IBYSRHML | Chapter 49

Episode 49

As the sun set and night deepened, Alice entered the bedroom and narrowed her eyes when she found Marius reading a book upside down.

He might act frivolously, but in truth, he was a man quicker to calculate than anyone and had a heart as cold as ice.

It wasn’t common for such a man to be so deep in thought that he didn’t even realize his book was upside down.

“Is something wrong?”

“Huh, ah. Well…….”

His attempt to shrug it off like it was nothing was clumsy.

He wasn’t this unguarded in front of the nobles.

“What would you do if Lilliana grew up and stabbed you in the heart?”

“What?”

“She might try to take your life or do something outrageous that would disappoint you. Would you still love her like now?”

“That’s such a strange question out of nowhere.”

“Wouldn’t you regret putting everything on the line for love in the past? A child and a younger sibling are different things, after all.”

“I wouldn’t regret it. No matter what kind of wound Lilliana gives me, I was prepared the moment I came to love her. So I think I can endure whatever comes.”

“You’re mature. You really are.”

Marius rubbed his chin with his long fingers.

I should’ve had that kind of love, too.

Feeling that his own shortcomings had brought about the current situation, his chest felt heavy.

“Have you ever had a fight with Lilliana?”

“Of course.”

“Really? You don’t seem like you would.”

“Don’t even ask. We just fought over snacks recently. She refused to take her medicine and only wanted sweets, and I got so angry in the moment.”

“Not something like that, but a fight serious enough to make things awkward for a while?”

“Do you want to make up with Edgar?”

There’s no way she wouldn’t know that Edgar was blatantly avoiding Marius despite living in the same palace and sharing a room.

“I don’t know how to make up with him.”

“Why did you fight?”

“It wasn’t a fight… It was one-sided. I was just in the wrong.”

Since Marius had returned through time, the wound from raising Edgar until he was fifteen only to be betrayed still lingered.

But Edgar was different.

From Edgar’s perspective, the brother he’d gotten along with suddenly began keeping his distance one day, so he must have been deeply hurt.

“Hah.”

He let out a heavy sigh that didn’t suit him and scrubbed his face with the palm of his hand.

He had kept his distance to avoid hurting the child, but now he had no idea how to reconcile with Edgar.

‘If it were Lilliana, her anger would ease if I played a prank on her, but Edgar is different.’

Edgar was a mature and sensitive child for his age.

So if he tried to smooth things over half-heartedly, it could lead to a point of no return.

As Marius remained lost, unsure of what to do, Alice approached him.

“You can make up with him, so don’t worry.”

“……Do you think it’s still possible?”

“It is. I…….”

Alice bit her lower lip hard.

Unable to reveal the unspeakable past, she shut her eyes tightly and changed the subject.

“I wasn’t close with Lilliana from the beginning either. So it’s possible.”

At least you probably never tried to give up like I did, so you’ll be fine.

But since she kept those words to herself, no one heard Alice’s confession but Alice.

“It’s already been a month since the wedding. That woman is gradually gaining control over the imperial palace—are you just going to sit back and watch? The scholarship foundation the Empress established is running quite smoothly too.”

Count Ruman anxiously scratched at his nail.

It hadn’t even been a full month since Alice’s wedding, yet she was quickly solidifying her place.

The leadership and charisma she had cultivated in Trovancia had come to shine.

Because of that, the palace staff no longer treated Alice recklessly.

They no longer gossiped or mocked the Berchio sisters or the foreign Empress behind their backs as they had before.

But the nobles were different.

With their inherent status and power, they weren’t willing to accept Alice so easily.

“We need some kind of strategy.”

At Viscount Gressley’s words, Duke Berg nodded.

“She may be married now, but since she hasn’t fully secured her place yet, we still have time.”

“I still don’t understand why His Majesty chose such a woman. Especially the way she disrupted the soul vow…… He must be completely taken with her!”

“Count Ruman. That reminds me—I’ve always been curious about one thing.”

“What is it, Duke?”

“Regarding Her Majesty the Empress. I heard there’s only an eighteen-year age gap with her so-called youngest sibling, who was born late?”

“Eh? Yes, that’s what I heard.”

“Wasn’t her name Lilliana? They say there’s a twenty-four-year age gap between that child and the Empress’s older brother…… Isn’t that quite an extreme case for a late-born child?”

“I thought it was strange too. A very late birth, even for a late one. But why do you ask……?”

“Eighteen is old enough to have a child.”

Sensing the impure implication, Viscount Gressley sided with Duke Berg.

“She should’ve been properly verified. We’ve been too gentlemanly, and we didn’t realize just how vile barbarians could be.”

What they meant was that Lilliana might actually be the child Alice had given birth to in secret before marriage.

To others, this would’ve seemed laughably absurd, but they were deadly serious.

Duke Berg wielded significant power among the capital’s nobility.

Count Ruman, who flaunted immense wealth, was the duke’s solid right arm, and Viscount Gressley was the capital’s networking king and field operative.

Thus, when the three of them schemed together, the conspiracy snowballed, easily swallowing whatever target they marked.

Even last time, if Marius hadn’t stepped in at the last moment to add “a few conditions” to Alice’s soul vow, things would have gone their way.

“Viscount Gressley. Isn’t your wife quite popular in society?”

Rumors that began with the discreet chatter of noblewomen would soon turn into accepted truths, stirring up the world.

Eventually, it would surely lead to political conflict.

Sharing wicked smiles, they sounded the bell for the beginning of chaos.

“A soulmate means your soul’s match. Someone even more precious than a mega best friend, someone you love so much that your heart feels like it could burst.”

“Huh, wha—?”

I asked my big sister what a soulmate was, and her answer left me completely flustered.

I thought it meant someone you wanted to be friends with even as a ghost!

But someone you love so much your heart feels like bursting?

Did I promise something like that with Edgar?

“Lilliana. Do you have a soulmate?”

My big sister patted my head and asked.

I shook my head vigorously.

“N-no. Nothing like that.”

“Seems like you do. If you get caught lying, i will scold you real bad.”

“It’s really not true!”

What should I do? I promised to be soulmates only with Edgar.

That means I’ll have to stay his soulmate for life, but what if my real soulmate shows up when I grow up?

What if someone I love so much it makes my heart burst asks me to be their soulmate, but I can’t because the spot’s already taken……?

“Our little sister-in-law’s gonna cry, she’s gonna cry. Who did you make the soulmate pact with? Won’t you tell your brother-in-law?”

“No! It’s too embarrassing—wait. I mean, I didn’t! I didn’t make any kind of pact like that!”

Marius, who had been quietly listening to my conversation with my big sister, suddenly asked.

I was so caught off guard that I almost answered without thinking, then glared at Marius.

I slapped his thigh out of annoyance for tricking me.

He didn’t seem to be in pain at all and just giggled as he teased me.

“Then how about you and I make a pinky punch pact, little sister-in-law? Hahaha.”

“You’re not my brother-in-law! You’re just an old man!”

“You have to say brother-in-law. Lilliana.”

My big sister gave me a stern look, and I instinctively averted my eyes.

Beside me, Marius grinned mischievously.

“Okay. Repeat after me. Bro-ther-in-law.”

“…….”

“You have to repeat it. Bro-ther-in-law.”

“Br… br… bro… bro…… Pffffff.”

Hmph. I can’t. I’ll never accept that this rascal married my big sister.

“Pffft is fine too.”

He bared his white teeth and smiled as he patted my head, telling me not to feel pressured.

I looked at the invitation my big sister had been folding.

“Who are you sending that to?”

“To noble ladies and young misses. I’m hosting a tea party.”

“Can I go too?”

“Children aren’t allowed. But I’ll invite Helen instead. This time, you can eat cookies together and draw pictures and have fun.”

“Okay. Sounds good.”

I blankly watched my big sister melt sealing wax and press a seal into it, then suddenly thought I wanted to send a letter with such a cool seal too.

I couldn’t take my eyes off the sealing wax, and then my sister suddenly turned to me.

“Lilliana. Big sister has a favor to ask. Will you hear me out?”

“A favor? What kind of favor?”

Big sister’s asking me a favor?

I always beg her to buy me this or that, but it’s rare for her to ask me something, so my eyes sparkled.

“Your brother-in-law wants to have fun with Edgar and you. But Edgar doesn’t want to play with him, so could you try to convince him?”

“Hmm… What are we going to do?”

“We’re going to the circus.”

“The circus? Gaaaasp!”

I clamped my mouth shut with both hands.

Oh my gosh! The circus!

My heart pounded so hard I couldn’t contain it.

Back in Trovancha, we were going to see the circus, but I couldn’t go because I almost got hit by a carriage.

Now the chance was finally here. But……

“If Edgar says no, then I won’t go.”

If Edgar didn’t want to go with Marius, I wasn’t going to force him.

And I didn’t want to go to the circus alone with Marius either.

Even if we bicker every day, we’re still friends.