* * *
I glanced over at Raizen.
He was silently staring at the employee.
‘No way… He’s not reacting like this because of that incident when he was ten, is he?’
Even though his fourteenth birthday had passed without issue, to Raizen—who had no way of knowing that—what happened when he was ten was likely still a traumatic memory.
It would take a long time to be completely free of it.
‘Still, unlike me, he’s actually active in the public eye as the heir.’
He must have met plenty of people who were intimidated by him.
He was the sole heir of the Pantheon Duchy, after all—who would dare treat him casually?
‘Even though the current Duke has worked hard to change the family’s image, the reputation built over generations doesn’t disappear overnight.’
I’d heard from the estate servants, whom I’d managed to charm during my explorations of the ducal residence, that the previous Duke of Pantheon had been a figure of fear among the people of his domain.
He had ruled with an iron grip, with little to no communication between the nobility and the commoners.
However, because his overwhelming military power had always kept the duchy safe, most of the residents still respected the ducal family.
But a system without communication inevitably festers.
With the Duke neglecting civilian affairs and implementing only superficial policies, corrupt nobles emerged, exploiting legal loopholes to amass illicit wealth.
It was the current Duke of Pantheon who uncovered and punished them all.
He also began opening the granaries during major holidays to share food with the people and personally toured the territory with the Duchess.
Naturally, public support, admiration, and love for the ducal family had surged.
‘Still, fear is fear.’
Even if the Duke had started interacting with the people, he maintained a certain level of distance.
The reverence that the commoners held for the ducal family hadn’t been completely broken.
But Raizen’s silence was dragging on longer than expected.
The employee was starting to look paler by the second.
‘No way.’
He’d already survived that damned birthday disaster—if something was triggering him now, what was I supposed to do?
Feeling uneasy, I instinctively reached out and lightly touched Raizen’s fingertips.
His gaze shifted to me.
“Hyung…?”
“…Ah.”
Raizen let out a short sound before running a hand through his hair, pushing back his bangs.
Even then, his eyes remained fixed on me.
“…Let them in.”
After staring at me for a moment longer, he finally spoke.
“Thank you, young master!”
Relief flooded the employee’s face as they quickly left the room.
Raizen set down the catalog he was holding and tapped the one I had been looking at, silently telling me to continue browsing.
A few moments later, the door opened again, and two young men with light green hair entered the room.
One looked to be around Raizen’s age, while the other appeared to be about ten.
Raizen didn’t say or do anything as they approached him.
“Greetings, young Duke! I am Jayren Odil, the eldest son of the Odil family’s branch line!”
Following his brother’s lead, the younger boy also bowed.
“Hello! I’m Jason Odil!”
‘Oh…’
They were directing their greetings solely at Raizen.
The younger one at least stole a few glances at me, but Jayren?
He didn’t even spare me a glance, as if I didn’t exist in the room.
“…I see.”
That was Raizen’s entire response.
Jayren briefly looked flustered but quickly schooled his expression.
“Ah, we also met at the birthday banquet! Do you, by chance, remember me?”
His tone carried a desperate determination—he wasn’t going to back down easily.
“…I see.”
Even I was put off by Raizen’s detached reply, but Jayren’s face lit up.
“You really remember me?! Haha, I knew you would!”
Jayren straightened his slightly bowed posture with renewed confidence.
“Are you here to buy clothes? If you’d like, I could make some recommendations!”
‘Wow. That’s crossing a line.’
He was still a kid, after all.
His arrogance was written all over his face, swelling the moment he confirmed he was remembered.
‘The Odil family is a branch line, huh… How influential are they, exactly?’
I had been present at the birthday banquet too, but I had no recollection of any light-green-haired people or the Odil family.
I hadn’t paid much attention to every guest, but I did remember a fair number of names from those who hovered around Raizen, trying to introduce themselves.
Then, I heard Raizen sigh.
‘He’s doing that on purpose, so they can hear.’
I suppose sticking by Raizen all this time hadn’t been completely useless—I could at least recognize something like that now.
At the sound, Jayren instantly shrank.
“D-Did I do something wrong?”
Why was he acting like Raizen was his superior?
That wasn’t even Raizen’s problem to deal with.
“…Sigh.”
Raizen let out another long sigh.
“First of all, I haven’t officially received the title of ‘Young Duke.’”
“…”
“I am not your superior.”
“…”
“And right now, I’m spending personal time with my younger brother, so…”
A smirk curled on his lips.
“I’d prefer not to be interrupted.”
‘Oh…….’
It was an astonishingly reasonable response.
His tone was a bit cold, but the content itself was perfectly logical.
He wasn’t trying to suppress the other person emotionally—just listing facts in a detached manner.
It really hit me again—Raizen was the son of Duke Pantheon.
If he grew up without straying too far, he’d probably make a great lord.
‘And this is him after the curse has weakened a little.’
Just how much did that damn curse mess him up?
Then again, this could just be part of his image management.
This was my first time seeing Raizen handle external affairs up close.
But still, I was observing him in a private setting, wasn’t I?
‘Though he does seem a bit obsessed with breaking the curse…….’
Aside from that, he wasn’t bad.
“T-That’s……”
Jayren was at a complete loss in the face of Raizen’s factual onslaught.
If Raizen had only pointed out his personal offense, it might’ve been one thing—but he dragged me into it as well.
A simple, mindless apology wouldn’t be enough to get out of this.
Sure enough, Jayren kept glancing at me with his brown eyes, barely concealing his contempt and jealousy.
‘He’s from a branch family, wasn’t he?’
But judging by their appearance, which showed no resemblance to the Pantheon Ducal House, they were probably very distant relatives.
And yet, they were invited to Raizen’s birthday party.
That either meant the Odil family had decent power and influence, or the Pantheon Duke took good care of his branch families.
‘Either way, it must’ve sparked some ambition when they heard I was adopted.’
If they were going to adopt someone anyway, shouldn’t they have picked someone from the branch family with at least some blood ties?
Even if they claimed loyalty to the ducal house, it was impossible not to feel a twinge of envy or desire.
People often harbor conflicting emotions, after all.
‘…It’s kind of unpleasant.’
Maybe it was because I hadn’t anticipated this?
Rationally, I could understand it, but that didn’t mean I liked it.
At the same time, it made me realize just how much the duke and duchess had cared for and protected me all this time.
‘Yeah. I’m someone they cherish.’
So why was he looking at me like I stole his rightful place?
It was never meant for him in the first place, even if I weren’t here.
“I-I’m really sorry! I wasn’t thinking!”
Perhaps realizing that an apology was unavoidable, Jayren deeply bowed.
Of course, it was directed at Raizen.
‘Stay calm. Getting mad here would only make me look ridiculous.’
Even if I didn’t raise my voice and just stated the facts, the outcome wouldn’t be good.
If we were among the retainers and branch family members, it might be different—but here, the chances of my words being twisted were too high.
That would lead to bad rumors, and even those who had no prior opinion of me would start forming biases.
‘And then, naturally, the duke and duchess would be criticized too.’
People would use this as proof that adopting a common orphan was a mistake.
‘But why did they adopt that child, of all people? I heard it was because of his blue eyes…….’
Ah, I can already hear it now.
That’s why I had to endure it.
I was an adult.
I wasn’t about to lose my temper just because some brat was being petty.
“Are you only apologizing to me?”
“…?!”
Wait.
Did I just hear Raizen’s voice?
‘That can’t be. There’s no reason for him to step in for me…….’
“Why aren’t you saying anything, Jayren Odil?”
……He actually did?
“You haven’t even looked at my brother since you arrived. You only greeted me. It felt intentional.”
“……”
“Don’t tell me… you did it on purpose? To my brother?”
‘What the hell is he doing?’
Think rationally.
Why is Raizen acting like this?
Of course—no matter what, I was someone personally chosen by the duke and duchess.
Ignoring me could be seen as disrespecting them.
That would be a blow to the family’s prestige.
If they let it slide, people might start thinking even the ducal house considered me an outsider.
‘Yeah, that must be it.’
Coming to that conclusion calmed me down a little.
I silently observed the situation.
“……I……”
Jayren clenched his teeth, his body trembling slightly.
His eyes burned red with humiliation.
* * *
