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Chapter 13
“Hey, you little brats!”
Startled by the sudden roar, the children all froze and turned toward Yurita at once.
“Uh… Sis…?”
Theo, who had been crying his eyes out, spotted Yurita and looked utterly stunned.
Yurita strode over, standing in front of Theo protectively as she faced the other children.
She was so angry that even the pain in her wrist seemed to disappear.
With her arms crossed and a frightening expression on her face, Yurita glared down at them. The children hesitated, but still tried to keep up their bravado.
“Who are you, lady?”
“I’m his older sister.”
Yurita jerked her head toward Theo behind her.
“Theo’s sister…? The one who married Duke Killerster?”
“My mom said this lady married a demon.”
“My father said she looks like a witch too!”
“Wow, Theo, your family is really something else! A runaway dad and a witch sister? You two are totally ruined!”
The children laughed awkwardly. But none of them dared laugh too loudly. Their eyes kept nervously checking Yurita’s expression.
Yurita listened calmly, then smirked.
“Who’s ruined, exactly?”
“Huh?”
She looked carefully at the boy standing in front.
“You’re the son of Baron Middleton, aren’t you? I saw you at my banquet recently.”
He was the son of that insufferable Lady Nora Middleton.
“S-So what if I am?”
Yurita lowered her head until she was eye level with him.
“How dare you mouth off to a duchess when you’re just a baron’s son. And you’re not even the eldest, are you?”
“W-What…?”
Even at his young age, the boy clearly understood the power of noble titles, because his face flushed red.
Using rank to put someone in their place was petty.
But those little brats had started it first.
“And another thing.”
Smiling sweetly, Yurita leaned closer and whispered softly into the second son’s ear.
“The rumor about me being a witch is true. I come at night to eat nasty children alive.”
The chilling tone made goosebumps rise on the boy’s arms. Sensing something terribly wrong, he began backing away.
But Yurita grabbed his arm and didn’t let go.
“If you bully my little brother again, I’ll come find you. I’ll grab your legs from under your bed and drag you down.”
The Middleton boy fled without another word, terror written all over his face.
“H-Hey, what’s wrong with you?!”
“Wait for me!”
The other children panicked and ran after him.
“I remember all your faces, so you’d better watch yourselves from now on!”
Yurita shouted after them.
Just then, the children abruptly stopped after someone blocked their path.
Yurita’s eyes widened when she saw who it was.
‘Why is he here?’
Zachary held out his hand expressionlessly toward the child clutching Theo’s shoe.
“You should leave the shoes behind.”
Though Zachary himself looked indifferent, to the children he was nothing less than a terrifying monster with blood-red eyes and the build of a giant.
The boy carefully placed the shoe into Zachary’s hand with both hands.
“S-Sorry…”
“You should apologize to the Duchess, not me.”
Raising a hand, Zachary politely gestured toward Yurita.
The children immediately bowed deeply to her.
“We’re sorry!”
“You should say that to my brother too, shouldn’t you?”
This time Yurita placed a hand on Theo’s shoulder.
“S-Sorry, Theo!”
“Repeat after me. ‘We won’t bully you again.’”
“We won’t bully you again!”
“You can go now.”
As Yurita and Zachary spoke at the same time, the children bolted away as fast as they could.
Only then did Theo hiccup from all the crying.
“Theo, are you okay?”
“Sis… how did you get here?”
“I came to see you. Since when have they been bullying you?”
“Since I first enrolled…”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I thought you might be busy…”
“Did you tell Uncle?”
Theo hesitated, so Yurita crouched down to meet his eyes.
“It’s okay. Tell me.”
“Uncle is… scary.”
For a moment, her heart sank.
‘Viscount Synette, what have you done to this child?’
Theo couldn’t even come home because of boarding school, and he had no one to ask for help about the bullying.
‘And I failed to pay attention too.’
“I’m sorry, Theo.”
As soon as Yurita apologized, Theo threw himself into her arms like the child he was.
While she gently patted him, Zachary walked over with heavy steps.
Theo looked frightened when their eyes met, but he didn’t run away.
“Mister, you’re the one I saw before…”
“Theo, call him Duke Killerster.”
“Oh… Duke.”
Yurita carefully watched Zachary’s reaction.
How would he treat a child?
After staring at Theo for a long moment, Zachary finally spoke.
“Oh. So you’re that little brat from before.”
“Yes… hello.”
Apparently he remembered seeing him when he came to collect debts.
‘…That’s a pretty normal reaction?’
Yurita examined his face closely, but he didn’t seem particularly displeased.
When Theo greeted him politely, Zachary even gave an awkward nod in return.
‘So he doesn’t hate children? Or is he just being unpredictable?’
At that moment, Yurita noticed Zachary staring at her.
“Why are you here?”
His tone sounded oddly awkward.
‘Is he conscious about the argument we had yesterday?’
“…I came to see my brother. What about you? Why are you at the school?”
“I had business with the headmaster.”
‘Wow. He’s actually answering honestly for once.’
“With the headmaster?”
“Yeah. He’s been overdue on his payments for quite a while.”
‘Of course.’
Yurita narrowed her eyes, and Zachary protested.
“Hey, what’s with that look?”
“Nothing. It’s just… you and a school really don’t seem to match.”
“Hah? What was that?”
“Forget it. So, did things work out?”
“He wouldn’t listen, so I dealt with him.”
“Dealt with him? Don’t tell me you k—”
Ah.
Yurita glanced at Theo.
She couldn’t talk like this in front of a child.
“K—?”
“…Told him to go eat porridge.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Forget it. I’ll explain later.”
“…How’s your wrist?”
At Zachary’s casual question, Yurita unconsciously grabbed her right wrist.
“It’s fine. I just sprained it a little.”
“…If you’re done here, let’s go home together.”
“What? Home? Together? With you?”
Yurita thought she’d misheard him, but apparently not.
‘Did he eat something weird?’
“…No thanks. Besides, I have somewhere else to go.”
“Where?”
“Why do you care?”
“So I can come with you.”
What?
He definitely ate something strange.
A short while later, at Viscount Synette’s estate.
“So, you came to greet me after your marriage? It’s good to see your face.”
Viscount Synette welcomed Yurita as usual, stroking his mustache. Since he’d missed her banquet due to stomach trouble, this was their first meeting since her marriage.
They sat facing each other in the drawing room while Theo played alone in the yard.
“I didn’t come just to greet you, Uncle. I came because of Theo. He’s being bullied at boarding school.”
“What?”
The viscount looked surprised for a moment before clicking his tongue.
“That boy always looked weak. I suppose he finally became a target at school. I told him to straighten his shoulders and act tougher.”
“…What did you just say?”
“Theo needs harsh discipline at that boarding school. That’s how he’ll toughen up and grow into a proper man.”
“Ahem.”
At that moment, an uncomfortable cough came from the corner of the room.
The viscount flinched slightly and turned toward Zachary, who stood there with his arms crossed.
“Your Grace, is something bothering you? Please, have a seat—”
“No. Continue your conversation.”
Answering in his deep voice, Zachary resumed casually inspecting the room’s decorations.
‘He’s really putting on airs.’
Yurita thought to herself before focusing again.
“Even so, I don’t think Theo should keep attending a place where he’s being bullied. Please consider homeschooling.”
“Oh dear, do you know how expensive homeschooling is these days…?”
“I can support him financially. Besides, isn’t boarding school even more expensive?”
“I don’t have time to oversee his education.”
“Then I’ll find another relative and leave Theo with them instead.”
Though she wasn’t even sure any other relatives existed.
Yurita glanced briefly at Zachary. There was no way he’d allow Theo to stay at the Killerster estate.
But then Viscount Synette replied:
“You can’t take Theo.”
“Why not?”
“As you know, I have no heir. I’ve thought it over, and I intend to educate Theo properly and make him my successor. If he’s going to become a viscount’s heir, he should at least be able to overcome some school bullying on his own.”
“It’s fine if you want him as your heir, but you’re practically neglecting him! I’m taking Theo with me for now.”
“No!”
“Uncle!”
Crack.
Something shattered.
Both Yurita and the viscount turned toward Zachary.
He was holding a broken glass handle that had clearly once belonged to a vase.
“Ah. My apologies, Viscount Synette. My grip is rather strong. Was it something valuable?”
“U-Uh… not especially…”
“That’s good. I’ll buy you another one. And.”
Holding the shattered handle, Zachary strode over in his heavy boots and stopped before the viscount. Maybe because the viscount was seated, Zachary looked even larger than usual.
Yurita could even hear the viscount gulp nervously.
“It would be best if Theo came to live with us.”
