He's Mine
"Roen's liege, Ilia Weiss... is who I am."
Awkward delivery. Gaze fixed on some random spot. Hand thrust out stiff as a board. Anyone could tell she was broadcasting with her entire body, I am catastrophically bad at talking to strangers.
There was no sign that Ilia's truly abysmal communication skills would ever improve. That was simply how she was wired; it probably never would. If she was going to be like this, why had she even wanted to meet them in the first place...
My sister, on the other hand, smiled brightly and took Ilia's hand in return. The picture she made was the absolute archetype of an elegant young noblewoman, and I couldn't help a private snort of laughter.
It wasn't so much that her mask was thick—it was the sheer shamelessness of putting the mask on right after making that spectacle of herself that left me speechless.
"A pleasure, Your Grace the Grand Duchess. Our Roen truly owes the Grand Ducal House a great deal. To think he would become Your Grace's bodyguard knight... I never would have imagined."
"Mm. He is an excellent and outstanding knight, so in a way it is only natural."
"Hmm."
The weight crushing me vanished the instant my sister made that meaningful little hum. Even so, I couldn't bring myself to stand just yet. What she said next was far too shocking.
"Is that so? Was it truly purely a matter of skill? Or might there be... some other reason?"
"Hm?"
"I mean, might you not have had a more personal reason for snatching Roen away from our embrace?"
"......"
The chill that entered Ilia's eyes was instantaneous. Snatching? For the young lady of a count's house—standing before a grand duchess, no less—to use a word that rude... Of course, the process by which I became Ilia's bodyguard knight had been more or less a forced contract with zero right of refusal. Even so, needling her this openly was asking for a storm she wouldn't be able to weather.
"Sister, wait a—"
I was about to surge to my feet and clamp a hand over the madwoman's mouth when—
"Nngh. Oppa, play with Lize."
Lize locked her arms around my head. Her faint heartbeat thudded clearly against my ear where it pressed to her slender chest.
"Hey, Lize, what are you—"
"I was so lonely these past two days. Oppa was always right beside me, and then he wasn't..."
Her small, soft hand stroked my cheek. This was no time for this. I needed to get up and stop my sister—yet because of that warm, pitiful touch, I couldn't bring myself to push Lize away.
"Hey, Oppa."
"Wh-what is it, Lize?"
"You didn't leave because you started hating me, right? Right? From now on I'll be better, I'll be so much better..."
"......"
Tears welled in Lize's big eyes, ready to spill at any second. She hadn't even done anything wrong—why was she about to cry? Then again, Lize had always been quick to tear up in front of me ever since we were little. I carefully wiped the corners of her eyes with my thumb.
"Honestly. Don't say stupid things. Have you ever failed me even once? And why would I hate you? You're family."
"...Right. We're family who can never be apart, for our whole lives."
Lize hugged my head even tighter and nuzzled her cheek against mine.
Ilia saw it.
The way the two women of House Kraus looked at Roen. Erica, openly hostile toward her, and Lize, clinging to him and refusing to let go. That sticky intensity could never exist if they regarded him as nothing more than a little brother or an older brother.
Possessiveness.
Ilia's instincts screamed a warning. Those two were her rivals.
She had wanted to meet them out of nothing more than curiosity and anticipation. What kind of people are the family of the Roen I love? If the chance arises, maybe I can score some early points with Count Kraus's household through this meeting.
The moment she confirmed they were enemies, every such thought vanished. This meeting should never have happened in the first place. Perhaps Roen had hesitated to arrange it because he had anticipated exactly this situation and wanted to spare her. If so, then he really was a good man. He already was more than good enough, of course.
And if she meant to claim him, she had to seize the initiative here and now, without the slightest room for doubt.
The instant that conclusion formed, Ilia's grip on Erica's hand tightened. Erica paid it no mind.
"Your Grace."
Instead she leaned in even closer and whispered into Ilia's ear—softly enough that only she could hear.
"...What."
"Shall I venture a guess? At that reason of yours."
"......"
A woman like a wicked serpent, venom hidden behind a beaming face. For Ilia, who had never been good with words, she was practically a natural predator. Yet this was a challenge that struck at both the authority of a grand duchess and her place at Roen's side. In her entire life Ilia had never once backed down from such a challenge. All she had to do was meet it head-on and win.
"Speak."
At Ilia's frigid reply, one corner of Erica's mouth curled into a crooked smile.
"You like him, don't you? Our Roen."
"...!"
"Since when, I wonder? Probably since that month Roen spent at the Grand Ducal House when he was ten."
"......"
From the moment Erica first heard the absurd news that Roen was suddenly to become Ilia's bodyguard knight, she had already seen through every piece of the situation and drawn her own conclusions. That one-month blank while Roen was away from the count's house—it was the only point of contact between the two of them.
Of course the prediction rested on the premise that Ilia had fallen for Roen, but Erica considered that premise entirely natural. She could say with absolute confidence that Roen was a charming man.
And the one who had poured every ounce of care into raising him from childhood into this perfect specimen, tailored from start to finish to her own tastes, was none other than Erica herself. She hadn't predicted that even Lize would end up hopelessly hooked on him, but still.
"You stole the treasure I spent so long carefully cultivating—my most precious treasure—quite neatly, Your Grace."
To think that the one standing beside the most perfect man in the world, the man she had devoted her life to raising, was not herself.
She could have yielded a hundred times over and allowed her little sister Lize to stand there with her. They were family, after all. But a complete outsider? That was a different story. Unacceptable. She had no choice but to eliminate her.
The moment Ilia faced Erica's chilling expression, something crawled up her spine. If she had to put a word to it: murderous intent. That was why she tried to yank her hand free. Getting any closer to this woman felt dangerous. But her hand would not come loose. Exquisite control of force. Erica was crushing Ilia's hand just tightly enough that the bones would not shatter.
Ilia was already thoroughly sick of the woman in front of her. An obsession this intense... it was no weaker than her own. For Ilia, who had always carried the quiet confidence that no one could outmatch her obsession with Roen, it was a blow to her pride. And still Erica's needling continued.
"Your Grace is truly a wicked person. With all that power already in your hands, you still covet what is precious to someone else."
"...Watch that tongue of yours. Roen is no one's possession."
"Ha. Spare me the transparent lies, would you?"
"......"
"In the end, Your Grace simply wants to monopolize him, don't you? Otherwise there would be no reason to appoint Roen as your bodyguard knight when so many other excellent knights were available."
It was infuriating. How could this woman see straight through to the depths of her heart? If Roen had inherited even half of Erica's sharp instincts, Ilia thought, he and she would already be lovers. Perhaps she had simply swallowed whole the intuition that should have gone to him.
"...And you feel no shame? Looking at your own little brother with eyes like that."
Ilia counterattacked, contempt dripping from every word. Erica merely gave a soft snort and let the sharp accusation slide right off.
"Shame? How could I feel shame over the husband Mother was kind enough to give birth to for me?"
"...What?"
Ilia's brain refused to process it. The husband Mother gave birth to? What a catastrophically deranged statement. She had never imagined she would hear such words in her lifetime. While she stood stunned, Erica helpfully elaborated.
"Hm? In case I was speaking too obliquely for you to understand, allow me to rephrase kindly. I am in love with Roen. More deeply than Your Grace."
"...Disgusting."
She meant it. There were people in this world who harbored sexual desire toward their own family—incomprehensible creatures—and to think Roen's family was among them. Ilia felt sorry for him. And she was more certain than ever that pulling him out of the count's house had been the right decision.
"Heh. I simply cannot let those words pass. Even if you are a grand duchess."
Only then did Erica release Ilia's hand and take a slow step back. Ilia massaged her tingling fingers for a moment.
"Can't be helped. I was prepared for this from the start, after all."
Still wearing her easy smile, Erica rested a hand on the hilt of the greatsword at her back.
"Shall we settle this, then? Who will stand at Roen's side."
The serpent became a tiger.
