Aside from that, there was one thing I noticed.
Since earlier, Bettina’s way of speaking—wasn’t it more familiar than when she talks to anyone else?
Could it be that because this brother is close in age, they’ve been close playmates since long ago?
It seemed possible.
I had that feeling.
***
“Hey, hey?”
Bettina put her hand on my arm and let out a puzzled voice, “Lord Rudolf’s hand won’t let go. I’ve never seen him cling to something so tightly before.”
“Do something about it.”
“If you use a lot of force, maybe you can, but Lord Rudolf might start crying.”
“…Like I care about that.”
“Well then, Lord Wolf, could you carry Lord Rudolf to his bed? If it’s a bed he’s used to, he might feel safe enough to let go.”
“Seriously…?”
For a moment, his pale eyes glared down.
“Fine, whatever.”
He slipped his free arm around my waist and sat up.
“Excuse me~”
Without the slightest hint of embarrassment, Bettina followed behind in a sing-song voice.
We stepped into the hallway and at the door two rooms down, I was roughly set down on my familiar bed.
“Here, if you’re sleepy, go ahead and sleep again here.”
“Ugh…”
Still clutching my brother’s arm, I looked up at his thoroughly displeased face with my eyes.
“Seems like you still want someone to play with, huh?”
“Seriously?”
Bettina smiled mischievously, while my brother glared back at her with a look like he wanted to bite.
“I have to eat breakfast and get through my daily routine. I don’t have time to deal with you.”
He turned to face me again and glared fiercely.
Ignoring the atmosphere, I met his gaze with an upward glance once more.
“B- bro…”
“Huh?” Suddenly, Bettina raised both hands in the air.
“Did you hear that? He said ‘brother.’ Lord Rudolf understands you, you know, your big brother.”
“W-well…”
Next to the babysitter’s full smile, my brother’s face turned bright red.
“I don’t care! I just said I can’t play during my routine! Infant, stay put here quietly!”
He brushed my small hands away and glared back, still blushing.
‘Does that mean after his routine, it’s okay?’
Tilting my head, I looked back at him.
Bettina must have thought the same, because she chuckled quietly.
“Anyway, food. Breakfast!”
With heavy steps, my brother stormed out of the room.
Bettina, left behind, couldn’t stop giggling as she reached for my clothes to change me.
“Lord Wolf is studying with his tutor in the mornings, so he’s really busy, you know.”
“…”
‘Studying, huh.’
It piqued my interest.
I wanted to keep interacting with my brother.
That was largely due to a sense of familial affection I felt for the first time in my life here.
But in addition to that, there was an intuition telling me something.
If I stayed close to my brother, I might be able to get the information I had been seeking all along.
Whether about the family or the territory, since he was probably the heir apparent of the lordship, information should naturally gather around him to some extent.
‘That brother… he’s the eldest son, right?’
That wasn’t confirmed yet, but it seemed unlikely that our youthful-looking mother had an older child.
Even the brother, who seemed about ten years old, felt like it was hard to believe that mother had given birth to him.
She still didn’t look over twenty years old.
Just how old had she been when she gave birth?
According to information obtained later, mother was currently twenty-six, and the brother was born when she was fifteen.
Also, although there was quite a gap between my brother and me, there had been a stillborn child in between, making me the second child and definitely the second son.
About half an hour after my brother left, Nursemaid Westa came in with my breakfast.
The daily schedule was roughly the same every day, but now that I thought about it, maybe Westa only came after finishing preparing my brother’s breakfast.
Afterward, Bettina tidied my clothes once more.
‘My brother said it was study time, huh.’
Thinking that, I lightly tapped the arm I was cradled in.
Recently, this had become the way to communicate my desire to walk around the house.
However, since I’d never gone out for a stroll so early in the morning, Bettina looked a little uncertain.
“Um… how about relaxing a bit more in your room? If you disturb Lord Wolf’s studies, he might get angry.”
‘I’m an infant. I don’t care about that.’
Puff, puff.
I returned the puff-puff attack at Bettina’s warnings again and again until even the babysitter gave in.
“You absolutely mustn’t disturb him, okay?”
Muttering complaints, she carried me down the stairs.
To the left at the bottom was the kitchen and dining hall, the places I visited most often.
To the right, I hadn’t been much, but the door to the room across the entrance hall was open.
I saw my brother and an unfamiliar man sitting facing each other.
When Bettina tried to go left, I puffed her arm to stop her.
‘Right. Right.”
She seemed to understand my silent request, but her expression turned sour.
“I told you, don’t disturb his studies.”
‘Just looking. Just looking.’
After several tens of seconds of back-and-forth, Bettina sighed heavily.
“Okay, just a little look.”
‘I won.’
I pumped my fist silently inside.
But if I were an ordinary infant, Bettina would never have given in here.
At least for these past ten days or so since I gained consciousness, I hadn’t caused any trouble to others.
That earned me their trust.
They truly didn’t think I would disturb the studies.
Bettina’s worry was only that either my brother or the tutor might look displeased.