MBFUV

Chapter 12 

The next morning, I woke up early to birds chirping—just in time to see Dad and Arno return.

As soon as I heard the carriage had arrived, I rushed out in my pajamas.

Of course, standing at the entrance looking perfectly neat, unlike me, was César—already ready to greet them.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Yes. Did you sleep well too?”

I glanced down at my outfit and suddenly felt a little embarrassed.

Then the carriage door opened, and the two men stepped out.

“Dad!”

“Agnès!”

Dad smiled widely and hugged me tightly. His warm hand on my shoulder made me feel safe again. His familiar scent made my heart settle.

Behind him, I made eye contact with Arno.

Our sweet reunion didn’t last long—he pointed at me and silently mouthed “You’re dead” while making a throat-cutting gesture.

“Dad, Arno just said he’s going to kill me!”

“What?!”

I immediately tattled, then stuck my tongue out at Arno.

“Oh, come on. You’re already bullying your sister the moment you see her again?”

“Exactly, you shouldn’t do that!”

I crossed my arms and added to Dad’s scolding. Arno looked like he was about to explode and grabbed the back of his neck.

“Father, Agnès lied! Do you know how embarrassed I was because of that in Bellerni?”

“Embarwashed you waws?”

“See?! This is what I’m talking about! She totally looks down on me.”

“Arno, I think you’re confused. Of course she looks down on you—you’re the younger sibling. I’m more surprised you thought otherwise.”

“Father! Seriously?!”

“What’s the point of beating your little sister?”

“Wow… wow… This is so unfair. Always me!”

After greeting me, Dad looked at César standing behind me.

Gone was the serious expression from earlier—César now smiled politely and spoke first.

“Marquis Franteya, it’s a pleasure. I’m César Valdeon.”

“Welcome to Lucenne, Lord Valdeon. I’m Arno’s father and the head of House Franteya—Leopold Franteya.”

Dad reached out to shake hands, and César responded just as politely.

“I should’ve arrived sooner. Sorry for the delay.”

“Not at all. I’m glad you had time to enjoy Lucenne’s scenery.”

“I appreciate your kindness. Please, let’s go inside.”

I followed Dad in, but Arno suddenly grabbed the back of my neck.

“Come with me.”

“Daa—”

Just as Dad was about to turn around, the butler conveniently started talking to him.

I stretched my hand toward Dad, silently crying for help—but it was no use. Arno dragged me away.

Then César, who was following behind, pulled me out of Arno’s grip.

Arno gave us a sharp look, like, “What’s going on between you two?”

“What is this?”

“What is what?”

“You two seem suspicious.”

“There’s nothing weird going on. A big guy like you was bullying a small girl like me. It’s natural for him to help me.”

“You’re the one bullying me, you evil demon!”

“Who are you calling a demon?”

“You. Obviously.”

Arno reached out like he was going to flick me on the head, so I quickly hid behind César.

César chuckled a little and gently stood in front of me, shielding me with his arm.

“You two seem to have gotten very close while I was gone.”

Arno looked shocked at our interaction, then rolled his eyes and ran a hand over his face like he was too tired for this.

“Ugh, whatever. You both go away.”

Then he slammed his bedroom door.

“Agnès, do you enjoy teasing Arno?”

“It’s more like a habit now.”

“A habit?”

“Yeah. If we don’t fight, that’s the weird part.”

“Are all siblings like this?”

“I’d say we’re actually quite classy.”

César kept repeating the word “classy” on the way back to my room, like he couldn’t believe I just said that.

After a short break, I went out into the garden. Sophia came rushing after me and placed a hat on my head.

“I thought you said summer gardens are best enjoyed from a window. What’s with the sudden change?”

“It’s for Arno.”

I carefully picked the prettiest geranium.

“Are you going to hit him with it?”

“Maybe something with thorns would be better,” Sophia suggested carefully.

“If I wanted to hit him, I’d just grab a stick and whack him. Why would I bother with flowers?”

I returned to my room, gathered the flowers into a bouquet, and went to Arno’s room. He was asleep—he must’ve been really tired.

I sat quietly on the couch, waiting for him to wake up, when I noticed a strange blueprint on the table.

It looked like a weapon—or at least not something for daily life. Was this the thing César wanted to ask Dad about?

Lucenne sits on a large iron mine—about 60% of the Empire’s iron comes from here.

If you need iron for weapons, maybe that’s why he’s trying to get close to our family?

I started looking through the papers more carefully when I heard rustling from the bed.

Arno slowly opened his unfocused eyes.

“…Agnès?”

He was still half-asleep.

“…Is this my room?”

Yup, still dreaming. He didn’t even know where he was.

“Yes, it’s your room.”

“What are you doing here?”

I walked closer, and he sat up, rubbing his eyes.

“Came to see you.”

“Hiding behind Valdeon and now you show up? Why?”

He raised his eyebrow and asked in a grumpy voice. Was he… sulking about that? He’s not a kid!

I handed him the bouquet without saying anything. His face softened for a moment but quickly returned to neutral when he saw me watching.

Too late, I already saw that smile. You’re too easy to read.

“What’s this about?”

“You like flowers, right?”

“Yeah, but why are you giving me something I like?”

“Because…”

“Because?”

“Well…”

“If you’re going to give someone a gift, shouldn’t you start by explaining why?”

He lowered his voice like he was being strict. Can’t he just say thank you?

“…Fine.”

After a moment of silence, I finally mumbled:

“Sorry for lying.”

He smiled a little and took the bouquet.

“Why did you go that far—even faking a letter? If you’d just said you didn’t want to go to Bellerni, I wouldn’t have forced you.”

“I didn’t not want to go!”

“Then why?”

“Because I wanted you to go. To make up with Joel.”

“Agnès, from Joel’s point of view, I wasn’t even invited. And I showed up, unannounced. It was super awkward.”

Honestly, I hadn’t thought it through. I just wanted the problem solved quickly. But now I realized I’d been rude to both of them.

“I made a mistake.”

“You know you messed up?”

“I even picked flowers in the hot sun to say sorry.”

“Next time, just be honest and ask for what you want. Got it?”

“Got it.”

“Good. Since you’re apologizing properly, here—”

Arno opened a drawer and took out that box of chocolates from last time. My eyes widened as he handed it to me.

“Wow, thanks, Arno!”

“You only call me that when you want something.”

I quickly untied the ribbon, opened the box, and was about to eat when I offered him one.

“No, you eat it.”

So I popped it into my mouth right away.

Yup, this was it. I’d been craving this taste while studying—so smooth and melty, different from other chocolates.

“Taste good?”

“So good! Can’t we hire that pastry chef to come live here?”

“Why would someone doing great in the capital move to the countryside and work under someone else?”

“…True.”

Yeah, made sense. I gave up quickly.

“Your leg’s all better?”

“Yup! Totally fine now.”

“So that was fake too, huh?”

“No! That part really hurt.”

“Agnès, you need to learn from the story of the boy who cried wolf.”

“All those lies were because I cared…”

I whispered softly while eating chocolate, and Arno kept scolding me.