FMY 13

“Okay!”

“I agree!”

The alpha pheromones indicating the siblings’ good mood were bubbling up. Serge savored the pure alpha pheromones of his blood relatives, who had not yet gone through their second puberty and thus had not had their second presentation, and patted his younger siblings.

“I will be with you all day today. What is the next lesson? I would also like to see how much my twins enjoy their classes.”

The answer to that question came from Sir Renault, the private tutor, who was slowly emerging from the classroom behind the children.

“Next is the horseback riding lesson.”

“I’m really good at riding horses now!”

“Oppa, you have to watch me ride today. Watch and tell Father. Tell him how good I am!”

“Alright, alright.”

Serge smiled, watching his younger siblings chattering nonstop, each trying to speak first. His large hand gently stroked the children’s hair.

“The plan is to help them change clothes soon and then go out to the riding grounds, would you like to come with us?”

Come to think of it, the twins had recently started their riding lessons with a gentle pony of good lineage. Serge nodded and stroked his siblings’ heads.

“Yes. But I must stop by to see Father first. Kids, go get changed into your riding clothes and go out ahead with your teacher. I will follow you shortly. If you please, Sir Renault.”

“Leave it to me, my lord.”

Serge turned his steps toward the Duke’s office, leaving behind his younger siblings’ pleas for him to come quickly.

The way his hair was standing on end from the nightmare he had somehow felt like a bad omen. Serge quickened his pace.

‘I should have just followed the children earlier….’

He was on his way out of the Duke’s office after seeing only the faces of the aides who helped his father with his work.

He should have asked the head butler, who managed his father’s schedule, from the start…. No, he could have just grabbed one of the young butlers working under the head butler, who oversaw this large mansion, and asked them. They would have known for sure that their master, His Grace the Duke, had gone out. Only Serge, who had returned not long ago, was absentmindedly forgetting all his schedules and going around on a fool’s errand….

‘I need to keep my wits about me, for goodness’ sake.’

He was worried that he might get caught up in another incident if this continued.

This ominous feeling and suspicion were, in Serge’s own way, a reasonable guess.

‘Should I retrace my steps from the beginning?’

Of all days, he had to return on the very day Gabriel played his dirty tricks at the party. As if that pot-smashing incident and having to attend the Queen’s salon were not enough, there was also the second prince’s sudden proposal for a contract engagement…. Only events he did not want had been raging around him.

Because of that, he still felt like he had not adapted to this world he had returned to. It was because no one had given him the time to leisurely organize his thoughts and properly grasp the situation around him.

Serge shook his head slightly as if to shake off the confusion and hurried his steps toward the riding grounds. The twins were probably waiting for him anxiously, not even having mounted their horses yet.

“Huff, huff….”

But why is it so big…? He had previously thought of it as just a backyard, but maybe it was because he had come from living in the small country of South Korea. Serge walked, almost running, towards the mansion’s riding grounds, which did not seem to be getting any closer, and gasped for breath. It seemed that this nerdy body, which was only large in size and not very omega-like, was in urgent need of exercise.

Just as he passed the garden at the back of the mansion and reached the riding grounds.

As he rounded the corner past the stable, which was larger than that of any other family, an unwelcome voice first reached Serge’s ears.

“My goodness, such a fine horse….”

It was Gabriel’s voice.

‘What is this…?’

Serge instinctively froze and hid himself. It was a primal movement towards an enemy. Serge held his breath like a spy scouting an enemy camp.

“Father gave it to Yvonne. It’s from the Heston Empire….”

Julien said in a proud voice, but Gabriel cut in and interrupted him.

“I know, I also heard the Duke mention it during breakfast. So this is the purebred steed gifted from the Heatherfield family. It truly is a beautiful white horse, just as its reputation suggests….”

Serge also peeked his head out to examine the horse that was the center of their conversation. A sleek body, not overly large like a warhorse. A long, white mane so beautifully groomed it was dazzling. It was a very fine white horse that would look good on a young lady or a beautiful omega.

Had the private tutor gone to prepare the ponies for the children to ride? There was no tutor or groom there, only Gabriel and the young Lord Arthur, Julien, and Lady Yvonne. Exclamations of admiration were exchanged again among the three people surrounding the horse tied in front of the stable.

Then, what eventually came out of Gabriel, sharp and subtle, was a familiar voice of greed.

“Won’t you give this horse to me, Yvonne?”

Gabriel bent down, placed both his palms on his knees, and asked, making eye contact with the young Yvonne.

At that question, Lady Arthur showed a look of utter bewilderment. She could not immediately refuse or ignore Gabriel, who, though not as affectionate as her older brother, had still grown up with her in the same mansion. She met his eyes awkwardly and opened her mouth, stammering.

“Huh…? B-but Father gave this to me…?”

She was a kind child who had a hard time saying no to anyone.

“But isn’t it too big and excessive for you, Yvonne?”

Just then, the private tutor could be seen walking this way from a distance with a stable hand leading two ponies. Gabriel gestured towards the ponies with his eyes. Then he slowly tucked a stray lock of blond hair behind his ear and blinked his large eyes.

“A pony like that is a perfect fit for your small body, since you are still a child. Besides, you only just started riding not long ago.”

“But…!”

“Think about it. By the time you become a grown-up young lady and need to ride this horse, it will be old and miserably decrepit. It might even be sick and weak. Do you want this horse to be locked up in the stable without ever being able to run? Yvonne, I did not see you that way, you are so cruel? Were you a child with so little compassion for animals?”

The stable hand and the stable master would surely take care of the horse’s health, training, and care on their own…! Serge was becoming flabbergasted. That eloquent speech, subtly deceiving his soft-hearted younger sister and ultimately making her say that was not what she meant. It was the very definition of subtle gaslighting. The same as what he had done to Serge before….

“You should not be greedy for something that does not even suit you, Yvonne. I thought you were a good child, but it seems I misjudged you?”

“Huh…?”

“It would be better to give it to me instead. I am scheduled to enjoy a ride with His Highness the Crown Prince soon. You have seen His Highness the Crown Prince before, right? The future master of this country. Don’t you think this horse would look very fitting standing next to such a noble person? It would probably be an honor for this horse to run alongside him.”

Yvonne, pushed by Gabriel’s eloquent speech and assertive manner, was unknowingly nodding her head with a gloomy expression. To Serge’s ears, it was nothing but selfish bullshit that only considered himself, but the children were too young to grasp the dirty intentions hidden in Gabriel’s words.

“You know I am graduating soon. If you give me this horse, it will be a very wonderful gift for me as well. Thank you so much, Yvonne. It will shine so brightly when I ride alongside His Highness the Crown Prince.”

Who said they were giving it as a gift…? Look at him forcing it when the person who would give it has not even thought about it…? If this was not a scene of extortion, then what in the world was it. Fire was shooting from Serge’s eyes as he glared at the grand thief Gabriel, who would put Arsène Lupin to shame. That son of a thief, really…?!

“Yes. A good alpha should yield to an omega like this. If you keep this up, you will become a fine alpha. I look forward to your continued cooperation, Yvonne.”

He felt like he had just witnessed the pinnacle of gaslighting. Unable to bear it any longer, Serge revealed himself from his hiding spot.

“Stop.”

At the icy voice, from which it seemed like ice would drip, everyone turned their heads to look at Serge.

“Hyung!”

“Oppa, what took you so long…?”

Intense relief could be felt on the twin siblings’ faces. Although they had been unknowingly nodding, pushed by the extortionist’s rhetoric and assertiveness, it must have been disappointing and upsetting for even a child to give away such a fine and beautiful steed. Serge wrapped his arms around his younger siblings, sent them behind him, and stood squarely in front of Gabriel.

“Gabriel Loutel.”

A voice dripping with coldness, the perfect projection of an actor who could deliver lines to the very back of a large theater, and a precise pronunciation that anyone could not help but understand clearly. Gabriel, pushed by Serge’s stern expression, clear voice, and that frigid demeanor, unknowingly took a step back.

“I will not permit that matter.”

“What…?”

Serge did not explain further in front of Gabriel and turned his back. It was not even worth explaining one way or the other.

Serge ignored Gabriel and opened his mouth towards Sir Renault and the stable master, who had come closer, seeming to have noticed the commotion. The stable master was already tense due to Serge’s seemingly angry demeanor and the unusual atmosphere.

“Whose horse is this?”

“…It belongs to Lady Yvonne.”

Serge nodded at the stable master’s answer and continued in a loud voice.

“Yes, that is right. This horse was gifted from a prestigious family in the Heston Empire, and the Duke himself gave it to his daughter, Yvonne. As you also said, since it is a precious gift owned by Lady Arthur, I will absolutely not tolerate anyone other than Yvonne handling it. I will continue to keep an eye on it from now on.”

“…O-of course you must, young master. I will make sure to instruct even the lowliest of servants firmly.”

“Good.”

Serge, who had spoken for all to see, turned his body back to Gabriel.

Sparks were flying from the eyes of the two.

Gabriel, who had not only lost the fish he had all but caught but had also been caught trying to manipulate Yvonne, had his face flushed red, as if he felt humiliated.

“Go back to your room as you are, Gabriel.”

“…How dare you command me?! I am not someone you can command!”

“No. I am a person who is rightly able to command you, Gabriel Loutel. Until Julien comes of age, if Father is not present, I am the representative of the Arthur family. So stay away from my younger siblings and return to your room at once. If you wish to discuss today’s events in a three-way meeting with Father and me, you may stay longer.”

It was a threat that seemed to freeze the air.

Gabriel, who had never imagined that Serge would come at him so strongly, turned his head sharply with a flushed face. Then he huffed and puffed and walked away from them.

Serge sighed as he watched Gabriel stomp away like that.

He had intended to subtly deceive him with acting and mess with him in various ways, but to show his true colors so quickly. He had revealed his changed self in front of Gabriel far too soon. It was because he could not bear to see him subtly deceiving and manipulating his younger siblings.

‘The plan to act like my weak old self and mess with him is unusable now.’

Serge watched his siblings mount the ponies with the help of the private tutor and tapped the dusty ground of the riding ring with the tip of his shoe.

‘I will have to change my approach.’

Serge’s eyes glinted sharply as he stroked the area around his chin.

It was a shame, as he preferred to backstab while being sweet.

But if it was his younger siblings that he had touched and gaslighted, then such preferences were not a waste to throw into the trash can.

‘It was not enough with me, so now my younger siblings….’

In his past life, he had been the biggest victim of Gabriel’s gaslighting, so he had been in an extremely withdrawn state, and his perspective on the world and people had narrowed, so he had not realized that it was affecting his younger siblings like this.

Thinking about it calmly now, it was probably worse back then, never less. Serge recalled the vicious Gabriel from his past life, who had pushed him aside and stood by the Crown Prince’s side.

No, to be precise, as soon as he had been confined under the pretext of recuperating after falling for Gabriel’s tricks, the news about his younger siblings being sent to a remote boarding school in another country under the name of studying abroad…. How heartbroken he had been when he heard that news.

That too must have been one of Gabriel’s schemes to properly get the ducal family of Arthur in his grasp.

‘This is absurd.’

It was one thing if it was him, but he could not let him keep hovering around his innocent younger siblings. He had to get Gabriel out of this mansion as soon as possible.

Serge waved his hand, watching Julien and Yvonne riding their ponies and smiling brightly.

‘I must join hands with Raphael.’

It was the moment he decided on the contract engagement.