When The Moon Tilts West

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Chapter 11 – Part 1

“It is your fiancée. Leon.”

Leon gazed at the side of the girl who was sniffling at those words. The girl with the red hair tied down with a ribbon was crying while looking at the tree for some reason.

She was his fiancée… She would be his wife. She would be his companion for the rest of his life.

“She’s young.”

At that time, he was sixteen years old, and he was already starting to grow as a man. To him, the young Olivia looked more like a child than a woman.

“She’s so tiny. When will she grow up? To get married, we have to at least face each other, and I can barely see her only when I look down at the ground.”

“Is that so?”

The Duke burst out laughing.

After that, he spoke, stroking his head.

“Yes, she is young, but children grow up quickly. Like you. Weren’t you this small when your mother died?”

His mother and father had a good marital relationship. They loved and cared for each other. The blunt father wept with tears in his eyes for the first time when his mother died of an illness.

Seeing them, he wanted to be like his mother and father when he started a family. Although his mother left first, they were happy. However, the one he had to marry was that little child. Besides, she was crying.

He sighed at the fiance, who was different from what he imagined.

“You don’t like her?”

“If I don’t like her, are you going to throw the child away?”

At Leon’s words, the Duke shook his head.

“Don’t worry. If you don’t like her, can’t you just take care of her like a little sister? I will bring her in as my child like Kevin.”

Leon frowned slightly at the word ‘Kevin.’

Meanwhile, The Duke, who did not notice it, continued with a smile.

“Then, how about doing this? Anyway, due to the relationship between the Kingdom of Roheim and the Empire, we can’t make an engagement right now. So, let’s keep this engagement a secret.”

“To keep it a secret?”

“Afterwards, if you and that child grow up and fall in love with each other, then we will officially announce the engagement. If you don’t like each other, then why don’t I just have that child as my daughter?”

“….”

“It doesn’t matter if it’s a daughter-in-law or a daughter. I’m sure I’ll take care of that child.”

His father was smiling brightly. He had the same smile he had when Kevin was brought in. His father, who seemed blunt to others, was actually weaker in affection than his young son.

Kevin…

Thinking of him, Leon’s face frowned.

It is said that his aunt, who had left the house with a commoner man, gave birth to Kevin and raised him outside.

Because his aunt had high self-esteem, she never asked the family for help, even when she left home. Nevertheless, the father, who was looking for the Duke’s sister, who had left home, found the child instead of his deceased aunt. It was Kevin.

One of the first things Kevin, the adopted son, did was to get Leon to call him ‘brother.’ Even though they were only a few months apart, it seemed so important to Kevin that Leon called him the older brother.

Leon didn’t like Kevin.

Kevin always caused trouble. He would harass the maid and beat up the young servant.

Because of that, the Duke, who only saw a son like Leon, didn’t know how to deal with someone like Kevin. No matter how harshly the Duke disciplined him, he would stop scolding him when Kevin showed tears by citing his poor circumstances.

Kevin was a clever boy who could take advantage of the Duke’s feelings of guilt towards his sister. Eventually, he began to covet what Leon had. Seeing that, he didn’t want to break his father’s heart, so Leon gave him a lot.

It was when Leon frowned as he thought of Kevin.

“Come on, go and comfort her.”

“…What? Me?”

His father had already walked away before he could answer back.

Leon, who suddenly had to comfort the girl, hesitated for a moment because he had never comforted a crying child. He couldn’t run away though, so he coughed haphazardly and approached the girl who might be his fiancée.

“What happened?”

The girl who screamed as if he had spoken so suddenly, stepped back and fell on her back. As if she was too surprised, the girl had tears in her eyes.

“Are you okay?”

Opening his mouth again, the girl stared at him with her eyes wide open.

Leon examined her face. Her face, which was thinner than that of a girl of her age, showed slightly younger freckles on both cheeks. Her eyes were warm olive-colored, and they were quite large. The girl who was crying until the tip of her nose dyed red was dripping with a runny nose.

To be honest, she seemed lacking in something.

Perhaps, she noticed the gaze. The girl bowed her head with a blushing face.

“….”

She seemed small and fragile, just like a herbivore.

Maybe, that was why, unlike people who usually thought that blushing and bowing her head was because of embarrassment, he thought it was because the girl was afraid of him.

Leon didn’t know how to comfort the crying child.

Moreover, the girl had her head bowed and refused to speak to him. He thought he wanted to get out of this difficult situation and leave this place as soon as possible. He didn’t feel anything for this person who would be his companion, even more so because he was disappointed.

“If you’re not going to tell me, then I’ll go ahead.”

Eventually, Leon moved on to his steps. Still, somehow concerned, he glanced back at her, and the girl looked at him, and when their eyes met, she bowed her head again.

Then, Kevin walked over.

“Leon!”

Kevin smiled and patted his shoulder before glancing at the girl standing behind him and asked.

“Is that the girl that Father brought yesterday?”

“Yes, brother.”

“Why did he bring something like that? She’s pretty ugly.”

“It is disrespectful to use such an expression on a lady.”

“I know, do you think I don’t know that? Then, let’s change the words a bit, why was she crying stupidly over there? Like a foolish child.”

Even after changing his words, Kevin’s words were still rude. Nonetheless, Leon also thought that it was not courteous, so when he heard what Kevin said, he realized how disrespectful he had been to the girl.

Meanwhile, Kevin approached the girl.

“Hi!”

Kevin greeted her warmly and sat down next to her.

The girl, who had her head bowed and sobbed, looked at him. He didn’t feel very good when he saw the girl who hadn’t even looked at him properly, would look at Kevin instead.

“I saw you yesterday. You were pretty.”

Didn’t he say she was ugly before…? But, Kevin smiled with a pretentious expression. Perhaps, the lie had worked through, and the girl stopped crying.

“Actually, I haven’t been here in a while.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I came here three years ago, too. In other words, we are in the same situation.”

“I see…”

“So, why are you crying?”

“…That.”

“That…?”

“My hat got caught in a tree.”

“….”

Hearing her words, both Kevin and Leon looked at the hat at the same time.

At the end of the tree, a hat with a cute ribbon was hanging from the end of the branch. A blue-ribbon like the daytime sky flew.

“I climbed the tree and tried to go down, though I couldn’t. It’s a precious hat that the Duke bought me…”

She whimpered.

Hearing those words, Leon reflected on how he really evaluated the girl as inadequate. Unlike Kevin, who didn’t appreciate the things his father gave him, the girl at least knew how to be grateful. Even the girl was younger than Kevin, who came three years before her.

On the other hand, Kevin tapped her on the shoulder.

“I’ll help you with it.”

“Really…?”

“Yes.”

The girl smiled brightly. Then, attractive freckles appeared on the round cheeks.

Kevin grinned and walked over to the hat, but the hat was out of his stature. So, even though he jumped and tried to catch it, it was the same.

In the end, Leon, who saw it, sighed. He then approached the tree and retrieved the hat.

“….”

As he held out the hat, the girl quietly took it and mumbled, ‘Thank you, and sorry for the inconvenience.’ She still tried not to make eye contact with Leon as she did so.

Seeing that, Kevin opened his mouth.

“Leon is not a scary person. Leon, you, too, straighten your face a little. This girl is afraid.”

“….”

“Yes, to be honest, that guy is actually a bit scary. Does that guy use a gun well, too?”

The girl flinched at him after hearing Kevin’s remarks.

As Leon was about to say something back, Kevin opened his mouth.

“I am Kevin Deork. What is your name?”

“It’s Olivia Claudel.”

Olivia Claudel… She uttered her name quietly, avoiding the eyes of the man who would later become her fiancée.

At the time, Leon had no idea that the name would become so precious.