“…you want to go play with Kafni?” Dmitri stared at Annan and repeated slowly.
He frowned his eyebrows even more.
He subconsciously pressed his right index and middle finger against his chin as he was in deep thought.
But there were still no hints of emotion in those pupils that had always been calm and indifferent.
Although Annan only had shoulder-length hair, he could easily be mistaken for an elegant maiden; Dmitri had long hair up till his waistline, yet he would never be mistaken for a woman.
It wasn’t just because of his deep voice.
It was more so his aura that seemed to carry a heavy weight.
“…Yes.” Annan grimaced in embarrassment and replied softly.
For some reason, the Dmitri before him seemed to overlap with the Ivan Austere-Winter in Annan’s memory, who trained him in the Frost Sword techniques.
…Is it because the eldest brothers are like fathers?
To be stared at by Dmitri’s domineering gaze, even Annan himself worried that he would not be granted his leave at that moment.
Even so, Dmitri calmly replied after a few seconds, “Okay.”
For some reason, he readily agreed to Annan’s request.
Dmitri then turned to Princess Elizabeth beside him and said politely in a soft voice, “My brother has caused you trouble.”
“No such thing… Little Kafni is usually a withdrawn child. She rarely has a friend, and I am very happy for her.” Princess Elizabeth smiled beautifully.
Her face seemed to be shining. It was hard to tell her specific age. But in her slightly squinted eyes, there was a sense of cunning that wasn’t displeasing.
She smiled at Annan and said, “You have a good brother, Your Highness Annan.”
“…Thank you, Your Highness.” Annan’s reaction was a little awkward. Finally, he bowed at Princess Elizabeth and let out a soft, polite voice.
The aura of his voice was a little weak, but it was as clear as a flame in the cold wind.
Seeing his demeanor, Dmitri suddenly said something out of the blue, “Annan, remember why you’re here.”
…I, why am I here? This made Annan a little confused.
But luckily, he quickly understood it.
At this time, Dmitri had already lost his fertility. In other words, the reason it was Annan instead of Maria who followed Dmitri to Noah was probably that Annan was the actual envoy that posed as the “Heir of the Dukedom”.
In other words, it was not “Annan who followed Dmitri”, but “Dimitri who followed Annan” here instead.
However, Annan was too young.
That was why Dmitri was asked to assist Annan in conducting a series of negotiations.
If so, what was Annan’s primary purpose for coming here?
—The answer was clear as the skies.
He was here to get more experience.
It could also be that Annan was here to build confidence.
As the eldest brother, Dmitri acted solidly and appropriately. This was probably the main reason why Annan’s character was relatively weak. Hence, although Annan made a somewhat outrageous request, Dmitri decided not to disapprove Annan.
Because what he had to do was to build confidence in Annan— not destroy it.
Annan’s thoughts dashed, and he organized them in the blink of an eye.
A firm expression quickly appeared on his tender and delicate face, “Of course, I remember, my eldest brother.
“Thank you for your care, Your Royal Highness.” There was still a slight trembling in Annan’s voice, but his voice had gotten louder and clearer — just like his voice outside of the nightmare.
At this time, Annan noticed that Dmitri’s constant frown had relaxed a little.
Does this mean he is pleased? That’s the right call.
Annan let out a sigh of relief secretly.
There was still no expression on Dmitri’s face, but he said indifferently, “Remember to come back before dinner.”
“You can also ask your new friend to show you around.” Princess Elizabeth added.
It seemed that she had noticed something — this woman who was known to be iron-fisted in the army seemed to become soft and gentle after changing into a dress.
She let out a gentle smile towards Annan and took his hand gently, “Not many people are willing to play with Kafni, but I know she’s a good girl… Keep her company, okay?”
Are you setting us up for marriage?
Having the intelligence of an adult, Annan immediately caught on to Elizabeth’s intentions.
This woman was brilliant. She was not “allowing” Annan to bond with Kafni but “requesting” for him to look after Kafni — A clever gesture, no doubt.
Why?
Did she realize that I’m the actual dukedom heir?
No, it’s not possible. Dmitri’s loss of fertility was a secret at this time. Otherwise, she would probably be more explicit in her gestures.
Plus, it was impossible that she would let Kafni and Annan get together right away if she did know of this matter.
After all, Kafni’s father was the fourth prince. If the “future Austere-Winter’s Grand Duke” could become the husband of his only daughter, Annan would then become his powerful political bargaining chip.
If Elizabeth realized that Annan was the actual future Grand Duke… she would have formed a de facto alliance with Albert before letting Albert freely expand his power.
—Because she was a smart person.
So, there was only one possibility.
Has the nobles’ political situation in the Noah Kingdom gotten to the point of needing a marriage partnership to relieve its tension? To the point of needing an “outsider” to disrupt the situation and reshuffle the forces of all parties…
Princess Elizabeth, who wasn’t wary of Annan, had inadvertently revealed major political information to Annan.
Annan, on the other hand, acted completely normal.
He replied softly, “Alright, Your Royal Highness.”
Annan’s voice had steadied, vaguely carrying Maria’s shadows.
This made Dmitri somewhat satisfied.
Annan then excused himself from the two.
Kafni took Annan to her bedroom.
She didn’t ask Annan how he got permission from the two supposed “heirs to the kingdom”.
It seemed as if she expected this already.
It could also be that Kafni didn’t care about these things.
“…This is the secret passage.” Kafni took Annan’s hand and walked him to her wardrobe, “After you exit, you will arrive straight to a corner of the garden. I often sneak out from here…”
Her voice was soft, and her face was a little flustered.
There was a stark difference from the Kafni a few years later who could hold Annan’s hand at ease even in the first meeting— the Kafni now would still get shy.
She seemed to be very concerned about the somewhat intimate relationship between the two of them at this time.
Annan instead thought exasperatedly. Hey, you’re only nine years old.
Although I know that girls may mature a little earlier, is it normal for you to know so much at such a young age?
“What are you going to do?”
Annan opened the cleat at the back of the closet and whispered to Kafni before going in, “Without my voice, they might realize that something is wrong.”
Kafni replied without hesitation, “I’ll draw you a picture.”
“…But I’m not here.”
“You were here.”
Kafni replied softly, “I can remember.”
Her seemingly non-human vitreous red eyes seemed to project another world which Annan couldn’t understand.
She replied in a low voice, “I can see… your phantom.”
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Credits to MindMatrix for editing this chapter and improving the readability.