Tiya’s Smooth Regression Life Chapter 21

<Where are you going? You still have homework left!>

 

“Brother is more important than studying right now!”

 

Tiya dashed out to the mansion’s entrance in a single breath. Through the crowd of gathered servants, she saw a towering profile in the distance. 

 

Pale blonde hair, the color of a white sandy beach, flowed softly down to his shoulders, and a refined yet gentle smile played across his handsome face as he accepted the servants’ greetings. 

 

Unlike Lev, who didn’t seem to have grown much in four years, her eldest brother—now fifteen—already looked like an adult. 

 

Even so, Tiya recognized Rodion immediately.

 

The day Tiya left the capital.

 

“Tiya, if you stay in the north with Grandmother, I’ll come to bring you back. Until then, you have to live very, very happily. Okay?”

 

Just like he had chased after the carriage carrying his sister all those years ago, this time, Tiya ran toward him. 

 

“Brother!”

 

Rodion, who had paused, turned his head toward Tiya.

 

His smile, which was mild but seemed worn smooth and polished by something, vanished in an instant.

 

“Tiya?”

 

And right after that, the face that replaced it was one Tiya knew very well.

 

Raw joy spread across his features, and Rodion’s arms naturally stretched forward as if to catch Tiya running toward him.

 

As she had often done before, Tiya flung herself at him like a large dog.

 

“Here comes a heart attack huuug—?” 

 

Flop. 

 

In the next moment, she shared a violent embrace with the floor instead of Rodion’s arms. 

 

Tiya couldn’t quite bring herself to stand up; she just lay there prone, blinking. 

 

Unless she was mistaken—

 

‘Did… did Brother just dodge me? My heart attack hug?’ 

 

<Good grief, you’re embarrassing the whole neighborhood. Hurry up, brush off your knees and get up already.>

 

Despite Winter’s nagging, Tiya couldn’t pull herself together. Instead, she looked up at Rodion with a face full of shock. 

 

“Why…?”

 

Seeing the wounded, trembling look in Tiya’s eyes, Rodion hesitated but gestured to one of the servants.

 

Mia quickly stepped forward and helped Tiya to her feet, but Tiya still felt as though her heart hadn’t quite touched the ground.

 

“I’m sorry, Tiya. I just got back from travel, so I’m quite dirty. No, more importantly, why on earth are you here? When did you come to the capital?”

 

Why was she here?

 

Somehow, it sounded as if her presence were an inconvenience. 

 

Tiya grumbled, her face now tinged with a sense of injustice and betrayal.

 

“It’s been ages! I’ve been craning my neck out the window every day waiting for you to come, so much that my neck has grown this long.” 

 

To show how much she had grown, Tiya rose slightly onto her toes and lifted her chin high.

 

However, Rodion didn’t seem to be in the right mind to listen to Tiya’s words.

 

“It’s been ages? Why was I never contacted…?” 

 

Rodion, who had been muttering with a serious face, let out a small sigh and looked behind him.

 

Only then did Tiya notice the girl standing behind him, someone about her own age.

 

The girl hesitated under the arrow-like gazes of the crowd, but the moment she stepped forward, a hushed admiration spread across the people’s faces. 

 

Tiya, too, forgot her upset and stared at the girl as if entranced. 

 

Curly blonde hair and pale lilac eyes. 

 

Without a single flaw, she was a girl so lovely she resembled a porcelain doll.

 

Rodion belatedly introduced her.

 

“She’ll be staying at this mansion for a while as Lev’s playmate.”

 

Just as the girl stepped forward to greet everyone.

 

“I-I’m… ah!”

 

Her uncertain steps tangled, and the girl fell forward helplessly.

 

Rodion reached out to catch her, but before he could, a mass of flowered grass bloomed like a soft carpet, gently catching her.

 

“Oh my.”

 

“My goodness, what is this?”

 

The servants simply gasped in admiration without understanding, but Tiya alone knew what the flowered grass meant.

 

A miracle that looked as if spring itself had been summoned to that spot. 

 

That was definitely— 

 

“I-I’m sorry. I’m still not very good at controlling spirits…”

 

It was the trace of where the Spirit of Spring had stepped. Something Tiya had once longed for so desperately.

 

As the girl sat in the middle of the small puddle of flowers, looking flustered, Rodion held out his hand to her.

 

Taking his hand and standing up, the girl clasped her hands together tightly and chirped like a lark.

 

“M-my name is Valentina Dantal. I look forward to your care.”

 

“As you’ve all seen, she is a spiritist who has subdued the Spirit of Flowers. She is an honored guest, so please take good care of her.”

 

Tiya watched the entire scene without even blinking.

 

For some reason, it felt as though a lump of cotton had filled her chest, making it hard to breathe.

 

Even though she hadn’t fallen very hard, her knee throbbed belatedly as Tiya rubbed it and muttered.

 

“You didn’t help me up yourself…”

 

At that moment, Winter murmured quietly.

 

<Right… it was Dantal. How could I have forgotten this?> 

 

Unlike Winter, her voice carried a faint shock. Even at a glance, his tone was not ordinary.

 

Tiya forgot the pain in her knees and asked tensely.

 

“What’s wrong? Do you know her?”

 

Know her? Of course.

 

No, she thought she knew, but that might have been nothing more than hollow information. 

 

Winter hid her speculations and spoke only of accurate information for now. 

 

<I know the Dantal family. Dantal will later gain the trust of the current prince, who will become emperor, and instead of the fall of Vladizev, their family will even receive the title of Grand Duke.>

 

* * *

 

Rodion had no time to rest even immediately after returning home.

 

Since he managed the internal affairs of the mansion, all sorts of people sought him out to ask, what should we do about this, or how should we handle that, requesting final decisions. 

 

“Dismiss this person and that person among the newly hired servants.” 

 

“Postpone the maintenance work on the central hall until next spring. For now, it’s more important to repair the quarters so the servants can spend the winter warmly.” 

 

“I will ask the Count about that agenda, so could you leave it on the desk?” 

 

Because his absence had been long, tasks requiring Rodion’s decision were piled up throughout the mansion. 

 

Only after handling all the urgent matters did Rodion head to Count Valloze’s office in the late evening.

 

He had heard that the count had already returned from the palace.

 

Since the mansion had grown so lively, there was no way he could be unaware of his son’s return.

 

Even so, he had not shown his face once.

 

Rodion was not disappointed.

 

He had become too worn down over the years to let such trivial things affect him. To the point that not even a shred of minor expectation remained.

 

After knocking and entering the study, Rodion went straight to the point.

 

“I have returned.”

 

Four months since he had left home.

 

His father still stared at his son with the same unchanging eyes. Eyes filled with deep emptiness, containing no emotion at all.

 

The expression he wore when looking over documents that gave him a headache was almost more human by comparison. 

 

Rodion didn’t avoid that gaze, facing it directly as he continued. 

 

“I have processed a leave of absence for my Academy classes next semester, so I will not be away from the mansion.”

 

Rodion had only entered the academy half a year ago. Yet he was already taking a leave of absence.

 

As a parent, it was a question worth asking, but what came out of Shurka’s mouth was a different topic. 

 

“I heard you brought back something useless. An illegitimate child of the Dantal family.”

 

Rodion’s gaze flicked briefly toward Anton, who stood there uneasily.

 

He did not blame him. It was his duty, after all.

 

‘Still, it would have been nice if he had warned me beforehand.’

 

Rodion swallowed a sigh, though he showed nothing outwardly and instead put on a perfectly drawn smile.

 

“I intend to make her Lev’s playmate. Lev is reaching the age where he needs friends his own age.”

 

“I don’t think that’s particularly necessary.”

 

Rodion did not ask why he thought it unnecessary. He had a feeling the answer would not be pleasant.

 

“You must be aware that His Majesty the Emperor is currently investigating a massive embezzlement case involving the Southern nobility. Dantal is a great family representing the South. Yet you bring a Dantal bloodline—even an illegitimate one—into this house. Are you in your right mind?” 

 

Naturally, the one leading the investigation into the embezzlement case was none other than Schurca, the Grand Inspector.