A flustered Ribia turned her head, but the girl was no longer standing there.
“Brother! Have you lost your mind?”
“……Yedi?”
Pabian stopped in surprise. Edward did the same.
The girl who had suddenly leaped between the two glared intensely at Pabian with her arms spread wide.
“What on earth do you think you’re doing?”
Pabian was first surprised by the girl’s appearance.
Pabian’s brows twisted fiercely.
“Yedi, did you steal my clothes again?”
“Is that what’s important right now? A duel! What in the world did you do to my betrothed?”
“I can’t acknowledge some political marriage of yours! After everything I’ve done to raise you.”
At Pabian’s thuggish claim, Yellodia gritted her molars.
“When did you ever raise me!”
“I watched over you from the moment you were born. I changed your diapers, and I’m the one who raised you so you wouldn’t be blown away by the wind.”
Yellodia’s cheeks flushed red in an instant. Curious gazes from the surroundings all latched onto her.
She felt as though she might faint from shame and embarrassment.
‘Why did it have to be today.’
For some reason, because Masa had been clinging persistently to her all day, she had felt uncomfortable from the start of her outing.
The closer she drew to Pabian’s mansion on Hesus Street—the estate of her second older brother—the more certain Yellodia became that Pabian would oppose her engagement. She didn’t know why.
‘That savage Pabian Sabie would never let anything concerning me pass easily.’
From that point on, her heart had grown urgent.
Before things could escalate, Yellodia wanted to win Rellia over somehow.
If Rellia, Pabian’s wife, took her side, convincing her second older brother would be quick.
“Welcome, my lady. Wasn’t it hot walking all the way here?”
As always, Rellia welcomed Yellodia warmly.
“It’s fine. I enjoy the exercise.”
The reason Rellia wasn’t the least bit surprised by Yellodia’s attire was that she herself was the one who had passed down the clothes Pabian wore as a child.
“I heard the news! That you’re having an engagement ceremony with Baron Adrian? Everyone around me is in an uproar.”
Rellia looked at Yellodia with an excited expression.
“Has the rumor spread that far already? I’m sorry for coming so late. Things have been hectic.”
“Don’t worry about that. Hehe, I’ve been wanting to hear all about what’s been going on.”
“I really have so much to tell you, too.”
And so the two continued their conversation in a warm atmosphere.
Rellia, who had married Pabian after a tumultuous romance, was always a bright and vivacious woman.
The news of the marriage between Rellia—daughter of a baron with nothing but a title—and Pabian, the second son of a grand ducal house, had sent shockwaves through high society.
The lovers who had once overcome the crisis of a broken engagement had succeeded in marrying, and were enjoying their newlywed life amid the envy and jealousy of many women.
“Rellia, could you perhaps make some time before the engagement ceremony? I want to introduce you to my betrothed.”
“Oh my! Pabian will be terribly angry. I would love to.”
Rellia burst into a joyous laugh. Each time she laughed, her chestnut-brown eyes curved gently and a faint flush rose to her cheeks.
Thinking she could understand why Pabian cherished and loved Rellia, Yellodia smiled back.
Just then, a servant from the mansion rushed into the parlor urgently.
“Madam, terrible news! The master has taken his horse and headed toward Rommel Harbor!”
The color drained from both Yellodia’s and Rellia’s faces at once. Rommel Harbor was where the naval headquarters was located.
“When did he leave?”
“Approximately ten minutes ago, they say. The captain of the Royal Guard was flustered and sent a servant directly.”
“Count Beil? Were there no specific details?”
“They say the master flew into a rage the moment he heard of Miss Yellodia’s engagement and stormed out.”
“What……?”
Rellia was too bewildered to continue.
Yellodia sprang to her feet and asked,
“Is there a carriage at the mansion?”
“Whatever shall we do? There is a carriage, but no coachman to drive it. He broke his instep two days ago.”
Rellia answered with a complexion that had grown even paler.
The mansion’s coachman had fallen from a horse and broken his instep, and because the stable keeper had been given leave last week, not a single person who knew how to handle horses remained at the mansion.
“We do have a donkey the servants ride to market……”
There was no need to hear more. This time, Masa stepped forward.
“I’ll find a coachman!”
Shouting thus, Masa quickly ran out of the parlor.
What followed was chaos.
Masa had been unable to find a wagon driver lounging at the tavern, of all days, so in the end Yellodia had driven a four-wheeled carriage drawn by two huge black horses herself, racing all the way to Rommel.
“…….”
Recalling the desperate situation just moments before, Yellodia wiped beads of sweat from her forehead and fumed.
“Just when did you start doting on me, Brother? Or did you mistake abuse and contempt for affection?”
“Yedi, that’s—”
Pabian faltered. Yellodia raised her chin sharply and spoke boldly.
“Anyway, I can pass those words on exactly to your wife, can’t I?”
Pabian drew a sharp breath.
Realizing the full picture of the situation, Edward sighed and sheathed his sword.
So it seemed that burly knight was Yellodia’s second older brother.
‘Her real brother?’
At that point, Edward lost all words.
Yellodia let out a sharp cry.
“When are you ever going to come to your senses!”
“Step aside now. Baron Adrian, pick up your sword again. I must see this through.”
“If you’re going to cut the Baron, cut me first.”
“Yedi!”
Pabian shrieked, raising his voice. In an instant, a fierce glint gleamed in his eyes.
“What insanity is that? How could you tell me to cut you!”
“Why can’t I? Or am I supposed to just stand by while my betrothed is about to die?”
Suddenly caught in the middle of a sibling quarrel, Edward barely swallowed a sigh.
However, the siblings’ conversation flowed in a direction he had never expected.
“Move aside while I’m still being nice. You know even without a duel, I can drag down a baron who just received his title anytime I want, don’t you?”
Pabian spoke, glaring at Edward with savage eyes. At his gloomy gaze, which even carried killing intent, Yellodia choked up.
“See? Then I’ll live the rest of my life without seeing you, Brother!”
Finally, Pabian’s expression turned distressed. It was then that Yellodia’s face flushed as red as an apple and her eyes began to well up with tears.
Brave and bold as she was, being caught between men with swords must have been confusing and frightening.
Pabian sighed, sheathed his sword, and reached out. He looked utterly deflated.
“Yedi, stop this and come here. I’ll take you back to the mansion.”
Instead of answering, Yellodia turned on her heel. For the time being, she couldn’t stand the sight of her second older brother.
But Yellodia soon had to stop. Edward stood before her as if to block her way.
“You’ll hurt yourself if you walk that fast.”
Unable to say anything, Yellodia simply nibbled on her lower lip. She didn’t know what to say to Edward, nor did she want to say anything.
Then Edward knelt and dusted off the hem of Yellodia’s trousers. Perhaps from rolling on the dirt floor, the hose Yellodia wore were half-shredded into rags.
“Did you fall on your way here?”
“…….”
“That must have hurt quite a bit.”
Yellodia ducked her head, avoiding Edward’s gaze. Her lips pouted and twitched.
“It doesn’t seem to be bleeding, but is it uncomfortable to walk?”
“……I didn’t fall. I scraped them getting out of the carriage.”
At Yellodia’s excuse, a faint smile crossed Edward’s lips. Surprised subordinate officers gasped at the sight.
“This will certainly bruise. When you return to the mansion, be sure to apply a hot compress.”
“……Yes.”
After carefully tidying Yellodia’s clothes for some time, Edward swept her up into his arms in one motion. Yellodia let out a low shriek.
“H-hey! What do you think you’re doing with our Yedi?”
As if he couldn’t hear the flustered Pabian’s voice at all, Edward strode forward and said,
“Guide the guest to the exit. If he acts on his own again, you may confine him.”
“Yes, sir!”
The officers and soldiers shouted in disciplined unison. Pabian contorted his expression as though at a loss.
Edward draped his own cloak over Yellodia, who had her head bowed deeply, and then started walking again.
Aides and officers stared at the two of them as if their eyes might pop out, but he paid them no mind at all.
Upon reaching the reception room, Edward carefully seated Yellodia on the sofa. Even then, Yellodia stared endlessly at her own fingers.
“Everything is all right now. You came because you were worried about me, didn’t you?”
“Brother was…… I’m sorry for his rudeness. He did it because he was worried about me……”
Yellodia offered in a shrinking voice. She still couldn’t believe the situation and felt as though she were in a nightmare.
“I’m sorry, Baron. Let me apologize in his place.”
“There’s no need to apologize. The same goes for Count Sabie.”
“…….”
“Will you look at me now?”
Yellodia raised her head with a timid face. In an instant, her vision began to blur.
If either her second older brother or her betrothed had been hurt, she would have been devastated.
This time, Edward was taken aback as well. Large, translucent teardrops were falling thick and fast from Yellodia’s wide eyes.
Edward clicked his tongue softly and wiped Yellodia’s eyes with his sleeve.
“Please don’t cry.”
“S-sob, I wasn’t g-going to cry, sob, but I was so, hic, surprised…… I’m truly sorry. Because of Brother……”
“I am truly all right. It is nothing.”
When Edward gently stroked Yellodia’s cheek as if to comfort her, she began to cry even more sorrowfully.
“I knew that fool would cause a terrible accident one day…… Hic, that worthless bastard who has never been any help in life…….”