Chapter 28

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter Title: Chapter 28

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Claude stared at Amelia, who was gazing at him with a displeased expression.

Through the window behind the girl's shoulder, he could see Lucian.

More precisely, Lucian with his forehead pressed flat against the glass, staring at Amelia's back with piercing intensity.

"……Amelia."

"Whyee."

"Would you like it if I married the Lilfrey family's young lady?"

"Of course!"

"Then there's something you need to do."

"What's that?"

Her bead-like round eyes blinked for a moment before Amelia's head turned toward the direction of Claude's gaze.

"Lucian?"

"Yeah."

Claude beckoned Amelia carefully. She brought her ear to his mouth.

"Actually..."

Claude whispered something into Amelia's ear with a quite serious expression.

Amelia's eyes sparkled like a crow that had discovered a gem as she nodded her head.

Lucian was crouched in one corner of the room. Curled up as tightly as he could, his already small body looked even tinier.

He hugged his knees with both hands, his lips pouting sullenly.

"I hate Aunt."

It wasn't the first or second time his aunt had scolded him.

For breaking her cherished necklace, or ruining the laundry the maids had hung out to dry. And for countless other reasons, he'd been thoroughly reprimanded many times.

Each time, Lucian had felt aggrieved.

He could barely understand the idea that she scolded him out of love, and she rarely comforted him easily when he burst into tears.

No, if only she'd just left him alone.

'Don't comfort Lucian until he apologizes first.'

'But... Young Master is crying so pitifully...'

'Leave him be until he stops on his own.'

She even threatened the maids not to console him while he cried.

Lucian had felt aggrieved. Terribly so.

But all those past grievances paled in comparison to today.

'Want to come play at our house next week?'

His aunt had scolded him before, but she'd never shown interest in any other child besides him.

Not this time, though.

Not only had she paid attention to Edwin, but she'd openly doted on him too.

'Lucian is still such a baby.'

And on top of that, implying he wasn't all that great.

"Aunt likes Edwin more than me."

Saying it out loud made the surge of grievance even stronger.

No, it wasn't just grievance. It was heartbreaking, shocking, infuriating, and so disappointing he could hardly bear it.

"Edwin isn't Aunt's nephew. I am..."

Why did she dote on Edwin more than him?

It was around then that his disappointment in his aunt and jealousy toward Edwin began to swell.

"What are you doing here all alone?"

At the voice raining down from above, Lucian lifted his head, which had been buried toward the ground.

"……Amelia."

The owner of that warm, sunlit voice was Amelia.

Her soft smile lasted only a moment before Amelia's eyes widened as she stared at Lucian.

"Lucian, have you been crying?"

"No."

Lucian roughly wiped his eyes with his sleeve. The tears clinging to his eyelashes were brushed away onto the fabric.

"It looks like you have."

"No. I don't cry."

He didn't mind crying in front of his aunt or the nanny. But strangely, he didn't want to cry in front of Amelia.

'Tears are for babies.'

He wanted to look cool in front of Amelia, at least.

...Even if to his aunt, he still seemed like a baby.

Droop.

Thinking of his aunt smiling at Edwin made Lucian's shoulders sag again.

Amelia looked at Lucian's unusually small-looking shoulders before opening her mouth.

"You're upset. You think Aunt Lucella likes Edwin more than you."

Her words hit the nail on the head, and Lucian's eyes and mouth rounded wide. His expression screamed, How did you know?

"I've got my ways of knowing everything."

"Amelia really is amazing. Nothing gets past you."

Amelia cleared her throat awkwardly at the near-praise before speaking again.

"You don't need to feel that upset. Aunt Lucella likes you the most in the whole world."

"No. She likes Edwin more than me."

"She doesn't."

"But..."

"Have you ever known me to be wrong?"

"……."

Lucian's lips, which had been moving busily, stopped at Amelia's firm voice.

He rolled his eyes around once before shaking his head.

"See? I only say what's true. So believe me. Aunt Lucella likes and loves you the most."

"Really?"

It wasn't that he doubted Amelia. Lucian was just puzzled. If she likes me the most in the world, then why does she make me cry?

"If she likes me, why does she treat me like a baby?"

"That's because..."

Because you are a baby. An irredeemable bundle of mischief, at that.

But she couldn't say that to Lucian's face, with his eyes all red and puffy.

"Don't you remember when you first came here and asked if we were beggars?"

Amelia brought up a memory Lucian wanted to bury, and he fidgeted with his clasped hands.

"I'm not scolding you, so no need to get nervous."

Amelia took Lucian's hands, unclasped them herself, and continued.

"You didn't mean it in a bad way."

"Of course not!"

Fearing Amelia might misunderstand, Lucian nodded vigorously.

"Aunt Lucella is the same."

"The same how?"

"Just like how I could tell what you really meant, she doesn't mean it that way, but you've misunderstood her."

"That's hard."

Lucian tilted his head, furrowing his brow. Question marks seemed to float above his round crown.

"In other words..."

Amelia opened her mouth to explain further, but the sentence didn't complete.

Even if Amelia was clever, she was only seven years old. What she was trying to say was too complex for a seven-year-old to explain.

"Simply put, her words might sound that way, but her heart isn't. Just like how you keep saying 'I hate Aunt,' but you don't really."

"H-how did you know that?"

"I can see it all."

Amelia placed her hands firmly on her hips.

Lucian stared at her confident face before shifting his gaze to Lucella in the distance.

Like with me?

Just as his words meant to get closer had upset Amelia, had he misunderstood his aunt too?

"……."

The tension left Lucian's pursed lips.

Thinking about it, Amelia seemed completely right.

Even when he cried and threw tantrums and got scolded, Lucella always hugged him in the end.

When he broke a plate playing around, the scolding came later. Lucella always checked first if he was hurt.

If she didn't like him, she wouldn't care if he got hurt.

"See? I was right, wasn't I?"

"Yeah."

"Aunt doesn't like Edwin any more specially. She likes and worries about all the kids here equally."

"Then why did she invite Edwin to our house?"

"Because I'm close to Edwin."

"I'm not close to Edwin."

"But you're close to me."

"……."

"My friend is your friend. Your friend is my friend. That's how it works."

It was an excuse that sounded plausible since he had nothing else to say. But Lucian's face started turning red as a beet.

Amelia says she's close to me.

Amelia was mature and serious about everything. That's why she felt especially hard to approach.

Unlike him, who liked her so much, he worried she might not see him as a friend.

But she said it like that...!

He felt so happy he could fly up to the sky.

"Lucian, what's with you?"

Amelia's question caught Lucian just before he floated off into the air. Snapping back to reality, he hurriedly spoke.

"Then can I call you Lia too?"

"Huh?"

"Nicknames are only for close friends, right? And we're 'close' friends."

Lucian deliberately emphasized "close." He couldn't miss the chance to use her nickname.

"Well..."

Thump thump. His heart pounded loudly. Lucian waited for Amelia's answer, ignoring his trembling chest.

Finally.

"Sure."

"……!"

"Call me Lia."

The words he'd longed to hear slipped from Amelia's lips.