IJSMC 04

Chapter : 04

Courtney must have been thoroughly dumbfounded, because she could only stare blankly at Sirius’s back without even managing to grab hold of him.

But soon snapping back to her senses, Courtney hurriedly seized Sirius with a distorted expression.

“Wait!”

Sirius, who had heard the loud voice, still looked completely unfazed—but Elena, instead, was startled.

That was because Sirius had suddenly grabbed her arm.

It was nothing more than an unconscious reflex—he hadn’t wanted to be dragged along by Courtney’s pull and had simply grabbed onto whatever was beside him—but the contact was abrupt enough to be flustering.

“I’m talking to you. Shouldn’t you at least listen?!”

It seemed Courtney had even given up laying the groundwork for using informal speech, as she exploded in anger outright.

The backlash made Elena suppress a cough that threatened to escape. Her nose stung sharply, as if being pricked.

“There’s no need to listen if it’s something not worth hearing.”

“Hah!”

In the meantime, Sirius replied to Courtney in his own cool, unhurried manner.

But upon hearing his response, Courtney twisted the corner of her mouth crookedly, as if incredulous.

“What, are you trying to gather allies to oppose us?”

Her fingertip pointed toward the hand with which Sirius was gripping Elena’s arm.

Joseph chimed in with Courtney, openly sneering at Sirius.

“He’s holding onto her like she’s something special. But siding with her is an incredibly stupid choice.”

What everyone was misunderstanding was that she’d merely been grabbed because she happened to be standing nearby.

But Joseph’s mocking voice was loud enough to easily twist the truth.

“She’s nothing more than surplus, not even worth ranking. In other words, a worm.”

“If Father hadn’t told us not to touch her, I’d have gouged her eyes out first.”

Even though the words were spoken lightly, the anger and jealousy within them were unmistakable. Elena reflexively squeezed her eyes shut.

But it was a meaningless act of defiance.

Closing her eyes wouldn’t help if someone truly intended to tear them out.

The reason she’d developed such a foolish habit lay with her own father, Duke Rode.

“If I could, I’d like to carve out your eyes.”

The duke had spoken calmly, but Elena could easily tell that he meant it.

Each time she heard those words, she’d instinctively shut her eyes, convinced he might truly take them.

That habit, learned through fear, often resurfaced whenever Courtney and Joseph revealed their hatred and jealousy.

“It’s a pity I can’t.”

Yet even as they threatened her, they couldn’t easily kill Elena.

That was because her eyes were far too special.

Perfect gold.

Golden eyes were a hereditary trait of the Rode ducal family, carrying the power to read others’ emotions.

It was a power worthy of being called an authority.

If someone inherited the golden eyes properly, they could distinguish even those who smiled on the surface while sharpening knives in their hearts.

To the public, the Rode family was known as being perceptive, or especially good at understanding others’ feelings.

But in truth, they used their golden eyes to accurately discern goodwill from hostility, truth from lies.

How was that possible?

It was a power that could only be explained by vague phrases like “you just know when you see their face” or “a gut feeling.”

The current Duke Rode had been born with that ability and, after fierce competition, had become the head of the family.

His eyes, red with a golden sheen, were considered particularly vivid even among the Rode lineage.

The more gold shimmered in one’s eyes, the stronger the power—making that detail critically important.

And Elena’s eyes held the brilliance of a radiant sun.

From any angle, they were perfectly golden.

Why did perfect golden eyes have to come to me?

Lamenting it was pointless.

She was already born this way—what could she do about it?

Letting out a faint sigh, Elena steeled herself and opened her eyes.

A red, mist-like emotion burst violently from Courtney.

Because Elena’s ability was both powerful and direct, emotions appeared to her as visible forms.

When those mist-like or luminous emotions brushed against her, she could even feel them physically.

Elena shuddered inwardly at the pain that felt as if she were being struck.

Anger was red. Mixed with jealousy and hatred, it became murkier still.

Fortunately for her, the direction of that anger soon changed.

“Something that can’t even squirm when stepped on… Honestly, trash like that isn’t worth paying attention to. You understand, Prince Sirius?”

Realizing that venting her anger on Elena was a waste of time, Courtney redirected her temper toward Sirius.

“I hear you even had a meal with Elena? Then there’s nothing more to discuss. While I’m being nice, you’d better follow our family’s rules—”

“Who told you you could speak to me informally?”

At last, Sirius showed a hint of emotional movement; a faint, hazy light drifted around him.

To Elena’s senses, that light felt like irritation born of fatigue.

In other words, Sirius wasn’t scared at all.

Courtney was simply annoying to him.

“Even my mentor only did so after receiving my permission.”

The implication was clear: Who do you think you are to ignore the etiquette even Duke Rode observes?

Elena couldn’t help but admire him.

Sirius truly was extraordinary.

Without exerting himself, he’d deflected Courtney’s provocation—and only now was his emotion shifting at all.

It seemed even Duke Rode’s pressure hadn’t been enough to shake him.

“These ‘family rules’ you speak of—who exactly made them?”

“Well, that’s—”

At a loss for words, Courtney couldn’t continue.

If she insisted on speaking informally, it would imply her rules came before her father’s.

She had no intention of insulting her father, but it was easy to twist the situation that way.

Having lived her life using such tactics, Courtney knew that better than anyone.

“That’s not what I meant…!”

Fearing she might be framed, Courtney floundered helplessly.

Where had her ambition to crush Sirius gone?

Watching her fluster before a boy five years younger was downright unsightly.

Sirius observed her impassively, then tossed out a single remark.

“I’m tired. Get lost.”

But perhaps he didn’t even want to deal with them any longer—Sirius moved first.

Elena naturally ended up following him.

Since he was still holding her arm, they’d unintentionally become a single bundle.

Please let go…

Elena timidly shook her arm.

She couldn’t bring herself to tell him outright to release her.

She’d just witnessed him flatten Courtney as easily as spreading strawberry jam on bread.

“Pardon me.”

Fortunately, Sirius released her arm without hesitation.

It seemed he really had been holding on without thinking.

Freed, Elena quickened her pace and moved ahead of him.

She intended to slip back to her attic room as soon as the path forked—

Why are you still following me? This is driving me crazy!

She took back what she’d thought earlier.

The sense that he’d been trailing her wasn’t a misunderstanding at all.

The path to the attic in the west tower twisted and grew increasingly deserted, yet Sirius followed her with not even a hair’s breadth of distance between them.

What should I do… Should I ask him not to follow me?

After agonizing over it, Elena decided to speak up.

She was still hesitant to address Sirius, but she couldn’t exactly let him follow her into her room.

“Why are you following me?”

She gathered her courage, spun around sharply, and asked.

Caught slightly off guard, he blinked.

Now he finally looked like a ten-year-old boy.

That visual made Elena’s words flow more easily than she’d expected.

“If you go this way, you’ll reach my attic.”

“I know.”

His attitude clearly said, Then why are you telling me?

That’s not what I meant!

Frustrated, Elena stomped her foot without thinking.

Unexpectedly, a burst of bright, multicolored mist flickered briefly from Sirius.

…Did he laugh?

His face hadn’t changed at all, but he’d definitely snickered inwardly.

That sensation only appeared when he was amused.

Elena couldn’t believe it.

This guy can laugh?

Or rather—was her stomping that funny?

But she couldn’t help it.

No matter how much she insisted that all her experiences were etched into her soul, her psychology had synchronized with that of a ten-year-old due to the complete nature of her possession.

And ten years old was undeniably young.

Elena had merely acted in a way appropriate for her age.

Still, imagining Sirius—her age—stomping his feet was hard even for her.

Maybe that was why it looked funny when someone else did it.

Flustered, Elena decided to just run and leave him behind.

But since she was already close to her destination, it didn’t take long for him to catch up.

“You said you wouldn’t follow me!”

“I never said that.”

Momentarily flaring up, Elena was stunned by the factual counterattack.

…True. He was right.

“But I never said I was following you either.”

That was also true. Still, Elena couldn’t help but eye him suspiciously.

And yet—he’d already followed her all the way to her door… only to pass it by.

Sirius grasped the doorknob of the room right next to her attic.

Come to think of it, in the west tower, her room stood beside the room where her sixth brother had once lived.

It seemed Sirius had been assigned that room as his residence.

“Do you have something to say?”

“…Good night.”

With her cheeks burning red, Elena fled straight into her room.

And so she failed to hear Sirius quietly murmuring a good-night in return.