"Hey, Payns, what's wrong with you?"
"You look like you've seen a ghost!"
"Are you alright? You've gone completely white!"
Gilbert's friends buzzed around him worriedly, but he no longer heard them.
His entire being was focused on a single point — the figure relentlessly approaching him.
The figure was small, almost fragile. But Gilbert knew that behind this fragility lay a strength capable of moving mountains. Or, at the very least, wringing his neck.
He had to run.
His legs had already tensed, ready to bolt, his mind frantically searched for an escape route.
But it was too late.
A small, yet incredibly tenacious palm landed on his shoulder and squeezed with such force that his bones creaked pitifully.
"Follow me," came an icy voice that made Gilbert's blood run cold in his veins.
And before he could react in any way, he was unceremoniously grabbed by the scruff of the neck and dragged away.
Gilbert's friends, and indeed everyone in the corridor, watched this with their mouths open.
"...Hey, what's going on here?!"
"Payns! Where are they dragging you?!"
"Hey, you! Who even are you?!"
But Rose paid them no attention whatsoever.
She hauled her brother through the corridor with the determination of someone carrying a sack of potatoes, not a living person.
The nearest secluded place turned out to be the men's restroom.
Rose flew inside, dragged the resisting Gilbert in after her, and slammed the door shut with a crash.
Gilbert froze, his back pressed against the wall, staring at his sister with eyes wide with terror.
Silence.
All that could be heard was his ragged breathing and the sound of water in one of the stalls (someone was washing their hands, but upon hearing the noise, hastily retreated without even glancing at the strange pair).
"Um..." Gilbert's voice trembled like an aspen leaf. "Sister... what are you doing here?"
Rose slowly turned to him.
On her face was an expression that could only be described in one word: "I'm going to kill you."
"What am I doing here?" she repeated in an icy tone. "Don't you think that's the question I should be asking?"
"I..." Gilbert swallowed, trying to think of something, anything, in his defense.
But Rose didn't let him finish.
She abruptly stepped forward, and Gilbert instinctively squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for a blow.
But the blow never came.
Instead, someone's fingers grabbed his hair and yanked hard!
"OW!" Gilbert howled from the unexpected pain. "That hurts! Sister, what are you doing?!"
"And what the hell is this?!"
Rose stood before him, holding in her hand... his wig.
A fluffy, wheat-blonde wig, which, judging by the sensation, she had just torn from his head along with his scalp.
Gilbert, left with his own pink hair — exactly the same shade as his sister's — clutched his head and hissed in pain.
"What for?!" he groaned. "What did you do that for?!"
But Rose was too busy examining the wig in her hands.
"What the hell?!" she exclaimed, shaking the object in front of her brother's nose. "What is this crap?!"
One could understand why she herself wore a wig. She needed to hide her identity.
But Gilbert? Why would he?!
"It's... just part of the disguise..." he mumbled, rubbing his head.
"Disguise?" Rose smirked in a way that sent shivers down Gilbert's spine. "Do you seriously think you're such an important person that you need to change your appearance?"
She couldn't believe what was happening.
Her brother had not only changed his name, not only moved to the other end of the Empire, but had also altered his appearance!
Such measures of conspiracy would be more suitable for some disgraced prince or fugitive criminal, not an eighteen-year-old guy from a run-down count's family!
"Sister, you..." Gilbert tried to steer the conversation in a different direction. "This is a men's academy! How did you get in here?!"
"We haven't seen each other for almost half a year, and that's the only thing you want to say to me?" Rose's voice rang with steel.
"I..."
"You didn't even ask about Mother? Didn't bother to find out how she is, whether she's even alive at all?"
Gilbert lowered his head, unable to meet her gaze.
Rose looked at the top of his head for a few seconds, then smiled bitterly.
"Well, what else can you expect from someone who renounced his own family?"
"I didn't renounce it!" Gilbert lifted his head, pain flashing in his blue eyes. "I... I was worried about you! About Mother! About you!"
"Worried so much that you left us to be torn apart by the Valentino family?"
Gilbert fell silent again, unable to find excuses.
Rose looked at him and felt the weariness wash over her in a heavy wave.
She had found him. The main goal was accomplished.
Now she could simply take him and leave.
"Fine," she said coldly. "You can tell me everything later. Right now, we're going home."
She grabbed her brother's arm and pulled him towards the exit.
But Gilbert didn't budge.
Rose stopped and slowly turned around.
Her gaze said: "Just try saying something you'll regret."
"I..." Gilbert swallowed but forced himself to say: "I'm not going anywhere."
"What?" Rose squinted. "What did you say?"
"I said I'm not going anywhere," he repeated a little louder, though his voice still trembled.
Rose looked at him with an expression as if he had just confessed to high treason.
"And what is that supposed to mean?"
"Sister..." Gilbert lowered his eyes. "I really can't go with you. Please... just forget with Mother that I ever existed."
Rose's patience, which had been hanging by a thread, snapped with a deafening crack.
"Forget?" she repeated in an icy whisper. "FORGET?!"
Gilbert was silent, shrinking his head into his shoulders.
"Do you have any idea how much effort our mother invested in you?" Rose's voice gained momentum. "How many years she raised you to be the heir? How she denied herself everything so you could have the best education?!"
"And did I ask for that?" Gilbert suddenly cried out, tears glistening in his eyes. "Nobody asked me if I wanted to be the heir! That decision was made for me!"
"OF COURSE!" Rose roared, the echo bouncing off the tiled walls. "Because it's your duty! You were born the count's son, and you have obligations to your family! How can you be so selfish?!"
"My duty?" Gilbert smiled bitterly, wiping his eyes with his sleeve. "By rights, it should be your duty, Sister. You're the elder. Why was it all dumped on me?"
Rose froze.
Because there was a bitter truth in that.
By all laws and traditions, she, as the elder daughter, should have inherited the title and become the head of the family.
But there was one reason why this burden fell on Gilbert's shoulders.
"Dahlia Valentino," Rose said quietly but distinctly.
Gilbert flinched at the name.
"Only the family heir can marry her," Rose continued. "That's why you had to take on that role."
Yes, that was it.
The Valentino family was so powerful that even a marriage contract with them required a certain status. The groom of the ducal house's heiress couldn't just be a "count's son." He had to be the heir, the future head of the family.
Therefore, when it became clear that Gilbert was the only son, the choice fell on him.
He was to marry Dahlia Valentino. Fulfill the vow made a generation ago. Save the family from debt and poverty.
Who else, if not him?
But at the mention of that name, Gilbert flinched as if he'd been electrocuted.
"No..." he whispered, backing away. "Not that."
"What?" Rose frowned.
"I won't marry her!" Gilbert cried out with such passion that Rose was taken aback. "If you and Mother want to force me to marry that monster, then I'd rather..."
He hesitated, but then, gathering his courage, finished:
"I'd rather die right now!"
Rose stared at him as if he were insane.
"What nonsense are you talking?" she said slowly. "It's just a marriage. An ordinary arranged marriage."
She truly didn't understand.
In aristocratic society, such marriages were the norm. People married not for love, but for convenience, to strengthen the family's position, unite lands, become related to an influential clan.
And marriage to the Valentinos was the ultimate dream for any noble in the Empire! For such a right, nobles were ready to tear each other's throats out!
And this idiot was turning his nose up?
"Do you have any idea what an honor this is?" Rose continued. "The Valentino family is the second house in the Empire! If not for the Imperial family, they would be the first! Dahlia Valentino is one of the most enviable brides in the entire Cordron Empire!"
"I know!" Gilbert cried out. "I know all that! But..."
He didn't finish.
Instead, he suddenly dropped to his knees.
Right on the tiled floor of the men's restroom.
Rose stared at him with her mouth open.
Gilbert looked up at her — his eyes full of tears, despair, and... fear.
"Sister," his voice trembled and broke. "You can kill me right here. With your own hands. I won't resist."
"You..." Rose couldn't believe her ears.
"But her..." Gilbert took a convulsive breath. "That monster... I won't marry her. Never!"