Chapter 8

***

Of course, deep down, I knew that I was being childish. However, I didn't feel a single pang of guilt in my conscience.

I would’ve been embarrassed if I’d acted like this when I was an adult, but I was an eight-year-old right now.

So, even if I said such things, I’d just sound like an immature little girl.

"You ugly…!”

Joshua’s face had begun turning an ugly shade of red. It seemed like I had quite severely hurt his pride.

But I wasn’t going to stop there. Besides, hadn’t he just called me ugly again?

‘Daring to call Lilianne ugly. I look in the mirror every day in the morning in awe of how beautiful she is!’

"You can’t have one then."

With a smile on my lips, I pulled the plate of tarts toward me. But at the same time, Julianne gave me a surprised look and scolded me.

"What are you doing, Lilianne?"

"Leave them be, Lia. No grown-ups in child's play."

‘You make a valid point, Michael. As expected of an intelligent and scheming character, you think fast.’

I smiled at Michael in return before I popped a tart in my mouth as if to show off.

This time, it was an apple tart. As I took a bite, the sweet apple jam and the savory pastry created a perfect harmony in my mouth.

It was too good to enjoy alone, but that didn’t mean I was going to share.

After all, the best way to enjoy something was to eat it all the way in front of everyone.

I looked at Joshua again and raised the corners of my mouth to smile back at him victoriously, just like he’d done before.

‘Haha, you little brat, your little ego is no match for the greatness of capitalism.’

I bit into the apple tart again.

‘I should ask Michael where he bought this later. It tastes so good that I want to sneak out and buy more.’

"Lili, don’t be so mean. What did I tell you earlier?"

Julianne scolded me again, furrowing her brows. It seemed she was genuinely worried about her sister's social skills.

‘It’s okay, sis! My social skills are the best in the world, I’m just acting like a little shit today.’

And of course, I was still mad at her too. I deliberately turned my head away from her and pouted.

‘I feel like I’m going to get in trouble for this. But, oh well, guess I’ll just get scolded and get it over with.’

First of all, I had to teach that brat some manners.

"You’re lying, aren’t you?"

I turned to Joshua, parting my lips and shaking my head in innocence.

"I'm really, really pretty, you know."

"You’re the one who...!"

"I’ll give you all of these tarts if you tell the truth."

‘How about that? Even you must think that’s quite an offer.’

I plastered a benevolent smile on my face upon finishing my sentence. I’d had already two anyway, so it was fine.

If I ate any more, Julianne could forbid me from having desserts for a while.

…Of course, she looked like she was going to do that right now anyway, but that was something I could easily solve by acting cute later.

"Lili’s… quite similar to me."

Michael muttered softly from across the table. Cedric wore a sullen expression as he nodded.

‘I’m not like you. It's just my adult heart making me want to pick on a little kid.’

Of course, in the eyes of others, I probably just looked like a mean little kid.

"If you don't want them, I'll eat them all."

‘Well then, what’ll it be? More than five tarts? Or your precious little pride?’

I tilted my head and batted my eyelashes. Joshua seemed to deeply think about it, narrowing his eyes, pursing his lips, and finally opening his mouth with an agonized expression.

"You're… pretty…"

"I'm cute too, right?"

"I didn’t say that!"

"Hmm, these tarts are still mine, you know..."

No matter what he did, I was going to be one step ahead of him. He was just a mere child, after all...

Seeing how obsessed with tarts he was, it was clear that Joshua must have lived a life deprived of desserts… just like me.

‘So, let go of your pride already. Life’s much easier that way. There’s a reason people give in to money…’

As I reached toward the plate of tarts and let out a small snicker, Joshua muttered with a look of defeat on his face.

"…You’re cute."

While Cedric was the type only whose ears went red, it seemed Joshua’s entire face blushed when he felt embarrassed.

Despite having a completely different personality from Cedric, Joshua was just as fun to tease.

I flashed a smile and offered him the plate of tarts.

‘Here you go, that’s the cost of your pride.’

"I keep my promises!"

That meant my character wasn’t completely hopeless!

When I spoke out for Julianne to hear, she let out a faint sigh. Only Michael, with the same smile as mine, stared at me intently.

It seemed like I had won his favor, regardless of Julianne. I rolled my eyes and avoided his gaze.

‘Even if I won your heart, Julianne is still out of the question. Our alliance is over now…’

***

I had always wondered why old men constantly wanted to pick on children, but today, I finally understood why.

Joshua was the perfect target for my teasing. He gave the best reactions, after all. With a face as red as a tomato, he abandoned his tiny pride in the end and did as I said.

‘Thrilling, always new, teasing is the best!’

"I'm Lilianne. You can call just me Lili. I told you my name, so tell me yours!”

"Why should I? Besides, you already know..."

" We’re going to have a whole cake later. It'll be delicious, you know…”

"…I'm Joshua Winston."

‘Ha! Haha! This is so fun!’

I smiled slyly as I stared at Joshua's golden hair.

‘This is exactly why I tease him! This is the best! And it’s especially fun because it's Joshua!’

"Hello, Lili!"

While I was happily teasing Joshua, Allen greeted me in a loud voice as he entered the parlor. Our mansion felt like some kind of rendezvous spot now that everyone was gathered there.

I shook hands with him and flatly stared at him.

‘You haven't forgotten our promise. Have you, sir?’

Soon enough, Allen approached me and gently whispered in my ear.

"I brought the cake I promised today. I used magic so you can’t see it right now. You don’t know how hard it was to hide it from Julianne.”

I smiled broadly at him in response.

‘Good, you're the type to keep promises. I'll gladly welcome your checkup today.’

"But who’s this? He kind of looks like Cedric,” Allen asked, having finally noticed Joshua.

Instead of Julianne and Michael, who were in a meeting, Cedric, who was sitting there and knitting, spoke up.

"He's my nephew."

"Why did you bring him here?"

"I’m looking after him for the time being."

"Ah, I see."

After the soulless conversation, Allen turned his attention back to me. It seemed as if he wasn’t actually that interested from the start.

"Well then, young man, step aside for a moment. I'll finish as quickly as possible, Lili.”

"…What are you going to do?"

Joshua’s blue eyes widened as he asked curiously, expected of a child like him.

Children were always like that. They wouldn’t move or run away when they were told to, and they always went ahead to touch things they weren’t supposed to.

‘And look at this…’

Joshua took a few steps forward even though Allen had told him to step back. I sighed deeply as I looked at Joshua, and he seemed surprised before stopping where he was as soon as he saw me.

It seemed like he had been trained by my gaze in such a short amount of time.

I wouldn't mind either way, but I sternly opened my mouth with a strict expression.

"Do you want to know what this is, Josh?”

I noticed Joshua's throat trembling as I spoke.

‘Looks like the little guy’s nervous.’

"It’s something that’s really, really scary and really, really hurts."

“Lili?”

"It really hurts. You'll get scared if you come any closer, you know?"

Joshua hunched his shoulders again as I frowned and acted with all my heart.

Allen soon seemed to realize that I was trying to tease Joshua, so he simply nodded without saying a word.

Everyone here was so quick-witted. The only one who seemed clueless was Julianne.

Well… and that poor little fawn too.

Finally, I landed the finishing blow.

"Hurry and run away, Josh!"

"Aargh!"

As soon as I spoke, Joshua screamed and jumped into Cedric's arms.

Well, he was so, so…

He was so cute that I almost died. Were all kids like that?

"Hahaha! Hahahaha! You’re so dumb, Josh!"

Unable to contain myself any longer, I burst into laughter.

The gazes of everyone in the parlor became fixed on me. Even Julianne and Michael, who were in the middle of a meeting, stopped talking to look at me.

But what could I do? It was just too funny!

He was running away, screaming like a baby!

"Lili, you're quite..."

Allen shook his head as he activated his magic. I kept bursting into laughter from time to time upon looking at how red Joshua was.

Ahaha… hahaha...

It was so much fun.

‘Still, he seems a little upset from the prank earlier. I should probably cheer him up with some cake.’

I thought I heard Julianne saying,

"Oh, Lili, what am I going to do with you?"

…But I just ignored it for now.

I smiled brightly at Julianne before turning my gaze back to Josh, who was in Cedric's arms.

‘…Did I go too far? I feel bad now. I'll give him plenty of cake later.’