C75
As soon as Belreck saw Deborah approaching him, he shivered reflexively.
"I can't believe I'm afraid of my sister."
However, she knows many of his weaknesses, so he couldn't help it.
He had one more thing to worry about.
"Damn."
Belreck, who had recently been stuck in the tower alone preparing the artifacts to be exhibited at the exhibition, stopped in Seymour's library after a long time and noticed that the internal data classification system had changed dramatically.
"A card cabinet with lists of books? Who brought something like this? Could it be that you designed this?"
Hoping that wasn't the case, but the lady, who he believed was brought by Deborah, responded cheerfully to the point of being unpleasant.
"It was Princess Deborah!"
A rotten feeling, for some unknown reason, passed through his spine.
As he walked through the garden of the house, swallowing the ominous feeling of poking a beehive, he encountered his younger sister who looked like a viper.
No wonder he didn't want to come home recently.
"Please do this."
Deborah suddenly approached and presented a blueprint with a shameless expression.
This time, she had drawn a strange magical tool that had the ability to apply heat to the bottom while spinning at high speed.
It was creepy because it was an elaborate drawing from which he could infer the function approximately.
He had a great knowledge of mechanics, which is why he wanted to entrust her with the blueprint of this attack-type magical tool.
"Deborah, what are you doing with magical tools these days? In Seymour, the only thing you can cover up like a quack is even the lowest-ranking nobles. Anything more than that can lead to a trial."
"It's not like that."
Deborah muttered reluctantly.
"What do you mean 'not like that'? Apparently, it's a magical tool that secretly sprays gas from a heated poisonous liquid!"
Not only poisonous gas, but adding the function of a magic missile to such a machine seemed quite intimidating as a military weapon.
"You're incriminating me again."
"How can I not suspect you? How dare you bring a slavery contract with a toxic clause to the Seymour heir and your celestial brother? Hey, con artist!"
Every time Belreck thought about the contract written in fine print like a sesame seed, he felt so provoked that he woke up in his sleep.
He had never seen such a contract.
It was then.
Deborah lifted the corner of her mouth with a strange look.
"Who's the celestial brother?"
"What?"
"You just called me your sister."
At that moment, the crap that had come out of his mouth before flashed through his head like a lightning bolt.
The terrifying nature he had felt before was exactly this.
Deborah lightly tapped the artifact with a recording function as if she had been waiting for it, and there was a ten-minute conversation recording that he wanted to erase.
"What would you do if I prove I'm not lying?"
"Ah! I'll personally call you sister, Deborah."
"This, no, not at all."
Belreck was so embarrassed by the evidence that his voice abruptly cracked.
"If the librarian's issue was properly resolved, my brother promised to call me sister. Do you think I could overlook that important comment?"
"No, I can't believe you recorded that slip of the tongue made during an outburst of anger! Can you still call yourself a classy aristocratic lady?"
Belreck retorted with a pale face, then tried to snatch the magic stone from Deborah's hand.
But somehow, her reflexes were quite good; she quickly stepped back.
"I'm sorry, but even if you break this, I have several copies in my hand. I have plenty of magical artifacts like this."
"This is crazy."
"If you do it correctly according to the blueprint, I'll forget you ever called me sister, so don't worry."
Deborah narrowed her eyes like a snake.
"Of course, if you're not kind to my vassals, I might change my mind a little."
Pretending to be concerned about her vassals and naturally threatening him.
Belreck gritted his teeth at Deborah's meticulousness in even covering the justification.
"What kind of malicious demon...?"
"If I were a true demon, I would have sold this audio recording to Brother Rosad at a high price. So let's do this as quickly as possible."
"Would you sell it to Rosad?"
(Note: I need this brother to show up already.)
He hadn't thought of that until that moment, so his spine chilled.
Rosad, who had a bad personality, could turn around and betray him as soon as he heard his recorded voice. Although Belreck was born later than Rosad at first glance, he would never call him his older brother, even if his mouth tore apart. When the issue of the nickname containing his pride arose, he urgently changed his attitude.
"Deborah. Indeed, making artifacts is the most fun thing in the world. Leave it to me. I'll do it as quickly as possible."
"I'll come by often to check on the progress. The design of the central part of the drawing isn't perfect. Well, good luck."
After Deborah gave him a pat on the shoulder as if he were her younger brother, she suddenly left.
Belreck, who was left alone, pounded his chest as if he had a frozen heart, and then pulled his hair.
If he wanted to get out of this terrible situation, he had no choice but to marry Deborah as soon as possible, but he couldn't think of a suitable magician who could satisfy his father.
If he brought the wrong man, he might be kicked out of the house...
No, is there even a man who would be willing to marry my sister in the first place, who could threaten the dependable Lord Visconti and be brought as a decoration?
He touched his temples with a very dark expression.
-----------------------
"Ah."
After meeting with Belreck, she felt exhausted.
His skills were great, but he was usually not easy to deal with.
They had to discuss for at least 10 minutes to convince him to do something.
Because he treated her as if she were involved in a crime.
The results were the same anyway, but why did Belreck always repeat a senseless rebellion?
"I think the younger son is much more worthy than the second son in this house."
Enrique is too precocious.
He even treats me as if I were a real teacher.
"Thank you for taking the time for me."
"Thank you for the great teaching. Sister."
With his adult tone, she felt like she had become an older grandparent for some reason.
She wanted to get closer, so she was trying to find a reasonable excuse. However, she felt like it was flowing in a different direction from her intentions.
"Oh? It's Enrique."
She could see Enrique in the distance.
The warm wind gently swept through the boy's silver hair.
The flowers that bloomed in August were extraordinarily colorful, but Enrique, standing like a doll in front of a blooming rose, seemed achromatic for some reason.
Enrique, with a face as pale as blank paper, quickly passed between the bushes and disappeared into the annex.
"What's wrong? He seemed really depressed."
I furrowed my brows because the little figure, as if carrying a heavy burden, cast a shadow over my eyes.
-------------------
"I heard you ranked first, but there's not much difference compared to second place from last semester. Young Master."
"This is a famous private tutor in the capital, specially brought by Duke Seymour for you. Other family members don't have this opportunity. We have to work harder not to disappoint and let down the Duke."
As Madame Karil said, the nanny, Enrique knew he had to work harder and put in more effort, but he didn't want to lift a finger.
Summer was the worst time for the boy.
It was because the heat felt like it was mercilessly pressing down on his shoulders.
Especially in the eighth month, his body felt heavier as if he were wearing a wet cotton cloth.
"I'm tired."
Enrique, who was doing homework the size of a mountain left by the tutor, stared at the tapestry with a heroic narrative drawn on it, with a blank expression on his face.
"Homework, I have to finish it."
His body kept getting drained.
Enrique had an unpleasant dream of drowning in a black swamp every night.
The snake caught his itching leg, and he couldn't struggle to free himself.
After waking up from the nightmare, Enrique tossed and turned for a while with his eyes wide open because he couldn't fall back asleep out of fear.
He had weak physical strength because he was a child, but he couldn't sleep well at night, so becoming lethargic during the day was inevitable.
Enrique, who was drawing a snake swallowing a warrior with vacant eyes on the tapestry, suddenly stood up at the passing thought.
It was because the person who immediately came to mind when it came to snakes.
His mind went blank, but suddenly he regained his senses for a moment.
"Today is the day I have private lessons with my sister Deborah!"
The moment he remembered the forgotten events, he felt his spine stiffen.
"Like a fool!"
He had promised.
Instead of going to the tutor, he had decided to go to the library at this time of the week.
"Young Master! Are you going to the library to read books again? Have you finished your homework for today?"
The nanny called out to him with a stern expression, but Enrique didn't respond as he left the annex and ran to the library.