The Accidental Introduction
While Idel twisted her expression in the back, Dante stepped forward one pace toward the pair and spoke calmly.
“You disappeared without a word. I was going to come looking for you myself, you know.”
“Master, me? Hmph, that’s so touching! I went out to find some water for you, Master. Of course, I got lost on the way back!”
Laughing boisterously with his chest puffed out, he clapped his hands, eyes sparkling with delight.
“Oh, wait! This is Dante Knightray, the young master I serve. Heir to the Duke of Knightray, right? Dante, the lady beside me is Jiana Clementine. She said she wanted to meet you even before I arrived.”
“Ah……”
Patrick’s introduction left Dante momentarily at a loss for words. But soon, he straightened up and extended his hand to Jiana with perfect manners.
“I’ve heard a lot about you, but it’s my first time meeting in person. Nice to meet you, my lady. Please call me Dante if it’s more comfortable.”
“Hello! And… then please call me Jiana too! I’ll be friendly.”
“Thank you for your consideration. But I find this way more comfortable… It’s fine.”
“Well, since the young master usually associates with knights, that’s why. He’s practically lived at the training ground with his master since he was five years old.”
“Ah……”
Jiana nodded in understanding at Patrick’s addition. It wasn’t a problem at all.
Smiling brightly, she shrugged and gave the clasped hands a light shake.
“That’s fine! What’s the harm in getting to know each other!”
“Exactly.”
Idel let out a soft, involuntary chuckle as she listened to the two of them.
It wasn’t a diplomatic summit, but two children holding hands seriously discussing “friendship” looked oddly cute.
‘What kind of adult-like talk is that.’
Not even imitating their parents.
Viled, watching Idel and Sigmund, had the same thought without a clue. Idel quietly observed the pair.
At that moment, Patrick, who had been grinning with a sly mouth like hers, noticed her gaze and widened his eyes.
“Hmm? Oh dear, pardon me! There’s another guest in the training ground!”
His booming voice echoed through the training ground, drawing every eye toward Idel.
“Ah.”
She hadn’t thought of this.
Idel exhaled a tiny sigh under the sudden attention and immediately made a sulky face.
While she pondered what to say, the man gave Dante a deliberately stern look.
“Hey, young master! As much as I’m glad to see you, you can’t just leave the young lady alone like this. You should have introduced us together! Didn’t I and Master teach you that?”
“That’s……”
“What?”
A sigh escaped Dante’s lips. On top of everything else, he didn’t even know who she was yet.
Jiana was the first to figure it out. The moment she saw Dante’s piercing gaze at Idel and the stubborn set of her lips, something clicked.
“Hmm……”
She let out a loaded sigh, pursed her lips in annoyance, and sharpened her eyes.
‘Idel did something again? Dante’s a guest, so we should step in and fix this….’
Idel wouldn’t do that.
‘Sigh, really!’
The frustration toward Idel wasn’t gone, but now was the time for her to step up. She was his sister, after all.
Jiana, who had just made eye contact with Idel, approached and grabbed her arm.
“Let’s go, Idel. These are people Dad invited.”
“……”
Despite the irritated snort, Idel obediently followed behind Jiana.
Since the duke’s name had been mentioned, she had to protect what needed protecting.
Patrick tilted his head at Jiana’s companion and asked.
“Oh? Do you know each other?”
“Um, let me introduce her properly. This is Idel Clementine, my brother. And Idel, this person here is……”
“Knight of the Duke of Knightray, right? I heard it earlier.”
“Really? You two met first?”
Dante stared at the tightly-lipped Idel and wiggled his lips slightly.
‘Jiana’s brother….’
Only now did the puzzle pieces fall into place. Either his father had misheard, or he had been mistaken…
‘I never expected him to be her brother.’
That made sense—Jiana and Idel looked too different to be sisters.
Dante glanced alternately between the standing Idel and Jiana.
‘It’s not that all siblings have to look alike….’
Still, they were different. In appearance, behavior, expression, and posture.
Patrick, sensing something similar, rubbed his chin with his finger and called out Idel’s name in a voice that sounded thoughtful.
“Ah, Idel Clementine!”
“Patrick?”
“You said she’s Jiana’s brother, so I thought someone else, but this young lady is that…”
Before anyone could react, Idel shot Patrick a sharp glare.
“That? Haa, you…”
“Hm?”
Idel, who had lunged toward Patrick as she had toward Dante, paused.
From a distance she hadn’t noticed, but up close she saw what had been hidden: the mark on the man’s neck.
Idel’s eyes widened.
Even though it was half-hidden by the collar, the mark on the man’s neck was unmistakably the same one.
The reversed sword, the serpent coiled around it, and the leaf-shaped wings spread on either side.
Idel quickly formed the pattern in her mind and swallowed hard.
‘It’s exactly the same as the one I saw on the cufflink.’
But why was it on this man’s neck…
Gazing at the man with a sleazy grin, Idel quickly composed her expression. The important thing right now wasn’t why the mark was there.
‘What matters is that he doesn’t find out I’ve figured out what that mark means.’
Like the black magician she had chased away at the wedding, a strange instinct wrapped around her.
‘I need to act like the one connected to Melissa.’
The man had the mark visible to everyone. He hadn’t even locked his buttons.
That proved he thought no one would hear it.
‘Or that he could handle it if discovered.’
Closer to the latter, Idel spun her head at lightning speed.
Now was the time to hide herself as a nervous, fragile, and sensitive child.
Idel clenched her eyes and stared straight at the man’s yellow ones while trembling.
“You…”
“Hm? Lady, are you all right?”
“You…”
“Idel, no, wait!”
“You’re exactly like the young master I serve? Haa, what a level…”
Before Jiana could stop her, Idel went on in a voice full of thorns.
“One side said they didn’t even know you were there, but the other side starts talking then stops. Why? Want to try again?”
“Haha! What… It seems my words upset the young lady’s feelings.”
Patrick gave her a sheepish look and exaggeratedly sighed, shoulders slumped.
“Well, I’m known as the hell’s tongue even among knights. So it’s my fault this time too.”
“Haa…”
“Um, actually what I meant to say isn’t important. Maybe I just felt sorry I couldn’t investigate sooner?”
“……”
“Idel is someone who ‘shouldn’t be without.’”
Patrick placed a hand on his waist and addressed Dante before Idel could react.
“By the way, young master, what’s going on? Did you pick a fight with Idel? You, ‘didn’t even know you were there’? What a terrifying~!”
Dante calmly shook his head at the exaggerated gesture of covering his mouth.
“I was wrong, but I never said that. It wasn’t intentional. I just mistook the lady for Jiana…”
“That’s it.”
“Idel!”
Jiana’s voice from right beside her made Idel secretly breathe a sigh of relief. The timing had been perfect.
Suppressing the urge to hug Jiana tightly, Idel spoke with a sulky tone.
“It’s fine. The good side is already set, right? I’ll step aside, so don’t bother me.”
“What? Idel, you really…”
Jiana’s lips trembled at Idel’s sharp words. The suppressed frustration surged back.
She blinked hard to hold back the rising tears, then turned away with a petulant huff.
The beginning of a second cold war.