“Both of you, raise your hands properly.”
“……”
Duke Clementine’s stern gaze slowly scanned the two kneeling children with their hands raised.
Seeing his daughter with her mouth tightly shut and head bowed, along with Dante, who was staring at him with a stubborn expression, he couldn’t help but let out a sigh.
‘From what I’ve heard, it doesn’t seem like anyone acted with bad intentions…’
He had been quite surprised when he saw the three children while handling urgent matters in his office.
Idel’s nose, cheeks, chin, and hands were all covered in blood, making him think something serious had happened. The other two children also looked disheveled.
As he briefly recalled Idel, who had been sent to the infirmary, he clicked his tongue lightly and spoke to the two in a stern voice.
“Dante, Gianna. You both know what you did wrong, right?”
Hearing his firm voice, the two children flinched slightly, but he did not back down. After a moment of hesitation, Gianna, with tears welling up, responded to him.
“Yes, I’m sorry…”
“Dante, do you think it’s unfair that you have to receive punishment along with Gianna?”
“No, it’s because I share responsibility.”
Vincent, sensing Dante’s sincerity, relaxed his stiff expression slightly.
‘He resembles the late Duchess quite a bit. Especially his sense of responsibility and clarity.’
Contrary to his internal praise, he composed his expression and replied calmly.
“That’s a good mindset. Rules are rules, so keep your arms raised diligently for the remaining time. Do you understand?”
“Yes…”
“Yes, understood.”
The duke nodded in satisfaction and then looked at Patrick, who was awkwardly standing by.
“Sir Patrick, you will come with me as well.”
“Huh? Am I going out to be disciplined?”
“Discipline?”
“Since something happened while I was away, I thought I would be reprimanded for my negligence…”
“No matter how close the families are, I can’t personally reprimand a knight from another family. It’s not like you were gone for long; I would have preferred you explain the circumstances of the incident again.”
“Oh.”
Patrick scratched his cheek awkwardly and nodded, following Vincent.
“Are you going to see Miss Idel, Your Grace?”
“Yes. I received a report that her bruises are quite severe. I need to check. Will you go with me?”
“Um, is that alright?”
As the two men’s conversation faded away with the closing of the door, it completely disappeared.
In the quiet space filled only with the ticking of the clock, Gianna glanced sideways at the boy next to her.
Unlike her, who had immediately taken action as soon as the door closed, Dante Knightley remained silent, receiving his punishment without even shifting his gaze.
‘Hmm…’
After a brief pause in the serious atmosphere, Gianna seemed to make a decision and spoke to him.
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“…Pardon?”
“I mean, when I asked if you hit my sister earlier.”
“Oh.”
Realizing what Gianna was asking, he hesitated for a moment before honestly confessing his feelings.
“I was so surprised that I couldn’t speak. I’ve never seen someone so weak in my life…”
“Are you talking about Idel?”
“Yes. I didn’t expect her to bleed so much from one hit. I didn’t think she would drop her sword in the first place…”
As if recalling that moment, Dante trailed off. Gianna stared at him thoughtfully, lost in her own thoughts.
Reflecting on Idel’s appearance, it seemed that Dante’s words about her being weak weren’t entirely wrong.
“…Well, it’s true that Idel is a bit weak. She was sick until recently.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah.”
Gianna nodded vigorously, having brought up something that would make Idel jump if she heard it.
Seeing Gianna’s reaction, Dante raised his arms a bit higher, reflecting on his failure to recognize the other’s weakness.
Following Dante’s lead, Gianna raised her arms as well and spoke to him in a softened tone.
“I’m sorry…”
Dante looked at her as if he didn’t understand why she was suddenly apologizing, prompting Gianna to awkwardly explain.
“Um… I suddenly rushed in, didn’t I? I should have waited for you to say something.”
“I think it’s understandable since you didn’t know the situation.”
“And that I thought you were being petty. Given what Idel said, I thought you were bullying her in a place where no one was around…”
“Well, if that misunderstanding has been cleared up, then it’s fine.”
Dante had expressed his thoughts honestly and paused for a moment before continuing.
“Still, thank you for apologizing.”
“Uh, no. I should be the one thanking you for accepting it. Oh, by the way, I accidentally dropped the formal speech…”
“It’s fine. You did say not to worry about formality when we first met. Or was that something you just said?”
“Huh? No, no!”
Instead of waving her punished hands, Gianna vigorously shook her head to show her innocence. Dante, taken aback by her intense reaction, blurted out without thinking.
“Is expressing oneself strongly a trait of the Clementine family?”
“What? What do you mean by that?”
“I just thought that maybe it was a family trait, since the way you express yourself seems similar to Idel.”
“What does that mean?”
Gianna tilted her head as she mulled over Dante’s ambiguous words multiple times.
“By the way, what exactly happened?”
“Um…”
“I’ve heard that you mistook me for Idel, but was it serious enough for you to draw swords…?”
Dante cautiously opened up about the situation between them in response to Gianna’s hesitant question. Normally, he wouldn’t bring up matters involving others, but for some reason, today he found it easy to speak.
Having heard everything about the situation between Dante and Idel, Gianna quickly understood Idel’s reaction.
‘So she got upset because we fought!’
They had been so sensitive that they wouldn’t even acknowledge each other…
‘Yeah, Idel has every right to be angry.’
As Gianna continued her thoughts, a shadow of gloom crossed her face. She imagined how Idel had yelled at him, saying she wasn’t her, and how their relationship had been strained lately.
“…If only I could resolve things with Idel through conversation like this.”
Dante’s expression grew serious at her dejected tone.
“Was it because of the incident with Patrick that you fought?”
“Oh, it wasn’t because of that. Um, how should I put it…”
After trailing off for a moment, Gianna rolled her eyes and completely shifted her posture toward Dante. Her blue eyes sparkled.
“You see, this is a story about my friend. She recently got a younger sibling. The sibling is pretty, smart, and, um, a bit cat-like!”
“Ah, I see.”
“Yeah, so my friend wanted to get close to her sibling. But the sibling is really shy and keeps avoiding her. Then one day, they went out together, and my friend found out that her sibling had a friend they’d known for a long time.”
As Gianna continued speaking, Dante noticed her expression becoming more sorrowful, then he opened his mouth slightly.
Only then did Dante realize that the protagonist of this story was not Gianna’s friend but herself.
While Dante was coming to this realization, Gianna continued her story.
“It seemed like her sibling really liked that friend. They held hands without hesitation, something my friend and her sibling never did, and her sibling would smile brightly. I’ve never seen her smile like that.”
At some point, Gianna forgot to refer to herself as a “friend” and hung her head low.
“So I ended up getting angry. I was really surprised when Idel chased after a dangerous person, and when I asked why she went without me, she said, ‘Why should I go with you when I have him?’”
“…”
“Of course, that kid is probably better than me. He can use magic and knows the streets better than I do. But can’t she think of me just once? I like Idel too, so I try so hard…”
At that point, Gianna finally let out the worries she had been rolling around in her mind.
“…Do you think she would accept my apology?”
“I can’t say for sure.”
“I said out loud that I wouldn’t give in this time…”
“But isn’t that what you want to do? Give in.”
Dante’s pointed observation made Gianna stiffen. Misunderstanding the surprise in her widened eyes, Dante hurriedly added,
“So, um, about that ‘friend’…”
Gianna nodded slightly at Dante’s considerate attempt.
“Ah, um, right, friend.”
“Yes.”
With that, the two lost the topic of conversation and turned to face forward again.
It was an awkward moment, but it felt more refreshing than ever, prompting Gianna to let out a small laugh.
“…Is there something funny?”
“Ah, um, it’s nothing. Just…”
“Just?”
“Just, I had a good thought.”
Gianna’s eyes sparkled again as she replied to Dante.
