Chapter 03
Macarons
On the same day that Renard visited the mansion.
The red sunset light dyed the study vividly.
“Can I ask a favor?”
My third older brother, Miriet, came to see me.
I had been looking at my fingertip, tickled by the memory of Renard putting his finger in his mouth, when I turned my head toward Miriet.
He peeked into the study without stepping in, just sticking his head through the doorway, which somehow seemed suspicious.
“A favor? What kind of favor?”
“Just pretend to be sick tomorrow. From early morning, all day long.”
“Why?”
“Don’t ask why.”
It was a request with an unclear purpose.
“Will you do it? You will, right?”
Miriet smiled, his blue eyes glinting in the early light.
But having already grown immune to the beauty of my older brothers, my response was…
“No.”
Miriet frowned at my firm and concise refusal.
His request was not difficult by any means.
Still, I had a reason to refuse.
“Give me a proper reason, and I might consider it.”
I said indifferently, returning my gaze to the book I had been reading.
I heard Miriet step into the study.
And the next moment, a pale sky-blue gift box tied with a red silk ribbon appeared right before my eyes.
“…What’s this?”
“Macarons made by a royal patissier. Remember the patisserie who opened a bakery on Vondt Street and became famous immediately? The royal family recruited them. You were so frustrated you couldn’t try them before the royal family snatched them up.”
So that was the item Renard had asked Miriet to bring—those macarons.
Renard must have known the royal patissier personally.
He had told Evan he was a royal knight, and in the original story, he served as Prince Olendo’s bodyguard in the royal palace while hiding that he was of the emperor’s bloodline.
When I didn’t respond, Miriet held the macaron box right up to my nose.
The spring breeze carried the scent of flowers, mixing with the sweet aroma of the macarons and teasing my senses.
‘But my brother…’
Did they really think I’d be swayed by mere macarons?
“Eloise, when you’re not feeling well, you should eat something warm like this. And it’s the change of season, so catching a cold is easier!”
Evan fussed, trying to feed me ginger tea.
‘But ginger tea… tastes awful.’
“Can I have honey tea instead?”
“No. This is healthier for you.”
“Ginger tea is bitter.”
“Healthy things are naturally bitter. Aren’t you a good little sister?”
Evan leaned closer to feed me the ginger tea, his curly golden hair falling over his eyes.
He blew on it absentmindedly in a way that looked straight out of a movie scene.
It was gratifying just to watch him.
‘All my brothers are ridiculously handsome.’
“What are you looking at so fondly?”
“Nothing… I just think your face is funny.”
“Funny? You mean funny in that way?”
Evan tilted his head, not understanding me.
I smiled inwardly, thinking, In my world, “handsome” can be described as “funny” sometimes.
“Meow…? Woof!!”
Through the slightly open door, Lovelin, the dog, peeked in.
“Lovelin?! Come here!”
“Lovelin! Don’t jump on Rose’s bed!”
Despite Evan’s pleading, Lovelin leapt lightly onto my bed.
Snuggling him in my arms, he playfully licked my face.
It was peaceful.
I liked this peace.
A beloved pet, brothers who cared when I was sick—all of it felt wonderful.
That morning, the Cowell Duke mansion was bustling as Edward Cowell Duke and my older brothers prepared to go to the palace.
I had also just learned that I was included on the guest list.
“Father! Rose is sick!”
Miriet called out to Duke Cowell.
You might think I had given in just because of macarons.
But no, that macaron wasn’t just any macaron.
It was the very macaron I had raced to find after hearing rumors of a “divinely made macaron” on Vondt Street, only to be beaten by the royal family before I could taste it.
In my world, macarons had a special meaning.
They weren’t impossible to buy, but too luxurious to buy casually.
So even after coming to this world, I clung to macarons more than anything else.
And so, I was indeed pretending to be sick.
But something was strange.
My brothers seemed delighted that I was sick.
“Really?! Rose is sick?!”
Evan shouted, his voice rising.
“Rose is sick… my heart…”
Gellion, my second older brother, feigned worry, his lips twitching with a barely suppressed smile.
I tilted my head at Gellion, Miriet, and Evan.
Then my eldest brother Leo and my father, Duke Cowell, entered the room.
All five men who loved me were there.
Five men, with bright golden hair and deep blue eyes, unlike my near-white silver hair and pale violet eyes.
“Rose is sick?”
“Father, then Rose shouldn’t go to the palace today, right? She’s sick?”
Miriet asked my father.
Then I realized Miriet’s reason for having me pretend to be sick.
‘Today I was supposed to go to the palace too…’
“The emperor insisted you come, but…”
“Ah… sick…?”
Duke Cowell kept his mouth straight but his eyes were laughing.
I couldn’t understand.
They usually hated seeing me sick, especially after my serious illness following my runaways at eleven.
But now, them being pleased that I was too sick to go to the palace—this was something I could understand.
So I decided to continue pretending to be sick.
If it made them all happy, it would be good for me too.
But trust was one thing, curiosity another.
“Evan, so why did Father and the others go to the royal palace?”
I clutched Evan closely, the gentlest of my four older brothers, and asked.
Evan usually didn’t hide anything I wanted to know.
But this time, he dodged the question.
“Rose, you have something on your hair.”
“Rose, want to try this apple jam pie?”
“Rose, Lovelin’s fur is…”
“Evan!”
“….”
I wasn’t completely clueless about what was happening.
‘After the recent coming-of-age ceremony… Eloise is to be betrothed to Olendo.’
“Evan, do Father and the brothers all love me?”
“Of course. But why ask all of a sudden?”
I tricked Evan with a fishing question.
“The emperor plans to betroth me to a prince?”
Evan’s deep navy eyes shook.
For a while, he neither confirmed nor denied, finally lowering his head.
‘He must have been thinking about what’s going on…’
“So, you think I might want this marriage?”
“I’m not sure. But it’s a marriage to a prince, becoming an empress… It’s not a bad match…”
Evan nervously trailed off.
Of course, that could be a reasonable assumption.
If one didn’t know the story of this novel.
At that moment, perhaps Duke Cowell and my brothers returned, because the noise outside escalated.
“Father, I’m against it! The emperor isn’t sane!”
Leo’s excited voice rang out.
Gellion’s voice followed, trying to calm him.
“Shh! Brother! Rose will hear!”
But Leo, already emotional, couldn’t hear properly.
“To force a child who just had her coming-of-age ceremony into an engagement… ugh…!”
It seemed that Gellion covered Leo’s mouth.
Engagement.
‘Of course, engagement.’
“Ridiculous….”
Evan, hearing the same word, went pale, looking like a person who’d lost his country.
Engagement. The very prince, who in the original story kills me and annihilates the Cowell family.
“Let’s say she’s too sick and needs rest. How long should the recuperation be? Let’s start with six months?”
With my proactive attitude, the five pairs of blue eyes looked at me, bewildered.
Which made sense—few women would reject a prince’s engagement so boldly.
But Duke Cowell and my brothers trusted me.
That prince was indeed a terrible person!
“Why isn’t anyone answering? Do you want me to be engaged to him?”
I asked with narrowed eyes, finally prompting them to pour out their thoughts.
“Where should we set up her recuperation? Our territory is too obvious. Any suggestions for places far from the capital?”
Leo laid out a map on the bed.
“How about a villa near the lake in the Drien region? Rose said she wanted to see that lake!”
Evan remembered everything I said and suggested it.
“Father, we should all accompany Rose. She doesn’t suit bustling city life…”
Miriet, a born city-dweller, added.
“The villa can’t be purchased in our name. The emperor will find it easily. Let’s spread a rumor she’s often fallen ill since last winter…”
Gellion, the brain of the empire from our academy days, added.
In less than an hour after Duke Cowell and my brothers returned from the palace, my villa recuperation plan was set.
