Chapter 73

“I’ll reply as soon as I get your letter. Even if we part now, knowing the letter will arrive soon is comforting. Let’s keep writing to each other from now on.”

“Yes, okay!”

“Uncle, I should go now. I don’t think it’s right to keep them waiting any longer.”

“Ah, yes, yes, you should go. Take care of your health, and let’s see each other again soon. I’m fine with anything.”

“…?”

“Go on, Diane. When you get my letter, be sure to reply.”

Uncle’s words were a bit confusing, but Diane nodded.

It was really time to say goodbye again.

“Uncle!”

Diane hugged Walt.

“Yes, Diane.”

Uncle patted her back.

“Gale.”

Diane tried to hug Gale too, but at that moment—

“Miss Diane Lina!”

Edward’s voice called from afar.

She stopped mid-hug and turned around.

“How long are you going to keep us waiting?”

Ah, that grumpy attitude.

She was about to go anyway.

Diane quickly finished her farewells and hurried back to the Wale family.

Every time she looked back, Gale and Uncle Walt waved at her.

“Let’s go back now.”

As soon as she returned, the Duke said only that and started walking.

Already?

Had Leon played enough?

It didn’t seem like they’d seen much of the flowers.

It was strange, but since Diane and Edward had gone to the bookstore, the Duke and Leon must have spent plenty of time in the park and might want to leave.

Looking at the direction the Duke walked, she saw the ducal carriage waiting.

Ah!  

Seeing the carriage, the happiness from meeting Gale and Uncle Walt quickly faded.

Edward Wale’s carriage had been sent away when they entered the bookstore, so now she had to ride in the Duke’s carriage.

She had to share the carriage with the Wale men again.

She still vividly remembered the uncomfortable experience last time, when they’d gone to buy Leon’s book.

Would today go smoothly?

But when she got in the carriage, contrary to her worries, the Duke and Edward, as if planned, sat facing backward, so Diane naturally sat facing forward.

Leon, too, quietly sat next to her without fuss, unlike before.

“Thank you for your consideration earlier.”

As the carriage began to move, Diane looked at Edward across from her and the Duke across from Leon, and expressed her thanks.

She thought spending time with Gale and Walt was only natural, but since she’d come out with them, she felt she should thank them for allowing her personal time.

“Rather than consideration, call it patience.”

Edward said, arms crossed.

Even his posture seemed to drip with annoyance.

“Ah, I must have kept you waiting too long.”

Caught off guard by his response, Diane’s face flushed slightly as she checked the Duke’s reaction.

The Duke was now looking out the window.

Edward was probably just impatient, but the Duke’s cold reaction made Diane wonder if she’d really done something wrong, and she felt a bit intimidated.

Still, was she supposed to just say hello and leave after meeting family she hadn’t seen in so long?

“Right. You must’ve lost track of time, letting yourself get your cheeks pulled like that.”

“What?”

Diane’s face grew even redder.

She didn’t think she’d done anything that wrong.

Why was he being so prickly?

What did he mean by letting her cheeks get pulled?

“But is he really your brother, Teacher?”

Suddenly Leon asked.

“Yes, why?”

“You two don’t look alike at all. Dad and Uncle look alike. Why don’t you and your brother look alike?”

“Ah… that’s…”

Diane hesitated, unsure how to answer.

Of course they didn’t look alike.

They weren’t truly siblings by blood.

Some unrelated people might look similar, but Diane and Gale didn’t share any resemblance—not even the atmosphere.

Even their hair color was different; Gale’s was brown, and his eyes matched his hair.

Even as children, no one ever mistook them for siblings.

“He’s not as pretty as you, Teacher.”

Well, Leon, who saw his father and uncle every day, wouldn’t find Gale to be a handsome man.

“He’s just my brother, Young Master.”

Diane didn’t think it was necessary to explain her relationship with Gale in detail.

“Actually… he’s not really your brother, is he?”

Since getting into the carriage, the Duke hadn’t spoken, but now he joined the conversation.

“What?”

“There aren’t siblings with different last names, are there?”

Diane stared at the Duke in shock.

She had told him she’d grown up in an orphanage, and since Gale and she had different family names, it was easy to guess they weren’t real siblings.

But did he have to point it out so bluntly?

It felt like she was being interrogated by the three Wale men in this cramped carriage.

“What do you mean?”

Leon’s eyes sparkled.

“It means that weak-looking man isn’t her brother at all. He’s just another man. Not her brother at all.”

Edward chimed in, bluntly and openly.

“You don’t have to put it that way…”

“Why? Did I say something wrong? Gale Tertz can’t be Diane Lina’s brother. Leon, your father means siblings have the same last name. Like Adrian Wale and Edward Wale.”

“He’s not Teacher’s brother? Is that what you mean, Dad?”

Leon’s eyes widened.

The Duke nodded at Leon, making it clear.

Whether they were siblings by blood or affection meant nothing to these men; why were they so serious about it?

“Young Master, not all families are the same. Gale and I are…”

Diane tried to explain to Leon about different family structures, resisting the unfair atmosphere.

But Leon wasn’t listening.

“Then why did you hug him?”

“What?”

Hug? Oh, he meant when she hugged Gale out of happiness.

“That’s because I was so happy to see him after so long. Leon, if you saw someone you loved—like your dad or uncle—after a long time, wouldn’t you hug them? It’s like that.”

“Love? Lance said only people who love each other want to be close and touch each other…”

Leon cut Diane off, mumbling.

“What?”

“So you hugged him even though he’s not your brother.”

“That’s not it. I…”

“Then you shouldn’t! Teacher, you’re really bad.”

Suddenly Leon glared at her.

Why was she so bad?

It was absurd, but Diane shivered for a moment.

It had been a long time since Leon had looked at her so seriously.

When he got stubborn like this, he could be downright scary.

“Bad! Bad!”

He seemed angrier than ever before.

“Leon, don’t yell at your teacher!”

Edward finally scolded Leon.

It was more annoying than discipline.

And shouldn’t they be helping clear up the misunderstanding about Gale, rather than just telling him not to yell?

“Leon, I understand you’re upset, but you shouldn’t be rude to your teacher.”

The Duke scolded Leon as well.

Really, ‘I understand you’re upset’?

Was that even scolding?

It was pointless and only made things more absurd.

“Young Master…”

“You said you didn’t love Dad. That’s why you can’t marry him. You said you didn’t love anyone, but you love that man. Bad!”

Leon kept insisting.

It was ridiculous, but his expression was so fierce Diane couldn’t muster a response.

Even though he was so irrationally upset, both his father and uncle just told him not to yell and then fell silent. In the end, Diane had to explain.

“That’s not it. He really is my brother. The love I have for my brother is completely different from the love you are talking about, Leon.”

Even after her explanation, Leon kept glaring at her.

“What’s different!”

Leon tried to argue again.

“It’s different! It’s noisy, so stop.”

Edward finally interrupted, and silence fell in the carriage.

Diane sighed.

Strangely, Edward’s words seemed to calm Leon down a bit.

Apparently, Leon trusted his uncle’s word more than Diane’s.

“But Leon, are you sure you saw your teacher hug that man? I didn’t see it…”

Just as Diane thought Leon’s anger had subsided, Edward asked, almost as if he wanted to stir things up again.

“Was it when you and I were talking about your book?”

The Duke muttered, maybe to himself or maybe in response to Edward.

Diane stared at the three Wale men, mouth agape.

What was so problematic about her hugging Gale out of happiness that they all made such a fuss?

“Teacher, since there’s a child, please be a little more careful about such things.”

The Duke, apparently not understanding Diane’s look at all, spoke as if he were giving her official instructions.

‘Your Grace, you are strange, too.’

Diane fought to keep her face from twisting.

Meeting Gale and Walt had been wonderful, but going out with all three Wale men at once was just draining and left her with nothing.