IBYSRHML | Chapter 15

#.15

The first person to notice Liliana’s disappearance was Emilia.

She had gone to Liliana’s room to get her ready to be taken to François, only to realize she wasn’t there.

“Liliana!”

As Emilia began searching the entire house for Liliana, Regina and Alice also became aware of their youngest sister’s absence.

Emilia, panting after rushing to check the playground just in case, returned and said,

“She’s not at the playground. The neighbors say she hasn’t visited their houses either. I didn’t hear her leave—where could she have gone?”

“She’s not in the attic or the basement either. I checked under the bed and inside the closet…”

As Regina nervously chewed her nails, Alice hurried to get ready to leave.

“Let’s file a missing person report first. The critical window for child abduction cases is three hours. After that, it often becomes a long-term case. If she’s not in the house, we need to start searching immediately.”

Regina, aghast at Alice’s explanation, covered her mouth in shock.

Emilia bit her lower lip and turned back toward the front door.

“Then I’ll go to the wizards. They might be able to use search or tracking magic to help.”

Just as Emilia, clenching her teeth, reached for the front door, there was a knock from outside.

If it were Liliana, she wouldn’t knock; she’d simply fling the door open and walk in.

Even so, Emilia opened the door, hoping it was Liliana standing on the other side.

But the person who knocked was Leopold.

He was holding a large bouquet of lilacs, having come for his date with Regina.

“Excuse me. I’m here to see Regina…”

Leopold, who had expected a warm welcome from Regina, was visibly startled to be met by Emilia’s grim expression.

After confirming who it was, Emilia sighed deeply and brushed past him.

Left standing alone, Leopold cleared his throat awkwardly and glanced around.

“…Leopold?”

Alice, who had come to see Emilia off, noticed Leopold standing at the front door and hesitantly called out to him.

Leopold’s gaze shifted past Alice to Regina, who was wiping away tears behind her.

Seeing her usually clear eyes reddened with tears, Leopold’s heart sank.

But with the composure of someone who had crossed countless battlefields since childhood, he quickly realized that something serious had happened in the Berchio household.

“Is something the matter?”

“It’s… Liliana is missing. unnie, go file the report quickly. I’ll stay here just in case.”

“Alright. Call me if you find her.”

“I’ll help search the neighborhood.”

Alice, who was equally flustered, nodded at Leopold before hurrying out the door.

Leopold placed the bouquet on the shoe rack by the door and was about to follow Alice when he heard Liliana’s voice outside.

“Can’t I stay at the hotel? Mister, let me stay at the hotel too. Please? If I go home, my sisters will scold me!”

“No. You said you left without telling anyone. Your sisters must be fainting from worry by now.”

“Mister, you don’t understand me. Not at all!”

Alice inhaled sharply.

With a flushed face, she hurried down the stairs to the gate, where she found Liliana half-lounging outside.

“Oh no! Big unnie…”

Liliana, startled to see Alice, quickly hid behind Marius.

Alice, having confirmed her youngest sister was safe, didn’t even hear Marius explaining that Liliana had come to the hotel.

Relief that her sister was unharmed mixed with anger at herself for failing to protect her, and something inside her snapped.

“Liliana. Do you have any idea how, how… how worried I was?”

Drip. Drop.

For the first time, tears fell from Alice’s eyes, which had always shone with either gentleness or strength.

Seeing Alice cry, Liliana clung tightly to Marius’s coat.

But Alice grabbed Liliana’s arms and yelled,

“If you’re going out, at least tell someone! Do you know how worried your sisters were?”

“I’m sorry! Huhuhu. I’m so sorry!”

“Sniff… What if something terrible happened while you were out alone? How many times have I told you to let us know before you leave? Hic!”

“unnie! I’m sorry. Waaah! Don’t cry!”

Alice, who had never shown weakness, was now crying openly, and Liliana couldn’t help but burst into tears as well.

She clung to Alice, tears streaming down her face, but Alice didn’t hug her back.

Instead, her face turned red with anger as she continued to scold her.

“Are you going to keep disobeying your sisters? your unnir doesn’t like Liliana when she doesn’t listen!”

“No, no! I love big unnie the most! Waaah!”

“Are you really going to keep ignoring what we say? Huh?”

“unnie, I’m sorry! Waaah! Please don’t abandon me! Waaaah!”

In the end, Liliana trembled and cried even louder.

“Don’t abandon me.”

Alice, her face pale, stopped crying and yelling. She pressed her lips tightly together.

Though Liliana was her sister, she had raised her out of love, not obligation. She had given her everything.

Yet Liliana’s plea not to be abandoned tore through Alice’s heart.

No matter how much love she poured into her, could she never provide the same sense of security as a parent?

Or was it because she… had done something wrong…?

Alice swallowed the lump rising in her throat, forgetting even to cry.

If only she had loved Liliana more, would the child have felt less fear of being abandoned?

Her chest ached to the point of suffocation.

“unnie?”

Regina, who came out belatedly after hearing the commotion, hadn’t heard the conversation between Liliana and Alice. She was about to hug her youngest sister but stopped, sensing something unusual in Alice’s expression.

“Liliana. Hush. Let’s go inside first.”

Marius gestured to Regina to take care of Alice while he led Liliana inside.

Regina, sensing that something serious had happened, gently wrapped her arm around her elder sister’s shoulder.

“unnir, what’s wrong? Liliana’s back safe and sound. What’s going on…?”

The sister who was always strong now looked so fragile, as if she might collapse.

Alice held her breath, stifling her sobs as she struggled to suppress her tears.

Closing her eyes, she swallowed her emotions and spoke in a voice soaked with pain.

“I need to let Emilia know we found Liliana… Do you know where their meeting place is?”

Regina’s eyelids trembled.

Hiding a storm of emotions and thoughts beneath her deep blue eyes, she tightened her embrace around Alice.

In our house, we don’t use corporal punishment.

Instead, we’re made to write reflection letters, and if I’ve done something particularly wrong, there’s an additional step: the thinking chair.

“Hic… Hiccup!”

Even though my sobbing had subsided, I couldn’t stop hiccuping because I had cried so hard.

The image of my eldest unnie crying was etched so vividly beneath my eyelids that even closing them couldn’t erase it.

It was the first time in my life I had seen her cry.

Only then did I realize how terribly I had messed up and how much I had scared her.

Wiping my eyes roughly, I tried to calm myself when a glass of water was suddenly held out to me. It was Marius.

I took the cup from him and gulped down the water. My throat had been parched from crying, and the water helped a lot.

“Ten minutes have passed.”

“No, Regina told me to sit for fifteen minutes.”

“Really? Then I’ll sit with you.”

Without warning, Marius plopped down beside me.

I glanced nervously at the wide-open door.

Regina hadn’t let anyone close it, probably to ensure I didn’t sneak out again.

“Ugh…”

I let out a groan without realizing it, and Marius asked cautiously,

“Did you really come all the way to the hotel because you didn’t want your sister to get married?”

“Sniff… I wanted to ask him not to marry my big unnie.”

“…You don’t like the idea of me marrying Alice, do you?”

“Mm-hmm. I don’t like it.”

“Why? Because it feels like I’m taking her away from you?”

“…”

That was the truth.

Leopold, being a romantic, would likely move to Trovancia if he ended up with my sister. But Marius was an emperor.

Not only would he stay in the empire, but he would also live in the palace, making it hard for me to see my unnie.

Most of all, it wasn’t just any sister—it was Alice, my big sister whom I loved more than anything in the world.

People often say they feel warmth when they think of their mother.

For me, that warmth came from Alice’s embrace.

‘And I don’t want to be separated from my other sisters either…’

Without a mom or dad, my sisters are my whole world.

If they all scattered, I’d be left living in a shattered world.

One experience of losing someone dear—like when Andrea abandoned me—was more than enough.

“Fifteen minutes are up. Liliana, do you need to go to the bathroom?”

Instead of answering, I got up and headed to the bathroom.

I could feel Marius watching me, but I was too tired from crying to care.

“Little unnie…”

After washing my face thoroughly under the running water, I came out and called for my second sister.

I wanted to promise her that I had reflected deeply and wouldn’t make the same mistake again.

It would have been right to go to my eldest sister first, but I wasn’t ready to face her yet.

Just thinking about her tear-streaked face made my chest ache.

“…I feel like I owe Leopold an apology every time.”

“Not at all. Are you feeling better now?”

“Yes, I’m fine now. Oh, thank you for the bouquet. Lilacs are my favorite. Seeing the flowers will make me happy every time.”

“I’m glad you like them.”

At that moment, I heard my second sister and Leopold’s voices coming from the living room.

“Leopold, there’s something I want to ask you seriously…”

“What is it? Don’t hesitate, just say it.”

“Little unn—”

I was about to call out to her, but the bombshell my second sister dropped made me gasp and swallow my words.

It was only natural because…

“I’ve decided to follow my sister and live in the empire. Do you think there’s a job I could have while I’m there?”

Even my second sister was planning to move to the empire.