But when he went out into the garden, Brother Halias was already nowhere to be seen.
"I wouldn't have been able to break the branches of the trees here. These trees were cherished by the late Ma, so the lord takes care of them carefully."
Listening to Dorian's explanation, I searched for Brother Halias.
As I passed through the trees, they were all similarly jagged, and I heard a familiar scream in the distance.
"Ahh..."
Dorian frowned slightly.
"It's Master Shion's voice. If he meets a snake, it's a big deal."
I replied casually.
"Theodore is a stranger."
Dorian narrowed his eyes and laughed.
"You should call him Theo, baby."
Even Dorian had decided to join Theodore.
Then I heard another scream.
"Aaaa!"
Dorian clicked her tongue.
"What are you doing... Let's go."
***
When I found my brothers, the first thing I saw was Theodore giggling.
Next, Shion grabs a branch like a sword and aims at something.
Then something flew up near Shion.
"Ahh..."
Shion was startled every time it flew up, and the branch that pretended to be a sword was, of course, useless.
"Uh-huh, stop, brother! It's impossible! I feel sorry for an innocent insect..."
But in my eyes, Shion seemed even more pitiful for making such an excuse.
Theodore whirled, but demanded.
"Focus, focus. It's about watching the other person's movements until the end."
"Whoa!"
Do you want to do it with just the palm of my hand?
A slick beetle startled Shion and flew toward me.
I looked at the beetle at my feet, and it spread its wings as if it were going to fly again.
'This is a bug...'
I inadvertently lifted one of my feet.
I shouldn't have done that with Shion...
By the time I stepped on it, it was too late.
There was a sudden silence in the garden full of bushes.
It was Dorian who was the first to make a sound.
"Oh my gosh, you have lost your footing. Eh, poor beetle..."
Theodore, who was looking at me and opening his mouth, tried to laugh.
"Wahaha, Liana... Did you step on the beetle? You're unlucky..."
But Shion just stared at me and didn't say anything.
I suddenly remembered the day before when I almost hated Shion in the training room.
Caliph alone can't handle it, so we can't make more enemies here, right?
'Shion is good to me...'
Thinking of that, I nodded my little foot up.
Then I looked down at the flattened beetle and cried out in surprise.
"Hmmm!"
"Oh, my God. Baby, are you surprised?"
Dorian hugged me so quickly that it was easy to hide my tearless face.
"Hmm... It's hot. (I'm scared.)"
I muttered abominable words that were not worth half a penny and pretended to cry for a long time, until Shion finally opened his lips and whispered.
"What, Liana, really... I was going to beat it properly this time."
Theodore pretended to be deceived by his brother.
"Yes. Liana interfered with the beetle's noble death."
Dorian intervened and spoke.
"Please forgive her because she's still a baby, Master. It certainly didn't disturb her. Isn't that right, baby?"
I rubbed my eyes hard and made them red, and then quickly looked up.
"Ugh, I don't know."
Shion replied bluntly, swinging a branch and slamming it on the ground.
"Of course, I didn't know. Then she stepped on that big insect on purpose?"
What do you do with something the size of your palm...
If you go to the beach over there, you don't know how long and ugly the midges are...
I thought to myself.
"Hmm, I don't know."
Shion finally raised his head and looked at me.
"Yes, it's okay. Next time, I'll hold you tightly, so don't cry."
At what time will such a day come...
After thinking about that, I came to a conclusion.
Apparently, Shion resembles the Grand Duchess.
After all, if the three sons were just like Alseid, the late Grand Duchess would be unjustified...
Dorian said to Theodore.
"Oh, I think it's better to bring those branches to the carpentry shop. If you hurt your hand with a tree thorn, it would be a big deal."
The walk in the garden ended so casually.
***
Two days later. Meridy Castle.
Alseid's ashen eyes darkened as he looked up at the blackened walls.
Caliph spat softly beside him.
"It's terrible."
Caliph's gaze, which did not show any emotion, also faltered for a moment.
While Alseid gritted his teeth instead of answering, Meridy's deputy lord appeared in a hurry.
"Oh... Welcome, Grand Duke Halias. I thought he would arrive tomorrow..."
Alseid swallowed a sigh and smiled.
"The wind helped me cross the strait. By the way, the damage is worse than I thought. It's small, but please contribute to the recovery."
A scout disguised as a Templar carried a chest full of silver coins.
The only one who can bring such a gift and say that it is weak is Alseid Halias on this continent.
Meridy's deputy lord was in a hurry to hide the smile on his lips, but he couldn't help but be caught by the ghostly gaze of the Halias father-and-son.
"Oh... Thanks, sir. I will tell His Majesty the King of the sincerity of the Kalias."
He led the group to the nearest building.
"It is a shame, but the nature of the West has not been able to clean up the ashes of the interior. Lucrezia Palace is the best, so I'll give you a room here. Please understand that there is still ammunition."
As they walked along, the lord of the castle, the straw in the garden, which had become a wasteland, crumbled under their feet.
A few crows dotted the blue sky, but no one paid any particular attention.
***
"Did you finish the funeral of the Duke and Duchess Meridy?"
Alseid put down his fork as if he had finished eating, and the deputy lord quickly swallowed a sip of wine and replied.
"Yes, it was a sad day. Not only the Duchess but also the only bloodline had disappeared... A curse has fallen on the rich land of Meridy, and the frightened people are leaving the territory."
He didn't seem to know for sure that Liana had survived.
Alseid clicked his tongue uncomfortably.
"Tsk..."
"How far has the fact-finding progressed?"
Caliph asked instead, and the deputy lord waved his hand.
"There is nothing we can do about investigations or anything. There are only ashes left. In particular, our nature has been badly burned, and even the royal investigators are reluctant to visit it for fear of collapsing if they take a wrong step."
Alseid asked again.
"What about the remains?"
"Your Excellency knows the flame of Meridy. There is nothing left. Traces of bone powder were found in the Duke's room, so they were just collected in a jar."
Caliph frowned.
"Then it could be a servant or a maid, right?"
"But it happened very late at night... There is no way that the employees went in and out of the upper floors until that time..."
When the deputy lord of the castle was confused, Alseid asked again.
"How many workers survived?"
"Some of the servants survived, but we feel so guilty that we were the only ones who escaped, so we don't open our mouths."
Alseid sighed.
"Is the memorial hall in the chapel?"
"Yes, sir. Even after the funeral, the people would come to the shrine whenever they had a chance, and they had to set up a memorial hall in the middle of the day."
"Then let's go."
When Alseid and Caliph went to the chapel with the lord of the castle, a group of scouts naturally fell backwards and disappeared.
***
The next day.
After breakfast, I was taking a break while reading a book I borrowed from the library, when I heard a knock.
Knock knock!
Dorian stood up, reflected.
"Looks like the tailors are here!"
Again?
I looked puzzled, but Dorian quickly found the bonnet, put it on me, and opened the door.
Then, instead of the enormous scrolls of fiber as they had done last week, several boxes came into the room.
Dorian returned to me and bookmarked the open page.
"Today, I decided to sew the dress. Since she didn't have clothes to wear right away, I forced her to make them because she didn't have enough time."
"What...?"
Shr didn't expect to come all the way to fit the children's dresses, so when she asked, Dorian kindly explained.
"I put the rough-made clothes on the baby's body and see if they fit well. Then you can get the finished clothes."
Of course, I didn't ask her back because I didn't understand what she meant.
The tailor admired the endless try-on of five dresses, a riding suit, several coats, a nd a few hats.
"How could she be so nice! She doesn't show a hard feeling..."
Dorian replied with a proud face.
"Sometimes she is surprisingly mature."
But how difficult is it to just put a leg or arm on a garment that a tailor would have made overnight?
In the midst of the stunning, Suziebeth appeared.
"Hey! The fairy of flowers will not be as fine as my baby!"
By the way, in my previous life, my nickname on Lausanne Island was the Red Devil...
"I think you will be very satisfied when you come back and see this!"
"The lord will laugh too, right?"
No way.
I pretended not to hear their false praise, and I put my foot in my little shoe.
The tailor asked me while holding my feet.
"How are you, baby? Are you comfortable?"
I nodded and said sincerely.
"Hmph, cloth is so pretty. Thank you."
The tailor kissed the back of my foot with tears in his eyes.
"Oh my God! It is our family's honor to hear your words of praise, Baby."
Hey, even if it's a new pair of shoes that I just made, can you please not do this...
I felt like I was going to get hives, so I scratched my arm.
From now on, I just shouldn't say anything.
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