* * *
As soon as they arrived at Helio’s, the first stop had been to get clothes for Martius.
He now stood there, a little awkward but smiling neatly.
‘He really is something, I guess.’
Yuri responded sourly, but Sylvian didn’t catch it.
His attention was locked on his well-dressed little brother.
He finally understood why their mother had said Martius was fun to shop for.
Unlike his own unimpressive body, Martius’s tall, lean frame made clothes shine.
With those sculpted muscles, he looked like a model from a past life.
“Give me that one too.”
“Hyung?”
Sylvian, entranced, spoke to the clerk.
The staff member smiled so hard his cheeks hurt as he jotted down the request.
What an amazing Duchess—so devoted to her brother!
He began pulling out clothes that would suit a young knight.
“You try something on too.”
Martius grumbled to Yuri, who was sitting with a bored expression.
“I’ll pass.”
His wardrobe at home was already stuffed with clothes their mother had picked.
He hated dealing with this stuff.
“Yuri, how about trying this one?”
At Sylvian’s offer, Yuri jumped up without a second thought.
“Aren’t we buying a bit too much, Hyung?”
“The Duke gave me a lot of allowance.”
Sylvian waved a small notebook—one of the house-issued checks.
‘Everything here is just too convenient.’
From magic to daily life, there were so many modern conveniences.
Thanks to that, despite being confined to the Viscount’s estate, Sylvian had quickly adapted to this new life.
“Are you sure it’s okay to spend this much?”
“He told me to see if I could spend it all.”
He had to give it his best shot today.
If not, the Duke said he’d “teach” him how to use money—whatever that meant.
Spending money?
Now that he could do.
Sylvian ruffled Martius’s hair, telling him not to worry.
If only he could’ve been like this from the start.
He waited, hiding his wistfulness, while Yuri changed in the dressing room.
“I’ll pull the curtain open.”
Once the staff inside gave the signal, the curtain was drawn back.
“Wow! Yuri, you look amazing!”
“Like a wild mountain bandit.”
Sylvian clapped delightedly.
Martius, looking unimpressed, simply spoke the truth.
Although Zeroth’ training had reduced his muscles somewhat, the tight shirt still clung to him, clearly revealing his large chest.
With a jacket thrown over that, Yuri stood there beaming brightly—so innocent-looking that it felt like even mountain bandits would bow and call him “boss.”
“How do I look?”
“Like a bandit. You look like you’d be great at beating people up.”
Ignoring Martius’ sharp jab, Yuri looked only at Sylvian.
“It looks so good on you! I want that one too!”
“You want me to buy it for you?”
“Yes! Consider it a gift!”
Sylvian waved his checkbook.
Yuri broke into a bright smile, cheering and striking various poses for him.
“Ugh.”
“Get away.”
The two, having urged Sylvian to try something on as well, backed off the moment he disappeared to change.
“You seem awfully happy your Hyungther’s buying things for you. Aren’t you rich yourself?”
Yuri snorted at Martius’ sarcastic tone.
The younger guy spoke casually most of the time, only using honorifics when it suited him.
If it weren’t for Lord Sylvian, I’d ignore him entirely.
Sigh.
Yuri let out a deep breath, frustrated by his current situation.
Back when he saw Lord Sylvian every day at the Duke’s estate, life had been good.
But ever since that incident—caused by that guy—he hadn’t been able to go back so easily.
And on top of that, the attention he used to receive had now been split.
Since Martius had mentioned how much he missed seeing his older brother, Yuri couldn’t very well demand more of Sylvian’s attention for himself.
“It’s nice, really nice. But you wouldn’t understand. You’re an Alpha. You don’t know what it’s like to feel completely isolated from the world.”
“……”
Martius flinched at the comment meant to drive a wedge, but the sound of curtains pulling open drew his attention.
“How do I look?”
“You’re perfect! So cool! Hyung!”
Martius jumped up and shouted. Sylvian turned his gaze from Yuri—who had been watching him so intently it was like he was trying to win a contest—to face him.
There stood Yuri, his face completely flushed.
‘Falling for me again? Or do I just look that good to you?’
Sylvian pretended not to notice.
He no longer had to wonder whether Yuri was interested in Zeroth—because the two could hardly look at each other without snarling.
It was all Yuri’s muscles’ fault. Or maybe he should thank the Countess, who had loved her son just a little too much.
Sylvian had kept an eye on them both for the month following their first meeting.
Even without him around, the two had kept running into each other at the knight order’s headquarters—and their relationship only kept getting worse.
‘What even happened to the original plot…’
Thanks to that, Sylvian was now certain he wouldn’t die by Zeroth’ hand.
As long as no one unexpected jumped into the story, Sylvian was currently Zeroth’ number one priority.
‘Then why doesn’t he just say he loves me?’
Sylvian suppressed a bitter smile as he looked at Yuri, whose eyes were overflowing with affection as he gazed at him.
Zeroth had looked at him the same way too—but had never once said he loved him out loud.
Was he supposed to just assume Zeroth loved him based solely on the emotion in his eyes?
“You’re really lovely.”
“What the f—?”
Martius, who had been about to curse, grimaced at the sight of Yuri’s face and kicked him.
“Ack!”
“You little bastard!”
“Ma-Martius?! Stop it!”
‘Is this why Zeroth actually let them go out?’
Sylvian had no idea how to interpret his feelings.
He had to step in and pull the two apart as they broke into an actual fight.
Dragging the two along, Sylvian finally managed to visit the jewelry store he’d been aiming for after a noisy, chaotic trip through the marketplace.
‘This one’s especially flashy.’
The store mentioned in the letter was more extravagant than any of the others.
Just before going in, Yuri had said he’d spotted an old academy classmate and would go say hi.
Sylvian took the chance to send Martius off on an errand to fetch something the knights needed.
“Welcome. Thank you for visiting Lauren’s Jewelry Shop. I’m Lauren, the owner.”
Plain brown hair and brown eyes—she looked like any commoner.
At moments she appeared beautiful, but her features had a strange tendency to blur in memory.
“Nice to meet you. Mind if I browse some of your displayed pieces first?”
“Of course. Please, take your time. Call me if you see anything you like.”
She bowed and stepped back.
“I don’t see what I’m looking for here.”
After making a round inside, Sylvian smiled and addressed Lauren.
“I see. If you’re looking for something more special, please come this way.”
As they entered a back room, curtains were drawn to block the view from outside.
“I’d like to purchase the ‘Queen’s Mirror’ and the ‘Gem of Truth’.”
“You are looking for something special.”
She gave a sly smile and placed a small hand mirror on the glass table.
“What would you like to know?”
“I want information on what happened to Martius Nertian, the young noble.”
“That’s fairly basic. Just one gold, then.”
Sylvian handed over the prepared coin.
Lauren tapped lightly on the surface of the mirror.
“!”
* * *
