C137
"I should make time for this too, right?"
Belreck said when he heard that his father was preparing for a family outing.
"Is it just a simple picnic, so there's no need for you to attend out of a sense of duty?"
Belreck frowned at his vassal's response.
"Do you think I don't feel like going every time there's an informal gathering?"
"...I'm sorry."
"Also, if Rosad is the only one going, wouldn't I be missing the opportunity to score points with my father?"
If he wanted to go, he could honestly say he wanted to, but Belreck expressed his intention to join the family outing while giving all sorts of excuses.
"Normally, I'd just be stuck in the Tower, but why does Belreck keep doing things he never does?"
Meanwhile, Rosad, who had been called to several social gatherings, had to waste his time while scratching his head at the rumors that his twin brother would join the outing.
This is because nothing good would come out of this situation if he were the only one absent.
In the end, all of Seymour's direct relatives gathered on the day of the outing.
The servants waiting to assist them could not help but be surprised by the glamorous side of Seymour's family members, who looked cold but also beautiful.
"Why did you two come? I heard you were as busy as bees."
When the two busy sons showed their faces side by side, Duke Seymour's expression did not show displeasure and instead seemed pleased.
"I keep thinking about my family's faces since I was alone in the east."
"Ha, that fool... full of pretensions."
When Rosad spoke shamelessly, Belreck quickly swallowed his mockery.
Enrique, who had dozed off, blinked with a pale and stiff face when the brothers he was not very close to suddenly appeared.
"Since you're already here, I have no intention of sending you away. Let's go."
Duke Seymour took the lead while throwing a joke.
After a while, the procession of carriages carrying Seymour's direct line passed by the house and headed to the estate on the outskirts.
* * *
"Why does it have to be the estate?"
I had practiced riding horses several times at home because horseback riding is basic knowledge for nobles, but it was the first time I rode a horse on such a large estate.
"I'm glad to have good athletic ability."
Deborah was a speed maniac and rode horses fast, but I was still getting used to horseback riding, so I rode as slowly as possible.
Then, Duke Seymour unintentionally followed my pace, and my father's face seemed happy as if he had misunderstood something.
"Isn't it nice to ride a horse while looking at the scenery in a relaxed manner?"
".....Yes."
Belreck and Rosad were competing with their horses in the distance. Staying behind each other seemed to hurt their pride.
"Tch! Those guys keep making a fuss even when we get here. Come to think of it, the youngest one is the most dignified."
Enrique, who was riding a horse in an upright posture, blushed slightly at his father's praise. He must have liked the word "the youngest." After a while, a large lake with a cabin appeared, and the servants prepared a simple meal and tea.
There was also a small boat with a large canopy on the lake for a leisurely stroll.
"It's relaxing."
Belreck approached me as I looked at the lake reflecting the sky and trees like a mirror.
"Deborah. Who do you think arrived first?"
He asked a childish question, and Rosad stared at me while pulling on the horse's reins.
"How should I know?"
I moved immediately because I didn't want to get caught in their fight.
"Honestly, who were you cheering for?"
"I didn't cheer for anyone."
"Try to think about it at least once. There must be a side your heart unconsciously leans toward, right?"
"Now I can clearly understand, my brother is behaving childishly because he wants to be called brother."
"How can you say that out loud?"
After leaving behind the blushing Belreck, I sat on the chair in front of the cabin and looked around.
Duke Seymour was teaching Enrique how to skip stones, and Rosad was riding a horse around the area.
It was a peaceful sight that was nothing like the previously ruined family where we never saw each other.
"By the way, Deborah. I'm curious about something."
Belreck didn't tire and sat in front of me.
"I won't answer any childish questions."
"It's a serious question. I sold five of the artifacts I designed the other day, but what is their exact purpose?"
"It's a machine that makes a dessert called cotton candy. The liquid caramel goes to the outer wall due to the rotation of the container, and something like a thin thread would come out through the small hole."
"I can't believe it's being used in Armand."
"Do you know Armand?"
"It's the place that sells coffee. It's effective for warding off drowsiness, so I go to that place every time I go to the Tower."
The demand for coffee is increasing every day, to the extent that even Belreck knows about it. But it's also worrying.
"The supply of coffee beans will be severely disrupted..."
It's more problematic because the traders of the Duchy of Perdin are clever and are increasing the price of coffee beans.
"It had been quite quiet since Bruno, the bully, left."
I got lost in my thoughts, but then I set them aside and turned my gaze to the lake. This place is too beautiful and peaceful to think about work.
"Damn it!"
Then, Belreck suddenly stood up again as he broke something.
He shouted as he looked at the beetle sitting on the table.
"It's really chaotic."
I picked up the beetle with a handkerchief and threw it on the ground because I really wasn't afraid of insects, even though I'm afraid of ghosts.
"What kind of insect is so big?"
"Shouldn't you be calling me sister right now?"
"Sister!"
Enrique called me at a good moment and approached me, then hesitated when his eyes met Belreck.
"The youngest is still small."
"N-no, I'll grow taller!"
Belreck stood up with a mocking expression, and the boy looked at him from behind before sitting next to me.
"My brother is scary and mean. My sister is the one I like the most."
"Ah, he's so cute."
I petted Enrique several times as he drank his glass of milk with a resentful expression. The boy shook his hair and wiped his mouth stained with milk.
Soon, Duke Seymour also sat at the table and took a light bite.
Although we played alone, the picnic went smoothly.
"Sister, are you going to see the lake?"
He had been a little stiff because of his brothers, but now Enrique seemed to have relaxed. He spoke to me as he followed.
"Yes. Shall we go together?"
Enrique nodded and tightly held my hand.
I dipped my hand in the cold lake water for a while and then sat on the grassy field. Enrique squatted beside me and smelled the flowers like an enchanted cat.
"Sister. Here."
Enrique showed me the flower ring made by his little hands.
When I extended my hand, he put the flower ring on my finger carefully.
"It's amazing. Are you giving me this? Thank you, Enrique."
When I put a white flower in his ear, Enrique smiled happily.
"You look happy."
Now that I think about it, it's the first time Enrique has played comfortably while feeling a sense of belonging to the family.
I returned the smile unknowingly as warmth spread to my heart, and I gently stroked the child's hair.
---------------------------
Rosad left the horse with the reins tied to a tree and unintentionally reminisced about his childhood as he watched Enrique and Deborah playing.
"Unexpected."
It might be because his sister's resemblance to their mother's appearance was very striking.
When he saw his sister surrounded by wildflowers, old memories of walking through the garden while holding his mother's hand passed like a breeze.
"She has changed."
What on earth made Deborah change?
Duke Visconti?
Deborah not only brought changes to herself but also to the people around her. The atmosphere in the house, Enrique, Belreck, even their father.
"I'll never get used to this kind of atmosphere."
Rosad stood with crossed arms and then felt a pang in his heart when he saw Deborah smiling gently at Enrique.
This is because he remembered his mother's smile in the past, as if they were overlapping for a moment.
"I never thought Deborah and my mother would be so similar."
Their appearance was indeed similar, but Deborah didn't have the atmosphere of his mother, who was like a calm lake.
However, now it seemed different.
Even before, Belreck had been watching where Deborah was, as if he had the same thoughts as him.
"Belreck came here because he wanted to spend time with Deborah."
He could decipher Belreck's thoughts in an instant, perhaps because they are twins.
Rosad looked back at his sister's face and then headed to the small boat where his father was.
"Are you getting on?"
"I'm a master at controlling airflow through magic. I'm much better than calling a group of boatmen."
He was trying to show off his magical powers in front of his father.
Rosad excelled in war because he used many wind system formulas.
"Then, will you row the boat?"
Duke Seymour wanted to see the skills of his eldest son, who was famous enough to be adapted into a play.
"Yes. I only need one person to control the direction."
"I think both can come back."
"They should come back."
At that moment.
When the boatman received the order to return, he suddenly ran in front of Duke Seymour and knelt down.
"What is he doing suddenly?"
The servants shouted, and the boatman pleaded with a desperate voice.
"Great Duke Seymour. Please listen to my story."
"What's happening for him to be like this?"
Rosad blocked the man, who bowed his head, with a cold expression. The boatman shouted.
"The priest took my newborn daughter a few days ago and didn't return her!"
"Are you saying the priest took your daughter?"
"He said he wanted to check her divine power."