“I’m a child of a distant relative of the Count, who couldn’t eat and learn and grew up poor. I’m not outstanding at all.”
“Why is our youngest child so childish today?”
Damon, who was embarrassed for a moment, smiled and quickly hugged Elisabeth and sat her on his lap.
‘Do I look childish?’
If a 12-year-old girl comes out this obstinate, she’ll look like a baby girl from her older brother’s point of view.
But from Elisabeth’s point of view, it was enough. Elisabeth opened her mouth with a desire to refute.
“Can’t I be childish?”
But what came out of my mouth was really ‘childish’. Surprised by her tongue, Elisabeth looked up at Damon with her round eyes.
“You’re always welcome.”
Damon answered without a hit of any hesitation. Unknowingly, the tail of Elisabeth’s mouth went up.
‘Why do I act like a child here?’
Does everyone treat me like a baby when I have the body of a baby?
‘These people don’t really like me, they would just use me.’
“What are you thinking about, Elisabeth.”
Damon asked.
“What?”
“Your expression looks weird.”
“My expression?”
“Yes.”
“Do you see it like that?”
“I always watch you with interest.”
I was ashamed to say so.
“Just… I wonder why you’re so nice to me.”
“Why are we so nice?”
“I’m not really your youngest sister.”
Damon frowned slightly between his eyebrows.
“You’re really my youngest sister. You’ve been officially admitted.”
“That’s…”
‘I shouldn’t say I know your intentions.’
Dylan told her, but Damon didn’t know Elisabeth knew their secrets. I just thought I was stuck here naively because I was a child abused and raised at home.
“I’m announcing that Dylan teaches you to let others know that you have a good education and that our family cares about you. That way, others will respect you more.”
Damon said, persuading her.
“Though this adult situation may still feel difficult for you, don’t think too complicated, Elisabeth. We’ll take care of everything.”
Elisabeth nodded. I was not completely convinced, but now I thought it would be better to move on like this.
‘Why am I so agitated when I’m using these people anyway?’
Damon is friendly. To the point of tears sometimes. He was a warm and handsome brother anyone would’ve wanted.
She may have a different heart inside, but it was the same with Elisabeth.
‘I just have to enjoy this until the time comes.’
It’s the kindness I never dreamed of having before. I wanted to enjoy it for a while, even if it’s fake.
***
Dylan was combing the horse’s hair in the stable. There was a separate stable for acquaintances, but Dylan took care of his favorite horse.
The name of the horse is Sonya. It was a well-groomed horse with silk like gloss on its dark fur.
But Sonya was strange today. She kept stamping her feet and making huffing noises.
‘Somebody’s here.’
Sonya was a sensitive horse that rarely stood by anyone’s side except for her owner, Dylan.
Dylan looked back. Beyond the fence, he could see blond hair sticking out.
“…..”
Dylan turned his head pretending he hadn’t seen it.
The blonde hair was there until Dylan finished brushing Sonya and then quickly disappeared as Dylan tried to get out. However, as soon as he left the stable, he could immediately check out the blond hair that sprang up by the tree.
“Pfft.”
Dylan laughed unconsciously and was surprised then turned to a serious face.
Dylan made quick steps. Then, the sound of a short and quick steps from behind became urgent. Dylan walked faster again, not knowing that the tails of his mouth was going up.
He heard a gasp behind him. And then, he heard the sound of a fall.
“Ouch!”
Dylan turned around in surprise. Elisabeth fell on the ground. Dylan rushed to Elisabeth.
“You idiot, you fell!”
Elisabeth laughed at Dylan, who was lifting her up.
“You’re laughing?”
“Yes.”
“Phew.”
Dylan brushed Elisabeth’s dirty clothes off with his hands.
“Why are you following me, again and again.”
“I want to be friends.”
“You and I are a few years apart, but you want to become close.”
How old is that? She’s twelve and he’s sixteen. Of course, four years would seem like a big difference for the 16-year-old, but it didn’t mean much to Elisabeth, who has already lived two lives.
‘You’re still like a kid in times like this.’
Elisabeth wanted to tease the ‘kid’, who was taller than her, but she held it in.
“Dylan speaks informally to his father, so we can be friendly too.”
“Ugh.”
Dylan was hit right on the mark.
‘I need to get closer to Dylan to grow up smoothly here. I can’t live long after being told to get out.’
Since he said he ‘does not hate’ me with his own mouth, Dylan will not attack me otherwise except for ‘piss off’. But it was still not enough.
‘People get friendly when they see each other for a long time.’
On the surface, Dylan was her ‘teacher.’ It was an excellent excuse to stick together.
“Why do we have to be friendly?”
But that excuse didn’t work for Dylan.
“You don’t hate me?”
Dylan asked dumbfoundedly. Elisabeth felt that now was the time to appeal to him.
“Yes, I don’t hate you!”
“What?”
Elisabeth showed her whole acting skills with 18 years of her life. Dylan could not hide his embarrassment when Elisabeth spoke in a sparkling way.
“Why?”
“Just like that. Dylan said he didn’t hate me.”
“That’s so… You bother me so much.”
“Is that a bad thing? I’m concerned about Dylan, too. I keep wanting to play together with you and miss you.”
Asked Elisabeth, tilting her head. Dylan dodged his gaze in embarrassment.
“Uh… stop following me anyway. Because it bothers me.”
“Is it because you care? My tutor, I just decided to talk.”
“How did you know that?”
Dylan asked in amazement.
“Damon told me.”
“Funny jerk. You told me I shouldn’t be teaching family, and now you’ve been talking about it everywhere.”
You don’t call your father by his name. You don’t call your older brother a ‘jerk’.
It was dismissable that Damon had a dirty personality.
“There’s a reason I decided not to really teach you. You’re going to leave this house anyway, so I don’t have to teach you.”
That tone again. Elisabeth was furious.
“I’m not going out!”
“Tch. Copy that.”
Dylan turned around with his tongue.
‘Oh, you don’t nag more than usual.’
It was Dylan who would normally have been whining for 200 characters about why I should ‘get out’ of this house. A positive thought flashed through Elisabeth’s mind that somehow she could get closer.
Elisabeth followed Dylan, who was ahead, with hasty steps.
***
“Oh, oh no!”
Elisabeth exclaimed, running down the hall.
“Stay a little more strong, Miss! Your Grace’s office is coming up!”
The following Marie was also in a hurry.
Yesterday, Elisabeth went too far in chasing Dylan all day.
‘Is it because of the mood? Dylan seemed to have wandered around more that day.’
I didn’t know Dylan was so active inside the house. Thanks to him, I got to visit around every corner of the mansion that I had never seen before.
‘I didn’t know there was such a big waterfall in the garden woods.’
The waterfall was also seen while chasing Dylan. I don’t know why Dylan went there all of a sudden.
Dylan…
<You like seeing the waterfalls that much?>
Next, he went to a flower garden full of yellow flowers. After spending a long time in the flower bed, Elisabeth made a flower crown, bracelets, rings, and all that could be made. The only pain of the day was the failure to crown Dylan with a flower crown.
‘I feel like I’ve been playing hard.’
Thanks to the hard work of the day, Elisabeth overslept. As usual, it happened at a time when Victoire had already left the mansion.
‘You can’t skip the morning call! It seems like you’ve become a little more comfortable and neglected that part!’
Elisabeth hurriedly opened the office, forgetting to knock.
“You’ve come?”
A voice was heard welcoming Elisabeth before all the doors were opened. Victoire was sitting at his desk. Elisabeth nodded with a red face as she ran.
“I’m sorry I’m late.”
“It’s all right. Today’s a late day anyway.”
Standing next to him, Harry looked at Victoire with a look of ‘Don’t lie.’
“Come here, Elisabeth. Your face is red from running.”
Elisabeth sat on the chair dedicated to Elisabeth, which at some point occupied a space in the office.
“I thought you’ve already left and I was worried.”
Elisabeth said while squeezing her chest with her hand and took a breath. The figure was similar to a small sparrow, so a gentle smile spread around Victoire’s mouth.
“If you’re tired, it’s okay to skip greeting for a day.”
“No! I feel sad every morning if I don’t see the face of Victoire.”
The tail of Victoire’s mouth twitched.
“What did you do yesterday Elisabeth, for you to oversleep?”
Asked Victoire.
“I was pretty busy yesterday.”
I’ve been very busy following Dylan around all day.
“You’ve played hard. What did you do?”
“I saw the waterfall in the garden woods.”
I was chasing Dylan, of course, and that was by chance.
“I also played in the flower garden in the back!”
I was chasing Dylan.
Elisabeth smiled happily.
“You must have had a lot of fun.”
“Yes!”
“Play hard in the future, Elisabeth. There are more things to see in the mansion than you thought. If there’s anything you want, tell me. I’ll buy you anything if it’s a toy.”
“Really?”
Elisabeth smiled brightly.
I didn’t need a toy or anything, and I was purely happy that someone told me, ‘I’ll do anything for you.’
<Why would you need it? Prove it to me.>
My father, the Duke of Cabezo always said this if she wanted something. When I was young, I thought one was being hard on their children so that they wouldn’t grow up spoiled.
‘But if that’s the case, why was it different for Polia?’
<Dad, can I really take these?>
<Polia, don’t say that. It’s not a waste for this father to give you anything. Just by looking at your smiling face, this father is really happy.>
She wanted to hear this from her father too. But her seat was always in the dark, behind her father and Polia.
But now she was listening to what she had hoped for. To this man who adopted her to take advantage of her himself.