Chapter 9

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"Lili, say hello. These are your friends who will be with you from today."

Julianne spoke to me with an affectionate voice, and over in the direction she was pointing at, three children were looking at me with curious eyes.

‘So, let me get things straight first…’

I blinked slowly.

Well, it had all started on the day Allen brought a whole cake. More precisely, the day that Cedric had brought Joshua along.

The mood wasn't that great at first, but as time went on, I got caught up in teasing Joshua and had a great time.

‘Could that have been the turning point?’

I slightly tilted my head and remembered laughing a bit too much during I got a checkup from Allen. Perhaps at that moment, a sense of urgency had sprouted in Julianne's mind.

Perhaps she thought my social skills would be in jeopardy if things continued like that.

‘…Is this her grand plan to help me make friends then?’

I didn’t need anything like that though. I only needed Lia…

Besides, last time, I even gave the entire cake to Joshua to apologize.

I did my best to reflect on my actions.

"But I don't need friends..."

"If you get along with your new friends, I'll let you have two times as many desserts."

"Actually, I quite like having friends."

‘Double the dessert? Were my social skills that much of a concern?’

Maybe I needed to save the teasing for when Julianne wasn't around. Anyway, that aside, the problem was where the children came from...

I carefully observed the children standing in front of me.

Well, I already knew Joshua since I’d seen him before, but unfortunately, there wasn't a single girl among them.

"Why aren’t there any girls like me, Lia?"

‘I prefer girls! I can braid their hair, play make-believe with me, and we can even play hide-and-seek together!’

When I asked her quite bluntly, Julianne gently patted my hair and spoke as if she was lecturing me.

"The big bros each brought their nephews and little brothers, but there weren’t any girls among them, unfortunately. You can still get along well with them, right, Lili?"

Julianne finished speaking with a tender smile. Her smile felt so magical that it could even dispel a thousand years of pent-up anger.

I always got weak in the heart whenever my sister smiled like that, so I quickly turned my gaze away from her and looked at the boys in front of me.

‘So, all these boys were brought in by the possible male leads… I mean... genes don't lie, they're all good-looking.’

Julianne had probably asked them to bring them along, and if possible, the male leads wanted me to spend time with them away from her.

"You’re here… didn't you say you weren’t going to come again, Josh?"

"I didn't come because I wanted to!" Joshua shouted out as if I was being mean to him.

I still found his reactions cute. He wasn’t calling me ugly anymore, at the very least. With that, I shrugged him off and said hello to the other kids.

‘I'll show Lia! I’ll show her that I already possess perfect sociability skills without them.’

"Hello, I'm Lili!"

As I cheerfully greeted them, the boy in the center nodded immediately.

He had black hair, golden eyes, and a cool demeanor. Looking at his eyes, it seemed like Michael was the one who brought him here, although he had a completely different vibe about him.

"He-hello, Lili, I'm Aiden Evans," he replied slowly in a weak voice.

I immediately shut my mouth.

‘He’s just like Cedric! My goodness.’

I was sure that he’d show me a good reaction if I teased him.

‘Right, let's just say the lack of girls was to make me feel more comfortable teasing them.'

"I'm Luca Lowell. Allen is my older brother… but anyway, you look really cute!"

Another boy named Luca Lowell shook my hand and greeted me as soon as Aiden finished speaking. He looked exactly like Allen. It was almost like someone had cloned a small version of him and brought him here.

Maybe a family trait, Luca Lowell had the same flowy silver-blue hair and blue eyes a bit deeper than Allen’s.

He almost even had the same personality as him. I would’ve even believed it if someone told me that he was Allen’s son.

Before I knew it, I took his hand and slightly nodded my head.

‘It's true that I look cute. I admired myself confidently in the mirror this morning as well.’

"Great, all of you have fun here then. Okay?"

Proud that I’d smoothly exchanged greetings with the other children, Julianne smiled brightly and ruffled my hair.

It seemed like she wanted to leave us here in this vast garden.

‘No, Lia, I have to face those men who are after you!’

Of course, even if I just left them be, they were only going to fight among themselves anyway, but still…

"Lia, wait...!"

But still, I couldn’t just leave her alone…

Just as I grabbed the hem of her dress…

"Why don’t you come and play with me, Lili?"

Cedric, who stood behind the three children, spoke with a gentle smile, making me even more dumbfounded.

‘Why should I play with you…? You have to go and compete with them.’

I started to get confused about what to make of the situation.

My sister suddenly wanted to help me develop my social skills for no reason, and Cedric was taking it upon himself to babysit me when he should be out on the battlefield…

"… But why aren’t you working, big bro?"

"H-huh?"

‘Oops, I said something wrong again.’

If I said something like that, Cedric would probably think I was asking him why he kept visiting. With that, I shook my head and asked him in a much more roundabout way.

"Shouldn’t you be with Lia?"

‘Good, that sounded blunt enough.’

I secretly sighed after finishing my sentence. Meanwhile, Cedric’s ears began turning red as he quietly spoke.

"I don't want to bother Julianne… and I enjoy playing with you guys."

Soon after, he put on his signature harmless smile, a stark contrast to his sharp impression when he maintained a straight face.

He really was a well-mannered, patient man. It was hard to believe he was a Commander of the Order.

…The same thought cropped up when I considered how often he visited, though.

While my head was overcome with thoughts, Cedric furrowed his brows and asked, "Do you hate playing with me, Lili?"

"No!"

‘Obviously, it's easier for me to play when there's an adult around! And it's even better when that adult is someone I can tease! I'm just worried because you’re too kind, you dummy…’

"Thank you, Cedric, I was worried about leaving the children alone while working."

Julianne thanked Cedric with a beautiful smile, her eyes folding into pretty crescent shapes.

Seeing her like that, it looked like Cedric had made the right choice, although it didn't seem intentional on his part. Since he wanted it that way, I couldn’t force him to go with Julianne.

And Michael didn’t seem to bother her during work hours at the very least.

‘I’ll play with them until then.’

I waved my hand to Julianne as she slowly got farther away. It was only when she was completely out of my sight that I turned around.

I already knew how to handle Joshua, and that fawn called Aiden seemed to be so frail that he could burst with just a touch. Luca was the only one among them who looked hard to tease.

"Lili?"

Cedric called my name worriedly as I got lost in thought for a moment.

I blankly stared at his face.

‘He’s quite stunning under the sunlight. Is that because he’s a potential male lead?’

"Let me know if you're uncomfortable, Lili, okay?"

Cedric spoke gently with a concerned look in his eyes. I nodded silently.

‘I was just planning to tease your nephew, but it feels like I did something bad when you worry about me like that...’

Oh, well.

I couldn’t make Cedric feel troubled for the second time, so I decided to hide my true nature for now.

With a bright smile, I called out to the other three children.

"Let’s have dessert!"

It seemed like Allen and Michael had bought many delicious things today as well, so why not?

I was feeling quite generous, so I kindly decided to share. Delicious desserts on me!

Their pupils instantly sparkled when they heard me.

‘Kids are kids, huh.’

It was the same back when I went volunteering. Whenever snack time came, the kids would all eagerly wash their hands and wait for their treats.

‘…Wait a minute. Come to think of it, they should wash their hands too, right?’

"Do you want to have dessert?"

"Yeah!"

The three of them nodded in response to my question without any hesitation. It felt like I was teaching first graders who had just graduated from kindergarten.

Cedric was certainly there with me as well, but it felt like he was there more to protect us than to warn us to be careful of things.

I opened my mouth and spoke to them with a determined look on my face.

"Well then..."

The first one to react, of course, was Joshua. As soon as I spoke, he hunched his shoulders and looked at me with a wary gaze.

‘You don’t have to look at me like that. I’m not teasing you this time… really!’

I shrugged my shoulders as I continued.

"Go wash your hands first!"

"Okay!"

Just as eager as before, the children rushed to the mansion as soon as I finished speaking. I couldn't help but smile as I watched them get farther away.

‘You don’t have to go that far to wash your hands, you brats.’