C125
Isidor made eye contact with the boy for a moment and then knelt to greet him.
"Hello. I'm Isidor. The young master of the Visconti family."
"I'm Enrique Seymour."
Enrique, who made a brisk greeting as if strictly drawing a line, squeezed Deborah's hand with cautious eyes.
"Pleased to meet you, Enrique."
Out of nowhere, Enrique pouted abruptly as he looked at the man who seemed to be sprinkled with gold dust.
...
Although Isidor's heart was not ready, he practiced in advance for when he would meet the members of his family. He moistened his dry lips as he felt lost.
"I guess Enrique is very nervous."
Deborah, whose hand was around Enrique, interpreted Enrique's coldness according to her standards and stroked his hair.
Enrique looked at Deborah with an innocent puppy expression, as if he hadn't looked harshly at Isidor before.
"It's the first time I've seen my sister's acquaintance. And I'm not familiar with people I meet for the first time..."
"I see."
Isidor, who was downgraded as a heartless acquaintance, couldn't help but feel mixed emotions when he saw the child looking at Deborah with an innocent face like a little lamb.
"Be kind... No, you don't have to try too hard because he's a handsome brother. Enrique."
Deborah gently swung the hand she was holding with the child while smiling softly.
"She's so beautiful even in the midst of this."
Isidor's gaze was stolen by her affectionate expression for a moment, then he shivered at the angry look from the child and his fingertips trembled.
As expected, he hates me, right?
...
After that, Enrique naturally sat between Deborah and Isidor inside the theater.
"I never expected this situation to arise."
He thought that Enrique would at least sit next to Deborah.
The cute child was only sitting in the middle, but it felt like a huge wall was placed between him and Deborah.
They haven't officially decided to go out yet, but Isidor has already received a lot of hatred from Seymour's direct family line.
For example, the tea he sent to Duke Seymour, which was even more expensive than gold dust, was returned exactly as it was. As if Duke Seymour wanted to cut ties completely.
"Something is wrong."
Isidor thought as he awkwardly fixed his gaze in front of the stage.
----------------------
"Sister. The opera was very fun. And I really liked the organ accompaniment."
Enrique's eyes shone brightly as he held Deborah's hand tightly.
Although the villain who needs defeating is right beside him, he couldn't help but feel excited about playing outside with his sister.
"Let's go again later. Sister!"
"Of course. Let's see it often."
Deborah smiled sweetly as she squinted her eyes.
"I can't believe he can hang out with her so easily. And often..."
Now Isidor felt envy for his little brother.
The excited Enrique chatted about the opera with Deborah, then asked to stop by the gift shop in front of the theater.
Isidor walked toward the toy store while Deborah looked over the shelf with the original opera novel.
"Since he's still a child, he must like toys."
He chose the most sophisticated-looking toy carriage there with ease and approached Enrique.
"Enrique. It's a gift for you because I'm glad to meet you. Let's meet again later."
Isidor handed the gift with a smile that seemed as friendly as possible, but Enrique firmly refused.
"My father told me not to accept any gifts from someone I don't know because it's dangerous."
It was a very determined look, telling him that this trick wouldn't work.
"Besides, my father said my sister should focus only on studying for now."
Isidor had the vague feeling that Duke Seymour might be behind this.
"Because Deborah balances her work and leisure well, you don't have to worry about that. Enrique."
"Hey, anyway, not you!"
His father didn't tell him the next part, so Enrique spoke for everyone.
Then he approached Deborah, who was choosing a book.
Suddenly, both hands reached for the purple flower-shaped hairpin by the opera primadonna.
The two hands accidentally touched, then withdrew their hands.
"This one suits her better."
At that moment, they were on the same page.
"Sister!"
"Deborah."
"Eh, yes?"
"This."
Deborah was nervous because both were holding the same hairpin. Then, Enrique whimpered and tried to put the flower brooch in Deborah's hair with his little arms.
"This one!"
"As expected, I only have my adorable Enrique."
Deborah was moved by the excessive tenderness that uplifted her heart and hugged Enrique tightly without even thinking for a second.
"He defeated the villain!"
Enrique triumphantly directed his sparkling eyes, like a cat catching a fish, toward the man sprinkled with gold dust who had a bewildered expression.
----------------------------
"Isidor. Are you upset...? No, you're not angry, right?"
The day after seeing the opera, I met Isidor at the Academy's fraternity.
I was worried if he might be upset because he didn't send a letter today, as he usually did every morning through Muffin.
"No way. I've been looking forward to the outing all day and even went out after deliberating on my perfume because you said it was a date. There's no way I'm upset over such a trivial reason just because you came with your little brother."
"As expected, he took it seriously."
I said, feeling uneasy.
"Actually, I've never been out with my little brother anywhere properly because I've been very inconsiderate. That's why I couldn't refuse him at all. I also wanted to introduce you to my cute and smart little brother."
"... ."
"Although the two couldn't get close because Enrique is very shy."
I tilted my head when Isidor made a ambiguous expression somewhere.
"What's wrong?"
Then, he lowered his head and left his handkerchief on the bench.
Suddenly, a cold wind blew, and the handkerchief was about to fly, but he easily fixed the handkerchief with magic.
"Sit here."
"Oh, yes."
He took off his coat and put it on my lap.
"Actually, I'm not upset at all. If I were your little brother, I'd probably follow you too. And if I immediately noticed that the person is dark inside and has a lot of plans in mind. Then, I would bite him."
His eyes narrowed as he smiled like a fox.
"By the way, I didn't send a letter this morning because I felt you would come to see me first. Because I wanted to see you right away."
He tucked my wind-messed hair behind my ear gently.
"You're secretly kind."
I blinked with absurd feelings, then cleared my throat once because I felt like my ear that came into contact with his leather glove was burning like fire.
"I-I'm not kind."
"It's okay because you're very kind to me. I also like it more when you're frank and cold with others."
"..."
"Since Enrique is cute, I'll make an exception."
"Really? Isn't he too cute?"
"Yes. To the extent that I feel a sense of crisis. I have to try harder in the future."
Isidor smiled and then looked at me as if he had something to say.
"What is it?"
"Ah, do you have time tonight...?"
Even before his words finished, hurried footsteps were heard in the distance.
"Who is it? Some Epsilon member?"
Since this walkway was not frequently used by the members, I felt curious and nervous at the same time. Because that person might think we're on a secret date for sure.
"Indeed, there are already rumors because we're openly strolling together. It's also true that we have secret dates."
I suppose there are still rumors that I'm threatening Isidor, but the person who appeared in front of me was not an Epsilon member but Isidor's vassal.
Although he is a man with a vague impression, I remembered him because I saw him before.
"Miguel. What's going on?"
Isidor asked with a stern voice.
"Master. Something happened."
The vassal looked at me.
I stood up because I felt, from the atmosphere, that it seemed important.
"I'll contact you later."
I nodded at his words and quickly walked away.
I worried as I read the serious mood flowing from his vassal's expression.
"It's not a big deal, right?"
Isidor is an amazing Munchkin, so he'll handle it well.
I got on the carriage with a feeling of anxiety.
It didn't take long to find out what had happened to Isidor since he is a famous person.
