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Chapter 38
‘You say it’s nothing? Even I, who wasn’t the main person involved, feel this upset…’
As someone who prided himself on knowing Eloise best within these Reston mansion walls, Caelian felt pained. Yes, *within* these Reston mansion walls.
Just as Eloise didn’t speak about her family matters.
Just as she concealed the meaning of the unfamiliar words she casually let slip.
Eloise had many secrets. It would be a lie to say he wasn’t curious, but more important to him than those secrets was Eloise’s heart.
‘If you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to. But…’
He worried if, among the things she didn’t say and kept hidden, there were matters similar to this incident. He was afraid that, while suffering from this event, she might be hiding it and bottling it up alone.
“Shouldn’t the apology for this incident come from someone other than your aunt?”
With a sharp gaze, Caelian pointed out the root cause of the situation.
“O-oh, right! I’m sorry, I should have paid attention right away.”
Nodding, Cecilia pulled Brizney out from where she had been hiding behind her. It seemed she was utterly terrified, as Brizney’s face was streaked with tears.
“Eek!”
Brizney hastily wiped her tears and glanced sideways at Eloise.
“Why are you glaring at Eloise? Apologize right now!”
“…S-sorry it happened.”
Urged on by Cecilia, Brizney threw out the apology reluctantly.
“Aren’t you going to do it properly?”
At Cecilia’s stern voice, Brizney flinched and hung her head.
“I’m sorry…….”
Cecilia shook her head at Brizney’s behavior and let out a deep sigh. Even though she made her apologize, with that kind of attitude, it was unlikely to lead to reconciliation, let alone understanding.
“Sigh… For now, go wait outside.”
Seizing the opportunity, Brizney quickly scurried out of the room.
“It would be uncomfortable, so Brizney will stay with me. If there’s anything bothering you that you feel you can’t say, please tell me anytime, it’s fine.”
Cecilia took Eloise’s hand in both of hers, looking apologetic once more. At that moment, a knock was heard, followed by a polite boy’s voice.
“May I also apologize?”
“But……”
Recalling Rian standing at the door, Cecilia trailed off hesitantly.
‘Is he a mature child who wants to apologize together for his sister’s actions?’
As Brizney’s guardian, it was only right for her to apologize. But she felt uneasy about a child who had done nothing wrong stepping forward to apologize, so Cecilia couldn’t continue. In the meantime, Rian entered the room and approached Eloise.
“Eloise, I’m truly sorry for hurting your feelings. I should have stopped it beforehand.”
Seeing Rian bow his head and apologize reminded Eloise of Cecilia. He seemed to take after his father in appearance, but he was a boy full of warmth, like his mother.
“It’s really okay, sincerely.”
How on earth could anyone have stopped such an unexpected event? A laugh escaped Eloise at the words from the boy, who seemed just as mature as her first impression of him.
“Rian, shall we go now? Mom will take you to your room.”
“I’ll stay here.”
When the boy, who always said ‘yes’ and obeyed, shook his head, Cecilia’s eyes widened.
‘Does he want to stay with the friend he just met?’
Cecilia even felt a sense of gladness at this new side of Rian. However, remembering the earlier incident, she glanced cautiously at Caelian and Eloise.
“If Eloise is okay with it, I don’t mind.”
“I’m fine with it too, Lady Cecilia.”
“Really? Then I’ll be going. You three, don’t fight and get along well, please.”
Cecilia left the room cheerfully. The moment she left, Caelian raised his voice, sounding resentful.
“You should have slapped her earlier! No, I should have done it myself.”
“Slapping? Watch your language! He… I’m sure Caelian doesn’t really mean you should hit her.”
Eloise said cautiously to Rian.
“No, she didn’t even apologize properly just now. No matter what anyone says, she has no excuse.”
At the voice filled with a chilly air, Eloise flinched. The trace of Cecilia she had seen overlapping with Rian’s image earlier had vanished.
“I’ll bring Brizney next time and make her apologize properly. Eloise, are you really okay?”
Eloise flinched again. It wasn’t because of the voice, now completely different from its earlier coldness. She felt an inexplicable sense of déjà vu at hearing her own name spoken so familiarly from his lips.
“Yes… But, did I perhaps introduce myself?”
“I greeted His Grace, but I haven’t been introduced to you yet, have I? I must have been confused. I’m Rian Swinton.”
It certainly wasn’t a statement that should feel strange…… Struck by another sense of déjà vu, Eloise stared blankly at Rian. Then, for an instant, she saw a vision of Rian as an adult.
‘…What is this?’
The grown-up Rian in the vision was crying. Eloise frowned as she looked at the Rian in the vision. Behind the utterly inexplicable, irregular hallucination, a headache throbbed as if her head would split.
“I’m sorry.”
“Huh?”
At Rian’s sudden apology, Eloise turned to look at him.
“With the Brizney incident… I think I might have been greedy…”
“It’s because of my headache, it’s not that I dislike it. I was really looking forward to it!”
“I was really looking forward to it too.”
Rian looked at Eloise with a somewhat wistful gaze and smiled.
“What’s with this atmosphere?”
As Eloise and Rian conversed, Caelian’s eyebrows, which had been tilting further askew, turned towards them.
“Why are you acting like this all of a sudden again?”
As Caelian tapped the floor emphatically, not hiding his discomfort, Eloise let out a deep sigh.
“That’s why! It’s just that……”
Pointing his finger at Rian and Eloise, Caelian started to speak but then trailed off.
“Hmm……”
Seeing Caelian like that, Rian laughed like a child who had found something amusing.
“What, what is that! What’s with that expression!”
Ignoring the fuming Caelian, Rian spoke lightly to Eloise.
“I’m so glad to meet you like this. I was looking forward to it, you see. It feels like meeting my fiancée.”
To speak so casually about an engagement at such a young age! Eloise felt a renewed sense of surprise.
“Since we share the same last name without sharing blood, it sometimes felt like we were a married couple.”
“…You!”
Caelian’s previously slanted eyebrows shot up sharply. As if Rian had expected Caelian’s reaction, he stifled a laugh.
“Take back those words.”
At Eloise’s face, which had turned cold, Rian’s eyes widened. Caelian, who had been about to yell at Rian, was the same. Since Eloise had only said it was okay even about Brizney’s incident, the surprise was doubled.
“His Grace is my… parent. Our last names are different, and we don’t share blood, but they are my family.”
“I’m sorry. That’s not, I didn’t mean it like that, this isn’t it… I’m truly sorry!”
His mature, neat composure gone, Rian’s face turned pale as he apologized, seemingly at a loss.
“Yes, you’ve apologized, so I will accept it.”
Eloise nodded with a cold face. The already awkward atmosphere in the room grew chilly, as cold as Eloise’s expression.
“Um……”
Rian, who had been about to say something, just hung his head deeply. It was his own form of teasing and joking, but he wasn’t unaware that the listener might take it the wrong way.
“Hey, take this.”
As Rian remained silent, having realized his talent for ruining the mood with his jokes, Caelian, who had been quietly observing the situation, took a chocolate from his pocket and handed it to him.
“…Chocolate?”
“Eloise likes sweets. I don’t get why she likes them so much; they just make my mouth sting.”
Scratching his head, Caelian glanced sideways at Eloise.
“Will this be enough?”
Caelian gathered all the chocolates he had in his pocket and poured them into Rian’s hands.
“Why are you giving these to me?”
“So, I mean… Ugh, forget it if you don’t need them!”
Caelian, who had been about to explain, yelled in frustration and turned his head away.
“Pfft, really, you’re something else too…”
Rian burst out laughing as if he couldn’t hold it in any longer. He laughed so hard he slapped the floor and gasped for air. Caelian looked at him as if he were seeing something bizarre.
“What, why are you like this?”
At Rian’s behavior, Eloise also glanced at him, looking bewildered. Was he always like this?
“He seems to have become weird, what on earth did you give him?”
“It’s chocolate. Why would I give him something strange… Hey, why are you crying!”
