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Chapter 44
“Of course! Even when you make that face that I hate, you don’t get angry. And I’m always reading books, right?”
“Yeah… you’re not wrong… you do only read that Iz book…”
“Brother, speak nicely to Iz!”
“He’s not even alive, why would I?”
“Oh, but since I inherited Iz’s goodness, I have to understand your bad temper.”
Breezney, who had just abandoned the transcription punishment she had been doing for days, nodded generously. She thought the argument was finally over and turned to face the two of them.
“You’re still fighting? That won’t do. I guess I have to use my secret ultimate move.”
At the mention of a “secret ultimate move,” Lian quietly covered his ears.
“Don’t!”
The sound echoed as if in a canyon. Eloise and Kylian, who had been fighting without thinking, looked up at Breezney in surprise.
“What are you doing here?”
Kylian frowned at Breezney, one of the causes of their fight.
“I ended up here while exploring! Iz sent me because it upset them that you two kept fighting!”
“What… are you talking about?”
Kylian muttered, clearly unable to comprehend.
“It’s understandable if you don’t trust Iz. I get it. But anyway, why did you fight?”
“I’d say we didn’t.”
Lian said, unsurprised.
“We did fight.”
The unexpected answer raised Lian’s eyebrow.
“Do you have some kind of standard?”
Despite the question, Eloise and Kylian remained silent, turning their backs to each other.
“Oh, stop fighting.”
“None of your business.”
Kylian responded coldly to Breezney, as if telling her to mind her own business.
“Speak nicely!”
Eloise raised her voice at Breezney’s continued attitude. Eloise had been worried about Breezney, who had been receiving punishment alone in her room for days.
“Why should I speak nicely to someone like them? They acted like that toward you…”
“Hehe, Kylian is go…”
Before Breezney could finish, Kylian and Lian simultaneously interrupted with warning tones.
“Go?”
“Go?”
Realizing her mistake, Breezney hurriedly changed her words.
“No, I meant do…!”
“Do?”
“Do?”
The more she spoke, the worse the situation became, and Breezney started to tear up.
“What are you crying for? You haven’t even—”
“Breezney, if you’re going to act like that, leave.”
Faced with Kylian’s shouting and Lian’s coldness, Breezney took a step back.
“I just wanted to play with you…”
Breezney mumbled but could not say anything and started to turn away. Then—
“Breezney is your little sister, right? You’re family. You need to understand their feelings first!”
Someone unexpected came to Breezney’s rescue.
“And if you’re hurt or sad, I’ll get angry! I’m not some passive princess waiting for help!”
Eloise’s face was colder than during their argument. Kylian and Lian were stunned and said nothing.
“I’m not a passive princess locked in a tower waiting for help.”
Eloise spoke firmly.
“I wasn’t trying to do that this time! Back then, it was the first time we met, I had to assert myself, and I was in the same place as Iz. I was angry I was being deprived of that, so…”
Startled by someone coming to her aid, Breezney raised her voice again.
“Is that Eloise’s fault…!”
“Breezney…!”
Eloise cut off Kylian and Lian, who were about to shout again, and spoke coldly.
“Both of you, leave. Now.”
Kylian and Lian widened their eyes in surprise and opened their mouths, but Eloise repeated firmly.
“Didn’t you hear me? Leave now.”
Faced with Eloise’s icy, wall-like demeanor, Kylian and Lian left the garden.
“Are you okay?”
Eloise looked at Breezney with concern.
‘So annoying. That Kylian… no, I can let the coal-haired one slide, but why is my brother always siding with him?’
Breezney, irritated by him at every turn, vented her frustration by calling him the stupid villain from her picture book.
“Breezney.”
Eloise’s voice made Breezney snap back.
“Why! What is it!”
Breezney knew she should apologize, but her pride and frustration made her just kick at some stones on the ground.
“The nanny always said that to me, so I got used to it. I didn’t mean it. Of course, I did end up saying some bad things…”
Eloise, quietly observing Breezney, spoke.
“We didn’t get properly introduced back then, did we? My name is Eloise Swinton. I’m the adopted daughter of Count Swinton.”
Breezney flinched at hearing she was Count Swinton’s adopted daughter. She already knew, but her heart thumped nervously anyway.
“But I’m not taking your place as Count Swinton’s daughter. It’s only on paper. My… my…”
In that brief moment of hesitation, Breezney spoke.
“I know. Your dad is a duke. And my dad obviously only likes me. I ask him every day.”
Eloise smiled gently at Breezney saying her father is a duke.
‘I want to be friends.’
Having finally gained love and begun recovering from trauma, Eloise still moved slowly. No matter how hard she tried, some things didn’t come easily.
That’s why she admired Breezney. Loved by her parents without violence, Breezney could do things Eloise struggled with, and that was enviable.
“You never had to worry about taking anything. And the one who truly took something was your dad. Originally, my dad was Duke Reston…”
Breezney bit her lip tightly.
‘What a fool, why did I say that? I didn’t need to finish that last part. Am I really hopeless, like my teacher said…?’
Tears streamed down Breezney’s face.
“Am I really hopeless! Huuuuh!”
“Who says you’re hopeless! No, never!”
“My teacher… Huuuuh. I was actually jealous of you. I’m my dad’s only… sob! daughter… huuuh.”
Breezney knew her dad loved her more than anyone. Still, she worried.
‘What if there’s a child prettier than me? Kinder, smarter, better at everything…’
That fear crept into Breezney’s heart.
“I’m sorry! Huuuuh. I was wrong! Iz said it, a lady who admits her mistakes and apologizes is a great lady, huuuh…”
“Iz says great things, don’t they?”
“Iz is always great… huuuh.”
Even while crying, Breezney didn’t forget to praise Iz, making Eloise laugh. Eloise wiped the tear-streaked face with a handkerchief.
“Don’t cry. I have a duke as a father, so I’m not an orphan. What you said wasn’t true, so I wasn’t hurt at all.”
When the tears didn’t stop, Eloise thought for a moment and then, teasingly, raised her voice.
