Father, I Won’t Do Anything

‘Mikael is usually blunt with his words, but… he’s being excessively harsh today. Should I intervene?’

Jaina thought she should step in before the situation escalated further.

There was no telling what might happen with the temperamental Mikael, whose chilling looks belied his vibrant appearance.

‘But how can I shift the mood? Ending things on a good note would be best…’

Yes, let’s divert the subject in that direction.

Sharing the brunt might help too.

‘Come to think of it, he seemed to dislike being called ‘brother’ earlier…’

Suddenly, a memory resurfaced for Jaina.

At the marketplace stall, Mikael had been quite flustered when she called him ‘big brother.’

‘He even gave me that cloak to avoid the rain… I should help him out.’

While he likely wouldn’t kill his own cousin, Jaina felt uneasy about the young boy getting hurt because of her.

“Um, well…”

Jaina sealed her lips. Though she would normally be shy, she steeled herself since she had a purpose.

“Brother Mikael?”

“…!”

“…!”

Mikael and Rosian’s eyes widened in shock at Jaina addressing Mikael that way.

No, one of them was practically on the verge of fainting. Jaina pretended not to notice their reactions.

Blink, blink.

Her large, docile calf-like eyes fluttered innocently a few times.

“Uh?”

Before Jaina could say another word, Mikael abruptly scooped her up.

It rendered pointless her deliberation over what to say next.

Unable to contain his flowing laughter, Mikael mockingly snorted at Rosian as if he had never been angry.

“Why can’t I intervene? It concerns my little sibling, after all.”

“Your ‘little sister’?”

The ever-composed Rosian rubbed his arms with a disturbed expression, as if chilled to the bone.

“You fool. I wasn’t talking about you.”

“I never assumed as much. Phew, what a relief that I’m not that ‘sibling’.”

Smiling as he responded, Rosian soon turned a dawning gaze upon Jaina.

“I was wondering about a rumored child of the Magic Tower. So this young lady is the little sister Mikael dotes on, is she?”

Meeting Rosian’s eyes, Jaina too stared at him with a startled look.

Through their earlier exchange, she had deduced the boy’s identity.

‘Blood will give you away, it seems…’

Though he had only revealed his name and concealed his surname, Jaina already knew his full name.

Rosian El Ciphos Delaide.

He was the protagonist of the novel aimed at taking revenge on her father, ‘Diamid.’

* * *

Abruptly encountering the protagonist, Jaina’s attention became wholly focused on him.

‘After his mother’s death at Diamid’s hands, the protagonist vows revenge…’

A strange sentiment washed over Jaina as she gazed intently at Rosian, unaware of how much time had passed.

Misinterpreting her stare, Rosian remarked:

“Brother Mikael and I do resemble each other a bit, don’t we?”

“…Huh? I suppose so.”

Their high nose bridges, deep-set double eyelids – some facial features did overlap, though their overall auras differed vastly.

If Mikael exuded a dazzling, flamboyant beauty, Rosian possessed a multifaceted charm.

Innocently boyish yet mature beyond his years, his gentle smiles held an enigmatic allure that could captivate anyone.

‘To think this pure, radiant boy becomes an avenger later…’

Of course, that was a future only she knew, but it was hard to envision.

With a wistful expression, Jaina averted her gaze.

Considering Rosian’s impending fate pained her heart.

* * *

Meanwhile, Rosian marveled inwardly.

‘Is this really Mikael Bellafanian I’m meeting today?’

“Be careful brat, there are traps here.”

“You said that last time too.”

“This twerp… doesn’t even show gratitude when I watch out for him.”

Mikael’s gentle attentiveness toward his supposed little sister felt oddly discordant with how he treated him.

‘Has this walking trash finally matured at seventeen? I thought he was too rotten to be recyclable.’

Rosian, who had been dismissively observing his cousin, shifted his gaze to the petite girl beside him.

‘Her name was Jaina, wasn’t it?’

He recalled their first encounter.

Thud!

The girl enveloped in wind as she plummeted from the sky.

At first, he had thought she was caught in a magic spell, but she was straining to control the wind – meaning she could use magic.

Considering how rare it was for children to wield magic, the fact that Jaina could use ‘wind magic’ like Mikael couldn’t be mere coincidence.

‘They don’t seem close enough to call each other siblings. Are they actually blood-related?’

Rosian studied Jaina intently once more.

Her ocean-blue eyes felt hauntingly familiar.

‘Mikael’s uncle, Diamid Bellafanian, also had blue eyes, didn’t he?’

Being more familiar with his cousin Mikael than anyone, Rosian easily deduced Jaina’s identity as the Tower Lord’s daughter.

‘The Tower Lord’s hidden daughter who tamed the ill-bred Mikael…’

Stroking his chin, Rosian regarded Jaina with renewed interest.

* * *

“My apologies. I took matters into my own hands without the Tower Lord’s permission.”

Hilvenzia readily admitted her mistake with a bowed head.

“Why did you do such a thing?”

With an emotionless, cold gaze, Diamid looked down upon Hilvenzia.

He had already received a report about her unilaterally dealing with the magician Moben.

However, given her meticulous nature that never risked loss or made careless mistakes, he had waited to hear her justification.

“There is no excuse. I will accept any punishment.”

But Diamid’s expectation proved wrong.

There was no trace of her usual sharp rhetoric or dignified composure.

Even not grasping at straws to defend herself, Hilvenzia remained silent.

“…”

In the face of her reticence, Diamid fell silent as well.

By principle, he should have immediately punished Hilvenzia and released Moben.

But strangely, he felt disinclined to do so.

He always made clear-cut decisions between black and white, never regretting his choices even if proven wrong.

Yet this time, he struggled to reach a resolution.

“Tower Lord?”

Diamid momentarily averted his gaze through the window.

From the tower’s summit where he resided, he could overlook the entire Magic Tower grounds.

Before long, he spotted Jaina playing in the garden.

“That child?”

“…”

“The one you risked punishment to protect?”

Drawing his mana, Diamid focused on the sounds from the garden.

“I once made a flower bouquet too, but it pales in comparison to yours, Your Imperial Highness. How did you learn to make these wreaths?”

“Ah, I learned from various ladies.”

An unfamiliar face appeared – the imperial grandson, likely visiting as Mikael’s cousin.

“Once with Lady Prielle, once while playing with Lady Tetimia, once when Lady Brina was showing off, and once when making one for Lady Ireli. Constant practice made me skilled.”

Rosian then let out a soft exclamation.

“And I made one for Mother, and for the Head Guard Juliet…”

“Hey.”

At that moment, Mikael cut Rosian off with a deeply furrowed face.

“How many women are you on a first-name basis with already, you little rascal?”

But whether Mikael provoked him or not, Rosian paid no heed as he continued speaking.

“So as I was saying…”

Though initially angered, Mikael too eventually chuckled at Rosian’s words as time passed.

‘What could be so amusing?’

Diamid’s gaze remained fixated solely on Jaina.

The girl resembling Bezrice was smiling as she listened to the boy’s words.

Diamid’s piercing stare softened at the sight of Jaina’s radiant expression.

‘Did that imperial brat give her that cloak draped around her?’

An inexplicable discomfort arose within him as Rosian’s hand reached toward Jaina’s face.

“You’ve got some cream on you.”

“Ah, thank you.”

Diamid watched intently as Jaina politely thanked him, a rather awkward display.

‘Even if they’re children, for a boy to casually touch a girl’s face…’

To Rosian, it was a casual friendly gesture, and Jaina had accepted it innocuously. But to Diamid, it felt excessively intimate.

‘So much for being protective.’

And he just sat there foolishly despite witnessing such impropriety.

Could he not fathom Jaina potentially becoming one of the many ‘ladies’ Rosian had mentioned?

‘…Utterly annoying.’

Diamid glared coldly at Jaina.

He couldn’t comprehend why he kept fixating on this child, for her being Bezrice’s daughter alone felt insufficient justification.

With his emotions sealed, others should be as inconsequential as roadside pebbles…

‘Do I still harbor resentment toward her? Wishing to see Bezrice’s daughter betrayed by her beloved, just as I was?’

Bezrice, who had once whispered words of love to him, not only mocked him but ultimately tried to kill him.

Would it not be a fitting conclusion for her daughter to suffer the same abandonment he had endured?

“Tower Lord?”

Snapping out of his reverie at Hilvenzia’s voice, Diamid muttered curtly:

“Leave.”

The reason was clear. The only reason he had spared Bezrice’s audacious daughter who brazenly sought him out claiming to be his child, keeping her in the Magic Tower despite her constant vexations…