“S-S-Simon! These are our guests! And noblemen at that…”
Watoh Company certainly wielded its own influence among the nobility, but at the end of the day, the Watohs were still commoners. Ernest, on the other hand, was the head of a prestigious noble family and a close friend of King Rodrick. Ernest might be a playful sort of man, particularly with Yuuri, but such inconsiderate words in standard polite society were not allowed. The fact that the Watoh family heir would speak with such unbridled distaste to someone, especially during the first meeting, left Yuuri mortified.
And Ernest, grinning wildly with a surprising amount of composure, was of little comfort to her. “Miss Yuuri, it’s all right. I’m not upset in the least. Lord Simon was just worried about you.”
Rising to his provocations, Simon was shaking, his hands clenched into fists.
“By the way, Lord Simon, are those clothes of yours from Hinomoto?”
“Yes, they are! I am of Hinomoto descent, and so are my clothes!” Simon’s face was scarlet as he could scarcely answer the question, embarrassed at how his opponent baited him.
“So you must be the one who sends her all those haori. They suit her very well. I especially like the vivid blue one with the red flowers on it.”
The tension in Simon’s face disappeared at the mention of Yuuri’s haori. “The camellia one? I agree. I picked it out for her myself when I was in Hinomoto.”
“Uhm, Simon, perhaps we should get to the real reason we’ve come today. The baron here has something he’d like to ask you about…” Yuuri suspected it was now or never if she wanted to guide the discussion back to the baron’s request while her brother was still in a good mood.
“Hm? Ah, yes, my apologies.”
“Baron Weller has a funadansu in his possession, but has asked for help in finding its hidden compartment.”
“A funadansu?”
“Yes. He received it from a Xingkaese diplomat, but it’s of Hinomotoese craftsmanship.”
“There are certain principles guiding Hinomoto trap construction. If I can take a look at it, I could figure it out with ease!” Simon was an avid collector of works of art and craftsmanship from Hinomoto.
When he first began negotiations with Xingka and Hinomoto, he took an interest in local fashions. As his interests deepened, he began wearing hakama even when he was at work.
“Really? Thank you very much, Lord Simon!” Joel was overjoyed at Simon’s easy confidence.
Still, if his adopted father didn’t want the letter found, then perhaps that’s how it should stay?
Yuuri couldn’t help but wonder why Joel was so desperate to find the letter. Perhaps he had an idea of what might be written within it. But Yuuri doubted disclosing what the deceased had wanted destroyed was the right thing to do.
Still, Joel’s serious demeanor suggested he wasn’t searching for the letter out of mere curiosity. And she was hesitant to butt into another family’s affairs. So, in the end, Yuuri decided not to ask him.
Simon agreed to pay Baron Weller a visit in three days’ time and with that, they brought the conversation to a close.
They had been so engrossed in their discussion that the sun was beginning its descent before they realized it. Just as the three visitors prepared to take their leave, Simon hurried to stop Yuuri.
“Yuuri, why don’t you stay for dinner? We can eat out somewhere; we don’t have to dine in the manor.”
“N-no, I can’t…I have plans.”
She avoided being alone with Simon at all costs. She knew he worried about her living all alone and wished nothing more than for her to come live with him. Yuuri felt she must be a horrible sort of person for being so cold to someone who only held the best of intentions.
“Plans? You don’t mean with the esteemed count here, do you?!”
“No! And anyway, it’s none of your business. What if she says something…?” She felt guilty, but in the end, she turned him down.
“Let Mother say whatever she likes—it doesn’t matter to me!”
“…And I hate to see you two fight!”
“But that won’t happen, I promise!”
“If you keep covering for me, she’ll turn that same icy glare on you, Simon.”
Simon always wore the hakama, so as not to lose touch with his Hinomoto roots. Each time he visited the country, he brought his sister back beautiful clothes. Though Yuuri appreciated his kindness, she couldn’t reciprocate.
“I’m sorry, Simon,” Yuuri said, leaving the room before he could object further.
Before boarding her carriage, Yuuri bowed to the two men who had accompanied her. “I am so terribly sorry both of you had to see that.”
“I’ll see you home,” Ernest said, looking unusually worried.
The pair parted with Joel and rode the rest of the way to Yuuri’s shop in silence. Yuuri could tell Ernest’s silence was out of concern for her. But what she really wanted was for him to comfort her.
“Can I tell you something?” Yuuri asked as he walked her into her shop.
“I assumed you didn’t feel much like talking, so I remained silent, but of course. I always want to hear more about you,” Ernest said, taking his usual seat on the couch.
Yuuri sat down next to him and began to explain her relationship with her brother. While she did not look like either of her parents due to the atavism, Simon was the spitting image of their mother. Their mother showered Simon with as much love as she did Yuuri with hate. Due to his mother’s influence, the young Simon began to hate Yuuri as well. It seemed a natural progression, with Yuuri living at her grandmother’s, the siblings rarely saw each other. But as he grew, he recognized the cruelness in his mother’s heart, and his treatment of Yuuri began to change. Yuuri, still a child then, was simply grateful for her brother’s sudden kindness.
This harmony didn’t last.
One day, upon learning Simon had gone to their grandparents to see Yuuri, their mother rushed over there in a rage. Having almost forgotten her daughter, the look on Yuuri’s mother’s face when she saw her was one of rage and hatred. From that day on, Yuuri avoided Simon.
“You could see your mother lurking just behind your brother’s eyes, couldn’t you? Something like that?”
Yuuri bristled. Ernest was speaking the truth she’d sought to avoid.
Every time Yuuri and Simon got close, their mother went into a fit. That was true.
But the real reason Yuuri didn’t want to spend time with Simon was because he reminded her of their mother. No matter how happy they were spending time together, it was her mother’s piercing grey-blue eyes staring back at her, sending chills down her spine. Just as Yuuri’s mother couldn’t bring herself to love her, Yuuri couldn’t manage to separate Simon from her mother. Because of that, she could never truly love him.
“If someone else is with me, it’s all right. But when it’s just the two of us, I never know what to talk to him about. I can’t seem to relax around him. I’m sure it’s some mixture of jealousy and hate.”
Though they both had the same parents, they looked nothing alike. Their mother had given Simon all of her love. And for that, Yuuri both envied and hated Simon. And she hated herself for feeling that way.
“I see. But maybe you also care about your brother.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because you treasure the gifts he gives you. …Now then…”
“…?”
Ernest pulled closer to Yuuri and took her hand.
Even in the dimly lit room, Yuuri’s adaptive eyes could see the look on his face. She could tell he was planning to do something untoward, but she couldn’t easily evade him.
“Now, what’s the best way to comfort a lady in distress? Or rather, how much would you permit me?” He lifted her hand to his lips. Unsure of how to stop the thundering of her own heart, Yuuri merely froze. He lifted his other hand to caress her cheek. “You don’t have to pull away.”
He tilted her face up gently. But Yuuri pulled away, giving him a final warning. His heart sank.
“Please leave!”
Embarrassed at not being able to resist him right away, Yuuri stood up and moved away from Ernest. She chased him out of the shop before collapsing on the couch.
“‘You should think of me as the only safe man in the world,’” she repeated what he had said to her earlier that day. “That was a big fat lie.”
That lying count had drained the last of Yuuri’s energy, leaving her too mentally exhausted to even consider her mother or brother.