This Villain Is Mine Now - Chapter 26

“…What?”

Elaina tilted her head, her face awkwardly stiff. Pumpkin? Did he just call me a pumpkin? Did I hear that right? Pumpkin? Surely he didn’t mean the vegetable?

Pumpkin, pumpkin. Knox repeated the word mockingly, like a taunt.

“Young master!” the butler exclaimed, trying to scold Knox. But Knox quickly ran back up the stairs, shouting over his shoulder.

“I don’t want to see any of you! The butler laughing with a pumpkin is disgusting, and—” The word ‘brother’ caught in his throat, unable to come out. Knox squeezed his eyes shut and yelled, “I hate all of you, so get out of here!”

***

After the storm of commotion subsided, an awkward silence lingered in the foyer.

“…I apologize. Knox has never behaved so rudely before,” Lyle said, his face still tense with disappointment. He couldn’t hide his displeasure, his frown remaining fixed.

“Is there some tradition in the Grant family where very pretty people are nicknamed ‘pumpkin’?” Elaina asked, attempting to lighten the mood.

No one responded. Though she had meant it as a joke, the atmosphere grew even more somber.

“Haha, well, I’ve never heard that one before,” Elaina said, scratching her cheek and glancing at the stairs. The child who had been shouting angrily, with his golden hair unlike his brother’s, clearly didn’t like her.

“I think it’s best if I leave for now,” Lyle said.

“What? Why?” Elaina asked, surprised.

“I need to talk to Knox.”

“Is that a talk or a scolding?”

Lyle didn’t answer. Elaina sighed.

“You said you just started to get closer to your brother. If you scold him now, it’ll all be for nothing.”

“I can’t ignore his behavior.”

“Who said to ignore it? But you need to understand why he’s acting this way.”

“Lady Elaina, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t interfere with my family matters.”

“Well, it’s about to become my family matter too,” Elaina replied, not backing down.

The maids nervously exchanged glances, feeling the tension between the two.

“Butler,” Elaina called.

“Yes, Lady Winchester?”

“Lead the way.”

“Lead the way? To where, my lady?”

“To Knox Grant’s room, of course.”

Lyle grabbed her arm. Elaina carefully pried his fingers off one by one.

“I’ll go. It seems like he has an issue with me.”

She smiled brightly as she continued, “I’m sorry, but he picked the fight. And in my family, the rule is to always win a fight once it’s started.”

“You’re planning to fight a ten-year-old?”

Elaina widened her eyes as if she had heard something surprising. “Of course. If necessary, I won’t go easy on a five-year-old. Age doesn’t matter when it comes to winning a fight.”

***

Elaina didn’t intend to actually fight Knox. From the moment she first saw him, she’d been concerned. The child who had quietly glared at her from the upstairs railing. His red eyes were like Lyle’s, but his bright blond hair bore no resemblance to the Grant family. He must have inherited it from his mother, who had died when he was young.

The hurt look in his eyes after he had lashed out, his prickly demeanor like a wounded hedgehog—Elaina couldn’t just leave it as it was. Confronting Knox with Lyle would only escalate things.

In “Moonshadow”, Lyle’s marriage to Diane is the catalyst that completely severs the brothers’ relationship. Knox feels ignored and angry at Lyle for starting a new family without considering him. Living under the same roof, Knox shows blatant disrespect towards Diane. Lyle, unable to tolerate it, eventually sent Knox to boarding school.

Lyle forced Knox into a carriage, against his will, sending him away. It was practically an exile.

“Don’t even think about coming back until you graduate.”

“Graduate? Don’t make me laugh. Even if you die, Lyle Grant, I won’t come back!”

Those were their final words to each other.

If there had been an adult to comfort Knox, things might have been different. But unfortunately, both the depressed Diane and the indifferent Lyle were too preoccupied.

‘I can’t let it go that way.’

Finally, the butler’s steps halted in front of a door.

“Here?”

The door was locked.

“He locks the door?” Elaina asked, laughing softly. “Does this happen often?”

“…Sometimes, when the young master is very upset,” the butler admitted.

Though it was clear Knox didn’t want to be disturbed, Elaina instructed the butler to fetch the key.

The butler returned shortly with a large set of keys. Elaina unlocked the door and entered. Knox was lying face down on his bed. It seemed that locking the door had always been a way to solve his problems. He hadn’t expected anyone to be able to open it from the outside. Startled, he lifted his tear-streaked face to see who had entered. Recognizing Elaina, he began to shout angrily.

“Get out! Who gave you permission to come in, you pumpkin!”

“Butler, from now on, no one is allowed in here. Do you understand?” Elaina said with a smile, implying that even Lyle shouldn’t be let in. The butler swallowed hard and nodded.

Elaina closed the door and held the keyring in her hand. She calmly locked the door again, the click of the lock echoing in the room.

“You… you pumpkin!”

Knox’s face turned red with rage as he realized Elaina wasn’t reacting the way he wanted.

“Yawn. How boring. Is that the only insult you know?” Elaina taunted, yawning dramatically to provoke him further. She placed the keyring on the table and smiled brightly at Knox.

“Pumpkin, huh? Do you think calling me that will really hurt my feelings? Have you ever seen a pumpkin this pretty?”

***

Pretty pumpkin?

Elaina’s brazen reaction infuriated Knox even more, but just as she had guessed, he didn’t know any worse insults. To him, calling a woman a pumpkin was the worst possible insult. He had seen the mean boys in his class call the girls that, and they always burst into tears right away.

“Are you stupid? How can a pumpkin be pretty? Pumpkin means an ugly person!” Knox shouted.

“Exactly. I thought it was strange too. Maybe you need to see a doctor. Should I call your brother?” Elaina responded coolly.

“What? Why would I need to go to the doctor?”

“Because there’s something wrong with you.”

“I’m healthy! There’s nothing wrong with me!”

“No, you’re not well.”

“I told you I’m not sick! Why do you keep repeating that?”

“Really? That’s odd. You must be having trouble with your eyes or maybe your head,” Elaina said, stepping closer until she was right in front of Knox. She leaned in, almost touching his face, and said, “If you see me as ugly, your eyes are wrong. If you feel I’m ugly, it must be your head that’s the problem.”

“Eek!” Knox trembled with anger and glared at Elaina. Who is this woman, daring to invade my room and challenge me like this? I had expected her to cry and run away when I called her a pumpkin.

“Knox, do you study much?” she asked.

“Are you joking? I’m the smartest in my class, you pumpkin!”

“Really? Then why don’t you explain to me logically why I’m a pumpkin? Because I just don’t get it.”

Knox’s mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. He had only said it to upset her, but now he was stuck trying to justify it. The pink-haired woman was clearly enjoying his struggle.

Elaina inwardly shook her head. Up close, Knox was an extremely cute boy. His striking blond hair and red eyes made him look like a little rabbit. She resisted the urge to poke his puffed-up cheeks, knowing it would only make him hate her more.

“Well, um…” Knox stammered.

“Yes?”

“You’re… you’re ugly,” he finally said.

“Ugly, huh? Alright. So, what does that mean exactly? Are there specific standards for who is considered handsome or ugly? For instance, is a person with double eyelids handsome or ugly? What about someone with downturned lips? What color hair should a handsome person have? What about shoe size? Eye color? Height? Body shape? Vision? Voice?” Elaina’s barrage of questions left Knox floundering.