I Am Here

Bron Elric was infuriated.

Other than his usual gang, nearly all of the young nobles in this banquet had been trying their best to acquaint themselves with another person, and that was the other offspring of the Five Eminent Noble Houses here, Roel Ascart.

Bron wasn't the type to look for faults in himself. He didn't think that the reason behind that was due to his horrid reputation. Rather, he blamed the Ascart House for resorting to despicable ploys.

In any case, it was a fact that Roel's arrival had broken his dominance over the younger generation of nobles, and this made him feel deeply uneasy, but he had no idea what he could do about it.

And it was at a time like this that he found the ideal target he could use to send out a stern warning to all other young nobles about siding with the Ascart House—Alicia.

"Disgusting things tend to flock together with one another. Alicia Ascart, huh? Hahaha! What a revolting name!"

Inside a spare room in the manor, a golden-haired boy, Bron, looked at the silver-haired girl in front of him with eyes filled with hostility.

"Alicia, do you remember me? I'm your good friend, Bron. Did you really try to reject my invitation earlier? That really hurts my feelings."

Bron stared into the little girl's crimson eyes as he threateningly brought a knife closer to her eyes.

Staring in the face of her fears, Alicia trembled uncontrollably as she cowered back. Tears glistened in her eyes. She bit her lips tightly as she tried her best to pull herself together.

"Y-you… What are you trying to do here?"

"I just wish to reminisce about our past together. I was planning on letting you off the hook easily this year, but I never thought that you would join the Ascart House. How convenient of you to find another father to fall back on so quickly. Ah, you also have that trash of a brother too…"

"I-I won't allow you to insult Lord Brother!"

"Oh, what's this? You seem to be pretty fond of him? It pleases me greatly to see the good relationship between you and your brother!"

Bron sneered coldly as he leaned forward to Alicia's ear and whispered to her.

"Does he know that you're a monster?"

"W-what?"

"Have you shown him how your body wriggles like there are worms inside when you heal from your injuries? Well, I guess your expression says it all. Of course, there's no way the Ascart House would have accepted you if they knew that you're a monster."

"No, that's not it. Big brother Roel wouldn't…"

"Heh, you sure are stubborn!"

Bron looked down on Alicia as he raised his leg to kick her, only for a silhouette to suddenly appear on the scene.

"Alicia, don't cry. I'm here."

Amidst Alicia's weeping, a voice suddenly sounded right behind Bron.

Bron immediately turned his head around, only to find himself faced with a pair of wintry, golden eyes.

Roel Ascart.