Thirty minutes before Rutherford punched Brian in the face, Harty was holding back tears.
“That bastard had the nerve to lie and say he went out because he needed a quiet place to draw.”
Harty recalled the time he went to see Scandars, after hearing that Kyra was being held at the Scandars Duke’s estate. His uncle, Duke Scandars, had angrily scolded him with a stern face.
“When I said I knew she was there, he forcibly dragged me out and had me thrown out.”
Harty didn’t give up and continued to visit him. But eventually, Duke Scandars grew tired of him and refused to see him. Following the duke’s orders, the servants shut the door in his face.
“The duke ordered that I not interfere with Lady Kyra anymore.”
“When Britia told me you were here, I was so shocked I tried to rush into the palace, but…”
Harty trailed off, and Kyra, who had been listening indifferently, raised an eyebrow.
“Did you fall down the stairs again?”
He often had accidents when he rushed, frequently tripping on the mansion stairs. Harty couldn’t bring himself to answer when Kyra asked if it happened again this time.
“Are you cursed or something?”
“Don’t say such scary things.”
Already frightened by rumors of evil spirits in the palace, Harty snapped.
“So, what happened in the end? How did you escape from my uncle?”
Kyra hesitated, unsure of where to begin. Seeing her so sad, Harty felt his suppressed tears welling up again.
Even without hearing it, he could guess how much she had suffered. If only she had truly been his family, his sibling, he might have been able to prevent such things from happening to her.
“Why are you trying to make me cry?”
When Harty finally sniffled, Kyra frowned. Her comment about being annoying made Harty’s sadness overflow.
“You have no idea how much I’ve worried about you!”
In front of Britia, he had cried his heart out, sharing all his troubles, but for some reason, it was difficult to do so in front of Harty. He always wanted to appear strong, even when he wasn’t, especially in front of him.
As a child, it was just pride that drove him, but now, it was because he didn’t want Harty to be hurt.
“What do you think people’s feelings are?”
Of course, every time Harty would feel hurt and resentful.
“Enough about me. It’s not an interesting story, and it only makes me angry, so don’t bring it up.”
Kyra deliberately stood with a defiant posture, scrutinizing Harty from head to toe. Except for the tearful face, he didn’t look particularly unhealthy.
“You got stabbed by a stalker, right? You look fine.”
As Kyra brought up a trauma she had momentarily buried, Harty’s face turned pale.
“You sure attract some strange people.”
Kyra looked at Brian, who was watching them from a distance. She had long since realized that he was infatuated with Harty. And she also saw through him, recognizing him as a natural-born stalker and a pervert.
If she ever felt someone’s intense gaze, it was usually him. Moreover, on Harty’s birthday, Brian would always send a gift that he knew Harty would like. Of course, Harty found his taste offensive and tossed the gifts into the storage room.
“Lady, will you marry me?”
She became completely certain when Brian proposed to her. Even as he asked her to marry him, Kyra couldn’t help but smirk at his indifferent eyes.
He didn’t really hide the fact that he wanted to use her for some purpose.
She knew well that he didn’t love her even a little, but she accepted his proposal. At that time, she was desperate to find a way out of her house, even if it meant marrying a fool.
Why did Brian choose her? Kyra soon figured it out. The man, who usually avoided touching her, acted provocatively and clingy whenever Harty was around.
It seemed he was trying to use her to provoke Harty’s jealousy.
“No matter how badly you want to leave home, would you really marry such trash? I’d rather introduce you to another man!”
Brian’s ambitious plan ended in failure. Harty was too busy setting Kyra up with relatively decent men and pushing Brian toward other women to feel any jealousy at all.
As a result, Kyra broke off her engagement with Brian. It was because Rutherford, who had all the decision-making power over his younger siblings at the time, refused to approve the marriage on behalf of their father. He intended to continue tormenting Kyra for a long time.
Even though Harty showed no interest in him, to the point where he should have given up, Brian was incredibly persistent. No matter how harshly he was treated or how politely Harty ignored him, Brian never backed down.
Now, he had taken to openly watching over them. Kyra thought he was even more obsessive than Harty was about Sig.
“Maybe you’re attracting stalkers because you’re one yourself.”
“What?”
Harty, not fully understanding Kyra’s muttered words, frowned. He only caught the word “stalker” and turned to look at Brian.
“Why do you keep following me? Just get lost!”
When Harty lashed out, Brian put on a pitiful expression.
“I’m worried you might get hurt. Let me just watch over you so I can come running if anything happens. I promise I won’t come any closer.”
While Kyra thought he was spouting nonsense, Harty only scoffed and didn’t actually chase him away. In fact, he looked somewhat pleased.
“You said you couldn’t trust anyone anymore, but you trust him?”
When Kyra asked why he let Brian stay, Harty hesitated before answering.
“It’s a bit unsettling, but he’s still useful.”
Brian would come running whenever Harty called, and if Harty asked him to give compliments, he would shower Harty with praise as if he’d been waiting for the chance.
“He doesn’t do me any harm.”
At first, Harty feared what Brian might do to him, but over time, he grew to appreciate how carefully Brian treated him. Plus, when Harty fell down the stairs and hurt his ankle, Brian burst into tears.
Upon hearing that Harty frequently fell down the stairs, Brian was so shocked that he had a strange slide-like contraption made. He suggested that Harty slide down instead of walking down the stairs.
“A heavenly angel descending toward me—oh my, did I just create a path to God himself?”
Whenever Harty reluctantly used the slide, Brian would gaze at him with overwhelming admiration. Though Harty often considered himself an angel, the reactions from Kyra and Britia, who either ignored him or were horrified by him, made Brian’s response feel refreshing.
If Harty looked at him as if urging him to continue, Brian would shower him with compliments until Harty, embarrassed, told him to stop.
“My heart couldn’t bear witnessing such beauty; it seems to have stopped. Now that I’ve died and gone to heaven, I have no regrets.”
If Kyra ever returned, Harty planned to dump Brian without a second thought. But the sweet and satisfying things Brian said made Harty reconsider whether he needed to get rid of him at all.
“He does whatever I tell him. If I asked him to do a handstand, he’d do it.”
“Did you ask him? To do a handstand?”
Harty clamped his mouth shut at Kyra’s incredulous response. He didn’t mention the time he told Brian to do a backflip, and Brian spent an entire day practicing it just to show him.
“Rutherford ended up getting kicked out of the family.”
Harty averted his gaze from Kyra’s suspicious look and changed the subject.
“I always knew that idiot would end up like this someday, but to be thrown out over 100 gold? As his cousin, it’s beyond embarrassing.”
Raising his voice on purpose, Harty continued, “It’s not even a big sum, so what was he thinking? The cowardly giant always insisted he had a heart as vast as the ocean because he only hit us a little.”
What ocean? Rutherford’s heart was so stingy that you couldn’t squeeze a drop out of it. Harty was gleefully ranting about how good it felt now that Rutherford was gone when he suddenly felt a chill down his spine.
“Who are you calling a cowardly giant?”
A menacing voice startled Harty. The sound of footsteps approaching from behind filled him with dread. Rutherford, his temples pulsing with anger, was now standing right behind Harty.
“You think I can’t hit you just because it’s now? Huh, Harty?”
He bared his teeth, threatening Harty.
“Have you lost your mind along with your house? Harty is the Count Slandford now.”
Before the terrified Harty could respond, Kyra stepped forward with a scoff.
“He’s not someone you can mess with without consequences, now that you’re no longer part of the family. And what’s with your hair?”
Kyra sneered at Rutherford’s newly dyed brown hair.
“Are you rebelling against your father or something? Trying to say you’re not his son anymore? Like he’d actually care.”
“It’s so tacky! Not just the color, but the fact that you dyed it as an act of rebellion is unbearably tacky and embarrassing!”
Even Harty, who had been pale with fear, regained his composure and joined Kyra in mocking Rutherford.
“Yeah, I’m no longer associated with the Scandars. So I don’t have to follow orders not to touch you, no matter how insolent you get.”
Rutherford roughly grabbed Kyra by the collar. Harty’s eyes widened as he grabbed Rutherford’s arm.
“What are you doing? Let go!”
Even together, the two couldn’t overpower Rutherford.
“Things have changed, Rutherford. You’ll regret it if you lay a hand on me.”
Kyra gritted her teeth and warned him. Rutherford snorted and shook her by the collar.
“You think Father will take care of you forever? You’re not going to become the Crown Princess. You’ll be cast aside, just like me.”
He seemed unaware that Kyra was already promised to marry the Crown Prince.
“You don’t realize I’ve been going easy on you, do you? Now that I don’t have to listen to Father, you’re as good as dead.”
Rutherford raised his hand high.
“Rutherford!”
In a panic, Harty grabbed Rutherford’s brown hair and yanked it. His head snapped back, and his eyes rolled up. Letting go of Kyra, Rutherford swung his fist at Harty.
At that moment, Brian stepped between them.
“Ugh….”
Brian groaned as Rutherford’s fist hit his nose.
“And who do you think you are, getting in the way? You lowly informant!”
An enraged Rutherford shoved Brian aside and reached for Kyra again. But just then, the vice-captain, who had just arrived and was observing the scene, grabbed Rutherford’s wrist.
“Why are you all fighting at His Highness’s birthday party?”
As the vice-captain urged everyone to calm down, Rutherford grew even more agitated.
“And who are you…!”
Ripping his hand away, Rutherford yelled, but then he froze. Behind the vice-captain stood a large, wild-eyed man. The moment Rutherford saw his face, all the rage that had built up to the top of his head instantly dissipated.
Meanwhile, Sig quietly seethed with growing anger.
Did that man just try to hit the woman who was supposed to marry his brother? The future Crown Princess?
It was an unforgivable situation for someone with his ferocity.
