Chapter 25
What on earth is happening in the Perdia family?
2022.09.25
Carlo’s tantrum made my head throb.
Until now, we had mostly been at each other’s throats, so I hadn’t realized it—but Carlo was, at his core, just a self-willed youngest teenager.
I can’t believe he’s this much of a brat when he throws a fit.
I hadn’t expected this kind of personality.
And if that alone had been it, it might have been fine—but there was something faintly unhinged about him that made me uneasy.
Maybe it was because the Perdia household wasn’t exactly a healthy environment for a child to grow up in, so he only knew how to express his emotions like this.
At this rate, he might actually go and challenge Leon to a duel.
“Stop it.”
“But, sis—”
“I said stop, Carlo Perdia.”
When I met his eyes and spoke firmly, Carlo—who had looked ready to storm off at any moment—deflated at once.
His cat-like, sharp eyes drooped, making him look even more sulky.
Every time I saw that face, I was reminded that he was still just a child.
Carlo glanced at me carefully and asked hesitantly.
“Are you mad?”
“No. It’s not worth getting mad over.”
At that, his expression brightened slightly.
But the more Carlo acted like that, the lower my mood became.
Anger requires at least a shred of emotional investment.
And right now, I didn’t have the luxury of investing in Carlo. I was too busy worrying about my own future.
I had decided that Carlo suddenly acting like a real younger brother was just a passing phase.
Probably shock from seeing someone fall off a cliff or something. It was surprising that a direct member of Perdia would be this emotionally fragile, but still.
I decided to say what I had been putting off for days.
“And Carlo… I have a favor to ask.”
“Yeah, sis.”
Carlo looked at me with a bright smile, as if he would accept anything. But that smile didn’t last long.
“I want you to stop coming to the annex.”
“……”
I drew a line.
Don’t come any closer.
Carlo and my world were different.
Carlo, the second son of the Duke and a direct heir of Perdia.
And me—someone who would disappear from this household before the novel’s original heroine even appeared, someone not even truly blood-related to Perdia.
Once my birth secret was revealed, this connection would end anyway. So it was better not to get close.
Carlo silently looked at me with an almost tearful expression.
Seeing that look made me feel guilty—maybe because I was lonely.
Just a few days of attention, and I was already hurting from my own words.
Get a grip.
I steadied my wavering heart.
At the same time.
Someone stood outside Elodie’s bedroom door, listening to their conversation.
“……”
In the quiet corridor, Yancy stood motionless, his expression blank. There was no need for a smile when there was no one he needed to smile for.
He had come after hearing from a subordinate he had planted near Elodie that she had taken a mercenary named Ian as her escort.
I’m a step too late.
As always, he had planned to approach Elodie at the very last moment, assuming she would have no partner.
Humans tended to remember the person who extended a hand in a dramatic moment.
And that was how they opened their hearts.
That was his calculation.
But now, not only had she taken an escort, she had also secured a partner for the banquet—both taken by that mercenary Ian.
“Irritating.”
Ever since Elodie had been taken into the family, that “Ian” had been hovering around her.
It was obvious the man had an agenda, yet Elodie was too soft toward him—that was what bothered him.
He had no intention of interfering in his sister’s relationships.
Besides, didn’t Elodie already have a fiancé?
The First Prince, Adenmir, held no particular feelings for him.
It had been a political engagement that Elodie herself agreed to, and Adenmir himself had no feelings for her.
And strangely enough, that fact pleased him the most.
But this mercenary Ian was different. That man had approached Elodie from the beginning with intent.
Is he trying to use Perdia?
If that were the case, he had already succeeded.
By attending the imperial banquet with Elodie, he had effectively announced to all society that the “Sky Hawk Mercenary Group” now had ties with Perdia.
That alone should have been enough.
And yet, the man’s presence still irritated him.
Perhaps because of the intensity of that brief encounter.
He remembered it clearly—the way the mercenary looked at Elodie.
It was not a light emotion.
He couldn’t define it, but it was undeniably deep.
Just then, Carlo came out of Elodie’s room, deflated.
He spotted his brother standing in the dark hallway.
“Hyung—”
“Shh.”
Yancy lifted a finger to his lips with a faint, mask-like smile.
“You’re not going in?”
“She seems like she wants to be alone, so I’ll head back.”
Even Yancy wasn’t surprised that Elodie had told Carlo not to come to the annex anymore.
He already knew she wanted distance from them.
Carlo muttered weakly as they walked back to the main building.
“Did I… do something wrong again?”
It didn’t seem like he had.
Only after the family doctor finally declared full recovery was I allowed to go outside.
I immediately contacted Leon.
He arrived within an hour, as soon as I sent a short-range communication request.
We boarded a carriage for an outing.
Once we were alone, I asked him directly.
“Your public name is Ian, but is it a problem if I call you Leon?”
“It doesn’t matter. Call me whatever you like.”
“Still, it’ll be annoying to explain things if anyone asks, so I’ll call you Ian in public.”
“Yes.”
Perhaps because I was a noble, Leon’s attitude toward me was always polite.
He had never once spoken informally to me. Which made me wonder if he had known my identity from the beginning.
He was so full of secrets that even this felt trivial.
The scenery outside the window rushed past.
As I rested my chin on my hand, Leon called me.
“Miss.”
“Don’t call me Miss. Just my name. What is it?”
“Someone has been following us since earlier. Is it your family’s escort?”
The fact that he could sense surveillance and confirm it were two very different things.
I didn’t like being watched, so my mood soured. Still, I smiled faintly.
“Not exactly an escort…”
A guard my brother sent? Or just surveillance?
It was hard to explain.
Leon spoke in a low voice.
“Should I eliminate them?”
“…Huh?”
I looked at him, thinking he was joking—but his expression was completely serious.
He was dead serious.
With his power, capable of overwhelming battlefields, he could easily remove them.
“It’s fine. Just leave them. They’re Yancy’s men.”
“Why?”
“……”
I gave a bitter smile.
“Because I’m probably annoying to him.”
Leon accepted it without further question.
As for me, I spent the rest of the day just riding around the city aimlessly, returning to the estate only late at night.
The imperial banquet hosted by Imperial Consort Salvatore was dazzling beyond imagination.
She laughed and greeted guests as if displaying her authority.
Her steps eventually stopped in front of Dorothea Angellos.
“You look even more radiant today, Lady Dorothea.”
“Thank you, Your Highness. I’m unworthy of such praise. You are the most beautiful in the hall today.”
“How modest.”
House Angellos—one of the four great noble families.
Dorothea was the only daughter of the Duke, his precious jewel.
Though unspoken, the Duke supported the Second Prince as the next emperor, making his relationship with the Empress Consort particularly close.
Thus, she often flattered Dorothea openly.
Especially today, since Dorothea had entered with the Second Prince, drawing all attention.
As the Empress Consort moved on, jealous glances were cast Dorothea’s way.
She enjoyed it.
Dorothea Angellos was beautiful. She knew she was the most eye-catching presence in the hall.
This dress was specially made by Maison Laverushique.
It was the season’s masterpiece dress designed by Madame Laverushique herself.
A lady spoke carelessly.
“I thought you would wear that dress, Lady Dorothea.”
“…Is that so?”
Dorothea asked with a fan covering her mouth.
Another lady added:
“Lady Perdia bought that dress instead.”
“Elodie Perdia?”
Dorothea’s eyes narrowed.
Elodie Perdia.
Beautiful, yes—but Dorothea did not consider her a rival.
Dorothea was the flower of society.
Elodie, despite similar looks, had a different status.
A noble daughter cherished by a duke versus a mere illegitimate child.
And yet…
She still isn’t on my level.
At that moment, a herald’s voice echoed through the hall.
“Lady Perdia of House Perdia and Ian, leader of the Sky Hawk Mercenary Group, have arrived!”
All eyes turned to the entrance.
“Who?”
“Ian? The mercenary king Ian?”
A mercenary recognized by the Emperor himself.
A man who had rejected countless noble offers.
And now he had appeared at a royal banquet… with the infamous Elodie Perdia.
Shock rippled through the hall.
Then—
Elodie, as lovely and radiant as ever, stepped in beside the breathtakingly handsome mercenary king Ian.
The hall fell silent.
“…Hah.”
A stunned breath echoed loudly.
But that wasn’t all.
“Duke and Duchess Perdia, and the young masters have arrived!”
And then the rest of House Perdia entered together.
Carlo immediately ran to Elodie, ignoring Ian completely.
“Sis, I’m wearing the outfit you gave me…”
He tried to gain her attention with a needy, expectant expression.
Yancy casually joined in.
“Riri, dance the first dance with me.”
Even the Duchess, who usually acted as if she barely knew them, joined the conversation naturally.
And then—
“Come here, Elodie.”
Even the Duke of Perdia, whose attitude had clearly changed, called her over.
The entire hall stared in disbelief.
What… is happening in Perdia…?
