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Chapter 26
“……What?”
Elaena tilted her head slightly, her face stiff with confusion.
Pumpkin?
Did this kid just call me a pumpkin?
Was that the same “pumpkin” I think it is?
“Are your ears bad or something, Pumpkin?”
“Pumpkin, pumpkin.” Nox repeated the word teasingly, mocking her.
“Young Master!”
The butler, flustered, tried to scold him, but Nox ran up the stairs, shouting back.
“I don’t wanna see any of you! Get out of my sight! I can’t stand that stupid pumpkin, or the butler who’s all chummy with her—ugh!”
The word hyung (brother) got stuck in his throat and wouldn’t come out. Clenching his eyes shut, Nox screamed again.
“Anyway, I hate all of you! Just get out!”
After the storm of shouting had passed, the entrance hall was left heavy with awkward silence.
“……I’m sorry. He’s never behaved that rudely before.”
Lyle apologized to Elaena, his expression rigid. His disappointment in his younger brother was clear. The frown on his face didn’t ease even slightly.
“Um… does your family have a tradition of calling really pretty people ‘pumpkin’ or something?”
No one answered her joke. The atmosphere only grew more suffocating.
“Haha… I mean, I just asked because it’s the first time I’ve heard something like that.”
Elaena scratched her cheek, glancing toward the staircase. The child who’d just been yelling—unlike his older brother, that cute little boy with the golden hair—clearly didn’t like her at all.
“I think I should head back for today.”
“What? Why?”
“I need to have a talk with Nox.”
“Are you planning a talk… or a scolding?”
Lyle didn’t respond. Elaena sighed.
“You said you were just starting to get close with him. If Your Grace scolds him now, all that progress will be gone.”
“I can’t just ignore behavior like that.”
“Who said you should ignore it? But you should at least find out why he’s acting like that.”
“Lady, forgive me, but I’d prefer if you didn’t interfere with my family matters.”
“Sorry, but it’s about to become my family matter too.”
The maids swallowed nervously as the two refused to back down.
“Butler.”
“Y-Yes, Lady Winchester.”
“Lead the way.”
“L-Lead the way? To… where, exactly?”
“Where else? To Nox Grant’s room.”
At her words, Lyle grabbed her arm. Elaena calmly pried his fingers off one by one and said,
“I’ll go myself. I think he has some sort of complaint against me.”
Then, with a bright smile, she added,
“Sorry, but he’s the one who picked a fight. And in my family, we have a rule—never lose a fight that someone starts with you.”
“You mean to tell me you’re going to fight a ten-year-old?”
“Oh my.”
Elaena widened her eyes in mock surprise.
“Of course. If I have to, I wouldn’t even hold back against a five-year-old. What does age have to do with winning a fight?”
Of course, she wasn’t actually planning to fight him.
From the first moment she saw him, that boy had caught her attention—the one who had silently glared down at her from the upstairs railing.
He had the same red eyes as Lyle, but his bright golden hair didn’t resemble the Grant family at all. He must have taken after his late mother.
The way his eyes had wavered after he’d said those cruel words, the way he’d bristled like a wounded hedgehog—he wasn’t a bad child. Just hurt.
‘I can’t let Lyle and Nox meet right now.’
In Moonshadow, Diane’s marriage to Lyle had been what completely tore the brothers apart. Nox had been furious at Lyle for forming a new family while showing no care for him.
Living under the same roof, Nox had treated Diane rudely, and Lyle hadn’t tolerated it. Not long after the wedding, he sent Nox away to boarding school.
Even when Nox cried that he didn’t want to leave home, Lyle forced him into the carriage. It was no different from casting him out.
“Don’t think of coming back here until you graduate.”
“Graduate? Don’t make me laugh. Even if you, Lyle Grant, die—I’m never coming back!”
Those were the last words the two brothers ever exchanged.
If only someone—an adult—had been there to truly care for Nox, things might have been different. But neither the melancholic Diane nor the distant Lyle had that kind of warmth to give.
‘I can’t let things turn out like that this time.’
At last, the butler stopped in front of a door.
“This is it.”
It was locked.
“He locked it?”
Elaena gave a short laugh and glanced at the butler.
“Does he lock himself in often?”
“……It happens when the young master gets angry, yes.”
Even though it was clear he didn’t want to see anyone, Elaena ordered the butler to bring the keys.
Soon, he returned with a large ring of keys.
When Elaena unlocked the door and stepped inside, Nox was lying face-down on his bed. It seemed that, until now, locking the door had always solved his problems. He hadn’t even imagined anyone could get in.
When the door opened, he jerked his head up, startled. Seeing who it was, his tear-streaked face twisted in fury.
“Get out! Who said you could come in, you stupid pumpkin!”
“Butler,” Elaena said sweetly. “From now on, no one’s allowed in here. Understand?”
Even the duke himself, her tone implied, wasn’t to enter. The butler swallowed hard and nodded.
Elaena closed the door. The key ring was in her hand. Calmly, she locked the door from the inside. The metallic click echoed through the room.
“Y-You stupid pumpkin!”
Nox’s face turned red as she ignored his yelling.
“Yawn~. How boring. Is that really the only insult you know?”
Elaena yawned deliberately, teasing him. She placed the keys on the table and smiled at him brightly.
“‘Pumpkin,’ huh? You think I’d actually be offended by that? Tell me, have you ever seen a pumpkin this pretty?”
Pretty pumpkin?
Nox was furious. But, as Elaena had guessed, he didn’t actually know any worse insults.
To him, calling a girl “pumpkin” was the biggest insult possible. The mean boys at school used it all the time, and every time, the girls would burst into tears.
“Are you stupid? How can a pumpkin be pretty? A pumpkin means someone’s ugly!”
“Exactly. I thought it was weird, too. Maybe you should see a doctor? Should I call your brother?”
“What? Why would I need a doctor!”
“Well, because something’s not right with you, obviously.”
“There’s nothing wrong with me! I’m perfectly healthy!”
“Nope. You’re sick.”
“I said I’m not! Why do you keep saying that?!”
“That’s odd. Your eyes must be hurting, then. Or maybe it’s your head?”
Before he knew it, Elaena had walked right up to him. She leaned forward so their faces were inches apart.
“If I look ugly to you, then your eyes are broken. And if I feel ugly to you, then your brain must be.”
“Ugh!”
Nox trembled with rage. No one had ever talked back to him like this before.
‘What is with this woman?!’
He’d expected her to cry and run away when he called her a pumpkin. But instead, she’d broken in through his locked door!
“Nox, do you study much?”
“Are you kidding? I’m the smartest in my class, you pumpkin!”
“Really? Then why don’t you logically explain why I’m a pumpkin? I can’t seem to understand your reasoning.”
Elaena tilted her head innocently.
Nox opened and closed his mouth, speechless.
He’d only said it to be mean—but if he admitted that, she’d definitely laugh at him again. So he thought hard, desperately searching for an answer.
‘Oh, honestly.’
Elaena shook her head slightly. Up close, Nox was actually a very cute boy—his golden hair and red eyes suited him perfectly. His puffed-up cheeks made her want to poke them, but she restrained herself. That would only make him hate her more.
“Well…”
“Mm-hmm?”
“B-because you’re ugly.”
“Ugly, huh. All right. So what does ugly even mean? You’re saying there’s some universal standard for who’s pretty and who’s not, right? Then tell me—are people with double eyelids pretty or ugly? What about people whose lips turn down at the corners? What color hair counts as handsome? What about shoe size, or eye color, or height, or body shape, or eyesight, or voice?”
The endless stream of questions left Nox completely flustered.
