“Why? Keep talking.”
Laila realized with a startle that her voice sounded strange as if she had caught a cold or something.
Why did her voice sound so stuffy…?
Oh.
She quickly wiped her cheek with the back of her hand.
“I got pollen in my eyes.”
“…….”
“Is it because of all the flowers here? There’s a lot of pollen around.”
“…….”
“So, what about Cecile? Were you close to her? Did she like carrots?”
“…….”
“Do you like carrots?”
“……I don’t hate them.”
“Really? I’ll make you a carrot pie someday. I’ve never made one before, but I’ll ask Marie for tips.”
“…….”
“And I want to hear more about your family. Can you tell me more? What were your parents like? What did your siblings look like?”
“My parents were…….”
Sion began to talk about his family again in a calm voice.
His eyes remained calm, but his gaze never left Laila’s face.
Laila listened to his story, occasionally wiping her cheek.
There was indeed a lot of pollen. It was troublesome.
‘Next time, I should go flower viewing elsewhere instead of here.’
Laila thought as Sion’s story came to an end.
ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚
Snow had piled up.
Since the snowfall started, Laila refrained from going out and stayed indoors in the castle.
Winter in Hildegarde was quite cold.
She reduced her daily walks to every other day.
She wandered around the castle interior instead to compensate for the lack of exercise.
“Sion, let’s go pick out some books.”
For the past few days, Laila has been going to the library accompanied by Sion.
‘I have a book I want to see in the library. Will you come with me?’
Seeing Sion, who had to pause his sword training due to the frozen training ground, looking somewhat bored, she casually suggested they go to the library together. Since then, they have naturally gone together whenever they go to the library.
Today, after choosing a book with Sion, Laila walked out of the library with a thick book in her arms. She stopped in her tracks.
“Huh? What is it?”
It was bad luck because she ran into not one but two Hildegardes.
Henry Hildegarde and Pablo Hildegarde. The two, who were close in age and often stuck together, glanced alternately at Laila and Sion as they emerged from the library.
Eventually, Henry, noticing not only Laila but also Sion carrying books, chuckled.
“What business does a slave have with books?”
“…….”
“What’s that for, Laila? You’re not teaching that slave to read, are you?”
Laila glared at Henry, who was about a head taller than her.
Normally, she would have ignored him and passed by, pretending not to hear, but she felt unusually irritated, almost too much to bear.
Unconsciously, Laila spoke up.
“Henry.”
“Why aren’t you calling me ‘Big Brother’?”
“You’ve gained weight.”
“What?”
“Your belly always comes out in the winter because you don’t move, but it came out a little early this year.”
“……!”
“Your pants are screaming, and now my ears are hurting.”
“You crazy thing, what are you saying……!”
“Ha-ha-ha! Hey, Henry, Laila’s got a point. Honestly, I’ve been feeling sorry for your pants for a while now.”
Pablo chuckled, showing his uvula.
Whenever Pablo hears remarks about Henry gaining weight, he gets excited and takes pleasure in it.
Laila surmised that it was a reaction born out of vengeance.
After all, Pablo was the first one to be teased for being chubby. Henry used to call Pablo a “piglet” instead of his name when Pablo’s body was plump.
“You son of a bxtch!”
Unable to bear Pablo’s constant laughter, Henry finally threw a punch.
Pablo didn’t stay still either. The two sixteen-year-old boys quickly got entangled and started fighting.
Seeing the pathetic Hildegarde brothers starting trouble in the hallway, Laila quickly dragged Sion away from the scene.
As soon as they reached Sion’s bedroom, Laila’s heart belatedly began to race.
‘I wonder if Henry will try to retaliate for what happened today?’
Lost in thought, Laila quickly shook her head.
No, he won’t. After punching Pablo and venting his anger, he probably forgot about any resentment towards me.
In fact, that’s why she’d deliberately brought up the subject of weight in Pablo’s presence.
‘And they know that Thomis was called by our father because of me…….’
Henry Hildegarde particularly feared the Marquis of Hildegarde.
That was because Henry had received numerous punishments when he was about Laila’s age.
Remembering the pain of his childhood, Henry would collapse flat on the ground at the mere sound of the Marquis’s breathing.
At one point, Laila felt a sense of camaraderie with Henry because of that. Now… well.
She seems to have become much bolder.
Laila recalled not too long ago when she had asked the Marquis of Hildegarde for a favor regarding Marie’s brother.
At that time, she didn’t feel overly tense or visibly tremble, even when she was alone in a confined space with the villain.
…Come to think of it, when did that change?
Laila thought about it and then stopped. It wasn’t really an important fact.
Instead, Laila spoke up as she climbed onto Sion’s bed with a book in hand.
“Sion, what would you like for snacks today?”
Eating snacks together while reading the books they each picked out at the library in Sion’s bedroom.
That was a recent routine Laila had been following.
Lying down on the bed, waiting for Sion’s answer, Laila sat up.
“Don’t you have anything you want? Then I’ll decide for us.”
Only after Laila gave him a glance did Sion finally speak up. However, what came out of his mouth wasn’t a decision on today’s snack but rather a question.
“Don’t you get along with your siblings?”
Laila paused. It was an unexpected question.
No, perhaps it was one she should have anticipated.
The image of Henry and Pablo exchanging punches in the open hallway flashed through her mind.
Why do I suddenly feel so embarrassed…? Clearing her throat, Laila responded.
“Yeah.”
“How bad is it?”
“Enough that they’d try to hurt me without batting an eye. As for me, I wouldn’t even shed a single tear if I heard of their demise.”
Both were sincere. After hearing Laila’s response, Sion seemed to ponder for a moment before asking again.
“In this castle, is there not a single sibling with whom you have a decent relationship?”
“None.”
“…….”
“…None left.”
Laila impulsively added, then bit her tongue immediately afterward.
That last remark was unnecessary. What would she do if Sion asked what she meant by “none left”?
Right now, she doesn’t have the courage to bring up that topic…
While Laila was pondering an appropriate response, Sion spoke up.
“I’ll have carrot pie and lemonade.”
It took me about three seconds to realize that this was a belated response to the question of what he wanted for a snack today.
Laila’s face lit up at the mention of “carrot pie.”
“Carrot pie? Did you like the one I made for you the other day?”
“Yes.”
“Really? Should I make it again today?””
“Maybe another time. Let’s have store-bought snacks today.”
“Okay, let’s do that.”
Laila moved to the bedside and pulled the bell cord, which was dangling there.
A maid soon appeared in the bedroom, and Laila placed an order for snacks.
Sion glanced at Laila, who seemed excited, for a while before turning his gaze to a book before their eyes met.
ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚
Henry showed no signs of seeking revenge as expected, and winter passed faster than expected.
As the snow melted, the training ground became usable again.
However, it was still cold, so Laila postponed watching Sion’s training until spring arrived.
She spent the floating time indoors, taking indoor walks, until the butler caught her.
When she came to her senses, she found herself in the office. Marquis Hildergarde glanced at Laila.
“Do you have any idea why I called you?”
Not really…
The only thing worth mentioning was scratching Henry in the hallway.
But was that enough reason to be summoned like this?
‘Should I kneel for now?’
Even if there was another reason, kneeling first didn’t seem to lead to a bad outcome.
Just as Laila was about to really fold her legs, Marquis Hildergarde spoke again.
“The deadline you mentioned is not far off now.”
