If I Disobey the Duke

Lily de Winter (3)

He panicked in the presence of his father. She knew her brother well, so she ordered Talin to protect Dandelion.

Even if only her father’s shadow appeared, her younger brother, who was busy running away, was daring enough to step into this place directly…

“Sister, a-are you okay…? I didn’t listen to you, and I came in on my own terms, but… that…”

Dandelion couldn’t even look at the side where Lily and Shylock were.

Whenever her older sister and her father came into view, the next thing that would happen was usually an assault on him. Like a dog being beaten with a club every time the bell rang, just looking at the scene in front of him seemed to make him scream

He insisted on coming for one reason. “I know that my father didn’t hit Sister, but still…” He was worried and couldn’t stand it.

Dandelion knew that the lord was tough, but his father was his ultimate fear.

He thought that if he brought in an escort knight who was tasked to protect his sister, his father would not be able to treat him with disrespect.

Dandelion moved his heavy legs and pulled Talin’s cuffs. “There. Knight. Sister, please take care of me. Father is….”

Shylock couldn’t stand it any longer; Dandelion’s cringing always made him turn away. “Do not interfere. How dare the useless garbage that doesn’t deserve it…”

He looked like he was looking at filth. Even the contempt he had when he looked at Lily was overwhelming. He had an attitude like he was dealing with germs that could be transmitted by touch.

“Hey….”

As Shylock glared, Dandelion withdrew and hid behind Talin. It was a reflex reaction.

Even Talin, who didn’t like Dandelion, looked at Lily with a strong gaze, feeling sorry for him. “Give me an order. Madam.”

Taking that as a signal, Lily’s eyes widened. She was still in a cold sweat, but the situation was clear.

The look of her terrified little brother. Her blood cooled coldly at the sight so familiar to the past. Even with a knight, he seemed to be trapped in his memories.

He was just like herself a while ago.

Lily reached out her hand towards Dandelion. “Come here, Dandelion. I’m fine.”

She was the one who in an instant had regained her voice as dignified and calm as usual.

Dandelion crawled as he stood next to Talin. Instead of rushing to his sister, he stretched out his hand, and hesitatingly, took a step.

As their distance narrowed, oddly enough, his older sister seemed taller. No, their father also seemed small.

Was Father so small?

It took him a while to go up the stairs a few steps. As he came to a distance not far from his father, his breath was stuttering as if she was climbing an alpine mountain.

Lily grabbed her brother’s hand. “…This…”

Shylock felt frustrated. He should have put an end to the situation before a knight showed up.

No, in the first place, his eldest daughter and his words should not have been mixed in the current situation. He’d lost his temper.

First, he needed to step back right now…

Lily stared at Shylock. “Just say it. Apologize, Father.”

Dandelion gasped. Shylock also doubted his ears and frowned at her.

She felt her heart pound against her neck and jump out of her throat. Her body was so full of her own pulse that a ringing hurt her ears. Lily wanted to run away, but a voice inside her hummed that it was now or never.

“If Dandelion is trash and I am a failure…” Her hand gripped her younger brother, and the force was tight. She trembled, brought back to life for the first time. “The father who made us that way is the most unsuccessful person. If you can’t admit that, apologize. To the both of us.”

Looking at her father, Lily raised her hand that was holding the railing. She tapped her own temple with her index finger.

“Think with a clever mind, Father.”

“…”

It was a duel of words.

Dandelion looked up at his sister’s side profile.

While her face was small and her shoulders delicate, at this moment, she was like a certain general. Her mysterious pride tickled Dandelion’s soles.

“If the Isles is taken away, we are the only ones left in your hands. If we are a loser… It means you’re the biggest loser, Father.”

Loser. It was the accusation that her father regarded as the greatest shame. Lily knew better, who had been crushed all her life by that compulsion. The fact that her father was afraid of failure.

As expected, as Shylock’s face glowed from below, Dandelion began to tremble like an aspen tree.

She squeezed her brother’s hand. She began to see veins on Shylock’s white forehead.

He gripped his cane so tightly that his whole arm trembled. “What do you dare to do now…”

“Be respectful. The status I have is very powerful now, Father.”

As they approached the final battle, the fear went away.

Because she was not alone on this earth.