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Chapter 15
“Too Many Burdens to Confess”
Today, I woke up unusually early.
To be precise, I heard some movement outside.
Dorothy got out of bed and looked out the window.
The movement outside was a carriage.
“Has the Duke already returned?”
The Duke, who had gone to the capital early yesterday morning, had returned after just one night.
Well, I guess that’s possible.
Dorothy didn’t think much of it and opened the window.
Just then, her eyes met the Duke as he was getting out of the carriage.
“Good morning, Your Grace.”
Maybe because he had tried to sleep all the way down to Selbrums, Brandon looked different from usual.
He wore a light shirt without a jacket or vest. A few buttons were undone, and his normally neat hair was slightly disheveled.
“You came back early! You must be tired after traveling all night.”
Dorothy had just offered a simple morning greeting.
But…
“Didn’t he hear me?”
He had stopped walking, so it seemed he heard her. Yet he didn’t respond.
He didn’t even look in her direction.
His head was slightly bowed, so his face wasn’t fully visible.
Yet somehow, it looked like his lips were trembling.
“Huh?”
She wondered briefly, then Brandon suddenly bent one knee.
It looked like his shoelace had come undone.
After tying it, he finally straightened up slowly.
“Good morning, Dorothy.”
Then, noticing her, he greeted her properly.
But his face was still hard to see clearly.
“Good morning, isn’t it?”
“Yes! Good morning, Your Grace! It’s a lovely morning.”
“Dorothy, by the way, what’s that?”
“Huh? That?”
“Yes, that.”
Bang!
As she turned toward where he was pointing, a loud crash came from the opposite direction.
“Ah!”
Startled by the sudden noise, Dorothy jumped.
“I’m sorry, I’ll explain what that is later. Right now, we need to check what that sound is!”
The noise had come from the second floor of her house.
Dorothy, anxious, couldn’t even look at Brandon and turned her gaze elsewhere.
“No, I must have been mistaken. See you later, Dorothy.”
Brandon’s voice called out as she hurriedly left.
A flower pot on the second floor had been smashed.
It wasn’t precariously placed on the railing.
It had been hit by a stone flying from nearby.
Where did the stone come from?
It was a relief that it hadn’t hit Mrs. Horton or anyone else.
Anyway, by noon, Dorothy was ready to head next door.
As she opened the front door to step outside…
“Good morning, Dorothy.”
“Eek!”
Startled, Dorothy slammed the door shut.
Brandon was standing right there.
Her heart nearly jumped out of her chest.
Dorothy clutched her chest and tried to calm herself.
Still, she couldn’t leave the person waiting outside for long.
“G-Good morning, Your Grace.”
Dorothy opened the door calmly once more.
“Shall we meet again? My apologies, I didn’t realize you were here.”
“Ha-ha, no, it’s fine.”
Unlike earlier that morning, Brandon seemed completely at ease.
Thinking about it, this was probably his usual demeanor.
His hair was shiny, and his face perfectly composed, without a trace of fatigue.
And, as always, he carried a subtle, pleasant scent—enough to make you inhale deeply if you were nearby.
“Here, take this, Dorothy.”
“Huh?”
Brandon handed her something.
It was a flower pot.
“You said the one on the second floor broke, right? Are you okay? Did you get hurt?”
“No, thankfully I wasn’t hurt! And thank you so much for even giving me a flower pot as a gift!”
Then she tilted her head in curiosity.
“By the way, did I ever tell you that the pot broke?”
“Of course not. But we’re neighbors. I was just curious since a pot I saw every day was suddenly gone.”
Brandon smiled warmly and explained politely.
“Oh, I see!”
Clearly, his keen observation had helped him rise to the position of council executor.
“Anyway.”
As Dorothy nodded in agreement, he changed the topic.
“Thank you for the chocolate before, Dorothy.”
“Huh? Ah…”
Dorothy felt a little embarrassed.
“No, it’s my fault for giving you just one.”
It wasn’t exactly something that required thanks.
He had caught a cold but still came along, and she had tucked it into his coat for him.
“No, it’s nothing.”
But Brandon looked strangely pleased.
“Look at this.”
He rummaged through his pocket and showed the chocolate.
“I haven’t eaten a single bite.”
“Don’t you like chocolate?”
“Hmm.”
Brandon paused for a moment.
“No, I just couldn’t bring myself to eat it.”
“Oh.”
“Thank you for the gift, Dorothy.”
Brandon seemed genuinely happy as he said that.
On the way to the next-door house, Brandon continued talking.
“I also wanted to apologize for bringing up your mother before.”
“No, it’s fine! You’re helping me right now. You don’t have to apologize.”
“Did it bother you? I mentioned your late parents.”
“Not at all!”
Dorothy only had questions about her mother’s past, not any bad feelings.
“Actually, I’m thankful you mentioned it. It’s nice to recall memories with my beloved mother.”
For Dorothy, memories of her mother were purely positive.
Her life had been mostly free of negativity.
Her present self was shaped by her mother, who had always protected her.
As an adult, she often reflected on how hard her mother must have worked raising her.
But it seemed the Kaishuner siblings were different.
“Really? I don’t really like talking about my parents. They’re just blood, after all—they’re strangers in the end.”
Perhaps Rose felt the same way. Dorothy had spent a lot of time with her but had never heard stories about the previous Duke and Duchess.
“Besides, ‘love’? Hmm…”
Brandon shook his head playfully.
All they knew was that the couple had divorced.
Commoners couldn’t understand how nobles lived.
“It’s not something I want to know or talk about.”
By then, they had entered the house next door with Brandon.
“Hey! Brandon!”
Rose, at the entrance, roughly threw something at Brandon’s face.
It was a gray velvet garment.
“Why are you bringing something like this into the house?”
“Oh my, throwing clothes at someone’s face is rude.”
Even with the garment thrown at him, Brandon smiled beautifully.
“This is the ceremonial robe the council chair gave you as a gift.”
But what came out of his mouth wasn’t beautiful.
“It’s for when my sister, who’s stuck inside, eventually comes out. It’s what she’ll wear at the council.”
“I said I’m not going back!”
Rose became even angrier.
“And why would you bring something he gave into my house?”
“I said it was a gift.”
“Does that look like a gift to you? It’s clearly a threat!”
Rose shouted.
“He’s telling me to get out somehow!”
The council chair, Grand Duke Tavelon—an impossible figure for a commoner like Dorothy to ignore.
Rose clearly harbored a strong dislike for him.
“Yes, the chair is waiting for my sister.”
This wasn’t something Dorothy should interfere in.
It was impolite to meddle in another’s family affairs.
“I’ll just step aside…”
She tried to leave gracefully, but…
“No need to go. You don’t need to hear this, Dorothy.”
Brandon smiled and held her back.
Dorothy ended up unwillingly caught in someone else’s family drama.
“No need to hear it?”
“It’s just boring. You’d only end up complaining about the chair.”
“What? Boring?”
As usual, their conversation was heated from the start.
“Do you really consider that chairman your father?”
“It doesn’t matter. What matters is that he watches over us.”
Even though they were family,
they cared deeply for each other but didn’t know how to express it.
“Watching over? You mean raising, not caring.”
No, I won’t interfere.
With ringing ears, Dorothy made herself a silent vow.
“What’s the difference between watching over and raising?”
“I mean, the person you rely on has no corner to rely on themselves!”
Was this a conversation or an argument?
Why would people ready to protect each other be tearing each other down?
“Then who do you rely on? Ha-ha, surely not your sister?”
Their conversation was less adult and more like prideful kids bickering.
What is this? This should be basic.
Had no one ever taught them?
Why are they so clueless?
“What did you just say?”
“Shall I repeat it?”
Their past didn’t matter now.
This conversation was clearly wrong.
In the end, Dorothy spoke up.
“Excuse me, you two.”
