Chapter 07
“Uh! Flynn?”
“What are you doing here?”
At Flynn’s sudden appearance, Levi jumped in surprise.
“I’m not doing anything!”
“If it’s nothing, then why are you standing in front of the young miss’s room?”
“I was just passing by!”
“You’re not here because you miss the young miss?”
Flynn teased Levi in a playful voice. Levi immediately shouted and denied it quickly.
“I’m not! I’m not curious at all! I definitely didn’t come to check how she’s been since last time!”
“Shh! Please lower your voice, Young Master. You’ll wake the young miss.”
“Ah!”
Levi quickly covered his mouth with both hands. Then he looked toward Allegria. Thankfully, she was still sleeping peacefully.
After confirming she wasn’t awake, Levi secretly let out a sigh of relief and ran over to Flynn. He whispered quietly into Flynn’s ear.
“Don’t misunderstand, Flynn. I didn’t come because I was curious about my sister. Got it?”
With that, Levi ran away with a red face.
“Pfft, you could’ve just gone in.”
Flynn laughed softly at how cute Levi was and entered Allegria’s room.
“Young miss! Did you sleep well from your nap?”
“Bu… (No…)”
At Flynn’s question, I shook my head with a gloomy face.
It was because I remembered what happened in the dining room.
‘Sigh. It’s still embarrassing even now. It even appeared in my dreams.’
It had been a week since I burst into tears at the dining table, but even now I felt too ashamed to lift my head when I thought about it.
‘I should have endured it.’
Was it because I saw delicious food after such a long time? I ended up throwing a tantrum without realizing it.
‘It was bad enough that they were cold to me, but not being able to eat the tasty food made it worse.’
Is it because I became a baby? It felt like my mental age was getting younger and younger.
While I was lost in thought, Flynn came closer and spoke.
“Young miss, is something wrong? I don’t know what happened, but cheer up! Or should I tell you something fun?”
‘Hm? Something fun?’
“Young Master Levi has been wandering in front of your room for several days!”
What? Levi?
“It seems he missed you! Today he even opened the door and came inside!”
No way!
That was ridiculous. If I remembered the dining room clearly, Levi showed no such signs. Flynn must be mistaken.
“Bu! Buuu!”
Ugh! Thinking about it again makes me angry!
Annoyed, I slammed the doll in my hand onto the floor.
“Oh my, our young miss is always so strong.”
Flynn clapped and praised me.
“I’m proud that you use your doll in so many ways!”
‘I was pretending it was Levi…’
Iello was annoying too, but right now I was more upset with Levi.
‘Is he trying to tease me? Why does he keep hanging around my room!’
I couldn’t understand his intention. Why come all the way here just to wander around?
Thinking about Levi made my heart feel heavy.
Do Iello and Levi dislike me that much?
What if this continues?
If this relationship stays like this, should I leave the Granato family?
The more I thought about it, the more confused I felt.
“Young miss, I have some work to do, so I’ll step out for a bit! Please play nicely with your animal friends!”
Flynn left the room after telling me to wait.
‘Sigh, I don’t know…’
Thinking about Iello and Levi only made my head hurt more.
In the end, I got tired of thinking and flopped onto my back. I lay there blankly, staring at the ceiling.
After staring into the air for a while—
“?”
I felt someone’s presence.
What?
I turned my head and saw Levi standing there, holding something in his hand and looking down at me.
When did he come?
I didn’t expect him to come, so it felt sudden.
Is this a dream?
I wanted to pinch my cheek, but it might hurt. So instead, I lightly pinched Levi’s leg.
“Ah! What are you doing!”
Levi stepped back in surprise.
He was real.
“Abu! (Why are you here!)”
“I didn’t come because I missed you.”
Then why come?
“There were too many toys in my room, so I brought one to throw away here.”
“Uu? Huu! (Is my room a trash can? Why give it to me!)”
I was speechless.
‘If it’s trash, throw it away yourself! Why bring it all the way here?’
Just as I was about to say something—
“Here, take it.”
Levi held out a block in front of me.
“?”
I stopped, unable to speak.
‘This is a play block.’
A blue block, like the cool blue sea, was placed in front of me.
‘It looks expensive… and new…’
When I looked at Levi in confusion, his face was red and shy.
“I didn’t bring it because I wanted to give it to you… so don’t misunderstand.”
But the block looked too clean. As if he had just bought it yesterday.
“It’s part of a set… but my hands were full today, so I only brought one.”
What a variety of excuses.
“I’ll bring the rest when I feel like it. Be satisfied with this for today!”
Levi quickly handed me the block and disappeared in an instant.
I looked back and forth between the place he left and the block in my hand.
‘What does this mean? Is this a new way of bullying?’
Why come again and again like this? Does he like me?
‘No way… Does he want to get close to me?’
I couldn’t be sure of his intention, but judging by his actions, he seemed like a good brother. Even if he said he was throwing it away, it was clearly a gift.
‘I’m still not completely over being upset… but since he reached out first! If he comes again, I’ll welcome him!’
With that thought, I carefully stroked the block.
After that day,
Levi suddenly started visiting my room often.
“Today it’s red.”
“Uu! (Thank you!)”
“It’s not because I like you or anything. Just so you know.”
“Uu? (Oh really?)”
Hearing that made me annoyed, and I threw the red block onto the floor without thinking.
“Ah! Why did you throw it!”
Levi shouted in surprise.
“Buuu! (You said it’s not because you like me!)”
“Hmph, I treasure that one.”
When I heard that, I suddenly felt sorry for throwing it. So I crawled over and picked up the block.
“Did you throw it because you wanted to play?”
Levi asked with a smile.
“Uu. (Yes.)”
It was hard to say no when his face looked so bright, so I nodded.
“But you shouldn’t throw it. Treat it carefully.”
“U! (Okay!)”
After picking up the block, we built together. Levi showed me first, and I followed him. We played with the blocks like that.
“Okay, it’s done! Isn’t it cool?”
“Uu! (Yes, it’s cool!)”
Just like he said, a cool block castle was finished.
‘At first, I thought it would be childish… but it’s actually fun.’
Maybe because we were two instead of one? It was more fun than I expected. It would have been better if ‘he’ wasn’t here.
“You look comfortable, Levi.”
“Brother?”
When we turned toward the voice, Iello was leaning against the doorway, watching us.
With his arms crossed, he looked down at us and spoke in a crooked tone.
“What are you doing here?”
“What do you mean? I’m playing with my sister.”
Levi answered casually, as if he wasn’t afraid. Iello’s face hardened instantly.
“What? Sister? Since when was she our sister?”
“What? Brother, what do you mean!”
“Since when was she our sister?”
Iello asked coldly, frowning.
As if I shouldn’t be their sister.
At his words, my heart dropped.
‘It feels like I’m looking at Delphine.’
I was afraid of being bullied again like in my past life.
I didn’t want to assume things, but Iello was glaring at me as if I annoyed him. Feeling anxious, I lowered my head and fidgeted with my fingers.
Then—
“She was from the beginning.”
“What?”
“She was our sister from the beginning.”
Levi gently held my hand and answered Iello.
“What happened back then couldn’t be helped, but she’s still our sister.”
I didn’t know what he meant, but hearing him say that made my heart calm a little.
“Ha, sister… You’re really simple.”
Iello glared at Levi and said something I couldn’t fully understand.
Levi shouted while still holding my hand.
“Then what are we supposed to do? It already happened. It’s in the past!”
“Can you forget it that easily? It’s still vivid to me. Every time I see her, I remember what happened back then. Don’t you?”
“That’s…”
“You shouldn’t be like that.”
Iello said coldly.
“Go back to your room right now.”
“No!”
“Now.”
“I said no!”
When Levi refused, Iello raised the corner of his lips.
“Is that so? Then it can’t be helped.”
Iello looked at both of us and spoke.
“Shackle.”
“Are you crazy?”
“Appu! (What is this!)”
At Iello’s single word, Levi and I froze like dolls.
