To Become Family with the Male Lead (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 4

“Brother!”

“Oh….”

Yurick’s face turned as red as a persimmon. Before things could get even more awkward, I reached to pick up the handkerchief that had fallen in front of me and hand it to him.

“Miss!”

Viti’s voice rang out from afar—she must have returned from buying the rug. It was my chance to escape the uncomfortable atmosphere.

Pleased to see her, I couldn’t help but smile—but then I noticed two unwelcome companions standing beside her.

The twins, Swell and Silke.

‘Why did they come together?’

“There you are, Lise!”

“We’ve been looking for you!”

Swell and Silke arrived before me, speaking with clear annoyance. They were the ones who’d left me behind earlier, yet now they were complaining about finding me alone.

Though it felt unfair, my priority right now was getting the twins away from this place as quickly as possible. Nothing good could come from a confrontation between these troublemakers and the Fenton siblings.

“Thank you for cleaning my dress. I’ll be going now.”

“Where are you going? Can’t you stay and play with me? You haven’t even finished cleaning the dress yet!”

Yune clung tightly to the hem of my dress. If I’d known it would come to this, I should’ve left when Yurick gave me that look earlier.

Unable to act either way, Swell and Silke stared at Yune, puzzled. The three of them locked eyes.

I’d hoped they wouldn’t recognize each other—but judging by the twins’ gradually twisting expressions, it was already too late.

“So you’ve been playing with those Fentons this whole time, Lise?”

“You traitor!”

The twins’ accusations came flying instantly.

“Huh? They’re Lise’s older brother and sister.”

Even Yune recognized them. At her words, the twins glared fiercely at her. Oblivious to their hostile gaze, Yune just blinked innocently—until Yurick stepped in front of her.

An odd tension settled over the group.

Oh no. This was bad.

“I—I should go now, right?”

I tried to slip away before the Fenton siblings and the twins could start fighting.

But the twins refused to budge, locked in a silent stare-down with Yurick and Yune. Their usual competitive nature was showing through loud and clear.

Apparently, that same stubbornness ran in the Fenton siblings too—they showed no intention of looking away first.

“You weren’t bullying my little sister, were you?”

Swell finally broke the silence. Since when did you start calling me “my little sister” so casually?

“We weren’t bullying her. Let’s just go. Where’s Mother?”

“Step aside, Lise. Acting like this only makes you look more suspicious.”

My attempt to quickly defuse the situation only made Swell suspicious. Silke, clearly misunderstanding something, stepped in front of me, blocking the Fentons.

“We didn’t do anything to your sister.”

Yurick spoke firmly. His low tone made the twins flinch slightly. Whether intimidated by his presence or not, they stayed quiet for a moment—but only briefly.

“Then why does my sister look like this?”

“It was an accident with the juice…”

“You must’ve spilled it on purpose!”

The twins were making baseless accusations now.

Whether or not the Fentons had bullied me no longer mattered to them. What they really wanted was to recover from the moment they’d just been overpowered by Yurick’s presence.

“…Hah.”

Yurick sighed, seeming to realize this as well.

“It really was an accident! We were just trying to clean it up!”

Unlike Yurick, Yune hadn’t caught on—she raised her voice indignantly. Not to be outdone, the twins shouted even louder.

Apparently, Swell and Silke found it shameful to be overpowered—but not shameful at all to gang up on an eight-year-old girl.

My head throbbed. I looked away for a moment to catch my breath—and locked eyes with Yurick.

I felt I ought to say something to him, but nothing came to mind.

In the end, I gave a slightly awkward smile—and Yurick quickly looked away.

‘This won’t do.’

Just as I moved to stop the twins again, something dropped with a soft thud right in front of me.

It was Yurick’s handkerchief.

It had been clinging to my dress hem and finally fell loose.

“What’s this?”

Swell, unaware, stepped on the handkerchief and frowned.

“It’s not mine… oh.”

He glanced at it once, then smirked. Why did I have such a bad feeling about this?

“So the Fenton family likes things like this, huh? Just like that doll.”

Swell never failed to do exactly what I expected—and dreaded.

Seeing Yurick’s expression turn icy, he simply shrugged. He clearly thought he’d just struck a weak point in the Fenton siblings.

“Our Marceau family has long outgrown such childish things. Now I understand the Fentons’ level.”

You, mocking them like that, are even more childish…

“D-don’t insult my brother!”

“…What?”

Yune stammered in anger. Swell just looked bewildered.

“Yune.”

Yurick tugged her arm. Swell and Silke, finding this odd, stared intently at the Fenton siblings.

“Could this handkerchief possibly be…”

Of all times, the twins chose this exact moment to show rare perceptiveness. Of all moments—this once-in-a-blue-moon moment of clarity.

“…I didn’t want to say anything, but that handkerchief is mine.”

So I spoke up. I snatched the handkerchief from under Swell’s foot and tucked it into my chest.

“What?”

“Liar! Do you think we don’t know your tastes?”

Swell and Silke cried out in disbelief.

“What’s wrong with liking something? I like yellow. And cute characters too.”

“…”

“I actually wanted to say it was mine from the start, but you two were insulting entire families over a handkerchief.”

That’s why I couldn’t speak up earlier.

Swell and Silke turned pale. Swell, who’d judged an entire family’s worth over a single handkerchief, went even whiter.

In the end, he’d only insulted his own family’s dignity.

The twins stood there dumbfounded, lips tightly shut.

“…I didn’t mean what I said earlier…”

“…”

“Liking cute things has nothing to do with one’s family…”

“Let’s go. Mother must be waiting.”

Before Swell could make another cowardly excuse, I cut him off. At my words, the twins—who clearly wanted out of this mess—immediately turned and walked away.

Just before leaving the lakeside, I glanced back one last time at Yurick and Yune.

Yurick stood there with a dazed expression. I couldn’t read what he was thinking.

[This is the timeline separator]

Inside the carriage returning to the mansion, Swell and Silke glared at me fiercely.

“Why didn’t you say from the start that the handkerchief was yours?”

Swell finally spoke up. Knowing any clear reply would only spark an argument, I stayed silent.

“Look how she’s ignoring us! And why is your dress like that?”

This worried me. I’d ruined an expensive dress—different from my usual ones—with juice. Isabelle would surely scold me.

‘Surely she won’t confiscate every dress in my wardrobe…?’

Anxiously, I glanced at Isabelle. Contrary to my expectation of a scolding, she was staring blankly out the window.

I’d noticed it even before boarding the carriage—Isabelle seemed lost in thought, unlike her usual self this morning.

“Mother!”

When Swell called out to her, she turned and glared at him sharply.

“Can’t you be quiet, at least while we’re in the carriage?”

“…”

Her single sentence silenced them.

Even after returning to the mansion, Isabelle went straight to her room. Finding this strange, I quickly caught Viti before she headed to the storeroom.

“Did something happen to Mother? And why did Swell and Silke leave her to come find me?”

“Oh… I’m not sure, but it seems the mistress met someone she knew.”

“Someone she knew?”

“Yes. I heard he’s a university professor—an older gentleman. I don’t know how the mistress knows him, though.”

With that, Viti returned to the storeroom. A university professor…

Had Isabelle ever been close to a university professor? Feeling slightly uneasy, I entered my room—and all my energy drained away.

‘First, I need to wash this dress before Isabelle sees it.’

As I hastily removed my dress, something dropped to the floor with a thud.

“…Ah, right.”

It was Yurick’s rabbit handkerchief.

‘I should wash it and return it.’

I hesitated before tossing the handkerchief into the laundry basket with my dress.

If Felicia found it in there, it would surely cause trouble—she was far more perceptive than the twins.

Annoying as it was, I’d have to wash it myself.

The real problem was how to return it to Yurick. After some thought, I decided to send it through the postman.

After washing and quickly drying the handkerchief, I prepared to send it off—but then I remembered Yurick’s expression in the park.

That unreadable gaze. If he was angry with me, maybe an apology would help?

[I’m returning your handkerchief. Also, I think I overreacted about what happened in the park. Sorry. – Lise Marceau.]

I slipped the note inside the handkerchief’s wrapping and secretly handed it to the postman when he came, away from the mansion staff.

I hoped it would help lift his mood a little…

“…”

“…”

A week later, I ran into Yurick Fenton again.