Being Loved for the First Time – Chapter 25

Author: B0ucha

Chapter 6. Exploring the Mansion with My Sister

Our rather eventful summer vacation finally came to an end.

I was dozing in Mother’s arms when the ducal residence came into view outside the carriage, and only then did I finally feel relieved.

Fortunately, by the time our journey ended, I’d stopped causing accidents against my will.

The first reason was that I hadn’t simply sat there and endured that fellow’s tricks every time he tried something.

Whether he was a pervert or not, that bastard kept leaving little traces of himself behind, almost as though he were doing it deliberately.

Using those traces, I’d created a barrier.

I’d even managed to retaliate a few times, so he was undoubtedly going to be bedridden for several days.

‘My family suffered because of him too, so naturally I had to do at least this much!’

The second reason was that he’d given up.

Even I had to admit that my family was extraordinary. No matter what I did, they showed absolutely no sign of hating or rejecting me.

‘Which means my guess was right. He was trying to isolate me.’

Further attempts wouldn’t have the slightest effect on my family, and now that I was retaliating, he probably couldn’t afford to continue.

‘What a relief.’

This outcome would never have been possible without my current family.

It wasn’t a victory I’d achieved on my own.

It was a victory my family had made possible.

‘Only now, in my hundredth life, for the very first time…’

I was accumulating so many happy first experiences.

If anyone asked Laurencia Endevelan, the second child of the ducal family, whom she loved most in the world, she would answer without a moment’s hesitation.

“Mommy! Lara loves Mommy the most!”

Her father might have felt disappointed to hear that, but Laurencia truly loved her mother that much.

The person she loved second most was her father, and third was her older brother, Damian.

However, over the past year, there had been a small change in Laurencia’s ranking of favorite people.

Now, if someone asked whom she loved most after her mother—

“Shasha! Lara loves Shasha next!”

She would answer that she loved her little sister, Anastasia Endevelan.

Ever since her mother’s belly had begun to grow, Laurencia had eagerly awaited her younger sibling’s birth.

Just as her older brother always looked after her, Laurencia had resolved again and again to become a good big sister herself.

“Look at this! Little sister and big sister are holding hands! Lara’s gonna do that too!”

Her speech had been much less developed back then than it was now.

Nevertheless, Laurencia had looked at the relationship between the sisters in her picture books and eagerly anticipated the day she could do the same.

“This one, and this one too! I’ll give all of them to my little sister! She’s Lara’s little sister, so she’ll be soooo pretty, right?!”

As her mother’s belly grew, Laurencia carefully set aside her favorite ribbons, necklaces, and other treasured possessions one by one.

Since she found them beautiful, her youngest sibling would surely like them too.

After several months of anticipation, Laurencia was so fascinated when she first saw Anastasia that she spent several minutes simply staring at her.

“Lara… Lara’s little sister?”

“That’s right.”

“She’s so cuuute! My little sister!”

Laurencia’s eyes sparkled.

After all, the baby looked exactly like the mother she loved most.

Her hair was as soft as down, but it shone a beautiful black. Her eyes were slightly lighter than Mother’s, yet they were as pretty as rubies and the red flowers blooming in spring.

Moreover, Laurencia had been the very first person to see her little sister smile.

‘As expected, Shasha likes Lara too!’

As Anastasia grew and her hair became longer, Laurencia thought she resembled their mother even more.

Unlike her own hair and her brother’s, Anastasia’s was glossy and black, and Laurencia loved slipping her fingers through it and playing with the strands.

“Sister can brush Shasha’s hair for you, okay?”

“Uuh.”

And Anastasia liked her too.

Although Anastasia often wore a rather blank expression, whenever she played with Laurencia, she would sometimes narrow her eyes and smile.

Laurencia treasured every single one of those moments.

She loved being Anastasia’s older sister.

She loved having Anastasia as her younger sister.

But then…

‘Waaah, it was better when we were traveling!’

After their two-week journey ended and they returned home, the greatest obstacle in Laurencia’s life reappeared.

Mikhail Leventis.

Because of him, she was losing precious playtime with Anastasia again.

‘Shasha… Shasha is my little sister!’

Laurencia quickly became sulky.

Her younger sister grew cuter and cuter as she got older.

She looked like Mother, but she was a baby!

Her cheeks were so chubby that they felt wonderfully soft whenever Laurencia poked them with her finger.

And her hands were incredibly tiny.

In fact, whenever Anastasia was asleep, Laurencia secretly placed one of her fingers in the baby’s palm.

Every time Anastasia instinctively wrapped her little hand around Laurencia’s finger, Laurencia felt incredibly happy.

And now her sister could even speak.

The way she called her “Siiister” was unbelievably adorable.

Laurencia thought her little sister’s voice sounded like a clear, ringing bell.

Whenever Anastasia called for her in that sweet, tinkling voice, Laurencia’s heart swelled with pride.

When Laurencia read books, Anastasia sat close beside her and listened intently.

And whenever she became sleepy and suddenly nodded off, Laurencia would rest her chin in her hands and watch her little sister sleep.

‘Th-that’s all stuff I get to see because I’m her big sister!’

Nowadays, Anastasia did more unexpected things and had developed more dislikes, and Laurencia had loved being able to do all sorts of things for her as an older sister.

Yet it felt as though Mikhail kept stealing those things away from her.

“Hm? You don’t want me to do it?”

“Uuh, go awa.”

“You’re telling me to go away? Isn’t that a bit cold when we haven’t seen each other in so long? I rushed over because I missed you, baby. I even brought you a present.”

“Don’ nee.”

“Don’t need it? But I think it would suit the little princess very well.”

Bad Mikhail!

Laurencia shouted inwardly.

‘Our Shasha doesn’t like it! Hmph!’

But what she disliked even more was the fact that she couldn’t bring herself to approach them, even though she could clearly see Anastasia rejecting him.

‘But… but Mikhail is scary.’

He smiled so warmly at Anastasia, but whenever Laurencia was around, he became as cold as an icy wind.

‘Lara tried so hard to become friends with him!’

At that moment, a thought suddenly flashed through Laurencia’s mind.

‘Don’t tell me… Could it be…?’

Was Mikhail bullying Shasha when nobody was watching?!

Maybe that was why he acted even more frighteningly toward Laurencia.

He wanted to prevent her from approaching Shasha whenever he was nearby!

‘Otherwise, our sweet Shasha would never dislike him that much!’

Laurencia had been peeking into the room from behind the doorway because Mikhail frightened her.

Now her expression turned serious.

Her heart pounded with nervousness.

Hugging her beloved deer doll tightly, Laurencia made up her mind.

‘I-I have to save her! Because I’m Shasha’s big sister!’

In Laurencia’s eyes, Mikhail now resembled a terrifying Demon King.

And Anastasia was a pitiful princess.

‘Our Shasha mustn’t be hurt or frightened! Lara will save her!’

And thus began Laurencia’s operation to keep Mikhail away from Anastasia.

“Shashaaa!”

About a week after we returned to the ducal residence, my sister came to visit me earlier than usual one afternoon.

I’d just finished lunch, which consisted of food suitable for a young child, and was walking around my room to strengthen my larger muscles.

“Siiister?”

When I answered in my clumsy pronunciation, my sister came running toward me with a radiant smile.

“Shashaaa, did you miss Sister?”

“Uuh.”

Whenever my sister asked something like that, I had to answer immediately.

Otherwise, she’d become dejected in no time.

Of course, even that expression was terribly adorable on her.

Apparently delighted by my answer, my sister hugged me tightly and rubbed her cheek against mine.

‘But isn’t this supposed to be Sister’s nap time?’

Normally, she visited sometime in the late afternoon.

Whenever Mikhail was around, she often didn’t come until dinnertime.

‘Because Sister is afraid of Mikhail.’

How coldly must that irritating brat have treated her for my sunshine-like sister to become so shy around him?

I added another point to my growing list of reasons for disliking Mikhail.

My considerate brother and sister always yielded their playtime with me to him.

‘And that shameless brat makes himself at home here every single day.’

Even though I’ve told him over and over that I don’t like it!

Well, if he were truly the sort of person who’d be hurt by those words, I wouldn’t have told him to go away or said I disliked him, considering that he was only a child.

These days, Mikhail seemed to regard my protests as some kind of game.

Only yesterday, he’d visited and left behind an elaborate hair ornament made by a skilled craftsman.

I’d told him to stop bringing me things, but he’d never listened.

Today, my sister went through her usual routine of stroking my hair, rubbing our cheeks together, hugging me several times, and kissing my forehead and cheeks.

She did this every time she saw me.

Even if I wanted to remain ignorant of her affection, it would have been impossible.

Once her routine was complete, she placed a finger in my palm.

When I instinctively wrapped my hand around it, my sister burst into delighted giggles.

“Listen, Shasha! Let’s go play with Sister!”

“Uuh?”

“There are lots of rooms Shasha hasn’t been to yet! Sister will take you! We’re gonna explore the mansion!”

Exploring the mansion.

Actually, after summoning Choco, I’d already had him investigate the mansion’s layout.

But I hadn’t visited most of those places on my own feet.

When I glanced around at the maids and knights, they all nodded as though they thought it was a wonderful idea.

“Please let us join your exploration too!”