IBYSML 17

Chapter 17

Youngest Sister scolded me so thoroughly that it brought tears to my eyes.

As punishment, I wasn’t allowed to go to the playground for three whole days, so I had to stay in my room playing with my dolls all by myself.

“I miss you… Francesca… Martina… Antonio… Vicky…”

Being stuck at home all day made me so bored that my whole body felt restless.

And it wasn’t like my sisters would come play with me either.

Right now, our house felt so tense that if anyone so much as poked it…

It felt like—

Boom! Boom!

The whole place would explode.

That suffocating tension reached its peak two days ago, when Great Sister came home after resigning from the Coast Guard.

Youngest Sister demanded to know if she was really going through with the marriage.

Eventually, she couldn’t hold back her anger anymore and shouted at the top of her lungs.

Second Sister glared at Great Sister for a long time before slamming her bedroom door shut and locking herself inside.

And me…

“Cookie… I really don’t know what to do.”

I wanted Second Sister and Leopoldt to end up together.

But now Great Sister was taking me to the Empire too.

At this point, I didn’t even care about the male leads anymore.

I just wanted us to keep living peacefully in Trovancha like we always had.

The four of us together…

And it would be even better if Big Brother Andrea came home too…

Suddenly, the perfect solution popped into my head.

I hugged Cookie tightly and shouted,

“Ah! That’s it! Cookie! Let’s write a letter to Big Brother Andrea!”

If I told Big Brother that my sisters were planning to marry strange men…

Maybe he’d step in and stop them.

Why didn’t I think of this sooner?

I immediately jumped to my feet, grabbed some paper, and picked up a pen.

After dipping the pen nib into the ink, I carefully began writing my letter.

I couldn’t control the strength in my hand very well.

The pen kept tearing through the paper, and my fingers ended up covered in black ink.

But I didn’t stop.

Big Brother Andrea! It’s me, Liliana!

D-don’t you miss me? I mis you lots!

My sisers are geting maried! I hav to liv in the Empir too! I like Trovancha better… Plees stop my sisers!

I could read just fine…

But writing was still really difficult.

As long as he understood what I meant, that was good enough.

I smeared an enormous amount of glue over the envelope so nobody could possibly open it.

Then I tucked it into my little hamster bag and got ready to leave.

I wanted to get to the post office as quickly as possible so the letter could reach Big Brother Andrea in the south.

Leaving my room, I ran down the hallway and knocked on my sisters’ doors.

If I went out without telling them…

I might really get spanked so hard my butt disappeared.

“Second Sister! Let’s go to the post office together!”

“I’m busy.”

When I opened the door, I found Second Sister getting ready for her date.

I gave her a thumbs-up and told her she looked pretty before heading to Youngest Sister’s room.

“Youngest Sister! Let’s go to the post—”

Before I could finish speaking…

The door flew open.

For some reason, Youngest Sister was already dressed and ready to go outside.

“Sure. Let’s go. I’ll even buy you something delicious on the way back.”

“R-Really?”

“Of course. Have you ever seen me lie?”

“Yes! Lots of times!”

“You little—!”

As she reached over to pinch my cheek…

I darted toward the front door like an arrow.

I threw it open—

Thunk!

Something collided with it from the other side.

“Huh?”

“Oww… That hurts.”

That voice…

Marius?

“Mister?”

Marius was crouching in front of me, holding his nose.

“Ouch… I think my nose is broken. Maybe it’ll get better if this little one blows on it.”

“You want me to blow on it?”

“Will you?”

He smiled brightly as he lowered his hand.

His nose looked perfectly fine.

If anything, his palm was much redder.

It seemed suspicious…

But since he’d gotten hurt because of me, I had to take responsibility.

“Hooo… Hooo… Make the pain go awaaaay!”

As I chanted my little spell…

Marius’s eyes widened in amazement before he broke into a grin.

“Wow. You’re incredible, little one. It doesn’t hurt at all anymore.”

“See? I’m amazing!”

I proudly puffed out my chest.

Marius chuckled as he stood up.

While he was patting my head…

Youngest Sister stepped outside.

Instead of greeting him, she asked coldly,

“What are you doing here?”

“Is Miss Aliche home?”

“No.”

“Oh, come on. I already know she’s here. Even if you don’t like me, don’t lie.”

“If you already know, why ask?”

“I wanted to get closer to my future sister-in-law.”

Marius joked.

Youngest Sister only frowned harder.

The way her lips twisted made it obvious how irritated she was.

This wouldn’t do.

I’d have to step in and direct traffic myself.

“Great Sister’s sleeping! Go home, Mister!”

“Hm? Then can you wake her up?”

“No! Go home!”

“Hmmm… Little one, if you lie, you’ll never grow taller. Do you want to stay tiny forever?”

“U-Uh… I don’t want that…”

I covered both cheeks with my hands and gasped.

The corners of Marius’s lips twitched.

Just then…

Perhaps because she’d heard our conversation…

Great Sister came out.

“What brings you here?”

“Oh, right. I came to give you your engagement ring. We skipped the engagement ceremony, but I wanted to hand you the ring myself. Come on. Let’s have dinner somewhere nice and exchange rings.”

“Sister.”

Youngest Sister shook her head with a stiff expression.

Great Sister calmly ignored her objection.

“Lily, where are you going? Want to come with your Great Sister?”

“She already has somewhere to go with me. Come on, Youngest.”

Youngest Sister grabbed my hand.

As she walked past, she deliberately bumped Marius’s shoulder.

I obediently followed after her before turning around to wave at Great Sister.

“Great Sister, don’t spend too much time playing with that silly mister. Come home early, okay?”

I’d warned her to come home early…

But I wasn’t sure how much effect it would have.

After all…

I was only six years old.

Great Sister was twenty-four.

She was an adult.

After mailing my letter to Big Brother Andrea…

Youngest Sister took me to a restaurant.

The children’s meal was so delicious that I happily hummed to myself while swinging my legs beneath the chair.

Then—

Ding.

The restaurant door opened.

The moment I saw who had entered…

Everything froze.

Even the fork I’d been using to cut my steak slipped from my hand and clattered onto the table.

“U-Uh… I want to go home!”

The customer was none other than François Cassel.

Please…

Anyone but him.

As if fate were mocking me…

François spotted us immediately and began walking toward our table.

He was definitely here to make me drink another magic potion.

I’d been tricked!

As I climbed down from my chair to run away…

Youngest Sister firmly grabbed my arm and sat me right back down.

Meanwhile…

François kept getting closer.

My heart pounded violently.

I hadn’t even been this scared before getting injections.

“Ugh… I-I want to go home… Let go…”

As tears began filling my eyes…

Youngest Sister hurriedly started negotiating.

“I’ll buy you mango pudding.”

“No! I don’t want pudding!”

“I’ll buy you jelly too. And I’ll give you a coupon so you don’t have to eat bell peppers.”

“J-Just one?”

“Two.”

“…Four.”

“Deal. Three. Three jellies, one pudding, and three no-bell-pepper coupons. Happy?”

“Mmm… Okay. I’ll try to endure it.”

I swallowed nervously while thinking about jelly and pudding.

By then…

François had already taken the seat across from me.

He smiled warmly.

“Hello, little lady.”

I didn’t like François Cassel.

He was a dangerous person in the original story.

And he always called me “little lady.”

“I-I’m not a little lady.”

…Well.

That was my version of sounding fierce.

“Then shall I call you Liliana from now on?”

Actually…

I was too scared to glare at him like a lion.

But contrary to my expectations…

François answered very gently.

For a brief moment…

I wondered if I’d misunderstood him all this time.

In the original story, he’d imprisoned the heroine and even used me.

But that was the original story.

Maybe this reality was different.

Maybe he wasn’t actually that dangerous here.

If that was true…

Maybe it was okay to relax a little.

Gathering my courage, I said,

“Mhm. Okay. Please call me Liliana.”

“You’re here? Have you eaten yet?”

“Not yet. I’ll order something too.”

“Go ahead.”

Something felt strange.

No…

Suspicious.

Youngest Sister and François weren’t supposed to be comfortable enough to talk like this.

I narrowed my eyes and looked back and forth between them.

Eventually…

François noticed me staring.

He carefully studied my face.

“Liliana… are you afraid of your big brother?”

“N-No! I’m not scared!”

If I admitted I was scared…

I’d lose.

So I deliberately stared back at him with all my strength.

Instead of intimidating him…

He simply smiled.

“Not ‘big brother.’ You should call him ‘Mister.’ If he’d caused trouble when he was younger, he’d be old enough to have a daughter your age.”

At Second Sister’s sarcastic remark…

François forced a smile.

Then he poured a glowing magic potion into a glass of water.

“You have to drink a magic potion within one hour after it’s made. Even if it tastes awful, be brave and finish it.”

Just looking at the ugly purple potion made my lips pout.

It smelled so horrible…

I’d rather give up both my pudding and jelly than drink it.

As if he’d read my mind…

François suddenly pulled a small teddy bear out of a paper bag.

Its fluffy pink fur was unbelievably cute.

Every time he gently shook it…

My eyes followed it without thinking.

“If you’re brave and drink it all, I’ll give this to you.”

“Really…?”

“Of course.”

He smiled and placed the teddy bear in my hands.

I hugged it tightly and rubbed my chin against its soft little tummy.

It felt so fluffy.

“Hehe… I can do it!”

Summoning every ounce of courage…

I picked up the cup.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

Held my breath.

And tipped it back.

The potion touched my lips.

I forced my mouth open and swallowed.

Gulp.

Gulp.

Even while holding my breath…

The bitterness spread through my mouth with every swallow.

I felt like throwing up.

Whenever that happened…

I squeezed the teddy bear as tightly as I could.

Once I finished this…

It would be mine.

Just a little more.

“Uwaaah… It tastes so awful.”

I set the empty cup down.

Youngest Sister immediately clapped.

“Wow! You even drank a magic potion! Our little one has grown up!”

“That’s right. Liliana is such a brave girl.”

“Of course! Liliana is going to become a brave hero someday! This much is nothing!”

I proudly puffed out my chest.

François laughed silently.

I gently stroked the teddy bear I’d earned by drinking the most disgusting drink in the world.

“Your name is Jelly now. Hello, Jelly. Big Sister will play with you every day.”

Just then…

Youngest Sister stuffed another bite of food into my mouth.

Treating me like a baby made me puff out my cheeks.

I grabbed my own fork.

“I’m not a baby. I can eat by myself.”

“You’re so tiny. Of course you’re still a baby.”

I wanted to argue.

I’d already grown up…

But Youngest Sister’s eyes gleamed dangerously.

So I quietly nodded.

“That’s right… I’m a baby.”

Hmph.

I’d better hurry up and become an adult…

Then I’d have hammer fists too.