Ch.5757. The Lion King’s Birthday

Upon returning to her family home, Dorothy reported on her attendance at the competition to her father, the Count of Lithuania, then shut herself in her room. Her visit to the Academy had been shocking in many ways.

First was her reunion with Briana, whom she deeply respected. Professor Briana looked exactly as she had in Dorothy’s childhood—cool and intellectual. Seeing her idol unchanged brought Dorothy great joy, making her wish Briana would remain that way forever.

The next impressive encounter was seeing Princess Seraphina, Briana’s only disciple. Her control skills had reached heights beyond what Dorothy had heard described.

As someone training to become a knight, Dorothy knew all too well that reaching such mastery wasn’t achievable through effort alone. It required both heaven-given talent and extraordinary dedication.

The moment Dorothy watched Seraphina’s performance became the moment she found another goal besides Briana. Whether she could ever reach that level remained uncertain, but she had found another figure to admire.

However, the most impressive and shocking matter was something else entirely—the cause of her decision to visit the Academy and the reason for her current complicated feelings: Gilbert Lyon Hart, the eldest son of the Hart family and her oldest brother.

“I still can’t understand it.”

Dorothy lay on her bed, lifting the doll she’d slept with since childhood with both hands and sighing deeply. It was a habit she had whenever her mind was troubled.

After fidgeting with the worn doll’s hands, Dorothy placed it by her pillow and closed her eyes. Despite having been back home for quite some time, the image of Gilbert controlling his giant mech remained as clear as if she were watching a magical recording.

Gilbert had consistently shown overwhelming performance in the competition with control skills even more precise than Seraphina’s. His dominance from the preliminaries ultimately led to his victory in the first-year competition.

Even in the event match against Seraphina, he hadn’t been completely overwhelmed. Though he ultimately lost that exhibition match, his mech control skills had been deeply imprinted in the minds of everyone watching.

Dorothy was one of those people. It was unbelievable, but she couldn’t deny what she had seen with her own eyes.

“It’s not like he was a doppelganger either…”

At first, she thought he might be a doppelganger capable of mimicking human appearance or a homunculus, an artificial life form, but as the competition progressed, she had to abandon that theory.

Gilbert showed none of the characteristics typical of doppelgangers or homunculi. Only then did she understand why Anna had reacted the way she did when Dorothy questioned Gilbert’s identity. Apparently, Anna’s basic training as a maid had allowed her to sense that Gilbert was the real deal.

“You could have told me that earlier.”

She grumbled inwardly, though her personality would have led her to doubt it multiple times anyway.

In the end, she had reached the conclusion that Gilbert had changed, as unbelievable as it seemed.

Dorothy got up from her bed and smoothed her disheveled hair. If Anna had seen her, she would have scolded her for looking so unkempt.

Knock knock.

“Dorothy. It’s me.”

“Ah, second brother? Come in.”

As she was trying to tame her hair, which was as messy as her thoughts, Dorothy smiled at Glinda’s familiar visit. She was glad to see her second brother, who had always taken good care of her since childhood, instead of her troublemaking eldest brother.

Hopping like a rabbit, she ran to the door and flung it open.

The Hart family’s distinctive long blond hair tied back in a ponytail. Eyes red like rubies, but unlike Gilbert’s, filled with warmth. His tall stature and long limbs gave a refreshing impression.

Unlike his older brother Gilbert, his body was slender overall, not giving a burly impression, but he didn’t look fragile either. The muscle definition visible through the folded sleeves of his white shirt often captivated young noblewomen.

Dorothy broke into a wide smile upon seeing Glinda standing outside the door and jumped into his arms.

“Dorothy. A grown lady shouldn’t throw herself at people like this.”

“Second brother is the exception!”

Glinda scratched his head as he looked at his still-spoiled sister. The Hart family’s strict education methods meant that whenever she had the chance, she would seek his embrace or nuzzle her face against his chest. He never expected that indulging her cute behavior as a child would create such a spoiled young woman.

“Well, she’s cute, so I suppose it can’t be helped.”

Fortunately, as Dorothy matured, she had begun to show restraint, throwing herself at him less frequently. She had started to read situations and exercise self-control.

It gave Glinda a bittersweet feeling, like watching a daughter he never raised grow up.

“Anyway, Dorothy.”

“Seeing you suddenly visit, it must be about eldest brother, right?”

“Yes. How was he?”

Dorothy slowly pulled away from Glinda’s embrace.

“Just as you heard in the reports. Eldest brother has changed.”

“I see… So Brother has…”

Glinda stroked his chin as he looked at Dorothy sitting across from him. To him, his older brother Gilbert had always been like a painful thorn. As someone who prioritized the people of their domain, it was difficult for Glinda to stand by and watch Gilbert mistreat them.

So Glinda had stood against Gilbert. He began stopping his brother’s misdeeds and never failed to give him stern warnings to come to his senses.

But the result wasn’t Gilbert’s reformation—it was a shift in the Hart Count’s succession plan. Naturally, people began to consider Glinda as a candidate for the next Count of Lithuania, a position originally intended for Gilbert as the eldest son.

The loyal vassal families sworn to the Hart house, as well as all the domain’s residents, began earnestly hoping for Glinda to become the successor.

By that point, even though Glinda considered Gilbert family despite his shortcomings and didn’t want to see him removed from the succession, he gradually found his resolve weakening as Gilbert remained unchanged. He didn’t need to imagine what would happen if Gilbert became the Count of Lithuania while continuing to torment the people.

In that sense, the recent news of Gilbert’s change was welcome to Glinda. Whatever transformation had occurred at the Academy, it was fortunate that he had become a different person from before.

Though it wouldn’t erase the sins of his past misdeeds, the fact that he had changed was encouraging.

“Sigh. Second brother, you’re happy that our garbage brother has changed?”

“Dorothy. Referring to your brother that way isn’t proper.”

“But it’s true. Do you know how many people in our domain have suffered because of eldest brother?”

“I do.”

While Gilbert’s change was a good sign, the damage to public sentiment was undeniable. Though his actions hadn’t crossed certain lines, they had certainly gone too far.

As family, Glinda was pleased by his brother’s transformation, but the situation wouldn’t change dramatically—or rather, nothing would change at all.

Glinda ran his hand through his hair in frustration.

“So, Dorothy, what did you think of him when you saw him?”

“He’s a different person. I thought he might be a doppelganger or homunculus.”

“Is that so…”

“And I can’t guarantee that eldest brother has truly changed. I think it’s possible he’s just being capricious and acting this way for now.”

Glinda closed his eyes as his sister voiced the thoughts he hadn’t dared express. He had considered the same possibility. Though Gilbert’s actions seemed too significant to be mere caprice, her point was valid. People don’t typically change overnight.

Glinda thought of the strict Count of Lithuania. From a political standpoint, it was beneficial for Dorothy, the third daughter of the Hart family, to appear frequently at official functions. It provided excellent opportunities to establish political footing by interacting with children from other noble families.

However, the Count of Lithuania, the Margrave of Infractus, was not particularly fond of his children participating in social circles. As a family serving as the shield of the Empire, he believed they shouldn’t gather too much noble power.

The Hart Count family had long established themselves as firm imperial supporters, and he worried about becoming too deeply involved in politics and potentially strengthening the noble faction. For this reason, the Count also prohibited his three children from entering social circles more than necessary.

Except for cases like the previous time when they had to attend as the Count’s representatives, or imperial anniversary parties, they were mostly forbidden from attending. This might seem like a rigid policy, but considering what happened when he inherited the title from the previous Count of Lithuania, it wasn’t incomprehensible.

“I’ll persuade Father, so don’t worry.”

“Dorothy.”

“Second brother, even though I think eldest brother is garbage, I still consider him family. In that sense, I should at least know why a family member suddenly changed like that. I am his sister after all.”

Dorothy grinned as she watched Glinda swallow whatever he had been about to say.

The reason she cared so much about her eldest brother Gilbert wasn’t anything grand. Though she truly disliked her troublemaker eldest brother, she simply wanted to know what had happened to him as a family member.

“Yes, that’s just like you. I’ll try to persuade Father as well.”

“I knew you would, second brother!”

As Dorothy threw herself into his arms again, Glinda couldn’t help but smile at his sister’s consistent behavior.

But his faint smile soon disappeared, and Glinda’s expression hardened. His brother had changed… Glinda’s concerns deepened.