~Chapter 07~
Contrary to Ruby’s hopes, Duke Lux didn’t show any interest in the children staying at the mansion.
He pretty much ignored their existence.
He didn’t eat with them or talk to them.
It was as if they were living in completely different worlds under the same roof.
Ruby wasn’t hurt by this. She didn’t expect the Duke to warm up to them so quickly anyway.
On the bright side, the Duke also didn’t interfere with anything the children did.
That made Calix and Sasha excited.
“Noona, the room is huge. I think it’s bigger than our old house.”
Calix was right.
The house they used to live in was built with their parents’ hard-earned money and was tiny in comparison—even smaller than one guest room in the Duke’s mansion.
Each guest room came with a bathroom, a closet, and a massive bedroom combined into one space.
The bed was so big that all four siblings could sleep on it together.
Since the place was unfamiliar, Calix and Sasha refused to sleep apart from Ruby.
Thankfully, Balt had prepared a separate mattress for the baby, so Maria wouldn’t get squished by her older siblings.
Maria was an easy baby. Even if she woke up at dawn, she played quietly without crying.
And thanks to Ruby’s experience as the eldest of five in her past life, she could anticipate Maria’s needs before she got upset.
“Remember those knights from the training ground yesterday?”
“Yeah.”
“Wouldn’t it be fun to train with them?”
Calix suddenly stopped eating.
“Practicing alone gets boring. But if you train with adults, they’ll match your level—and you’ll learn more too. What do you think?”
“People who match my level?”
“Of course. The knights here are really strong. I’m sure a lot of them could go head-to-head with you.”
Calix had always wanted to spar with people on his level.
Ruby was using that to tempt him.
“Really?”
Ruby gave a look to Balt, who immediately understood her cue and said,
“Absolutely. The House of Lux has many strong knights. I’m sure several could easily beat you.”
“They’re stronger than me?”
“Much stronger,” Ruby added.
Those words clearly hurt Calix’s pride.
“I want to go.”
“Go where?”
“To where the strong guys are. I’m going to beat them all.”
Calix’s eyes were burning with determination.
“No, you can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Only kids who finish their broccoli are allowed to enter the training ground.”
“That’s not a real rule!”
Calix slammed his fork down in protest.
“It is now. Right, Balt?”
“Indeed. It’s a long-standing rule in House Lux.”
Calix looked back and forth between them suspiciously, but their serious expressions made him start to believe it.
Grudgingly, he glared at the broccoli and began eating it one bite at a time.
His face showed just how much he hated it.
But soon, Calix’s eyes widened in surprise.
It probably tasted a lot better than he expected.
“Sasha, did you see that?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Big bro eats broccoli too!”
“Mm…”
“So if Sasha wants to be a cool kid like big bro, she has to eat it too, right?”
Ruby knew that Sasha liked copying her brother.
Sure enough, Sasha stared at Calix, then slowly picked up her fork and started eating.
“Tastes better than you thought, right?”
“Yeah! Yummy!”
“Whew. I’m relieved,” Balt said with a smile.
“Thank you for making sure the kids enjoy their meals.”
“The chef carefully planned this meal to be both healthy and tasty. He’ll be happy to hear they liked it.”
Ruby had tasted the food first and suggested the broccoli because she knew the kids would enjoy it.
It was all thanks to the chef’s efforts.
“Can we thank the chef in person later?”
“Of course. Lady Ruby is always welcome.”
Ruby smiled awkwardly.
They were only staying temporarily—and not even officially accepted yet.
But the kindness of the mansion’s staff made her truly grateful.
Calix quickly finished his broccoli and meat. He clearly couldn’t wait to head to the training ground.
“You’re going with me, right, Calix?”
“I’m busy!” he said, jumping off his chair and running off.
“I’ll go with him,” Balt offered, following after Calix.
Though he had other duties besides the Duke, Balt did his best to care for the children.
Ruby felt both sorry and thankful.
“I wanna go too,” Sasha said.
Ruby had expected that.
“Then finish your food first.”
Sasha looked sadly at the remaining meat and broccoli on her plate.
“If you want to catch up with your brother, you’d better eat fast.”
With sparkling eyes, Sasha began to eat quickly.
Half of it ended up on the floor, but she still finished her meal.
“Shall we go now?”
When they arrived at the training ground, Calix had already found an opponent.
He was standing across from one of the knights.
“You want me to spar with this little kid?” the knight asked Balt, clearly surprised.
“You saw him yesterday, right? He’s no ordinary child.”
“Still… he’s just a kid…”
Calix, seeing the hesitation, taunted him.
“Scared you’re going to lose?”
The knight’s face stiffened.
“Lose to you?”
“Yeah. You won’t even fight me because you’re afraid I’ll beat you.”
Calix knew how to hit his pride just right.
The knight’s expression changed.
“Don’t go crying to your sister when you get hurt. I won’t go easy on you.”
The two raised their wooden swords.
Calix spun his sword expertly in his hand—just to show off.
The knight gritted his teeth and held back.
“Come at me, kid.”
He clearly didn’t want to attack first. No adult wants to be the one to strike a child.
“Don’t regret it later!”
Calix pushed off the ground, jumped high, and struck down with his sword.
CLACK!
Their swords clashed with a loud sound.
The knight took a step back.
Calix had won the first move.
He followed up with more attacks, all aimed at weak spots.
The knight could barely block them.
Sasha’s eyes sparkled as she watched her brother.
“I wanna fight too!”
“No,” Ruby said firmly.
“Why not?”
“Because you don’t know how to take it easy yet.”
Sasha had broken enough things to prove she wasn’t ready to fight people.
In fact, she was more dangerous than Calix—he could at least control his strength.
“Aw. But I wanna…”
“When you’re older, okay?”
“How many nights do I have to sleep?”
“Hmm… maybe when you’re your brother’s age—about 1,500 nights?”
“What’s 1,500?”
Sasha still didn’t understand big numbers.
Ruby decided she’d explain them to her later when she was ready.
“For now, it just means not yet.”
Sasha pouted in frustration.
While Ruby was distracted, the match ended.
Calix had brought his wooden sword to the knight’s neck.
“Surrender?”
“Ugh… Let’s go again!”
“Nope. You’re weak.”
“I was just caught off guard…!”
Calix shook his head firmly.
The knight, shocked, dropped to the ground and buried his face in his hands in defeat.
𓂃˖˳·˖ ִֶָ ⋆🌷Luna🌷͙⋆ ִֶָ˖·˳˖𓂃 ִֶָ
