“Young Master Ian.”
Trying not to step on the bushes, Sir John approached me and greeted Ian politely. His manner was much more respectful than it had been when dealing with the boys who had just run away in a group.
“Have you been bullied again?”
“……”
“Are you hurt anywhere? I think you should go to the infirmary……”
“Forget it.”
Unlike John, who was being quite friendly, the red-haired boy was cold. Ian irritably watched the blood that only smeared further whenever he tried to wipe it away, then stood up without even sparing me a glance.
“Don’t tell anyone.”
“But, Young Master.”
Ian walked past us with eyes so cold it seemed frost might settle with every step.
I stared blankly after him, then suddenly noticed something stretching out from just above his buttocks—
A tail.
My mouth fell open.
‘What is that? What is that?’
The fur on his spotted tail was golden with a slight reddish tint.
Perhaps he was extremely exhausted, because his human ears had disappeared at some point, replaced by leopard ears sticking up from his head. Without even needing to look closely, I could tell he was limping.
He must have been injured badly enough that even maintaining human form was difficult.
“Let’s go to the infirmary.”
I toddled over and grabbed Ian’s hand, prepared for him to shake me off.
“If it gets infected, you’ll be the one who suffers.”
I thought he might just pick me up and throw me away, but thankfully, Ian didn’t.
He merely gave me a quick once-over, clearly expressing how bothersome I was.
I swallowed nervously and nagged him again, though it was hardly proper nagging.
“I’m sewious. And if it gets infected, you’ll get beat up again next time, okay?”
“……”
“If you don’t wanna go to the infirmary, I’ll call the doctor for you. I’ll lie and say I’m sick. Okay?”
Ian Driblyane.
The first son of Lady Ariadne, a saber-toothed tiger beastkin with large, sharp teeth, and at the same time, a leopard beastkin.
His younger half-brothers all appeared as male leads in the latter half of the original story, but for some reason, Ian did not.
That was why I was curious about who Ian was and what kind of child he was.
‘I had no idea he was being treated like this when I only saw his name on the family tree.’
He was Lady Ariadne’s son, of all people!
Why was he being bullied?
‘Of course, he wasn’t exactly taking it lying down…… It looks like Ian beat them all up.’
Still, that obnoxious Gerd strutted around boasting that he was a prince, while Ian seemed to have absolutely no intention of using the fact that his mother was Lady Ariadne as a shield.
“Mind your own business.”
After a brief silence passed,
Even though I looked at him with watery eyes, Ian abruptly turned his body away from me. He had already pulled his hand free.
‘His hand was really cold.’
I blankly stared at my fluffy little forepaw, then followed after Ian.
“Hey, are you coming to the banquet today?”
No answer.
“They’re roasting a turkey! It’ll be yummy!”
Failed to persuade him with food.
“If you take your medicine nicely, the marten will give you a present!”
Ignored.
“Those guys from earlier. If I see them later, should I smack their butts for you? Don’t fight! Like this.”
This time…… he gave me a look of pity.
Still, at least I got a reaction.
Whether Ian was naturally kind or simply too bothered to care, he left me alone and headed toward the Heirs’ Residence.
The scene that unfolded behind him was rather amusing.
Ian in front.
Me toddling along about three steps behind him, with Sir John one step behind me.
We walked in single file like a little train, and when I eventually ran out of things to say, I even dragged the weather into the conversation, rolling my eyes around.
“Waaah, the weather is so niiiice……!”
“If you have eyes, look at the sky. It’s cloudy.”
“……”
Normally, being ignored this much would have made me give up, but I really wanted to become friends with Ian somehow.
Ian was pretty!
With that face, he was practically idol-center material.
“Ow!”
But then—
Ian suddenly stopped dead in front of me, causing me to crash into his solid calf and stagger backward.
“Little lady!”
Thankfully, John quickly caught me with both hands, saving me from landing flat on my butt.
Rubbing my nose, I climbed back onto John’s shoulder, wondering what was going on.
“Young Master, have I not told you repeatedly to stop behaving like a savage!”
At the chilling shout that followed, my eyes widened.
“If you wish to be chosen by the mistress of the family, you must always behave with decorum and keep yourself presentable! I have told you time and time again to abandon your savagery!”
What?
Who was this guy?
Who was he to yell at a young master like that?
“I clearly told you not to fight, yet you have fought again. Therefore, you will not attend tonight’s banquet. That is your punishment. You will write one hundred pages of reflection in the punishment room, followed by five strokes of the cane.”
What the hell?
I opened my eyes wide.
I didn’t understand.
Why was he scolding him first without even hearing what happened?
‘And who decided whether he could attend the banquet or not? Tonight’s banquet is for me!’
It was a chance for me to meet the heirs who might become my husbands in the future.
So why was this guy butting in?
“That man is Weez, the etiquette teacher in charge of the heirs.”
Perhaps John noticed my narrowed eyes, because he hurriedly explained.
I crossed my arms and tapped my hind foot against the ground.
“But we don’t even know who hit who first yet.”
I was becoming more and more irritated.
The so-called etiquette teacher was still loudly going on about something, while Ian simply stood there silently and calmly.
No defense.
No excuses.
No justification.
He just stood there.
And I knew exactly where that behavior came from.
‘He doesn’t expect anything.’
He had no expectation that someone would help him.
No expectation that anyone would understand his grievances.
Ian had that particular kind of resignation found in people who had nowhere to place their trust.
‘Why???’
What happened to the title of being Lady Ariadne’s first son?
‘And that teacher.’
“Why didn’t you greet me?”
It wasn’t right to judge people by their appearance, but the etiquette teacher had a remarkably bad face.
A pointed chin, a hooked nose, narrow eyes.
Thin eyebrows and prominent cheekbones.
He had been completely ignoring John and me while lecturing Ian about one thing or another.
“Oh my, isn’t this Sir Grizzly!”
Only after doing that for quite some time did the teacher finally turn toward John.
Rubbing his palms together lightly, the teacher stroked his goat-like beard and glanced at me.
“If Sir Grizzly is here, then…… this little one must be our next mistress?”
You are now witnessing an etiquette teacher who does not observe etiquette.
Completely dumbfounded, I looked over at the etiquette teacher with an expression that said, Let’s see what nonsense you’re going to say.
“I am Weez Mormantara.”
“So what?”
“……Pardon?”
Ah, I could have crushed him instantly with my dazzling verbal skills, but could someone please do something about this frustrating mouth structure?
With no other choice, I called Pompom and tapped it a few times.
—For an etiquette teacher, he seems not to know whom he should greet first.
Obviously, I came first, followed by John.
The fact that he had ignored that meant he wasn’t someone who was friendly toward me.
Why someone like this was working as an etiquette teacher was beyond me.
“Ian. Didn’t do anyfing wrong.”
—Ian was surrounded by several people. Anyone looking at it could tell that Ian wasn’t the one at fault. So why scold him first without even understanding the situation? By what right?
The etiquette teacher, Weez, seemed to listen carefully to the words coming from Pompom before approaching me with a sheepish laugh.
“I was so overcome with emotion that I committed a discourtesy. Please forgive me.”
“Okay.”
“And…… the Little lady may not know this, but Young Master Ian has half the blood of an enemy nation. He is extremely savage.”
“?”
“Ahem. It is quite well known that the late Lady Ariadne went to war and bore the child of a man from the enemy nation.”
What was he talking about?
What did that have to do with anything?
I knew the Mage Empire and the Holy Empire were on bad terms. A person of mixed blood from the two countries probably wouldn’t be treated particularly well.
But that wasn’t what left me speechless.
“Who’s his mommy?”
“Pardon? Lady Ariadne, of course.”
“Then why are you teaching him by hitting Lady Ariadne’s real son?”
“No, I mean, Young Master Ian is half the blood of an enemy knight or mercenary whose identity we don’t even know—”
“Isn’t who his mommy is what matters?”
Maybe the reason Ian failed to become an Alpha in the original story was because of this man.
He looked sly enough at first glance that he seemed like the sort who would get along perfectly with Gerd.
I put strength into my eyes and looked at Ian.
“You tell me too. What happened? Properly.”
“……”
“Just because you stay quiet doesn’t mean everything will just go away.”
That was true.
‘It’ll be fine if I just endure it.’
‘If I bow my head, there’ll be peace.’
‘If I just keep my mouth shut, nobody will have a problem.’
Thinking like that was very wrong.
Most problems only grow bigger the longer you remain silent.
It was better to grab them by the scruff of the neck and deal with them right at the start.
Of course, facing a problem head-on the moment it happens is incredibly difficult.
Especially for someone who has nowhere to lean on and whose self-esteem is already low.
I knew exactly what that felt like.
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