Chapter 10. We Must Fight
The tallest child was Dietrich, the twelve-year-old eldest son of the eldest nephew. The only girl among them was Elena.
Other than that, no other names came to mind.
Dietrich approached with an angry expression and suddenly snapped at me.
“How dare this little brat speak informally to us?”
“Yeah, a mere kid like you…”
“You dare order us around?”
They spoke one after another in order of their height.
I smirked and asked the boy, who I assumed was Dietrich,
“And who do you think you are?”
“What? I am Dietrich, the eldest grandson of His Grace, the Grand Duke.”
The eldest grandson? So, he was born before Rikael.
So what? It didn’t really matter.
Seeing how he was using status as a weapon, despite not even being a direct heir, it was clear that his father had failed to properly educate him on the family lineage.
If he was trying to assert dominance through hierarchy, I had nothing to back down about either.
“I am the future Grand Duchess-to-be.”
“Grand Duchess? Don’t make me laugh. My father said that everyone will mock you since you have no proper lineage.”
“Yeah, my father said the same. That our family’s reputation has been ruined.”
Elena smirked and chimed in.
“I don’t care what your dads say. The Duke approved, so it’s settled.”
“What did you just say?”
“This brat is really getting ahead of herself.”
Dietrich and Elena took aggressive steps toward me.
At that moment—
“Don’t bully my sister-in-law!”
Andy rushed to my side faster than them and shouted in a booming voice.
His voice was so loud that it felt like a balloon had suddenly burst in my ears.
Oh wow. So this is Andy’s personality?
Looks like giving him candy paid off.
“Andy, what’s wrong? This isn’t bullying.”
Elena quickly tried to make excuses, but Andy turned to me and asked,
“Is this bullying?”
“Yes. They’re ganging up on me.”
“Ganging up?”
“Yeah. When a group of people gang up on one person, it’s called bullying.”
Hearing my explanation, Andy shouted even louder than before.
“No ganging up on my sister-in-law!”
Whoa! Look at that fierce expression on Andy’s face. He’s reliable. So reliable.
I didn’t bother to hide my pleased smile.
Originally, they said he was quiet and mild-mannered, but maybe being around me had changed him?
Turns out, he has a hidden charisma and a strong sense of loyalty.
Dietrich and the other kids fell silent at Andy’s outburst.
They might have had no problem talking back to me, but they wouldn’t dare go against Andy, the Duke’s son.
So even among them, there was a hierarchy.
Feeling emboldened by my unexpected ally, I stood my ground even more confidently.
“You all know that I am Rikael’s fiancée, right?”
“Yeah.”
“And you also know that Rikael is the Grand Duke’s heir, right?”
Dietrich hesitated to answer this part.
No matter how old he was, this was a strictly hierarchical society where only the eldest son inherited the title.
The eldest nephew had married an only daughter to inherit his father-in-law’s count title. The second nephew had married a wealthy widow to become a baron.
All of this had been arranged by the Grand Duke, who even granted them some land.
It was a huge privilege.
Of course, they were too young to understand all these details, but they certainly understood what ‘heir’ meant.
“Why aren’t you answering?”
“So what if that’s true?” Dietrich said defiantly.
“If I’m going to be the Grand Duchess, calling me a fool or an idiot is the same as calling Rikael a fool. A husband and wife are one unit, after all.”
“Wh-what kind of nonsense is that…?”
Dietrich stammered, unable to refute my calm logic.
“Exactly. If you all keep speaking to me rudely and acting disrespectfully, people will say you lack manners. So from now on, be polite when you talk to me.”
“Polite? You mean etiquette?”
“Yeah, etiquette.”
Coming from the land of courtesy, I calmly emphasized the importance of respect to them.
The world I came from didn’t discriminate against people based on status.
Even if this was a hierarchical society, I wasn’t going to just stand by and let them look down on others.
“Anyway, listen carefully. I am not some idiot who got captured by a snake.”
“But you were captured.”
“That was because I caught a spy disguised as a snake. That guy tried to run away, so he used me as a shield.”
“What’s a shield?”
Elena tilted her head, confused.
Seeing that none of them responded, they must not know what it meant.
Ugh, dealing with such ignorant kids was a waste of time.
“Look it up later. Anyway, thanks to me, the snake was caught. What do you think would have happened if that snake had stayed hidden among us?”
“That would be…”
“Terrifying, right?”
“Yeah.”
When Elena agreed, the other kids also nodded.
“So, did I do a good thing or a bad thing?”
“A… good thing?”
“Exactly. So the ones mocking me are actually the real fools. Got it?”
“…I guess?”
“So, you all are the fools then?”
Dietrich and Elena stared blankly at each other before shouting at the same time.
“Hey! That’s not true!”
“We’re not idiots!”
Did they think being loud meant they were right?
“Just because you’re trying to take it back now doesn’t mean you’re not idiots. You already admitted it earlier.”
I calmly confirmed the final blow.
“And like I said before, if you don’t want people to call your family a disgrace, make sure to speak politely from now on.”
That was enough dealing with these brats who weren’t even a handful.
“Andy, let’s go.”
Andy grabbed my outstretched hand and looked at me with a bright smile.
I had no idea if he actually understood what was going on, but he looked happy.
More than anything, I liked the way Lisa was smiling at me with satisfaction.
I think it was the first time I’d seen her smile like that.
Had she been impressed by my debating skills? Or was it my unwavering confidence?
Whatever it was, seeing Lisa gradually open up to me filled me with pride.
The sky was high, the autumn breeze was crisp, and the scent of flowers in the garden was enchanting.
Amidst that beautiful scenery, I could hear the children whispering.
“Doesn’t it feel like we got hypnotized or something?”
“Idiot, that’s not possible.”
“But we really did act like fools just now, didn’t we?”
“Well… yeah, kind of.”
The lesson had been effective enough.
***
After a few days, I was finally able to join the family dinner.
Until now, I had been forced to eat in bed under the excuse of “absolute rest.”
Lisa thought I might feel overwhelmed by a meal with the entire extended family, but I actually enjoyed it.
I was secretly pleased to be seated next to Rikael as his fiancée.
Of course, Rikael didn’t even glance at me, but still.
Just as I was about to stab a small piece of meat with my fork—
“Since when did Arcades become a place where just any filth could come and go?”
Hmm, was it always this tense?
The Grand Duke had a lot to say even before dinner had begun.
And, of course, he chose the heaviest topic possible.
How was I supposed to eat my meat with this kind of atmosphere?
“The discipline of this family has weakened. Even those disgusting snake-people dare to set foot here now.”
The Grand Duke directed his glare at the Duke, but the one who lowered his head like a guilty criminal was actually Rikael.
I felt a little heavy-hearted as well.
This family would function just fine without me, so there was no real reason for me to get involved.
But wouldn’t it function even better with me here?
“What must be done to prevent this from happening again?”
No one could answer the Grand Duke’s question.
Was this really such a difficult question?
If I tried to figure out the questioner’s intent, the answer a war fanatic would like was obvious.
“I’ll ask again. If this happens again, what should we do?”
This was way too easy.
I looked around, but this time, everyone had their heads lowered.
Hey, if someone asks a question, at least pretend to answer.
Now it was just getting awkward.
I shot my hand up into the air and shouted.
“Me!!!”
The Grand Duke’s eyes widened as he looked at me.
He must not have expected me to raise my hand.
I enthusiastically waved my hand.
I was the first one to raise my hand, so I got the first right to speak.
“Very well. Speak.”
“If the snake ******s appear again, we must form a strong battle formation and crush them!”
I declared loudly.
A war-loving Grand Duke with no mercy for his enemies would definitely like my answer.
“…Huh.”
But once again, the room fell into dead silence.
Was my response too mild?
Maybe I should’ve just said, ‘We should rip their heads off.’
