Being Loved for the First Time – Chapter 27

Author: B0ucha

At my sister’s sharp words, Father’s face immediately fell.

Now that I looked closely, my sister really did resemble Father quite a lot.

‘He looks exactly like Sister when she’s sulking.’

The way his eyebrows drooped, the shape of his mouth…

Of course, my sister was about a hundred times cuter.

Still, seeing the father and daughter facing one another with such similar expressions made my heart feel strangely warm and soft.

My sister was a little brighter and more like cotton candy, but both of them had such lovely pink hair.

“And, you know, Lara and Shasha aren’t gonna stay here very long!”

“Why not?!”

Father looked deeply shocked by my sister’s words.

She gently patted his arm and spoke as though assuring him that he could endure it.

“Mommy said Daddy’s working, so we’re not s’posed to bother him for too long.”

“But my daughters visiting me isn’t a bother at all.”

“You can’t do that, Daddy. Mommy said good children have to do things they don’t like too!”

Then my sister giggled and proudly described the terribly difficult thing she’d accomplished that day.

“So Lara ate bell peppers and spinach today! Daddy has to work when it’s time to work, even if he really wants to play with us. That’s how you become good!”

It was obvious whom she was imitating as she carefully lectured Father.

The way she gently patted his arm with one hand was a habit Mother had whenever she disciplined us.

It was a reassuring gesture, as though saying that even if she was scolding someone, it wasn’t because she disliked them.

Seeing my tiny sister behave like that, Father’s mouth spread into a wide grin.

He was probably feeling exactly the same way I was.

That manner of speaking, those gestures, and that earnest expression.

I felt a little sorry for my sister, but she was just too adorable.

So adorable that the corners of my mouth started twitching, and I burst into laughter without realizing it.

“Kyaa.”

Of course, because I had a baby’s body, the sound that came out was a baby’s laugh.

It couldn’t be helped.

Two pairs of green eyes, each a slightly different shade, immediately turned toward me.

“Shasha laughed!”

“You’re right! Our youngest is laughing!”

Father gently patted my back and spoke with a slightly wounded expression.

“Is it that funny seeing Daddy get scolded?”

Huh? No, it’s just that Sister is adorable.

“Daddy! Why’re you trying to make our Shasha into a bad girl?!”

“Hm? I’m not trying to make her bad—”

“Shasha wants to say the same thing as Lara!”

Then my sister gazed happily at my smiling face and continued.

“Right, Shasha? You wanna tell Daddy he has to do things he doesn’t like if he wants to be praised too, right?!”

My sister seemed delighted that we supposedly shared the same opinion—even though we didn’t.

Naturally, my sister’s happiness took priority over Father’s disappointment.

“Uuh!”

My adorable little sister’s face brightened once more.

For the rest of the afternoon, I held my sister’s hand as we visited the children’s library, which was filled with picture books.

We spent a long time looking at the illustrations.

My sister slowly read fairy tales aloud, stumbling over the words.

“Ra…inbow? O…ver? The…”

Compared to my brother and Mikhail, who could read effortlessly, my sister was terribly slow.

‘Actually, isn’t it amazing that a five-year-old can read this much?’

Perhaps my brother and Mikhail were simply developing too quickly.

After all, I’d heard that my brother was considered a genius.

While Mikhail possessed exceptional physical talent, my brother was extraordinarily gifted intellectually.

He’d begun reading at the age of three and had even finished an introductory etiquette textbook for noble children that same year.

‘His progress is almost unbelievable.’

He reminded me of the great historical figures I’d read about in biographies.

There were stories of prodigies who’d mastered the Thousand Character Classic at three and worked their way through classical texts like Elementary Learning and Great Learning by four.

Well, I supposed people called them geniuses precisely because their learning speed was so astonishing.

When my brother first began reading to my sister and me, he’d occasionally brought enormous, tedious books that looked more like encyclopedias.

Nowadays, he carefully selected fairy tales that my sister enjoyed.

My sister’s reading voice wasn’t as smooth and soothing as my brother’s, nor did her words enter my ears as effortlessly.

But I loved my sister’s voice too.

‘It sounds like a wind chime on a summer day.’

Like the delicate, clear ringing of a wind chime whenever a breeze passed through the quiet countryside.

Yes, my sister really was like a bright summer day.

Perhaps because I’d walked so diligently while holding her hand.

Or perhaps because my stomach was so full from all the snacks she’d given me before we arrived at the library.

Without realizing it, I fell asleep while listening to my sister read.

“D-deer? The…”

Laurencia continued struggling with the fairy tale for a long time, completely unaware that Anastasia had fallen asleep.

Only when she reached a word too difficult to read did she lower the book with a disappointed expression.

And when she saw the sight before her, a smile quickly spread across her face.

‘Shasha fell asleep!’

To Laurencia, having someone read a book aloud was almost a bedtime ritual.

Besides, because they’d spent so long with Father, Duke Endevelan, their adventure had covered only a teeny, tiny portion of what she’d planned.

‘Did I… did I put Shasha to sleep?’

She felt as though she’d truly become an older sister.

She was filled with pride and a sense of accomplishment.

Laurencia lay on her stomach and quietly gazed at her sleeping younger sister.

After considering something for a moment, she took her beloved deer doll out of her bag.

‘Shasha’s neck looks uncomfortable. I should give her my deer to rest on.’

She worried that moving the doll might wake her sister, so she carefully positioned one of its legs beneath Anastasia’s head.

‘Lara’s a big sister! Big sisters take good care of their little sisters!’

Laurencia was incredibly happy today.

When they’d visited Father, Anastasia had listened to Laurencia’s words and laughed as though she were enjoying herself tremendously.

The sight of her little sister smiling, with her soft cheeks stretching wide, always made Laurencia’s heart feel wonderfully ticklish.

“Shasha’s my little sister, right?”

She whispered the words very softly, afraid she might wake her.

But Anastasia’s lips moved slightly.

Almost as though she were answering yes.

Laurencia lay down beside her sister and looked closely at her face.

Anastasia’s chubby cheeks were pressed against the floor, spreading out softly.

‘So cute. My little sister is so cute. And she’s my little sister, not Mikhail’s!’

Laurencia felt a little sorry toward Brother Damian.

Nevertheless, she was terribly happy that their secret adventure had allowed her to enjoy the siblings’ usual afternoon nap time with Anastasia all to herself.

Out of habit, she gently tapped her finger against Anastasia’s tightly closed fist.

Her younger sister’s hand opened, then wrapped around her finger once more as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

Laurencia’s heart filled with warmth again.

There was the sound of Anastasia’s gentle breathing.

The carpet beneath them was exceptionally soft because the library had been made for children.

A light breeze drifted through the partially open window.

The maids whispered quietly nearby, and Anastasia’s back rose and fell with each breath.

As Laurencia watched all these things, she gradually drifted off to sleep herself.

A short while later, someone placed a blanket over the two sisters.

“So this is where my little sisters were hiding without telling me?”

It was Damian, who had followed after noticing the maids secretly trailing the girls.

He watched his sleeping sisters for a while, then carefully placed the pillow he’d brought beneath their heads.

After moving the deer doll Anastasia had been resting on into Laurencia’s arms, Damian settled down for a short nap as well.

Even for the mature eldest child, their afternoon naps together as three siblings were moments of tremendous happiness.

Exploring the mansion with my sister became part of my new daily routine.

For almost an entire week afterward, I walked around the mansion with little pattering steps, holding my sister’s hand.

Every day, she took me somewhere different.

Naturally, our adventures soon became a popular topic among the servants.

‘Where are you going today, young lady? Could you tell just me?’

‘Young ladies, please come to the training grounds too! We’ll prepare delicious snacks and wait for you!’

‘That’s right! We can do more than give you snacks. We can lift you up high and even toss you gently into the air!’

The servants seemed to look forward to our visits immensely.

Incidentally, Father’s office aides secretly approached my sister around lunchtime one day.

‘Young lady, could you please stop by our office around noon today?’

‘That’s right. If you come, His Grace will—’

Unfortunately, Father caught them.

‘What filthy scheme are you trying to pull on my daughters?’

‘What?! A scheme? Absolutely not, Your Grace!’

‘You all seem to have plenty of free time these days.’

‘What?! No! Not at all, Your Grace! It’s just that His Grace always looks so happy when the young ladies visit! Really, truly, we were only thinking of Your Grace’s happiness! Your Graaace!’

The desperate cries of the aides a few days earlier had almost made me pity them.

Those poor people.

They’d undoubtedly been sentenced to overtime.

Well, if they were going to hatch a scheme, they should have been more subtle about it.

You’re lucky this isn’t a world overflowing with political intrigue, gentlemen…

In any case, I was hardly ever in my room during the afternoons anymore.

I was too busy exploring the mansion.

But there was something that had begun to bother me.

‘The little princess isn’t here again today? Where did she go?’

‘She’s exploring the mansion? Damian, you know where she is, don’t you?’

‘I want to play with the little princess too…’

I hadn’t particularly intended to listen.

But while casually listening to the sounds around the mansion, I’d ended up hearing that irritating brat’s voice as well.

‘At this rate, won’t he end up doing something strange?’

Moreover, according to Choco…

‘Every time he goes home, he looks soooo disappointed! Has he fallen for the Demon King’s charms? He must know how amazing you are! Yip! But Choco wants to be the only one who knows how amazing the Demon King is! Whiiine.’

No, he’s just a little boy obsessed with having a younger sibling.

At least in that respect, he behaved somewhat like a normal child his age.

For those reasons, around lunchtime that day, I began wondering whether I should ask my sister to take a break from our adventures just this once.

“Shasha! Sister’s here!”

As though on cue, my sister entered the room.

Her expression had become noticeably brighter lately.

‘How could I even think of refusing her?’

The moment I saw her face, the thought vanished completely.

So what if Mikhail felt a little disappointed?

My brother and sister had always yielded to him.

Maybe it was simply his turn to do the same.

But then—