A Furrowed Brow and a Sudden Halt
As soon as she met Dante Knightray for the first time, Idel’s forehead creased with a faint wrinkle.
“Who are you, and why are you here?”
Her own hand should have been pale with restraint, yet Dante simply shrugged and withdrew his. It was thanks to growing familiar with Idel’s nature.
“Is it strange that I’m here?”
“Wouldn’t you find it odd? A swordsman swinging his blade without a word appears right before your eyes at the training ground?”
“I ran over here. I didn’t expect you to already know how I’m doing.”
“Ugh……”
Before he could protest that he meant no harm, Dante’s eyes, brimming with deep green, suddenly drew closer.
“……!”
“Did you cry?”
Idel froze in wide-eyed shock at the sudden gesture.
Good thing she had already fallen; otherwise she would have taken another tumble.
Though she had unwittingly ignored him again, Dante paid it no mind this time either.
Instead of waiting for an answer, he reached out and found it himself.
His callused thumb traced lightly under her eye and then brushed her lips.
“Ah……”
“You……”
While Idel was stunned by the sensation of her own thumb being licked, Dante spoke with solemn conviction.
“As expected. I thought my mistake when I heard laughter, but the salty taste on the tip of your thumb means I guessed right.”
“……”
“Was it because of what happened last time?”
Idel could not answer even though Dante asked again. Her mind had simply frozen.
Dante tilted his head in confusion.
Even Idel’s cold demeanor was too quiet this time.
‘Ah, could it be pain……?’
Her body was already weak; only now did he grow truly serious.
“If it hurts too much to stand, let me carry you. I’ll take you to the infirmary.”
“……”
Dante, who never spoke empty words, turned at once and offered his back. His posture was lowered so Idel could climb easily.
Only then did Idel snap out of it and shake her head sharply.
“What are you saying? Get away from me!”
“Are you sure you’re all right? I can promise I won’t drop you.”
“Who’s going to drop me? I’m scared? No need.”
She forced her usual voice and pushed herself up from the ground with her palms.
Her legs wobbled from the effort, but she did not fall again. Dante had steadied her arm in time.
“Hmph.”
Idel brushed off her skirt with no further greeting and turned to leave.
“You worry too much. I’m going. Want me to talk to you again?”
“Ah, Idel, wait a moment.”
“I told you not to talk to me.”
“Mmm, sorry?”
Dante gave an apology that sounded in no way sincere and hurried on.
“At that meal last time there seemed to have been a misunderstanding. Actually, I was heading here to ask you about something related to what happened then, but at this place……”
“Shh. A moment.”
Before he could finish, voices and footsteps approached from nearby.
“Are you going this way? Ufufu, do we really have to find her? Lady Jiana navigates the duke’s estate all by herself.”
“Who are you going to find? Lady Sylvia gave the order, so you’re pretending to search.”
Hearing the approaching voices, Idel quickly covered Dante’s mouth.
Dante’s eyes widened for a moment, then shifted toward the sound and returned to her. Her blue eyes were serious.
Just like when he focused on his sword.
So Dante led her by the hand without knowing the full reason.
“……This way.”
After hiding behind the wall to silence their steps, the voices faded.
“It’s fine. Let’s just go. With her temperament, she would come here? This remote place?”
“Yeah. She’s probably at the count’s mansion.”
The approaching voices quickly receded.
Dante peeked out to confirm the servants had left and nodded at Idel.
“There’s no one left. They didn’t seem to plan on checking inside here.”
“G…… ah, right.”
Idel almost spoke her thanks in surprise, but Dante appeared lost in deep thought.
“Idel, is this strange expression of yours connected to something?”
“Strange expression?”
“Yes. Like right now—laughing while crying…… that is, when actions and feelings don’t match.”
Dante’s serious gaze pinned Idel down. His ability to see through a person’s core was unmatched, even by his sister’s judgment.
‘That’s why I wanted to avoid him as much as possible.’
Idel bit her lower lip secretly.
To be honest, she felt a hint of danger from Dante.
It was different from Jiana’s way of making her rough edges seem fine with bright cheer.
‘Dante Knightray has noticed that all of it is a constructed act.’
A bad sign.
Especially with the suspiciously attached “Patrick” by his side. The moment she recalled his overly exaggerated, meaningful smile, Idel’s brows furrowed.
“Are the servants’ moods part of the cause?”
“……”
“I heard Jiana never lived in the duke’s estate as a child. So if she can’t relax here……”
“Hey, do you like me?”
“……What?”
Dante’s eyes widened at the abrupt question. Idel pressed him without mercy.
“Isn’t that right? I told you not to pay attention. But you keep pursuing me. Or are you just trying to gain my interest with empty talk? A puppy following its master wouldn’t be as persistent as you, right?”
She deliberately faced him askance, raising her voice on purpose.
“Or is it because you can’t accept the fact that I dislike you? Well, after all, you’re the young master of the Knightray ducal house, everyone’s pride.”
“……”
Dante’s gaze hardened. The words were meant to wound.
When she saw his green eyes tremble slightly, Idel felt bitter in her mouth yet did not back down.
Whether she was weak like Jiana or acting on momentary emotion, she had already decided to endure the original heroine.
But now she was also supposed to endure the original male lead? And such a frankly honest one at that?
If he were the mature, seasoned version from her brother’s afterword, perhaps. But now……
‘I can’t handle it.’
Before she could even start, her plan was already collapsing. Especially if Patrick and Jiana stood on both sides.
‘I must steel my heart and be tough.’
Idel gathered her wavering mind and glared fiercely.
“I don’t care who you’re tailing, but I won’t let you drag me into your ‘good boy’ act. I don’t need it.”
“That’s……”
“You were raised innocent and pure like the young master and don’t understand. Hey, no matter how much you struggle, you……”
You can never become like your mother. That person is already dead.
“……You……”
Idel stopped herself before she could say the weakness her brother had mentioned in the afterword.
‘Wait, I told myself to be tough just now, but crossing the line by bringing up parents…… isn’t that too much?’
She wanted to be someone who could say “Ugh, it’s fine! I’ll avoid the poop because it’s dirty, not because I’m scared!” Not someone who would become the “enemy who left an unerasable scar on my heart.”
And slamming the door on her late mother fell squarely into the latter.
‘All right, let’s change the words.’
As long as the meaning got across.
In the short time it took to organize her thoughts, Idel clenched her fist and glared at Dante as if her emotions were surging too much to speak.
“Idel?”
“……You don’t know. The people who dislike you will eventually find a reason to dislike you, no matter what.”
With that, Idel walked past Dante, fearing he would grab her again because she had hesitated.
But was it really because of some reason? Or simply because of “stubbornness”?
Fortunately, Dante did not sense anything strange in her behavior this time. He only……
‘No matter how much I struggle, the people who dislike me will dislike me……’
The words left behind by Idel lingered especially in his heart.
Dante stood frozen in place as if rooted, watching the retreating back of Idel.
The familiar figure he had grown used to seeing often now felt strangely different.