Chapter 11 –
Due to the appearance of the yeti, Dietrich’s duel with Irene had ended in a muddled draw, and he returned to his room.
As soon as he entered, the servants surrounded him.
“Young master, are you all right?”
The youngest master’s safety was the household staff’s top concern.
“Hmph, of course I am.”
Puffed up with pride, Dietrich scoffed as if to say, “You think I’d lose to a yeti?” But at the maid’s next words, his face twisted into a scowl.
“Is it really true that she defeated the yeti?”
“I heard it too. That she saved your life, young master…”
“Wow, I wish I could’ve seen it myself…”
“How could someone so small even think to rush at a yeti?”
“Right? I’d have run for my life, hoho!”
“Ugh, enough already!”
Storming out of the room, Dietrich stomped down the corridor, fuming.
‘Ugh! That damn crow ended up looking good again!’
He had planned the duel to put her in her place because he couldn’t stand her arrogant attitude. That’s why he had set an invisible trap and given her a broken sword.
“I went that far…”
So why—why couldn’t he beat her?
Even though the duel had been cut short, Dietrich could already tell.
This was her overwhelming victory. And his complete loss.
A stifling frustration rose inside him, and his eyes turned red.
It wasn’t just losing that made him angry. There was something else—something deeper.
He couldn’t quite find the words to describe what he was feeling and ended up pulling a miserable face.
After some time sulking in the garden under a pine tree, a shadow fell over his head.
It was a knight of Lykaon.
“Young master, His Grace is calling for you.”
Before long, Dietrich entered the Duke’s study—and froze at the sight of his servant kneeling, drenched in cold sweat.
Duke Lykaon’s icy blue eyes pierced into Dietrich.
He stared at his son expressionlessly and spoke.
“Dietrich, is this servant’s testimony true?”
Dietrich had already heard the testimony through Noel.
Cedric’s blue eyes stared at him silently.
‘Wh-what do I do…’
Sweat formed on Dietrich’s forehead.
It felt like a massive iron weight was crushing his chest.
Still, no one broke the silence.
And only Dietrich had the right to.
“…Yes.”
“Take him out.”
“Your Grace! I—I’m innocent!”
The pale servant pleaded, but the knights dragged him away.
Dietrich didn’t look much better.
Logan, the aide, broke the silence.
“What shall we do? Unlike the last time, this doesn’t seem serious enough for execution.”
Noel agreed. Last time had been an open act of treason by Commander Kairon, and execution had been unavoidable. But this was different.
This had been done on Dietrich’s orders.
“He must pay the price for his reckless behavior.”
Cedric spoke flatly.
“One wrist.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
Noel left the study to carry out the order, and Dietrich immediately panicked.
“F-Father! He was just helping me with a prank—this is too much…!”
But Cedric’s sharp gaze silenced him.
“A prank? Do you really think this can be brushed off as a joke?”
“……”
“Calling something that endangers a person’s life a ‘joke’ is a cowardly excuse.”
Dietrich bit his lip, silent.
He knew it too.
If Irene had fallen into that trap, no one knew what the yeti might have done to her.
It was a miracle—pure luck—that she had avoided it unscathed.
“Say it yourself, Dietrich.”
“…I’m sorry.”
His face turned even paler, and tears welled up in his large eyes.
But the only response he got was a cold dismissal.
Sniff…
At the door, Dietrich wiped his tears roughly with his sleeve.
And just then—he ran into the last person he wanted to see.
“W-what the—?!”
“I should be saying that.”
Irene blinked, surprised to run into Dietrich outside the Duke’s study.
‘Why is he crying here?’
“D-did you come here to rat me out?!”
“About what?”
Irene tilted her head, genuinely confused. She had no idea what he was talking about.
“Then… why are you here?”
“To ask why the yeti woke up.”
“…That’s it?”
“Yeah.”
There wasn’t a hint of deceit on Irene’s face.
For some reason, Dietrich felt embarrassed. He suddenly felt small, and tears welled up again.
Irene blinked rapidly, bewildered.
Dietrich, who had seemed so defiant earlier, was now tearing up again—and it left her completely unsure of what to do.
“…Did I say something wrong?”
“I don’t know! You’re just so annoying!”
With that, Dietrich shoved past her and disappeared down the hall.
Irene shrugged and knocked on the study door.
Knock knock.
“Come in.”
As Cedric’s voice responded, Irene entered the study and immediately sensed the atmosphere was off.
‘Did something happen with Dietrich in here?’
If that iron-willed boy had cried that hard, something serious must have gone down.
But Irene quickly turned her attention back to the matter at hand.
“Have you figured out why the yeti moved?”
“Last night, Dietrich’s servant entered the Lupus Forest and disturbed the yeti’s lair.”
“…So you believe it was just a mistake?”
“For now.”
After hearing the situation, Irene felt something was off.
Before her regression, the yeti had also woken up earlier than expected—but there had been no duel with Dietrich in the Lupus Forest.
Something in the cause and effect didn’t add up.
“Has the yeti ever been disturbed like this before?”
“No.”
“And yet you’re saying this was an accident?”
From the side, the aide audibly swallowed.
Only then did Irene realize how blunt her words had sounded.
‘Should I apologize?’
Last time she had faced Cedric, she’d put on a performance using her past self’s persona. Doing it again wouldn’t be hard.
But this time… she didn’t want to.
And now she knew why.
‘Because I have my pride.’
Yet Cedric didn’t seem particularly offended.
“There’s no evidence of anything else.”
“…I see.”
‘Then why did the yeti awaken?’
The yeti, which had been dormant for nearly 50 years, had suddenly stirred.
Normally, its active period came in 100-year cycles.
This meant it had awakened nearly 50 years early.
Irene combed through her memories to see if she had missed anything.
All she remembered was that Reinhardt’s life had been in danger because of it.
‘Reinhardt…’
Before her regression, Reinhardt had gone hunting in Lupus Forest and was nearly killed by the yeti.
That’s how even Irene—then locked away on the fifth floor—heard about it.
‘And that incident affected Lykaon too.’
As the managers of Lupus Forest, the Lykaons had been blamed, further damaging their already fragile reputation.
But what if… this had been aimed at Reinhardt from the beginning?
‘Then I have to deal with this myself.’
Telling the Duke would only make her sound like a lunatic. Worse, it could get her accused of black magic.
Irene nodded. Without concrete proof, there was no point in pressing further.
“Then I’ll take my leave.”
Her business concluded, Irene bowed and turned to leave—but paused at Cedric’s words.
“Wait.”
His sharp gaze fell on her wrist.
“You’re injured.”
Irene flinched. The damage wasn’t visible, but her ligaments were indeed strained.
She had overexerted herself against the yeti, given her child-sized body.
As she subconsciously rubbed her wrist, Cedric’s eyes swept over her.
“…It’s not just the wrist, is it?”
