The Northern Mad Dog Is Wagging Its Tail

  After the incident, Harty would take every opportunity to talk about how cool and amazing Sig was.

 

  “So, I asked my mother, and it seems like that kid is indeed Sig Turas. His parents passed away, and the Empress is taking care of him.”

 

  So, he is living in the palace, originally from Altheim in the north, and so on and so forth.

 

  Harty, who used to be the closest attendant to the Empress until he was born, relayed all the information he heard from his mother, who still maintains a close relationship with her, to Kyra without missing a single detail.

 

  “Plus, he’s the same age as me. Can you believe it? He seemed even bigger than Rutherford, who is six years older!”

 

  Kyra couldn’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy towards Sig, so she pretended not to hear whenever Harty talked about him.

 

  “He was the coolest kid I’ve ever seen. You felt it too, right? We were together at that time. You must have felt it!”

 

  Harty pouted, asking for validation for his story. Kyra found Harty annoying, but since he was getting excited about talking about Sig, she nodded her head for now, not blaming herself for that incident.

 

  “I knew you’d understand!”

 

  Kyra thought his excitement wouldn’t last long. Soon enough, he would forget about Sig.

 

  “Sig is a sword genius to the point where even the royal knights admire him. Even the top knights can’t guarantee victory against him in a duel. Isn’t that amazing?”

 

  But even after a month, even after a year, he would still sparkle his eyes and share stories he heard from somewhere with her. Sig, Sig, Sig.

 

  Even though they hadn’t had a proper conversation with Sig Turas since that day.

 

  “Could that kid be your hero?”

 

  She knew he saved her life, but Harty liked Sig to an excessive degree. Upon hearing Kyra’s teasing remark, Harty was taken aback for a moment before a wide smile crossed his face as he nodded vigorously.

 

  “Yes! A hero! He’s our hero!”

 

  “Don’t just make him my hero without asking.”

 

  Kyra realized that her cousin, Harty, was a very strange guy compared to herself. To her, Sig was just a scary and uncomfortable person.

 

  One day, Harty fell seriously ill. There had always been talk about his weak heart and how he wouldn’t live long. He had even collapsed a few times due to high fever. Each time, the doctor who saved him quietly advised the Count and his wife to prepare themselves mentally this time.

 

  The Count and his wife did everything they could to save their son, even bringing in the Emperor’s physician, but to no avail.

 

  The atmosphere around Count Slanford seemed as if they were already holding a funeral. Kyra mentally prepared herself and went to meet Harty. But he had a strange request.

 

  “The eyepatch of Duke Turas? You’re saying that’s what you need to get better? Even a magic eyepatch would do?”

 

  But Harty insisted that he needed it for him to get better.

 

  “It’s my dying wish.”

 

  What good would it do if he died? But at least if he had it, that foolish cousin would be able to close his eyes happily. Kyra reluctantly nodded her head.

 

  However, she couldn’t find the real eyepatch of Sig Turas. She couldn’t just send a letter to Northern Altheim asking for it when her cousin was in a life-threatening situation.

 

  She tried to recall her memories as best as she could and attempted to buy a black eyepatch similar to the one Sig Turas, now Duke Turas, used to wear. But she didn’t have the money to buy things on her own, so she ended up cutting her own black skirt to make the eyepatch.

 

  “I feel like I wasted a perfectly good skirt.”

 

  She slightly regretted the sloppy finish, even though she tried to make it neat. But amidst her boiling emotions, when she saw her foolish cousin with a satisfied smile, holding the eyepatch to his chest and saying it was Sig’s eyepatch, even she, Kyra, felt a lump in her chest.

 

  “So, it really is your time to die.”

 

  Kyra wondered if Harty’s love for Sig was really that remarkable.

 

  A few days after receiving the fake eyepatch, Harty miraculously got up from his sickbed.

 

  Kyra couldn’t help but suspect if there was some sort of powerful magic on Sig’s eyepatch, even on the fake one she made.

 

  “Look! I told you! Duke Turas is amazing. He saved my life twice!”

 

  Kyra decided to bury the fact that it was actually a fake eyepatch, deep in her mind.

 

  Treating the fake eyepatch as his prized possession, Harty successfully made his debutante appearance on his 16th birthday.

 

  “That doctor who said I wouldn’t live past 15 must be a quack. But I understand. They didn’t know about the connection between Duke Turas and me!”

 

  Kyra didn’t think that the doctor would change his diagnosis just because he knew about it, but since it was Harty’s debutante day, she decided to let him have his moment.

 

  “Kyra, you don’t know what the debutante is like, right? It’s a whole different world from before. And I’m at the center of it.”

 

  But Kyra’s determination wavered in the face of Harty’s arrogance. Unable to tolerate his self-aggrandizing behavior, where everyone was mesmerized by his beautiful face, she closed her ears.

 

  Using his beautiful appearance as a weapon, Harty became the talk of the social scene, and his confidence soared higher every day.

 

  “I’ve decided to collect only the most exquisite things that suit me.”

 

  His confidence reached its peak, and Harty began to collect various artworks. After the death of Count Slanford, he collected even more diligently, perhaps out of loneliness.

 

  “I had the opportunity to see the collection that His Highness the Crown Prince has, and he truly is remarkable. Just as I expected from someone who calls Duke Turas his brother. I must learn from him.”

 

  Kyra, who had no interest whatsoever, was unaffected by whatever Harty said or did. It wasn’t until a certain painting completely transformed her that things changed.

 

  The painting, called “Sunset,” was remarkably monotonous compared to the rest of his collection known for its grandeur. However, the lonely and melancholic scenery, with the fiery orange color engulfing the sea and not a single soul in sight, captivated her heart.

 

  Kyra believed that the quickest way to escape from Scandars was to marry and leave, just like her two older sisters. Her dream was to quickly make her debut and capture a gullible man, get married, and divorce him after a year.

 

  But the moment her heart was stolen by that sunset painting, her dream shifted. She wanted to paint a picture that could hang side by side with Harty’s beautiful collection.

 

  “So, you finally have an eye for art?” Harty teased when he saw her gazing at the “Sunset” endlessly. Kyra almost nodded unconsciously but managed to stop herself just in time. She had no desire to boost his confidence any further than it already was.

 

  “Nothing special,” she replied nonchalantly.

 

  Although she said so, from that moment on, whenever Harty boasted about buying a new painting, Kyra carefully observed it. And secretly, she started to paint her own pictures.

 

  “Do you have something you’re hiding from me these days?” Harty asked, noticing her quick wits. But she brushed it off and remained silent. She would reveal it someday, but not now.

 

  Then one day, Brian Radars came with a painting as a birthday gift for Harty. Brian was a man who never missed an opportunity to pick a fight with him, especially about his appearance, as if it wasn’t something he took great pride in.

 

  “Look at that messy hair and those droopy eyes!”

 

  Harty was furious when Brian, who knew nothing about beauty and dared to criticize his appearance, sent a painting. 

 

  “The painting you sent has no sense! The colors are as dull as that man’s soul, and I have no idea what he’s trying to express. Did he send it as a joke, saying, ‘I heard you’ve been collecting paintings lately. I hope it’s become a great collection’? How amusing!”

 

  He continued to criticize various paintings in front of Kyra, saying that this one was mediocre and that one was not much better. 

 

  Although he disliked Brian, he couldn’t say such things in front of others to maintain his angelic image. So Kyra was the only one who heard his criticisms.

 

  Normally, Kyra would have been accustomed to this and let it slide, even if it wasn’t her own painting being criticized. But on that day, she couldn’t just brush it off.

 

  Even though it was someone else’s painting, it felt like her own work was being criticized, and it hurt.

 

* * *

 

  “But how did that awful man find out that I’ve been painting and keep asking to see my work?”

 

  Kyra opened her eyes with deep resentment and twisted her lips into a bitter smile.

 

  “Should I show it to that crazy person?”

 

  Britia, who was sitting on the steps of the mansion’s entrance, blinked slowly as Kyra’s story went on. In essence, she was saying that she absolutely didn’t want to show it because she thought he would say something cruel to her.

 

  She could somewhat understand his feelings, but she couldn’t fully comprehend them.

 

  “But Lord Slanford has never said anything bad about your paintings. On the contrary.”

 

  “You said it to me, didn’t you? That I avoid things. Yes, I’m a coward. When something truly frightening happens, I run away.”

 

  ‘It hasn’t happened yet. But it feels like it will, so I’m avoiding it. I know for sure that it would hurt if it really happened.’

 

  “So anyone who reminds me of the Duke Turas or Rutherford scares me. Especially men of such a large build.”

 

  They haven’t done anything to me. But they could do something like what Rutherford did to me.

 

  “Duke-nim is a good person.”

 

  Britia advocated for Sig.

 

  “Anyway, I’m actually just a coward with a narrow mind. I dream of my paintings being hung in Harty’s collection, even though I don’t show them on such topics.”

 

  Although his personality is trash, Kyra irritably added, “But the paintings that man collects are as excellent as they come.”

 

  “Harty used to boast that the Emperor’s collection is filled only with the best. So in the end, I wasn’t mentally prepared, and suddenly, reality surpassed my imagination. Because of you.”

 

  Kyra spoke in a low voice with a serious expression.

 

  “I was happy just a moment ago, but when I think deeply, I become anxious and feel like throwing up.”

 

  “What?”

 

  Britia exclaimed in surprise.

 

  “When I was young, Harty used to throw up all the time, and sometimes I do it too.”

 

  Kyra covered her mouth with her hand and trembled, saying that he was an unhelpful person.

 

  “Wait! Hold on!”

 

  Britia hurriedly searched for a bucket. Seeing her like that, Kyra secretly smiled.

 

  The statement about feeling like throwing up was a lie.

 

  “I found a bucket!”

 

  Britia shouted, running down the stairs with the bucket in hand, unable to hear her words.

 

  “Hurry, it’s really going to come out!”

 

  “No way!”

 

  Kyra smiled mischievously and winked at Britia.

 

  ‘Goodness. I never thought the day would come when I would understand Harty, who worships Sig as her hero.’

 

  Now, she finds herself thinking of the woman running around looking for a bucket as a hero. 

 

  But if Britia were to catch wind of these feelings of her, she would be disgusted. Just as she was with Harty.

 

  Kyra decided to hide her true feelings from Britia.

 

  ‘Britia might not react that way, but she could, couldn’t she?’

 

  “Here!”

 

Britia hastily brought the bucket in front of her. Kyra wiped her mouth with her hand and took a deep breath, as if it was a struggle.

 

  “It’s settled a bit.”

 

  “Are you okay?”

 

  “Probably. But more importantly, while you were out, Duke Turas came and left.”

 

  Britia’s eyes widened. Kyra raised her head, seeing the eyes filled with regret for not being able to meet him.

 

  “To think that there might be a woman who is upset for not meeting that Duke. I don’t think I’ll ever understand you in my lifetime.”

 

  “What did you say?”

 

  Britia, who was furious, glared at Kayla.

 

  “I don’t think there will ever be a day when I can understand you.”

 

  Kyra felt relieved at Britia’s snappy response. She hoped that Britia would neither understand nor notice her lifelong adoration.

 

  “Well, anyway, Duke, seeing you gone, he said he’s in a difficult position trying to figure out what to give.”

 

  Kyra smirked, saying that he seemed like he was going to chase after her and give her a ring.