Chapter 5

***

Despite his modest personality, Cedric Royston was the best swordsman in the empire of Erhaden, and that was why he could become a potential male lead candidate despite his lack of presence.

Cedric, who was also the Commander of the Second Imperial Order, started paying visits to our home for no particular reason.

The same went for Michael and Allen.

‘I know they’re special lead characters, but aren’t they a bit too laid-back?’

One of them had come because of work, but still…

"You have to open your mouth, Lili. Say ah!”

Allen Lowell spoke as he knelt in front of me, but instead of opening my mouth, I gathered my lips and pouted.

‘You came to give me a checkup two days ago! Even the free national health checkup in Korea is only once a year!’

"No, I don’t want to."

"But Lili, your sister will scold this handsome man if you don’t..."

"Old man."

"Right, this old man will get scolded if..."

He immediately corrected himself and gloomily mumbled.

No matter how much he wore that expression, it was useless. How dare he secretly try to act like he was to be a handsome man?

I snapped my head around and ran straight for the table.

My body felt light and fast, probably because I was a kid, but I could only take small steps.

In other words...

"No, Lili. You can only have desserts after finishing today’s checkup."

There was no point in trying to escape.

I glared and pouted at Allen, who easily blocked my way.

‘I thought I was running as fast as I could. Why did I get caught after just a few steps?!’

When I thought about it, he was a pretty tall guy.

Too tall, actually.

I glanced around, ignoring Allen’s nagging. Michael was discussing national affairs with Julienne, Allen was in front of me nagging, and Cedric was knitting…

‘Wait a minute… why did Cedric come all the way here to knit? Is that something the Commander of the Second Order should even do?!’

"Big bro?"

Upon hearing my small call, Cedric stopped knitting and looked down at me. Since Cedric was the only one I called “big bro,” he must have realized that I was calling for him. I tilted my head with an innocent look on my face and asked,

"Aren’t you busy, big bro?”

I had no idea how he’d taken my words, but he suddenly started to grow pale.

‘Huh? I was simply asking whether he was busy or not, just like I said. How on earth did he take that?’

"You don’t want me to visit, Lili?” Cedric muttered, his face drastically paling.

‘Oh, he thought I was telling him to not come here.’

I immediately shook my head.

"No!"

Without him, there would be no one to solve that mess! He was the only one who could balance things out!

And for Lia, Cedric was the perfect husband…

Of course, I was going to leave the final decision up to her though.

Shuffling past Allen, who kept trying to draw my attention, I sat down next to Cedric, still looking over at Julianne and Michael.

Though I needed to be careful of Michael since he was a natural flirt, after observing him a couple of times, I found that he didn’t cross the line during work.

However, that could’ve easily been because Julianne didn’t allow it.

Every time Michael mentioned doing something together, she always refused and said that it would be more efficient for her to work alone.

As her sister, though I wasn’t her real one, I praised her for that.

Anyways, for that very reason, I didn’t bother to interrupt them when they were talking about official matters.

The same went for Allen and Cedric as well - Julianne would tell them off if they ever got too clingy.

“I like you, big bro.”

‘That means you’re welcome here often.’

Leaving that thought out completely, I just smiled at him. In response, Cedric blinked for a moment before smiling back at me and nodding.

"I like you too, Lili."

‘Such an innocent smile.’

It was hard to believe that he became completely different when he wielded a sword.

From the way he looked, knitting suited him more. I looked at the flawless piece in his hand and asked,

"What is that?"

Of course, I knew the answer to that. I simply wanted to avoid Allen’s checkups.

"This is called knitting. Would you like to try, Lili?”

He handed me the yarn and needle but I slowly shook my head.

Of course, my knitting skills were excellent enough to receive a perfect evaluation, but I didn't feel like showing off that.

"I want to watch."

"Okay, that's fine," Cedric smiled innocently once again and whispered.

No matter how much I thought about it, he seemed like the best candidate for my sister's husband.

‘So kind and well-behaved. How nice is he?’

I was lost in thought, swinging my legs back and forth yet again.

"You have to finish your checkup with me, Lili."

But at that moment, Allen knelt in front of me and smiled.

‘Just pretend to examine me. Why are you so enthusiastic?!’

Of course, it was probably because he felt guilty breaking his promise to Julianne and not being able to examine me, but I still didn't like it.

I puffed my cheeks up on purpose and shook my head. Even though Julianne had asked him to, I didn’t want him to examine me.

It felt weird when magic passed through my body… especially inside it…

"This is the last thing, Lili. After this, it’s really over."

"But you'll do it again the day after tomorrow."

"You’re such a smart girl, Lili..." Allen muttered as if it was a shame.

Either way, I wasn’t going to do as he said. I couldn’t.

"Lili."

Soon enough, he called my name with a stern expression.

‘You’re still not scary. Who does he think I am? An eight-year-old?’

I purposely held his gaze and waited for him to speak.

No matter what he said, I wasn’t going to fall for it. No matter what he said…

"If you finish your checkup, I'll buy you a whole cake."

“…”

"Without Julianne knowing… so you can eat it all."

"Let’s finish quickly!"

I wasn’t going to fall for his words, but bribery was a different story.

I immediately opened my mouth after I was done talking. Only then did Allen nod with a satisfied look on his face.

He was going to give me a whole cake.

All for me.

To eat.

I believed him for now and opened my mouth, but if it turned out he was lying, I was going to show him hell.

For example, I could whisper to Lia and talk badly about him to make sure he never made it near her again.

‘In any case, your love is in my hands.’

That was what I was saying.

"Just a little longer."

After speaking, Allen recited a spell and let the magic flow into my mouth through his fingertips. At the same time, I felt something chilling begin to circulate deep inside my body.

It felt cold at first, but suddenly it became hot like fire. It even felt a bit ticklish at some points, then made me tingle all over.

I hated such unfamiliar sensations.

In the end, I frowned as I couldn't stand it anymore.

"Done! It’s over, Lili, you did a good job."

Once Allen retracted his magic from my body, he ruffled my hair and handed me a piece of candy.

‘Trying to make me feel better with just one piece of candy… I should hide this and eat it on a day when Julianne forbids desserts.’

"You have to buy me a whole cake! You promised!"

Upon finishing my sentence, I turned my head and started observing Cedric’s knitting. Allen didn’t think of tormenting me any further, so he just sat down next to me, casually fixing my hair.

Cedric's knitting skills were truly remarkable. They even surpassed my A+ skills.

Flawless movements, rhythmic repetitions… he really was a swordsman. No one else could knit each stitch so precisely, after all. Even the finished result felt like it was angled and straight.

After watching Cedric knit for a while, I suddenly heard a tapping sound.

It was the sound of Michael sorting through documents.

That meant their official business was over, and all that was left for him to do was some intense flirting.

As soon as everyone heard the papers tapping on the table, the three of us stood up from the sofa.

‘Great. If they’re all together like this, they can keep each other in check. Very good for me.’

"Lia!"

I immediately ran toward Julianne and jumped into her arms, and as soon as I did so, she lifted me up right away to hug me with ease.

‘My sister is so strong.’

"Did you have fun while I was working, Lili?"

"Uh-huh! Big bro is good at knitting!"

"Really?"

Julianne looked over at Cedric with her wide emerald eyes. His eyes widened in return when he saw her, and he immediately made a face that exposed how he didn’t know what to do.

‘His ears turned red just from making eye contact with Julianne.’

But Lia probably didn’t realize that...

That was a default trait of protagonists in reverse harems, after all.

They were completely blind when it came to love.

‘All of you are about to go through a lot…’

"It seems like Lili has really taken a liking to you, Cedric."

‘See?’

Even though it was obvious that Cedric liked her, Julianne didn’t even notice.

I gently held a strand of her hair and slightly shook my head.

‘We still have a long way to go. Of course, that’s good for me.’

"I'm really glad."

Cedric let out a sigh and smiled slightly.

‘As expected of a candidate that I approved of… nice and admirable.’

"Lily, what about this old man? I bought you cookies and I give you checkups every time I visit so you can stay healthy...”

Allen spoke up as he approached Julianne, not wanting to lose.

‘Look at this guy. He’s just using me as an excuse to get closer to Lia.’

I jerked my head away, clearly showing that I didn’t like him. At the same time, I was able to meet Michael’s golden eyes properly.

He stared at me as if he was observing me, then gently smiled with his eyes when I tilted my head slightly.

‘Don't smile like that. You’re giving me goosebumps.’

It felt like he could even find out that I was actually a twenty-year-old possessing this child’s body.

"Maybe I should start knitting to impress Lili too," he blurted out in a teasing voice, targeting Cedric.

Thankfully, he wasn’t being suspicious of me. That was kind of a relief, so I secretly let out a sigh.

‘I should be cautious of Michael.’