Chapter 53.1

Chapter 53.1

“Really, my friend wasn’t the only one who saw it! There were so many witnesses, and it was so public, they said the Duke had really made up his mind…”

“You mean he got down on his knees before everyone?”

This is not the kind of thing Richard Ion would do. He’s been a stiff-necked individual since childhood.

He despises the lower echelons of society, and while he obeys the Emperor and his father, the Duke, like a machine, he’s otherwise a jerk who exudes irritation. He is especially unkind to his younger sister, Risha.

When he would approach her, he would smack her head with an expressionless face, and she would wipe away her tears in frustration and grind her teeth, lamenting that she should have been born before him.

If I were his older sister, I’d drive him a hundred laps around the regimental grounds! What a waste of a brilliant mind and a body that the entire empire’s academics are talking about!

Anyway, no matter how ceremonial it may be, no man with such a huge ego would engage in such an act.

And there was something else that was even more unbecoming.

Risha shook her head in confusion.

“What was the point of all that showmanship?”

If they had one thing in common, it was their disdain for fuss and complexity. They also disliked being the center of attention. If they were upfront, it was only out of necessity.

The extravagant vanity of aristocratic speech and behavior had nothing to do with them. It was unnecessary, foreign, and annoying.

Risha, who had grown up away from aristocratic social circles to become a scholar and technical engineer, was inherently cynical, direct, and clear in her likes and dislikes. No one expected her to be formal and polite.

In contrast, Richard, a model student and heir to the dukedom, was quite different from Risha. He had to learn restraint to moderate his likes and dislikes, which he acquired skillfully from a young age.

So, rather than admirable, Risha found Richard unsettling. Despite his obvious annoyance, he would smile handsomely and receive adult compliments like a doll. He pretended to be nice but would punish her relentlessly when he thought Risha was annoying him.

Risha, however, refused to back down and fought back even harder. Richard wouldn’t let her off the hook either. Their history was a bitter battle between brother and sister.

But no matter how skilled he was at pretending, Richard Aion would never do anything that didn’t align with his desires or speak anything meaningful that he didn’t genuinely mean. He never engaged in gossip, and the code of a knight’s honor was something he would never compromise.

So, was this some kind of political maneuver? But if this marriage were necessary, he wouldn’t have initially refused it, considering the clear division of labor.

Something didn’t add up. Risha wrinkled her nose in thought. Jonathan cautiously prodded her after a long moment of silence.

“Have you heard anything from your brother, like you’re expecting a new sister soon?”

“Even if he did, he’d save it for the wedding day.”

When they met face to face, they would reflexively furrow their brows or ignore each other like a dog and pony show. Even their late parents had urged them to get along, but they just stared at each other, thinking the same thing.

“We’re good.”

“This is the best time of our lives. That’s weird.”

They didn’t growl at each other, they didn’t fight, they didn’t invade or break anything that the other valued. And that’s just the way it should be.

It was a surprisingly prolonged period of peace in their history. It was probably mostly due to the fact that they both went their separate ways to the academy and the military, leading to naturally fewer encounters and different living spaces.

Yet, they were quite content with their distant friendship.

Occasionally, they would exchange greetings to check on each other’s well-being or if they stumbled upon each other’s names in a newspaper or journal. Letters for New Year’s gifts (birthday gifts were out of the question), usually sent by a butler or assistant, were on average, two lines long and signed by name.

The irony is that no one knows each other better than they do, bound by blood and intimate memories that have been fought over fiercely, for better or worse.

In that sense, Risha Aion had a hunch. Something had changed in Richard.

“Hmm.”

Should I stop by for a visit during Father’s death anniversary? More curious than worried, really, but Risha was a scholar.

“Well, I’m sure he’ll take care of himself, Jonathan. I’m just going to step out for a bit. What does this mean?”

“It means to clean up after you and make breakfast.”

“My assistant is very capable.”

Risha’s cold eyes crinkled as she tucked her hands into her pockets under her academy-stamped robe. Jonathan’s face contorted at her sarcasm, and he clapped his hands like a puppet.