Eugene blinked. I held up my right index finger and continued calmly.
“One is to be insulated from my parents and live as my brother, the Grand Duke.”
The word “insulation” left Eugene’s face brooding.
For a 12-year-old child, the word insulation would be like a shock to the sky, but it couldn’t be helped.
Because I didn’t want to get involved with any of those parents.
His parents had remained in the dungeons of the Imperial Palace since they helped Fabian.
It was a pity that even during the war against the demons, they survived far away thanks to the proper meals as my parents.
They must be very excited to hear that I will soon be a Grand Duke.
The attempt to sell me out to Fabian is probably long since forgotten in my memory. That’s how thick-skinned they were.
The fact that I didn’t kill them and lose them was a final courtesy to Jun.
But that didn’t mean I had any intention of being great by providing for those parents.
I said, linking my middle finger after my index finger.
“The other is to follow your parents and never use my name again. Because I will disassociate myself from Karentia. Naturally, there will be no supper after I become Grand Duke.”
Eugene became even more serious.
The education he would have received if he had been a grand duke, and his incorporation into the aristocratic world…
No matter how much his parents rode on the other side of the scale, it would not be easy for him to give up all of his gains.
I could fully understand why Eugene was struggling.
It was too tremendous an opportunity to point the finger at him as filial or worldly.
And since the person who handed over all of it and set the terms was not a stranger, but his half-sister, he should have had relatively few pangs of conscience.
Eugene, who had been struggling for some time, finally opened his mouth, wriggling his fingers.
“I know my parents did bad things to you, sister… But they took very good care of me. I can’t abandon them.”
Eugene’s decision was unexpected. I opened my eyes round, and then nodded.
“Yes, if that’s your choice.”
I didn’t catch Eugene twice. Eugene also didn’t seem to want to change his decision just because I caught him.
“Follow Vince. I’ll give you a place to stay in the capital for a while.”
“…I’m so sorry, sister.”
Did he realize that this is our last time? Eugene left the drawing-room, adding lastly.
Eugene left and Vince came back into the drawing-room. I spoke to Vince.
“Then as I said before.”
“Understood.”
After Vince, only Meyer and I were left in the drawing-room again. I sighed deeply and leaned my head against the back of the sofa.
“Does it bother you?”
“It would be a lie if it didn’t bother me.”
I smiled bitterly.
If I stayed the course of my life, my father and stepmother would surely bring Eugene to the forefront again to visit me.
It wasn’t something young Eugene could stop just because he didn’t like it.
Therefore, there was a limit to attaching surveillance so that the father and stepmother did not think in vain.
Besides, I didn’t want to waste human resources.
So I chose to use the very mental magician Pedica to manipulate the memories of my parents and Eugene.
Forget the fact that they have a child, and that he has a sister.
Then forget that I exist, so that my stepmother, father, and Eugene can live together.
Their brainwashing will probably never be broken.
To break their brainwashing, they need a healing mage with more holy power than that magical attack power.
No matter how low Pedica was due to magical attack power, he was level 50. Only a very few people started higher than that, including August and April.
I mumbled to myself.
“I don’t know. Is this the right choice or not?”
Apparently, I was even more concerned because they were not my family.
I have some serious concerns of my own, but Meyer smiled at me as he did. Then he easily added that it was not his business.
“You always make the right choice. Except when you used the ultimate weapon to save me.”
“How long are you going to keep bringing that up?”
“Until I grow old and die. That way, you won’t think uselessly.”
“I’m not going to do it.”
I shook my head with a sigh. It felt like he was determined to tell me not to use the ultimate weapon once a day.
Still, I felt much better after quarreling with Meyer.
Oh, I’m tired of this kind of course.
I fell flat on Meyer’s thigh. His hard, thick legs fluctuated greatly.
Surprised, Meyer jumped up from his seat and shouted.
“N-no shame!”
“Ouch.”
In a daze, I just stuck my head on the sofa.
I rubbed my head and pouted my lips as I looked up at Meyer standing tall in front of me.
“What are you ashamed of? I think it’s less embarrassing than looking for me while shouting at the banquet.”
Meyer’s face flamed up.
His mouth pouted several times, trying to say something, but repeatedly closing.
In the end, without saying anything, he trudged to the other side of where I was sitting.
“Then I’ll lie down.”
Sitting on the other side, Meyer tapped his left thigh with the palm of his hand.
No, right thigh or left thigh…
I didn’t understand, but it was a little too much to question Meyer when he was so stubbornly silent. I surreptitiously lay down using Meyer’s left thigh as a pillow.
Meyer sighed. His sigh was so loud that my bangs shook.
“Why. Is my head heavy?”
“It shouldn’t be heavier. I wish it were heavier. It would be perfect if it were sturdier.”
“If it’s so light, why were you so surprised earlier?”
“…”
Meyer’s mouth closed again.
“Okay. I just won’t ask.”
I mumbled and popped my body around. It was an indication that I did not want to talk to Meyer.
Then Meyer touched me below the ear next to my temple, where I was lying with my back to him.
His long, stiff fingers brushed down my hair.
My hair was unkempt from my three days in the dungeon and stretched out all over the place, but his hands were as silky and careful as if they might scratch it.
It was a delicate gesture. I began to feel sleepy to be patted by him. I blinked slowly. As I fell asleep like that, Meyer asked implicitly.
“By the way… If you cut ties with Karentia, will you change your last name?”
I was vaguely thinking, but when Meyer said it, I felt more certain. I replied with a nod.
“It wouldn’t matter.”
There was no reason why I should not have to change it.
I felt the way I felt when I saw Tragula and Julieta and Anasta…
There is no need to be bound by the name or last name given by others. It is more important to live the life you want to live, with the name you like.
I stood up and sat at an angle to Meyer.
Meyer looked at me with a brooding look. I spoke in a confident tone.
“Please choose my last name.”
“Me? Can I do that?”
Meyer asked back, puzzled. It wasn’t a sign of dislike.
Rather, he seemed very excited, as if he had no such honor.
I tried to hold back my laughter and accept it.
“Of course. You’ll use it with me later.”
“What?”
“When you get married, you share your last name.”
I shrugged my shoulders. When you get married, you have the right to inherit the title, and you share your last name.
For example, when Jun Karentia and Meyer Knox marry, they become Jun Karentia Knox and Meyer Knox Karentia.
There are exceptions because only surnames with titles are shared.
Because at least we both have titles. No, because we would have one.
Of course, I at least knew that I had talked myself out of it all of a sudden. I can’t believe we would go beyond dating and suddenly get married.
I wondered if Meyer’s fragile sensitivity would accept this relationship that had developed all at once…
Sure enough, Meyer’s face turned red beyond compare to when I had just laid down on his thigh as a pillow.
But I am not the same person I used to be. I know now that Meyer doesn’t look like that when he is angry, but when he loves me but can’t find the words right away.
Instead of asking Meyer when he would marry me, he was troubled for a while. After such a long time, he cried out in a quiet whisper.
“…Liteitia.”
“Liteitia? What does it mean?”
“It’s just like you.”
Meyer smiled indifferently. He seemed to like the meaning of his name very much.
I squinted at him.
“It doesn’t mean tyrant or anything, does it?”
“Absolutely not.”
Meyer held back his laughter and shook his head.
Well, I can’t help but believe it.
I liked the tone more than anything else. Jun Carentia, Jun Liteitia.. I took turns rolling names on the tip of my tongue.
“Jun Liteitia… Alright, I like it.”
I smiled broadly and nodded. Meyer was also relieved, sweeping his chest.
“I’m glad you like it.”
“So what does it mean.”
“…I’m afraid to tell you.”
Meyer scratched his chin.
He is not one to joke around with other people’s names, but I had to make sure to ask him before leaving it as a document because that man’s true intentions were a joke..
The second tyranny situation was absolutely specious. Like a lie, what he felt awkward just now, Meyer expressed his meaning with a rather proud air.
“Joy, rapture, beauty, abundance, fertility… These are words I’ve collected from the most precious and valuable things in this world.”
“… isn’t it too excessive?”
It was farther than I thought, so I asked back in a good way.
Meyer shook his head firmly.
“You’re overflowing with that name.”
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