/
Still, he wished he could follow in Dorothea’s path.
‘What does it mean to be a good person? I didn’t know because I had never tried.’
‘Should I make a donation following Dorothea?’
If that’s the case, he can hand over all the duke’s fortunes he can afford to places like a support center for the disabled that Dorothea built with Raymond.
But that won’t be the answer.
“huftt…”
As he looked out the window with a deep sigh, he saw a group of people gathered at the entrance of the mansion.
Ethan knows who they are.
‘It bothers me.’
After their debut, they waited for Ethan for several days. All of them were noble ladies or their servants.
The arrogant young ladies will spend time at a nearby tea house and have their servants wait for Ethan, but the impatient young ladies gave up their pride and waited for him on the cold street.
This happened often before the return. And now It wasn’t just before the return, but it often happened when he was in Ceritian.
How disrespectful it is to the person being treated, and the nobles who are well aware of it.
Ethan, who was kind enough to accept Dorothea’s power before returning, was now just disillusioned.
‘Besides, what’s the use of waiting around like that? Dorothea hasn’t contacted me at all.’
‘I’d rather sacrifice them to summon Dorothea.’
Then Ethan saw Jonathan’s carriage coming in.
Jonathan got off in front of the mansion, looked at the people gathered at the entrance of the mansion, and frowned.
The sound of thumping footsteps immediately followed.
“Ethan!”
Jonathan opened the door and entered without knocking.
“Can’t you do something about the humans in front?”
He came to his room almost every day to make a fuss, as if he had suffered because of those who had been standing in front of his house for several days.
“It gets louder when I go out, so tell the butler to clean it up.”
When Ethan responded roughly to Jonathan as if he was annoyed, Jonathan frowned.
“You’re getting more and more fearless, man.”
“If we face each other, you will be angry, I think It’s better if you and I  don’t meet as much as we can. So, if you really have something to say, do it through the butler.”
“You shouldn’t be so proud of yourself. There are no parents in this house anymore.”
Jonathan smirked.
The Duke and Duchess returned to the territory of Cerritian, and the only ones left in Lampas were his bad brother.
There are no parents to protect Ethan, and Jonathan’s physical strength is still stronger than Ethan’s.
“Then hit me.”
“What?”
“so I can go out and talk to them. ‘Because of you, I was beaten by my brother. So please come back.’ That’s a great idea. It is rewarding to graduate from Episteme, the spire of intelligence.”
Jonathan’s eyes fluttered at him.
It’s only a matter of time before his reputation goes down if Ethan does that.
Reputation was a very important issue for him, who was already nervous because he had not yet obtained a suitable position in the imperial palace.
“If there is a rumor that Jonathan Bronte uses violence against his younger brother, it will reach the Cerritian right away, right?”
Ethan laughed softly.
Then Jonathan clenched the doorknob and slammed it hard enough.
‘You are not going to win anyway, so how long are you going to be mad at me?’
Ethan shook his head.
And when he looked out the window again, the butler was having a hard time organizing the people.
However, the stubbornness of the nobles is not easily broken.
‘People with no manners, no culture…’
Ethan saw the butler grunt and clicked his tongue slightly.
Ethan went out on his own, not because Jonathan had said something, but because of the butler, who had been working hard for several days. Ethan felt sorry for him.
As soon as he came out, people’s eyes were on him, and people called out his name in a high tone.
Ethan went out to the entrance with a smile.
“I’m sure you’re all busy, so why are you here…?”
‘come and bother me.’
At Ethan’s question, people reached out and held out something through the bars of the gate. Things like flowers and letters.
“Ethan, take this!”
“Master Ethan, my young lady has told me to deliver it directly to you!”
Countless demands came in.
‘In my heart, I wanted to curse, but I can’t.’
“I appreciate your heart, but if you do this, it interferes with the carriage and other people’s passage, and I feel sorry for my neighbors. Then I can’t stay in Lampas anymore, right?”
Ethan smiled and said to them.
“I will accept it this time, but I will never accept it even if you do this next time. Please, I hope I don’t have to call the security guard.”
With a friendly threat, he collected gifts and letters that were held out through the bars of the gate one by one.
‘I plan to throw them away as soon as I get in, but I know that people never leave if I tell them to go away.’
While he was accepting gifts one by one, saying thank you that he didn’t even want to, a hand handing out a letter caught his attention.
A woman with mint hair, wearing white lace gloves.
“I want you to read the letter.”
She raised her long eyelashes and looked up at Ethan.
An innocent face that seems to have grown beautifully in a greenhouse. Ethan knows this young lady well.
‘Monica Aponita, Nereus’ fiancee.’
By now, Nereus will also be graduating from Episteme soon, so there must be talk of engagement.
Monica will be forced to marry Nereus under family pressure.
But Monica doesn’t really like Nereus. She disliked Nereus’s bad personality.
Nereus is excellent in appearance and origin, but his personality doesn’t suit her. She’s not confident she will live with him for the rest of her life.
It wasn’t that he didn’t understand Monica’s mind. Ethan didn’t like Nereus either, so Monica wanted to use Ethan to break up with Nereus.
Or maybe she hated Nereus so much that she was looking for an escape. He knew why Monica had chosen him out of so many men.
If she chooses an ordinary young master, it would be incomparable to Nereus’s origin or background.
Except for Crown Prince Raymond or the grand duke’s eldest son, Theon, there is no fiancee with a background comparable to Nereus.
So, she chose a ‘provocative scandal partner’.
A man with a very provocative appearance who can convince everyone why she fell in love with just one face.
A man with a perfect face and an imperfect origin.
If it’s not him, she can’t have a defiant burning love with anyone.
And with his recent scandal is sure to reach Nereus’ ears, if she becomes Ethan’s partner.
It was clear that Nereus would bring out the breakup first.
Anyway, Ethan didn’t have to push Monica like that.
It was annoying, but he thought it was one of the important networks he had to manage.
Besides, thanks to Monica, it was relatively easy to get information about Hark and it was fun to be able to sneer at Nereus.
But when she started to cross the line, Ethan pushed her away before she could confess. He liked to use others, but he hated to be used.
The only person who could use him was Dorothea.
“Aren’t you just using me to break up with Nereus in the end?”
“….”
“Have you thought about my position, being mired in scandal because of your problem?”
Monica didn’t respond as if Ethan stabbed in the right direction.
She went back to Hark, and after a while came the news of Nereus and Monica’s breakup.
“I don’t want to sell my body in the name of marriage.”
Monica boldly declared to Nereus and Her father.
And Nereus, who had a grudge against him, came to attack the empire shortly after he became king.
Of course, Nereus used his breaking up with Monica as an excuse. He was only aiming for the right time to attack the Empire.
Ethan looked at the letter in Monica’s hand and thought for a moment.
‘Now, maybe this letter is intended to break off an engagement that was still under discussion.’
Something like hope that if she has a man she likes, wouldn’t it stop her from getting engaged?
Ethan pondered the meaning of the letter.
“I want to be…. a good person.”
Dorothea’s goal is to be a good person.
‘So stopping the war will make me a good person?’
After completing the calculation, Ethan smiled as he looked at Monica, who looked at him with a questioning look on her face.
“I’ll make sure to read it.”
As he accepted Monica’s letter, he looked at Monica affectionately.
* * *
When Ethan returned to his room, he threw away all the gifts and letters, setting aside only Monica’s letter.
‘Decorated with pretty patterns like a love letter, kinda disgusting.’
Ethan tore the envelope open without using a paper-knife.
As a result, the letter inside was crumpled, but it was not important.
Ethan read Monica’s letter with his brows wrinkled like a crumpled letter.
At the end of the letter, a polite self-introduction and a few lines of praise to win his favor were written.
The important part came later when she told him she’d seen him from afar at the debutante and liked him.
[Next week at noon, I’d like to treat you to a meal at the restaurant Caro. I have something to say. I will wait until you come.]
Along with it was the address of Restaurant Caro and the date of the appointment.
“It’s so unlucky.”
One-sided promises were rude, but among young nobles these days, these letters seemed to be read as ‘passionate love’ or ‘a moving love story’.
Ethan tapped the corner of the desk with a letter and rolled his eyes.