“For now? Until exactly when?”

“If you ask exactly until when, umm, hmm, hmmmm……”

Dragging out her words at the difficult question, Olivia glanced at Alois for help. How many days should I say? At Olivia’s desperate plea for assistance, Alois rested his chin on one hand and cast a glance at Lime.

“That’s a matter between Olivia and me, so you don’t need to know.”

“I don’t necessarily need to know the contract terms, but alright. If my sister says so, I have no choice.”

“Now that you’ve confirmed she’s safe and well, I’d appreciate it if you’d quickly leave my forest.”

“That won’t be possible.”

Lime, who had been smiling and keeping the conversation light, firmly refused his order to leave. Alois didn’t like how he casually used “you” earlier but suddenly switched to calling her “sister” to emphasize their family relationship. Resting his chin on his hand and looking askance at Lime, Alois straightened up and slowly examined his face.

The man’s oddly colored hair between gold and light green, along with warm beige eyes, suited his overall soft and gentle impression. Despite his youthful face, his excellent physique gave Lime a mysterious charm between a boy and a young man. Unlike his sturdy, well-built body with clean-cut masculine features, his face was quite delicate and pretty, giving him the air of a fragile young master when looking at his face alone.

Objectively, he was an attractive man with appeal, but to Alois, he was subjectively just an annoying, unpleasant face. What bothered him most was the way Lime looked at Olivia. It was natural for them to be close as the only family left after their mother’s death, but beyond that, something more unsettling kept grating on Alois’s nerves.

“You’re the cursed duke, so how could I just leave my sister here and go?”

“Lime!”

“No, sister, think about it. If I told you that I was living with a cursed witch with a terrible reputation to pay off a debt, would you just let me go and tell me to hurry up and pay it back?”

“That’s! Well, no, but…… The duke is really fine, I promise I’m safe!”

“Have you never been in danger because of the duke?”

“Umm……”

Of course there had been some danger in the beginning, but! Although the curse of the heat cycle hadn’t disappeared yet so it wasn’t a completely safe situation, at least psychologically she was safe! Swallowing the detailed explanation she couldn’t give, Olivia became dejected again. Acting like an older brother rather than a younger one, Lime had skillfully silenced Olivia and turned back to Alois with a gentle smile.

“So what are you trying to say?”

“Since repaying the debt is between the two of you, I’ll set that aside, but either send Olivia back to the cottage and let her pay off the debt by coming and going normally, or let me stay here with her.”

“And if I don’t like both options?”

“If you truly don’t like both, you could kill me and send me away.”

Even while fully aware that his opponent had the ability to kill him, Lime casually put his own life on the table as an option. Alois seemed to like that last choice, tilting his head slightly to the side. Between the two men’s battle of wills, only Olivia pounded the table, saying not to make such violent jokes.

“You’ve certainly inherited the annoying parts.”

His recklessness and tendency to present unrejectable options were irritatingly similar to Olivia. Of course, Olivia’s options usually led toward saving Alois, but Lime’s options were all just annoying enough to make him want to tear them up.

Lime had expected Alois to choose sending Olivia back to the cottage. He had noticed that Olivia and the duke had a closer bond than expected, so the option of killing him was impossible. Moreover, seeing the hostility directed at him from their first meeting, it would be most advantageous for the duke to send Olivia back to the village and summon her to his mansion at appointed times to repay the debt.

“If that’s what you want, I’ll allow you to stay here.”

But Lime’s prediction was wrong. Alois, with a relaxed expression, permitted Lime to stay at the mansion. Caught off guard, Lime’s expression momentarily froze. Only Olivia nodded as if she had expected it. If he sent her back, it would be like commuting to work, not confinement. To Olivia, Alois’s choice was perfectly natural.

“Not everything you see while staying here will be pleasant for you, but do as you please.”

With a cold smile, Alois rose from his seat and slightly raised one arm to create space.

“Livi.”

Calling her by a nickname he’d never used before, he gestured with his head, and Olivia stood up and approached him. Her eyes sparkled brightly as she couldn’t hide her twitching lips trying to rise into a smile.

‘He definitely just called me Livi, right?’

Previously, he absolutely refused to call her that when she asked, so she didn’t know what had caused this change of heart. But good things were good! As soon as he called her Livi, Olivia took the bait with an excited expression. The cute nickname she had so wished for finally saw the light of day.

“Then choose a suitable room on the first floor.”

The first floor of the mansion mostly contained rooms used by servants. Though this mansion had no servants and most rooms were empty, they naturally contained only the most basic furniture and were definitely not meant for guests. Moreover, they were on an entirely different floor from both Alois’s bedroom and Olivia’s bedroom, which was close to his.

Alois easily lured Olivia away by using the nickname “Livi” and taking her with him. Before leaving the banquet hall, Olivia—nestled under Alois’s arm—didn’t forget to promise Lime, “Let’s talk more this evening,” which was at least a small relief for him.

“Come to think of it, they didn’t offer anything. Wow.”

Looking at the empty table without even water, let alone tea, Lime couldn’t hide his amazement. It wasn’t that he wanted to be served, but rather that he found it absurd how the duke, who should value honor, carried out such childish and petty actions with elegance and charisma.

“What is that man trying to do?”

Or is he not human since he’s cursed? Though his appearance seemed like a normal human…… Since Lime didn’t know much about Alois yet, he decided to quietly observe him for the time being. At least he didn’t seem to be harming Olivia, so there was no urgency, giving him time to examine various things.Based on his experience so far, the duke seemed nothing more than an arrogant man with a somewhat twisted personality, but considering he had been the protagonist of such ominous legends for decades, Lime needed to observe him more carefully.

With an uneasy feeling in his chest, Lime left the banquet hall to find a room for himself as Alois had instructed.

And so began the strange cohabitation of these three individuals.

* * *

Unable to kill him and unwilling to send Olivia away, the duke permitted Lime to stay at the mansion, considering him just another annoying insect to deal with. Though many things about Lime irritated him, he’d still prefer all that annoyance combined than sending Olivia back to the village.

However, whenever he witnessed the bond and intimacy between the siblings, he had to forcefully suppress rebellious thoughts like, ‘Perhaps I should have killed him after all?’

“Wow, what happened to you? When did you get so skilled?”

“How long have I been living on my own now? There’s hardly anything I haven’t tried.”

“That’s exactly why you shouldn’t have left alone without saying anything. Huh? Did you think leaving a single letter was enough?”

“So my sister hates letters. That’s why you always replied to mine so late.”

“I’m telling you, I didn’t deliberately avoid sending them!”

Olivia repeatedly slapped Lime’s arm with her palm as he teased her with an angelic face. Lime burst into laughter and pretended to run away, circling around the vegetable garden while Olivia chased after him, throwing handfuls of the weeds she had just pulled.

“My sister really hasn’t changed with time. You’ve always been terrible at growing things, and even these easy-to-grow crops are all withering.”

“You really—!”

Moreover, between them existed an absolute time—memories that Alois could never be part of, no matter how long he lived. He wasn’t dwelling on a past already gone, but after learning they weren’t blood siblings, he sometimes felt a mischievous urge to steal some of Olivia’s childhood memories that only Lime knew about.

The two were tidying up the vegetable garden Olivia had started a few days ago. She had carefully applied plenty of fertilizer and watered appropriately, yet somehow the weeds flourished while the crops withered. Today they had pulled the weeds and replanted the crops with wider spacing. While they were doing the final work of patting down the bumpy soil with their hands to make it flat, Lime, who had already finished his part, kept teasing her.

“Still, they’re not dead yet, so we can make them thrive again.”

“You? With those hands?”

“If you keep this up, I’ll—whoop!”

Olivia stood up abruptly, intending to pinch her annoying brother’s cheek to vent her frustration, but her legs suddenly cramped, making her stumble. Lime, who had been laughing and teasing her while she worked, quickly extended his hand with a startled expression. The garden had stones marking different sections, so it would be dangerous if she fell. He grabbed her wrist with one hand while steadying her with his other hand on her waist.

“Be careful. Don’t you know how serious it could be if you fall badly?”

“It’s your fault for teasing me.”