It was a boring lunch hour like any other. My younger brother Vencesti, three years my junior, was once again secretly picking out the beans from his plate while Mother wasn’t looking.

The only thing slightly different from before was that he attempted to hide the beans under his flat steak so they wouldn’t be visible. 

The unfortunate part was that it bulged out obviously, like something was clearly stuffed underneath for anyone to see.

‘Pathetic fool.’

Finally, Vencesti finished transferring all the beans and smiled with satisfaction. Unfortunately, at that moment Mother’s gaze turned toward him. It wasn’t difficult to catch the glaringly sloppy crime scene.

“Vencesti?”

“Yes, Mother…?”

Vencesti looked back at Mother with startled eyes. At a glance, Mother seemed to be wearing a benevolent smile, but her face was rapidly reddening. Plus, from how she clenched her teeth, you could feel how much anger she was holding back.

“What did we agree would happen if you secretly hid beans one more time?”

“Th-that…! I didn’t do this—the beans rolled there on their own!”

“Really? How amazing! I’m witnessing this incredible phenomenon where beans suddenly grew legs and jumped to another plate!”

Stupid Vencesti nodded cheerfully, agreeing that was exactly right. Mother’s face darkened in an instant. As expected, a furious voice soon burst out.

“Vencesti! You call that an excuse? An excuse even a passing child wouldn’t believe…!”

Mother lamented the fact that her second son was an idiot who couldn’t even make a plausible excuse, and she raged about his attempt to deceive her by not eating his beans.

“I absolutely cannot let this situation slide! You won’t be able to leave this place until you eat three times the amount of beans you threw away!”

“Ahhh! I was wrong, Mother, please anything but that…!”

Soon a battle ensued between Vencesti trying to escape somehow and Mother trying to shove beans into his mouth. 

I clicked my tongue quietly at the noisy commotion and tried to continue my meal when Father beside me spoke up.

“I wonder if I told you about this.”

“What story?”

“The Blanchet couple’s only daughter has apparently fully recovered her health.”

The Blanchet couple were people from a count’s family who had maintained relations with Father for a long time. 

In terms of status, they were a lower family than ours, but they studied together under the same teacher at the academy, and Count Blanchet had once saved Father’s life during war.

They’d been close since the academy, but I heard that after owing his life, they became like real family without pretense. Because of that, I also had to be dragged to the Blanchet estate once in a while to spend meaningless, boring time.

“Is that so?”

“It’s really fortunate. She’s been in poor health since childhood and couldn’t properly leave the house, but now she’s apparently completely recovered.”

“I see.”

I replied indifferently while cutting my steak when I felt someone staring intently from somewhere. When I raised my head, Father was looking at me.

“So, what I wanted to say is…”

It was quite an ominous sign. Nine times out of ten, words I disliked followed after that.

“I’d like you to become Clea’s friend.”

As expected, the situation was exactly what I’d anticipated. Father went on about the heartbreaking story of poor Clea, who’d been unable to do what she wanted or make a single proper friend due to her chronic illness.

“The Clea I saw last time was very sweet and cute, so I’m sure you’ll like her too.”

The tender steak I was chewing became gritty like sand had been sprinkled on it. Noble girls that age burst into tears over trivial things and threw tantrums when things didn’t go their way.

Meanwhile, they’d stand in front of me pretending to be gentle, refined ladies, trying somehow to win my favor. It was so obviously transparent that it annoyed me and felt pathetic.

Besides, the Blanchet couple’s one and only precious daughter who’d been sick all this time—how much whining must she have grown up doing? 

Just thinking about it gave me a headache.

‘Playing babysitter is absolutely the last thing I want.’

When I didn’t respond at all, Father called me in a gentle voice.

“Thadeus?”

“…Yes, I’ll do that.”

A sigh leaked out deeply at the obvious future ahead. I didn’t have any choice in the decision anyway. If she bothered me, I could just torment her until she hated me enough to drive her away.

‘If the other person ends up hating me, then it can’t be helped.’

That afternoon, I followed Father to the Blanchet couple’s estate. At our first meeting, the girl hid behind the Countess and didn’t show herself. According to the explanation, it was because she rarely met strangers.

‘Not that I care about that.’

Spending time quietly like this just made me want to go home. When about an hour had passed, the girl hiding behind the Countess peeked her head out.

It was quite an impressive first impression. Fluffy sky-blue hair resembling clouds, pink eyes that sparkled almost uncomfortably with wonder at everything, and I had the strange illusion that if I got close, she’d smell like sweet cotton candy.

‘How did they manage to collect only things I dislike?’

Plus, she was so small it was hard to believe she was my age. Her height barely reached my chest, and her hands and feet were so tiny they looked fragile enough to break with a poke.

‘Did they starve her or something?’

I knew better than anyone that the warm-natured Blanchet couple, with their only daughter, couldn’t possibly do such a thing. However, looking at her appearance, suspicion bloomed regardless.

‘Well, this is definitely landing me the babysitter role.’

I was letting out an empty laugh when Clea, who’d been watching with sparkling eyes, strode right up to me. It was tremendous progress in that short time. Then she held out what she’d been clutching in her hand.

“Th-this is something I treasure… I’ll give it to you as a special gift.”

What lay on her small, white palm was chocolate. Wrapped in luxurious paper, it looked like quite an expensive treat.

“I don’t eat stuff like this.”

Naturally, I thought she’d burst into tears right then. The girls I’d seen couldn’t stand rejection. But Clea just widened her eyes and looked at me with an incredulous face.

“There are people who don’t eat chocolate? Goodness! Was that even possible?”

She looked like someone whose worldview had been denied. I barely held back the laugh that almost escaped. Then I whispered in a voice small enough that the adults around couldn’t hear.

“I’ll tell you now—I absolutely hate kids who are noisy and cry when things don’t go their way. I hate being bothered even more. Got it?”

Despite my rather fierce tone, Clea seemed unbothered. Rather, she looked somehow spirited and answered in a resolute voice.

“Thadeus, you sure dislike a lot of things. Yes, I understand. I’ll be careful!”

I’d clearly spoken to make her dislike me, but instead she understood. Wasn’t this treating me like a fussy child? I was flustered because I’d never encountered someone like this in my life.

‘Could she possibly be an idiot?’

I’d completely lost what little fighting spirit remained. However, I resolved inwardly that if she showed any signs of bothering me in the future, I’d teach her a lesson then.

Watching Clea up close, she was different from the noble young ladies I knew. She didn’t cry noisily, nor did she force me to do what she wanted. When I walked, she quietly followed like a baby bird chasing its mother.

Very occasionally, she’d bring new chocolate and hand it to me, saying it would be different from what I’d had before. Her expression at those times was, how should I put it—a face of pity for me, who didn’t know this sweet, wonderful taste.

“I won’t eat it.”

“Even if you don’t eat it, just hold onto it. You might want to eat it later.”

“I said no.”

Clea, who never insisted on things, was quite firm when it came to chocolate. She even showed thoughtful consideration, saying if I really didn’t want to eat it, I could give it to someone else or bring it to my brother Vencesti.

‘Even if I give this away, no one will take it and I’ll just throw it out.’

I thought I’d throw away the chocolate as soon as I got home, but when I actually tried to discard it, Clea’s sparkling pink eyes came to mind. 

Whether it was guilt or some other emotion, I couldn’t readily throw it away, and the ownerless chocolates just accumulated in my pocket.

As time passed, I grew accustomed to being with Clea. Then I felt a sense of crisis that this couldn’t continue. At this rate, I’d end up carrying this annoying burden around for life.

‘Should I say lots of mean things to make her cry? Then she’ll hate me.’

That’s when it started. I began choosing words that would upset Clea. For instance, giving her the nickname “ugly.” 

Or lying that the chocolate she loved so much was actually made from disgusting caterpillar powder. 

Even for toy gifts she carefully selected, I hurled ab*se saying I didn’t like such garbage.

Clea was stronger than I’d expected. Making her cry wasn’t easy. No matter what I said, she’d look dejected for a moment then quickly sparkle and grin again.

‘How can I make her cry?’

Among the carefully chosen words I’d tested for reactions, calling her “ugly” had the most impact. When I told her about eight times that she was ugly like an ugly toad, the tears I’d been waiting for finally burst out.

“I’m not ugly… You stupid idiot Thadeus!”

Contrary to thinking I’d feel relieved, watching her cry left me flustered. Such a pitiful expression. Instead of pleasant laughter, hearing her crying made me feel strange. My heart seemed to sink while my chest ached with every breath.

“Why, why are you crying? Don’t tell me it’s because I called you ugly?”

I hurriedly stuffed into her mouth the chocolate I’d kept in my pocket all this time, unable to throw it away. Then I blurted out something idiotic about how she was prettier than Lady Amandre, who was praised throughout the empire as its flower.

Amazingly, Clea, who’d been crying pitifully, stopped crying like nothing had happened. With a completely flushed face, she grinned and asked if I was sure she was prettier than that lady called the empire’s flower. 

That sight was both funny and pitiful. My stomach churned with indescribable feelings.

A few months later, Clea made her official debut in society. She had no noble young ladies she’d been close with since childhood, so she struggled more than expected to fit in. Perhaps because of that, boys constantly teased the small, petite Clea.