Chapter 26

Balzac and Joshua are fraternal twins.

I shuddered at the sight of how terrifying they were in *Ice.Black.Hand*.

‘Stay calm.’

They are indeed hostile towards Erylott in *Ice.Black.Hand*.

But there was a reason for it.

It was because Erylott tried to get rid of Dahlia using every trick in the book.

The twins got involved in this several times.

‘And Dahlia was precious to the twins, so they must have been even more enraged.’

But I haven’t done anything, right?

There’s no reason for the twins to hate me.

‘I just met someone I was supposed to meet early.’

Besides, I’m still young.

A harmless child who has no reason to be hostile.

‘So they might not even pay attention to me…’

—While I was thinking this, my room came into view.

It seemed to have become more luxurious after I earned money for Grandfather.

“……”

I’ve been working too hard.

The direct family members are starting to notice…

‘From now on, I’ll try to be as inconspicuous as possible.’

I clenched my small fists and resolved.

* * *

The Astra Castle Evaluation Team’s carriage arrived.

Duke von Nam, the representative of the Diamond Province officials, welcomed them.

And I…

“Are you hiding well, Miss?”

—I was genuinely playing hide-and-seek with the maids.

To avoid being noticed, I had to be outside the castle.

And hide-and-seek provided a perfect excuse to be hidden.

“Miss, I found you!”

“Eek!”

…But it was kind of fun.

Heidi hugged me and tickled me, making me giggle.

Then Betty pointed at herself with one finger and raised her other arm.

“I’ll be the seeker this time!”

“Then I’ll go hide far away. (Then I’ll go hide far away.)”

“Okay.”

While Betty closed her eyes and counted, I ran even farther and harder.

‘It’s fun, but I need to go to a more secluded spot.’

If I return around evening, I won’t be noticed.

I found a hiding place and went all the way to the corner of the castle.

As I approached the castle walls, I saw furniture that was gathered to be disposed of.

‘I got some money this time, so I replaced the old furniture.’

Good.

I crawled into the wardrobe and barely managed to close the door.

In the dark and quiet wardrobe, I started to feel drowsy.

Maybe it was because I had been running around so much, or because I had been busy recently.

I tried to stay awake by shaking my head, but at some point, my vision narrowed.

Darkness enveloped me.

.

.

How long had it been?

In a daze, I heard a voice.

“So what are you trying to say!”

“I’ve told you several times not to raise your voice.”

‘Are they fighting?’

The commotion outside woke me up.

Only then did I remember I was inside the wardrobe.

‘It must have been quite a while.’

I could tell from the significantly reduced light seeping through the broken part of the wardrobe.

I pushed the door I had entered through to get out.

‘Huh?’

…Why won’t it open?

I pushed harder with both feet, but it wouldn’t budge.

‘Right, it’s broken furniture, so the door might not open easily!’

Since Betty hasn’t come yet, she must not have found me.

This place is secluded, and the furniture disposal will happen after the evaluators leave…

If I’m not careful, I might be trapped here for about three days.

‘If those people leave… No!’

I might die.

I pounded on the door with both fists.

“Help! Help…!”

Despite my loud cries, it was quiet around me.

‘Have they already left?’

Cold sweat trickled down my back.

Bang bang!

“I’m here! Help!”

I got scared and started to feel anxious, even getting a supporting character penalty. I sniffled and cried.

“Help! Waaah…!”

That’s when it happened.

Creak.

The sound of friction came from the wardrobe’s seam, and the door opened, flooding me with the light of the sunset, blinding me.

With a tear-streaked and runny nose, I lifted my head.

Two silhouettes were backlit.

Red hair and blonde hair.

“What, you.”

“You are….”

…Balzac and Joshua.

The red-haired boy with the fierce expression is Balzac.

And the boy with the sweet blonde hair and blue eyes is Joshua.

The only people around were these two little beasts.

There was no one to help me.

Instinctively, I laughed nervously.

“Erylott. Nice to meet you….”

I’m a harmless child with no intention to attack. Please don’t kill me.

—That’s what I meant.

‘This is bad.’

* * *

I followed the two of them.

Balzac, who was walking slowly, suddenly turned his head and looked at me.

“Why are you following?”

“I’m going to Erylott’s room….”

“Why are you following me to my room when you know where your room is?”

“Here.”

The red-haired boy looked at the room I pointed to and the one next to it, then frowned.

It seems my next-door room is Balzac’s.

Judging from where Joshua stopped, one room before Balzac’s, that must be Joshua’s room.

So,

Joshua—Balzac—Erylott.

The rooms are arranged like this.

Balzac’s face turned grim.

“You’re just noisy. You’ll die.”

His voice was so menacing that I was startled and quickly replied.

“Yes!”

“Get lost.”

“Yes!”

I turned around sharply like a soldier and hurried to my room.

If only I hadn’t been caught by Enzo.

“Miss!”

Enzo ran towards me with the soldiers.

“Where have you been? We’ve been looking for you. The maids even came to the barracks crying.”

“Sorry….”

While I was squirming, a familiar figure appeared behind Enzo.

“Aba!”

As I called out, my father, who was walking briskly, frowned.

“You were gone for three hours.”

“I was playing hide-and-seek. I fell asleep in the wardrobe. I’m sorry….”

The soldiers and Enzo sighed deeply.

Father also took a deep breath and said,

“Be more careful about secluded places next time.”

“Yes.”

While I was saying this, I felt a gaze from behind.

It was Balzac and Joshua.

Enzo bowed to them.

“Are you well, Master Balzac, Master Joshua.”

“Yeah.”

“Thanks to you.”

Balzac and Joshua spoke in turn.

Enzo introduced them to me.

“These are the Miss’s older brothers. They are twins. Master Balzac is the elder, and Master Joshua is the younger.”

Joshua smiled.

“Hi, Erylott. I’ve heard a lot about you. I’m Joshua.”

“……”

“Shouldn’t you introduce yourself too?”

With a reluctant expression, Balzac said,

“I’m Balzac.”

Joshua smiled and bent down to meet my gaze.

“Let’s get along, Erylott.”

‘Huh?’

I blinked and looked at Joshua.

When we entered the castle just now, Joshua didn’t say a word to me.

But in front of Father…

‘Ah.’

This guy is a snake.

In typical novels, older brothers have two types of personalities.

Tiger and snake.

Tiger refers to a violent older brother like Balzac.

And snake is a charming older brother with a dark side.

In *Ice.Black.Hand*, Dahlia was an only child.

So the ‘older brother character’ was filled by her cousins.

I liked this older brother character who was incredibly gentle to the protagonist, but…

‘It’s different when they become enemies.’

Thinking of the two who went wild when Erylott tormented Dahlia, I shuddered.

Joshua usually explores the other person before deciding if they are an enemy or a pawn (not an ally).

But he only acted friendly in front of Father, even though he didn’t speak to me earlier.

From this, it seemed I was already decided to be an enemy.

Balzac also seemed to dislike me.

As I felt earlier, indeed…

‘This is bad.’

I must have been too conspicuous in the Duke’s castle.

It’s good to be noticed by Grandfather, but it seems to have instilled caution in the three-year-olds.

At that moment, Michelan squeezed through the soldiers and spoke cautiously.

“The dinner preparations are complete.”

Father was planning to have dinner with the evaluation team.

Father nodded slightly and said,

“Arrange the children’s dinner in the greenhouse.”

Huh?!

I was startled and stared at Father with wide eyes.

There was no need for the children to be at the dinner with the evaluation team.

It would be better for deeper discussions without them.

I also found it annoying to observe the evaluators’ reactions at the dinner…

But I absolutely, absolutely did not want to have dinner with these little beasts.

‘I can’t be noticed…!’

I hurriedly said,

“E, Erylott will eat alone. The older brothers are tired today.”

At this, Father glanced at the twins.

“Are you tired?”

How can I answer that?

If I were Joshua, I would—!

“There’s no way. I was looking forward to having dinner with my sister.”

…See?

People’s gazes turned to me. They seemed to be thinking, ‘She said she’s fine, right?’

If I said I didn’t want to, it would look like I was avoiding them.

“Wow! Then I’m excited!”

People smiled, thinking it was a good thing, and I swallowed my tears.

Balzac, Joshua, and I headed to the greenhouse together.

As we sat at the table, the food started to arrive.

Balzac had his arms crossed and looked sullen, while Joshua was focused on his meal, ignoring everything else.

I rolled my eyes between the two of them.

‘These twins don’t seem to get along well.’

Even if they don’t talk to me, there’s no conversation between them.

Thinking about it, they seemed to be arguing when I was in the wardrobe.

‘Well, it’s none of my business.’

Siblings usually fight as they grow up.

While I was thinking this, my stomach growled.

I hadn’t eaten breakfast properly because I was surprised to hear the twins were coming.

I skipped lunch entirely because I fell asleep while playing hide-and-seek.

‘I need to eat quickly.’

When I’m hungry, the supporting character penalty gets stronger.

Judging from how I was shrinking under the little beasts’ pressure, the penalty had already started.

I quickly picked up my spoon. Just as I was about to scoop some fragrant potato gratin, Balzac spoke.

“You can read ancient language, right?”

Startled by the sudden question, I hesitated before answering.

“Yes….”

Balzac looked at me skeptically.

“What a strange blessing.”

“……”

‘I have a great blessing… Right, that’s true.’

Balzac’s blessing is *Enhancement*.

Based on this enhancement, he achieved aura manifestation at a young age.

That’s why he’s known as the youngest aura user.

“Can you read this?”

Balzac handed me a small book, about the size of his hand.

I blinked.

“Is it written in ancient language?”

“…Yes.”

I took the book from Balzac and opened it.

It was indeed ancient language, or rather, Korean.

But there was a problem.

‘This supporting character penalty.’

I could read the letters like a child learning the alphabet, but I couldn’t understand the meaning.

Balzac cleared his throat and said,

“Well, read it.”

“Um, um….”

“I found it in the restricted archives. It’s probably something incredible, even if you don’t know it.”

Balzac warned me not to reveal it to anyone.

I started to read the book hesitantly.

“Lying on the bed, the water dripped down my waist. Lady, are you seducing me? The voice of the servant is….”

Bang!

Balzac jumped up with a loud noise.

“What, what, what are you saying!”

Joshua was also staring at me with wide eyes.

“It’s written here. (It’s written here.)”

“Don’t lie!”

I was reading what was written, so it was unfair.

I frowned and showed them the book.

“It’s written like this.”

“No way! Read it again!”

“Servant said, Lady, I’m a virgin today, Lady’s sleep….”

Clang, crash—!!

Before I could finish, I turned my head towards the noise.

It was the sound of a servant dropping a tray while bringing the food.

“W, w, what, what is Miss reading…!”

A gust of wind blew through the greenhouse.

* * *

After dinner, Balzac, Joshua, and I stood in a line in front of Father, who had just returned from the banquet.

Father held the book with a bewildered expression.

“So… you made your sister read low literature?”

“……”

Balzac kept his head down and didn’t say anything.

I nervously looked at Father.

Maybe because I was full from the greenhouse, the supporting character penalty had subsided.

I could understand the situation.

‘Balzac didn’t know it was erotic literature when he brought it.’

But why isn’t he defending himself?

Father, looking annoyed, asked again.

“Do you admit it?”

“……”

“Balzac Astra.”

“I will accept the punishment.”

At this, Father’s expression turned cold.

“Is there no value in explaining to me?”

Father must have known it was ancient language and realized Balzac didn’t intentionally give me erotic literature.

But he must be angry because Balzac isn’t explaining the situation at all.

“Punish me. Thirty laps around the barracks in full armor, will that do?”

“You….”

“If you want to punish me, I’ll bring the whip.”

Balzac lifted his head and looked at Father.

“If you really want to—”

“No!”

I quickly spread my arms to block Balzac.

It’s still cold due to the late spring chill.

If a child runs thirty laps around the large barracks in full armor in this weather, what will happen?

Being whipped is obviously not acceptable either.

Balzac spoke.

“You shouldn’t interfere—”

“Lady and the servant were at fault. Balzac did nothing wrong!”