Chapter 13
“Big Sissssster—!”
“Big Sister!”
Second Sister and Emilia shouted at the same time from across the dining table.
I was eating grapes with Big Sister, and the sudden shouting startled me so much that I quickly covered both of my ears with my hands.
“Why are you yelling so early in the morning?”
“What is this article? Marriage? And to the Emperor of the Empire?”
Emilia shoved the newspaper right in front of Big Sister’s face, but Big Sister didn’t even glance at it. Instead, she calmly placed another grape into my mouth.
Ignored again, Emilia tapped the newspaper with her hand and let out a frustrated sigh.
Second Sister gently patted Emilia’s shoulder, telling her to calm down.
“This has to be a false report, right? We should go to the newspaper office and demand a correction first. How can they suddenly write about marriage when she doesn’t even have a boyfriend?”
“Exactly. Newspapers these days are unbelievable. They’re spreading rumors just to make gossip. Is this really what the press should be doing? Emilia, let’s go ask them to correct it right now.”
“The article is true.”
As soon as Big Sister answered, Second Sister and Emilia both turned to look at her.
I couldn’t keep up with their conversation, so I slowly read the newspaper that Emilia had thrown in front of Big Sister.
“Aliche Verkio to Marry Emperor Marius.”
Marius was getting married?
To our Big Sister?
Not Leopoldt… but Marius?
For a moment, I couldn’t understand what was happening.
My mind went blank.
That jerk of an Emperor was getting married?
And to my amazing Big Sister, who was talented, smart, and the coolest person in the whole world?
“Big Sister, are you getting married?”
“Do you remember Mister Marius, whom we met before? I’m going to marry him.”
“U-Um…”
I was so shocked that I spat out the grape Aliche had just put into my mouth.
Pop!
The grape rolled across the table before falling onto the floor.
The grape wasn’t the problem.
Why was Aliche suddenly getting married?
And why Marius instead of Leopoldt?
“Whyyy? Why are you getting married? Why Mister Marius?”
“Liliana, do you dislike Mister Marius?”
“Nooo! I don’t want that!”
“See, Big Sister? Even the little one doesn’t like it. He’s the Emperor, and now you’re suddenly getting married without saying a single word to us? From the looks of it, this isn’t even a marriage for love.”
Second Sister was right.
From my sharp observation…
There was absolutely nothing between Big Sister and Marius.
There wasn’t even the slightest romantic tension.
Watching them together felt more like seeing a sly spear fighting against an unbreakable shield.
If anything…
The strange atmosphere was between Second Sister and Leopoldt.
Those two definitely looked like something was going on.
“That’s how it is. We’ll skip the engagement ceremony and simply exchange rings. Then, when he returns to the Empire, I’ll go with him. We’ll stay in the Empire for a while before holding the wedding.”
“What are you even talking about? Don’t just announce it—explain it! Why are you suddenly getting married? And why the Emperor?”
“Emilia. This is a matter between him and me. It’s not something for you to interfere with.”
“Big Sister!”
As Emilia shouted angrily, I nervously looked back and forth between my sisters.
I wanted to throw a tantrum and tell Big Sister not to get married…
But the atmosphere wasn’t one where I could say anything.
It felt like they might start punching each other at any moment.
I held my breath.
Then Big Sister looked at me.
“Liliana, go to your room.”
“……”
“Hurry.”
“O-Okay.”
Big Sister’s face looked so frightening when she told me to hurry that I quietly got up and went to my room.
“Cookie… why is my Big Sister acting like this all of a sudden?”
The moment I hugged Cookie tightly, loud arguing broke out outside.
Emilia fired off words one after another, and Second Sister joined in, asking Big Sister question after question.
The twins’ voices were much louder than usual.
In contrast…
Big Sister sounded calm.
No…
She sounded as cold as ice.
“So… answer me!”
“I… I can’t hear clearly…”
Maybe because my room was the farthest from the dining room, I couldn’t hear everything.
But just from the few words that reached me…
I could tell that Big Sister had already made up her mind.
I want to hear more.
Unable to stop my curiosity, I carefully turned the doorknob.
The door made a tiny sound.
But everyone was too emotional to notice me opening it.
Even though it was only a small crack…
I could hear much better.
Then Big Sister spoke again.
“I’ll raise Liliana.”
Thump.
Cookie slipped from my hands and landed silently on the soft carpet.
The words struck me like lightning.
I froze in place.
I even forgot to breathe.
This wasn’t the time to help Second Sister get together with Leopoldt.
Now…
It was time for Operation: Separate Marius and Big Sister.
If Big Sister was going to raise me…
That meant I would be going to the Empire with her.
Which also meant…
I would have to leave my twin sisters behind.
I had never imagined our family would be separated.
Because of that, I spent the entire day feeling depressed…
And anxious.
“No. This can’t happen. Right, Cookie? You think so too, don’t you?”
First, my older brother had suddenly left for the countryside to live his own life.
And now…
I might be separated from my sisters too.
When a family falls apart…
Society becomes sick.
When society becomes sick…
A nation falls.
And when a nation falls…
The world is doomed.
Therefore…
For the sake of world peace…
I had to stop my sisters from living apart.
“Cookie… I’ve made up my mind.”
“I’m going to persuade Marius.”
There was no way I would let that rascal steal away my precious Big Sister!
I immediately packed some biscuits and my coin purse into my hamster-shaped bag.
Lastly, I carefully packed Cookie, my soft and fluffy favorite doll, before putting the bag on my back.
The biscuits were in case I got hungry after meeting Marius.
The coin purse was to pay for the carriage ride to the hotel where Marius was staying.
After quietly leaving my room…
I tiptoed through the house.
If my sisters noticed me, they would definitely come after me.
Luckily, their argument had already ended, and they had all gone back to their own rooms.
Without making a sound…
I successfully escaped through the front door.
“Phewww… I did it.”
Once I safely got outside without being caught, I let out a sigh of relief.
Afraid one of my sisters might come after me…
I hurried toward the carriage stop.
This time, before crossing the road…
I carefully looked both ways.
Just in case…
I also raised my right arm high.
At the carriage stop, I grabbed the attention of a coachman who was sitting on a bench drinking something.
“Mister! Please take me to Rizolo Hotel!”
According to the newspaper…
Marius was staying at Rizolo Hotel.
“Little girl, you’ll get scolded if you joke around.”
“I’m serious… I have to go to Rizolo Hotel. I even have money!”
“If you want to go to a hotel, go bring your mother first.”
The coachman lazily waved his hand.
My lower lip stuck out into a pout.
“I don’t have a mommy… I don’t have a daddy either…”
For some reason…
His words made me feel even sadder.
It already hurt that my parents were gone.
And now…
I might even be separated from my sisters.
Not just to another town…
But to another country across the sea.
“My big brother is staying at Rizolo Hotel, so I’m going to see him. He had a fight with my sister, so he can’t come home. That’s why Liliana has to go see him… I really want to see my big brother…”
As I talked about my brother…
I suddenly thought about Andrea, who had gone to the southern countryside.
My eyes filled with tears.
A few months ago…
Andrea had suddenly decided to leave without warning.
Before my sisters could stop him…
He ran away from home.
He left behind all of his clothes and books…
Taking only money with him.
At that time, he had said,
“I’ve done everything I could for all of you. From now on, you’ll have to live well on your own.”
Andrea was twenty-four years older than me.
He was even six years older than Aliche.
After our parents passed away…
He had taken care of the family by himself.
He had even raised me since I was a newborn.
Maybe…
He left the capital because he had become tired after raising a little sister young enough to be his daughter.
That’s probably why he said he had already done enough.
He must have gotten tired of me.
Thinking that…
Tears rolled down my cheeks.
As I began sobbing…
The coachman panicked.
“Oh dear! Alright, alright! I’ll take you! You said you’re going to see your brother, right? Family should always be able to see each other!”
He quickly lifted me into the carriage and immediately headed toward the hotel.
Clatter… Clatter…
The sound of the horse’s hooves and the carriage wheels gradually calmed my heart.
I wonder if Big Brother is doing well.
It had been a long time since he left for the countryside.
Yet he hadn’t sent even one letter.
Maybe…
After struggling under my sisters’ constant nagging…
He was simply enjoying his freedom too much.
Maybe he was so happy there…
That he didn’t even think about me.
I wiped my warm eyes and checked the newspaper clipping in my pocket.
I just hope I don’t miss him…
When I met Marius…
Should I throw myself onto the ground first?
Or should I tell him he was the most handsome man in the world and then beg him not to marry my sister?
“Hng… This is so hard.”
I lay flat across the carriage seat and looked up at the blue sky through the window.
Watching the clouds drift by…
I didn’t notice that the carriage had already stopped.
When I quickly looked outside…
I saw the entrance to the hotel.
I took out the money I had prepared from my coin purse and handed it to the coachman.
Then I bravely charged toward the hotel.
Or…
I was about to.
“Hey, passenger.”
“Hm?”
The coachman suddenly grabbed my bag and pulled me back.
…Wait.
Earlier he had called me “little girl.”
“Your fare isn’t enough.”
“H-Huh?”
My sisters always gave the coachman five coins.
So I also handed him five coins.
But…
There was one thing I had completely overlooked.
The coins my sisters used…
Were silver coins.
Mine…
Were copper coins.
