Without hesitation, he climbed the stairs when he heard the giggling of a young girl.

A smile spread across his face. A moment later, at the corner where the second-floor railing began, a brown-haired girl in a white silk nightgown with a robe appeared.

Diane’s eyes met Nualan’s, who had almost reached the top of the stairs. Nualan smiled to reassure Diane, whose face was startled.

“Isn’t it bedtime, young lady?”

“What are you doing here?”

Diane soon asked back coldly. Nualan strode up the remaining steps and bowed in front of her.

“I came to check if a grown lady didn’t listen to her nanny and came out of bed. That’s what an elder brother does, you know?”

“Eh, not even my real brother does that!”

“Joyce sent me. I’d like to spank you right now and say no snacks for tomorrow, but-.”

“Make up your mind whether you’re treating me like a child or a grown lady!”

Diane grumbled with an upset face. Nualan narrowed his eyes and put his index finger to his lips.

“But I’m not that strict. If you really want, you can look downstairs for a bit. And then go right back in, understood?”

Diane had a contemplative look, then got distracted by the music coming from downstairs. It seemed some of the guests’ children were showcasing their musical talents.

Seeing Diane’s dazed face, Nualan chuckled. He spread his arms.

“Want me to hold you? You’ll be caught if you go down to the first floor, so let’s watch from the second floor. I’ll hold you so you can see well.”

His attitude was truly like that of a parent dealing with a five or six-year-old child.

There was no twelve-year-old who liked being treated like a five or six-year-old, so Diane looked around as if it was difficult to accept readily.

However, seeing her intention on her face, Nualan picked Diane up and went to the railing.

At first, Diane tightly hugged Nualan’s neck, seemingly having trouble adjusting to the higher viewpoint, but soon her arms relaxed.

Looking down at the distant first floor, her eyes were dazed as if entranced, watching the well-groomed heads of people occasionally passing through the hall. Eventually, her hands fell limply.

Nualan thought to himself. Now, now is the time to let go.

It was then.

“What are you doing, elder brother?”

Neris didn’t miss the startled expression that flashed across Nualan’s face.

Even the most shameless villain would feel a chill when caught red-handed, and that sign turned all the doubts in her mind into certainty.

Wearing the white silk nightgown and purple robe with gold embroidery that Diane used to wear when she was younger, Neris looked majestic like a young princess.

Faced with her adult-like, skillful smile that was impossible to read, Nualan blinked a couple of times before regaining his usual cool smile.

“I was showing Diane the first floor.”

Too late, Nualan blamed himself.

The plan had changed too hastily from the start.

Nualan hardly believed Heather’s words that a woman who used to work for Angelo’s company was digging into this plan along with Neris.

However, it was true that one of Angelo’s employees had disappeared, and Muriel was going around displaying all her stupidity. So even timid Sibna, his father, argued that it would be better to act quickly.

The count’s family, that is, his uncle’s family, were all too kind. If anyone was sharp, it was Diane, but she was still young and unquestioningly followed her parents’ words that she should trust her family.

Family?

It was a ridiculous word. Just because he was born earlier, his uncle was a count and his children became nobility.

But for the same reason of being born later, Nualan’s father was a knight and Nualan and Muriel were not nobility.

According to imperial law, while the grandchildren of current title holders were nobility, nephews were not, so with their grandfather’s death, Nualan and Muriel lost all the rights they had enjoyed until then. What was family affection in such an unfair situation?

When the law wronged people like this, he had no choice but to devise his own measures.

The idea of exploiting Diane’s ‘condition’ had occurred to him less than a year ago.

Sibna, who was anxious as the business sector he was in charge of wasn’t doing well. And Nualan, who was irritated by Joyce’s prominence in the McKinnon company.

When Angelo Railing appeared before the father and son, their vague desires took on concrete form.

The count and his wife, and Joyce, were already too grown up and had long established their positions. Their only clear weakness was Diane. The youngest, born late and overflowing with everyone’s love.

They had originally planned to send the whole family abroad. Although Diane had been diagnosed with lifelong leg problems when she was young, the count and his wife and Joyce didn’t give up.

Their naive behavior of falling for it as soon as they created the fictional character of Le Martre was laughable.

Once they handed over the title and went abroad, who among the imperial people would care if they died in some field?

Heather and Muriel were assigned the role of making Diane want to leave this country and hate her legs enough. Muriel’s actions seemed simple, overtly picking fights, but Heather truly had a subtle way with words.

It was regrettable that Diane was too stubborn and didn’t fall for it easily, but in fact, Diane’s will wasn’t that important in this plan, so it didn’t matter much.

They just needed to show the decision-makers – the count and his wife and Joyce – that Diane could get hurt at any time.

With Neris’s appearance, they came up with the idea of changing their course once more. What if they seriously injured Diane and then claimed Neris was the culprit?

Of course, Diane would insist that Nualan was the culprit, but adults tend not to believe children’s words the more extreme they are. Especially if Heather, who excelled at creating rumors, stepped in and claimed that Diane said so to protect her friend, the story would be over.

That’s how tonight’s plan was completed. Although the plan that was meant to progress slowly was pushed too suddenly due to the disappearance of Angelo’s employee, it might be better to commit the act now when there was someone to take the blame rather than get caught.

What if Diane died?

That wouldn’t be bad either. It wouldn’t be too difficult for the clever and cunning Nualan McKinnon to gradually take control of the company from the count and his wife who would be in despair.

It was unexpected that Neris, who was originally supposed to be dealt with as having accidentally pushed her friend over the railing and then ran away in fear, appeared at the scene.

But it wasn’t a problem that couldn’t be handled. It might even be a good thing.

Nualan smiled crookedly, feeling Diane’s arms tighten around his neck again. Then, suddenly conscious of Neris still staring at him, he raised an eyebrow.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“If I hadn’t come, you were going to drop Diane, weren’t you? I didn’t know you’d stoop so low, even if you were like that.”

Caught.

Nualan’s face hardened. When Diane sighed without showing any sign of surprise, his face contorted even more severely.

“What? What nonsense are you talking about?”

“I knew from before that you were looking for a chance to hurt Diane. You must have been scared that if Ms. Morrie exposed Angelo, the whole plan would fall apart. Originally, you probably just wanted to make her go abroad through indirect means, but now that you’re in a hurry, what’s there to be careful about? I understand it all.”

As he listened to those words, Nualan unconsciously tightened his arm supporting Diane’s legs as if to burst them. Diane wanted to scream in pain but didn’t dare make a sound, enduring with a pale face.

Held roughly by an adult man’s strength without any consideration for a child’s body, bruises must have started forming on her legs. Tears flowed from her eyes.

As Neris’s gaze sharpened, Nualan tried to push Diane out over the railing. His face was utterly distorted with calculation and malice.

“It’s already too late.”

Neris uttered flatly.

Nualan looked down and made a frustrated expression. Somehow, in the first-floor hall, several servants were working together to change the position of a tall Christmas tree.

And several gift-decorated boxes were being carried in, presumably to be arranged around the tree.

If he made even a slightly loud noise now, they would all look this way.

No, even without making a loud noise, there was bound to be witnesses in this situation.

“How?”

How did she time this moment, how did she know such detailed contents of the plan?

Nualan’s question, too angry and dumbfounded to finish, was met with Neris’s slight smile.

“Considering that you didn’t correct Diane’s formal speech, and the fact that you tripped Diane by the lake, it wasn’t difficult to guess. It’s a shame for you, but I know a thing or two about the type who are desperate to make others doubt their own worth.”

“Why are you picking up my things! It’s going to get dirty and I’ll have to throw it away.”

“You’re stupid.”

“Is this bullying? Why is it bullying to tell that immoral kid to die on her own because it’s too hard to be in the same space as her? She did wrong first.”

Nauseating, disgusting blame. Never disappearing from the mind, self-loathing sticking thickly in the throat.

Neris hid a terrible emotion behind her smile.

Nualan had no way of knowing what was going on in her head, but he felt a chill down his spine, sensing something ominous even in her neat appearance.

Then, from downstairs came the voice of someone Nualan absolutely did not want to face right now.

“What are you doing up there?”

Joyce was climbing the stairs with elegant steps that didn’t make a single creak.

Halfway up the stairs, he saw Diane’s tear-stained face and his expression hardened.

“Why are you crying, little one?”

Why? Nualan couldn’t understand. Joyce was supposed to be held by Angelo, and after Nualan carried out the plan, he was supposed to pretend to be surprised, call people, and come this way to be a witness. That was the plan Nualan and Angelo had made.

As that thought occurred to him, Nualan looked at Neris. And he felt his heart drop.

“Uh… uhuhu… waaah!”

Neris crumpled her small face and sat down right there. Joyce’s steps quickened.

He reached the second-floor railing in an instant and stretched out his arms to Nualan. Nualan limply handed Diane over.

Damn thoroughly prepared brat.

“What’s this? What happened?”

People downstairs were also murmuring. Nualan gritted his teeth inwardly, but he couldn’t just fume if he wanted to get out of this situation.

He had to think somehow. His fingertips went cold. Right, he just had to throw himself away. Even if the kids told the truth, it would only sound like a joke-

“Little one, don’t cry. Your brother is here. Hm? Stop crying and tell me.”

Diane couldn’t say anything. She was angry and bewildered at herself, but truly- she was afraid.

Because she knew that what she said here now would forever change her family’s lives.

Noticing her state, Nualan even put on a soothing smile.

Yes, keep your mouth shut. Just make them think the two girls had a fight or something to get through tonight. I’ll think about the rest later-

Neris didn’t miss that opportunity and sobbed even louder.

“Nualan… was trying to hit Diane, so… I tried to stop him…”

“What did you say?”

Sensing that something serious had happened, some of the people downstairs were coming up. Neris’s words reached them too.

Joyce looked at Nualan with an incredulous face, then peered at Diane’s face.

“Is that true, little one?”

“It’s not!”

Nualan denied vehemently. But Diane looked at Nualan resentfully with a red face, and Joyce, sensing that suspicious air, put his sister down.

And before anyone could stop him or even come to their senses, he struck Nualan’s face hard.