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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: An Unusual Accessory
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“What's wrong?”
Edmond looked down at me, puzzled by my dazed expression.
I wanted to reply as I normally would, but my lips felt stiff.
“No, did you see the person who was just here? He was talking to me.”
“Talking to you?”
Edmond tilted his head.
“I can't say I did.”
“Really?”
“Did something happen?”
he asked, studying my face.
He bent down to meet my gaze, his face etched with concern. The affection in his eyes was plain to see.
“…No. A little boy asked me to buy his flowers. It just bothered me.”
That's why I couldn't say anything more.
“It's better not to buy them. The beggar gangs will just take the money anyway.”
“Yeah. I suppose so.”
When I replied with a faint smile, Edmond urged me to hurry back home.
I forced a smile, trying to shake off the unsettling feeling.
***
When we got home, Isaac was tied tightly to a chair, unable to move a muscle.
But why?
“What is this?”
“In the cold, hard world of high-stakes games, there's no question more meaningless than 'why'.”
Yulia declared solemnly. She had placed a chair opposite Isaac and was sharpening a kitchen knife, which made her words sound quite chilling.
“Traditionally, when one is caught cheating, it is customary to sever their hand. Since he dared to resist and showed no remorse for his crime, I was about to make an example of him.”
It seemed the two of them had been playing cards out of boredom, and Isaac had tried to pull a fast one.
In any case, in the world of professional gamblers, cheating means you're willing to bet your hand, so her logic was sound.
“I see.”
“Mphhh-mmph!”
Isaac shook his head violently, trying to protest.
“Why is his mouth gagged?”
“He's noisy.”
I see.
“Mphh! Mmmphh!”
As I nodded, Isaac's struggles grew more frantic.
*'Why are you just agreeing with her!'*
He had a look on his face that practically screamed with indignation.
“Yulia. That's enough.”
As Edmond spoke, pinching the bridge of his nose, Yulia clicked her tongue with a "Tch" but obediently began to untie the ropes.
The moment the gag was removed, a torrent of words spilled from Isaac's mouth.
“Yulia, how could you do this to me! And you, Emily! Are you taking her side just because you're twins?”
“But you cheated first, didn't you, brother?”
“Oh, so that's how it is? This is why raising younger siblings is useless.”
*Sob, sob.* Isaac made an exaggerated show of crying.
“Hmph. From the way you're talking, it seems you don't want to be untied just yet.”
“Please untie me, dear sister.”
“Pfft-hahaha!”
Yulia giggled and untied the rest of the ropes. Isaac rotated his stiff wrists a few times, then shot to his feet, changing his tune.
“Gotcha!”
“Aah! That's not fair!”
“Not fair? It's right here!”
He grabbed Yulia and spun her around and around, and she let out a joyful scream.
“Kya-hahaha!”
*Crack.*
That was when Yulia's ribs collapsed under Isaac's tight embrace.
“Gasp.”
It was so severe you could see the sunken area with the naked eye.
An accident!
Without a word, we all looked at Edmond. He shook his head, looking troubled.
“Um… this is fine. It's not a major injury. You won't even notice it with clothes on…?”
“R-right! It's not in a visible place like your wrist, Isaac!”
“Emily.”
“Yes, Edmond.”
“I'm sorry to leave you to clean up their mess, but I'm counting on you.”
As soon as he said that, Yulia approached me with a sullen face. She looked like a dejected child who had just been scolded.
“And you, Isaac. You should be setting an example, not joining in like this.”
“I'm sorry, brother. Should I tie myself up again? I'll probably cause less trouble if I'm tied up.”
“Sigh…”
As Isaac pretended to tie himself up with the rope, Edmond squeezed his eyes shut as if he couldn't bear to watch.
Behind him, Yulia snickered, clearly enjoying his predicament.
Isaac playfully retorted, and a second round was about to begin.
“I'm home~!”
Andrea burst through the door.
“Huh?”
The boy scanned the room with an innocent expression. Servants would have knocked before entering, but there wasn't a room in this house Andrea couldn't enter.
Thanks to that, Isaac hid the rope behind his back, and I threw the robe I was wearing over Yulia to hide her collapsed ribs.
Just as I was catching my breath, thinking we had managed to cover it up, Andrea tilted his head.
“Sister Emily. What's that on your hand?”
My hand?
I glanced down and saw something completely unexpected on my wrist.
Oh my god.
“…”
One of Edmond's hands was still attached to me.
A chilling silence fell. Everyone's eyes darted back and forth, and a decision was made quickly.
Trying to hide it now would only fuel Andrea's suspicion.
I calmly held out my hand and said,
“I heard this is a popular new accessory, so I tried it on. It doesn't suit me, does it?”
I laughed awkwardly, and Andrea's eyes widened. Then he hastily added,
“N-no! It looks great on you!”
This was the first time a compliment had made me so unhappy.
“Really! The moment I saw it, I thought it was perfect for you!”
“Really?”
“Yeah. But it looks so real…”
That's because it is.
“Why is Sister Yulia dressed like that?”
Seeing her draped in a robe must have looked strange, as Andrea tilted his head the other way.
“…She had an embarrassing moment. She said she wanted to find a hole to hide in, so I lent her my robe for a bit.”
“An embarrassing moment? What was it?”
“It's… complicated.”
Having your ribs cave in while playing around foolishly was certainly embarrassing, in a way.
Yulia slightly lowered the hood of her robe and smiled.
“I'm fine now.”
“Okay. If you want to hide again, you can, sister. Everyone needs to be alone sometimes!”
“…Thanks, little brother.”
Yulia offered her thanks with a reluctant expression. For better or worse, Andrea's attention shifted elsewhere.
He turned his head back to stare at my wrist.
“Can I try it on?”
“This?”
“Yeah. I want to wear it to the academy tomorrow!”
“…This?”
But Andrea's eyes were already sparkling. When he looked like that, he was unstoppable.
He was the kind of child who, if he wanted to wear shorts in the dead of winter, would insist until he got his way, even on the coldest day.
Of course, after experiencing the cold for himself, he would quietly go back to wearing long pants in winter.
“Wouldn't it be too big for Andrea?”
Edmond was a head taller than most men.
His hands were just as large, big enough to cover my wrist with room to spare. It would definitely be loose on Andrea.
If he wore it and lost it… it wouldn't end as just a simple case of a lost accessory.
“It's okay! I can wear it!”
I smiled awkwardly and pried Edmond's fingers open one by one to remove the hand. When I placed it on Andrea's wrist and closed the fingers again, it was, as expected, so loose that it slid right down to his elbow.
“Hmm. It does seem a bit big.”
“Aww…”
Andrea looked up at me, his face utterly dejected, as if pleading with me to make it work.
“Our little brother usually isn't interested in this kind of thing. What's gotten into you all of a sudden~?”
Isaac sidled up and asked.
“Yeah. Is there someone you want to impress?”
Yulia tossed out the question casually, and Andrea nearly jumped out of his skin.
“I-it's not like that!”
“Really? Then I guess you don't need this?”
“No!!”
As Isaac reached for it, Andrea flinched back in alarm.
“Hmm~?”
“J-Juri…”
Andrea's eyes glistened.
“Juri said she doesn't like boys who rely on their looks and don't take care of themselves…”
“…”
We were all at a loss for words.
“Kids these days grow up so fast.”
Yulia cleared her throat and spoke.
The name Juri rang a bell. Wasn't the second daughter of the Akmone ducal family the same age as Andrea?
“Today, I asked Juri to play with me… but she said no…”
“Oh, dear.”
“But when Matthew asked her, she played with him… He even gave her a big jeweled ring…”
“Matthew… Is that the third son of the Harrington count family?”
Edmond calmly analyzed the rival.
It seemed our youngest brother's first love fever had begun. And from the sounds of it, his crush was quite popular.
But Andrea was perfect in every way; there was no way he'd lose to some kid named Matthew.
“You must have been very upset. But you know you can't be pushy with a girl who says no, right? That will only make Juri dislike you more.”
“Yeah. Of course.”
Andrea mumbled, sniffling.
“I didn't do anything to Juri…”
To *Juri*?
That phrasing was a little concerning. I glanced down at Andrea and saw him pouting, his eyes welling up with tears.
His pout, like a duck's bill, was so cute that a smile escaped my lips.
“Andrea. Tomorrow, I'll be your stylist! Just you watch, I'll show you what true self-care is.”
Yulia was also fired up, practically radiating 'Our little brother can't lose!'
“Then what about this?”
“Just because something is trendy doesn't mean you should wear it. Everyone has things that suit them.”
“I guess you're right.”
I played along, removing the hand that was hanging loosely from Andrea's wrist.
Pretending to put my hands behind my back, I passed it to Edmond. He took it and reattached it to the stump of his wrist.
*Sshaaa—.*
He infused it with demonic energy to reinforce it, and it was done!
A perfect repair job.
***
“Lev.”
-*Nyaa?*
“Are you sure there was no one else around during the carriage accident?”
Lev leaped onto the desk. His tail lightly wrapped around my arm before falling away.
-*I checked myself, so there's no doubt. You're not questioning the abilities of my great self, are you?*
“…That's strange.”
The suspicious man I met today said, 'I'm sure I killed them all.'
I knew that carriage incident wasn't a real accident. But if the target is found alive afterward, one would normally assume the assassination attempt failed.
*Not that they had died and come back to life.*
His confident tone, as if he'd seen it with his own eyes, kept bothering me.
