Today, I had once more set out in search of Vidoro, that sneaky bastard had been hiding from me so he wouldn't have to do his laps since that day even though he was fully healed, but I always found him. He had expected it to be a one-time thing, but soon realized it would be an everyday routine.

And now he had resorted to locking himself into a vault with all his valuable belongings as a last resort.

"You've got to be kidding me..." I sighed massaging my temp,e at the sight of the huge vault set in the middle of Vidoro's room.

"Oh, Vidorooo~!" I called out in an overly sweet voice knocking on the door of the vault which was sure to send shivers down the boy's spine, it did.

"Open up." I demanded a moment later.

"NEVER!" Vidoro cried out, he seemed pretty determined to skip out on training today.

"Last chance, before I bust this open. Open the door." I warned leaning next to the vault door in waiting.

"..." He didn't open the door.

I sighed as I signaled Ardeat to get "Teehee". Teehee was the name of the whistle I had recently had Ardeat get for me to encourage Vidoro to train. It sounded like a mix of a crying + screeching baby on a flying plane and the sound of a fork scraping against a plate.

And the reason why I named it Teehee was because I suddenly remembered Micheal Jackson while looking at it.

The reason why I also had Ardeat buy these soundproof earmuffs made by the magic tower which blocked out the noise of the whistle. And since waves travel faster through solids, Vidoro was about to lose an ear if not both.

"Oh? You're back? Did you get Teehee?" I asked as Ardeat returned back to the room with Teehee speaking loud enough for Vidoro to hear me through the vault as he immediately busted out of it.

"Alright! Alright! You win!" Vidoro admitted frantically flailing his arms around despite his ego which proved just how effective Teehee was.

"Wise choice." I smiled down at the little boy standing before me while patting his head just to piss him off even more.

"Now, come along. We're already starting late as it is." I took Vidoro's hand in mine so that he couldn't escape while I continued treading towards the garden when the butler suddenly stopped me.

The butler was known as Petler, as most other butlers, he was an elderly man who already had his fair share of gray hair and wrinkles around his light grassy toned eyes.

He was said to be the most loyal subject of the duke who had been serving him since their young years. He was also the only servant in this whole mansion who treated Sovine with any form of respect.

"My apologies my lady. The duke has sent me to call for you." The servant informed causing my gaze to instantly grew cold towards Petler.

"Reason being?" I questioned though it came out a little harsher than I meant it to, which I only realized after catching the side-eyes Vidoro was sending me.

"I am only carrying out orders, I do not know the reason for your summoning." Petler explained as I let out a sigh of exhaustion.

"Ardeat, watch over Vidoro's training. I'll be back as soon as I can." I requested releasing the said boy's hand as I handed Ardeat Teehee.

"Yes, my lady." Ardeat replied bowing slightly while Vidoro watched me follow the butler out with curiosity in his eyes.

"Hey, let's follow them." Vidoro tugged on Ardeat's skirt looking up at her with determined eyes but she simply picked him up and threw him over her shoulder like a potato sack before walking away.

"I must refuse. The lady's orders were to watch over your training, so that is what I must do." Ardent explained knowing that I would probably tell her later anyway as she carried him out.

While he flailed his arms and kicked his legs to get her to release him the whole way to the garden.

-----

"My lord, I have brought the lady." Petler announced once we had reached the Duke's office.

"You may send her in, Petler." The duke called out from his office as Petler moved over to the side giving me space to enter.

As I pushed the door of the duke's office open I realized that Luden and Avis were also seated in there. Which meant this must've been quite an important matter.

"Sovine. Take a seat." The duke instructed while Luden was glaring daggers at me, probably cause I didn't curtsy after entering but who cares.

'Guess our last conversation didn't have much impact on him, huh? Well, I was expecting as much.'

As instructed, I took a seat next to Avis since Luden was glaring daggers at me.

Though Avis wasn't much better, he simply scoffed and turned away from me the second he saw me with his head resting on his fist.

'Assholes. All of them.'

"Well then, you all must be wondering why I called you here." The duke began glancing over to me with a concerned look framing his eyes.

"As you know, Marquis Quarum has recently broken off his engagement with Sovine. And in doing, has caused great loss to our business and reputation." The duke turned back to the other two brothers as they nodded in response.

I could not care less about that old bastard. But why was he bringing this up now? The first logical reason that popped up in my mind was that he had somehow managed to convince the Marquis to redo the engagement.

'If so, I will commit arson.'

"And though it wasn't easy..." The duke added as that single sentence repeated in my mind non-stop as if I was trying to summon some evil spirit to do the act for me.

'I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson, I will commit arson.'

"With my title as grand duke, I've managed to get you engaged with the crown prince." The duke finally announced as he turned to face me while my brain short-circuited causing me to freeze for a moment before I had finally processed what he had just said.

"WHAT?!" I shrieked slamming my hands against the table as I stood up in shock hearing what the duke had just said while Avis jerked to the end of the couch seeming startled by my actions.

"You got me engaged to that madman?!" I exclaimed striding over to the duke's desk feeling the rage build up inside me.

"Watch your tongue, Sovine. The crown prince is a man of high standing, I'm sure you'll be able to live comfortably with him by your side." The duke reasoned as I glared at him finding his "reason" so ridiculous it was laughable.

"Comfortably my foot! Have you already forgotten what happened to his last fiance?! She was sliced and hanged, it was so terrible that it was even in the newspapers of the neighboring continents!" I reminded slamming the desk while the duke sweat dropped and Luden jumped out of his seat just to yank me away from the duke's desk.

"Let go of me!" I tore my arm out of Luden's grip as we both began glaring coldly at each other, "First a cranky old, half-dead marquis, and now a worldwide known tyrant crown prince?! What's next, a half-rat?!"

"Sovine, calm down." The duke spoke up once more but I wasn't listening.

"There is absolutely no way in hell I am getting engaged to that bastard!" I declared but the duke only sighed and gazed down at me coldly with his brows knitted into a deep frown.

'They're not even listening to me... I guess there's no other way out of this...' I had hoped I wouldn't have to resort to this method due to how shitty I would feel while doing so but now it didn't seem as if there was much else I could do.

"Fine then!" I exclaimed storming over to the huge fancy window before shoving it open and climbing up on the unnecessary wide window sill.

'Time to throw a tantrum!'

"Sovine! What are you doing?! Get down from there right now!" The duke roared vaulting up from his seat just as Avis instantly followed with horror written all over his face as he ran forward towards me.

"Take one more step and I'll jump!" I declared taking a step back closer to the edge of the window as he instantly froze.

This must've been especially difficult for Avis considering he was the one who witnessed Socine leap to her death that night when I arrived in this body. But I didn't have the leisure to worry about him right now!

"Sovine! Don't be mad! Get down this instant!" Luden ordered, of course, I didn't listen.

"Then call off the engagement!" I demanded as taking another step back to cause them even more panic, yet they still hesitated to call the engagement off.

'Hah... So that's where Sovine stands in your list of priorities, huh?' I scoffed clenching my teeth in anger as I took another step back.

"Sovine! Just get down from there, can we just talk about this on stable ground?!" Avis suggested currently seeming to be the most logical yet panicked individual there.

"No. Not until you break off the engagement." I firmly refused his plea glaring down at the duke waiting for him to announce that he'd break off the engagement.

"Get down before I order the servants to confine you in your room again!" Avis threatened but I simply scoffed at his threat.

"So? I have a whole room to myself, you think that can stop me?"

"I'll assign guards!"

"And? They have swords don't they?"

"Then I'll assign maids!"

"Okay? That's not going to stop me."

And so we went back and forth for a while. The three bastards desperately attempted to convince me to get down from the widow sill yet I remained stubborn and continued my bratty act.

"Sovine... Just please get down..." The duke sighed deeply massaging his temple in frustration with his tone carrying a deep sense of exhaustion in it.

"I... I'll speak with the crown prince and see what I can do..." The duke finally gave in as my face instantly lit up in delight hearing his words.

"Father?!" Luden called a frown painting his face as he turned to the Duke in confusion.

"It can't be helped, Luden. You are all excused." The duke announced massaging his temple as I joyfully sneaked out of the room before Luden could say anything to me.

-----

"Ardeat. I'm back, sorry, that took longer than I anticipated." I announced as I arrived in the garden at our usual spot just to run into a collapsed Vidoro, as expected.

"... How many laps did he complete?" I turned from the exhausted child who was currently collapsed on the paved ground before me to Ardeat while she only sighed in response and shook her head.

"One and a half..." Ardent answered looking down at Vidoro as if he was the most helpless child she had ever met, he was.

"Well, that's understandable... To some extent." I pulled Vidoro up to his feet as he continued whining about how this was apparently useless and stupid.

"Let go of meeeee! I want to go back to my room!" Vidoro whined flailing his arms back and forth while dragging his weight to keep me from picking him up to his feet.

"What are you? Four? Stop whining and get up!" I smacked the back of Vidoro's head in irritation when he purposely attempted to continue lying on the floor.

----

Vidoro was eventually forced to complete his laps.

"Hungry? Ardeat already left to get your food." I questioned handing him a water bottle after dragging him to the bench.

"... I still don't get why you're making me do this." Vidoro sighed chugging the water down a moment later.

"Cause you have the stamina of a koala and speed of a koala along with the strength if a jellyfish. And jellyfishes are extremely weak, to the point they can't even control their own bodies." I answered causing him to jolt up in surprise as his eyes widened at me before he began glaring at me and turned away.

"You're exaggerating." He declared though it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself that instead of me.

"Nope." I also turned away from him leaning my body onto my elbow as I held my head in my hand while waiting for Ardeat to return.

"Ugh, whatever..." He rolled his eyes at me seeming to know himself that he was quite weak compared to other kids his age.

"Looks like you're back to normal now." Vidoro commented deciding to change the subject as he began eyeing my dress.

Today I was wearing a beautiful lavender, ruffle sequins, A-Line, with off-the-shoulder puffy long sleeves, which was backless, and a floor-length maxi gown. I couldn't deny that it was quite extravagant compared to the types of gowns I've been wearing up until now.

"Yeah, well. Luden told me that I was apparently too underdressed as a noble and lined up a bunch of gowns in front of me which would much literally make me seem like a puffer-fish covered in jewels so I picked the most proper one out of the batch." I explained while Vidoro simply stared at me only to sigh deeply and turn away from me a moment later as if I had made some kind of huge mistake.

That ticked me off but I decided to let it go as the older individual there. We simply sat there in silence for a few moments after that, enjoying the scenery of the setting sun playing before us before Vidoro suddenly broke the peaceful silence between us.

"Hey... Why did father call for you before?" Vidoro turned back to me unable to contain his curiosity and resist the urge to ask me any longer.

"Oh... That." My mood instantly went sour at the mention of the event causing the younger boy to wonder if he should've just kept his mouth shut after all.

"Uh... Forget I said that-" "He engaged me to the crown prince." I cut him off from answering the question before he could take it back.

"WHAT?!" Vidoro exclaimed hopping off the bench just to collapse on the floor afterward.

"... Idiot." I insulted and he only pouted in response since he couldn't deny that what he had just done was kinda pathetic and stupid considering how his legs were too sore from running to even stand right now.

"Anyway, I managed to convince him to go talk with that bastard and see if he could break off the engagement." I continued before lifting him up and seating him back on the bench since it was too troublesome to drag him there again.

"But why did he do that in the first place? You're already engaged to the Marquis Qaurum aren't you?" Vidoro questioned causing me to raise a brow at him but soon realized this was Vidoro, what did I expect?

Well, fortunately, Ardeat had also arrived just then with Vidoro's fold, so I could leave the explaining part to her. But I first had to brief Ardeat on the situation and the engagement with the crown prince that the duke had arranged without my knowledge.

"Ardeat will explain the rest to you." I informed Vidoro as I took the tray with his meal from Ardeat and handed it to him.

"Please take him back to his room after he's finished his meal as well, Ardeat. I have some work to finish." I added turning back to Ardeat who instantly figured out that I had to plan on what to do if the Duke failed to convince the crown prince and simply nodded in response.

'I am so glad I have Ardeat.' I couldn't help but smile at her before turning back to the mansion and returning to my room to plan what to do next.

Well, my first move would obviously be to read that novel I had received from that sketchy lady and see what the future held for Sovine once more from the current period.

To be continued...

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