Thirty minutes passed in austere silence.
The eldest and the youngest sat at opposite ends of the long table, the only sound the rhythmic clink of silver against porcelain.
Seven used the quiet to scrutinize his older sister.
'Damn it. This is harder than I thought.'
Based on her expression, he couldn't tell if she was enjoying the meal or plotting a murder.
Even when Eden took a bite of the baked potato (despite her inveterate loathing of potatoes) her expression didn't falter.
Perhaps she had only tried one out of curiosity why her little brother was devouring the potatoes so greedily.
'I also remember she has a bizarre obsession with apples.'
Moving on, he looked at the strange way his older sister held the spoon and fork— fork in the right, spoon in the left. It was a blatant violation of noble etiquette!
Munch, munch.
Seven documented her little habits.
He noted the way she paused before each bite, and how her ocean-blue eyes drifted toward the window as if she could see through the 160 kilometers of mountain range outside.
Even the slight, enigmatic tilt of her head after every swallow was recorded.
'If someone who had no idea about her identity were to see this moment, they probably wouldn't believe that she's the third youngest Hart to reach the level of transcendent before the age of 30.'
In this year, Eden Hart was still 28 years old.
'Genius? Prodigy…?'
Seven dismissed the thoughts as quickly as they came.
Those words were too "human" for her. Eden Hart hadn't just been talented; she had been blessed directly by the heavens.
In a world where most children struggle to form their first zi point (whether a star or a ring) only after they've learned to walk, Eden had emerged from the womb already bearing a zi ring.
Eden hadn't even cried. She had simply opened her eyes and calmly sucked her thumb while watching the first people she had seen with their mouths agape by her entrance.
Eden grew up while surpassing every expectation that was placed on her shoulders.
In fact, the Archduke even threw a banquet for Eden's 16th birthday, and that became the talk of the continent for at least two years— the power and progress she displayed in her ceremony were nothing but extraordinary.
Over a thousand dignitaries attended, and that included the Kingdom's prince and princess… though House Mxvlque was excluded.
However.
Despite the world bowing at her feet, Eden had never shown even a flicker of interest in becoming the next head (archduchess) of the household.
Predictably, the Archduke had been enraged.
To see his most gifted child treat her heritage with such apathy was an insult he could not overlook.
As a public display of his displeasure, he stripped her of her platoon, reassigning her elite knights and their commander to the platoons of his other children.
It was meant to be a humiliation, a stripping of her power, yet Eden did not breathe a word of protest.
"Youngest."
Eden's voice was gentle, and the chandelier above seemed to reflect the sound.
But Seven didn't seem to hear her.
He was still mentally piecing together the fragments of her history. Finished, he looked up, startled, to find that Eden was no longer at the far end of the long table.
Instead, she was now standing directly before him.
"Youngest."
Seven felt an instinct to recoil, but he forced his back to remain straight against the chair.
"Yes, older sister? Was the meal not to your taste?"
Seven tried to divert the topic. He could sense Eden was about to ask something far more serious.
"No. I didn't expect such simple potatoes to taste so good."
"That is because potatoes are actually the most versatile vegetables. Iria can mash them, fry them, make a stew, or bake them like this. They are kind of my favorite now, older sister."
"Is that so?"
"Yes."
Eden tilted her head, then crouched slightly to level her gaze with his.
"But, youngest, you look out of sorts. I have felt your gaze on me throughout the entire meal. Were you bothered by the way I hold my spoon and fork, by any chance?"
"That's not it, older sister."
Seven shook his head.
"Ah. To be honest, I was… a little nervous. This is my first time seeing you like this up close, and I couldn't help but wonder why you've been visiting me so frequently of late."
"You're… nervous?"
Eden's expression remained the same, composed, but she felt a pang of self reproach internally. She had overlooked the obvious.
In this household, blood was a competitive sport.
Truth is, the house bore a reputation so fearsome because of their strength that most of the continent labeled them dormant villains.
That even with a coalition of the Kingdom's elites and the other houses, there was no guarantee of success against the Archduke.
And while rumors claimed the Archmage of the Mxvlque rivaled the Archduke in raw power, merely 'rivaling' was a far cry from 'surpassing'.
In a war of total annihilation, the Archduke remains the one variable no one has the temerity to test.
Back to the topic, in this family, siblings didn't share meals but they trampled one another.
To the youngest, whom Eden thought he didn't know her intentions, nor he knew that she had stepped out the succession, her unannounced visits must have looked like a predator circling its prey.
Eden closed her eyes for a moment, then did the unthinkable:
Thud.
She knelt down.
It was a sight to behold, one that would have stopped the heart of any person in the continent.
Eden Hart, who knelt only before her mother and her father, was now kneeling no other than her little brother.
"...Seven, my dearest and youngest brother."
Eden took his hand, her touch surprisingly light, and pressed a brief, reverent kiss to his knuckles.
"Older sister?"
"I wish to speak with you in private. Will you give this sister of yours a chance to make amends?"
Seven froze, a small, involuntary smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
He looked toward Iria who was standing there the whole time, intending to ask her to step out momentarily.
But Eden was already looking toward the window, her gaze fixed on the horizon.
"But let us go outside first. I have prepared an early gift for your upcoming birthday. It would be a shame to keep it waiting."