Stone Thrown into the Lake - Chapter 5

Huge thanks to Kuroneko for the kofi! (1/5) ^_^

***

There was an odd expression on everyone’s face around her. Even the old butler standing in the distance had that peculiar expression. Everyone here took it for granted and it was not a big of an issue when the maid addressed Duran as ‘he’. They all treated him that way.

Everyone has a strange expression on their faces, as if they had never thought that Yvor would take Duran’s side.

She asked hopefully, “What about Dew’s meal?”

And then again…

There was another maid who looked confused and perplexed.

Yvor realized that the maids had not properly cared for Dew’s meals for three days. Maybe Dew isn’t here right now, not because he didn’t want to be, but because no one had gone to call him.

She was strangely relieved, but also angry. Come to think of it, she remembered that at this point in the past, the butler had always called Duran a ‘guest’.

What kind of rule is it to call the lord’s immediate family a ‘guest’?

‘You are a guest.’

In the kingdom, it was impossible for a guest to sit at the same table with the lord unless invited. She looked at her servants one by one. Her maids, whose faces she didn’t even remember, were looking at her with worried expressions. Everyone she made eye contact with was like that.

Yvor looked down in anger, but she felt like she was lying on her stomach and swallowed her words.

“Miss, are you okay?”

The maids exchanged worried glances because it wasn’t simply herself asking, but Lord Yvor. Her employees were worried about her, and cursed at her Duran. How could this be? They didn’t know Duran that well. A stone sat in her chest.

“Be sure to call him next time.”

She will sit at the same table with her dear brother and eat the same food. She thought, as she made a promise to herself.

Her maids exchanged puzzled glances with one another, but they did not disobey her. Seeing everyone bowing their heads, Yvor became frustrated again. She hardly felt like she could eat. If she took a sip of water, it would clog her throat. She got up from her seat.

No matter how frightened she was, she had to see Duran. When she got up and headed to the door, her maids followed her.

“Miss.”

One of her maids called her. When Yvor turned around, the maid could not speak properly and bit her lip. In Serium Castle, it was impossible for the maid to speak to the lord first. The maid just stamped her feet.

“Mrs. Harris will be here soon.”

Mrs. Harris was Yvor Adela’s main tutor. She took care of the whole routine of an 18-year-old young lady. From early morning to late at night, Yvor Adela was constantly being educated. The only free time that Yvor had was when she was ruling the land and castle as the lord of Serium.

“Miss…”

Her maid called her back. As expected, it was a call that could not be ignored, and Yvor noticed the reason. RIght now she was not a queen, whose daily life was at her disposal, but a young paragon and lady.

She recalled her own daily life in the past. She would have had to go to her class right after she had breakfast. Even though Duran had come down to the Serium Castle, her class hours had not changed. She couldn’t even learn with Duran.

Why?

Perhaps it was because Mrs. Harris opposed it.

Yvor slowly rekindled her memories. Her tutor, Mrs. Harris said she could not take classes together because Duran and their ages were too different and what she would learn was different.

Yvor Adela never thought of refuting her opinion, but now she did.

“…Tell Mrs. Harris that Duran is joining me.”

She ordered her maid very simply.

She had to see her brother.

Realizing that her servant’s treatment towards Duran could be horrendous and extremely harsh because of her father’s affairs, she grabbed several people and asked a few questions. As a result, it was clear what she found out.

Regardless of his status, her servants were either subconsciously or consciously hostile to him. Most of their reasons were the same, it was for Yvor.

Yvor Adela couldn’t understand. It can’t be for her. From the moment she saw Duran for the first time, she hadn’t had a moment where she didn’t love him.

He was her beloved brother. If family means something emotional, not just blood, he was her family. Unlike her father, who didn’t write a letter other than to say he was sending a tutor; or her mother, who abandoned her and lived with her lover in Avonbury. That was her family.

‘But why don’t they know?’

It’s understandable if her servants didn’t care about her at all. In fact, in the past, she thought they neither liked her nor hated her. For her, the relationship she shared with Duran was the only relationship that was meaningful to her, so she didn’t even care about them.

‘But what do they see now?’

Most of them are loyal enough to her. Some of them, including her maid Lucy, or the butler who she saw in the morning, even seemed to care about her to an extent that she was puzzled how they could.

‘But why?’

That’s because they don’t know each other. Just as Yvor did not know them, so did they not know her. Actually, it was only natural. She didn’t speak and they didn’t talk, so she couldn’t tell. Yvor unilaterally ordered and received only unilateral reports.

This Yvor Adela learned from her parents about treating people as inanimate objects. That was her whole relationship with others.

A smart student, Yvor did what she was taught. She regarded everyone as inanimate objects, just like her parents did to her. She just wanted them to be in their place, as she was in her place for her parents, and she didn’t expect or wish for anything.

To her, they were like furniture in her house.

To Yvor, they were just the most luxurious ornaments in the castle.

Isn’t it strange that furniture and ornaments like or dislike each other?

In the past, she thought so. So they didn’t know her, as much as she didn’t know or even cared about their feelings.

She didn’t even realize that her whole life had been like that, but Yvor eventually felt that lack of communication. Not only in her relationship with Duran, but also with everyone else in her life.

In fact, even at this moment, she was feeling it. While looking for her brother Duran, her tired gardener met her and smiled softly as soon as he saw her. He bowed and hid the scissors, which had been used to slash the plants behind him, lest he might surprise her.

“….”

There was no greeting between them. Yvor did not know his name, but she did not greet the gardener who always trimmed the garden. She did not know how to greet others warmly. Even at the age of 18, or even now after living 12 more years of living. The young miss of the castle bit her tongue, and the servant couldn’t open his mouth either.

This Yvor Adela was silent for a moment and she eventually asked what she wanted to know.

“Where is Dew?”

“Pardon?”

“I asked where my brother is.”

The gardener made a very subtle surprised expression. She realized again that she had never called him Dew in front of anyone else.

As Duran had scoffed at her, he probably didn’t even know she had ever called him that in letters.

[T/N: Makes sense why Duran was surprised when Yvor called him ‘Dew’ in the prison.]

“…Would you like to go to the annex?”The gardener answered.

She vaguely knew it wasn’t Duran’s desire to stay there. She hadn’t pointed it out because it had gone that way in the past, but it was actually strange that Duran was staying in an annex. There are many rooms in the castle, so why is he living there?

Her family didn’t give Duran the annex building, he was locked away there. Yvor took her stuffy heart and headed to the annex.

Serium Castle was unique for a poor castle, because it was not so far from the outbuildings and nature. As she passed the gardens, manicured by the gardener, she quickly saw the outbuildings.

And, her brother.

“…Duran…”

Having found Duran, Yvor stood still on the spot. She saw him as a young fifteen-year-old. He still had gray blond hair and grape-colored eyes.

And that face, so much younger than the one in her memory.

Yvor tried to recall the expression on his face, but all she remembered was a distorted, pained expression. A look on his face showed that he hated her. His face was full of loathing when he said she had made him unhappy his whole life.

Her feet didn’t move at all.

She couldn’t even call out his name.

She was scared.

Yvor was terrified and afraid.

It was a feeling she had never felt before. Because she always believed that if she loved her younger brother, other people would love him too. Her one and only family loves her, what is she afraid of?

In her past, she firmly believed that he knew his sister loved him, and he would love her in return. She had nothing to fear in the whole world.

It was a stupid and happy time.

Yvor, who had lost all those days, even muffled the sound of her breathing.

‘What if that kid hates me?’

‘What if he doesn’t love me?’

‘What if he says he has never ever loved me?’

But her fear evaporated like a drop of water thrown into the fire the moment she saw Duran, still small and young, faltering at the man standing next to him.

[Editor: He’s fifteen, that’s really not that young… ]

There were three men and two women surrounding Duran, who was only fifteen years old and much smaller than she remembered. At first, she thought they were serving Duran, and he was truly living a carefree life.

“Hey, what are you surprised about?” said the man. The maid who was with him smiled mischievously and another man sneered.

“I don’t know, did you have a good breakfast? Why don’t you just do your own work, who just expects food without doing anything?”

***