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Chapter 5
Anyway, the fact that Ares had even brought Beauty, the horse he almost never rode unless it was an occasion to show himself off, proved just how flustered he had been.
Following Ares to where Beauty was waiting, Abelin found herself facing yet another ridiculous situation.
“You’re seriously saying we’re going home like this?”
“Isn’t it enough that we won’t get lost? You barely ever leave the house, so you don’t even know the roads. Besides, Beauty will have a hard time carrying both of us.”
Having climbed onto Beauty by himself, Ares handed the reins to Abelin.
This lunatic.
She had been grateful to him for a moment. What an idiot she was. He had always been someone wrapped up in his own narcissism.
“At this rate, when are we supposed to get home?”
“Hmm. Before midnight?”
Abelin glared at the pink-haired head of her twin brother, who actually looked like he was seriously considering the question. Finally giving up on arguing, she accepted reality.
“Young Lady?”
At that moment, an ominous voice called from behind.
It was Duke Ribes, who had just come out of the restaurant.
“By any chance, from my carriage…”
Oh no.
Did he notice the jelly is gone?
As Abelin’s tiny, delicate heart beat faster and faster, Duke Ribes’s voice drew closer.
“W-What? Isn’t that Duke Ribes? He’s coming toward you.”
Even Ares looked down at Abelin with a startled expression.
Whatever!
In one swift motion, Abelin lifted one foot and stepped onto the stirrup where Ares’s foot rested. Using it for leverage, she launched herself into the air and landed on the horse.
It was a clean, efficient movement worthy of a seasoned knight.
“Argh!”
Ares screamed as his foot was suddenly stomped on, but Abelin ignored him and shoved the reins back into her brother’s hands.
“Ride! Hurry!”
Still dazed, Ares instinctively accepted the reins and urged Beauty forward.
Long live knight heroines!
If there was one thing she’d done right during all those years of fangirling, it was becoming obsessed with knight heroine stories and diligently undergoing physical training.
Sir Redon, one of her family’s knights who had trained her back then, had certainly suffered because of it. But if he could see her now, Abelin was certain he’d be immensely proud.
Behind her, she could hear Duke Ribes shouting something as they rode away, but she couldn’t make out the words.
Good enough. After today, this connection is over!
She intended to stay inside the house for quite some time anyway.
Just thinking that made her feel much lighter.
Unfortunately, the twins’ journey home was anything but smooth.
“Hey, don’t get so close!”
“As if I want to touch you either! Ride properly.”
Abelin and Ares struggled desperately to avoid making contact, as though touching each other would kill them.
Ares practically lay flat over the horse’s neck as he rode, while Abelin sat perfectly upright behind him with both arms stretched out to either side to maintain her balance.
Balancing on horseback without holding onto anything wasn’t easy, but since touching her brother sounded worse than death, Abelin tightened her legs and matched Beauty’s rhythm with everything she had.
To anyone watching, the siblings probably looked ridiculous.
But to them, this was deadly serious.
“Young Master! Young Lady! What in the world…?”
The butler, who had just stepped outside the mansion, stared wide-eyed at the twin siblings passing through the front gate in that bizarre posture.
“Where’s Father?”
After climbing down from the horse first, Abelin asked the question.
Still unable to close his gaping mouth, the butler pointed toward the window of the Count’s study.
“He’s inside, right? Thanks!”
“Hey! Wait for me!”
The butler blankly watched as Abelin and Ares disappeared into the mansion in a noisy rush.
Only after they were gone did he finally come to his senses and hand the abandoned Beauty over to the stable keeper.
Unlike the confident way she’d marched upstairs, Abelin now stood hesitating outside the study.
Now that she was actually about to face her father, anxiety crept in.
“What are you doing? Aren’t you going in?”
“H-Huh? Oh… right.”
Leaning against the wall behind her, Ares had been watching Abelin.
He walked over, knocked on the study door, and after a moment, a voice from inside told them to enter.
“Come on.”
Taking hold of Abelin’s arm as she stood there awkwardly, Ares led her into the room.
“So, Ares. Did you bring back Duke Ribes’s documents as confidently as you claimed?”
“Well…”
Just as Ares was about to answer, Abelin suddenly dropped to her knees.
“…!”
Both Count Herrols and Ares stared at her in shock.
But Abelin simply remained kneeling with her head lowered, completely motionless.
She’s doing this for me…?
Believing Abelin was trying to protect him, Ares suddenly felt his nose sting with emotion.
“Hey, get up.”
Deeply moved, he reached out to help her stand.
But Abelin’s situation was entirely different.
Ah… my leg cramped.
Perhaps because she’d been so tense, her leg had cramped the moment she stood before her father.
Remaining still was already painful enough, and Ares kept trying to pull her up, making everything worse.
Abelin firmly refused his help.
Unfortunately, her desperate resistance only fueled Ares’s misunderstanding.
She’s going this far… for my sake!
Seeing Abelin squeeze her eyes shut and clutch the hem of her clothes with both hands, Ares reflected on his past behavior.
I only helped her because of my own reputation.
Yet his innocent older sister, who knew nothing of that, was kneeling to protect him from being scolded.
I’m trash.
Having completed his personal self-reflection, Ares seemed to reach a decision.
He quietly knelt beside Abelin.
While Ares was alone in his misunderstanding and deeply moved, Abelin remained locked in her own struggle.
Ah… my leg is tingling.
Unaware of the completely different reasons behind their actions, Count Herrols stammered in confusion.
“W-What are you two doing?”
Abelin also opened her eyes in surprise when she saw Ares kneeling beside her.
Ares gave her a knowing wink.
Then, wearing an unusually serious expression, he turned toward their father.
“The two of us both disobeyed your orders. It’s unfair for only her—no, only my sister—to be punished. Until Father forgives us, neither of us will move a single step from here.”
After speaking solemnly, Ares looked back at Abelin, who was still staring at him in complete surprise.
He flashed her the most dependable smile in the world.
What on earth is he talking about?
Her leg cramp had only just started easing.
She’d been waiting for the perfect moment to stand.
To Abelin, Ares’s declaration sounded like a bolt from the blue.
No, why was he dragging her into this?
All she wanted was to get some circulation back into her tingling leg.
She hurriedly grabbed Ares’s hand.
“No. There’s no need for that. One person is enough.”
She meant that from this point onward, Ares could do it by himself.
“Sister…”
But Ares’s reaction was strange.
His eyes reddened as though he were about to cry.
He placed his other hand over the one Abelin had laid on his.
“I never knew you thought of me this way.”
“Huh?”
“Even if we’re only five minutes apart… a big sister really is a big sister.”
“W-What’s wrong with you?”
Growing increasingly uncomfortable, Abelin tried to pull her hand away.
But Ares held on so firmly that it was as though he hadn’t even noticed her struggle.
“I can’t let my sister kneel here alone.”
Completely misunderstanding Abelin’s intentions, Ares spoke firmly before turning back toward their father.
“Although we failed to obtain Duke Ribes’s documents today, I’ll definitely bring them to you as soon as possible. So please abandon this strategy of sacrificing your own child. If something like this happens again, I’ll go and bring my sister back just like I did today.”
His final words were spoken with complete sincerity.
Even Abelin stared at him in surprise.
She had never imagined those firm words would come from Ares, who had always obediently followed their father’s wishes.
Not to mention that he kept calling her “Sister.”
“Haha… well, this is unexpected.”
Even Count Herrols let out an awkward laugh, clearly caught off guard.
Yet Ares’s determined gaze never wavered.
“What impressive sibling affection.”
Having regained his composure, Count Herrols spoke again.
“As it happens, before you arrived, I received a letter from Viscount Berta.”
A letter from Viscount Berta?
Abelin and Ares exchanged uneasy glances.
After all, Abelin had punched him before leaving, so there was no way he’d written anything pleasant.
We’re doomed.
Yes.
This time, they really were doomed.
Abelin thought the moment had come when she would have to beg with all her might.
It wasn’t entirely unexpected.
Still, a part of her had hoped Duke Ribes had been telling the truth when he promised to deal with Viscount Berta.
But since Viscount Berta had already managed to send a letter this quickly, it meant either Duke Ribes had lied, or—worst of all—their father might also learn that Duke Ribes had been involved.
“Father, that man attacked first—”
Unable to hold back any longer, Ares tried to speak, but Count Herrols raised a hand to stop him.
“Viscount Berta sent the exact same letter to Marquis Nor as well.”
So in the end…
It had reached Marquis Nor’s ears too.
Whether Duke Ribes was involved or not, the matter had now grown far bigger than they had expected.
That’s just my life.
She had never succeeded at anything.
Her father had finally entrusted her with a task, and it hadn’t even been that difficult.
Yet she still couldn’t accomplish even this one thing.
I should’ve endured it just a little longer.
No matter how disgusting or frightening it had been, she should have endured it until the end.
Or at least she shouldn’t have punched him.
Regret was useless now.
Though, even if she went back, she wasn’t sure she could have tolerated that foul breath and revolting behavior.
Still, it seemed preferable to seeing the disappointed look in her father’s eyes.
“Father, it was my fault—”
“Viscount Berta wrote that he is far too old, filthy, disgusting, and ugly to ever dare dream of being with you.”
“…What?”
