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Chapter 65
“Brother, that’s not all. They say he even brought along a six-year-old child! An illegitimate child!”
“No wonder our Aileen suddenly started acting strange—asking for money for business and all that. So this is what was rotting her inside all along!”
Aileen’s three older brothers were furious.
“And this poor mother kept writing letters, asking when you’d have children, without knowing anything…!”
Their mother collapsed, lying down with a towel on her forehead.
Their father then gave an order to Aileen’s brothers.
“You three. Go and bring our Aileen back immediately.”
And so, an uninvited second guest arrived at the southern duke’s castle.
The front door burst open, and a booming voice thundered through the hall.
“We’ve come to take our youngest sister home!”
Led by the eldest, Hersh, then Benjamin, and finally Elliot.
“Brothers… why are you here…?”
“Let’s go, Aileen.”
The moment they saw her, they grabbed her by the hand and pulled.
Flustered, she tried to calm them down, asking what they were doing, but it was no use.
Their grips were so strong that her hand hurt under the force dragging her away.
“Ow, that hurts! Brother!”
“Do you know what your rumors did? Mother collapsed in grief, and Father raged. Divorce him if you must, just come home! We won’t watch you live like this!”
“What nonsense are you talking about all of a sudden?!”
“Come on!”
What on earth was this, them showing up out of nowhere saying such things?
Just as she was being dragged away without knowing why—
Floan snatched Hersh’s wrist, which was holding Aileen, and pulled her behind him.
“Unless you explain exactly what is going on, you cannot take Aileen with you.”
The three brothers’ eyes flashed at once.
And then they looked ready to launch themselves at Floan.
Ah, she had almost forgotten—her three brothers were notorious sister-obsessed fools.
Hot-tempered and quick to act, they always moved before thinking.
Exchanging glances, they coordinated perfectly to subdue Floan.
At least, until they failed.
First, Hersh tried to grab him by the collar, but Floan easily blocked it.
Then Benjamin lunged at his waist, only to be dodged.
Finally, Elliot’s punch flew toward him, but Floan stopped it too.
In the end, the first and second brothers stumbled into each other, tripping and rolling together on the floor.
“Brothers!”
At Aileen’s cry, Floan quickly released Elliot’s wrist as if startled.
He hadn’t meant to do it.
“I didn’t do that on purpose—my apologies. Are you badly hurt, brothers-in-law?”
“Brothers-in-law? Who are you calling brothers-in-law? I never acknowledged having a brother-in-law like you!”
Hersh and Benjamin, picking themselves up, looked like they would charge again, so Aileen quickly stepped between them.
“What are you all doing! Floan, look at me. You’re not hurt, are you? Didn’t his hand just scrape your face? Oh my, you’ve got a little scratch here. Must’ve been from a nail.”
“I’m fine, Aileen.”
Seeing Aileen fussing over Floan’s face with worry left the Edgar brothers in shock.
“Aileen, we’re the ones hurt, yet you’re defending this man?”
“What do you mean ‘defending’? You show up unannounced trying to drag me away, then gang up three-on-one and throw punches at Floan! You should be ashamed! Why are you even here?”
“Why, you ask? To rescue you from the suffering you’ve endured in the south.”
“I’m living just fine, thank you. Rescue me from what?”
“We heard everything. Stop pretending now. That southern duke not only brought home an illegitimate child, he beats you too! And suddenly you’re opening a café—things only bourgeois ladies do. We couldn’t understand, but now it’s clear. He’s forcing you to earn money!”
Aileen was utterly dumbfounded by this outrageous claim.
While she was left speechless, Floan stepped in to straighten out the chaos.
“It seems there has been some misunderstanding. Why don’t we go inside and discuss this calmly?”
Seeing him smile politely, Aileen shut her eyes tight.
Oh no, now my brothers will make an even bigger scene. I can’t live like this!
But contrary to her fears, the three incorrigible brothers silently followed into the parlor.
Hersh, Benjamin, Elliot.
The three of them had been inseparable since childhood.
They could practically communicate without words, just through their eyes.
Well, he’s certainly handsome. When Aileen said she was marrying a plain man, I nearly lost it, but…
With that face, he must’ve made plenty of women cry. And now he’s making our sister cry too, isn’t he?
But brothers, he doesn’t seem quite the lowlife we thought. Look at the fine liquor he’s serving.
Don’t be fooled, Elliot. He’s trying to win us over and isolate Aileen on his side.
While the brothers exchanged their silent conversation, Floan and Aileen too spoke volumes with their eyes.
They clearly came here with the wrong idea. I’ll talk to them and send them back.
Why?
Because they’re my brothers.
But the misunderstanding is about me, so I should clear it up, Aileen.
With a sly smile, Floan took Aileen’s hand beside him.
“This seems to be about the child I brought. I admit I should have explained beforehand—that’s my responsibility. But he is not an illegitimate child.”
“Ha, of course you’d deny it.”
“Brothers! Do you want to clear this up or not?!”
“N-no, Aileen. We didn’t mean it like that…”
“I’ll explain everything, Aileen. Don’t worry.”
Floan then calmly began to clarify things, speaking ever so politely.
Though Aileen could have handled her brothers herself, Floan seemed intent on clearing things up personally.
The brothers, at first dismissive of excuses, found themselves listening closely to his explanation—then asking questions as they were gradually persuaded.
“Wait, then why does the child have black hair? Black isn’t so common in this empire, is it?”
“I told you, brothers. Both his foster parents died, and he’d been abused. He didn’t seem fluent in our language either. His foster parents often went to the slave markets. Perhaps that’s where they got him.”
There were no official adoption papers, and no nearby orphanage remembered Pia.
Since Pia himself remembered nothing of his past, Floan explained, he might have been caught in some accident that brought him here to this empire.
And that was, in fact, true.
Of course, Floan couldn’t exactly say Pia’s hair was dyed.
She still didn’t know why Floan dyed his hair while living here.
She’d never even seen his real hair color.
Though she was curious about what story lay behind it…
She couldn’t just ask why he dyed it, or how long he planned to keep it hidden.
Those weren’t questions to ask so lightly.
He’ll tell me when the time is right…
Until Floan chose to reveal his situation, Aileen planned to wait quietly.
Her husband’s secret was hers to protect. Who else would?
“Why are you always taking your husband’s side, Aileen? It makes us brothers feel neglected.”
“Well, if I don’t take my husband’s side, who will?”
“…”
At her perfectly reasonable words, the Edgar brothers pursed their lips in silence.
