"I will never be your brother. I'm just allowing you to stay here because of my dad's last will!"
Little Jean whimpered Maximillien kept shouting at him. He looked at the servants and guards, hoping one of them would take him away from his Big brother, but nobody cared for him.
"I—I'm sorry, Big brother—"
"I said, don't call me big brother! You damn imbecile!" Maximillien felt he could blow up anytime he was with this kid. He was lucky enough to be allowed to eat and sleep in this duchy palace while he was just an orphan taken by his stupid parents.
Now they were cursed because of this kid. Even his parents were now dead due to mysterious illness.
If not for that damn last will from his dad, the will that ordered him as the Young Duke to take care of his 'little brother,' Jean Eau Saumont, Maximillien would just throw this kid to some random orphanage, probably gave him some money to survive and then forget about him.
He never liked to have someone by his side anyway, let alone a cursed orphan like this kid.
Little Jean kept staring at Maximillien, which pissed him off even more. He threw a handkerchief from the table to Little Jean's head, "Use it for yourself."
Little Jean grabbed the handkerchief from his head and kept staring at Maximillien.
Maximillien scoffed and then continued eating his breakfast. He had a lot to do today. Since he was the new Archduke, he had to take care of his parent's administration even though he was only fourteen years old.
He had few advisors inherited from his parents. However, he didn't want to believe them 100% because he knew some of them still saw him as a kid that wouldn't be able to lead the archduchy.
So he had to prove how capable he was.
He ignored Little Jean for a while until he felt something was rubbing his shoes.
He tried to kick it and heard something tumbling, followed by small 'ouch.'
Maximillien frowned and looked under the table. He saw Little Jean was rubbing his head, and after he recovered, he crawled back to his shoes and then wiping the shoe with his handkerchief again.
"What are you doing there? Idiot," Maximillien said. But Little Jean didn't listen and continued wiping the shoes until it was shining. "Um… back in the orphanage, Jean often wipe their shoes so Jean can get to eat or drink."
Little Jean looked up to Maximillien. With his doe eyes, he blinked few times, "Big brother, Jean will wipe your shoes. Please give Jean better food…."
Little Jean pointed at the hard bread, "Jean can't chew that…."
[Pupa: Ding! Maximillien Eau Saumon's Fatemeter increases to -40%.]
Maximillien was stunned for a second. He never thought this kid would have the idea to wipe his shoes just to eat. Unfortunately, for a few seconds, Maximillien felt a bit of pity for this kid.
He looked away immediately and ordered the servant, "Change his bread to white bread, the one that he can chew. I don't like hearing his whimper."
Maximillien then looked down and then glared at Little Jean, "You, don't you dare to wipe my shoes again. Your hands are dirty!"
Little Jean was surprised. He checked his palms and walked out to the smaller sink made for him by the late Archduke and duchess. He washed his hand and returned to Maximillien.
"Big brother… is it clean now? Can I wipe your shoes again?"
[Pupa: Ding! Maximillien Eau Saumon's Fatemeter increases to -35%.]
Maximillien was stunned again. This kid was either dumb or really innocent. He gritted his teeth and put down his knife and fork. He stood up from the chair and said, "I'm done, clean up my plate, and don't forget to give that kid a white bread and drink."
"Don't let him come near me as well. Because I don't want him to disturb my work," Maximillien left the dining room, and the servants scoffed at Little Jean before following what the Young Duke ordered.
They threw a white bread on the ground, but Little Jean didn't seem to mind it. He said thank you to the maid and ate it for breakfast.
[Man, when I can finally conquer him, I will show him who's the boss. I'll make sure he eats on the floor while I whipped his butt, NYAHAHAH!]
[Pupa:… there is a spider near you.]
[GYAAAAAHHH! WHERE?!]
Little Jean jumped out of fright when he saw a spider, then he ran away from the dining room.
[Pupa: Who's the boss he said, heh.]
**
Maximillien was busy dealing with some paperwork that his father left after his sudden death. Both of his parents died last week, they got ill for the whole day, and the next day, both passed away in their sleep.
A fortune-teller told him that a certain orphaned kid took his parents' soul. Although the credibility of that fortune teller was questionable, at that time, Maximillien was so depressed by his parents' death that he believed it instantly, blaming everything on Little Jean.
'Maybe I'm a bit too harsh on him….' Maximillien thought. When Little Jean first came, Maximillien already disliked him because he felt that his parents adopted him for the sake of having another child, but they didn't check his background.
He just found nothing worthy about that Little Jean, honestly.
Maximillien shook his head and steeled his firm belief again, 'I can't let my guard down. Besides, that kid has no use for me. He has no good family background I can use to strengthen my ties, and he is just a dumb toddler.'
Maximillien continued doing his administrative work. He shook his head to repel Little Jean off his mind.
It was going well until he heard the guard outside was talking to someone, "You, little kid, go away! The Duke hates you, don't you understand?!"
"Yes, just leave now! Or the Duke will get angry at us! Go play in the mud or something!"
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