35.
“What brings you here?”
Dia, the eldest, asked bluntly, her expression vacant and indifferent.
“Tomorrow is the funeral.”
“Yes. I know that…”
Dia’s hollow face faltered for a heartbeat. She quickly hardened her features again, forcing herself to continue.
“…And I also remember your promise to show me Perido tomorrow.”
Kylon furrowed his brows, his tongue clicking against his teeth.
This was the core of the problem.
The youngest had vanished, but the sisters were convinced he was hiding Perido. If he hadn’t deceived them with that lie, the sisters would have poked around everywhere, unearthing the truth of their parents’ accident.
It would have been better if Perido had died alongside them that day.
He felt a flare of irritation at the memory of an accident that had ended so unsatisfactorily.
“Is that any way to speak to your uncle!”
“You’re no uncle of mine! You devil! You lock us in here and hide Perido somewhere!”
Garnet, the second sister, glared at him with sharp, defiant eyes.
Kylon’s expression darkened, his eyes glinting with a dangerous promise as he took a step toward her.
“Garnet, I told you to fix that tone, didn’t I?”
Sensing the sudden rise of his hostile aura, Dia quickly blocked Garnet’s path and bowed her head.
“I apologize.”
“Sister!”
Garnet cried out, stunned by her sister’s submission.
“You left out the ‘uncle’.”
Kylon’s voice was cold, a demand for performance. Dia squeezed her eyes shut, her throat tight as she apologized again.
“I apologize… Uncle.”
“Tsk.”
Kylon glared at the bowed girl with profound dissatisfaction. Because the Duke was present in the estate, he couldn’t lash out as carelessly as he wished.
“Un… cle. You will show us Perido tomorrow, right?”
Dia’s voice trembled, brittle with desperation.
Kylon narrowed his eyes, tracking the strands of Dia’s black hair. Perido had the same hair—just like his mother. If he couldn’t track the boy down by tomorrow, he would have no choice but to enact his backup plan.
“Duke Vines has arrived.”
He ignored her question, speaking through gritted teeth.
In an instant, Dia’s head snapped up.
Duke Vines was here?
She had never met the Duke in her entire life. He was perpetually occupied defending the Western Region, and rumors claimed he remained in seclusion due to an eye injury. That was why she had assumed he would simply ignore the news of her parents’ passing.
“So, do try to return to your old selves in front of the Duke. Didn’t you once have a good relationship?”
Kylon forced a gentle smile, though his gaze carried a sharp, cold warning. If she failed to play her part, he might never show her Perido again.
Dia bit the soft flesh of her inner lip and nodded in obedient silence.
Satisfied, Kylon wore a thin, pleased smile.
“That’s right. Very obedient. You two must follow your sister’s lead—be careful with your words and act demurely in front of the Duke. Dress as prettily as you can and come down by dinner. The Duke has graced us with his presence, and you must greet him properly.”
“Yes.”
When Dia answered quietly, Kylon turned and exited the room, leaving the door ajar.
The door, which had been bolted shut since that day—save for the brief moments when meals were shoved inside—stood open for the first time in a week.
“Sister! Are you crazy? Why are you acting so servile to that devil?”
Dia turned to Garnet, whose face was flushed with fury, and looked at her with a bitter, weary gaze.
If she hadn’t played the part, Kylon surely would have struck Garnet—just as he had done the first time she had dared to stand up to him. She would be an adult soon, so she could endure it; she simply could not bear to watch her younger sisters be slapped by his hands.
“…We have to find the youngest.”
At those words, Garnet bit her lip hard and turned away.
“Sister, can we meet Perido tomorrow?”
Rubiana, who had been huddled behind Garnet the entire time, peeked out.
“Yes. We must meet him.”
“Yes! I want to see him so badly.”
Rubiana nodded vigorously, her face alight with expectation, and headed toward the sofa. Meanwhile, unable to contain her agitation, Garnet paced the bed, thrashing about.
How did things end up like this?
She still couldn’t comprehend the nightmare of the last fifteen days. It had been the day their parents went out to buy a birthday present for their youngest brother, Perido. Perido had begged to join them so he could choose the gift himself.
A few hours later, Kylon had returned to them in tears, claiming their parents had died in a monster attack. Her world had simply ceased to exist.
A monster in the south? It was impossible. But there was something more pressing now: finding the missing Perido.
She had sought out the vassals who served her father, begging for help. But she couldn’t reach them. Some had already died or been incapacitated by accidents; others simply avoided her.
It was terrifyingly orchestrated. The world around them had shifted into a trap.
Dia had eventually gone alone to the only person she could trust besides her parents: her Uncle Kylon.
“Uncle, no one is looking for Perido. The vassals all avoid me, and some of them have had accidents…”
Kylon, who had always been kind to them, had stripped away his mask that day.
“Tsk, tsk. You should have just stayed quiet. Why act so restlessly? If you want to meet Perido, keep your mouth shut until the day of the funeral.”
“Could it be… that you’re the one behind all this, Uncle?”
Dia had shouted, screaming at the horrific realization.
*Smack.*
Her head had snapped to the side. It was the first time she had ever been struck in her life.
“You speak carelessly, Dia. Go up to the room with your sisters.”
“If we follow your words, will you let us meet Perido?”
“Yes. I promise.”
And so, they had been held prisoner in their room for a week.
“Dia, Sister.”
Dia pulled herself out of the dark haze of her thoughts at Rubiana’s call.
“What is it, Ruby?”
“Do you think the Duke might help us?”
A sliver of hope glimmered in Rubiana’s light green eyes.
“Hmph, don’t make me laugh. He’s a man who has never come to see us once. He’s a total stranger. Don’t you feel anything after seeing that devil who spent his whole life pretending to be close to us?”
Garnet sneered from the bed. Rubiana looked up at Dia, her eyes brimming with impending tears.
“But, Mom always said. Vines is…”
“…protects.”
Dia finished the sentence, her voice faint.
*The Ducal House of Vines protects.*
It was a mantra she had heard from her mother hundreds of times. Her mother never resented the Duke for his absence; instead, she was fiercely proud of him.
“Mom, why doesn’t the Duke ever come to see you? You’re his sister.”
Her mother would only chuckle, brushing the hair from Dia’s forehead.
“The Ducal House of Vines protects. It’s a phrase referring to my family. The Vines family has so many enemies. I understand everything. I know how much that little one struggles, how hard he fights to protect it all. Dia, if something ever happens, remember just one thing: Vines protects. The little one will protect you all.”
Dia stared blankly out the window, the image of her mother’s gentle smile searing into her mind.
*Mom, will Duke Vines really protect us?*