“Yes. …Yes?”
“I tried talking to her countless times, but every attempt failed. And that note she showed…”
Yulias continued speaking as though he were a criminal making a confession.
Had Elysia ever seen him speak so incoherently before?
She quietly closed her slightly parted lips.
Sheyla had reacted coldly when Yulias tried to call Elysia away.
The note telling him to take Elysia only after the meal had shocked him more than he expected.
It was surprising enough that she had openly opposed him for the first time.
But there was an even bigger reason.
No matter how many maids had been assigned to her before, Sheyla had ignored them all.
Yet this time, she had shown possessiveness toward another person.
In other words, she cared more about a maid she had known for only a short time than her own older brother.
Yulias slowly lowered his head.
“It’s not that the young lady is a burden to me.”
“…”
“If she truly annoyed me, I wouldn’t have kept her close. I wouldn’t have demanded reports whenever something happened. I wouldn’t have cared what became of her. And…”
“Your Grace.”
His voice sounded strained as he continued.
When Elysia called to him gently, he rubbed his face.
“In the end, these are only excuses, but I never…”
“I understand enough. You don’t need to explain any further.”
His lowered head slowly rose.
At some point, Elysia had begun smiling softly.
“I think Your Grace is struggling because you don’t know how to approach Lady Sheyla.”
“…”
“Am I wrong?”
Unable to answer aloud, Yulias simply nodded.
“Hm.”
Elysia let out a breath that sounded almost like a sigh and continued in an attempt to lighten the mood.
“It’s not completely impossible. Lady Sheyla doesn’t fully trust me yet, but she likes Joshua.”
“My brother?”
“My brother, yes. They spend most of their meals together, and I heard they often read books in the library. I’ve seen it myself a few times.”
“Then should I ask Joshua for help?”
His expression somehow became even more serious.
Elysia immediately waved both hands.
“That’s not the point. Your Grace, the important thing is that Lady Sheyla hasn’t completely closed her heart to people.”
“…I see.”
“I’m still building trust with her myself. So if that’s the case…”
Holding the note in her hand, Elysia fell into thought.
Yulias watched her quietly.
For some reason, he seemed unusually tense, his lips pressed together.
“I know! Let’s practice together!”
“Practice?”
The word naturally made Yulias think of weapons or horseback riding.
But what Elysia meant was something entirely different.
“Yes! Building relationships and getting close to people requires practice too. Just like children learn social skills from their parents.”
“I never thought I’d hear someone tell me I lack social skills.”
To be honest...
Wasn’t it true?
Elysia let out a small groan and laughed awkwardly.
Maybe treating him like a beginner would work better.
“Look.”
She held up both index fingers and slowly moved them toward each other.
“Whatever the relationship, approaching someone gradually is important. Even if they aren’t family.”
“Why does this feel like a lesson for a five-year-old?”
Ignoring the comment completely, Elysia continued demonstrating.
She moved her fingers closer together, then apart again.
“But if you rush forward because your feelings get ahead of you, there’s no guarantee the other person will accept it.”
Yulias watched the fingers approach and separate.
“So?”
“Practice approaching slowly. That includes conversation, trust, and building a relationship. How about practicing that with me?”
Yulias looked at her with a lukewarm expression.
It was obvious he wasn’t entirely convinced.
Refusing to back down, Elysia thrust the note he had shown her closer to him.
Yulias instinctively leaned back.
“The reason you asked me for help is because Lady Sheyla told me not to leave, right?”
“…”
His eyes silently shifted away.
“That means this is the first time you’ve ever seen her ask someone to stay with her.”
“…Yes.”
Yulias admitted it in a quiet voice, as though conceding defeat.
There was no doubt about it.
That accidental discovery of the note had given him hope.
Perhaps hope that his relationship with Sheyla could be repaired through Elysia.
That stubbornness is going to be a problem, Elysia thought inwardly before changing the subject.
“Joshua and I may seem very close, but we fight quite often.”
“Fight? The only thing I’ve seen was when he cried because he didn’t want to go home.”
“That would actually be the easier kind. There were times when we didn’t speak to each other for days.”
“And how did you make up afterward?”
Yulias asked.
Elysia answered without the slightest hesitation, as though the answer were obvious.
“We apologized.”
“…”
“I tell him what hurt my feelings, he tells me what hurt his, and then we apologize and go back to normal.”
As she spoke, she clasped her two index fingers together.
Like locking them together with a key.
Yulias stared at her joined hands.
Something in his gaze wavered.
Apologize.
Talk about hurt feelings.
Had he ever done that?
Not once.
Elysia lowered her hands onto her lap.
“To get to that point, the other person needs to trust that you don’t hate them and don’t find them bothersome. And Your Grace needs to practice building that trust.”
This time, Yulias nodded.
He seemed to understand, at least somewhat.
Only then did Elysia finally let out a small sigh of relief.
“Then where do I start?”
“Do you spend time with Lady Sheyla at all? You seem to eat separately, and I don’t think you go on walks together either…”
The more Elysia thought about it, the more she realized their daily lives barely overlapped.
Yulias looked away and answered.
“You’re right. We don’t really do anything together.”
“Then how about starting with meals?”
“Do we have to?”
“Your Grace. If you want to get closer, you need time together first.”
Yulias let out a quiet groan.
Then, as though admitting defeat again, he nodded.
“And then?”
“Invite her to eat with you.”
“I doubt I’d get an answer at all.”
“I’ll pass the message along. How about tomorrow at lunch?”
“You want me to start eating with her tomorrow?”
“Of course.”
He still looked hesitant.
But in the end, he nodded anyway.
Elysia brightened immediately.
“Trust me. I’m building trust with Lady Sheyla too.”
Seeing how desperately he wanted to reconnect with his sister made her want to help.
And perhaps, if Sheyla learned to rely on him, they could become as close as she and Joshua were.
After that, Elysia enthusiastically demonstrated examples of how he should talk to her during lunch.
However...
[I’m not eating.]
Sheyla thrust the hastily scribbled note toward her and glared.
“But... there wasn’t a separate cart prepared for eating together. Actually, there was a problem with the cart, so bringing the food to your room would be…”
Trying to lie so awkwardly only made her words more tangled.
Elysia did her best to persuade her.
But Sheyla seemed to have anticipated everything.
Another note appeared immediately.
[Then I’ll starve.]
The words carried a determination that could not be shaken.
“Lady Sheyla…”
Elysia called out desperately.
It was useless.
Sheyla slammed the door shut.
Bang!
Startled, Elysia stepped back.
Her hand had nearly been caught in the door.
“...Lady Sheyla.”
She knocked cautiously and listened.
Click.
The result was the sound of the door being locked.
Elysia forced a smile, but inside she felt like crying.
She had expected it to be difficult.
But she hadn’t expected to be rejected so thoroughly.
Yulias was probably waiting in the small banquet room already.
Everything she had worked for...
Had fallen apart.
"Wouldn’t it be nice to have a comfortable meal together in the small banquet room?"
All the effort she had spent convincing Yulias had turned to nothing.
Letting out a silent sigh, Elysia remembered something he had told her the night before.
"She stopped speaking after entering the Academy. The last time I was able to talk with her was after her first vacation."
His face, unable to continue speaking, resurfaced in her memory.
Gently placing a hand against the door, Elysia murmured:
“...What happened there?”
