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Early in the morning, drops of sweat fell on the dewy soil.
A solid silhouette was reflected in the light mist.
It was his usual routine when he was in the Knights Templar.
The place has only been changed with the patronage of Frauss, and there is no reason for him to be disturbed.
Chirping of birds and the still sunken dawn air.
For him, who likes to practice alone, it was rather a good environment to concentrate.
But…
‘So…are you going to kill me?’
“Damn it.”
The tip of the sword shook.
The invisible disrupter distracted his concentration.
Sophia Frauss.
His half sister. No, toy.
A doll that automatically crawled when he made eye contact with her.
‘Ian, stop…! Please, stop it.’
‘Why? You said you liked birds, so I got you for your birthday. Don’t you like it?’
It was not long ago that she was shedding tears on a bird he caught while hunting.
But when he spoke to her, she turned pale and the trembling prey changed.
Ian finally put the sword in.
He put on his shirt again and went up to the room to wash up.
At that moment, he heard the voices of the maids waking up in the morning of the mansion.
“It was the first time for the Grand Duke to visit us personally.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t have put up with such a disgraceful rumor.”
The last weekly news story was still being talked about.
It wasn’t something to be forgotten overnight.
Ian came home early for that too.
“I heard from a friend who works in Walton house, that they have already sent letters and gifts to the Rivelons.”
“Maybe more families will start doing that today.”
The maids nodded.
With such rumors circulating in the aristocratic world, where reputation is important, Sophia is being talked about all over.
“He’ll break up the engagement, right?”
“I think he’ll break up the engagement.”
Ian thought quietly at the maid’s chatter.
It’s a breakup.
It’s a bad ending for the family.
It was an engagement that would sell Sophia for the most expensive price.
Ian, however, did not hate the breakup.
He didn’t want to hand over his toy to another house.
It would’ve been a bit disappointing if the only fun thing in this mansion disappeared.
The maid’s topic then changed.
“By the way, when I saw the Grand Duke yesterday, I thought there would be no one else in the world who was so handsome, but he was in our mansion!”
“Whenever he comes back, he’ll become even more handsome.”
The chirping voice was as exciting as the birds.
They used to wait for the day the young master returned.
Ian’s enchanting red hair like a rose and green eyes like a leaf had a decadent atmosphere.
The solid body through training perfectly pulled off any clothes, making it the happiness of the maids in charge of his outfits.
At the same time, the scent of an out-of-the-way rebel in this family made the maids fret.
Ian knew that too.
He’s the owner of the family, they’re the employees.
For better or worse, it is impossible for an employee to criticize the owner’s appearance.
“Hey.”
“Ahh!”
Ian’s cool voice surprised the maids who turned their heads.
“Young master!”
Three maids looked at him with round eyes.
Then Ian kicked the vase next to him and knocked it down.
Crash!
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A loud noise rang out in the lobby of the main building.
The maids gasped.
“Shut up and clean up.”
When Ian pointed coldly at the shattered vase, the maids nodded with stiff shoulders.
“Yes, sir…!”
Ian glared at them and went upstairs again.
The maids breathed out the breath they had swallowed.
They shook their heads once more to see if Ian had completely disappeared.
“Except for the occasional outbursts, he’s perfect…”
“It’s the price of having a face value…”
The momentarily silence hardened atmosphere
“But he was handsome just now too.”
Every word made them nod their head violently again.
“Sigh, his sweaty look was so sensual.”
The maids laughed, saying, “It’s a little unfair to look good even when you’re dirty”.
Ian headed to the dining room for breakfast.
By the time he entered, the Countess had already come and sat down.
“Oh, my son!”
“You’re here, Ian.”
The countess welcomed him with a pleased smile.
Ian looked at the wide table instead of saying good morning with a simple silent prayer.
As usual, Sophia was out of sight. There were only three plates set on the table.
“Ian, come and sit down. I’ve been waiting.”
He stopped at the entrance and looked at the table, and the countess beckoned.
Ian went to the last seat without a word and sat down.
“We’re all here, so serve the meal.”
The servants entered the kitchen at the count’s nod.
Even without Sophia, Frauss ate casually.
Soon after, there was plenty of food that seemed a little heavy for breakfast.
“I told you to pay special attention to what you eat because of your training.”
The countess pushed the food toward him.
The couple asked about Ian’s story, who returned after a long time.
In particular, winning the last knight tournament was talked about until the bacon on the count’s plate cooled and hardened.
“Aren’t you proud of him? I can’t believe my son won!”
Ian didn’t respond much to the compliments he received.
While eating quietly, he turned his eyes away from the couple’s praise for a moment.
Yesterday’s weekly was placed on the right side of the count.
As if he had read it many times, irritation could be sensed from the crumpled weekly paper.
“On the other hand, she’s making this story go viral and humiliating the family… Tsk.”
The count, who felt Ian’s gaze, clicked his tongue and was upset.
“What did I tell you, honey, she’s unlucky. I can’t believe this is the way she has wasted her life’s chances of being engaged to the Grand Duke.”
“You should think of it as a punishment for making a woman who doesn’t fit the subject get engaged.”
The atmosphere of the table, which had just been amicable, became rough.
Ian looked at the weekly magazine and turned his eyes to the count.
“…I think she was with the Grand Duke all day yesterday.”
She even wore the dress that he bought for her.
Everyone was talking about the possibility of them breaking up, but Sophia seemed to have gone on a date with him yesterday, let alone broken up.
The count seemed to agree with the remark, and opened his lips bitterly.
“Yes, that’s weird. I thought the Duke would talk about breaking up his marriage, but he took the girl out.”
The count rubbed his mustache.
Then Rubissella looked nervously.
“Will the Grand Duke marry her like this…?”
“I don’t know that. Anyway, this marriage is important to our family, so I have to please the young man.”
Rubissella snapped her fork down at the murmuring count.
“You can’t be swayed by that girl for going out with Grand Duke Rivelon for a day. I’m sure she’s proud to have changed rooms.”
She remembered Sophia, who had been cheeky.
Now that she has gone to the Grand Duke, she might be pretending to be the lady of this family.
Before that, Sophia needs to be discouraged and trampled.
“If you leave her alone, she’ll go to the Grand Duchy and forget about her family’s kindness”
When Sophia was obedient, her marriage to the Grand Duke was not a problem.
From the words of the Count and the Countess, through the trembling Sophia, they would have been able to get everything they needed from the Grand Duke’s house.
But Sophia was different these days.
“She should know that the marriage is there thanks to us…!”
Ian remembered Sophia’s words last night.
‘There’s a saying that a dog’s life is a fortune. If you’re sold as a dog to a good house, you might be better off than a person who’s treated like trash.’
Like his mother said, did she change because now she has Killian on her back?
Ian fiddled with the silverware and thought.
No, something is different.
Killian alone couldn’t have changed her that much.
If so, she would have already been different a month before they got engaged.
‘And those eyes…’
Like a scared rabbit, her eyes, which were always trembling with fear, disappeared.
‘Kill me. I’m done once my eyes close, but you’ll have to carry the heavy burden that will follow.’
Ian was annoyed.
~*~
Ian dealt with the knights until the afternoon.
Since he came back in the middle of training, there were many secondary things that followed.
He flipped through the papers and glanced occasionally out of the window.
From the window of his room, he could see directly down the main entrance.
He heard that Sophia will be moving from the attic of the annex to the main building today.
It would be a small room in the corner of the third floor.
‘…I don’t see any signs.’
Ian’s eyes turned toward the small annex.