Chapter 10

Sitting on the sofa in the center of the room and looking around, I spotted a bookshelf so large it nearly reached the ceiling, while several thick books were piled high on the desk right in front of me.

Father’s study, which I was seeing for the first time, felt somehow unsettling, and I nervously fidgeted with the hem of my dress. After a short while, Father finally appeared.

“Sorry to call you out of the blue like this.”

Entering with those words was a tall man with gray hair, eyes of the same color, and slightly drooping corners to his eyes. He was my father.

“No, it’s fine… But about that… What is this talk about?”

It was the first time Father had ever summoned me. I had no memory of doing anything particularly bad, so I had no clue why I was being called.

Feeling a vague sense of dread, I asked timidly, whereupon Father flashed a good-natured smile.

“It’s alright. I’m not going to get mad at Bell. It’s just a bit of a difficult topic to bring up.”

A difficult topic? So it wasn’t about something bad.

As I scowled deeply, Father smiled gently.

“Bell, you once said you wanted a sibling, didn’t you?”

“Yes. I did.”

Back before I started playing with the prince, things had been so excruciatingly boring that I simply wanted someone to play with.

It was a rather old conversation, but I figured I had asked Father and Mother for a sibling a few times in the past.

“Did something happen with that?”

“I wanted children too, you see. But Cilly’s health is delicate, so it’s difficult.”

Cilly referred to my Mother. True to his words, Mother had a weak constitution. It wasn’t as though she had some chronic illness or anything like that, but she apparently couldn’t handle physical strain.

Mother, beautiful yet frail, was seriously terrifying. It was also Mother who had put me through the wringer so I would be chosen as the prince’s fiancée. She was the very incarnation of a demon.

Honestly, I figured she could easily beat any sickness if she put her mind to it, though…

The couple’s relationship was remarkably good, so Father was probably just worried about her. I wanted Mother to stay healthy, too.

“Bell, you’ll be getting married off eventually, won’t you? If that happens, the Tybus line will end with my generation.”

“That’s true… But what are you going to do? Mother can’t bear children anymore, and I don’t have any brothers or sisters.”

“Yes, exactly.”

With that, Father placed a hand on his forehead as if lamenting. He kept glancing sideways at me to gauge my reaction, but even coming from a big, bulky man like Father, it wasn’t particularly cute.

“If you have something to say, please come right out with it.”

I was the one whose patience had run out, feeling annoyed by Father who was still looking at me out of the corner of my eye. As if waiting for those exact words, Father snapped his head up brightly.

“Actually, I’ve decided to adopt a child.”

“…Adopt?”

It took a few seconds for Father’s words to register.

“Yes. A child from a distant branch family… Oh, a boy, of course.”

Do you think you can get along? Father asked me.

Since I was (scheduled) to marry into the royal family, I couldn’t possibly interfere with matters concerning an adoption. I could theoretically become the head of the house in the future myself… but a young lady whose engagement had been annulled by the prince becoming head of the house might just drive the Tybus family to ruin.

If that was the case, a next family head would be necessary to survive the days ahead.

“Of course, Father. He’s to be the next head of the house. We’ll get along splendidly.”

“Is that so? I’m glad. We’ll be living together from now on, so you’ll have to get along well.”

Father let out a relieved sigh, his chest visibly heaving.

“Is that person going to be my younger brother?”

“That’s right. I hear he’s one year younger.”

A younger brother in this life, too. And one year younger, at that.

It was identical to my younger brother from my past life.

What popped into my head was a blond delinquent with a bad attitude.

For now, a cute younger brother who would trail behind me saying things like, “Big sis~!” would be nice. I had already dealt with enough arrogant, bratty kids in my past life, so that was more than enough.

“I’m looking forward to it so much!”

“He’s scheduled to arrive at our home in about a month.”

With my cheeks flushed with excitement, I left Father’s study.

As always, the card left in my hand was the Joker.

“Ufufufu.”

“You look awfully happy for someone who just lost.”

Even though I had lost yet again today, I had a wide, relaxed grin on my face.

The prince narrowed his brows in annoyance.

“It’s no fun at all if Bell doesn’t act frustrated.”

“What on earth do you think of me, Your Highness?”

“Um, can we stop playing cards already? I’m sick of it.”

It was a rather harsh remark, but I would let it slide today. After all, I was in a great mood!

Suppressing a sigh, I hummed a tune while putting the cards away in their box. The moment I placed them inside, my gaze locked directly with the two boys.

“What is it?”

“Somehow, Bell is acting weird today. In a bad way.”

“Eh, in a bad way?”

“You’ve been grinning away this whole time.”

“Ugh.”

Panicking, I covered my face with my hands.

Was I really making that weird of a face?! This was bad. How embarrassing.

I had been wondering why Schwarz’s cold gaze had been bothering me since earlier—was that what he meant by, Whoa, something’s wrong with this person, she’s grinning, it’s creepy? If it was Schwarz, he was definitely thinking that. Even if he didn’t say it out loud or show it on his face.

Heat rushed to my cheeks, turning them red in a matter of seconds. When I glanced shyly at the prince, he was smiling with satisfaction.

This guy was definitely teasing me right now, wasn’t he…?

“Lord Dylan, you shouldn’t tease Lady Bertia too much.”

“But it’s no fun when Bell just keeps smiling.”

“Well, I certainly would have preferred it if you stopped making that vacant face, though.”

Something pierced right through me with a sharp stab. Schwarz, my boy. Weren’t you supposed to be the kind of gentleman who kept his thoughts to yourself instead of letting them out in words and expressions?

Watching me sink in defeat, the prince opened his mouth with a chuckle.

“So? Was there something so happy that it made your face loosen up like that?”

“There is!”

I brushed off my heavy aura and stood up from the chair. Both the prince and Schwarz shrank back as if retreating in alarm, but ignoring them, I continued.

“Actually, you see, I’m going to have a younger brother.”

“A younger brother?”

The prince looked surprised for a moment, but then his expression softened into a gentle smile. It was a far cry from when he was mocking me.

“I see, a child was born to Lady Tybus. Congratulations.”

“Congratulations.”

“Ah, no. He’s an adopted son.”

The two of them were offering all these grand blessings, but that wasn’t how it was at all. Mother had a weak constitution and couldn’t have any more children. Or rather, Father probably wouldn’t let her bear any more.

“An adopted child? Ah, an heir?”

“Yes.”

“Heh. By the way, what’s your blood relation to him?”

“Um, I hear he’s a cousin of a cousin of Father’s cousin.”

Honestly, I wondered if it was really okay to let someone inherit the house through such a distant, unverified bloodline, but the people with closer blood ties apparently hadn’t been willing to hand over their own children.

Because the Tybus family had a long history, their familial affection was remarkably strong. The tradition of families supporting each other and living together down through the generations still remained to this day. Because of that, children were rarely sent away to other households.

As for why I had been sent out to a royal matchmaking session in the first place, it was because the Tybus family swore absolute loyalty to the royal family, who possessed a history even longer than their own. It was probably akin to a pack structure where the one who had been with the group the longer was treated as the boss.

In other words, the further away the blood relation, the thinner the familial love carved into the bloodline would be. The reason I was getting so carried away over this new family member probably had a lot to do with this blood, too.

“Bring him here when he arrives.”

“Eh?”

An unbelievable phrase tumbled out of the prince’s mouth. The prince himself had granted permission? He didn’t usually like bringing people around here, so I had expected to be refused.

I had been prepared to persuade him, but apparently, that wasn’t necessary.

“Lord Dylan, is that really alright?”

Schwarz looked at the prince in surprise as well. The prince just offered a bright smile.

“It’s fine. After all, we’ll have to get along with our new little brother.”

For the prince to try and get along with someone of his own accord! He had truly grown up splendidly over the past half year. I, the prince, and Schwarz. I was sure we’d get along great with the new little brother, too.

Once there were four of us, playing cards would probably be even more fun. Maybe I’d finally escape being dead last. Ah, but should I let him win out of consideration as an elder sister?

Imagining a future that wasn’t too far off, I smiled quietly to myself.