The maids brought warm tea. The bowls on the dining table had long been emptied. How much they chatted while drinking that tea, the sun had set.
“I have to go now. Silly.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. The children will be returning from school.”
True to her word, it was time for Bacchus and Felicia to return to the mansion. I started to stand up following Isabelle, who had risen first, but Roger tapped my foot one last time.
I could not let this go unanswered. Thinking it was the last time, I stretched my foot as hard as I could.
“Lise.”
I was caught by Isabelle, however.
‘Watch out, you.’
Mouthing the words, Roger smiled innocently. Sneaky guy.
“I’m sorry. But I’m glad to see you after a long time. Isabelle.”
“I feel the same way.”
“I was actually worried. That Isabelle might have changed a lot since she was young.”
Before stepping out the front door, Mrs. Bacchus smiled.
What kind of childhood did Isabelle have that Mrs. Bacchus mentions it so often? To me, Isabelle seemed like a person who never had a pure and innocent time, so I could not imagine her childhood.
“Is that so.”
“She was always blunt and her facial expressions rarely changed. If she spoke, she always talked about the future, which was boring, but not today. Even so, she’s still Isabelle. I like that Isabelle.”
“Silly hasn’t changed at all either.”
They exchanged many words on the way to the main gate.
I glanced at Roger, eavesdropping on their conversation. Though I did get in the last attack on him today, there won’t be a next time.
‘Goodbye, Mama’s boy.’
When I waved my hand,
‘Goodbye, stubborn Lise.’
Roger immediately paid me back.
[This is a time delimiter.]After getting into the carriage, Isabelle and I did not have any conversation. In truth, we had neither the energy nor the inclination to speak. Unlike usual, today was a day when I could not foresee anything. Many things had happened. Among them, what stood out was that Isabelle and I looked alike.
‘What does she resemble?’
Her face, personality, everything was different.
‘Come to think of it, how did she meet my father?’
I had never heard how Isabelle and my father, Count Lachis, had met. Isabelle was not the type to talk about a love affair from the past.
Count Lachis was talkative, but he always came home late from work, so I had never heard anything about their marriage.
It didn’t seem like a fated encounter. Could it have been just a common strategic marriage?
‘Then, when my father brought me, what did Isabelle feel?’
A completely unfamiliar child with different hair and eye color.
Feeling my gaze, Isabelle turned her head.
“What are you thinking about? Stupidly.”
“I didn’t think about anything.”
“You’re becoming proficient at lying. You were thinking about Roger, weren’t you?”
“No. I was just… curious about your childhood.”
I spoke honestly. Isabelle, startled, noticeably flinched, then closed her mouth. She turned her gaze back to the window.
“You’re curious about strange things.”
The conversation ended there.
After that silence, I realized how important something I had forgotten today was.
[This is a time separator.]“There’s nothing special to forget…….”
I had forgotten the packaged box on the desk. Today was Yurik’s birthday.
Outside, the sunset was already fading. The postman had already received the goods and gone for delivery. Going straight to the Fenton mansion seemed risky as I was anxious that Yurik’s grandfather might discover the goods.
I thought delivering the item would be easy, but it turned out to be a difficult mission. The quest’s deadline was today at 11:59. The reward was Yurik’s bright smile.
“Damn it.”
Can’t it be given tomorrow? No, birthday gifts should be given on the birthday; otherwise, it might seem like the birthday was forgotten. I had to go out first.
“Miss? Where are you going?”
“To the stable! I have to feed them!”
I quickly answered Biti’s question and went outside. I ran out of breath. The sky was quickly darkening, and the weather was getting chilly. Upon arriving at the flower garden, I spotted the distant Fenton house.
‘So, what should I do now?’
Should I disguise myself as a postwoman? But no matter how I thought about it, there was no postwoman this short and young.
“Lise Marsen?”
Then I heard Yurik’s voice from behind. I thought it was an auditory hallucination and turned my head, only to find Yurik standing blankly. In his hand was a thick book featuring fairies and mermaids. From auditory hallucination to visual hallucination.
“What are you doing here?”
But then, I realized it was reality when the wind pinched my cheek.
“What are you doing?”
It’s your birthday today.
Yurik hesitated before hiding the book behind him. I had already seen the bright and cute book cover.
“……I wanted to read, but grandfather is here, so I’m reading secretly here.”
“In this cold? Your hands will freeze.”
“I was about to go in. What about you?”
I clenched the box in my hand. Good, I had met Yurik at the right time, and now all I had to do was hand over the gift.
“I’m……. that.”
“……Why are you like that?”
Yurik looked at me, standing still, and tilted his head. I found myself strange too. My heart was pounding just by giving Yurik a gift.
‘Come to think of it, what right do I have to give Yurik a gift?’
He wasn’t even close with him. Until recently, Yurik didn’t like him, did he? The misunderstanding may have been resolved, but they had only run into each other a few times.
“Are you hurt?”
“Not at all!”
“This won’t do. It’s cold, so it would be better to go inside.”
This couldn’t continue!
“Do you like pumpkin cake, or do you prefer chocolate cake?”
“What?”
“No… that’s not it. Actually, I have something I want to give you.”
He slowly held out the gift box.
“It’s your birthday, right? Happy birthday, Yurik.”
My Step-brother Is Obsessed With Me (Female-dominant)
A gentle female protagonist vs pitiful in the early stage, and a sick male protagonist in the later stage
Cheng Songer transmigrated into the body of a vicious cannon fodder female supporting character with the same name as her in a female-dominant novel.
In the original story, the cannon fodder female supporting character was inhumane, committing domestic violence, gambling excessively, being lustful, and even wanting to sell her stepbrother to a brothel for money.
As luck would have it, she just happened to transmigrate at this time.
Seeing Cheng Qingzhi biting his lip, enduring the tears in his eyes, looking pitiful, her heart softened.
She stuffed the money back into the Madam’s hand and reached out to him.
“Brother, come home with me.”
