IBYSRHML | Chapter 52

Episode 52

My heart pounded when I saw his furrowed brow.

It was clear that once we got back to the palace, my sisters would scold me badly too.

“……Are you mad?”

“……”

“Lilliana did something wrong……”

“……”

I looked up at Marius with the brightest eyes I could manage, like I’d just scribbled on the floor with my older sister’s makeup.

But Marius still kept his mouth tightly shut, looking terrifying.

His jaw was trembling, as if he was really angry.

‘Oh no. He must be really mad.’

At this point, I had to show off my ultimate move.

I pouted my lips and widened my eyes, making a face that said, Are you going to scold me?

I also grabbed onto the hem of Marius’s pants.

“Brother-in-lawww. I’m sorry.”

Whenever I did this, my youngest sister would stop at a flick on the forehead instead of a spanking, and my eldest sister would just sigh deeply and let it go.

So please don’t scold me.

And it’d be even better if you didn’t tell my sisters what happened today!

“You’re the coolest in the whole world and, um……”

I was supposed to say he was cool, handsome, and the best, but even as a lie, that felt too far from the truth.

So I couldn’t say it.

When Marius kept his mouth shut, he did look pretty cool, but the handsome one was François, and the best one was Leopold……

‘No. I can do this.’

If flattering Marius would help me avoid an hour-long scolding or a time-out in the thinking chair, I could sell my conscience.

Going missing was a five-star-level mistake, after all.

“Brother-in-lawww. Lilliana will really reflect on it. Okay? I was wrong. Don’t be mad……”

I even raised my arm and gave myself a self-imposed punishment.

Then Marius’s body trembled.

The tension drained from his stiff face.
His large frame slumped.

Marius knelt on one knee to meet our eye level and opened his arms to embrace me and Edgar.

“Why should Lilliana be scolded?”

“Lilliana didn’t wait by the bathroom and followed someone else alone, right?”

“But it was me who weren’t in front of the door when Lilliana came out. Lilliana, Edgar… I’m sorry.”

I’m sorry. His voice, apologizing to us, was deeply choked.

A faint tremble passed from the arms and shoulders holding us.

Marius looked utterly exhausted.

It was only then that I noticed the faint scent of sweat from him.

He never usually ran around in the palace, but it seemed he had rushed all over with Edgar to find me.

‘He must’ve been really scared because of me.’

I always thought Marius would be calm and confident like a clever grasshopper.

I never imagined he’d panic like this.

I hugged Marius’s neck tightly and gently patted his big back.

“Uh-huh. It’s okay. We’re back together now, right?”

Normally in situations like this, the adult scolds and then comforts the scared child……

But this felt completely reversed, and he was hugging me so tightly my chest felt suffocated—but I stayed still.

‘Still, I don’t hate it.’

For the first time, I felt like Marius was truly my guardian.

Of course, I had a real guardian, but it became clear that when my sisters weren’t around, Marius would fill that role.

So as a way of saying I’d be in his care from now on, I endured the breathlessness and kept patting his back.

In the end, we didn’t get to see the circus performance today either.

While everyone was in a frenzy looking for me, the entrance had closed and the show was nearing its end.

Instead, since we had come all the way here, Marius insisted we at least watch the fireworks. He took us to a nearby hill and found a good spot to watch.

“Edgar. Share the potato with me.”

“Say ah.”

“Ahh.”

Edgar popped a piece of steamed potato into my mouth.

Marius sat next to us, wiped our sauce-covered hands, and handed us drinks at the right times, attending to us.

Just sitting and eating while the Emperor did all the hard work—this kind of life wasn’t so bad.

“We’ve eaten nothing but this kind of stuff all day. What if Alice finds out and nags?”

“I’ll just tell big sis we had grilled pork at the shop. That’s fine, right?”

“Ha. This cheeky little brat. There’s nothing you can’t say, all grubby like that.”

Marius pinched my cheek lightly and smiled with his white teeth showing.

He gently patted Edgar’s head too.

Edgar flinched.

Then—bang! bang!—colorful fireworks burst in the sky.

Each time the red, yellow, and blue lights spread, my mouth opened wide in awe.

They say if you make a wish on a shooting star it’ll come true, but what about on fireworks?

Figuring I had nothing to lose, I tightly held Edgar’s and Marius’s hands and made a wish.

‘Please let them make up!’

I hope Edgar and Marius become loving brothers!

Please let them not fight anymore!

Please help Edgar not get hurt again!

After making my wish, I opened my eyes and met Edgar’s gaze instead of fireworks.

“What did you do?”

“I made a wish.”

“What kind of wish?”

“Uh-huh. That’s a secret. Edgar, you make a wish too.”

Edgar frowned at the word “secret,” but when I urged him to hurry, he squeezed his eyes shut.

I wondered what wish Edgar would make. A moment later, as soon as he opened his eyes, I asked,

“What did you wish for?”

“That’s a secret.”

“Tch.”

When I tried to pull my hand away to drink, Marius let go, but Edgar didn’t.

“Huh?”

Edgar kept holding my hand, just staring at the sky.

Even when I squirmed my fingers, he didn’t let go.

We’re only a few months apart in age, so how is his grip so strong?

I looked up at Marius for help, but he didn’t even try to free me. Instead, he just handed me a drink.

“Brother-in-law, why are you smiling?”

“Because you two are too cute.”

When I squinted my eyes and glared at him, Marius quickly pointed to the sky and told me to watch the fireworks.

I was too drained from the day’s chaos to argue, so I let Edgar keep holding my hand and gazed at the sky.

The fireworks that lit up the night sky were beautiful enough to make up for everything that had happened today.

Back in the carriage on the way to the palace, Lilliana had long since fallen asleep with her head on Marius’s lap.

Edgar, dozing off, woke with a start when the carriage rattled.

“Go back to sleep.”

A large hand patted Edgar’s head.

The rough gesture only made Edgar more alert, and he reflexively checked on Lilliana.

“Brother.”

“Yeah. What? Is the carriage uncomfortable?”

“No. It’s not that…… About earlier, I’m sorry. I said mean things.”

His voice almost disappeared with that last sentence.

Marius didn’t miss that tiny apology.

“What do you have to be sorry for? I should be the one apologizing.”

“Huh?”

Edgar looked up instinctively, not expecting an apology from Marius.

There he saw Marius’s face, eyes red and rimmed with tears.

Even the tip of his nose was flushed to match.

His large hand shyly covered Edgar’s eyes.

“I’m more sorry.”

“……”

“And for all the times I made you suffer, I’m really, truly sorry.”

Heat surged from deep in his stomach, his nose tingled.

That dawn, when he heard what Lilliana had said, he finally realized that Edgar hadn’t been rebelling.

Edgar had believed he’d be forgiven even if it looked like rebellion.

Because he was sure he was loved.

‘You were so confused back then.’

Even when he blocked Marius with his sword, he had no intention of actually striking.

If he had, he wouldn’t have dropped the sword in shock at the sight of blood.

Edgar had been prepared to risk his life, but never to take another’s.

He had only wanted his own actions to be a wake-up call.

“I was too foolish to understand your feelings. I’m sorry, really sorry. How could I not have known? To you, I’m like a parent, so why……”

Back then, he was a mad tyrant.

He’d started a war, obsessed with Rebecca Marchione under the influence of a love potion.

So many had suffered because of that war.

When Edgar had said “End it with me,” he meant Marius could kill him if it meant coming to his senses.

He realized all of that far too late. Only now, only just now.

“From now on, I’ll do better. If there’s anything that hurt you because of me, I’ll ask for forgiveness. Everything was my fault.”

Sniff. Edgar sniffled.

Marius sniffled too.

Beneath the hand covering his eyes, Edgar’s small lips were tightly pressed shut.

After a long moment of heavy breathing, Edgar pushed Marius’s hand away and wiped his eyes with his sleeve.

His tear-streaked green eyes met Marius’s in midair.

“Okay. Just this once.”

Marius, wondering what Alice would do in this situation, gave Edgar a clumsy hug.

Edgar squirmed awkwardly in his arms but didn’t pull away.

Marius instinctively realized—his arms would no longer feel empty.