Chapter 20
“…What is that?”
A loud boom followed, and the corpse of a beast crashed down in the middle of the training grounds. The whole place trembled as if struck by an earthquake. Kylian muttered uneasily.
“No way…”
Everyone in the training grounds turned their heads at once. In the distance, someone was seen having thrown the beast.
“My lady! Young master!”
Riena, dressed in a maid’s uniform with a sword at her waist, smiled brightly and waved. Eloise let out a deep sigh and lowered her head.
“Riena…”
Eloise looked back and forth between Riena, who was running toward them, and the beast’s corpse. How on earth did she kill something twice her size and drag it here? The creature’s enormous body was matched only by its vicious, sharp teeth.
“I don’t ever want to see another beast corpse again.”
Kylian grimaced, and Eloise nodded in agreement.
“Me neither…”
As if to vent all her pent-up stress, Riena had made a habit of bringing back beast corpses every day.
She was so startled the first time she saw one…
Thanks to Riena dragging them in daily, Eloise had unwillingly become desensitized to terrifying monsters.
“This is getting ridiculous. You two, go on ahead.”
The Grand Duke clicked his tongue. At his words, Riena ran up and pulled Eloise and Kylian into her arms.
“No! You can’t take my lady and young master away from me!”
We’ll never get back to the mansion at this rate…
Eloise struggled in Riena’s arms and glanced at Kylian, who had already given up and resigned himself to the embrace.
“Quiet down and go to your meeting.”
The Grand Duke’s voice grew rough as he looked at the children held tightly in Riena’s arms.
Is he angry?
Startled, Eloise flinched. Seeing this, Riena narrowed her eyes at the Grand Duke.
“Your Excellency, you didn’t scare the young lady again, did you?”
“Do I have to explain myself to you?”
“The young lady and young master are delicate! You have to be careful! Especially since the young lady was raised in the capital—she’s not used to the temperament of northern people!”
“…”
“I heard everything! You stormed into that orphanage! Did it not occur to you that they’d be shocked? Look! You’ve left a scar on that sweet, gentle girl’s heart!”
Riena tried lowering her voice out of awareness for those around her, but her fiery nature made it impossible to contain. Her words echoed through the training ground. The knights began to discreetly back away, sensing trouble.
“Ugh…”
The Grand Duke, whose eyes had been burning red in fury, fell silent the moment the orphanage was mentioned.
“And another thing! You shouldn’t have killed the headmistress—you should’ve brought her back alive! How could you just kill her so easily?”
The Grand Duke said nothing, and Riena only gained momentum, her voice rising further.
“I had my own score to settle! Honestly, all royals ever think about is themselves!”
“You do realize I’m no longer the Crown Prince…”
“Does that matter? The young lady still gets scared every time she sees you because of what happened then!”
Eloise’s eyes darted nervously as all attention suddenly turned toward her.
“Riena! That’s…”
She tried to interrupt Riena, but the words caught in her throat. Sneaking a glance at the Grand Duke, she looked every bit the picture of someone uncomfortable and uncertain.
This is even worse than saying nothing!
As Eloise berated herself internally, Kylian’s next words froze her in place.
“I don’t know what exactly happened back then, but she does seem uncomfortable around you.”
“Kylian!”
Eloise tried to stop him, but it was too late. The Grand Duke’s face darkened as though a storm cloud had settled over him.
“I… I’m sorry.”
“No, please, it’s fine!”
Flustered, Eloise waved her hands in denial, trying to dispel the gloomy air that surrounded him.
“That’s exactly the problem! You need to tone down that personality of yours—uh, I mean, sir!”
Riena’s comment only thickened the dark cloud hanging over him. Eloise groaned and pressed a hand to her forehead.
“Your Excellency, that was my fault for not protecting the lady properly. It was my negligence.”
Kane’s usually smooth, emotionless voice now carried an edge. His expression had tightened in visible displeasure at seeing his lord cornered like this.
“Did you order this fool to attend the young lady? He’s so frail he can barely turn a page in a book.”
Riena nodded as if everything suddenly made sense.
“That’s an exaggeration. If anyone struggles with turning pages, it’s you.”
“Ha! Me?”
“With that brainless strength of yours? I heard most times you try to turn a page, you end up falling asleep instead.”
The verbal exchange between Riena and Kane was as sharp as drawn blades. Their breaths grew heavier with each retort.
“Enough.”
The Grand Duke cut in, sensing things would soon turn physical.
“Oh, if you’re going to intervene, make him stop calling you Your Highness already!”
Riena jabbed again, clearly irritated.
“He’s been the Grand Duke for half a year now, yet still insists on calling him that. You’d think a man as smart as him could adapt.”
“He is my Highness!”
Riena smirked.
“Oh my, are you two dating?”
“Stop it!”
The Grand Duke shouted before the conversation could veer any further off course.
“Restrain that brute!”
“Your Highness! You mustn’t let that oaf speak to you so rudely!”
It was utter chaos. Eloise and Kylian sighed in unison. Hearing each other, they exchanged weary glances.
“Shall we go?”
“Let’s.”
Dragging her tired feet, Eloise trudged into her room alongside Kylian. Bella, who was tidying up, turned and bowed politely.
“You’ve returned early?”
At those words, the chaos from earlier replayed vividly in Eloise’s mind.
“Ah, something came up…”
She sighed wearily. Bella smiled softly and began serving tea. The calm, deliberate rhythm of Bella’s movements slowly eased Eloise’s tension—until a large shadow suddenly loomed before her eyes.
“Young master!”
“Gah! Don’t cling to me!”
Ryan threw himself at Kylian, who recoiled in disgust. The more Kylian pushed, the tighter Ryan’s grip became.
“This is what happens when you keep avoiding me!”
It had been two months since Ryan became his assigned attendant. And in that entire time, Kylian could count on one hand how many times they’d actually spoken.
“Fine! I’m sorry! I won’t avoid you anymore—just let go!”
“Really?”
“Yes, really!”
Watching them, Eloise reached up and patted Ryan’s back comfortingly.
“If he avoids you again, I’ll scold him myself.”
“My lady!”
“It’s fine—you can speak from there.”
Eloise quickly raised a hand to stop Ryan from running toward her in gratitude, as if taming a wild animal. The sight made Kylian chuckle.
“I’m heading out.”
“What? Already?”
Eloise’s tone carried a hint of disappointment.
“I just came to drop you off. I’ve got sword training to do.”
“At the training grounds?”
The moment she asked, both of them recalled the earlier chaos, and Kylian’s eyes dimmed.
“No, I’ll train in the garden with Ryan.”
“The garden…”
Kylian’s usual practice spot in the garden was fixed—the azure garden filled with Adlen flowers.
That’s quite a detour from the training grounds…
“You could’ve just said goodbye before heading into the mansion.”
Her voice was tinged with guilt, but Kylian shook his head lightly.
“You overexerted yourself earlier. Get some rest.”
“I’m fine…”
Even as she said it, Eloise knew her words weren’t convincing at all.
