“What nonsense are you spouting. There are only three people from the Podebrat Family in this world. Hurry and take a seat.”

There were innumerous comments that I wanted to make, but in front of the Duke, I couldn’t be so blatant, and obediently closed my mouth. I looked around in a flustered manner and sat down in the seat furthest from the Duke. At that moment, the Duke’s eyebrows flinched, but I ignored it.

“Uhm…um…so this daughter shall get to the main point quickly, so I can return to my room…”

“I prepared tea. Eat any of the desserts you wish.”

“I’m alright. So…what I wanted to say is.”

“They say this tea is very popular among children these days.”

Damn it, the Duke wasn’t listening to anything I was saying.

As the maid brought out a pastel blue teacup and poured magenta-colored tea that smelled a little odd. I did all I could do to keep my eyes focused.

Did this tea have poison? Was he telling me to hurry and drink it and die?

Though it wasn’t certain if the Duke was aware of my anxiety and restlessness, he picked up the teacup and sipped the black tea.

Oh ho, it appeared this disgusting magenta tea had poison as he, himself, wasn’t drinking it.

I considered how I could naturally throw away the tea.

At that point, the Duke opened his mouth.

“Then, shall we listen to what you have to say? …It’s the first time in 10 years you and I have had a conversation like this.”

“I would greet you every morning when we had breakfast together…”

Even though I was rebuking him with grouchy words, the Duke merely continued to look down at his teacup. He was emotionally moved, and his eyes were filled with tears.

I gave up trying to communicate with this human.

I let out a deep sigh inside of myself and decided to run away after saying what I wanted to.

“I want to break off my engagement…”

But before I could even finish my sentence…

Crash!

The sitting room door was bashed in and the door was smashed into pieces. I will not deny that I nearly spat out a string of curses at that second.

“…Melissa?”

Oops. It seems I really did spat out a string of curses.

I bit my lips, avoided the Duke’s surprised expression, and turned towards the door.

There, a doll stood by the entrance. The doll was actually my younger brother who was wrapped from head to toe with a dark robe. He was about the same height as the Duke and didn’t say anything immediately. He slowly pushed back the hood of his robe and said.

“…Are you crazy?”

It was just a guess, but it was just as I assumed.

He had long white hair accompanied by a face that had elegant and beautiful features that were unlike the Duke and me. His blue eyes resembled the late Duchess’s eyes and he was currently looking at me with contempt and hate.

“I’m asking you whether you have gone crazy or not.”

I sneered as I responded.

“Welcome, my prodigal brother who ran away from home.”

His name was ‘Jake Podebrat’.

He was handsome and he had a quiet character. Jake Podebrat was the heir to the Podebrat duchy and one of Yuri’s men in the novel. He was also a member of the Imperial Guard. In the novel, he was the younger brother who hated his older sister to death.

“…Why are you still alive…”

Indeed, my older brother hated me to the point where he had the habit of spouting nonsense whenever we met.

Jake Podebrat.

He was the quiet sniper in charge of ‘assassinations’ as an Imperial Guard. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that all those who rebelled against the Royal Family were handled by Jake.

Despite being very young at the age of 17 (the legal age was 16 in this world), he was acknowledged as the Empire’s best sniper due to his outstanding sniping skills and magical abilities. However, he shied away from society in general and would dress in a black robe even when attending public events. It seemed like he disliked it when other people saw his face.

And he didn’t stick around at home either.