I Shall Master This Family's
86

Chapter 86

I muttered and smashed the cookie crumbs with the tip of my finger.

"Bast jerk man..."

"Coughs!"

Perez, who heard me talking to myself, coughed beside me.

I met Perez after a long time and came to the Palace to play my part.

But it wasn't at Poirak Palace that I met Perez.

It is the garden of the Central Palace, which is open to all visitors.

I have committed no crime, and there is no reason to be trapped in Poirak Palace all the time.

Caitlyn and Kylus arrange tables and chairs in the best sunny spot near the fountain.

This time again, the cake I bought from 'Caramel Avenue' was placed on a beautiful plate.

But now I don't want to eat cake.

I stared at the piece of bread again and flicked it away with the tip of my finger.

"... Tia?"

Perez called me with a slightly confused expression on his face, but I didn't answer.

Thanks to Vestian, I seemed to create distrust in men.

"Well...."

Perez looked at me in low pressure for a moment and suddenly looked around.

Then he got up from his seat, walked some distance to the flowerbed, and picked up a lot of flowers.

It was a flower with small white petals that gently bloomed like a round bouquet.

He put it in my hand.

He's very kind.

Perez looked me in the eye up close.

I sighed softly and kissed the flowers half-and-half.

The sweet but long-lasting fragrance of the flowers on the tip of my nose seemed to calm my heart a little.

"Thank you, Perez."

"Do you feel better now?"

I feel a little sorry.

I feel like I shouldn't have vented it on Perez.

I explained in shame.

"I wasn't mad at you from the start."

"I know."

"Then why did you give me flowers?"

"If sweet things don't work out, I wonder if a flower that looks good will make you feel better."

"Ah."

"The likes flowers."

Well, that's true.

It's kind of weird because Perez seems to be reading my mind.

Especially when those red eyes looked at me, I thought they would reveal all my secrets.

It makes me feel weird again.

I took a sip of milk, slipping away from her gaze.

Then I looked with my eyes, Perez fluttering the grass on his clothes while picking flowers, and Caitlyn, who was standing next to him, helped.

Some say that 16 years is a time when someone experiences a period of upheaval and looks ugly.

Far from it, Perez is getting handsome.

Even now, while he was rubbing his clothes, his slender, sculptured-like nose and jaw continued to attract people's attention without even realizing it.

Looking at him, I said half impulsively.

"Perez, you can't cheat later."

Stop over.

Perez and Caitlyn stopped moving.

It was the same with Kylus, who was arranging the bowls of cookies that he ate.

Three people looked at me without saying a word.

Wh why? Whahuh? (Wkwkwk)

Kylus was the first to respond.

He bit his lower lip, swallowed his smile with emoticon-like eyes, and hid his face.

Caitlyn opened her eyes and blinked a few times, looking surprised, and alternately looked at me and Perez

And Perez.

"Are you .. are you okay?"

I patted his back and asked.

Then his cold face burned in an instant.

It really was like it was going to explode.

The white skin heats up from the bottom of the neck to the tip of the ear.

"Oh yeah...."

Perez nodded slowly.

What's wrong with everyone's reaction?

Did I say something I shouldn't have said?

"Your face... It's really red. What if you catch a cold?"

Is it a little cold to sit outside?

"Oh, no. It's okay."

Perez replied, covering his face with his hands.

His hands were so big that his face came in.

"I'm worried."

"....Don't cheat?"

"Eh...?"

What's wrong with that?

"But now Perez is at that age, isn't he?"

"That age?"

"Hm. Age to be attracted to women?"

Time to enter puberty.

Perez slowly lowered his hand that covered his face and asked me.

"So?"

"So, if you're in a relationship, you can't cheat."

"... That's what you mean."

Perez muttered in a low voice.

"Gee."

"Yeahhh..."

Kylus and Caitlyn sighed at the same time.

"What's wrong with everyone?"

I asked, but Caitlyn and Kylus avoided my eyes.

Perez, who seemed to have regained his composure, asked me instead.

"Is that why you're in a bad mood today?"

"About men?"

Because Vestian is a man.

I'm nodding.

But Perez asked again.

"...a man?"

Oh, I told you that.

I nodded again.

But Perez's mood is weird.

His face was cold.

The wind stopped and the air became heavy.

"Tia."

"Huh?"

"Love...? do you have any?"

What's he talking about?

"What do I have?"

"A man."

"No, not yet."

I was only 11 years old.

"Then what do you mean a while ago?"

"Oh, not me. Someone I know."

I didn't want to talk about this matter to someone outside of Lombardy, so I talked about it roughly.

"Ohhh."

Perez covered his face with one hand and sipped milk.

I looked at Perez and said.

"You shouldn't hurt a woman. Don't you think, Perez?"

Perez finally emptied a glass of milk and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

And he replied in a slightly sour voice.

"I don't think you need to worry about that."

"I know, I know. That you're not a bad person."

Sure oes.

He's not like Vestian.

I explained quickly before Perez misunderstood.

"But..."

"But?"

"I advise you as a friend just in case. You've grown a lot lately."

When I thought of the first time I met him, Peres changed so much that I couldn't think of him as the same person.

Now, he had a certain appearance of a Prince.

It's not just about height or appearance.

"At the Pellet banquet. I heard a lot about you."

Being young is comfortable.

Unlike the Lombardy adults, who were wary in their eyes wherever they went, I was still relatively free.

So I could hear the conversation at the banquet.

Astana and Perez were often topics for nobles.

"Most of them are siding with you because Astana is not yet officially named Crown Prince."

"...Me?"

Perez looked a little surprised.

Peres did not realize that he was a Prince so far.

"Like the last incident, your academic performance seems to be leaking quite a lot."

I don't know if it was leaked or if someone deliberately spread it.

Other than grandfather, who supported Perez, there were some people who could benefit from such rumors.

For example, the Emperor, who weighed Astana and Perez and got many things from Angenas.

"And there's nothing we can do from the beginning. After all, other than Astana, you are the only surviving Prince who has grown up."

The emperor had no concubines, but his mistress had several.

There can't be just Astana and Perez.

But Perez was the only one who 'survived'.

The empress was meticulous and heartless.

He would do anything to make his son the next Emperor.

To such an Empress, Perez was a very disturbing thorn.

"Did he put more pressure on you to go to the academy?"

"...The Empress called me not long ago. And he told me to go to the academy."

Perez's voice spoke very low.

"Did that happen?"

Quietly, I read the thoughts of Caitlyn and Kylus.

I'm sure there's more to it than that, seeing their faces look stiff.

Perez said nothing more.

He didn't seem to want to mention it anymore.

If so, there's nothing I can do.

I nodded with a sigh and said to Perez.

"Maybe it will happen more often in the future. Until you get out of the Palace and into the Academy."

"But I don't want to go to the academy."

"Yes, that's your choice, so far. No matter how Empress, she can't force you to enter the Academy."

there are Laws designed to prevent those who are pushed out of the family succession structure from being forcibly handed over to the Academy as if they were accepted.

The admission of the academy must be done by 'personal will'.

Otherwise, the Empress would have thrown Perez into the Academy long ago.

"So he tried to convince you."

"...Then it doesn't matter."

Perez answered without a sound.

"If he doesn't force me, I won't be accepted into the academy."

It was a difficult attitude, unlike him.

The conversation was interrupted for a while.

Perez was deep in thought, thinking he was worried about something.

I wondered if there was a way to comfort Perez, and suddenly I remembered the gift in my bag.

I brought it to give to Perez.

I took out a black box the size of a palm, placed it in front of him, and sipped the milk indifferently.

"What's this...?"

Perez asked confusedly.

I didn't answer.

"I took it on the street."