It seemed as if, as soon as he heard the news that she had woken up, he came running to her.

Unlike Mikhail, Roen was difficult to read. Aileen was never sure what’s going on in his mind, and so to her, he was a bit burdensome to face.

“Yes, my recovery is thanks to your concern.”

“I’m glad you’re safe.”

Holding a bouquet of pale pink flowers in his hand, the young man had a gentle smile upon his lips as he entered the room.

“Let’s see. It doesn’t seem like you have a fever… But your face has become quite gaunt in the meantime.”

“No, I’m really alright.”

“Yes. If you say so, then you really do seem alright.”

Roen’s smile was directed at Aileen, who likewise had a soft smile for him.

“Umm, the culprit…”

“Ah, I’m afraid the culprit hasn’t been caught yet. I believe that Father is trying to be careful about this matter.”

“I heard someone say that Sister did it. By any chance…”

“That’s impossible. As she is confined to the annex, Violet’s alibi has some strength to it.”

“Hiic, but you can never know for sure. When I visited her last time too, towards me, she…”

As she trailed off, her faint voice echoed in the room. Roen slowly patted Aileen’s hair.

“Hmm…”

“A-As expected, it’s not her. No matter how much Sister hates me, she won’t go as far as poisoning me, right?”

Roen’s green eyes briefly observed Aileen.

And Aileen, who looked and seemed innocent, shook her head slowly as she said that.

“Aileen.”

“Yes, Brother.”

“If you truly conducted yourself in a proper manner, would anyone raise a hand against you?”

“H-Huh?”

“There’s always a reason for everything. So if, say, Violet really poisoned you, wouldn’t there be a reason for it?”

“Brother?”

Her flustered voice resounded throughout the spacious room. But regardless of her reaction, Roen continued to smile as he always did.

“Of course, Violet didn’t actually poison anyone, so it’s a useless hypothesis.”

“……”

Unable to hide how flustered she was, Aileen’s trembling eyes remained on Roen.

But compared to her, Roen was much better at managing his expressions. Still as ever, he looked at her with a tender gaze.

“Then, Brother, what should I do?”

Aileen quickly schooled her features and asked with a melancholy tone.

“Because Sister has hated me ever since the first day we met… I don’t know what to do.”

“If you think it through just a little, Aileen, then you’ll know the answer.”

Roen patted Aileen’s head slowly.

“Didn’t Violet tell you why? And everyday, for that matter. You have to conduct yourself properly.”

“……”

“My poor younger sister. What should I do with you when you’re being so naïve… Shall I tell you how you can get along with Violet?”

“Brother Roen…?”

“That child always said the same thing, didn’t she? So, if you want to be on better terms with Violet, just listen to what she says and follow through with your actions.”

If she told you not to come, then don’t. If she tells you not to covet her belongings, then don’t. Abide by what you have to abide by.

But the thing was, when it came to a normal relationship between two people, you shouldn’t have to enforce such bare minimum rules to keep things civil.

Roen bitterly laughed at his own thoughts.

Meanwhile, Aileen’s face began to turn deathly pale as she heard what he said.

“I’m glad you regained consciousness safely, Aileen.”

“……”

“Ah, and about the culprit who instigated the poisoning.”

Look at her, unable to hide her thoughts from her expression, yet she’s been controlling the ducal household all this time.

Roen clicked his tongue.

“The suspect has been singled out. And that person will be interrogated by the end of the day.”

“You can’t do that!”

Aileen cried out as Roen spoke. But despite the momentary outburst, she went rigid once more and she shook her head.

At this, Roen chuckled.

“My kind, good-natured younger sister.”

“Brother, Brother…”

“You’re even worried about the very person who tried to kill you, hm? It’s alright. This older brother of yours will take care of everything. So, just conduct yourself properly like a good little sister.”

Behave, alright?

The whispering voice that followed had a sly tone.

Aileen froze completely.

This baby fox, which was pretending to be a rabbit, could never beat a snake.

 

* * *

 

Regardless of how the world continued to spin around its axis, Violet’s daily life had not changed.

Violet drew and painted whenever she thought of wanting to. And, in what it seemed like a blink of an eye, her studio was instantly crammed with so many of her artwork.

Most of them were unfinished pieces, practice studies, or paintings that could no longer be salvaged.

Even so, Violet’s paintings were so bizarrely beguiling that Mary considered all of the unfinished paintings as masterful works of art. It was lamentable, really.

Besides that, the duke would occasionally urge Violet to send some paintings to him.

Violet could not understand her father’s tastes… even though it was her who made those art pieces, ironically enough.

If there’s one thing that changed in her daily life—which seemed to have changed so much, actually—was that she kept wondering the same thing.

Why was she being visited regularly by this unwanted guest?

 

---

 

[apr 8, 2023]

※ t/n: as scheduled, APV will have a short hiatus starting tomorrow <3 updates are supposed to come back on apr 17, but i’ll resume updates on apr 15 instead!

hope you guys have a wonderful week ahead~!