learned everything she wanted to know. Neris decided to confirm one more thing.

“I heard they’re still looking for a doctor who can fix Diane’s legs? Wouldn’t there be something good among the medicines Heather’s father has?”

“Of course, we hope for that too.”

Nualan wore a bitter smile.

“It happened after she was sick when she was young, and uncle and aunt invited all the famous doctors in the empire, but they all said it couldn’t be cured. But…”

The words that were about to continue were cut off meaningfully. Neris asked with a sympathetic face.

“Why?”

“Well, it seems inappropriate to say such things to a child. I’m sorry. Forget it.”

Nualan’s eyes calmly scanned Neris’s youthful face. Neris narrowed her eyes as if impatient. And she pouted her lips sulkily.

“I’m not that young. I’m old enough to hear and understand anything.”

“Is that so?”

He smiled slightly. Neris sensed that what he had wanted to say was about to come now.

The purpose of speaking so kindly to his “cousin’s friend” who was young and without family backing, someone he had no reason to be interested in by common sense.

Indeed, Nualan murmured dejectedly in a voice that sounded even earnest.

“You’ve seen it too, Diane can live without much difference from others in everyday life. But if she goes somewhere far like the academy and falls alone… who knows when she might get seriously hurt. Even while dancing earlier, she stumbled in a moment of carelessness. Of course, that was my fault for not holding Diane well, but…”

“There’s no guarantee that others would protect Diane better than you, elder brother.”

Nualan’s expression brightened slightly at Neris’s sympathetic voice. He looked at Neris’s face for a long time.

“Thank you so much for saying that. Honestly, I think Diane has a bit of a willful side because we raised her with too much love, but she has a kind heart. I’m glad she’s made a mature friend like you… Even if it’s sad to part with a friend, if there’s hope that Diane could become even a little healthier than now, from our family’s perspective, we have no choice but to be apart for a while, even if it’s difficult.”

Neris’s eyebrows rose. She asked in surprise.

“Where is Diane going?”

“There’s apparently a famous doctor abroad. To be honest, we’ve already lost hope that Diane will be able to run like other children, but just in case… if she could at least recover enough to protect herself when falling, we wouldn’t ask for anything more.”

“But.”

Hearing the hesitant voice, Nualan smiled bitterly as if it couldn’t be helped. Neris was too young to seriously understand and accept things like “treatment” and “abroad”. That’s why she was making such a bewildered expression.

‘No, it’s not just that.’

He already knew enough about Neris’s background. If she continued to stay with Diane, this girl would be able to enjoy luxuries she couldn’t have imagined otherwise. So while Diane leaving would be sad, but.

He spoke kindly in a persuasive voice.

“Of course, we’re sad to be apart from our ‘baby’, but health comes first, right? What do you think, Neris?”

Neris rolled her eyes for a while. And after a moment, she agreed with him in a deflated voice.

“…You’re right, elder brother. If Diane can be healthier and safer…”

“Yes, Neris has grown up.”

From downstairs came the sound of string instruments being tuned, zung, zung. Soon, the butler announced in a booming voice that dinner would begin. Nualan glanced at the first floor and then smiled at Neris.

“Diane doesn’t know yet. It’s a secret, okay?”

“Yes, I understand.”

Neris nodded with a deflated look. Nualan said to have a good time and quickly stepped onto the stairs going down to the first floor. And at the landing, he looked up briefly and waved once to Neris in greeting.

Neris, who smiled and waved back at him, instantly froze her face coldly.

Nualan was trying to make Neris persuade Diane to go abroad for treatment.

Treatment?

Certainly, Joyce had mentioned it on the way to the mansion. Someone had recommended a foreign doctor named Lemartre.

‘Lemartre means ‘quack’ in Feran. There’s no way such a person really exists.’

Diane became uncomfortable in one leg after suffering a fever as a child. Almost imperceptibly, the arm on the same side as the leg was also slower to react than others. Neris had seen similar symptoms when she was the Crown Princess.

The Grand Duchess Mariah, the younger sister of the previous emperor, rarely appeared in public, and even when she did, it was known that she was so unwell that she needed to use a cane.

It was true that she was unwell. However, she was not suffering from symptoms due to old age as was commonly thought in social circles.

Although rare in the imperial family, which is born with a strong and robust constitution, she too had suffered a fever as a baby, and afterwards, one arm and leg became a little stiff.

Since a member of the imperial family had become unwell, all the famous doctors visited the palace, but no one could ‘cure’ it.

The imperial family, considering their face, concealed the symptoms of Princess Mariah—at the time—and she rarely left her house for her entire life. Neris learned this fact when she persistently visited the Grand Duchess Mariah’s mansion to curry favor with her for her husband.

Grand Duchess Mariah confided that there was nothing she could do, really, even after inviting doctors from abroad.

Neris heard various stories while attending to her difficult grand-aunt-in-law. Of all the continents, Bista was the most advanced in medicine for similar symptoms.

Moreover, a few years from now, Joyce reports Angelo. Neris kept trying to recall what Joyce’s report was about, and finally remembered that it was a criminal complaint that he had harmed his family.

Then there was no way Nualan’s current proposal could be good.

‘It’s probably a trap to ensnare even the Count and Countess.’

Was it a ploy to make them pour their fortune into a fake doctor demanding enormous sums of money? Or was it a scheme to harm Diane and make the Count and Countess fall into despair?

Either way, it didn’t seem like it would help Diane’s health. In any case, it would be a big deal if the Count and Countess, who look so healthy now, had to hand over the family head position to someone else.

They were terrible people. Under the pretext of family, they received all the affection from Diane’s family, while all they schemed about was taking away their share.

More than that.

Neris placed her hand on her chest. The place she thought had only hardened was thumping with the rapid heartbeat of a young child.

‘Diane couldn’t go to school anymore from this time on.’

Whether she went abroad or had serious health problems.

They had only attended school together for the very first semester. That’s why Diane McKinnon didn’t remain in Neris’s memory.

That’s also why Diane wasn’t among the children who ostracized her.

Neris didn’t need to despise Diane, and she didn’t know how to accept that fact.