Obsessed with Regressors

“What…”

 

Was he telling her to eat it? Before Claire could finish her question, Oliver reached out and took her hand. What was he doing? She was startled and tried to shake it off, but he put a bundle of cloth in her hand. Then she said, taking out the same bundle of cloth from her pocket on the other side of her.

 

“This too.”

 

Only then did Claire realize that the bundle of cloth smelled delicious. When she looked closely, she saw that it was not just a cloth, but a handkerchief. She didn’t know what was inside, but it was seeping like oil.

 

“What is this?”

 

“Ham and cookies. Don’t worry, I didn’t steal it from somewhere.”

 

She brought it from home. The chef offered to pack a lunch for him, but he said it was okay. Because the bread seemed like it would fall apart. But that wasn’t what Claire was asking. She was asking why he was giving this to her. Even Oliver didn’t know that. He was about to tell her not to eat it if she didn’t like it, but then stopped. She just thought of Eugenie. “Hmm,” he said and leaned his back against the wall, not caring that his clothes were getting dirty. 

And he said, putting his hand in his pocket.

 

“My little brother. I had a short mouth when I was young.”

 

But Claire didn’t say anything. The noble Lady Viscon surprisingly had a lot of food to choose from. Because of the smell, she had to add a lot of spices to meat to eat it, but she couldn’t eat it if she added a lot of cinnamon or pepper because it was too spicy. The things she could eat most comfortably were things like scones and biscuits, but she didn’t go for those often because they contained a lot of sugar and butter. At first, she thought she was taking care of her body because she was so small and thin. However, the noble Lady Biscon did not eat it often, not because she wanted to maintain her body, but because it was a luxury. The people were starving because they had nothing to eat and she couldn’t waste the milk to make cakes for her to eat. To be precise, the reason was that if she didn’t eat, other nobles would notice.

 

“My mother and nanny had a hard time. Even during her meal time, she couldn’t finish her share of food. My mother is very strict about her manners.”

 

If she couldn’t finish her portion of food, she wouldn’t let her get up. It’s not that Eugenie couldn’t eat those foods, and the portions weren’t that large. But young Eugenie couldn’t get over anything if she was in a bad mood. That made the Countess of Viscon and her nanny even more worried.

 

“So I ate it?”

 

Oliver grinned as he said that. It was quite fun. When Eugenie looks at him with an expression that tells her she can’t eat, he puts his hand under the table. Then he would hand Eugenie something she couldn’t eat, like meat or bread, under the table.

 

“Then, Lady Biscon must have gotten hungry quickly.”

 

Oliver laughed again at the sharp point. It was a boyish smile. You laugh like this too. For the first time, Claire realized that his smile wasn’t annoying.

 

“I gave away my snacks.”

 

He handed out things like cookies and scones. Whenever it was snack time, Oliver cut his share of the large cookies in half, wrapped them in a handkerchief, and put them in his pocket. And after he had devoured Eugenie’s dinner, he would pass her a cookie wrapped in a handkerchief under the table. Siblings exchanging food under the table. The girl’s side was little Eugenie Biscon. As she imagined that, a smile spread across Claire’s face. Claire’s heart warmed as she imagined the small, thin girl with pale appearance and blond hair looking happy after receiving cookies from her older brother. He thought that if he was going to dream, he would have liked to have dreamed it then. When Eugenie and Claire were both young. When both were under ten years old. If that were the case, Claire would have somehow approached Eugenie and become her friend. She had a friend who would stay by her side until she died and then die for her. Oliver stopped talking at the strange expression on her face. The expression seemed sad and dreamy at the same time. Surprisingly, he realized that Claire’s expression was caused by Eugenie. Strangely enough, Oliver didn’t like it.

 

“Even now?”

 

Oliver, who had been staring blankly at Claire’s face, suddenly came to his senses at her question. What did she talk about? He quickly opened his mouth as Claire looked at him.

 

“Uh, no. I must have been around fourteen. He said he would stop.”

 

Although he was his younger brother, he was a smart kid. He said he didn’t think it was very good for him. And he said he was sorry for taking Oliver’s snack away. He said that Oliver was also glad because it was becoming difficult to exchange food under the table. But he also felt a little sad inside. Because his younger brother was talking more maturely than him.

 

“Isn’t that why Lady Biscon had a short mouth?”

 

At that time, Claire asked as if she was dumbfounded. You hid her snacks and then gave them to her. When she ate something sweet, her mouth got so sour that she couldn’t eat well. It’s not for nothing that children aren’t allowed to eat snacks before meals. It’s not a question of whether it’s because of that, but it’s true that it’s because of that. But Oliver still didn’t quite understand it. Her mouth was so sweet that she couldn’t eat well. If her mouth was dry, wouldn’t it be okay to gargle it with tea? He thought so, but shrugged his shoulders and said nothing.

 

“Well, anyway. When I was little, I gave Eugenie my snacks like this. Because he doesn’t like getting her pockets dirty.”

 

He didn’t like it if you gave him things like cookies or cakes because he thought it would get his pockets dirty. Oliver had no choice but to cover her with his handkerchief. Claire burst out laughing when told that he hated getting his pockets dirty. It’s like Lady Biscon. Oliver also burst into laughter at the sound of her laughing. The next moment, Claire stopped laughing. She couldn’t believe she was chatting alone with Baron Biscon behind the building. She felt strange. Eugenie wouldn’t think so, but she felt like betraying her. Oliver knew that Claire felt awkward about this situation. He said, taking a step back.

 

“Anyway, eat. It’s a knight. You should eat well.”

 

He received swordsmanship training at a young age and has been a rower since his academy days. He understands that exercise requires a great deal of stamina. Eating well was also important for physical strength. No matter how ugly he was, he has to eat. Especially if it was the person who saved his brother. Now that he thought about it, it occurred to Oliver that he had never thanked Eugenie for helping her with the water play. His mother and Eugenie sent him a letter thanking him. But as soon as Oliver saw her, he was too busy fighting to say thank you.

 

“And…”

 

It was a difficult time to open my mouth. Oliver heard the sound of people approaching this way and talking among themselves. He closed his mouth in shock and then looked at Claire. Without even thinking about it, he instinctively knew that it wouldn’t be good for Lord Lannon if other knights saw him and Lord Lannon together. At that time, the sound of other people approaching this direction was heard in Claire’s ears. The moment her face hardened, Oliver spoke loudly.

 

“There’s nothing wrong with you, right? I just need to tell you one of their weaknesses?”

 

“What…”

 

When Claire, embarrassed, opened her mouth, Oliver put a finger to her lips. Claire frowned at his attitude telling her to be quiet, not knowing what he was talking about.

 

Oliver quickly listened to the back and realized that the sound of footsteps and words coming towards him had stopped. He shouted again.

 

“What do you hate? Even though you are treated like that, you still treat me like a colleague?”

 

What are you talking about? Claire tried to ask what that meant. It’s a random story. Who were those guys and what did they mean by weakness? At that time, a group of knights appeared behind Oliver.

 

“Baron Biscon?”

 

“Oh.”

 

Oliver looked behind him, feigning excessive surprise. Then, Claire, who was hidden by his body, came into the eyes of the knights.

 

“Lord Lannon? Wait a moment.”

 

The astute knights realized what Oliver was doing. No, I misunderstood. As instructed by Oliver. The situation quickly got worse. As the atmosphere became more hostile, Claire also realized what Oliver had done. She opened her mouth without realizing it.

 

“Wait a moment…”

 

“Shut up, Lord Lannon.”

 

At that moment, Oliver shouted. Not only Claire but also the other knights paused at the harsh attitude they had never seen before. Oliver looked back at Claire and continued.

 

“If you say even one word, I won’t leave you alone.”

 

It may have seemed to the knights that Oliver was threatening Claire, but Claire also saw a different side. Because Oliver, who had threatened her, quickly apologized with just the sound of his mouth.

 

“You have the guts to threaten a knight, Baron Biscon.”

 

While Claire was confused by Oliver’s play, Lord Psylocke, one of the group of knights, spoke. Ironically, he was one of the people who tormented Claire the most.

 

“Threat? I was just making a suggestion.”

 

Oliver said, snorting in front of Lord Psylocke. The knights’ envy rose at that shameless attitude.

 

“How dare you threaten our colleagues?”

 

“Colleague? Where is this knight’s companion?”

 

Several of the knights’ faces turned red at the attitude that they knew they did not treat Claire as a colleague. This means that outsiders could notice. Oliver said, trying to drive a wedge.

 

“Why don’t you tell me that I threatened Lord Lannon? People are probably wondering why I thought that way.”

 

The very fact that an outsider, not even a fellow knight, could ask another knight to reveal the knight’s weaknesses was evidence of discord within the knights. Sir Psylocke’s face turned red at Oliver’s words. While Claire wondered whether it was shame or anger, Lord Psylocke spoke.

 

“Please leave, Baron Biscon. Because this is our training ground.”

 

“Oh, yes, yes. This is the training ground of the White Lion Knights. It was a lot of fun.”

 

The knights’ faces were distorted by Oliver’s sarcastic words until the end. Following Lord Psylocke’s instructions, several knights dragged Oliver out of the training ground. Claire looked at Oliver as he was dragged away, unable to believe what had just happened.

 

“Lord Lannon.”

 

Lord Psylocke called out to Claire. He looked at Oliver being dragged away and asked.

 

“Are you friendly with Baron Biscon?”

 

Were they close? Not at all. Claire said with a frown.

 

“No.”

 

That’s enough. When Lord Psylocke turned, the other knights followed her and left. But Claire just stood there. In her hand she still held the ham wrapped in a handkerchief that Oliver had given her. She thought he was an unpleasant man. He was her enemy. He was one of those people she would definitely kill if she got the chance.

 

“Lord Lannon!”

 

Then, Lord Psylocke turned and called out to Claire. He continued, gesturing with his hands.

 

“Come fast.”

 

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