The sway of Lockhart’s influence began nearly a decade ago.
Their father, the Marquis of Lockhart and Lord of the time, was a man who loved people, cherished their company, and had an innate trust in them.
“How is it, my lord?”
One day, a wanderer came to him and offered a loaf of bread and a bag of flour. The bread made from that flour was surprisingly soft and delicious.
“It’s been a few days since it was made, and it’s still so tender!”
The lord was astonished and playfully shared the bread with the children who were standing nearby, mouths agape.
The youngest, Leon, enjoyed the bread so much that he even shouted for more.
“Such a greedy little one. If you keep eating like that, you’ll turn into a pig,” teased his elder sister.
“Come on, Leon. I’ll give you half.”
Watching the siblings getting along so well, the lord felt a warm sense of contentment.
“This flour comes from a special variety found only in our hometown. It doesn’t require much water, so it can withstand droughts quite well,” explained the wanderer.
Upon hearing this, the lord bought a large quantity of the wheat seeds and had all the residents of his territory cultivate them.
That year, an unprecedented drought struck the southern part of the empire. However, it seemed like these people were spared from the misfortune.
“Almost all our other crops withered and died due to the drought, but the seeds you had us sow, my lord, are doing just fine.”
Thanks to this, they were relieved that starvation was unlikely to befall them. But when harvest time approached, their relief turned to distress.
“Is this really wheat?”
It turned out not to be wheat, but some unknown grain that, when eaten, caused water to gush up from within, rendering it entirely unfit for consumption. They realized they had been deceived by the wandering stranger, who had long disappeared.
Anguish swept through the people like wildfire as those who had unknowingly consumed the mysterious grain fell ill and died.
As the dry branches catch fire in an instant, the people’s anger spreads rapidly, consuming everything in its path.
“All because of the lord who instructed us to plant this inedible crop, we are starving!”
In the dead of night, they set fire to the barren land, which was now filled with useless crops, and armed themselves with farming tools as they stormed the castle.
“Isn’t that Philip? What brings him here?”
Leon, unable to sleep, had sneaked out of his room and discovered them first, playing in the courtyard.
“Seize him!”
“He’s the lord’s son!”
Young Leon was captured and dragged in front of his father.
“Leon!”
“I understand your anger, but don’t take it out on a child.”
“Don’t be angry? It’s all because of you that our children are starving to death!”
“Whose fault is it all, really?”
The lord promised to take responsibility for ensuring that the people didn’t starve to death and finally managed to return Leon safely to the embrace of his family. Crave hurriedly left the scene with his younger sibling.
“Were you scared, Leon?”
“Brother, Philip’s father grabbed me.”
“I see. But it’s okay now. I’m here.”
“Why did those people come to our castle?”
Most of them carried farming tools, but there were also those wielding swords and spears.
“Are they here to kill our family?”
“No, Leon. No, that’s not the case. Father will handle everything. He always fixes your toy bow for you, right?”
Holding his trembling youngest sibling tightly in his arms, Crave mumbled, seemingly afraid himself.
“Let’s go to Tia. Since she’s not feeling well today, we’ll take care of her,” Crave mumbled, still holding onto little Leon’s hand, as they made their way towards Britia’s room together.
Britia, in a feverish state, sat up when she heard some commotion outside.
“Did I hear something loud? What’s happening out there?”
“Philip’s father was there. At the forefront.”
Puzzled by the noise, Britia looked at Crave, who quickly covered Leon’s mouth with his hand.
“He must have come for something urgent from Father.”
“At this hour?”
“It must be something pressing. Don’t worry about the feverish one; he won’t pay attention to such matters.”
“Is that so?”
As Britia lay back down, Crave glanced at Leon, placing his index finger on his own lips.
“More importantly, Tia, I think Leon had a scary dream. Can you comfort him a bit?”
“He’s gonna catch a fever.”
Seeing the two people entering her room, Britia felt concerned.
“Leon, I’ll hold your hand. Come here.”
Following his brother’s instructions to keep his mouth shut, Leon obediently closed his mouth.
“Tia, hold my hand too.”
“Why? Did you have a scary dream as well?”
“Just because.”
Crave tightly pressed his lips together and reached out to hold Britia’s hand first.
“Why are both of your hands so cold? It’s not even winter.”
She sighed as she muttered, blaming herself for leaving them alone somewhere and going off elsewhere. Her head felt fuzzy from the fever, and she could barely keep her eyes open.
“It’s okay. As long as the three of us are together, we won’t have scary dreams.”
It was a few days later when Britia finally learned the reason why the two had come to her room that day.
* * *
As promised, the lord bought grain to distribute, ensuring that the people wouldn’t starve. The unprecedented drought in the southern part of the empire had required a considerable amount of money. Despite the scarcity, they were fortunate to acquire it; however, this put the Lockheart family in debt to other noble families, even to moneylenders.
“The castle looks desolate.”
They had sold off all the paintings and sculptures that adorned the walls, even the comical turtle figurine they had treasured.
“I always feared inheriting all of that, but it seems that fear was unwarranted,” Crave said with a smile, but Britia noticed that he was clenching his fist.
“I wanted to tease you when you inherited it, but one less thing to tease about now.”
“I knew you’d say that. Still, I’m glad I didn’t inherit it!”
Despite their efforts, the debts did not diminish, and their financial struggles continued for several years.
The castle’s servants gradually dwindled until there was no one left. Crave, having no courage to hire an expensive steward, took on the responsibility himself. The second eldest filled in the gaps, and the youngest often rebelled during adolescence, spending days away from home.
“Leon! It’s your debutante year, and you haven’t prepared anything. What will you do?”
Britia stopped Leon, who had briefly come in, grabbed a piece of bread from the kitchen, and was about to leave again. He realized that her sister’s grip on her arm was rougher than before.
“Don’t touch me! What do I care about a debutante year?”
“Leon!”
“I don’t have money anyway! Do I have money to buy my own dress? Or should I just inherit one of yours, sister?”
“No. We’ve all chipped in to buy your dress.”
Seeing Britia’s pleading expression, Leon seemed to calm down for a moment. However, soon after, he left with the money to buy the dress and returned empty-handed.
“Now I can’t have my debutante year!”
When their father and mother learned that Leon had squandered the money on gambling, they scolded her severely and locked the door, forbidding hi. to leave.
“Do you think I won’t be able to get out because of this?”
Britia, who had just entered his room, found Leon chuckling as he attempted to escape through the window.
“Come here. I need to measure you for the dress.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“Because we don’t have money to buy one.”
“So what?”
“Then I’ll make it myself.”
Leon didn’t like his sister’s tired smile. What was so great about creating something so shabby?
“Believe in my skills.”
Despite Leon’s irritation, his kind-hearted sister persisted, seemingly undeterred by the continuous cycle of poverty.
“Others will wear expensive and beautiful dresses.”
“Don’t worry. Your dress will be the cutest.”
“It’ll probably be the most shabby one.”
An angry Leon grabbed whatever object was on the table and threw it at his sister. She didn’t care what it was. It was only later, when it was too late to retract her actions, that she realized she had thrown scissors at his sister.
“It’s dangerous, Leon Lockhart.”
Hearing Britia’s voice confirming that the scissors had slightly grazed her arm, Leon felt a jolt of fear. When her sister got angry at him outbursts, Leon was taken aback.
“Who would make something like that?”
“Leon!”
“Let me see you make it and wear it!”
Unable to apologize, Leon fled. Even when he had previously returned home after squandering the money for the dress, he had a bold face. But this time, he couldn’t shake off the image of Britia.
“Your debutante year is tomorrow, and you act like this?”
Finally, when Crave, having heard from Philip about Leon’s whereabouts, came to fetch him, he decided to return home.
“Where’s Tia?”
“Tia? She’s the only one at home.”
“…Is she angry?”
“Are you worried that Tia is angry? Why? Are you afraid?”
Crave stared at Leon incredulously.
“Isn’t it obvious that she’s angry all the time?”
“You don’t really…” Leoni muttered.
“This one is serious!”
“If Sister gets too angry, Brother should intervene.”
With a wry smile, Crave jabbed Leon’s side with his elbow, “Don’t expect too much, got it?”
As Leon was dragged home by hia brother, Britia’s eyes widened in surprise.
“You, Leon Rockheart.”
At his sister’s call, Leon’s shoulders flinched.
“Quickly, try this on! It’s already tomorrow, and we haven’t even checked if the dress fits.”
“Huh?”
“Hurry!”
Britia led her to the dress. While Leon was gone, she had completed the dress with needlework.
Leon, biting his lower lip, meekly put on the dress.
“Is the sleeve a little short? How does it look?”
“…It’s ugly.”
The dress that Britia had worked so hard to make was truly unsightly.
“This is hilarious.”
Leon, who had been biting his lower lip, burst into laughter.
“I told you not to expect much.”
“Hahaha. It’s so ugly. What is this?”
“Why! It’s cute!”
“Hahaha.”
Leon laughed heartily, holding his belly and briefly hugging his sister.
“Lenny, I’m sorry for getting angry back then.”
Even though she had only gotten angry once despite all of Leon’s tantrums. Leon’s lips trembled as he looked at Britia, who was tearful and apologizing.
“I’m sorry too.”
Leon’s rebellious phase, which had been so stubborn, was coming to an end.
At the debutante ball, as everyone looked at Leon’s rather unsightly dress, he felt their disapproval.
“Seems like everyone finds my dress truly hilarious.”
“…It’s cute in its own way.”
“I told you, Tia. You’re not good at sewing.”
“There’s a sense of regret in seeing the effort you put into it, despite your lack of talent. That’s why this dress feels that way.”
Britia’s eyes turned sharp at their criticism.
“Yes, my sewing skills are terrible. I’m sorry.”
“Still, among all the debutantes today, I’m the cutest, right?”
“Why is he so confident today?”
Crave laughed, and Leon confidently clasped his arms across his chest.
“Because my dress is the cutest here.”
He grinned at her sister and brother.
A year after the youngest Leon’s debutante ball, the Lockhart family, which had been gradually improving their lives, suffered a carriage accident. The incident was shocking and difficult for all three siblings, but they seemed to endure it well.
At least until the brightest of the three, Crave Lockhart, broke down.
Note: Hi, Nosha here! Support me in BMCA. Thank you..
