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Noah, finally free from my grip, slumped to the ground. Given how hard I had bitten his leg, it was no surprise that he was struggling. His lips quivered with anger as he glared at me, but soon his face contorted, and he began wailing at the top of his lungs.

“Waaaah!” His cries echoed through the entire mansion.

‘Yeah, it must hurt,’ I thought to myself.

Despite his arrogant demeanor, Noah was only an eight-year-old child. And to top it off, he was a pampered young master who had been coddled his whole life. ‘He’s probably only ever had a verbal spat or maybe pulled someone’s hair,’ I mused. 

A brawl like this, the kind of fight that street kids from the slums would get into, was something he had likely never experienced. In fights like these, the one who cries first is usually the loser. Sensing victory, I looked at the crying Noah with satisfaction. 

That’s what you get for resorting to violence. I could tolerate some arrogance, but crossing the line deserved a clear lesson. Only then would he learn what lines shouldn’t be crossed.

“Miss! Are your teeth okay? You didn’t hurt them, did you?” Lily asked frantically.

“Yes,” I replied confidently, nodding with a grin. I felt proud, thinking I had properly repaid Lily for all the care she had shown me. After all, I’m not the kind of person who forgets either grudges or kindness.

“Oh my goodness!” Unlike me, who was beaming with pride, Lily’s face had turned completely pale.

“Blood! There’s blood!” she gasped, staring at my mouth in horror.

‘Blood?’ Now that she mentioned it, there was a slight metallic taste in my mouth. I touched my lips and saw that they were stained with blood. It seemed my lip had gotten split during the scuffle with Noah.

“Fetch the physician! Hurry!” Lily shouted urgently, and Rose and Daisy dashed out of the room.

* * *

Sniffle. Sniffle.

Noah and I sat side by side, receiving treatment from the Elpinard family’s physician. I had my split lip treated and bandaged, while Noah had his pants leg rolled up as the physician wrapped a bandage around his bitten leg. 

Even Eugene, who had fallen asleep on the sofa, had woken up due to the commotion and was now sitting quietly, watching everything with wide eyes.

“Sorry. Did we wake you up?” I apologized, but Eugene shook his head vigorously. 

Noah, still in disbelief, stared at me, astonished that the same girl who had attacked him like a wild dog was now being so gentle with Eugene.

“Why do you act like a dog only with me?” he asked, still flabbergasted.

“Because you acted like one first,” I retorted.

“What? When did I ever—!” Noah shouted, his voice rising in indignation.

I ignored him completely and moved closer to Eugene. “I told you this place isn’t scary…” I said softly. 

Given that Eugene had been woken up by the noisy fight, it wouldn’t be surprising if the bit of trust he’d started to build was shaken again.

I looked around, trying to find something that might help ease Eugene’s nervousness, and then I spotted a stack of fairy tale books on the side table. The maids often read these to me at bedtime to help me fall asleep.

‘Maybe he’d like these since he’s just a kid.’

I gathered up the books and offered them to Eugene. “You can have all of these. A place with fairy tales isn’t scary, right?”

Eugene blinked at the books I held out to him, staring at them for a moment.

“You don’t want them?”

“N-no, I’ll take them!” he quickly replied, grabbing the books and hugging them to his chest.

“But…” Eugene hesitated, his shoulders hunched as he cautiously pointed at the table.

“That book…”

“Huh? That one?”

He was pointing at one of my study books from the Ivory Tower. It was filled with the kind of complex and brutal content that had been torturing my immature brain daily—definitely not the sort of thing a child should be reading.

‘Well, even though he’s only here temporarily, Eugene is technically a student of the Ivory Tower now.’

He’d probably have to deal with it eventually, so I brought the book over to him with some effort. “This is a textbook from the Ivory Tower.”

“Ivory Tower…” Eugene murmured, holding the fairy tales in one arm while flipping through the textbook with the other. The speed at which he turned the pages was astonishing. In no time at all, he had reached the last page. Looking puzzled, Eugene remarked, “It explains how to solve transformation equations using the Aberzant-Theres theorem. I’ve never seen it summarized in a book before.”

“Wha…?”

I stared at him, wide-eyed, as the words flowed effortlessly from his mouth. I wasn’t the only one surprised; Noah, the physician treating him, and the maids surrounding us all had similarly stunned expressions.

“D-did you really understand all of that?” I asked, shoving the book back under his nose.

Eugene blinked in confusion, clearly not understanding why I was reacting this way, and then his shoulders hunched even more as if he thought he’d done something wrong. “If I made a mistake, I’m sorry…”

“No, that’s not it!” I quickly shook my head. “This is an incredibly difficult book. How do you know all this?”

“Um… I already… I once did a lot of miscellaneous calculations for a research institute, so…”

As everyone’s gaze focused on him, Eugene’s voice grew softer and softer. Thankfully, I could still catch what he was saying.

‘Miscellaneous calculations? No way…’

The book explained the formulas devised by various eminent scholars to interpret the prophecies stored by the Elpinard family. Such high-level equations would never be used for simple calculations.

While everyone was still reeling from the shock, a commotion erupted at the entrance to the Sapphire Room.

“What’s going on here? I heard a physician was summoned to this area.”

The Duke of Elpinard had arrived.

* * *

Noah and I found ourselves sitting side by side once again. The only difference was that the person sitting before us had changed from the physician to the Duke of Elpinard.

The atmosphere had completely changed from just a moment ago.

“One has a split lip, and the other’s leg is in a mess,” the Duke said coldly, glaring at both Noah and me.

Under his terrifying gaze, Reshia’s timid heart began pounding wildly. 

“Explain what happened,” the Duke demanded, his eyes full of reproach. I squeezed my eyes shut and raised my hand high.

‘Right, if looking at him is too scary, then I’ll just talk with my eyes closed!’

Even I thought this was a creative solution. Before the courage I had mustered could dissolve, I started talking rapidly.

“Noah said I don’t deserve the Sapphire Room. He told me to go back to the annex. But I told him that you gave me permission to stay here.”

“Th-that’s not—” Noah tried to interrupt, but I kept my eyes shut tight and continued speaking without pausing.

“You said I’m an Elpinard, that I should learn about our history, and that my name is correct. So Noah is wrong. Isn’t that right?”

‘Done!’ 

I opened my eyes quickly, only to find the Duke staring straight at me.

‘Eek!’ 

His sharp gaze made me feel like I was going to be split in half. The courage I had mustered vanished into thin air.

‘Good thing I closed my eyes…’

I made a mental note to always close my eyes when speaking to the Duke. As I stood there, sweating nervously, the Duke turned to Noah.

“Noah Elpinard. Did you really say that?”

“Well, that’s….” Noah hesitated, biting his lip. Tears welled up in his eyes.

“I’m a child of the Elpinard family. She—she’s not even blood-related, and she just suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Why does everyone listen to her and not care about me at all…?” 

Noah, who had been trying to speak maturely in front of the Duke, suddenly burst into tears as his emotions overwhelmed him.

“Waaah!”

The Duke, who seemed ready to scold him, now found himself at a loss for words, staring at his crying grandson.

‘So, to summarize what he’s saying…’

He’s upset because he wants to be treated like a baby, but suddenly a younger child has appeared, stealing the attention he craves.