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Chapter 39
“I missed you so much…”
Rian whispered in a soft, tearful voice.
“Missed me? After not seeing me for half a year, is he really that sad?”
Kylian muttered bluntly, almost spitefully.
“If you wanted to come visit that badly, you could have come sooner. Why cry about it?”
“You’re supposed to comfort someone when they cry! How can you say that?”
Eloise scolded him, and Kylian scratched his head awkwardly before plopping down beside Rian.
“Hey, if you cry while laughing, a demon will sneak into your dreams and bother you.”
“Is that supposed to comfort me?”
“What the—”
Eloise reached out to comfort Rian, but her hand froze mid-air. She wasn’t sure what to call him.
“Um… Older brother? Uh… Brother? Please don’t cry.”
“That’s comforting?”
“What, what is?”
“And why are you calling him both ‘older brother’ and ‘brother’?”
“Because he’s older than me.”
“What? He’s the same age as me. You don’t do that to me.”
“Do you want me to call you that too?”
‘He’s older than me, so maybe I should call him brother?’
No sooner had the thought crossed her mind than Kylian shook his head in refusal. Eloise already knew what his answer would be without asking. Growing up with Uncle Alec, calling him “brother” would make them seem like actual siblings.
“See? You’d hate it!”
Feeling cornered, Kylian pointed at Rian. Whatever else, he didn’t like Eloise addressing anyone that way.
“Anyway, don’t call him older brother or brother either!”
“It’s my choice! How’s that any of your business? He seems way more mature than you, so of course I’d call him that!”
To Kylian, the word “adult” meant Uncle Alec—strong, impressive, and dependable. But Rian, who was the same age as him, being called mature? That he could not accept.
“What? He’s the same height as me!”
He shouted, refusing to acknowledge it.
“So what!”
“Besides, he’s crying right now. How is that mature?”
“He’s far more mature than you, and you’ve cried in front of me before too!”
Kylian froze, memories flashing through his mind.
“When did I ever!”
“You two really… still fight whenever you meet, huh?”
Rian shook his head and spoke, and both Kylian and Eloise stared at him.
“No, we’re not fighting.”
“That’s right. This isn’t fighting.”
Rian let out a small laugh at their behavior.
“You still stubbornly claim you didn’t fight, even though you clearly did.”
“What are you talking about? We really didn’t fight.”
“The Duke said the same thing earlier; you didn’t just fight now.”
“Alright, alright. I get it.”
Rian’s tone suggested he was letting it slide. Eloise and Kylian narrowed their eyes but gave a single response.
“One answer only.”
“Yes, only one answer.”
“Got it…”
Kylian crossed his arms and raised one eyebrow. Eloise nodded.
Rian carefully observed them, as if he wanted to remember every strand of hair.
“Um… when did we meet before?”
Eloise asked, sensing Rian’s gaze had a strange familiarity.
‘The déjà vu I felt earlier wasn’t just my imagination.’
There were too many odd things to ignore. They should have been meeting for the first time, yet Rian treated them as if memories piled up over years. Even Kylian’s manner of speaking seemed familiar to him.
“Wait, did you meet before coming here, Eloise?”
Kylian also asked, feeling the same sense of déjà vu.
“Well…”
Rian averted his eyes, clearly feeling he had made a mistake. At that moment, the door opened slightly, and Brizney peeked her head inside.
“…Brother, what are you doing?”
She must have been sneaking away from her nagging mother and had been lingering outside. Now that she was inside, she pretended not to notice them.
‘Bored, and probably can’t come in because of what she did?’
Rian smiled faintly and led Brizney over.
“Brizney, come here.”
“Why him?”
Kylian frowned.
“You didn’t apologize properly earlier. Now you have to do it right.”
“No way! I’m not apologizing!”
“Brizney.”
Rian called her firmly, and Brizney hesitated.
‘When he makes that face, he’s really scary…’
She was often scolded, but Rian rarely got that angry. Yet now, he was upset because of her!
“Are you trying to replace your sister or something? You should be on my side!”
Brizney pouted indignantly.
“Why should I apologize? The nanny told me that to be as pretty and cool as Lady Iz, I have to be a princess!”
Brizney glared at Eloise. Having the same silver hair and blue eyes as Lady Iz annoyed her even more.
‘Surely they didn’t abandon me to take in that pretty girl like Lady Iz…?’
She recalled how her parents had adopted another girl, which constantly troubled her. It made sense why she was siding with Eloise.
“You took my mom and dad, and even Lady Iz! I was a princess just like her!”
Tears began to blur her vision, and Brizney quickly rubbed her eyes with her sleeve.
“I don’t know who Lady Iz is, but I am Brizney’s parent…”
Before Eloise could finish, Brizney shouted.
“What? You don’t know Lady Iz?”
“Is she famous?”
“Of course! She’s a noble princess, an incredibly strong knight, a great magician, and a beautiful goddess!”
Flailing her arms as she spoke excitedly, Brizney’s face flushed.
“She really likes Lady Iz, huh?”
“Hmph! Of course. But because of you, I’m no longer the same kind of princess as Lady Iz! And the nanny was fired too.”
“What does that have to do with me? If you’re just going to complain without apologizing properly, get out!”
Kylian pointed to the door, unable to tolerate it any longer.
“You’re being noisy! You side with her, and your mom and dad…”
Brizney’s eyes sparkled with fury, but then tears welled up again.
“You’re crying? That…”
Kylian scratched his head awkwardly, and Eloise looked at Brizney in surprise.
“Brizney, are you okay?”
“Leave her be. She’ll cry a bit and stop, I guess.”
Rian shook his head cynically.
“The nanny deserved to be fired, so it’s lucky she was. Yet you went to Brizney in secret to say something more.”
“She deserved to be fired? That’s too cruel! How can you say that in front of me?”
“Right? Considering the consequences of speaking without thinking in front of you, it’s a good thing, isn’t it?”
“You heartless man! Murderer! Tyrant! Kaitan! Lata!”
Brizney shouted all the bad words she knew at Rian.
“Kaitan?”
“Heartless man and murderer are obvious insults, but what’s Kaitan?” Eloise muttered, looking at Kylian.
“Lata?”
Kylian also had no idea.
“They’re villains who trouble Lady Iz.”
Rian gave a rough explanation and flopped onto the sofa. He wasn’t going to make her leave, and her temper was easier to ignore. Kylian also seemed to lose interest. But Eloise, vaguely understanding why Brizney was angry, couldn’t leave it at that.
