“Neither of you will do. Come with me. Let’s sign first and then go through everything point by point.”

He suddenly grabbed her arm and dragged her toward the study. This time it was her, not Emil, being dragged along.

“Let go.”

Though Yvonne demanded firmly, Wesley ignored her even more.

“Emil. You come too.”

At uncle’s command, Yvonne quickly looked down at Emil who was clinging to her, trying to stop her from being dragged away. Though Emil was pulling to prevent her from being dragged away, his meager strength was far from enough.

No matter how much Yvonne resisted, she was still being gradually dragged by uncle.

“Emil.”

This wouldn’t do. It would be disastrous if both of them were dragged away.

When their eyes met, she spoke with her gaze. Run away. Quickly. You remember everything I said, right? So you absolutely must not sign. Run away quickly.

Emil understood. Though he looked about to cry, he nodded and dashed outside.

“That…… that brat……”

Wesley frowned.

“At least you come along now. I can catch Emil afterward.”

Wesley pulled the resisting Yvonne with even more force as they got closer to the study. Really, not a single one of them would listen. He had no choice but to force them to sign. Wesley could do whatever he wanted without anyone interfering.

Wesley’s eyes glinted more intensely than ever before.

“Let go of me.”

She had to escape from here somehow. Yvonne tried to confront uncle with a rather sharp voice.

“I’ll let go after you sign.”

“I absolutely won’t.”

Yvonne resisted until the end.

“Hmph. Think you can hold out without doing it? “Do you need to see me do something scary to come to your senses?”

Uncle’s voice echoed through the hall even more thunderously. He was looking down on her even more than the young Emil. Even her deceased father hadn’t been like this. This was going too far.

To her, uncle’s face started to look like the horrible, evil face of a snake.

***

Tap tap.

Leon was sitting in his room listening to the conversation from the hall. Suddenly he heard a knocking on the window and turned his head.

Just seeing the crown of the head visible outside the window was enough to know who it was. Golden hair. It was Emil. Being short, only his eyes were visible.

It seemed he was running away.

Leon approached the window with his crutch and opened it.

“Sir Leon.”

Emil whispered softly to him while looking around in all directions.

“What?”

Without putting any emotion into it, Leon asked plainly like Emil.

“Please take care of sister.”

Leon didn’t answer.

“What about you?”

Leon glanced up at the sky. It had cleared briefly but dark clouds were gathering again.

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll hide well. Then I’ll trust you and go.”

Seeing Emil run along the wall like a squirrel made him smile slightly. Emil was both brazen and clever. Others might think differently, but he was absolutely not a weak child.

“Do you need to see me do something scary to come to your senses?”

Wesley’s voice thundered from outside. Wesley’s words were getting worse and worse. Until now, he had been waiting out of respect for Yvonne’s desire to resolve things alone. But Wesley had now crossed the line.

Finally, Leon moved toward the door.

***

Yvonne couldn’t break free from her uncle’s hand that was roughly pulling her. She couldn’t overcome that strength. There was no one to help her. Even the servants were too afraid of uncle to dare come close.

Bang.

Just then, there was the sound of a door. The sound of a door being thrown roughly open.

She felt uncle’s hand holding her flinch in surprise.

When he turned to look, Leon was standing in the open doorway. No, he was firmly planted there. The air flowing from him was incredible. It was constricting to everyone who saw him. Uncle couldn’t have missed that.

Leon’s firmly focused gaze slowly moved to Wesley’s hand. To that hand mercilessly gripping Yvonne’s arm.

It was a look that hit you like an invisible whip cracking across your skin. Uncle’s hand quickly released her arm as if startled.

Wesley stared at Leon with shocked, fearful eyes. Though he was using a crutch, Leon’s appearance was completely different from what he had shown until now. Without saying a single word, he was already dominating this entire hall frighteningly. The air felt like it was being sucked away somewhere, making it difficult to even breathe. Was he such an…… impressive guy? Wesley could only stand there stupidly without even opening his mouth.

Even Yvonne, freed from her uncle, couldn’t move. Perhaps because it had been so long since she’d seen him look so threatening, like breathing fire, she felt intimidated too.

Leon, who had been subduing Wesley with just his gaze, slowly turned his eyes to her.

From his gaze that met hers, she somehow seemed to hear his voice.

Yvonne. Come here.

His eyes were saying that. She just had that certainty.

Now…… he was helping her. Leon was.

There wasn’t even a hint of criticism about how she had said she would handle everything alone but this was all she could do.

Yvonne approached him. Now…… she had to admit it. That she couldn’t handle this alone.

She thought she could do it. She thought she just needed to get rid of her uncle. But she hit a wall right from that. Nothing in reality was going according to her wishes.

From behind came the sound of uncle clearing his throat unnecessarily and his footsteps as he slipped outside. Now only she and Leon remained.

She entered his bedroom, passing Leon who had stepped aside to let her in. They had things they needed to say to each other. Now was the time to have that conversation seriously.

***

Click.

The door closed. Though she had escaped from the dangerous moment, another mountain stood blocking her path.

She flinched when he moved. The threatening appearance she had just seen hadn’t faded.

Hah.

Their eyes met directly.

Leon sat on the sofa in the middle of the room and stared straight at her. But he didn’t say anything. He just kept staring intently at her while maintaining silence.

Yvonne had to experience another unfamiliar pressure. This was the first time she had felt such tension, as if even the air was being completely sucked away. His gaze was becoming increasingly calm and settled. She didn’t know what that meant. She couldn’t tell if he was angry or not. The only thing she was sure of was that he wasn’t in a good mood.

“Um…… may I sit down?”

She needed to think carefully one more time after sitting down first. Fortunately, Leon didn’t seem about to interrogate her right away. She needed time.

Leon gave permission with a slight gesture of his eyes.

As she approached the sofa in front of him, she couldn’t help but gulp from the tension.

Yvonne, who had carefully perched herself without making a sound, took a deep breath for a moment. His gaze was still pouring onto her face. Yet the fact that he wasn’t saying anything was strange — he seemed to be waiting with patience for what she would say. It wasn’t like him.

She needed to focus on what was most important right now. She had to ensure Emil could inherit the family no matter what. For that, she needed to be certain that Leon would be better than uncle. She would just have to walk the thorny path alone anyway. She just needed to make up her mind and give up her own life. She had tried to resolve things alone because she didn’t want to do that, but it was beyond her abilities. Moreover, at this rate she might be forced into marriage. It wasn’t entirely impossible. Rather than that, she should get a definite answer and marry. About Leon becoming Emil’s guardian. At least even if her married life would be hell, Leon wouldn’t touch Emil. That meant Emil would definitely be able to inherit the title when he grew up.

So no matter how she calculated it, Leon was better than uncle. Just thinking about Emil and the title of count. If uncle took the guardian position, Emil would be in danger. At least with Leon, Emil’s life would be guaranteed. He wouldn’t get involved in the family’s affairs if only because it would be bothersome. So she just needed to get a definite answer. She just had to close her eyes tight and choose that path alone. Think only of Emil. Only Emil.

“I…… have a request.”

She barely managed to move her unwilling lips to speak. Why wouldn’t she want to avoid this too? If she only thought about herself, she would never have made this proposal.

“Please become Emil’s guardian.”

Her mouth was dry and her throat stiff from how tense she was. She was nervous about how he would react.

But even after hearing her words, Leon showed no change. His expressionless face was exactly the same as at first. Was he not interested? It certainly seemed that way. He only slowly sank deeper into the sofa where he had been sitting quietly. Even that simple action had the power to dominate the other person. She was being crushed by the tremendous force that made one hold their breath and unable to move a finger. But…

Suddenly, his sharp, intense gaze seemed to soften just a bit. No… maybe it was just her imagination.

“For that?”