Chapter 19
I didn’t really know what was going on, but I parted my lips to answer his question.
Yet, somehow, I felt overwhelmingly sleepy. My body suddenly lost all strength, and my eyes slid shut.
I wanted to tell him that the children’s epidemic had been cured, though I wasn’t sure what that light I’d seen earlier was. No, wait. Somehow, I felt like I shouldn’t say that.
I decided to leave that part out and just say that everything was fine now and apologize to Lord Rachel for startling him.
And I wanted to ask Rixion Luhanes where he had been and what he had been doing since he had left before me.
Had he maybe gotten into a fight with Jade somewhere? If so, I wouldn’t just let that slide.
Though I wondered what I could really do to that Rixion Luhanes if I tried to intervene, still…
“Miss Christener!”
In the end, I couldn’t say anything. My eyes closed, and my body tilted sideways.
Rocked by Rixion Luhanes calling my name desperately, I lost consciousness like a blown fuse.
“Why are you here alone?”
I had been hiding in a spot where I wouldn’t be seen, killing time.
If Michael oppa caught me, I’d be lectured for ages. This time, I had truly found the perfect hiding spot, and I felt proud of my cleverness.
“Come on, play with me.”
I didn’t expect to be found here.
I sighed deeply when I saw the girl holding a yellow ball.
And of all people, it was the birthday girl of this noisy party who found me.
It was the youngest daughter of a count, I recalled. Since her family was one of our trading company’s big clients, my family had all come. My parents, Michael oppa, and I had all rushed over to celebrate the birthday of a seven-year-old girl.
What was her name… Ah, Reina, I think.
Anyway, the birthday girl seemed to be playing a game with a ball—a trend among young noble children lately.
Perhaps she had been playing with friends of her age at the party, and the ball had rolled toward me by chance.
Holding a yellow ball that seemed deliberately matched to her eye color, she looked incredibly cute.
This girl wasn’t particularly significant in the original story, but she wasn’t entirely irrelevant either.
I wanted to stay as uninvolved as possible, but, as always, things never went exactly as I wanted.
“Go play by yourselves; I don’t care.”
“Why? Come play with me.”
“I don’t like ball games. I like being alone.”
“Then let’s do something else besides ball games!”
Despite my dismissive gestures, the girl sat down right next to me.
Did she not hear me say I wanted to be alone?
“Sorry, but I don’t get along with you guys, so I can’t play. Go away.”
“What do you mean by not getting along?”
Sigh… What could I possibly say to a kid? I rested my head against the wall.
If I left her to babble to herself, I figured she’d eventually get bored and leave.
“You know, the other kids wanted to be friends with you too.”
She knew who I was. I hadn’t expected that.
I looked at her, a little surprised. When I reacted, she smiled brightly and came even closer.
“Marine and Edward said you’re pretty, and Philip said he wants to marry you!”
“Philip? That rude kid who always interrupts? He… wants to marry me?”
“Yes!”
“Tell him I’m not interested and I don’t like him.”
“Then who do you like?”
“Me? Me… well…”
The little girl asked with genuine curiosity, and I answered without thinking.
“Someone rich, capable, handsome, and kind?”
“Like Michael-nim?”
Huh? I looked back at her puzzled. Her chubby, cute cheeks were bright red.
The way she looked at me, almost expectantly, made me realize…
“Ah, so that’s it.”
I looked away, slightly unnerved.
That explained why she had been so interested in me. She liked my Michael oppa too.
There had always been kids who tried to use me as a stepping stone to get closer to Michael Christener, so I simply ignored it.
I thought of my impressive older brother, who somewhere in the party was charming everyone, adults and kids alike, with his polite and courteous smile.
Michael Christener, max-level social genius, unfazed by nonsense, unfailingly polite and composed.
Indeed, my brother was practically perfect. He would only grow more and more into the ideal groom.
Of course, I thought he should be a bit more gentle to his one and only younger sister.
Apart from the fact that he was my brother, Michael Christener was actually the closest to my ideal type.
Wealthy, capable, handsome, and kind to everyone but his sister—so yes, by all external measures, he had a good personality.
I nodded vaguely at the girl’s question.
“Yeah, I guess so.”
I forced my heavy eyelids open today, feeling unusually sluggish.
I saw the familiar ceiling—my room, my bed. I blinked sleepily and chuckled faintly.
Suddenly, I dreamed about when I was seven. I had gone to a same-age girl’s birthday party and hid, only to be discovered by the birthday girl.
Michael oppa found me too, and I’d been scolded to no end. The pain from when he had pulled my cheek was still vivid in my memory.
I only frowned briefly at the pointless dream and rolled over.
‘Ugh… why does my body feel like this?’
Thirsty, I tried to get up for some water, but stopped in a frown.
My entire body felt like a soaked cotton ball. I also felt a terrible, full-body muscle ache I had never experienced before.
What the heck happened? Did someone beat me up while I was asleep? Did an elephant stomp over me?
I looked down in confusion.
I tried moving my right arm while lying under the blanket. Just lifting it normally caused pain all over my body.
I gave up and exhaled a long, irritated sigh.
Then, I heard a click, and the door opened.
Expecting the housemaids Melissa or Anne, I was surprised to see Michael oppa instead.
It was unusual for Michael oppa to be home at this hour, so I gave him a surprised look.
Just as I was about to ask if he had no work today, his eyes widened as if he had seen a ghost.
“Liz, you…!”
He slammed the tray in his left hand onto a nearby table and strode toward me.
I flinched, thinking, What did I mess up this time? I tried to recall, and immediately memories rushed back—the encounter with Rixion Luhanes at the Setra Guild, shielding the children from the epidemic, meeting Jade at the temple, the holy water not helping the epidemic, and finally the light that flowed from my hands curing the children.
“You brat, you!”
“Ah! It’s my fault!”
Michael oppa’s angry face was terrifying.
Feeling like I was about to be stretched-cheek style, I hurriedly defended my face and admitted my mistake, momentarily forgetting the terrible muscle pain.
“You were asleep all day! Are you even awake now? Do you know who I am?”
Unexpectedly, Michael oppa’s barrage of concerned questions left me dumbfounded.
“Mi… Michael Christener.”
“Don’t blurt out your heavenly oppa’s name like it’s nothing.”
“Aaah, it hurts!”
Taking advantage of my distraction, his large hand yanked my cheek mercilessly. Already in pain, tears welled up from my frustration.
Luckily, today the cheek punishment wasn’t too long.
Michael oppa sighed and plopped down on the chair next to my bed.
“I’ve heard some from Duke Luhanes, but what were you thinking? Touching and caring for children with the epidemic!”
So Rixion Luhanes had told him everything.
I immediately thought of Rixion. He had probably brought me to the Christener manor and spilled everything to Michael oppa.
While being scolded, I grumbled internally at Rixion Luhanes for being so talkative.
