Kays Translations

Chapter 42: Sibling Squabble?

When I stepped inside the house, Mother was preparing tea.

She had told me earlier to “go play outside,” but the idea of being left out, excluded from the conversation, didn’t sit well with me. Besides, this was something that concerned me directly, so I politely asked if I could listen.

After a moment of hesitation, she gave permission, but on the condition that I stay apart with Stefana and the others, listening from a distance.

A short while later, Ditnell arrived, accompanied by a maid and a single bodyguard.

“Tea?” he asked.

“Yes, we’ll have some,” Mother replied.

The bodyguard frowned slightly, but Ditnell ignored him and took a cup of the tea Mother had poured.

“…It’s terrible,” he remarked, taking a cautious sip.

By village standards, it was fairly decent tea. But since it was made from dried medicinal herbs rather than actual tea leaves, brewed by an amateur hand, the bitterness was pronounced. Normally, I would add Sugar Rose petals to mellow the flavor, but the flowers hadn’t fully bloomed yet, so none had been included this time. The dried ones were still available, though, somewhere.

“You’re such a rude man. No wonder you never settled on a fiancée,” Mother said, her voice dripping with sharpness.

“Ha! What era are you even talking about? I do have a fiancée now,” Ditnell replied with a laugh.

“Oh my, that’s unfortunate for you,” Mother said sweetly.

“…What are you talking about?” Ditnell demanded.

“I was addressing your fiancée, of course,” Mother replied, perfectly calm.

From the very start, Mother had always been prickly toward Ditnell. She couldn’t forget how he had made a point of harassing her when she was quietly confined in the viscount’s household. Of course, one could also argue that those encounters had helped gather useful information.

“Must you always be so sarcastic, Oneesan?” Ditnell said, his veins bulging on his forehead with barely contained anger.

I understood Mother’s intentions, but honestly, the sight was enough to make my heart pound. Please, not too much provocation.

“I am nothing compared to you. But enough about that—what brings you here?” Mother asked.

“…Have you forgotten already?” Ditnell said, his tone calm but edged with irritation.

“Are you speaking of Zernike Sanders, the chairman of the Sanders Trading Company?” Mother asked.

“You speak quite boldly to a future husband. Not very ladylike. Has your dignity truly sunk so low?”

“Oh, goodness, seems we’ve fallen to the same level, haven’t we?”

At that, Ditnell slammed both hands onto the table and rose to his feet. Stefana and the others, along with the bodyguard knight, instinctively gripped the hilts of their weapons.

“…I understand your dislike, given that you vanished right after the marriage proposal from Zernike-sama. But abandoning one’s duties as a noble—do you not think that a little reckless?” Ditnell said, glaring at Mother before sitting back down.

“I fulfilled my duty to the nobility by going to the Marquis’ household. That is why the Kaupels house continues to exist, isn’t it?”

The implication was clear: the viscount’s family had been so deeply in debt that their estate would have collapsed if the Marquis had not intervened. Thanks to the support, they survived, and the viscountcy remained intact.

“That’s not enough. Debt isn’t erased just because someone else covers it,” Ditnell said.

“Ah, so you intend to sell me off again to raise funds?” Mother asked with a hint of mischief.

“Do not speak so cruelly. This is for your happiness,” Ditnell replied firmly.

I could not see the happiness in any of this. And from the sound of it, the viscount’s family’s finances were still far from stable.

“My happiness is living with Arthur,” Mother declared.

“You’re in such a pitiful state, covered in mud—where is the happiness in that?” Ditnell shot back.

“Perhaps that’s why you never found a fiancée—because you judge only by appearances,” Mother retorted sharply.

They seemed like two halves of the same coin, constantly clashing over their shared stubbornness and pride. Still, in terms of biting words, Mother clearly had the upper hand.

“You really are infuriating,” Ditnell muttered.

“Oh my, what a vulgar remark,” Mother teased, smiling as if she were cooing a child.

“—…Hah…” Ditnell exhaled sharply, still glaring.

Mother’s calm, teasing demeanor against Ditnell’s anger made her seem like a villainess in that moment.

“I never imagined my dear younger brother would end up working under Zernike,” Mother said casually.

“—I am not his subordinate! I was merely asked to assist!” Ditnell protested.

“Ah, I see. So that’s how it is,” Mother said, her tone smooth as silk.

Ditnell was Zernike’s subordinate? I could hardly believe it.

“—Tch. I hate how you manipulate emotions to extract information, Oneesan,” Ditnell growled.

“I like it when you fall for it, though,” Mother replied playfully.

“—Enough of that,” Ditnell snapped.

“Well, very well. But why—after all this time—are you here now?” Mother asked.

Her question made sense. We weren’t exactly hiding. They could have found us at any time. Yet for three long years, there had been no word, no contact. They either hadn’t looked, or they hadn’t cared to reach out.

“Though you say ‘after all this time,’ Zernike-sama was apparently searching desperately. He only discovered your location about six months ago,” he said.

“Six months ago?” I echoed silently, sensing something off.

I didn’t know much about the Sanders Trading Company, but a chairman with the influence to arrange marriage with a viscount’s daughter should have been able to find us just as easily as the viscount family. The lack of contact suggested Zernike had treated the situation much like the viscounts had—deliberately. Then why, now, would he go through Ditnell to push for this marriage?

“But if that’s the case, shouldn’t the trading company itself have come? There’s no point in sending you,” Mother continued.

“I am here as your brother, to admonish your foolishness,” Ditnell replied.

When we had been at the viscount house, Ditnell had relentlessly harassed Mother, often calling her ‘self-deserved’ or ‘fallen.’ He took pleasure in seeing her, once above him, now beneath him.

Returning from the Marquis’ house, a withdrawn Mother had spent long days shut away in her room. Perhaps Zernike thought Ditnell was the only one capable of handling her.

“To admonish me… did he perhaps offer to ‘support the Kaupels family if I marry’?” Mother asked slyly.

“…Something like that,” Ditnell admitted, hesitating slightly.

“Could it be he said, ‘as my wife’s brother’?” Mother pressed.

Ditnell faltered, his words momentarily caught.

“I understand most of it now. But I have no obligation to marry Zernike-sama, nor do I intend to,” Mother said firmly.

“That will not do. You have duties as the eldest daughter of the Kaupels family,” Ditnell countered.

“I have none. You know I have already sent the severance papers,” Mother said.

“The retraction has been sent. Eventually, you will return to the Kaupels family,” Ditnell insisted.

“Retracting a severance isn’t something done lightly,” Mother replied.

Their argument concluded, the two sat glaring at each other in tense silence.

“Well, I shall withdraw this time. If I forcibly take you away, you’ll likely escape. But once the severance is retracted, you will follow my guidance,” Ditnell said, standing.

“That will not happen,” Mother said firmly.

Finally, he left, saying only that he would “wait in Meluestat until the retraction is complete.”

“Fana, Rugena, I don’t expect anything, but keep watch at night until Ditnell leaves the village,” Mother instructed.

“Understood.”
“We’ll handle it,” they replied.

At this point, anyone with even a hint of sense would know the culprit if anything happened. Still, we could not let our guard down, even if only on suspicion.

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