He's My Real Brother, Duke

“Uh… Oh no. It’s alright.”

The owner, who was more startled than me, felt awkward and pointed to the fresh flower branch in the glass bottle.

“There’s a special flower for your precious person. Preserved flowers that remain in bloom forever with magic.”

A white flower was attached to a clean brown branch.

“However, that’s the only thing left now. It’s very popular.”

“What’s the name of that white flower?”

The owner said proudly,

“It’s White Magnolia. The flower means ‘congratulations and thanks.’ It’s a perfect way to express gratitude to someone you love.”

A white and beautiful flower caught my eye at once.

‘Giving a white magnolia as a gift. That’s nice’

Usually, there’s a tradition of giving roses to the victors of war, so the Duke must have received a lot of roses.

Then no matter what flower I give him, it won’t be that great.

However, when a pure white magnolia was compared among the red roses, it would stand out immediately.

…If so, wouldn’t that be pretty good?

“Then I’ll have this.”

After choosing the flowers, wrapping it up was a breeze.

It took an hour to choose a gift, but I thought I should go back quickly.

I glanced at Sir Retro and a wide smile.

“When the Duke comes back, there’s going to be a family party, right?”

“…Should I…? But I won’t be able to participate in the party…” Retro muttered in dismay as if he would soon die.

‘What’s wrong with him? I’m the one who should be disappointed.’ 

It was I, who hasn’t yet been able to break free from the ancient phrase engraved on the artifact.

As I was talking to Retro again, the florist caught my attention brilliantly.

“I’m done wrapping the gift!”

In the end, in silence, I tilted my head at Sir Retro’s condition and accepted the packaged flowers.

Anyway, I finished buying the Duke’s gift.

❅

The owner of the flower shop saw the knight off with the beautiful slender woman who he presumed to be a newlywed couple, and then went back inside.

‘Every time a flower goes to the right customers, I feel so proud.’ The store owner thought as he entered.

He delicately touched the glass bottle of the preserved flower that he worked hard on.

Seeing people lovingly looking at the flowers I made made me feel like my spirit brimmed with excitement.

“Shall we make a new flower after?”

He sat down on his desk again to try making a new preserved flower.

Soon, he cleaned the dusty table neatly, and was lost in thought for a while with his chin resting on his hand.

“Wait a minute…”

Suddenly, a wrong thought ran through his mind.

“Come to think of it, I’m sure the meaning of White Magnolia was ‘thank you.’ Wouldn’t it have a different meaning?”

He was suddenly curious about the meaning of the second flower of white magnolia.

The flower shop owner got up and took out a dictionary of flower languages ​​from the white dusty bookshelf and rummaged through its pages.

“The flower language of the White Magnolia…”

As he was slowly turning over the pages of the book, he soon lamented.

“Second flower language, love that cannot come true, ‘you won’t have my love’…?”

The old man coughed in vain, putting on his one-piece eyeglass in regret.

However, few people usually studied the meaning of flowers in depth.

Unless the person was determined and researched its meaning.

It would be nice to know only the first flower language, ‘thank you‘.

‘It will be alright‘, the shop owner, passing it on, decides to spur in the creation of a new preserved flower.

If she felt that the flower language was wrong, the lady would come to find him, right?

‘I just guessed so.’

❅

My plan of going in to buy only pretty flowers as a gift went awry.

As I was about to walk to the carriage with a bouquet of flowers in my arms, someone blocked me.

“Astel.”

That someone was the Duke, neatly dressed in a knight’s uniform.

The Duke’s sudden appearance startled me.

“Whaㅡ you’re back already?”

At the same time, joy soared, but I tried to correct my expression when I thought of problems related to artifact.

At first, I was suspicious of the Duke, but I didn’t want to make it obvious.

With my round eyes staring at him, I hid my anxiety.

But, it was strange…

Unlike before, the current Duke looked like a demigod immersed in darkness. So I kept reinforcing my bad imagination.

As a result, when he took a step closer, I hesitated for a moment and stepped back.

“…Ho-how did you get here?”

I bit my lips as I recalled the artifact hidden in my arms.

“I tried to wait patiently.”

The moment I held my breath,

His face came close right in front of me.

He had a horrifying expression on his face, and I faltered trying to set my feet back.

But his actions were faster.

“But I just realized…’

There was a series of unanswered questions about what he meant to wait patiently and what he realized.

“I’m not that patient.”

His hand gently touched the tip of my chin.

The tip of our noses noses touched as our gazes met.

“Astel.”

The hand holding my chin loosened.

I was stunned for a moment, my eyes widened and I stiffened in place.

Suddenly, what kind of patience… ?

…What the hell are you talking about, Duke?

I couldn’t bring myself to say anything in this bizarre confrontation with the Duke.

Rolling my eyes, trying to look elsewhere, then carefully looking into his eyes, but I couldn’t figure out what he was thinking.

“Well…”

I carefully grabbed his hand and put it down.

The Duke’s hand fell unexpectedly gently. Soon, I pulled myself back and moved away from the Duke.

“Duke, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“It’s nothing.”

The Duke’s peculiar low voice reverberated in my ears.

He returned to his usual self, taking back the strange attitude a little while ago.

The Duke naturally put his hand ober mine and tried to escort me.

It was his very natural, usual behavior.

But…

ㅡ’Below one, but above all. Isn’t that… a story referring to the Duke?’

Again, the voice of the Artifact Appraiser came to mind.

ㅡ’He who has this artifact has something to do with the Duke, doesn’t he? It wasn’t a matter of recklessly entering the castle and discussing such things.’

The story that the Duke might be the final villain behind all if these.

Come to think of it, I hadn’t been very wary of him until now. Perhaps the imprint inevitably softened my alertness.

But…

I came up with a rather vague hint that I knew about the final villain.

‘The villain’s magic ability was very strong, and he could handle dark magic well. The Duke was a magic swordsman, but… maybe he knew how to use dark magic.’

When doubts were settled, it felt like everything was put together like a puzzle.

It could be the Duke who made our family wallow in the mud.

Thump—

At that, I unwittingly struck out his hand.

“Astel.”

Then, the Duke stared at me with his eyes stained with shock, a rare look that could ever be seen from him.

No, maybe I misunderstood that he looked shocked?

When I blink, the Duke seemed to be the same as his usual insensitive expression.

“Ugh… It’s a mistake.”

Saying that, I reached out to his hand awkwardly again.

But the Duke only looked down at my hand silently.

“…”

Looking closely again, it was not that he looked cold, but that he was just slightly frozen by the shock that came like a tidal wave.

It’s as if his whole world was ruined…

“That…” I said with an awkward smile.

“Well, is this really mistake?”

…It seems to have the opposite effect.

For the Duke’s expression had hardened even more horribly.

Still, he quietly took my hand and nodded his head.

“I think it’s a mistake.”

Even those words sounded somewhat strange.

The Duke, who’s indifferent to everything, couldn’t be, but somehow he soundes sullen.

So I was a little dumbfounded…

❅

It wasn’t just the Duke who was acting weird.

The atmosphere of the Duke’s Castle when they returned was really different from usual.

First, the lighting…

Inside the castle was so dark that even the sound of a song carried by the wind could be heard.

In fact, the maids were wearing black mourning clothes, not their original gingham checkered maid dress they used to wear.

Sir Retro, who returned to the scene, pounded his chest as if ge really did his best.

‘What the hell has changed…?’

It’s very strange…

I’ve only been away for about an hour.