Chapter 19
“Ah, I should’ve mentioned it earlier. A few days ago, Bellia came to me with a request. Since it was her first time participating in a formal merchant guild meeting like this, she asked if she could see a sample first to think it over. So I allowed her to see it in advance, and it seems she made something with it.”
“Ah, really?”
“Yes. Quite admirable, isn’t it? As the daughter of the Arpedi Marquis, she said she wanted to set an example for the guild.”
As the marquis spoke proudly, those nearby nodded in agreement.
“That’s just like the young lady. No wonder the marquis cherishes her.”
“I heard she’s only sixteen, but her maturity is beyond her years.”
“Indeed, she’s the marquis’s daughter through and through.”
As each member of the guild added their own words, the marquis’s smile deepened with pride.
Barun silently watched the scene.
“Even when the Awakening Day comes, will you still be here?”
“…Don’t be ridiculous,” Barun muttered, recalling the past.
“It’s simple why I came to you. I want your little sister. And you want her too, don’t you? If she’s gone, you’ll have to leave this estate. Only if she remains here can you continue living in this place.”
At the memory of that mocking voice, Barun clenched his fist.
Both she and he were born and raised in this estate.
But unlike him, she gained love and position without doing anything—without any effort.
He was the one who had lived his life desperately, doing his best because he needed this position more than anyone else.
“Bellia.”
Since when did she, of all people, start proudly bearing the Arpedi name as if she had earned it?
He couldn’t stand how she had seized everyone’s attention, brushing off his words as if they were nothing.
“You’re just a cuckoo’s child.”
Even if he wasn’t a blood child, even if he was a so-called cuckoo’s offspring, no one had worked harder than he had.
To lead and protect this family, to make the Arpedi name shine—he had always done his utmost.
Barun turned and looked at his reflection in the window.
Blue eyes and gray hair—features said to be characteristic of the Arpedi family members who had undergone Awakening.
He may not have been born with them, but in the end, he now bore the symbol of the Arpedi family.
So how could someone like him, who earned his place through effort, be deemed inferior to Bellia?
“Isn’t it wrong for her to have seen the sample first?”
Barun’s sudden question, sharpened by emotion, drew the attention of the room.
The murmuring guild hall went quiet for a moment.
The marquis looked at Barun, puzzled.
“Wrong?”
“Yes.”
Barun frowned, bitterness on his tongue.
It was always the same—no matter what, the marquis never saw Bellia and him as equals.
Bellia always had it easier. He always had to struggle.
And once again, the nagging doubt arose.
Maybe the marquis knew.
Maybe he knew Barun wasn’t his real son.
Barun clenched his fist.
“Allowing a mere young lady to preview textile samples for an imperial business… I believe that crosses a line.”
“A line?”
The marquis furrowed his brow.
Normally, Barun would have stopped there—but he kept going.
“It’s already a problem that she’s involved in an imperial venture, and she’s only sixteen. Yet she’s running wild in such an important matter and even got a preview of the samples? That could tarnish the empire’s image.”
“Tarnish?”
“Yes. I fear that this young lady may not only ruin our family’s business but also cause trouble for an imperial project.”
Barun could no longer tolerate Bellia overstepping her bounds, nor respect a father who showered her with affection.
His voice, thick with a mix of anxiety and unfairness, dropped low.
“There is no need for concern. I’m the one responsible for the textile project. And I was the one who permitted Bellia to participate and receive the sample. Whether that decision causes trouble or not is for me, the one in charge, to determine.”
The marquis responded calmly to Barun’s outburst.
Again.
Barun’s chest tightened at the marquis’s continued defense of Bellia.
“Father, you’re making a misguided decision.”
“Misguided?”
“Yes. Letting Bellia participate in such an important matter—”
“It seems you’re the one making misguided decisions.”
The marquis cleared his throat, displeased.
“Why do you keep saying things like ‘mere young lady’ and ‘causing harm’? Bellia’s participation is no different than yours. She’s also a member of the family—”
“How is it the same? That child knows nothing about the family business. What she’s doing is reckless, whereas what I do—”
“Barun Arpedi. Watch your mouth.”
At last, the marquis’s voice turned stern.
“Reckless? Is that how you talk? Do I need to remind you how we even secured this project for our family? If Bellia hadn’t been selected as ‘Young Lady of the Year,’ we wouldn’t have had this chance.”
“But—”
“The one being reckless right now is you, not Bellia.”
“That’s not what I meant!”
“No matter how long you’ve helped me with guild matters, in this place, you are still just my son. If you weren’t the eldest of the Arpedi family, you wouldn’t even be here. And now you’re questioning Bellia’s qualifications?”
“She and I are different!”
“What’s the difference? You’re only here because I allowed it. Do you think the other guild members would have acknowledged you otherwise?”
“Father, I’m not speaking out of petty emotions like you! I’m just worried that Bellia’s foolish actions might damage our guild and our family—”
“Enough! I don’t know what you’re so dissatisfied with, but if you bring up Bellia’s involvement one more time, I’ll start questioning your qualifications.”
Barun flinched.
“I only said it out of concern for the family.”
“Concern? The family and the guild will do just fine without your worrying. But is that really concern… or is it—”
The marquis closed his eyes slowly.
Ever since Bellia returned from her accident at age eight, he occasionally felt uneasy when looking at Barun.
“Maybe you’re simply afraid of your younger sister.”
It was the first time the marquis had scolded Barun so harshly, and the meeting room fell into a cold silence.
The secretary glanced around nervously.
After a tense pause, the marquis sighed, and the secretary quickly tried to shift the atmosphere.
“Ah, Marquis, the young master was just trying to do better. Haha.”
The executives nodded and agreed with the secretary.
“Yes, of course. The young master only spoke out because he cares about the family business. Right, young master? How wonderful that both siblings are so passionate—surely, success is guaranteed.”
As the frosty air began to thaw, chuckles returned to the room.
The marquis looked at Barun and let out a quiet sigh.
“The past is the past.”
No matter how grown he seemed, to the marquis, Barun was still a child.
As the room lightened, with people saying that even fathers and sons were bound to quarrel now and then, another secretary approached Barun.
“Are you alright, young master?”
“I got carried away.”
Barun, now calmer, quietly returned to his seat.
Though they pretended otherwise, the others continued to watch him closely.
Barun, always seen as mature, had never been this emotional before.
He paused, feeling their eyes on him.
“Wouldn’t that be difficult?”
He couldn’t shake the feeling of being intruded upon when Bellia’s clear voice cut off his suggestion.
He had lost his temper because the girl who might one day steal everything from him was starting to shine again.
Barun exhaled.
She had only come up with one little idea.
She was nothing in this family.
Everyone in this meeting hall—everyone—would naturally recognize him as the successor, the true master of this family.
“Hide your claws.”
The memory of his mother’s voice cooled his anger.
“Ah, I only spoke out without thinking. I worried it might become a problem later. I apologize, Father.”
As if none of the anger had ever existed, Barun bowed politely to the marquis.
The marquis watched him for a moment.
“…Alright. I’ll take it as a sign that you care about the guild.”
“Yes.”
“The young lady has arrived.”
At the doorman’s announcement, the door opened.
Bellia walked gracefully to the center and held the edge of her skirt elegantly.
“What do you think?”
She looked playfully at the marquis with a smile.
“Did you… use the textile for that?”
The marquis and Barun both widened their eyes in shock.
So did the others in the guild.
“Is it really possible to make a dress like that out of that textile?”
“Silence!”
The marquis commanded in a low, firm voice.
The room immediately fell silent.
