From that day onwards, Lilienne began to have regular teatimes with her brother in the afternoon, as her days generally started quite late.

“Oh goodness! You’re awake already, my lady?”

“Yes...”

Her illness had severely weakened her constitution, so her body seemed to need a lot more sleep than before. Nowadays she would wake around noon, which was the time that most aristocratic ladies rose from bed, not young girls.

She should really sleep a little longer... thought the maid. Instead of voicing her opinions, however, the maid simply helped Lilienne get up, wash her face, and dress her in an elegant outfit.

Today, the maid had chosen an apricot-colored dress made from a light, breezy material, shaped with delicate pin-tuck wrinkles at the seams. The dress was loose around her waist, draping comfortably around her. It had intricate patterns of cherry blossom petals across the fabric, with layered ruffles on the sleeves and down her chest.

The stylish dress had a tinge of pink that helped Lilienne’s normally pale, unhealthy complexion look warm and bright. For a final touch, the maid brushed her dark hair until it shone, the strands shining almost blue in the light. She tied it back halfway with a large, navy blue, velvet ribbon.

“What do you think?” the maid asked eagerly.

“Mm... Very nice,” said Lilienne. She awkwardly fiddled with the delicate pearl embroidery on her cuffs.

Sedrick had lately been behaving in such a way that would have enormously spoiled Lilienne if she were a normal twelve-year-old girl.

Is all of this really okay?

She sighed. Renovations had already begun in the Turine palace, preparing for her to move out of her remote corner in the castle. She hadn’t seen it herself yet, but the rumors she heard seemed to get grander by the day as the marquis busily ordered anything and everything that was available.

They said all the walls had been ripped down to add insulation, and now all new furniture has been ordered.

The remodel was on such a grand scale that the merchants of the city were now telling everyone in the business that the best way to get the famously tight-fisted Marquis of Turine to open his coin purse was to market products for young girls. Lilienne couldn’t just stand by and observe all this extravagance.

After days of watching the presents pile higher around her room, Lilienne finally decided to go visit Sedrick and say something.

“Brother.”

“Hmm?”

Today Sedrick was surrounded by an especially tall stack of documents to review and sign, so when she walked in, he asked for her forgiveness for not being able to put them aside to give her his full attention.

Lilienne, however, thought that was probably better for what she was about to request, so she got right to the point about him not giving her so many gifts.

“Since I’m only doing my duty as the daughter of Turine right now, I don’t need to be compensated by so many grand gifts.”

He didn’t say anything, so she continued on, staring at the floor as she spoke.

“And you really don’t need to worry that I’ll change my mind about the engagement unless you give me lots of special attention. I am committed to my duty, I promise.”

The silence felt heavy.

“Brother...?”

Lilienne noticed that her brother’s hand had stopped moving, so she was about to ask what was wrong but then abruptly shut her mouth when she looked up and noticed his expression. Normally cold and assured, his pale blue eyes were looking at her with a hurt, almost resentful expression.

Ah.

It suddenly dawned on Lilienne what all of the presents were really about. They weren’t a form of compensation or pressure to comply. Having never received anything from him previously, and now to receive gifts at such a grand scale, Lilienne had failed to realize that they were simply tokens of affection from her brother. He was showing her his sincere appreciation for her.

Sedrick Islar was a man with little time but a lot of money, and he was quite emotionally reserved. He’d never really opened his heart to anyone before. The outpouring of presents, Lilienne now realized, was simply her brother’s way of trying to get closer to her.

And here I am, rejecting his clumsy but sincere affection.

Oh dear. Lilienne had to find a way to backtrack. Sedrick finally spoke, his voice sounding a little choked.

“If... If you don’t like the gifts...” he said, stumbling over his words. “I didn’t mean them as compensation... Y-you’re my little sister, after all, and I... well, didn’t treat you very well... before...”

He tried and only partially succeeded in hiding the heartbreak in his voice. Lilienne couldn’t help but stare, having never heard or seen this much emotion from him before. Sedrick cleared his throat and sighed.

“I’m sorry. I just... I just wanted to make you happy. You are my only sister, and also my only family in this world,” he said softly.

She was a precious child, and the guilt still gnawed at him that he had agreed to her betrothal without even talking to her about it. The only thought that had been in his mind at the time was that it was the only way to protect Turine. His main duty was to his land and his people, no matter what.

But if I’d just sat her down properly and explained everything first, then I’m sure she would have given her approval at the beginning. He felt bad and wanted to make it up to her, but it looked as if he was failing at that.

“I apologize for making you uncomfortable,” he murmured.

“N-no...” she stuttered.

“I am truly sorry. If you don’t like them, Lilienne, then I’ll stop sending you things. However, please—”

Sedrick bit his tongue before the words came out. He wanted to ask her not to hate him, but he also felt as if he didn’t have the right.

At that moment, Lilienne came closer and laid her small hand on top of his.

He looked up at her.

“I wasn’t uncomfortable,” she said, “so you don’t need to apologize.”

If the gifts were from his heart, and not from a place of bribery, then she welcomed each and every item. Sedrick’s face relaxed at her warm smile.

“Really? I just...”

“Of course. However, I do think my room will be taken over by boxes soon if I get so many presents every day,” she said with a chuckle. “How about you send just one a day?”

Sedrick suddenly avoided her gaze.

“What?” she asked.

He coughed uncomfortably and stared at the floor.

What was going on? Lilienne tilted her head in confusion when, from off to the side, Alan cleared his throat. With a neutral expression, he said, “My lord has already purchased tomorrow’s presents for you, my lady.”

“Alan...” Sedrick said threateningly, his eyebrows twitching. Lilienne couldn’t help but laugh. Here she was, trying to placate her brother, while he was shooting death beams at his innocent-looking butler.

“That’s all right,” she said. “We can start the day after tomorrow.”

“You don’t have to receive them if you dislike them,” Sedrick said again, more emphatically.

“No,” she protested, “I really do like them all.”

She had a steely look in her eyes as she spoke, which was rather rare. Sedrick decided not to argue with her. He felt embarrassed, but he had to ask. “So you... really like them?”

“Yes, I do,” she insisted.

Alan, who had been rolling his eyes at the helplessness of his liege, stepped in to lend a hand.

“Lady Lilienne,” he said smoothly, “You’ve been standing all this time. Your legs must be tired.”

“Eh?” said Lilienne. Her legs were fine.

Alan looked at Sedrick pointedly. His look said, Are you going to miss the opportunity I’ve just created for you?

Sedrick understood and quickly began to rise, saying, “Oh, I’m sorry, Lilienne. Here, please take my seat...”

Alan sighed inwardly and swiftly kicked his master in the back of the knee to force him back down.

Sedrick, who had been halfway up, fell back into his chair with a yelp.

“Alan, what the...!”

“My lord,” Alan said, tut-tutting at the impropriety. “How can Lady Lilienne sit in the chair that’s only meant for the prince of Turine?”

It wasn’t actually the official throne of the prince-elector, which sat in Palaric Hall where Sedrick publicly received his people. This was just his office, which was fairly unremarkable, but that wasn’t the point Alan was making.

“However, it would be perfectly acceptable for my lord to lend Lady Lilienne his lap.”

“Oh!” Sedrick said, finally understanding what his butler intended. Lilienne, however, protested, unwilling to behave as that young of a girl, despite her being the appropriate age.

“Oh, n-no thank you!” she exclaimed. “That’s really not necessary, and besides, you’re busy working right now—”

Alan cut in and said smoothly, “My lady, did you know that the window behind Lord Sedrick is designed to be impossible to see from the outside?”

“Uh... Really?”

“Yes,” he continued. “No one can see through this window—not from any spire, tower, or anywhere else in the entire castle. Which means...” Alan went to the window and threw the curtains open with a flourish. “...the view through this window is the most unique in all of Turine. You can see almost the entire grounds, and no one can see you looking through it.”

“Oh, that does sound really nice...” Lilienne said, unable to hide her interest.

“My apologies, but I think my lady is too small to see through the window on her own,” Alan said gravely.

It was the truth. Besides being young, Lilienne was even smaller than normal for her age. At her height, she’d just barely be able to see over the window ledge, even if she stood on her tip-toes.

Alan shot another glance at his master, urging him to not miss this one. Finally, Sedrick understood this situation correctly and offered his hand to his sister.

Oh dear, Lilienne thought, feeling uncomfortable. For her, an adult in a twelve-year-old girl’s body, to sit in her brother’s lap to see a view... Well, the idea was a bit mortifying.

Ack, that would be really embarrassing.

But she was curious about the view... And that didn’t require her to sit in her brother’s lap. Lilienne hesitated still, and Alan was about to prompt his liege again when, to the surprise of everyone in the room, Sedrick got up from his chair and knelt on the floor, opening his arms to indicate he could lift Lilienne up to see.

His handsome, stoic face was devoid of any expression, making it completely impossible to read his mind, but for Sedrick, this took a significant amount of courage. He had never been this familiar with someone in his life. However, Lilienne recognized immediately how nervous he was. She saw his fingers...

They’re actually trembling. What would happen if she refused him? It was clear that he’d be greatly hurt if she did. No, I can’t do that. I want my brother and I to be close.

Sedrick’s heart warmed as he saw his sister take hesitant steps toward him.