“Hurry up!”
“….”
Maybe it was because his older sister had always been so busy she barely had time to breathe,
but the kid seemed to have grown up in a strange direction all by herself.
That tiny peanut of a girl had spent two full months crying herself to sleep at the duke’s mansion,
so Cassel had deliberately ignored her.
But a few days ago, she suddenly showed up in front of him—
and now, she was constantly getting on his nerves.
“Uncle, hurry!”
He couldn’t hit a little puppy like her, even if he wanted to.
Part of him was relieved that the girl who cried her eyes out at the funeral and clung to his arm was gone,
but it was also unsettling.
Even the servants avoided making eye contact with him,
but this girl stared straight into his eyes, looking exactly like his sister.
“Uncle, put your finger here. Hurry!”
In the end, Cassel had no choice but to call a servant and press his fingerprint on that silly paper.
She said it had to have his fingerprint, so he even had to smear red ink on his finger.
‘How in the world did she raise this kid…?’
Six years ago, his sister had disappeared without warning and drove everyone crazy—
only to show up two years later with a baby.
What he thought was a newborn had already been one year old.
And she never, ever said who the father was.
Still, she worked hard, even sacrificing sleep, to be a mom Aika could be proud of…
‘And now she’s gone, leaving this little thing all alone?’
She acted like she had it all figured out—how could she leave like that?
“Uncle!”
“….”
“Uncle Cassel!”
That little body, not even half his size, called him nonstop.
“Don’t call me for no reason.”
He was getting a headache.
“Huh? Why?”
Her big, round eyes—like golden tangerines—looked up at him curiously.
They were so clear, it felt like he could see right through them.
Which made it even more annoying.
“Just don’t call me more than once a day. Don’t look for me either.”
Her wide eyes shook like she was shocked.
But it only lasted a second.
“Uncle, Uncle, Uncle, Uncle, Uncle, Uncle, Uncle! Hehehe.”
She shouted his name over and over again, until she was out of breath—
and then laughed like nothing happened.
“Cassel, look. Isn’t my daughter the cutest thing ever?”
“Brother, do you think anything more lovable than my daughter could possibly exist in this world?”
“Once you have a child of your own, you’ll understand. You won’t be the center of your world anymore. But still, you’ll want to give them everything.”
“Seriously, just spend one day with Aika. You’ll feel the same way.”
“My poor little brother… do you even have a girlfriend?”
Ugh… it was so frustrating.
Cassel stood up suddenly, unable to control the emotions boiling inside.
Startled, Aika scrambled to get up too,
but Cassel walked out, leaving her behind.
“Ugh, Uncle has such a bad attitude.”
I sat frozen on the bed.
Uncle had suddenly stormed out.
His energy had changed. It felt scary now.
I couldn’t bring myself to follow him.
But… he wouldn’t really leave, right? He promised.
I trusted that he wouldn’t go out and hopped off the bed.
“…Gasp!”
But I didn’t get far.
A bright flash appeared in front of my eyes, and my vision started to shift.
This was only the second time I’d seen the future while awake.
My breath caught.
“No…”
Like a painting appearing from water, the scene formed quickly.
And right in the middle was Uncle.
He looked annoyed as he brought out a huge black horse from the stable and got ready to ride.
But then the horse collapsed while running, and Uncle was thrown to the ground.
What?!
I already stopped him once—he’s in danger again?
“No!”
He definitely couldn’t leave the house today.
That’s the only way he could be in this much danger again.
At least, that’s what I thought.
So I ignored his rule about not calling or looking for him more than once a day and ran out to find him.
“Uncle, where are you?”
“Uncle, where are you?”
I asked every servant I passed until someone told me—
he was already at the stable.
Already? That was too fast.
The vision I just saw was of the very near future.
Panicked, I ran as fast as I could toward the stable.
Why was this place so big?
At Grandpa’s estate, there were three big buildings,
but everything could be done inside the main mansion.
Here, everything was spread out—and completely different.
To get from my room (technically the guest room) to Uncle’s room,
you had to go through an outdoor hallway.
“Did you see Uncle?”
I asked anyone I saw.
The Valliart estate was massive, with smaller buildings scattered like stars.
The stable was far away.
Even though I was out of breath, I didn’t stop until I reached it.
“Uncle… where are you?”
The stable was big enough to house five horses comfortably.
There were over ten thick wooden pillars holding up the roof,
and hay was piled up to the ceiling inside and out.
The front and back doors were wide open, so it didn’t smell bad at all.
Luckily, I spotted Uncle quickly.
In the distance, a stablehand was putting a saddle on a black horse.
Good. He wasn’t riding it yet.
“Huff… Uncle!”
I stopped abruptly, barely keeping my balance, and shouted.
Uncle turned and, as expected, his face scrunched up again.
“You… I told you not to look for me…”
I ran straight at him and hugged his long leg tightly.
I was sweating from running so much,
but I couldn’t let go—if I did, he’d walk off with those long legs again.
“Uncle! You promised not to go out! Liar!”
Uncle looked baffled.
“I’m not going out. I’m just riding a horse in my own yard. How is that a lie?”
“But still…”
“‘But still’ what? Let go.”
“Nooo.”
Still hugging his leg, I shook my head.
Suddenly, the horse let out a loud neigh.
Startled, I turned my head.
At the end of my gaze stood a massive black horse,
towering over Uncle and staring right at me.
Whoa.
It looked exactly like the horse from my vision,
but it seemed even darker and more powerful up close.
Still, I held tight and took a small step behind Uncle.
But then the horse suddenly collapsed?
In my vision, the horse looked like it was in terrible pain.
Was it hurt?
Still holding Uncle’s leg, I scanned the horse from tail to hoof to head.
Thankfully, Uncle didn’t push me away or throw me off.
He was just going about his business, like I wasn’t even there.
Clearly, he wasn’t listening to me at all.
“Huh?”
As I kept watching, I noticed something strange.
“What now.”
“Uncle, do horses normally keep one leg lifted?”
“What are you talking about?”
The horse’s back right leg was slightly raised—and trembling.
But it was so subtle, almost touching the ground,
you wouldn’t notice unless you looked really closely.
Maybe it looked fine because its muscles were so big and solid.
Was it hurt?
“Horsey, does your leg hurt?”
I let go of Uncle and slowly reached out toward the horse’s leg.
But before I could touch it, the horse neighed loudly and lifted its front legs high into the air.
It looked like a giant horse statue was about to fall on me.
It happened in an instant.
“Miss Aika! Watch out!”
Just as the stablehand shouted, a strong arm suddenly grabbed me.
