The youngest is hiding a lot of things.

Chapter 21

---

---

“Void oppa!”

I barged straight into Void’s room.

“Ahh! You scared me!”

Void had been sitting at his desk, scribbling something.

“H–huh?”

He hurriedly covered the notebook. A diary… maybe? Or something like that.

“Do you have a map here?”

“A map?”

“Yeah!”

“Well, of course I do, but…”

Void rummaged through his bookshelf and quickly pulled out a map of the estate. It had shops, facilities, inns, and all kinds of places marked on it.

“Wow, thanks!”

“But why do you need a map?”

“Oh, the old duke asked me to go out with him tomorrow. I wanted to study it in advance.”

“Gr… grandfather? You met Grandfather?”

Void turned his head like a creaking broken machine.

“You look pale. What’s wrong?”

“Grandfather is… kind of scary…”

“What do you mean? He’s a bit rough, but he seemed healthy enough.”

“……He said he’d train me and Liam hyung, and dragged us to the northern mountains in the middle of the night…”

Ahhh.

Void slumped onto his desk like someone remembering a nightmare.

What on earth did they do in those mountains?

I was curious, but it felt like a box that shouldn’t be opened… so I decided not to ask.

“Anyway, be careful.”

Void gave me advice with an unusually serious expression.

Then he opened his books on the desk again.

“If you’re going to look at the map, sit there and do it. I still haven’t finished studying.”

“By the way, what were you writing so seriously earlier?”

“Earlier? Oh, my diary.”

Void answered earnestly.

I burst out laughing. A diary! I thought all he ever did was think about card games!

“A diary? So you’re actually the diligent type, huh.”

“…Don’t even think about peeking.”

But being told not to do something only makes you want to do it more.

As I crept closer, Void hugged the diary tightly with both arms.

“But I’m pretty sure I saw the name ‘Rubi’ written in there. What did you write about me?”

“Hey! I said don’t look!”

“Just tell me what you wrote!”

“I’m not telling!”

“You insulted me, didn’t you!”

“No! I didn’t!”

“You did!”

“I didn’t…! Okay, fine, I did!”

“Ha! I’m definitely going to read it someday.”

Bickering back and forth, the evening grew late.

---

In the end, I didn’t get to sneak a peek at the diary.

I’ll have to try again next time…

“Ahh, so fluffy.”

Late at night.

After washing up neatly, I dove onto the bed. A clean body, a clean bed—perfect!

Hazel laughed softly as she drew the curtains.

“You shouldn’t stay up too late, okay?”

“Okay!”

“If you need anything, just pull the bell cord.”

“Got it! Good night, Hazel.”

“Ahh…”

Unable to resist, Hazel hugged me tightly. Hehe. A little awkward, but warm.

“You’re going out tomorrow, right? I’ll prepare some snacks for you.”

“Thanks!”

Hazel left the room with a smile.

I lay on the blanket that smelled like sunlight and studied the map.

After a long while—

The tightly closed door slowly creaked open.

“…What are you doing up? Why aren’t you asleep?”

Uncle froze mid-step, clearly trying to sneak in quietly. He straightened his bent posture.

He smelled faintly of the same fragrance as Void’s room. Looks like he’d stopped by there first.

Coming home at dawn to check on the kids’ rooms—he really was like a proper head of the household.

“I heard your stomach hurt?”

“Huh?”

“They said you stayed locked up in your room all afternoon.”

Uncle shut the door with a click and walked straight toward me.

Oh right. That excuse.

“Judging by your face, that doesn’t seem to be the case.”

The bed sank heavily on one side.

“Then… were you upset?”

Uncle brushed my forehead and smiled.

His loosely unbuttoned shirt carried the cool scent of the outdoors.

“Did someone bother you? Tell me.”

“No one bothered me… ah.”

Oh.

I suddenly remembered what happened with the old duke. Come to think of it… I had just run out like that and never went back.

The real thing bothering me was the news Khalid had told me about Arcadia, but there was no way I could admit that.

So instead, I brought up a different concern as a smokescreen.

“Does the old duke dislike me?”

“I knew it. It was Father.”

“What if he keeps opposing me staying here? Are you going to kick me out?”

“I should probably block off the corridor leading to the northern annex.”

“Stop joking.”

I smacked Uncle’s arm.

He brushed the hair off my forehead with his hand. I could feel the rough calluses on his skin.

“Didn’t I tell you? No one can force you to do anything you don’t want.”

“……”

“Do whatever you want. If you want to stay, then you stay.”

It was strange. Whenever Uncle said things like this, I found myself speechless.

My toes kept twitching, and my chest felt ticklish, like I was about to sneeze.

I liked it when he talked to me like this.

Gruff and blunt, but with the attitude of someone cherishing something precious—it made my heart feel warm.

But at the same time…

‘It makes me feel guilty.’

I was a liar.

I hadn’t told Uncle a single truth.

If my secret were ever revealed… would he still say these things to me?

That ticklish feeling in my chest turned sharp and painful.

---

As soon as Leviathan returned from the northern outpost, he received reports from the servants.

Most of them were about Void and Rubian.

After checking on the sleeping Void, he headed straight to Rubian’s room. Leaving the castle with that temperamental old man and the child alone had bothered him the whole time.

Of course, Rubian was guarded by skilled mercenary maids, and Morris—the old duke’s adjutant—was no easy opponent either.

Still.

“…What are you doing up? Why aren’t you asleep?”

He’d assumed she’d be sound asleep, but Rubian was rolling around on the bed.

Clear eyes turned toward him.

Soon her face lit up with delight.

‘She looks fine.’

He’d been worried when he heard she’d run to her room and stayed inside all afternoon.

But he couldn’t relax yet. Rubian was good at hiding her feelings.

“Does the old duke dislike me? If he keeps opposing me staying here, what should I do? Will you kick me out?”

So it really was that old man.

Leviathan clenched his fist subtly.

From what he’d seen earlier, his father was already completely smitten with the child, yet he just had to act stubborn.

That iron-willed obstinacy was why Void and Liam still didn’t get along with him…

‘Not that I have room to talk.’

Damn it. This is why family education is important.

Leviathan gently brushed Rubian’s forehead. Her skin was warm.

Her blue eyes trembled anxiously. His heart tightened.

“I told you, didn’t I? No one can force you to do anything you don’t want. Do what you want. If you want to stay, you stay. If you want to leave—”

He stopped himself.

Words he hadn’t meant to say almost slipped out.

If she wanted to leave?

Would it really be okay to let her go?

…Well, yes.

If that was what Rubian truly wanted.

“……”

But for some reason, he couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence.

The thought of that soft silver hair disappearing from his sight…

It felt as if his heart dropped straight to his feet.

Whenever he looked at Rubian, he felt anxious.

Like he was staring at a mirage.

As if she might suddenly abandon him and vanish somewhere far away.

Strange, considering she was the one who had stubbornly followed him all the way to the North.

“Uncle?”

A clear voice snapped him back to reality.

“Are you okay?”

The child had half-risen from the bed, looking at him with worried eyes.