Episode 43

‘…Is she insane?’

It was like adding fuel to the fire.

‘Instead of begging for forgiveness, what kind of nonsense is she spouting?’

I remembered how she used to cunningly criticize Edwin in front of Joshua, driving a wedge between the brothers.

“Don’t touch the young master!”

“Have you already forgotten who caused young master Joshua to get hurt?!”

In my past life, Edwin must have grown up constantly hearing such things.

Around this time in my previous life, there was no specific incident that led to Emma being kicked out.

Even if he was angry at her presumptuous behavior, Edwin would have just endured it like he did that day.

He wouldn’t have wanted to expose his sick brother’s lies.

And after Joshua died…

 

“I’m sorry, Josh.”

“If I hadn’t taken you out that day… would you still be lying here?”

 

In the dead of night, I once saw Edwin standing in Joshua’s room, drunk.

It was Joshua’s death anniversary.

Because of deceitful people like Emma, the Edwin of my past life lived with unnecessary guilt for the rest of his life.

Thinking about it made something hot and fiery well up from deep inside me.

‘He did say it could go into assassination mode.’

I glanced down at the teddy bear in my arms.

‘Should I just get rid of her?’

Looking at Emma still clinging to Edwin’s feet, a wicked thought began to creep in.

“I’ll do better! I can go back to being young master Edwin’s nanny!”

“Mrs. Caston! Stop this nonsense and get up!”

“Actually, I never liked being Joshua’s nanny. He’s so sensitive because he’s sick, you know?”

“Mrs. Caston! Watch your mouth! You there! Why aren’t you dragging her away?”

The butler ordered the hesitant servants.

They rushed over to pull Emma away, but it was no use.

“Let go! Let go of me!”

She was relentless, shaking off the two strong men and clinging stubbornly to Edwin.

The butler and the servants were clearly taken aback by her fierce resistance.

“This won’t do. Go fetch the knights!”

“I’ll do twice as well as I did with Joshua! Ah, but our young master doesn’t need a nanny anymore, does he?”

“…”

“How about a personal maid? I’ll speak to the Duke right away…!”

It seemed like a waste of time to call for the knights.

Unwilling to witness Emma’s antics any longer, I quietly muttered,

“Teddy-teddy bear.”

Just as I was about to awaken the assassin.

“Sigh…”

A frustrated sigh echoed.

Strangely, amidst the commotion, the sound was remarkably clear.

Edwin, who had been silently watching Emma’s pathetic pleas, muttered,

“I told you to let go.”

Suddenly, he raised one hand.

And then.

Whoosh―!

With a gentle breeze, several figures in black masks appeared out of nowhere.

Swoosh, clang!

In the blink of an eye, they surrounded Emma’s neck with the blades of their swords.

“Gasp.”

A sharp intake of breath could be heard.

“When did they…”

Everyone looked at the masked men with a mix of shock and fear.

I was just as stunned.

‘These people…’

They were dressed the same as the ones who had dragged away the scoundrel who tried to hit Edwin.

Everyone was startled by the sudden appearance of the masked men who seemed to rise from the ground.

But none more so than Emma.

“W-What…”

She looked bewildered at the blades surrounding her neck, then began to tremble.

“P-Please spare me. Please…”

The grip she had so fiercely maintained on Edwin’s pants leg slackened and slipped away.

Thud!

Edwin lifted his leg to shake off her grip and bent down to look at the pitifully sprawled Emma.

“Emma.”

“…Young master.”

“Do you still see me as the young master who would cry and laugh at your ridiculous favoritism games?”

“Sniff, sniff…”

At Edwin’s low question, Emma’s face turned pale.

What kind of expression was he wearing that made this once haughty woman tremble like a child before him?

One thing was clear.

Edwin’s tolerance had reached its limit.

Standing up straight, Edwin commanded.

“Take her away. If she starts spreading useless rumors, cut her tongue out.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Young master…?”

Emma called out to Edwin with a dumbfounded look.

But it was only for a moment.

The masked men began to drag her away roughly.

“W-Wait… Young master! You’re joking, right? H-How could you say such a thing to me…! Wait! Gasp!”

As she resisted, they wordlessly pressed the cold blades against her throat.

The sharp edges bit into her skin, and Emma’s noisy protests were silenced.

She seemed to realize that Edwin’s command was no joke.

“Young master! No, young lord! I-I was wrong! Should I apologize to Belze too? Please…!”

She belatedly begged for mercy, sobbing pathetically.

But nothing changed.

“Young maasteer―!”

Emma was dragged away by the masked men, leaving a heavy silence in the courtyard.

The servants looked at each other in shock and disbelief, unable to comprehend that their young master could be so ruthless.

I was equally taken aback.

‘Edwin… went that far…’

Not that it was too much.

Emma deserved this and more.

She wasn’t even having her tongue cut out right away.

If it were another noble, she might have already been executed for slandering a noble.

Moreover, the Kallios family, being a family of high merit, had the authority to summarily punish criminals.

What surprised me was how different Edwin seemed compared to my past life.

He was fundamentally cold and rational, but he had a soft side in peculiar areas.

He was forgiving of the mistakes made by his subordinates and rarely got angry.

His kindness was evident in the way he showed compassion even to someone as troublesome as me.

 

“You’re the one who causes all the trouble, so why are you crying so much?”

“You pulled out a handful of Lady Lydia’s hair. Well done. What are you going to do now?”

 

I remembered him comforting me after I got into fights with girls who followed Diana and came back crying.

His words were cold, but the hands that wiped away my tears were not.

“If you don’t want to leave with Emma, go back to your tasks.”

Suddenly, I saw the nine-year-old Edwin, sternly warning the gathered servants.

The sight snapped me out of my reverie.

I didn’t know what changes happened between now and the 12-year-old Edwin I first met in my past life, but the nine-year-old Edwin I didn’t know was quite…

‘…impressive!’

Honestly, he was more than just kind.

In the original story, Edwin was described as somewhat of a pushover, which worried me, but now I was relieved.

I quickly added this new information to my mental notes.

– Young Edwin had quite a temper. Help him avoid becoming a pushover by age 12.

‘But how should I help him?’

As I pondered this, I failed to notice something.

I had been hiding behind a maid’s skirt, secretly watching.

But at Edwin’s chilly warning, the servants had scattered like they were fleeing.

I was the only one left standing at the end of the empty corridor, clutching a large teddy bear.

“…Belze?”

Suddenly, I met eyes with Edwin’s bright golden ones.

“Gasp!”

I realized then that there was no one around me anymore.

Edwin, with a stern face, walked toward me.

‘Oh no…’

I bowed my head, feeling a pang of guilt.

I hadn’t done anything wrong, but I felt like I had seen something I shouldn’t have.

‘Well, I did follow and spy on him, so I guess I did do something wrong.’

Thud.

A pair of expensive shoes stopped in front of me.

“Did you see everything?”

Edwin asked abruptly.

Unable to meet his eyes, I responded quietly.

“…A little.”

“What do you mean, a little?”

A chuckle tickled the top of my head.

I finally looked up cautiously, trying to gauge Edwin’s mood.

“…Are you mad because I was spying?”

“No, there’s nothing to be mad about. If I wanted to hide it, I would have handled it more discreetly.”

Edwin responded bluntly.

‘He seems mad though…’

His expression was still stern.

“Sorry…”

I mumbled gloomily.

Then he ruffled his own hair with one hand.

“…I’m not mad, just embarrassed.”

“…About what?”

“Being treated like a needy kid in front of everyone. If she could yell like that while being thrown out, it makes me wonder how much of a joke she thought I was.”

Edwin spoke self-deprecatingly.

Part of me thought, ‘What else would a nine-year-old be but a kid?’ but I quickly shook my head and exclaimed,

“You weren’t a joke at all!”

“Whatever. You’d say that no matter what I did.”

Edwin scoffed. He didn’t seem to believe me.

Feeling unjustly accused, I quickly retorted.

“No! It’s true! You were totally scary and wicked!”

“…”

“The maids were all trembling. Didn’t you see? As soon as you spoke, they all ran away!”

At my outburst, Edwin frowned slightly.

“…Was it really that much?”

“Yeah!”

I nodded vigorously.

Edwin, who casually mentioned cutting off tongues, was every bit the intimidating heir to the Kallios family.

No one who saw him commanding the secretive Shadow Unit, the family’s hidden weapon, would think he was a joke.

‘And no one will in the future either.’

Perhaps this was something Edwin needed to go through to be fully recognized as the heir.

It was unfortunate that Emma became the example, but…

‘Actually, it’s not unfortunate at all.’

Remembering what I suffered in my past life, I felt she got what she deserved.

As I was lost in these thoughts,

“So.”

Edwin asked cautiously.

“…Were you scared too?”