Chapter 81

On the evening Lilibet decided to spend two days at a villa with her friends, the three brothers held their first meeting since coming to Sierra.

“First, I think we need to deal with our sister’s old school friends.”

As soon as Lilibet returned to Sierra, she started meeting her childhood friends, many of whom were men.

Female friends were always welcome, but the boys often had ulterior motives.

They were not only attracted to the beautifully grown Lilibet but also sought to approach Edward, the successful businessman, and Daniel, the Tower’s first-class wizard, through her.

Soon, there were those who saw Lilibet, who had suffered after their parents’ early death, as an easy target to manipulate.

“That Wade Vickers guy has been loitering around the café our sister frequents, trying to get close to you, big brother.”

“Did you just let that happen, second brother?”

“I cast an invisibility spell so he couldn’t recognize her.”

“That’s it? If it were me, I would have knocked him out and left him in a field.”

“Are you a thug or a student? Do people at your school know the student president is a muscle-brained idiot?”

“What? Did you just finish talking?”

As Daniel and Leo started bickering, Edward waved his hand to settle the situation.

“Daniel, that redhead you dealt with last time, he seems to talk a lot. He didn’t say anything that would reach our sister’s ears, did he?”

“Ah, Ravi, the one rumored to be involved with a married woman? The moment he tries to speak, I’ve arranged for his family’s business to go under. If he doesn’t want to end up a beggar, he’ll watch his mouth.”

“Well done. Always be careful so no word slips out.”

“Leo, who is our sister dating these days?”

Leo spent more time with Lilibet than his older brothers, so he knew her well.

He was always wandering around the neighborhood, so he often saw Lilibet when she was out.

Naturally, it became Leo’s role to gather information on the men Lilibet was meeting recently.

“It’s Austin Doyle. His family’s fine, and he has a good personality, but his younger brother is in my class and he’s a thug who steals money from kids, so no.”

Leo often challenged his second brother, Daniel, and even threw punches, but outside the house, he never used force recklessly.

As the youngest to become a sword master, he knew very well how dangerous his strength could be.

That didn’t mean he would stand idly by when men tried to exploit his sister.

The guy who got drunk at a pub and wouldn’t let go of Lilibet ended up stripped naked and hung upside down at the outskirts of a church.

“But I think Austin Doyle is really just a friend. There’s this girl Clara, one of his friends, and the three of them, including our sister, always meet together. It even seems like our sister wants to set him up with Clara.”

“Then we should keep an eye on Austin Doyle for a bit longer.”

“But, you know… our sister wants to get married. Is this really okay?”

Unlike Edward, who grew up in the countryside, and Leo, whose memories of their parents were faint, Daniel understood well how close their parents were, so he understood why Lilibet wanted to get married.

That’s why sometimes, just sometimes, when he dealt with troublesome men behind the scenes, he was worried if he was doing something wrong to his sister.

“Daniel, my business is going to keep growing, and you’re advancing in the Magic Tower.”

It was true. As the current Tower Master grew older and decided to retire, a wave of reform, led by Mr. Bernstein, swept through the tower.

And they had marked Daniel as the successor.

He was still young, but in a year he would be an adult, and his abilities already far exceeded those of an average mid-level wizard.

“It’s better to take care of things now than to have trouble later from strange men. Our sister will also suffer less that way.”

“Second brother, are you living in a fantasy? Do you not realize how harsh the world is to leave ‘any man’ around our sister?”

“Fantasy? Hey, are you done talking?”

Leo waved his hand, indicating he didn’t want to argue any further. There was something more important to him than fighting with Daniel.

“But, big brother, there’s something I’ve found out recently.”

Edward’s eyebrows rose. Leo continued speaking leisurely.

“About your wine company and that Lemmore Company you merged with recently. I thought it was just a regular trading company, but it turns out it used to be run by a mafia that operated casinos?”

“Where did you hear that?”

“You don’t need to know that. But is it true that Dom Blinders, a company from the underworld, is also yours?”

Leo’s words changed the atmosphere.

Leo, who was still growing and in his adolescence, suddenly lowered his voice, and his gaze began to mature, much like his older brothers.

He would have childish arguments with Daniel and tease his sister every day, but that was only at home.

In reality, Leo was more like Edward, bold and straightforward, rather than sensitive like Daniel.

“Second brother knows, but you’re keeping it a secret from me, aren’t you?”

Leo and Edward’s eyes met.

Despite Edward becoming a symbol of fear to others outside, Leo’s gaze showed no sign of wavering.

“If you think I don’t know just because I’m young, you’re mistaken.”

“What do you want?”

Of course, the price of this deal was that nothing should be revealed to Lilibet.

Edward crossed his arms and waited for his brother to state his terms.

He expected something like a check worth billions or expensive items, but Leo’s demand was surprisingly different.

“Just make sure you don’t get caught by our sister. If she finds out, she’ll definitely faint.”

“Is there really nothing you want?”

“Second brother kept it secret, and how much did he get? He didn’t get anything, right?”

“Yeah, he didn’t get anything.”

“Then I won’t take anything either. If second brother didn’t get anything, what would that make me if I took something? It’s not like I asked for anything anyway. If you really want to give me something, you could just give me some allowance.”

Edward chuckled softly. Whether it was because Leo was still young or because he wasn’t trying to be cunning around family, Edward found Leo’s choice quite endearing.

It was obvious that any allowance given to Leo would be spent entirely on snacks, rather than anything else.

Leo would often eat more than the combined portions of the rest of the family, and he did that five times a day.

Edward took out his wallet and handed over a wad of bills.

“Let me know if you need more.”

“No, this will be enough for three months of good eating.”

“You muscle pig.”

“And you’re just a scrawny scarecrow, second brother. But, are you handling that lordling guy properly?”

A year after leaving the capital, while living in Yerta, letters started arriving from Duke Alzenberg.

Fortunately, Leo, who had skipped school and was at home while Lilibet was at work, discovered the letters.

After that, the brothers took turns intercepting the letters sent to Lilibet and even confused the sender by making it seem like she didn’t live at her residence.

They also neatly handled the note Lilibet left for the lordling, saying she was moving to Sierra.

They even spread false information, claiming she had moved to another region instead of Sierra.

Despite that, Lord Timoteo, now Duke Alzenberg, persistently tracked Lilibet.

However, they had no intention of letting Timoteo meet Lilibet.

There was nothing good that could come from a high-ranking noble of the empire like him being involved with a citizen like Lilibet. Moreover, from what Lilibet had mentioned, he had a rather troublesome family history.

The brothers, who wanted only comfort for Lilibet after all the hardship she had endured since childhood, couldn’t tolerate someone like him.

Their sister had to meet a perfect man who grew up in a better environment.

“He believes she’s moved to the Kingdom of Grohinen now. I’ve confirmed that he’s even sent people there, so don’t worry.”

Daniel, looking tired, spoke up in response to Edward’s answer.

“He came to the Magic Tower recently. It seemed like he wanted to ask me directly where our sister was.”

“Did you meet him?”

“Of course not. I made him wait for ten days, and then he left on his own. Haven’t you heard from him, big brother?”

“He keeps sending me letters. I’ve burned them all.”

“It’s good to see you’re handling it well, brothers. I have rowing practice with the boys, so I’ll head out now. Anything else we need to discuss?”

Seeing that his brothers were effectively thwarting Duke Alzenberg, Leo left, saying he was going out for fun.

Daniel disappeared, saying he was headed back to the Magic Tower, while Edward went off to his office to handle his work.

The brothers didn’t really have a reason to gather unless Lilibet was around or the discussion was about her.

At that moment, Lilibet, the topic of their conversation, was lost in thought while watching the shimmering waves by a lake near the villa with her friends.

***

‘Why on earth am I not receiving any letters?’

After coming to Sierra, I was too busy catching up with friends to think about it, but once I got used to the new environment, the thought of the letters came back to me.

‘Nothing serious must have happened. He must have just forgotten about me.’

It’s likely that now he has many friends and no longer feels the need to cling to someone of a lower status like me.

Maybe he’s engaged or married and focused on his family now.

‘In the empire, people marry younger than in Sierra, so it’s possible.’

If there hasn’t been any contact after three years, the reason is obvious, and there’s no need to keep waiting foolishly.

So now, I’ll stop thinking about this and focus on my life instead.

That’s why I came to the villa today with my friends.

When my friends found out I’d been waiting for a letter for three years, they set up this gathering, telling me it was better to forget such a cold-hearted friend and move on with a new life.

“Elizabeth, are you thinking about that again?”

“Oh, no. I was just thinking it would’ve been nice if my younger siblings had come too.”

“How are you still so attached to your siblings even after growing up?”

“Sylvie, you haven’t seen Elizabeth’s younger siblings, have you? The youngest has grown up so much! He’s already fifteen!”

“What? The little kid who used to follow her around calling ‘sis’ all the time?”

“Last time I visited her house, Edward had grown into such a handsome guy. And Daniel? He’s like a flower boy. It’s obvious she can’t date properly because of them. It’d be weird if her standards didn’t go up.”

“Olivia, as I’ve told you many times, there were reasons, and we mutually agreed not to meet. Let’s just go eat some barbecue already.”

I nudged my friends and steered them towards the food, trying to avoid the topic of my strangely tangled love life.

I decided to toss all thoughts of the lordling into the lake. But as I watched the shimmering water, a tightness seemed to press against my chest.

The time I spent with the lordling at the Alzenberg duchy had become unforgettable memories. His blue eyes gazing at me and the sound of his voice calling my name were still vivid.

Could I really forget him? Will that day ever come?

I don’t know if that’s possible… but I trust that time will bring the solution.

And so, another two years passed.