Chapter 47

"Thank you always."

Obtaining various permissions from the Duke Elgrandark was, in fact, quite easy. Dismaier did not bring his Ministry of Justice work home, so the documents awaiting his signature in his study were mainly related to the estate or the household.

Matters related to the estate were mostly delegated to his younger brother, who acted as the local lord. Therefore, Dismaier usually just skimmed through them and stamped them. If a matter required his judgment, a consultation letter would come first, not a document. Thus, the documents that came to him were usually trivial.

Household matters mostly involved repairs within the mansion, the purchase of additional furnishings, applications for servants' vacations, and special allowances. These were reviewed by the butler and only those deemed problem-free were brought to Dismaier. When the butler needed to consult on a matter, he would come directly, so the documents that were only reviewed and stamped were generally not problematic.

Cain, on his own, prepared the application to combine his art classes with Diana's, the application for Ilvareno to learn an instrument, and a petition to invite friends to the house, and slipped them into the stack of documents awaiting Dismaier's signature without going through the butler. Later, the butler brought the approved applications with a grim face.

"Don't push it too far," he said, leaving the documents with a scolding.

Cain thought that the game's portrayal of his family's dislike and Diana's selfishness probably stemmed from this. The feeling of loneliness after losing his parents and the unfairness of being told to endure as an older brother were negated by Cain's adult mind. He also appreciated the fact that his actual performance was overlooked due to the positive reports from his tutors, which he considered a significant benefit.

The game version of Cain was likely preparing to show his parents up one day, and Diana's spoiled and wasteful behavior was fueled by Dismaier's lenient document approval. No matter how much authority the butler had within the mansion, once a document was added to the stack, he had no right to remove it.

At four years old, Diana had not yet discovered this loophole and would usually ask Cain for things rather than her parents. Cain, who tended to stick to the rules, rarely used this loophole. In fact, when he brought Ilvareno into the household, he had approached Dismaier directly (with his mother's support).

In any case, after obtaining the head of the household's permission, Cain adjusted the schedules with the tutors and arranged for combined music, painting, calligraphy, and magic lessons with Diana. The tutors for academic subjects and etiquette, however, refused to handle the two, whose progress differed too much, at the same time. Cain had expected this and readily accepted it.

"Diana! We can do music together! Let's practice hard with Big Brother!"

"..."

"Diana?"

Diana, who had overcome various obstacles to reach this first combined music lesson, did not seem enthusiastic. She puffed out her cheeks and held a small violin in one hand, avoiding eye contact with Cain.

"What's wrong, Diana...? Why are you so angry?"

Kneeling in front of Diana and trying to meet her eye level, Cain flailed his hands in distress as Diana turned her face away.

"I don't want to play with Big Brother because I'll be called a klutz!"

Cain's tears began to flow. His blue eyes welled up with large tears, which spilled over as he stared in shock. He turned his tear-streaked eyes to Cris.

"Did you call Diana a klutz?"

he asked in a trembling voice. Cris shook his head vigorously.

"No! I didn't say that!"

Seeing Cain cry, Diana was shocked and her eyes widened. Cain, who was always kind and prioritized Diana, had never cried before. Diana, who had never seen Cain cry, was confused and began to cry as well.

"Waaah!"

Diana wailed, and Cain, hugging her, continued to cry and mutter. Cris and Ilvareno could only look on helplessly.

The butler and Elise also rushed to the scene, but they were taken aback by the unusual situation and stood there for a moment.

The lesson was canceled, and Cain, with a wet towel over his eyes, lay on the bed.

"So?" he prompted Ilvareno, who stood beside the bed.

"It seems that no one called Diana a klutz. However, there were frequent comparisons to Cain," Ilvareno said.

"Is that so?"

"By the way, I apologize for not mentioning this earlier, but Ianis also said, 'Diana and Cain are different. Diana should learn at her own pace.' At the time, I thought, 'Of course.'"

"What about Celsis and Tylnoa?"

"Celsis praised Diana for her color sense, which is different from Cain's, according to a housemaid. Tylnoa exclaimed, 'Unlike Cain, Diana is fresh and wonderful! I wanted to see her improve little by little!' as reported by another housemaid."

"Is that so?"

It was probably not out of malice. Celsis was simply praising Diana, and it could even be interpreted as a slight to Cain's color sense. However, the cumulative effect of being compared to Cain could make Diana feel inferior. It's unlikely that anyone thought Diana was a poor student; it was just that, after teaching Cain for so long, they remembered what a typical child was like, leading to the perception that Diana was "less than Cain." This unintentionally hurt Diana.

Cain, with his adult memories, was overachieving, while Diana was not at fault.

"Adults are so petty..."

Cain muttered. He thought about it. The game, a dating sim, had a story where a boy with a troubled heart is healed by the kind protagonist and falls in love. The targets needed to have troubled hearts, and their living and family environments were not normal.

Cain and Diana's parents, who would pick them up and pet them, were not very interested in their educational progress. They tried to eat together but never went on outings or played with them.

Mother Elise often spent time with Diana teaching her embroidery and flower pressing, but she never read books or played word games with her like Cain did.

They were not unloved, but the love felt like an afterthought. Arundilano and his parents might have had a similar situation, as he often ate lunch alone.

The other targets, whom Cain had not yet met, might be planting the seeds of a troubled heart right now. Saving them all might be an unrealistic wish, but if they all grew up with healthy hearts, they might not try to make Diana's life miserable even if she broke up with them. Even if they chose the protagonist over Diana, they might handle it calmly.

"Ah... What should I do?"

Ilvareno listened to Cain's muffled voice with a troubled expression.

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