# 104
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* * *
“Huh...”
Lucio, who was looking out of the carriage window, helped Diana, who had fallen asleep on his lap, to toss and turn and straighten her head.
Diana had been following me around D.C. all day, so even though she was physically fit, she looked tired.
It was then.
While looking at his sister who was sleeping soundly, Lucio suddenly noticed something that the child was holding tightly in her hand while she slept.
Today in the clothing store “Buy it for Nouna!” It was a gift chosen by Diana.
The eyes that were looking at this slowly frowned.
Lucio's long-term plan was to spend time with his younger siblings after graduation before they got busier.
Naturally, this plan will include Leia at some point.
However, after he returned home, the little girl who did not even make eye contact with him mercilessly refused to go out with him.
In hindsight, it may have been strange that he was surprised that the child was avoiding him.
A few days ago, he suddenly brought me the library key I gave him and handed it to me.
〈Master, I will return this to you.〉
〈. ...Why?〉
〈I don't think I'll be able to come to the main library very often from now on.〉
Until then, the little girl lowered her eyes and placed the keys on the desk.
However, now that the Little Duke's office was set up separately, he wouldn't be able to be in the library like before.
She wondered if Lucio had discovered a secret location and found out everything, but honestly, Lucio didn't care if Leia knew his secret.
It was even more frightening to see him blatantly avoiding himf.
'Why?'
Why are you avoiding me and why don't I like it so much?
Above all, the more I thought about this, the more emotions I was repressing.
Just like when he saw Leah for the first time, Lucio still felt a tingle of pain in his heart when he saw the little girl. …
Because I often felt resentful.
I didn't understand myf and felt surprised, but I couldn't stop.
Moreover, even my best friend Askart has become extremely annoying these days.
〈I think the Archduke is a really good and good person.〉
While eating breakfast, the child who went to the Marquis's palace every day added as if to seal her presence, that she would go to see Ascarte today as well.
Lucio, who pretended not to notice his mother who smiled awkwardly with an expression that made her want to ask something without reason, could not hide his nervousness.
Maybe the reason he felt so uncomfortable at that time was because he had no choice but to acknowledge Leah's words.
Ascarte Belos was a capable and good person, and was recognized even by Lucio, who had a bitter and skeptical attitude towards humans.
'. …Although I'm a bit tactless.'
From what I heard from my father, it seemed to be a personality trait inherited from my father, so I couldn't say it was Ascart's weakness in particular. It wasn't even a defect in the first place.
"my brother."
Lucio, who had been thinking about his depressing thoughts for a while, raised his head when he heard a small voice calling to him.
“Thank you for taking me out today.”
Allen, the younger brother who was usually outgoing, smiled and said with a strange expression.
But the forced smile quickly darkened.
In contrast to his expressionless face, Lucio also became depressed.
She seemed quite relaxed after spending some time outside today, but by the time Diana had calmed down and returned home, she seemed to have become depressed again.
Allen looked embarrassed as Lucio stared at me without answering, so he shook the fingers he was holding.
These days, I carried the sword from dawn until late at night, and my hands were a mess, as if my long-standing calluses were of no use.
“Allen.”
At that time, unusually, Lucio hesitated a little and called his younger brother's name.
Everyone thought that Allen spent time in the training hall every day focusing on training before entering the academy, but he knew very well that that was not the case.
“It's not your fault.”
Hearing the difficult words, Allen opened his eyes wide and blinked, then smiled slightly as if he had somehow lost his strength.
“You're saying the same thing as Leia.”
Allen continued, not noticing that Lucio paused at the unexpected name.
“And Leah also said, ‘No matter what happened, it wasn’t my fault.’”
“But no, no matter how much I think about it, it’s my fault, I foolishly fooled Master Valerie once and then foolishly fooled the head maid again...!”
“Allen.”
Lucio called out to Allen, who was so emotional that his heart was pounding, as if he wanted to stop him.
Allen, who had lost his strength in an instant, muttered softly.
“Brother, I don’t know, it seems difficult, and it also seems scary...”
I thought I would never make that mistake again.
It's embarrassing to even think about it now, as foolish as believing Syd's words and hating Leia.
“If my mother is wrong, I....”
Lucio remained silent for a moment, seeing that Allen was unable to continue speaking.
The growing pains of my younger brother, who had always looked at the world simply, came to me in a very painful way.
Seeing him having such a difficult time made me feel uncomfortable as well.
“It's not just hard for you, it's hard for me and my parents too, because humans aren't perfect.”
Allen, who admired Lucio, believing him to be an almost perfect human being, widened his eyes as if surprised by his brother's words.
Disbelief was clearly reflected in his eyes.
Lucio laughed to himf and opened his mouth again, thinking that he wouldn't be able to look at his younger brother like that if he found out what I was thinking a moment ago.
“Speaking of Master Valery’s name, if you said it correctly, it’s my father’s fault. He trusted such a person and not only put him in the position of Deputy Knight Commander, but also appointed him as your teacher.”
“Oh…h—this.”
Allen pursed his lips as if he had nothing to say in response.
"It's hard even for adults. Sometimes you can't even be sure of your own feelings, so how can you know other people's feelings? Of course we make mistakes and get hurt."
“Then what should I do...?”
Lucio was speechless for a moment as Allen's eyes looked directly at me.
He could not tell me his personal beliefs or thoughts.
Allen, his only younger brother, was different from me.
His eyes on the world and people were always upright, and he had a good and fair character.
So he didn't want Allen to live like me, always wary and suspicious of others.
After a while, Lucio, who had been silent, slowly parted his lips.
“Treat people a little more carefully than you do now. Who you should trust and who you should not trust, you will discover for yourf as you live.”
Allen slowly repeated Lucio's answer to himf.
It was depressing, like I was still in total darkness, but I felt like I was losing my mind a little.
Lucio suddenly thought, as he looked at Allen's expression that gradually became more relaxed.
He, who has lived his life suspicious of everyone but his family and making judgments based on the information he has gathered, wonders if he can truly trust Leah, who is full of doubts.
* * *
“Oppa, look at this! It’s really beautiful!”
Diana shouted at Allen who was just entering the dining room to eat dinner.
The child's eyes were puffy, as if he had slept well in the stroller on the way back from a tour of the capital.
"What is this? Sand? Why did you bring dirt while eating, Diana?"
Allen responded angrily as he looked at the bottle Diana was holding and shaking.
Diana's expression quickly became frowning.
In the end, she let out a small sigh and spoke instead.
“Sir, this was sent by Prince Aiden, a letter arrived today, he sent it with sand from Damba Kingdom in a bottle.”
"Aiden? Is this really desert sand?"
When Allen, who was agitated, showed interest, Diana lifted her chin again.
“That's right! She's beautiful!”
“Oh, it sparkles!”
For a moment, I watched intently as the fine sand in the closed bottle moved.
Allen picked up the letter on the table, quickly scanned its contents, and raised his eyebrows.
“What, he didn't mention my name at all?”
As Allen spoke dissatisfiedly, I remembered the letter Aiden had read to Diana a while ago.
Aiden said that although the journey was very arduous, he could not keep his mouth shut at the endless mesmerizing vistas and sand dunes that appeared at some point. Although I couldn't compare it to what I imagined from a few lines I read in a book.
I clearly felt his enthusiasm and outpouring of heart when he said that he should have studied drawing more seriously and that he regretted not being able to show it to Diana and me.
Instead, the letter, which concluded by saying he was sending a bottle of sand, mentioned only Diana and me, and no name of Allen.
“How hard it is to teach you, you ungrateful bastard! Just come back!”
It was time to mourn Aiden after seeing Allen, who said that the training so far was a joke and promised that he would behave properly in the future.
A familiar face entered the dining room.
"Lady! I went to the book club, but you're already here?"
When she stood and smiled, the Duchess sat down and asked.
“Well, I finished early today, but Leah, I heard that you came back from the Marquis’ house in a hurry without eating lunch. What happened?”