#29. What If She Really Hates Us

What? Full of myself?

Partanie’s eyes, which had momentarily reached resignation and were about to give up everything, suddenly blazed with hatred toward her opponent.

“Yes, since you’re so full of yourself, I’ll do as you wish.”

Confirming the burning flame of life in those large, transparent eyes, Siyeref continued.

“But you’d better stop.”

Siyeref approached with long strides and twisted Partanie’s wrist.

“Ah!”

Clang, the butter knife fell from Partanie’s small hand.

Stepping on it as if crushing it under his foot, Siyeref muttered lowly.

“I’m telling you to keep within limits. Do you understand?”

“……Let go!”

“Answer me, Partanie.”

“Let go…… ugh!”

Siyeref didn’t ask twice.

Gripping Partanie’s chin with his large hand to make her meet his eyes, Siyeref spoke again.

“Answer.”

“……”

Partanie gritted her teeth.

Her eyes grew hot with tears of anger and humiliation at being forcibly oppressed by power.

However, having just regained consciousness, she had no way to resist Siyeref, who had inherited the inhuman strength characteristic of the Dragonia family.

Finally, Partanie slowly nodded. As her head tilted, tears dropped with a plop.

After watching the transparent tears fall for a moment, Siyeref slowly removed his hand.

He hadn’t particularly applied much force, but red marks remained on the young sister’s chubby cheeks.

“I’ll believe your words, Partanie.”

Siyeref, who had been quietly observing this, said in a low voice.

“I hope you won’t betray my trust.”

With those final words, Siyeref led the remaining Dragonias and servants out.

The closing door was silent.

* * *

“Do as she wishes.”

Taran, still shocked by the disinheritance request, growled as soon as they left the bedroom, slapping away his brother’s hand.

“What are you saying, are you crazy? Are you really going to disinherit her and throw her out?”

“Taran.”

“What kind of insane talk is that to a sick child who just came back from death……”

“Yes. It seems you know well that you shouldn’t talk nonsense to a sick child.”

Siyeref replied with a noticeably different, sneering voice than the one he had used with Partanie.

“So you knew, yet you still acted like a jerk. Very commendable. Thanks to you, our sick youngest sister is likely to get even sicker from stress.”

“……”

Having effectively silenced Taran, Siyeref walked to the Grand Duke of Dragonia’s office, and the aide who recognized him relayed the message to the Grand Duke and opened the door.

Entering naturally, Siyeref reported everything that had happened with Partanie after the Grand Duke had left.

The Grand Duke’s face, which had been as emotionless as stone, turned cold when Siyeref reached the part about saying “I’ll do as you wish.”

“Explain.”

Ever since the word ‘disinheritance’ had left Partanie’s mouth, the Grand Duke’s expression had been extremely cold.

There weren’t many topics that could provoke such a strong reaction from the Grand Duke of Dragonia, who was indifferent to everyone.

‘Except for the previous Grand Duke and Lady Partilova……’

Siyeref’s eyes wavered for a moment.

“……Partanie is a child who just woke up from illness.”

But his handsome face remained calm, and his characteristically dry voice stayed composed.

“I simply judged that for the patient’s stability, the matter needed to be resolved at an appropriate point.”

“So are you saying we should actually send her away as the child demanded?”

“No. But shouldn’t we at least make sure she doesn’t want to die?”

“……”

“And it’s not even time to discuss disinheritance yet, is it? Partanie’s body doesn’t seem to have properly recovered, and that alone will take a long time.”

The implication was to wait until she recovered first, and then discuss matters gradually.

“……Yes, her recovery is the priority for now.”

The Grand Duke of Dragonia exhaled deeply.

His handsome face, which seemed too youthful to have three grown sons, appeared haggard as if suddenly struck by the passage of time.

Perhaps because of everything that had happened?

Siyeref noticed that although his father was pretending to be calm to avoid showing weakness as the Grand Duke of Dragonia, he was actually not in good condition.

‘Why?’

It was strange. As far as Siyeref knew of the Grand Duke’s schedule, there should have been nothing to deteriorate his father’s health.

Though curious, Siyeref tactfully kept quiet and withdrew……

“Taran.”

As soon as he left the Grand Duke’s office, he encountered Taran.

“What is it?”

“……”

Taran, whose mood had worsened after being denied permission to enter the office, leaned against the wall and stared at Siyeref.

His brother, who always solved any situation easily, befitting the perfect heir to the Dragonia family.

‘It would be a lie to say I’ve never envied that image.’

When he was young and naive, he had once harbored ambitions of becoming the master of this great Dragonia.

But Taran instinctively recognized.

That it wasn’t his path.

And as he grew, he became even less interested as he realized it was a position with only bothersome responsibilities and obligations.

Perhaps that’s why.

“Brother.”

As if it didn’t matter if there was no answer, Taran suddenly spoke up as Siyeref glanced at him and was about to turn away.

“What if…… she, what if our youngest really hates us so much…… that she truly wants to leave? What do we do then?”

Taran’s voice, which was always relaxed and languid, living however he pleased regardless of circumstances, now trembled with a deep-seated anxiety.

In fact, Siyeref’s words weren’t wrong.

Among all the descendants of the Dragonia Grand Duchy throughout history, none had died from cold.

Of course, they knew their youngest sister, Partanie, had a weak body.

But they only “knew” it.

They only recognized that she was weak “compared to them,” without properly understanding just how fragile she really was.

Moreover, while Penelope had a greedy nature, she had never crossed the line until now.

So, this was the first time she had truly tried to kill Partanie.

Currently, the Blue Brick Castle lacked a mistress who could properly manage internal affairs and hierarchy.

As a result, everyone had turned a blind eye to matters that didn’t cross the line too severely.

In short, Partanie’s situation arose from the negligence everyone had been practicing and was everyone’s fault.

‘That’s why Partanie wants to leave us, leave Dragonia.’

That’s how Taran understood the sudden “disinheritance request.”

Unconsciously, Taran also recognized that there must have been worse things. That this incident alone wasn’t what had caused Partanie to despair and break down.

But in reality, Taran was treating all of that as a nightmare.

Someone once said that people see the world as they want to see it and accept what they want to accept.

True to those words, Taran was only acknowledging as much wrongdoing as he could “accept.”

‘It’s my fault for not paying attention when I knew Penelope was being cruel.’

Taran’s self-blame stopped right there.

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

“……”

At Siyeref’s sneer, Taran’s face immediately twisted.

He might be shocked by what happened to their youngest sister, Partanie, but he was originally a bad-tempered person, called the Mad Dog for his temperament.

“Nonsense?”

“Taran Dragonia.”

Seeing Taran’s tone already returning to one of picking a fight, Siyeref sighed.

“Think a bit. If Partanie really gets disinher—”

“Who the f*ck decides that!”

“—ited, let’s say.”

When Taran, whose anger couldn’t be controlled even in front of the strong, cursed in an outburst, Siyeref simply pressed down on his brother’s head.

“Urgh……!”

As the hand wearing a black glove pressed down on Taran’s blue-green curly hair, a fierce light flashed in Siyeref’s icy blue eyes.

The special power, ability, inherited only by descendants of the Dragonia family.

Both Kalenso and Taran had their own abilities.

But Siyeref’s ability was…….

“……F*ck, stop it!”

The temperature in the space dropped dramatically.

Feeling as if his head was freezing while still alive, Taran attacked his brother’s grip with sharply raised fingernails, like a beast in excruciating pain.

More like those of a demonic beast than a human, the black and hard fingernails were surrounded by a strange and ominous energy like poison.

Lightly avoiding him and removing his hand, Siyeref muttered lowly.

“You’re the one who needs to stop, Taran. How dare you curse in front of your brother?”

You son of a bitch.

With a low, dry voice dripping with coldness, he kicked Taran in the stomach.

Thud!

“—Ugh!”

Unable to dodge in time, Taran slumped against the wall.

Siyeref slightly raised his eyebrow.

Traditionally, brothers would beat up their younger siblings, fight and establish hierarchy as a matter of course.

So Siyeref was slightly puzzled.

Even so, Taran shouldn’t be at a level where he’d be helplessly beaten like this.

“Cough, hack……!”

Only then did Siyeref notice Taran’s burst blood vessels, red eyes, gaunt complexion, and terribly cracked lips, and clicked his tongue.

‘What an idiot.’

It seemed he hadn’t properly slept or eaten until their youngest sister, Partanie, woke up.