Chapter 04
Amon thought that among all the people in this mansion, his sister was one of those he was least likely to run into.
The last time he had seen her was last winter.
For Amon, encountering his sister was one of the rarest occurrences.
‘Because Sister always avoids me….’
The day Amon turned three, the day his wet nurse left the mansion.
From the moment he was made to move rooms by order of the Duke of Rober that day, Amon had been quietly sustaining his life, careful not to catch his eye.
Before that, he had used the room directly across from his sister’s, so they had run into each other from time to time. But now, not only was the distance greater, he also had to exist as if dead, so he could not dare seek her out first.
Because of that, he naturally thought that the number of times he encountered his sister had decreased.
But starting from the day he last saw her last winter, he realized something.
That his sister had been deliberately avoiding him.
Only when he saw her—after their eyes met by chance in the corridor—turn around and retrace the path she had come from without hesitation.
‘How foolish of me. Seeing my dull, pathetic self, how sick of me Sister must have felt.’
It was the first time they had truly come face to face since then, aside from times when he merely watched her from afar.
No, more than that—it was the first time they had ever exchanged words.
Amon remembered his childhood, when his sister had come to see him.
Rieli, smaller than she was now, came to see Amon when he was still an infant, and she had only looked down at him in silence.
Just like his father, the Duke of Rober, had done. She simply stared at him endlessly, then reached out her hand.
But her gaze carried a light different from the Duke’s eyes, which had glittered with murderous intent.
As she carefully picked Amon up in her arms, clear water pooled in her eyes.
Soon, one drop, then two.
The droplets of tears that fell and dampened Amon’s cheeks gradually grew larger, until at last, as if a dam had burst, Rieli held the baby and wept soundlessly.
At the time, Amon did not even know who she was.
Yet, seeing the girl holding him and crying, he had unconsciously begun to whimper as well.
Just before Amon was about to burst into tears himself, she left him behind and vanished without a trace.
That was the first image Amon had of his sister, Rieli.
It was also the longest time Amon had ever spent together with his sister.
After that day, Rieli never came to see Amon again.
And when Amon began to speak in clumsy, halting words—
Even when she looked down at him with a subtle expression after he called out “Nu-ah—” in a badly slurred pronunciation, and even when she gave no reply, Amon still made sure to greet his sister every time.
Even if no answer ever came back, she was his sister, and the only person he considered family.
Amon remembered it clearly.
Back when he was still inside his mother’s womb. The sound of his sister’s voice saying she loved him, saying she wanted to meet him.
Only toward his older sister, Rieli, did Amon harbor expectations.
Would a day come when Sister would finally look back at him?
Would a day come when she would return his greeting?
If one day he became a younger brother who was not so embarrassing to her….
Would she then tell him once again that she loved him?
It was nothing but a vain dream, but he had once held such hope.
‘At least Sister doesn’t hate me… so if I try hard enough, maybe it’s possible.’
Perhaps.
Swallowing the rest of the thought, Amon had forced himself to believe that.
Even as he blankly watched her hastily turn back down the path she had come from, leaving him behind.
He did not want to admit the possibility that his thoughts might be wrong.
If he let go of the tiny handful of hope he had left, there would be nothing remaining for him.
He no longer had the confidence to endure that.
That was why he wanted to show a version of himself that lacked nothing.
So that when Sister eventually looked back at him, he would not be standing there in a dull and wretched form.
Fortunately, the Rober ducal household possessed an abundance of books related to etiquette, and Amon read every single one of them thoroughly, practicing again and again on his own.
“…Sister? I had a younger brother?”
And perhaps those efforts were not entirely useless—his sister spoke to him for the first time since his birth.
Although her maid scoffed and made dismissive remarks about Amon, such things were not worth worrying about to him.
The fact that Sister had looked at him.
That alone was what mattered.
Though it seemed that, in his still very lacking state, he had not yet been acknowledged as a younger brother….
‘Then I’ll just have to try harder.’
The fact that Sister finally looked at him without avoiding him—that alone filled Amon with joy and excitement.
Chewing the meat that melted gently in his mouth and disappeared, Amon felt his heart jolt as sudden anxiety and fear swept over him.
‘Am I dreaming right now?’
Otherwise, how could it make sense that he was sitting here alone with his sister, sharing a meal like this?
It felt more convincing to think of it as a fairly realistic dream.
That was how unreal the moment felt—the moment when his sister had come to find him, so much so that he doubted whether it was reality at all.
His room was located in the farthest corner of the mansion.
That his sister would personally come all the way there and invite him to dine…. It was something he had only ever imagined.
And what about just a little while ago? His sister had directly given orders to the servants for his sake.
On top of that, instead of scolding him for his clumsy appearance when he couldn’t handle the knife, she had cut the meat for him herself….
Since yesterday, so many things Amon had never experienced in his life were happening to him.
So many that even his happiness was giving rise to anxiety.
After finishing the most splendid and abundant meal he had ever eaten in his life, Amon followed his sister to the third floor.
The room she led him into was the one he had used long ago, back when his wet nurse had taken care of him.
“You’ll live here from now on. I haven’t been able to look after you until now, but from here on out, I’m not going to just stand by and let you live in a room worse than a storage closet.”
Rieli glanced briefly at the maids lined up behind her, then spoke to Amon in a slightly louder voice.
“I told you earlier, but starting tomorrow, you’ll keep eating together with me. Everything you need will be newly prepared. This is the Rober ducal household—do you really think it makes sense for a young lord to be living like this? Hm?”
Rieli looked at the maid Amy, pressing her for a response.
“Y-yes. That’s right, Miss.”
Amy answered hesitantly, as if being forced into it. It was like demanding a bow from someone already kneeling, but Rieli didn’t care.
“I think so too. He’s the only young lord of the Rober ducal household, yet we’ve neglected him far too much. You think so too, don’t you, Amy?”
“Yes, Miss….”
“Right. That’s why we have to set things straight starting now. Amy, Karen—anyone who fails to show proper respect to Amon as a young lord will be subject to punishment the moment it reaches my ears. Make sure everyone conducts themselves accordingly.”
With a cold, expressionless face, Rieli notified the maids, then took Amon and slipped straight into the room.
Amon slowly looked around the room, which had changed greatly from when he had used it before.
‘There’s nothing left that’s the same.’
Aside from the fact that it was the same room, everything had changed.
Back when he lived there as a child, the room hadn’t even had a single proper piece of furniture. Now it was filled with a large bed, bookshelves, a sofa, a table, and more.
While Amon was taking in the room, Rieli, who was also carefully inspecting it, muttered in a dissatisfied tone, so quietly that Amon couldn’t hear.
“Everything’s fine, but the furniture’s too big. We need to hurry and get furniture and clothes fitted….”
As Amon pulled a book from a nearby shelf, Rieli approached him.
When she drew closer, Rieli crouched down, taking into account Amon’s eye level as he lifted his head to meet her gaze, and spoke.
“Amon, I think things are going to get a bit busy from now on. Um, first, tomorrow I’ll select a suitable attendant for you. Until now, there probably wasn’t anyone taking care of you… but that won’t happen anymore.”
In the middle of speaking, Rieli clenched her teeth without realizing it, suppressed it, and continued her explanation calmly.
“We’ll also get new furniture fitted to your body, and buy clothes and shoes you can actually wear.”
Thinking about what else he might need, Rieli decided to buy whatever came to mind later, and for now, focus on filling in the urgent necessities first.
“For now, we’ll take care of that much and slowly bring in other things as we think of them. If there’s anything else you need or anything that’s uncomfortable, be sure to tell me. Got it? My room is right across from this one.”
Looking at his sister seriously instructing him while meeting his eyes, Amon felt his throat tighten.
He knew that, for the sake of the ducal household’s dignity, his sister could not tolerate discovering that he had been living in such an unaristocratic manner, and that was why she was taking these measures.
After all, he had just been standing right beside her and heard her say so directly to the maids.
But even so, his chest felt like it was about to burst.
It didn’t matter whether his sister’s kindness was for Amon himself, or for the young lord of the Rober ducal household.
It was the attention from his sister that he had so desperately longed for.
“…Yes, Sister. I will keep that in mind.”
Amon had to make a tremendous effort not to let his feelings spill out.
Because, according to the books he had read, that was a noble’s virtue.
Not revealing one’s emotions carelessly, and always maintaining composure.
Amon wanted to be a younger brother to his sister whom she could present anywhere without shame—one she could be proud of more than anyone.
“All right. Get some good rest, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Good night, Sister.”
Seeing Amon greet her so formally, Rieli let out a small laugh.
After gently ruffling his hair a couple of times, Rieli soon left the room.
