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Chapter 24
Bellady had, quite literally, subdued Meldor with an overwhelming amount of force.
Meldor, who had been completely unprepared, was utterly crushed by Bellady and had no choice but to do exactly as she told him.
‘All she has is brute strength!’
On the day his father left, Meldor had been forced by Bellady to kneel and hold his hands up for the entire day.
He had wanted to simply ignore her and run away, but for some reason, whenever he faced Bellady’s expressionless face, he could barely even stand properly.
‘It was like facing Father…!’
For Meldor, the moment he was crushed beneath Bellady’s presence was more humiliating than the punishment itself.
And that wasn’t the only time.
Meldor rebelled against Bellady several more times afterward. But every time, all he received in return were unbelievably grueling punishments.
As he endured them over and over, Meldor gradually came to recognize Bellady as an opponent he could never defeat.
Perhaps that was why he was even more frightened whenever he saw her.
‘Ugh! Mother and Father never even punished me like this! What gives that mere older sister of mine the right to treat me this way?!’
How dare she treat him like this?!
And what was that overwhelming pressure that made it impossible for him to resist?!
‘Could it be that she was hiding her strength and simply waiting for the right moment?’
Come to think of it, it was suspicious that Father had suddenly left for the North.
He had clearly seemed opposed to exploring the caves in the North right up until the moment before he left, yet he had changed his mind in a single day.
‘Could Father leaving for the North have been part of Bellady Alton’s scheme?’
If that was true, then Bellady was truly a demon capable of putting even the Demon King out of a job.
Naturally, there was no way Meldor could defeat such a demon.
‘If only I were a little older…!’
Then he wouldn’t have been beaten so helplessly!
Meldor gritted his teeth and clenched his fists tightly.
“Just you wait, Bellady Alton! I’ll never forgive you.”
After pounding on his pillow and fuming for quite some time, Meldor soon called for a servant.
“You called, Young Duke?”
“Where’s Rober?!”
“The butler is overseeing the construction in the greenhouse.”
At those words, Meldor’s expression darkened.
‘That bastard Rober! He’s been hanging around Bellady Alton for quite some time now!’
Meldor had always known that Emily, the head maid, was Bellady’s right hand.
But Rober had been an assistant butler serving Father and Meldor even before becoming the head butler. He had spent far more time with Meldor than with Bellady and had been much closer to him.
And yet Bellady Alton had somehow managed to win Rober over too!
‘I didn’t want to use such a petty method, but… I have no choice!’
The only reason he was going this far was because of Bellady.
In order to stop the demon’s tyranny, Meldor decided to send out a distress signal.
‘I’ll tell Father everything!’
“Prepare paper and a pen!”
“Yes, Young Duke.”
The servant quickly brought out paper and a pen, and Meldor began furiously writing down all of his grievances and Bellady’s vicious behavior.
Dear Father!
I think Bellady Alton has finally gone mad! She is using brute force to overpower me and is running around the estate as though she were the master of this household!
I tried to stop her, but I wasn’t strong enough! I’ve never been so frustrated by how young I am!
I think you need to return from the North immediately and restore order to the household!
As the heir, I sincerely hope that everything will return to normal as soon as possible!
Meldor, who stays up all night worrying about his broken family.
“Send this to the North immediately! Use the fastest method possible!”
“Yes, Lord Meldor.”
‘You’re finished now, Bellady Alton.’
Once Father returned, everything would go back to the way it was.
When that happened, Meldor would laugh at that demon to his heart’s content!
Imagining that moment, Meldor smiled wickedly.
“Lady Bellady, here it is.”
I took the letter the servant handed me.
When I opened the sky-blue envelope and looked inside, the contents were absolutely ridiculous.
“Hm. Meldor must have felt quite wronged. Good work. From now on, report everything Meldor does to me.”
“Yes, Lady Bellady.”
Meldor’s servant bowed deeply before leaving my room.
I stared at the letter for a moment before casually tossing it into the fireplace.
Meldor’s letter immediately burst into flames.
‘You don’t know that even your own servants are all under my control now, Meldor.’
Meldor probably thought that I had only managed to win Rober over to my side.
Unfortunately for him, for quite some time now, every servant in this household had been prioritizing my orders over Meldor’s.
It was a very satisfying development.
‘Speaking of which, he only wrote the letter now?’
It had already been two weeks since Father left the estate.
Since that day, Meldor hadn’t dared utter a single word of protest to me. A prince who had always been pampered like a precious little child obviously couldn’t endure being treated this way.
I had expected him to last no more than three days before writing to Father…
Yet he had held out until now.
‘I’ve used the whip appropriately, so perhaps I should start giving him a few carrots.’
If Meldor had been even a little older, I would have crushed him mercilessly through sheer force.
No, considering all the years I had been looked down upon, even that wouldn’t have been enough.
But Meldor was still only an elementary schooler by modern standards.
And I was someone who could give a child one last chance.
‘Let’s see whether he’s genuinely mean at heart, or if he’s simply acting this way because of stress.’
I suppose we’ll find out.
I sat down in my chair while gazing at the fireplace, where the flames crackled softly.
Then I picked up a sheet of paper that had been prepared in advance and began writing a letter.
The recipient was, of course, Father.
“Send this to the North.”
“Yes, Lady Bellady.”
After handing the completed letter to the maid, I lightly stretched.
During the past two weeks, Mother’s birthday had passed.
Then Father must have met Nesia, right?
Father must have had a lot on his mind because of the sudden appearance of another child.
That meant there was a good chance he would agree to my request.
‘I wonder what kind of expression Meldor will make when he receives his carrot?’
I was a little curious to see that amusing expression.
Father’s reply arrived quickly.
As I read through the letter, the corners of my mouth lifted when I reached the final sentence.
“I leave it to you.”
‘As expected, his heart has softened.’
I smiled in satisfaction and carefully folded Father’s letter.
Then I asked the maid waiting nearby,
“Where is Meldor right now?”
“He is practicing swordsmanship at the training grounds.”
“Perfect.”
If he was training, Sir Brooks, his instructor, would be there as well.
I left the maids who tried to accompany me behind and headed alone toward Meldor’s private training ground.
Meldor’s training ground was located on the second floor of the knights’ building on the right side of the main building.
As soon as I entered, I heard a loud battle cry.
“Haa!”
Meldor, covered in dust, was striking a straw dummy with a wooden sword.
“Straighten your back!”
Beside him, the veteran Sir Brooks was sternly instructing him.
Perhaps because I had been learning swordsmanship myself, Meldor’s posture immediately caught my eye.
‘Meldor really has no talent for swordsmanship.’
He had been learning the sword for several years, yet there were still many awkward aspects to his stance.
Sir Brooks seemed to know this as well, because he constantly corrected Meldor’s posture.
I deliberately made my footsteps loud as I approached them.
The two of them turned their gazes toward me.
“You… What brings you all the way here, Sister?”
“Lady Bellady. It has been a long time.”
I glanced at the sullen Meldor before greeting Sir Brooks.
“It’s been a while, Sir Brooks. I’m sorry to interrupt your training, but I came because I have something to tell you.”
As I spoke, I showed them the letter I was holding.
The moment Meldor saw it, his eyes lit up.
“That’s Father’s letter!”
“That’s right, Meldor.”
“What does it say? Is he coming back soon?!”
“No. Apparently, he’s too busy with matters in the North to come back.”
Meldor’s expression immediately darkened.
“That can’t be true! Give it to me!”
Tsk, tsk.
He had no idea that the letter containing his desperate plea had already been burned.
Meldor threw his wooden sword onto the floor with a loud smack and reached his hand toward me.
At his rude behavior, Sir Brooks shouted firmly,
“What do you think you’re doing when you are supposed to be walking the path of a knight?!”
Meldor froze.
He looked up at me with an aggrieved expression before slowly turning around.
Then he looked at Sir Brooks behind him.
“I’m sorry, Master.”
“It is extremely rude to reach your hand out toward a lady like that. Do not forget that you must observe proper etiquette even with family.”
“Yes…”
‘As expected, Meldor listens well to Father and Sir Brooks.’
Meldor had absolutely no talent for swordsmanship, but he liked knights.
That had also been true in the original story, where he had never learned swordsmanship.
Perhaps it was admiration for something he himself didn’t possess.
That must have been why he had liked and followed the eldest son so much in the original story.
‘Hmm. I’m pretty good with a sword now too. Does that mean he’ll follow me as well?’
I pushed that innocent question aside and spoke to Sir Brooks.
“Please don’t scold Meldor too much. It’s his first time being separated from Father for this long, so I think he was simply missing him.”
If Sir Brooks continued scolding Meldor, it would only waste my time.
After roughly settling the situation, I handed the letter to Sir Brooks.
“Please read it, Sir Brooks.”
“Is it really all right for me to see it?”
“It would be better for you to see it yourself than for me to explain it.”
Sir Brooks opened the letter.
Before long, he nodded.
“The Duke has finally made a major decision.”
“I’ve been steadily trying to persuade him, and I heard you’ve been doing the same, Sir Brooks.”
“So you have as well, Lady Bellady. When I reported it to him by myself, he wouldn’t even reconsider it. I suppose a daughter’s words really do carry weight.”
Sir Brooks returned the letter with a slight smile.
I smiled brightly back at him.
‘Of course, I never actually tried to persuade him consistently.’
According to Rober, Sir Brooks had been submitting the same report to Father repeatedly.
I had simply added my own weight to the matter.
Father had always been weak when it came to Meldor.
And after taking care of Nesia as well, it seemed that he had begun thinking more seriously about raising children.
‘Well, I was the one who predicted even that and created the timing for it. So it’s fair to say I deserve the credit.’
Everything was going exactly according to my plan.
As always, I wore a confident smile.
