The next day, Brandon entered the storeroom once again. He casually mentioned, "I’m going to the storeroom," and the way he said it was so matter-of-fact that Dani, oddly enough, had no urge to stop him. It was as if a long-sick elder had told their child, "I’m going out for a walk." While concerned, the child simply couldn’t prevent it.
Brandon spent a long time wandering through the storeroom, and with Dani’s help, he gathered various scraps of metal, gemstones, and wood. These were all brought back to his room. He then asked Dani to guard the door to his room, preventing anyone—especially his siblings—from entering.
By the time he came out for dinner in the evening, Brandon looked pale, his energy clearly drained from overuse of magic. He had spent the past few days holed up in his room, busy with his projects. Every time Dani entered his room, she found herself staring at the items on his desk. There were two hairpins on the table—one designed with an intricate butterfly, as if it were about to take flight, while the other was simpler but had a star-like shine that flickered as it caught the light from different angles. There was also a bracelet that seemed to glow, as though it was surrounded by a soft halo of light. Several simple belts, each with a weapon clip, had metal buckles engraved with clear, crystalline snowfke patterns.
As Dani gazed intently at these objects, Brandon casually tossed one of the belts her way. Dani caught it, surprised, and heard Brandon say, “This is for you.”
For a moment, Dani froze. Brandon stood up and gave her a big hug—or more accurately, clung to her thigh, given the height difference between them. It was meant to be a warm gesture, but the sight was oddly comical.
Dani, slightly flustered by the unanticipated closeness, asked, "For me?"
"Yes, Dani," Brandon replied. "No matter what the reason for you becoming my servant, I know that in the North, no one can force you into this. If you’re here willingly, I should be thankful. That’s something I realized when I noticed my siblings’ servants—they are seasoned knights, not at all like you."
“Thank you, Dani,” Brandon said sincerely.
In another part of the castle, the Duchess sat quietly, resting in her room with Brandon’s sister, Cery. The door opened silently, and the Duchess noticed her son walking in, his usual quiet demeanor unchanged, but there was something different today. He walked up to her and gently pced a beautiful bracelet on her wrist, saying, “For you, Mom.”
Brandon sat beside the Duchess, his voice calm as he spoke, “Don’t worry.” He pointed to his head and added, “I’ve always remembered... all of it.”
The Duchess’s eyes filled with emotion as she reached out to touch his head, her hand trembling slightly. She looked at the bracelet, the halo of light surrounding it, and found it dazzling, almost too beautiful to be real.
Later that day, when Brandon’s younger sister, Lilith, skipped happily into the training grounds wearing the butterfly hairpin, the other siblings stopped their training. All eyes were drawn to the pin as it fluttered, including the knight who was teaching them. It wasn’t until Lilith joyfully announced, “This is from my brother!” that everyone turned their attention to Brandon.
Brandon handed belts to his siblings, watching as they donned them, and then his gaze shifted between Lilith’s head and his own. He seemed as though he wanted to say something, but wasn’t sure how to express it.
Standing before his older sister, he slowly extended his left hand, and to everyone’s surprise, starlight flickered from his palm, catching everyone’s attention. Lilith immediately snatched it up, looking at Brandon with wide eyes. "For me?"
Brandon nodded, confirming, “Yes.”
Before he could say anything more, his sister pulled him into a tight hug and pnted a kiss on his cheek. It was something she had done when he was just a baby, but as they had grown older, their retionship had slowly distanced. She, along with everyone else, had begun to see him as the strange, unresponsive "idiot" of the family.
As for his two older brothers, they seemed less than thrilled with the gifts. After the Duke subtly showed his dissatisfaction, Brandon decisively countered, "Your waist is too wide, so for the same belt, you use up more material and magic. By that calcution, you’re the one I’ve given the most to—are you still dissatisfied?"
“As for my dear brothers," he continued, "if you’re accepting gifts, don’t be so picky. Either accept it graciously and thank me, or refuse outright.”
At that, the men of the Duke’s family fell silent, exchanging only gnces. Their eyes often drifted to the glowing bracelet on the Duchess’s wrist, or the hairpins on Lilith and the Duchess, their thoughts unspoken.
