The Duke heard a brief explanation; of how the Duchess had sent Yuki to the side house, hadn't cared about Aki and treated him like air even when they were living under the same roof, ignored both the kids from start and had even forgotten to let them meet; well, he didn't have the right nor interest in how the Duchess brought them up considering it was the 'first time' he saw his own kids' though aware that the kids should not be treated as such, he didn't care enough to have pity on them, the only thing he can do, now that the Duchess was no more is to let them be together....
As the father he was aware of the gender of both, he knew he was being ironical considering that he hated this gender system and the discrimination involved with it, but he was aware that the system held some truth, even though the Duchess had tried to fabricate it and he hadn't stopped her, he was aware that Yuki was a Beta and Aki was an Omega, to him even if Aki could become a great mage in the future, as an Alpha who hated this gender system, he didn't think much of it, but deep down he knew that his pride had tagged them both as 'invalids', still, his last duty for them as their 'nominal father' could be to give them a life where they didn't lack money, he couldn't do anything else for them...
He didn't have a shred of paternal care and love for them, and he couldn't change it.
Just before going to make preparation for the funeral, he asked his assistant to get someone to get these two ready.
The two were taken into separate rooms and asked to change into black attires, Yuki had a thought pass her mind but calmly accepted it, while the ignorant boy has always been sensible and did what he was asked to do without questioning.
Yuki, to be frank, didn't want to go out, her headache didn't go away even after this long, it had actually heightened.
But having a hunch on the occasion, she thought she will just grit her teeth and go...she decided to take a good rest after everything was over.
The reason for her headache? Well, it was probably that she was mentally exhausted after this many things happened in less than half a day.
If allowed she didn't want to see what was to come, but this situation was unavoidable.
It was when she was contemplating on how this day changed everything that there was a soft knock on the door, Yuki asked the maid to open it.
When the maid saw the child outside, she took a side step to all him entry, but the boy was acting shy again, he peeked from behind the door, this time his hair was parted and those breathtaking golden eyes could be seen without obstruction.
Yuki who had noticed him, secretly sighed, she can let this small guy heal her soul, his presence made her calm, she wondered why....
Anyways, they were siblings, it won't hurt to have an amicable relationship, right?
It was the boy who spoke out, "umm.. Onee-chan, they asked us to go out? "
Yuki didn't ask who this 'they' were, she stood up and walked towards the little boy.
Though she may not be too interested in the relationships around her and even with a guess of what had happened didn't feel anything, she wondered how this boy felt, mind you, this was the first time for her too.
Though she can't say that she was a good elder sister candidate, this little boy was a little bit special to her, he was her first conversing partner.. excluding those teachers and staff.
No matter how much she denies her feelings, it did feel good to at least have someone to talk to and considering the attitude of both the parents, it seems the only difference between them was that she was thrown to the outer house, while this boy was probably left unattended.
This boy seemed normal, though a bit too dazzling, he probably was not like her who didn't care about her parents once she found that she was rejected, maybe it was her pride as a human speaking, but be it...
She didn't have much feeling for those that let her go, she didn't think of continuing to hold on, she was very apathetic in that's sense.
But children usually needed their parents while growing up, but joining the dots, she could see that even while living here, this boy wasn't favoured, he wasn't found out even while hiding at such an obvious place, it seemed natural or more like..
No one was probably searching for him, no one cared.
She felt pity for this child, she was apathetic but as an older generation, she wouldn't want this child to have a scar left because of his childhood so, only for one day, she didn't mind going out of her comfort zone and take care of this innocent boy.
But before that she bend down a little to reach his eyes, the boy had a little blush, it was the first time he was this close to someone, but he didn't hate this feeling, his grip on his shirt pants tightened, he was just a little nervous.