Chapter 27

Father, not understanding my words, furrowed his brows.

"Lady, Charles?"

"Charles is the one who will protect you tonight— he said."

"……"

"Since the lady was born, so—"

Father hastily covered my mouth with his large hand.

"I understand, stop it."

I tightly closed my mouth and became quiet.

Father sighed deeply and removed his hand.

I spoke to Father cautiously.

"Balzac isn't bad."

"……Yeah."

Father looked at Balzac quietly.

Balzac flinched for a moment.

"Go and rest. Leave the book."

"……Yes."

"Let me ask one thing. Where did you get it?"

"……"

"Balzac."

"From Lord Lysian's restricted library……"

Father paused.

Joshua's eyes sank deeply, and Balzac bowed his head deeply.

I also turned my gaze to Balzac, surprised.

Lord Lysian was Father's twin brother.

In other words, the biological father of the twins.

'I heard that Lord Lysian and Father had a falling out a long time ago.'

Until then, Lord Lysian was the only person Father trusted in this Astra.

To Father, Lord Lysian was a kind brother born of the same mother.

Father and Lord Lysian were inseparable good brothers.

However, they drifted apart due to some incident.

I don't know the exact details, but there were speculations.

'Lord Lysian poisoned Father's food.'

This was because Father was poisoned and nearly died around the time they had a falling out.

So when Father followed Grandfather's advice to adopt the twins, everyone was very surprised.

'It couldn't be helped.'

The eldest son couldn't be adopted.

Because of the imperial law. If the head of the family dies without designating a successor, the eldest son or his son inherits the family.

Primogeniture is the principle.

So the eldest son couldn't be adopted, and the other two sons already had children.

In the end, Father, who had no children at the time, had no choice but to be adopted.

'Anyway, it will be difficult for the twins to bring up Lord Lysian to Father.'

The atmosphere in the room became even heavier.

I rolled my eyes and watched the twins and Father.

Then, pretending to yawn, I made a "Huaam" sound.

"I'm sleepy."

"Yeah, it's already late. Go and rest."

Thank goodness.

Father let us go without saying much.

The twins went out first, and I hurriedly followed them before the door closed.

I followed the twins closely.

Since our rooms were on the same floor and the same corridor, I had no choice.

As we passed the corridor where Father's study was, Joshua said,

"You're doing a good job."

"……Shut up."

"Stupid. So you said the book would be meaningless, right?"

Joshua twisted his lips and turned to Balzac sharply.

"Please, if you're going to ruin yourself, do it alone. It would be better if you disappeared forever."

'Wow……'

His words were sharp, and his voice and expression were incredibly cold.

It was enough to make my spine shiver.

Joshua walked up the stairs first.

Balzac clenched his fists tightly and then stormed out.

'Something must have happened.'

Joshua's words that the book would be meaningless.

And the argument I overheard between the brothers when I was hiding in the closet.

The brothers usually stay at the villa near the duchy during their rest period. It was strange that they suddenly came to the Diamond territory.

'They must be looking for something.'

What could it be that brought these brothers to the Diamond territory?

Especially Balzac seemed more anxious.

Crossing his arms with a huff, he groaned.

'Whatever.'

What does it have to do with me?

If they are busy looking for it, they might leave me alone.

Thinking this, I climbed the stairs.

As I climbed each step, the content of the book came to mind.

Balzac Astra was unfortunate. From a young age, he couldn't rely on anyone.

Born after killing his mother, and even his father was on the verge of death, by the time he started to develop a sense of self, he realized.

He would be alone for the rest of his life.