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Chapter 115
“It’s been so long, Ivi! Arsel too!”
Ivi blinked slowly, her puffy eyes still full of sleep.
Arsel, on the other hand, glared with pure annoyance.
Standing before the two of them, Ruska cheerfully waved his hands.
“Seriously, how can neither of you send me even one letter? Well, I didn’t write one either, but still! Anyway, are you packed? Wash your faces and let’s go!”
“Ruska Ragselv… do you even know what time it is right now?”
“Now? Probably around six? I left home at five. I rushed because I wanted to see you guys so bad.”
Ruska said it proudly, as if leaving at dawn was the most obvious thing in the world.
Arsel glanced at the yawning Ivi and then spoke to the butler.
“Drag him out.”
“What? Hey! Hey! Arsel!”
While the butler awkwardly stood between them not knowing what to do, the duke came out from inside.
“What’s going on? Why so loud in the morning?”
“Ah, Duke!”
Ruska waved desperately at Duke Cailen.
“Please save me! Arsel told them to drag me out! I only came to pick up Ivi!”
“What? You came to pick up Ivi?”
“Yes! I’m just trying to take only Ivi with me and—”
“Drag him out.”
“Duuuuuke!!!”
The early morning commotion barely ended thanks to the duke ordering Ruska—who was dripping sweat—to wash up first.
“Ahh, refreshing.”
Ruska came downstairs, roughly rubbing his short hair dry with a towel.
He visited so often that he even had his own room and wardrobe in the duke’s mansion.
The employees of the household also didn’t bat an eye, even when he appeared unannounced.
‘Then why today…’
The moment he stepped into the parlor, Ruska felt something he had never felt before—sharp, piercing stares from the servants.
They were looking at him like they’d just caught him stealing something precious from the duke’s estate.
Ruska wasn’t stupid. He could easily guess why they were so cold toward him.
‘How could I not notice when they dote on her like that?’
On the couch sat Ivi, freshly washed and dressed.
Even after cleaning up, the sleepiness hanging from her eyes wouldn’t disappear.
Funny thing was—Arsel was the same.
“Looks like you two had a grand time yesterday. Why are you both collapsing like sick chickens?”
“Mmm… it was fun. It’s been so long since I had a pillow fight.”
“Pillow fight?”
Ruska’s eyes widened.
“Ruska, do you not know what that is?”
“No, I know but…”
Of course he knew. He spent his childhood getting beaten with pillows by his older brothers every night.
The Marquis Ragselv once barged in yelling, “Enough already, you brats! The head maid’s about to cry from sewing those pillows back together every day!”
What shocked Ruska wasn’t the pillow fight—it was who she fought with.
“Who’d you play with? The maids?”
“No. With Arsel.”
“…”
Ruska’s mouth dropped open. He slowly turned to stare at Arsel sitting beside him.
“Him? He had a pillow fight?”
“Yeah. Arsel’s really good at it. He’s better than my friends at the orphanage, so next time I make a team, I’m definitely choosing Arsel. Then I’ll win for sure.”
Listening to Ivi’s firm declaration, Ruska made a face like he’d been wronged and shouted.
“You! When I asked you to play before, you told me to shut up and go to sleep!”
Ignoring Ruska completely, Arsel passed Ivi a cup of warm tea and grinned brightly.
“It was fun last night, right?”
“Yeah! Let’s do it again later!”
Last night’s pillow fight wasn’t just between Ivi and Arsel. The maids—and even the duchess—joined in.
Running back and forth in a big room swinging soft pillows around—it was unbelievably fun.
They even cleared everything dangerous from the room beforehand, so they ran wild until late at night.
Hearing Ivi happily recall it, Arsel answered as if he had been waiting.
“Okay. When Ivi comes again next month, we’ll do it again.”
“Okay!”
Before anyone realized it, her next visit had naturally been decided for next month.
Noticing that, Ruska narrowed his eyes at Arsel.
‘Ugh, that fox. Look at him smiling.’
He already knew Arsel stuck close to Ivi back when they were at the academy, but ever since bringing her here, he’d been taking care of her even more.
‘Even more than I expected.’
Had that guy ever followed someone around so fondly?
‘It’s good and all but…’
Seeing his ice-cold friend smiling while feeding Ivi pieces of fruit was enough to give him goosebumps.
“Young Miss, could you go upstairs and check your belongings one more time? We packed them, but just in case something’s missing.”
“Okay!”
At the mention of her “belongings,” Ivi jumped up.
The clothes Irene sent were important, but no matter what, Ivi always kept the magic stone from the emperor and the wooden squirrel doll she got from the draw close to her.
Before the pillow fight yesterday, the first thing she did was carefully lock them inside her desk drawer.
“I’ll be right back!”
Holding the maids’ hands, Ivi hurriedly ran outside.
The maids, who clearly wanted to see her a little longer before she left the mansion, followed in a group.
Now only Ruska and Arsel were left in the quiet parlor.
Ruska, having finished drying his hair, tossed the towel aside and popped one of the leftover fruit pieces into his mouth.
“Must’ve been fun, huh?”
“Yeah. Very.”
Hearing Arsel admit it so plainly without even trying to deny it, Ruska lost the will to tease him.
Then another thought struck him.
“Is the duke not busy? My father entered the imperial palace yesterday. He never stays overnight unless something big is going on.”
“Same with my father. He’s entering the palace this afternoon. He delayed it just to send off Ivi.”
Upon hearing that, Ruska’s expression hardened.
“So it is because of Siren?”
He gritted his teeth as he spoke the name.
Siren—Clois’s older brother and the former emperor’s confidant.
A master of words and manipulating hearts.
He approached the emperor, who had always felt inferior to Clois, and fed him only the words he wanted to hear, earning unwavering trust.
And it wasn’t just persuasion.
The reason he rose to the position of state councilor at such a young age during the previous reign… was because he ruthlessly attacked his enemies psychologically.
He trampled what they loved most.
That was Siren’s specialty.
‘Because of that, even His Majesty suffered for a long time.’
After becoming emperor, Clois fell into deep depression.
If he had lost a limb physically, it wouldn’t have been as bad. But Clois… had lost every reason to go on living.
Everyone close to him knew that if it weren’t for Lillian’s words, he would’ve taken his life long ago.
That was why they had to kill Siren.
But with his slippery talent, he narrowly escaped the encirclement and vanished.
They pursued him relentlessly, but even seven years later, he still hadn’t been found.
“They didn’t tell me anything specific, but His Grace looked more serious than usual. Maybe they finally got a crucial lead on Siren’s whereabouts.”
Hearing that, Ruska bit his lip.
Siren had been the one to tell the former emperor that they had to kill Lillian—that doing so would destroy Clois completely.
He was also the one who said to mutilate the bodies of Lillian and Princess Ibbvien and throw them beneath the castle walls for all to see.
“This time… I hope he gets caught.”
Ruska made a firm vow.
If that bastard shows his face, he’ll stab him somewhere—no matter what.
“I’m heading out!”
“Alright. Be careful on your way.”
The duchess hugged Ivi tightly, her bonnet carefully fitted by the maids.
Ivi hugged her back with a smile.
The duchess’s embrace—warm and soft every time, even several times a day—was hard to part with.
It was sad to leave, but it was now time to go to Ruska’s house.
“Thank you so much for keeping the classroom tidy all this time. So…”
The duchess took out a shiny gold coin and placed it into Ivi’s hand.
“This is a bonus. I’ll be waiting for you next vacation too, so make sure you come again.”
“Okay! Thank you!”
Ivi’s eyes sparkled as she looked at the coin. She carefully received it with both hands and bowed her head politely.
Finding even that adorable, the duchess hugged her again and kissed her cheek.
“If you ever want to play instruments again, come with Arsel whenever you go out. And if you want to come live here after graduating from the academy, I will always welcome you.”
Ivi giggled.
To think she now had somewhere else to return to—not just the orphanage—it made her feel unexpectedly warm and secure.
Almost like a full winter pantry.
After Ivi finished her farewells, Ruska lifted her onto the horse to help her sit comfortably.
As Ivi, seated on the horse, waved her hand, the maids smiled and waved back.
“Have a safe trip, Young Miss!”
Hearing that, Ruska made an exasperated face.
Of course—maidservants of Duke Cailen’s house would be like this.
They weren’t saying goodbye—they were saying come back safely, as if Ivi naturally belonged here.
‘You think I’m just gonna let that slide?’
Ruska pulled Ivi closer into his arms and turned the horse around.
Arsel stood at the mansion gates, glaring at him like he wanted to kill him…
‘Like I care.’
He’d begged his father to lend him Elicia—the finest horse in the entire marquisate, no, the whole empire.
Thankfully, Elicia seemed to like Ivi and walked cautiously.
Thanks to that, Ivi could ride without fear, even though it was her first time on horseback.
“We’re off!”
“Fine. But if Ivi gets tired, let her ride the carriage immediately.”
“Of course. We’ll ride the horse only until we speed up, then switch to the carriage.”
With that, Ruska set off at a slow pace with Ivi.
“Bye! I’ll come again!”
As Ivi waved from Ruska’s arms, the duchess and maids waved back until she was completely out of sight, their faces full of longing.
“Travel safely!”
“We’ll be waiting, Young Miss!”
“Have fun!”
Watching them leave until they disappeared, Arsel immediately turned around and returned to his room.
He opened his desk drawer to reread the message that had arrived from Liden that morning.
“That child is scheduled to visit Madame Crevel’s shop again today…”
After reading it once more, he told a servant to prepare for his outing and got dressed.
While Ivi was under Ruska’s—no, the Marquis Ragselv family’s—protection, he had many things to investigate.
Two hours later.
Upon arriving at the Marquis Ragselv estate, Ruska scrunched up his face and yelled at the person waiting there for them.
“Hey! Irene! What are you doing at my house?!”
