Chapter 7
He said he killed a lot… But what exactly? Could it be… people?
César Valdeon was a man who clearly separated what was useful and what wasn’t. He kept useful people close and used them how he liked, but had zero interest in those he found useless.
So, would someone like him really protect a friend just to make that friend’s younger sibling feel better after only meeting for a day?
No way. That couldn’t be true.
I watched through my telescope, switching between the boy with golden hair and the one with black hair. Just then, César, who had been staring at the fountain the whole time, suddenly turned his head directly toward me. I panicked and pulled Sophia down with me into the bushes to hide.
When I carefully peeked out again, he was gone.
Later, back in the room because of the heat, I tidied up and called my personal guard—someone my father had assigned to protect and accompany me.
I needed to find out what exactly César meant when he said he had “killed.”
A man with short brown hair silently appeared.
“You called, my lady?”
“Sir Ferzen, I need you to look into something quietly.”
“Yes, what is it?”
“Find out what the Duke’s son, César Valdeon, has been doing lately. Especially if there have been any murders or mysterious deaths that might be connected to him.”
Ferzen frowned slightly and tilted his head.
“Do you think he’s dangerous?”
“I don’t know yet. That’s what I need to find out. Please hurry.”
“Understood.”
After he left, I found out where Arno was and headed to the training grounds. As I got closer, I heard the sound of swords clashing.
I hid behind a practice dummy and peeked through a small gap.
César and Arno were training with wooden swords. They clashed a few times until Arno’s sword touched César’s chin. César smiled faintly and lowered his sword, raising his hands in surrender.
It was clear Arno was holding back.
“You’re too good.”
“When you stab upward like that, lower your hand first, then lift and deflect the attack before aiming for the neck. Try again.”
Arno helped him up, and they continued.
In the original story, César only started learning swordsmanship after entering the academy. His mother was strongly against it because his father had spent his life on battlefields. It made sense why she hated swords so much.
Clang!
Suddenly, Arno’s sword flew out of his hand and hit the ground. He smiled and admitted defeat.
“Keep learning and you might be able to slice off my head soon.”
“Thanks to a great teacher?”
“Of course! There’s no better teacher than me. Is there anything I can’t do?”
Arno bragged, but César didn’t even glance at him and just wiped his sweat.
“Right, my father’s coming to the estate in about two weeks. I wrote to him about you. Try to make a good impression.”
“That makes me nervous.”
“Nervous? You?”
Arno laughed like he’d heard the weirdest thing ever.
“My heart’s racing. If you don’t believe me, want to check?”
César grabbed Arno’s hand and tried to place it over his chest. Arno yanked it back in horror.
“You pervert! Back off! What if Agnès finds out? She’ll get the wrong idea!”
César just laughed at Arno’s reaction.
“Anyway, my father’s going to say something when he sees Agnès’s leg. That wild child better not be running around.”
He looked around with a troubled face.
He just called me a wild child? So that’s how he talks about me? Unbelievable.
“Who knows? Maybe the bunny is stuck in a boring castle.”
César smirked and glanced around again. I flinched and hid deeper.
“You okay? You’ve been talking about this imaginary bunny for a while now. Should I call a doctor?”
“Yeah… Why do I keep seeing bunnies?”
“What are you even saying? Come on, let’s get something cold to drink.”
The two walked away with their arms around each other.
No way they saw me, right? I hid like a ninja…
Still feeling uneasy, I bit my nails until they disappeared from sight. Then I went back to the castle.
* * *
Back in my room, I sat at my desk with a troubled face.
Following those two around made one thing clear—they were much closer than I thought.
I need to separate them.
I grinned as I picked up a cute, colorful green letter I had spent a long time perfecting.
Holding the letter, I let my hair fall loosely around my face and leaned sadly against the headboard, pretending to be very sick.
“Sophia, call Arno for me. Tell him I have something really important to say but I hurt my leg and can’t go to him.”
Sophia left to call Arno. I stared out the window, trying to think sad thoughts.
Sad thoughts, sad thoughts…
Soon I heard footsteps, and the door opened loudly.
“What is it? If this is something stupid, I’m going to be mad.”
I didn’t look at him and kept gazing out the window with a sorrowful expression.
“Arno… do you think I’ll ever be able to walk outside again?”
He looked baffled, touched his forehead, and whispered to Sophia, asking if I had heatstroke. She just smiled.
“When you call me like that, it gives me chills. It’s creepy and bad luck.”
Come to think of it… I haven’t hit this guy in a while.
I grabbed the pillow beside me.
“Say one more thing…”
I raised the pillow like I was going to throw it. Arno clicked his tongue.
“Drama queen. Anyone would think your leg’s been cut off.”
“But it really hurts…”
“If you end up unable to walk, I’ll cut off the doctor’s leg and give it to you.”
“Ugh. That’s cruel.”
“You didn’t call me just to say that, right? You must want something.”
He’s gotten sharper. I guess the academy helped… He’s gone from -100 to -90 now.
“I do have something important. Joel’s tenth birthday is coming up. We got an invitation from Belleni.”
“Aunt already told me. That brat wants you to come.”
“I really want to go too. But look at me—my leg hurts so much I can’t leave the bed.”
I exaggerated my pain and explained how my foot was throbbing, burning, and even hurt when touched.
At first, Arno looked amused, but his face slowly turned serious.
“But the doctor said you’d be fine in a week.”
“I… I guess the internal damage was worse than expected. It hurts more today.”
“You haven’t been walking around, have you?”
“Of course not. How could I, with this leg?”
“That doctor… I knew he was a quack. Let me see.”
Arno sat on the bed and pulled off the blanket. I quickly pulled it back over me.
He looked at me like, “What are you doing now?”
“You won’t know just by looking! The point is, you should go to Belleni instead.”
“I don’t mind going, but Joel doesn’t really like me.”
Obviously, since you destroyed his childhood innocence.
It happened when Joel was five and visited with our aunt.
Like most little boys his age, he used to say, “I’ll marry Mommy when I grow up!”
But twelve-year-old Arno was deep into his rebellious phase and full of edgy thoughts.
As soon as he heard that, he crossed his arms, smirked, and coldly told Joel:
“Listen, Joel. Your mom is already married to your dad, Count Crescent. If she marries you too, that would be adultery and incest. Totally illegal.”
“What’s that?”
“It means you’d be breaking a sacred marriage vow and disobeying God. Your mom would be forced to live in a monastery forever.”
“What?!”
