IBOSML 04

Chapter : 04

2. Grandpa Glenn

And then I turned three.

“Bru—bru—brush! I did it! I said it!”

After endless practice, I finally learned how to properly pronounce “brush.”

And not just that—there were many other words I could now pronounce correctly too.

It was quite an achievement!

Besides—

Outside!

I was finally allowed to go on walks outdoors.

“Are you happy? Oh dear, careful now, careful.”

“Uh!”

Though Ian still had to come with me.

The warmth of sunlight settling on my skin and the scent of grass filling my nose felt wonderful no matter how many times I experienced them.

I was strolling leisurely, intoxicated by the subtle feeling of freedom, when—

Some strange voices reached my ears.

“Isn’t that Young Lady and Young Master over there?”

“Oh my! It really is? She seriously looks like a tiny rabbit.”

“I think I finally understand why everyone likes Young Lady so much.”

“Those selfish mansion people! To think they’ve been monopolizing someone this cute!”

“Exactly!”

“We deserve the right to see Young Lady at least once a day too!”

…I felt like I’d just heard something incredibly weird.

The moment I turned around, the faces peeking around the corner vanished instantly.

…What was that?

“Do you want to look at more flowers?”

I shook my head vigorously and pointed toward the place where those heads had appeared earlier.

“Ober there.”

I wanted to see who had been there.

And whether they were dangerous to Ian.

But the moment I started walking that way, I heard hurried footsteps running off.

I became anxious and quickened my pace, failing to notice the stone sticking out of the ground.

“Elisha!”

My body suddenly floated upward—

But there was no pain.

When I opened my tightly shut eyes, Ian’s face was right in front of me.

He had been behind me just moments ago, yet now he sat on the ground holding me tightly in his arms.

It seemed he had thrown himself forward and caught me before I fell.

“Are… are you okay?”

“Of course!”

Even though he had clearly taken the impact in my place, Ian laughed boldly.

“This oppa is super sturdy, so something like this doesn’t hurt at all. More importantly, are you alright, Elisha? Are you hurt anywhere?”

“No.”

There was no way I could’ve been hurt.

Even though he surely knew that, Ian still looked me over carefully before standing up.

As I grabbed his hand, I noticed a scrape on his palm.

He must have gotten it when he braced himself against the ground while falling.

“That must hurt.”

“It doesn’t.”

Ian smiled, but I couldn’t take my eyes off his hand.

It felt like he got hurt because I insisted on coming outside.

“If it really bothers you that much, will you blow on it for me? If Elisha does it, I think it’ll heal faster.”

That obviously wouldn’t heal it.

But Ian said it so seriously that I took his hand and gently blew on the wound.

“Hooo.”

“Doesn’t hurt now?”

Ian didn’t respond.

Did I need to do it more?

“Hooo.”

I held his hand again and blew on it once more.

Suddenly, Ian raised his injured hand high into the air.

“Of course! Now it doesn’t hurt at all!”

“Really?”

“Absolutely!”

“That’s good.”

“Thank you, Elisha. This oppa is never washing this hand again! It’s the hand Elisha blew on! I’ll treasure it forever. Hehe… hehehehe.”

That… sounded a little questionable.

But Ian looked so happy that I simply held his uninjured hand while we walked.

Thinking, That other hand is dirty now.

The duke arrived less than fifteen minutes after I returned to the playroom.

Judging by his messy bangs and the smell of wind clinging to him, he had run here.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“No.”

Though Ian was the one who got hurt, not me.

When I glanced toward Ian, the duke jerked his chin toward him.

“Front. Back. Above. Side. Below.”

Turn. Turn. Turn. Turn. Turn.

Ian obediently rotated himself in every direction according to the duke’s commands.

After inspecting him thoroughly, the duke nodded in satisfaction.

“No major injuries. Though that hand should probably be treated.”

“It’s fine! Elisha blew on it for me! Twice, even!”

Ian grinned so brightly it practically looked like flowers were blooming around him.

“More importantly, why are you here? Didn’t you say an important guest was visiting today?”

“There was something more urgent than that.”

The duke, who had been approaching with a stiff face, suddenly crouched in front of me.

“Look. Papa got hurt too.”

His entire index finger was wrapped in bandages.

I definitely hadn’t seen that injury yesterday.

Ian’s eyes widened.

“How did that happen? Was there perhaps an assassin—”

“No, he got a paper cut.”

After hearing the butler’s answer, Ian’s face immediately went flat.

Regardless of everyone else’s reactions, the duke continued presenting his hand insistently.

“Hmm? Elisha?”

Blowing on it obviously wouldn’t heal it.

But seeing the duke sit there like a child eagerly waiting for a gift was so funny that I willingly did as he wanted.

“Hooo, hoo.”

It wasn’t difficult anyway.

“Kgh!”

The duke suddenly clutched his chest and bent over.

“Are… are you okay? Should I blow there too?”

I blew gently onto the duke’s hand again.

Only then did he seem to recover enough to straighten himself.

“Ahem. How many times did Elisha blow on my hand?”

The butler answered faithfully.

“Three times, Your Grace. That is 1.5 times more than Young Master received.”

“What?!”

“I see. Then Elisha must like me 1.5 times more than Ian.”

The duke smiled smugly.

Beside him, Ian hurriedly dropped to the floor.

“If you forcefully squeeze out extra ‘hoos’ like that, anyone could get more! Elisha! Actually, this oppa stubbed his foot on a doorstep the day before yesterday!”

Not willing to lose, the duke immediately countered:

“A week ago, Papa pricked his finger on a pen nib. It was truly painful.”

“A week ago?! That’s way too long ago!”

“A week or two days ago—it’s all the same.”

“It absolutely isn’t! That’s a whole five-day difference!”

…What even was this pathetic argument?

I watched the father and son bicker back and forth, unsure what I was supposed to say.

Though I feel like I should mediate somehow.

Thankfully, the situation ended before I had to step in.

“What exactly is going on here?”

A gruff voice burst from the playroom entrance.

Turning my head, I saw an old man.

His brows twitched constantly, and his nose wrinkled sharply as he exhaled irritated breaths.

Anyone could tell he was in a terrible mood.

“I clearly sent word ahead! So why was there not a single person there to greet me?! Insolent fools!”

The father and son immediately went quiet.

Then Ian slowly opened his mouth.

“…Grandfather?”

The man who would determine the future rise or fall of the Rollcaid family.

Glenn Rollcaid had arrived.

The newly arrived old man was the former duke—and the current duke’s father.

Now that I knew who he was, I could clearly see the similarities between him and the duke.

The golden hair fading into white.

The sharp yet elegant facial structure.

They were nearly identical.

The difference was that this old man constantly radiated a cranky, ill-tempered aura.

“To think I’d receive such miserable treatment! Have you truly decided to ruin the future of the Rollcaid family yourself?!”

“Was this old towel meant for wiping feet or wiping faces?!”

“There are so many servants here, yet not one of them thought to take an old man’s coat! How can every last one of you be so uncivilized?!”

Every word he spoke was rough and abrasive.

Honestly, he sounded like someone who came looking for a fight.

The servants were terrified of him.

Some even whimpered that they were too scared to approach him.

But not me.

Because I knew this old man’s true value.

He possessed the Rollcaid family’s inherited ability—

“Shield.”

Shield was the power to create barriers around oneself.

At first glance, it sounded unimpressive.

But in truth, it was an incredible ability.

If used properly, you could beat your opponent senseless without ever getting hit yourself.

Combined with Rollcaid’s status as a famed swordsmanship house, the ability became utterly overpowered.

But the duke had never learned it.

Because his relationship with his father was terrible.

Only after the family’s downfall at the hands of the Crown Prince did the duke finally think of his father’s ability.

But by then, his father was already dead.

“If I had learned Father’s ability, perhaps I could have changed your futures.”

The duke tried protecting Elisha and Ian until the very end.

But he failed.

And those were the words he left behind as he died.

Yet the old man was still alive now.

Right in front of me.

That meant there was still a chance to prevent his death.

A chance for both the duke and me to inherit Shield.

First, I should try becoming close with Grandpa.

I followed the old man around the mansion, toddling behind him everywhere.

Perhaps my efforts worked.

The deeply wrinkled eyes that glanced at me curved sharply.

“Why are you following me?”

“Cause I wanna sit next to Grandpa.”

I already knew dinner time was approaching—

And that he was headed for the dining room.

Ian, who had followed after me, inhaled sharply before leaning down to whisper:

“Why don’t you sit beside oppa instead? If you sit next to Grandfather, you’ll probably choke on your soup.”