MLOMH 78

Pession demanded indignantly, as if he were the one being wronged.

“ I have to go help Arellin with her training. Why is the Grand Duke stopping me?”

“I never really stopped you…”

It must have been one of the security measures that had been tightened around the mansion. Surely Mehen’s doing.

Grand Duke Halbern’s gaze lingered on the still-young Crown Prince. Normally, he would have brushed it off and gone on his way, but now a strange curiosity arose.

For someone asking for a favor, the boy’s attitude was anything but polite. And why was he glaring at him so openly?

That mysterious hostility was almost… pleasing. Call it whimsy, if nothing else.

“Granting permission isn’t difficult.”

“Then, right away—”

“If you’ll just answer one question, I’ll grant it.”

Pession blinked, caught off guard. That expression made him look his age for once, and Halbern barely kept himself from laughing.

“What is it?”

“I’m curious why you keep looking at me with that expression.”

“What expression?”

“Like you’re staring at garbage.”

The blunt remark made Pession flinch. It felt like his innermost thoughts had been exposed. But at the same time, he was puzzled.

‘Why would he care about that?’

Determined to understand, Pession glared back at the Grand Duke.

But the man’s eyes and expression revealed nothing. Even while smiling pleasantly, there was an unshakable wall, a presence that could not be handled lightly.

For a young Crown Prince, still ignorant of the world, this was an opponent far beyond his reach.

“Is it so hard to answer?”

Pession’s face hardened.

“I just don’t like you.”

“Oh dear.”

Halbern’s reply carried no hint of regret.

“And why is that?”

“Because you neglected Arellin.”

The firm answer made Halbern’s eyes flicker with interest.

“Do you even know what Arellin likes?”

Of course he wouldn’t.

He had only met her three times.

Even if he couldn’t read much else, Pession had at least read that much, and his face twisted with anger.

“How could you not know? Why… why did you leave her alone?”

“I never left her alone.”

“That’s no different from leaving her alone!”

Pession recalled the first time he had seen Arellin.

Alone, tucked away somewhere in the Crown Prince’s garden, hugging her small body to herself, simply waiting for time to pass.

The next time, she was staring endlessly out the window of a silent mansion, as though she might vanish at any moment.

“Why do you make her wear that expression?”

He hadn’t liked it back then either, but now remembering it made his heart ache as though it would tear apart.

Perhaps it was because he liked Arellin even more now than he had then.

“If you make Arellin cry, I won’t forgive you. Even if you’re the Grand Duke, I won’t.”

The childish declaration was filled with such raw emotion that Halbern almost welcomed it.

“And if I’m not forgiven, what then?”

“I’ll take revenge.”

Even as the boy declared himself his enemy, Halbern only laughed as if watching some adorable play-acting.

That attitude made Pession even angrier.

Wasn’t he being mocked?

“Interesting.”

Halbern’s eyes gleamed with genuine curiosity.

“And what is Arellin to you, Your Highness?”

Pession’s mouth snapped shut.

His head filled with confusion. If he had to put it into words, a friend? But he didn’t want to be just a friend. He wanted something closer.

A place where he could always be beside her, where interfering in her every matter was allowed.

Like… family?

‘Right, I wanted to be her dad.’

But Arellin hadn’t allowed that.

Then…

“She’s nothing.”

Pession answered with a sulky tone.

“Nothing, yet you’d take revenge on me?”

“Yes. I would.”

“…”

“Because I like her.”

Halbern observed the boy’s unyielding eyes, unwilling to back down, and fell into momentary thought.

Behind them, Graham despaired, suffered, and nearly collapsed from overhearing this nonsensical exchange—but neither of the two cared.

Pession declared proudly, as if issuing a challenge:

“If you don’t act like a proper dad, I’ll take that spot from you.”

“?”

“If you don’t want me to steal your place, then do better!”

At last, the Grand Duke burst out laughing.

What on earth had he just heard?

“Did Your Highness also want to take Mehen as your wife?”

“What?!”

The Grand Duke laughed so hard he choked, while Pession scowled, completely unaware of the context.

“Why are you laughing?!”

“Oh, truly…”

This was too entertaining.

If he had known coming to the capital would be this fun, he would have done so sooner.

“I’ll be looking forward to it,” Halbern said, smiling warmly as he wiped tears from the corners of his eyes.

“Truly.”

“Ugh.”

To be cheered on by the very man he had just declared war on… Pession couldn’t help but feel like he had lost somehow.

Pession, mysterious defeat—1 loss.

The Saren Knights returned from the northern fortress through the gate.

Officially, it was their first vacation in six years. Though technically on standby, ready to be recalled to the north at any time, none of them cared about such trivialities.

“Vacation! Vacation!”

“And right during Founding Festival week!”

“We’ll eat, drink, and party at last!”

Some had their eyes gleaming with greed as crowds gathered to buy their share of dragon byproducts.

“Dragons! If we can catch a dragon, we’ll strike it rich!”

“Dragons are all in the Abyss. You planning to go alone?”

“With our lord around, what does it matter! Jaren, you’re joining too, right?”

“Shut up, savages. Lay a single finger on a poor dragon and see what happens.”

As befitted knights directly under Valer, the Saren Knights were loud, unruly, and chaotic. Watching them, Mehen only smiled faintly.

Even Jaren, whom she had thought the most normal of them, had come back with a few screws loose.

“I’ll found it. The Dragon Protection Society.”

Mehen gave up trying to understand.

After all, you did not engage with lunatics, eccentrics, or oddballs.

“So, where’s our lord?”

“He hasn’t even looked at us since we came.”

“Bet he’s in the portrait studio again. Every time he comes home, he goes straight there.”

Those who knew the Grand Duke well were already familiar with this.

“What, did he smear honey all over the place?”

“Or maybe he’s got a lover hidden there?”

Their idle chatter quickly turned toward a single topic.

After all, this was the capital mansion.

The very place where their idol, Arellin, resided.

“The young lady?!”

“I want to see her in person! My heart might explode! Is she really as cute as the recordings?!”

“Ah, my heart’s racing. Just how adorable is she?”

After six years of surviving only on the video records Mehen had sent, the Saren Knights’ pent-up adoration overflowed.

Mehen’s face hardened.

“Get lost, you ruffians.”

She would never allow such men anywhere near her daughter.

My daughter will be protected by me.

It was overwhelming.

For some reason, wherever I went lately, I kept seeing strange people clinging to the windows.

Even though this was the second floor.

‘Are they ghosts?’

I tried desperately to pretend I didn’t notice, but Yuni snapped.

“My lady, they’re at it again! Go before I report them to Sir Mehen!”

“Eek!”

Judging from the way she physically exorcised them with her palm, they clearly weren’t ghosts.

“Are you all right?”

“Y-yes.”

Mehen came over belatedly, scooping me protectively into her arms.

“Who are they?”

“No one worth your concern.”

But they were concerning!

Noticing my expression, Mehen clicked her tongue quietly.

“The Saren Knights have returned.”

“I see.”

“You can ignore them.”

“…Okay.”

Now that I thought about it, all those strange people I’d seen recently had been wearing uniforms. Meeting Mehen’s gaze, I found her eyes filled with worry.

“I’m fine.”

“…”

“Really.”

My mom just worried too much.

Smiling, I hugged her, and heard her soft sigh.

“If it’s hard, you can say so.”

“It’s really not.”

There had never been days as comfortable as these.

No training, no stalkers, no troublesome twins or Pession, no need to go out. If not for the turmoil inside me, it would have been perfect.

‘Right now, Pession is probably…’

No! Stop thinking about him.

Stop thinking about that boy!

But if stopping were that easy, I wouldn’t be this tormented.

“Mehen.”

“Yes.”

“Have you ever liked someone before?”

“?”

Mehen’s eyes trembled slightly as she looked at me.