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Chapter 14
Lefonya looked at the chocolates and candies in Felens’ palm. Even sweet things have their limits, and with so many piled up like this, the smell was overwhelmingly strong.
She had thought he was about to fight when he suddenly chased out all the maids.
But instead, he snatched the figs and honeyed apples she had been enjoying and offered her chocolates and candies.
“Here, eat quickly while I keep watch.”
“Give me back my figs and honeyed apples.”
“What? Not the chocolates and candies?”
Felens shouted, turning his head in disbelief.
“Don’t you know what this is? Haven’t you tried chocolate or candy? Well, your father’s always so focused on health, so it’s no wonder he wouldn’t give you this. …Hey, try this. Once you taste it, you won’t even look for your figs and apples.”
“I know. Buddy gave me some, so I’ve tried it.”
“You’ve tried it? And yet you still want figs and apples?”
“They’re tasty if you eat a little, but too much gets boring.”
Lefonya picked just one candy out of the heap.
“You’re the first five-year-old I’ve met who can exercise restraint in front of chocolate and candy. …When I was your age, I secretly ate chocolate behind my father’s back and got a stomachache.”
“You gave it to me so I’d get a stomachache?”
“No. You won’t get a stomachache from just this little chocolate. You’d have to eat it for hours to get one.”
…Now she understood why the second son hadn’t graduated from the academy yet.
“I’m still a patient.”
The five-year-old Lefonya said with a determined expression.
“Patients need to eat healthily. If a doctor saw you eating only chocolate and candy, there’d be a scandal.”
“That’s why I said I’d keep watch and see who’s coming.”
“And I’m supposed to believe that?”
“What?”
Felens hesitated. Meanwhile, Lefonya had brought back the figs and honeyed apples he had taken and poked one with a fork as if it were nothing.
“You’re not on my side anyway.”
She didn’t call him “you” like yesterday, nor did she call him by name. She also didn’t want to call him “brother.”
Of course, before she had regressed in age, Lefonya was twenty, and Felens was twenty-three—so he technically was her older brother.
‘If I called her “brother,” it would feel like I completely took this lady’s place, and that’d feel unpleasant.’
Lefonya would only be a substitute for a few years at most, or just a few months.
“You think I’m a swindler, don’t you?”
Lefonya said casually as she popped a piece of honeyed apple into her mouth.
“You came to chase me out, didn’t you?”
There was no need for pretense.
Lefonya stuffed an apple piece into each cheek and mumbled.
‘With food in both cheeks, my tongue feels stronger, and my mouth opens wider, so my pronunciation improves.’
She decided she’d practice speaking this way every time she ate a snack. Lefonya chewed the honeyed apple thoughtfully.
“Who exactly are you? You know all this and still talk to me like this?”
Felens’ eyes grew cold, as if swapping expressions.
“Lefonya Crytan. I told you yesterday.”
Lefonya muttered her name casually. After being introduced multiple times, the Crytan surname now seemed to fit naturally after her first name.
“…Little one. You still don’t realize how heavy that name is.”
Felens muttered coldly.
With a thud, he dumped the chocolates and candies from his palm onto the table. It looked like he was discarding them, or perhaps like a collapsing sandcastle.
“That’s right.”
Felens rested his chin on his hand across from her.
“I’d appreciate it if you quietly left the mansion so it doesn’t cause a scene.”
Lefonya chewed her apple quietly.
“If you promise to leave obediently, I’ll support you until you become an adult. You’ll have a safe and neat home, and if you want, I’ll even send you to the academy. I’ll make sure you don’t live in lack until you come of age.”
“Talk about that after graduation.”
The five-year-old Lefonya bluntly pointed out to the adult Felens.
Felens’ face contorted.
“It’s not that I couldn’t graduate—I just haven’t yet! I could graduate right after this exam.”
“Oh.”
Lefonya nodded.
“That’s a good offer for you too, right? So when will you—”
“But I’m not leaving.”
Lefonya cut him off. Felens’ face darkened at her refusal.
“Why? It’s warm and nice right now.”
“Who said I’m leaving because of the weather? Saying I should leave like it’s just going out is ridiculous.”
She shook her head incredulously, cutting the figs and putting them in her mouth. The soft, mushy figs spread their sweetness throughout her mouth.
Mmm. Fruit is always best when it’s fresh.
“You’d better follow my opinion if I’m offering support, little one. What will you do if I kick you out right now?”
Felens threatened her with a harsh tone. If Lefonya were truly five, she might have considered it a tempting offer.
‘Once I find my family, I can leave and live freely anyway. I won’t need any support.’
She studied Felens.
‘He’s not like the rumors.’
They said he was selfish, temperamental, and feared by everyone around him—someone who could beat a person nearly to death just by making eye contact when in a bad mood.
“But you still can’t kick me out.”
“What? Hah, so confident, little one.”
Felens sneered.
“Seeing you speak with such certainty, there must be some reason. You even said I was a swindler earlier. Did the person who sent you here strictly forbid you from leaving?”
Felens glared sharply, certain of his assumption.
“I already explained why earlier. Did you forget?”
“What? What reason?”
Felens asked, exuding hostility. Lefonya blinked innocently.
“I’m still a patient.”
Felens’ sharp eyes softened instantly.
Exactly as she expected. Even someone with Felens’ fearsome reputation wouldn’t treat a five-year-old cruelly.
“You want to kick out a five-year-old patient?”
“Hah. That sounds awful. No, it’s not that. I just forgot…hah.”
Felens ran a hand through his hair, face twisted. His blue eyes darted around, unable to counter her logic.
He seemed responsible—she had been injured in the Crytan mansion, and perhaps her assailants were retainers.
‘It’s good that he feels indebted to me.’
Debt is the weakest of human emotions.
‘He’s softer than I thought.’
Lefonya ate the remaining honeyed apple expressionlessly.
“Hey, little one.”
Felens spoke again.
“Why don’t you call me brother?”
Lefonya tilted her head.
“Am I your brother?”
“What?”
“You’re not. You don’t think of me as a lady either.”
She spoke calmly, as if accepting her position, even understanding that everyone except Duke Crytan didn’t consider her family.
“And how could I casually call you, the second son of the Crytan family?”
Calling him by name would be too familiar, and “brother” wouldn’t suit someone who isn’t family.
“You’ll return to the academy anyway, right? You haven’t graduated.”
“Hey, little one. About that graduation…hah, I will graduate right after this exam. I’ll graduate first in the class, just wait.”
“Hmm.”
“What? You think I’m too stupid to graduate? I said I haven’t yet—!”
“No, it’s not that. I just don’t know if I’ll still be here when you graduate. I could suddenly have an accident, die, leave, or be expelled.”
“What? What kind of nonsense is that—”
“The future is uncertain. I never thought I’d be called a lady while living in a nice mansion, wearing fine clothes, eating fresh fruit.”
She had only considered sneaking in as a maid, not becoming a lady.
“So because you don’t know the future, you won’t call me anything while I’m here?”
“Calling by name feels too familiar, and I don’t want to use that title.”
Felens frowned. Talking to a five-year-old felt like hitting a wall. The words she spoke carried no emotion.
Her dreams and hopes seemed faded and old, leaving only a crumpled sense of helplessness and resignation.
‘Is this really all a five-year-old can feel?’
“…Was I this numb too? I don’t think it was this bad.”
“Huh? What did you say?”
“Nothing.”
Felens shook his head.
“You should still have a title to call me. The future is uncertain, right?”
“Then…what should I call you?”
“Make one up yourself, little one. …Hey, it’s bright here with the sunlight.”
Felens gestured to a maid standing quietly next to Lefonya. Startled, she hurriedly opened her parasol and approached him.
“What are you doing? Not me.”
Felens gestured toward Lefonya with his chin. The maid quickly shaded Lefonya’s arm from the sunlight.
“Doesn’t she know there was a fire in her bedroom? She could be burned. You need to shield her properly.”
“I-I’m sorry.”
“If you’re not going to do your job properly, resign.”
Felens leaned back in his chair, clearly annoyed.
‘The rumors about his personality weren’t wrong.’
Relieved that Lefonya appeared five years old, she thought carefully.
“Hmm. Then, senior?”
“…What?”
Felens, leaning back, sat up in disbelief.
“Hey. Is that a title for family?”
“We’re not family. Why do you keep calling us that? I told you, I have no family here.”
“…You really talk well.”
“And you were going to kick me out, right? Why are you so obsessed with titles?”
Felens paused.
“…True.”
His voice weakened. Lefonya glanced up while eating her figs.
“Am I as crazy as my father? Or does your face just remind me of someone?”
“My face?”
Lefonya rubbed her face. Felens just smiled and spoke energetically as if nothing had happened.
“Anyway, I’m not your junior, right?”
“…Earlier you said you’d support me and send me to the academy if I wanted. Then I guess junior isn’t wrong.”
Lefonya’s logical retort left Felens speechless.
“I tell my juniors at the academy not to call me that because it’s creepy.”
“Hmm. Then you dislike it?”
Seeing the five-year-old looking nervous, Felens felt a sudden irritation. He closed his eyes and leaned back in the chair.
“Hah, just call me whatever you want. Senior or junior…what difference does it make?”
“Alright, senior.”
Lefonya smiled and finished the honeyed apple.
Felens stayed beside her, eyes closed, not leaving until she had finished the figs and honeyed apples.
