The boy had clear blue eyes that reminded me of winter and bright silver hair. I found myself staring intently at the same color combination as my mother’s, when our eyes suddenly met.
“……!”
“…….”
The boy looked at me with wary eyes. His expression reminded me so much of Ruth when we first met that I couldn’t help but smile softly.
It was when our gazes were firmly entangled in the air that my father, who had been talking to the butler, noticed me.
“Seri?”
He looked surprised to see me here, as if he hadn’t expected it.
“What brings you down to the first floor?”
“I was soaking up some sun in the garden.”
“Did you get permission from Via?”
“Yes. She said I could stay in the garden until dinner time.”
Answering every question accurately, I saw my father’s expression soften.
“I see. Oh, Seri. Did I tell you that I’ve decided to adopt a son?”
“Yes, I remember.”
“I brought a child today who is suitable to take in as an adopted child.”
The father placed his hand on the shoulder of the boy standing next to me.
“His name is Ian, and he’s only two years younger than you, Seri, so I hope you’ll help him a lot.”
Listening to my father’s explanation, I glanced at Ian, who seemed embarrassed and kept trying to step back.
For a ten-year-old, he was very small. If you only looked at his appearance, you would believe he was seven.
Maybe he didn’t eat well outside.
I have to treat him well. Feeling somewhat pity, I slowly nodded.
“I understand. I’ll help a lot.”
“Good thinking. Then, can you show Ian around the mansion until dinner time now?”
“Yes.”
As I answered without hesitation, my father, loosening his cravat, told Ian,
“Right. Ian, take a look inside the mansion with Seri. From now on, it’ll be the space where you live.”
“…Yes, your excellency.”
Ian, after hesitating for a while, spoke in a voice as if he was sneaking in.
Lastly, reminding Ian and me not to be late for dinner, my father went upstairs with the butler.
I watched the back of my father until he was no longer visible behind the wall, and then I turned to look at Ian.
“……”
His eyes hardened quickly as they met mine.
“Sigh.”
Seeing Ian back on guard made me involuntary sigh. It seemed it would not be easy to get close to him.
“Hello?”
I carefully extended a greeting and lifted the corners of my mouth as much as I could.
Ian stared at me, awkwardly smiling for a moment, then made a gesture with his head.
Was that a greeting?
It was a unique way of greeting that I hadn’t seen before, but I didn’t show my curiosity.
“Your name is Ian, right?”
Ian’s neat eyebrows twitched.
It was as if his eyes were asking if I hadn’t already heard from my father.
“I did hear it from father, but I wanted to hear it from you again.”
Adding it as if making an excuse, eventually, his small lips moved.
“Yes, I’m Ian.”
“Your name is pretty. My name is Selena. My family calls me Seri as a nickname.”
With my introduction and a light compliment, cherry blossoms bloomed on his white cheeks.
“It’s not pretty at all…”
Ian mumbled quietly with his eyes fixed on the ground and then trailed off.
I pointed behind me with my thumb while looking at him.
“Shall we take a tour inside the mansion now?”
At my question, he lifted his chin and drew a small smile with his eyes. He seemed a bit less guarded.
“Yes. That sounds good.”
***
The structure of the Obelton family’s mansion was simple. The first floor and basement housed the storage and guest bedrooms, and the second floor contained my and my sister’s bedrooms and a living room for when we had guests. Finally, on the third floor, there were a library, my father’s office, and my parents’ bedroom.
“This is the living room on the second floor. Originally, it was used to receive my sister’s and my guests, but now it’s always empty since we have no visitors.”
Having finished introducing the first floor, I pointed to the living room located next to my bedroom as we arrived on the second floor.
Ian, though not talkative, made it clear he was listening to every word I said without missing a single one. This excited me, prompting me to add unnecessary details.
Seeing him blink as if he had seen everything, I moved a few steps away from the living room and stopped in front of my bedroom with a bright smile.
“And this is……”
My bedroom. Just before I could finish my sentence with an elevated voice, Ian, who had been silent until then, interrupted me.
“Um… I have something, something I want to ask.”
“Hm?”
I looked at Ian, puzzled by his sudden desire to ask something, then sighed, realizing.
Was that look not one of understanding but one indicating he wanted to ask something?
Just now, Ian’s expression flashed through my mind. His eyes, shining brightly, and his lips, curled inward, kept twitching…
Until now, all the people I’d seen knew much more than me, so this kind of expression was a first for me. No, actually, it wasn’t the first time.
Tommy occasionally made this face too. But since most of them ended with a bitter smile, it was as good as the first time for me.
This was the look of curiosity. As I was solidifying this new knowledge, Ian spoke up.
“Why aren’t there many guests nowadays?”
“Huh?” I was taken aback by the unexpected question.
I knew the answer, but I was hesitant to respond, wondering if it was really okay for me to answer.
Ian would have to know my secret eventually if he were to become part of our family… But should I really be the one to tell him? As I pondered this, a phrase my father once said suddenly came to mind.
“Don’t make decisions on your own, Seri. You’re too young to make hasty decisions.”
I guess it’s better to get my father’s permission first before telling Ian.
I was able to make a decision right away because of the clear warning from my father that remained vivid in my memory. In fact, there wasn’t really a decision to make since I already knew the answer.
“Well, I’m not sure about that myself.”
Pretending not to know, I evaded the question, and Ian seemed to accept it without much suspicion.
“By the way, Ian. What were you doing before you came here?”
I brought up another topic in a hurry as silence threatened to settle in the hallway after my response.
“Before I came here?”
He asked back with wide eyes as if he didn’t expect me to ask about his past.
“Yes. I heard you were a commoner, but I don’t know what exactly you were doing before.”
I had heard before that they decided to bring a commoner child because there was no suitable relative to bring. But I wasn’t told which commoner they would bring, so I didn’t know if they brought a child from an orphanage or a child who was doing some kind of work.
After pondering my question for a moment, Ian soon opened up.
“Before coming here, I worked in a mercenary group.”
“A mercenary group? What kind of work did you do there?”
“Yes. At first, I only did menial tasks like cleaning, but a year ago, I caught the eye of the mercenary leader and started learning swordsmanship and worked as a mercenary.”
He folded three fingers as he spoke.
“But the mercenary work wasn’t proper mercenary work like catching bandits, it was just escorting the children of nobles on their travels.”
“Still, that’s cool. If you were escorting traveling nobility, you must have been able to visit many places. How was it?”
Escorting the children of traveling nobles would have entailed journeying with them.
What an amazing experience that must have been.
My heart pounded as I waited for Ian’s response. I wanted to hear about his personal experiences traveling to places I had only read about in books.
Ian paused for a moment, then scrunched up his nose as if retrieving an old memory.
“Um… I haven’t been to many places, but of the places I’ve visited, the village of Ekart in the Count Harban’s lands was the most memorable.”
“Why?”
“Because the sea was beautiful. Especially, the sea at sunset looked like jewels floating on the water, which made it even more beautiful.”
His eyes lit up beautifully as if reminiscing about a beautiful memory.
And I was very envious of that.
To me, a beautiful memory was simply running around among the fully bloomed flowers in a garden filled with the scent of spring when I was about seven years old.
“It’s like the sea at sunset.”
Based on Ian’s description, I imagined a scene where orange jewels floated on the blue water. Before long, a small smile naturally formed on my face. It was a happy imagination.
“I want to see it too, the sea at sunset,” I murmured to myself.
Hearing me speak to myself, Ian looked at me curiously.
“You could go see it now if you wanted.”
“I can’t right now… Without permission, I can’t even go out to the garden.”
“Permission?”
He caught onto the questionable point in the fact I had let slip without thinking.
“Ah.”
I realized my mistake and let out a shallow breath.
“It’s nothing.”
Then, I avoided giving him a clear answer, compromising to myself that I would tell Ian properly after getting formal permission from my father.
Let’s change the subject quickly.
Feeling like continuing this conversation might expose my deepest secrets, I sought a new topic to steer the conversation in another direction. Then, coincidentally, I realized we were still standing in the middle of the hallway.
“Shall we continue to look around the mansion?”
“Right,” I suggested casually, and Ian shyly quivered the end of his lips.
“Yes, Miss.”
Miss?
I furrowed my brows at the title he used to address me. Now that we were family, it felt odd to be called “Miss” as if we were in a master-servant relationship.
“Ian.”
“Yes?”
“From now on, don’t call me Miss, call me sister. We’re family as of today.”
Emphasizing the word “family,” Ian’s hazel eyes grew more distinct. His face turned a beet-red, contrasting with his pale silver hair.
After a while, he slowly responded.
“…Yes, Sister.”
(TL/N: New cute little brother acquired)
does he have blue-hazel eyes?