Chapter 6
I didn't sleep very well during my midday nap.
It's not that I'll be startled awake in the middle of the night, or have a dream or anything; it's just that after waking up, I feel like I haven't slept at all.
I'm leaving for Kukuroku Mountain the day after tomorrow, and I haven't packed my bags yet.
Let's worry about this after dinner.
Thinking this, I slowly sat up from the bed.
Kurt had left sometime earlier.
I sat in front of the mirror, pressed a button next to the dressing table, and then slowly began to comb my hair.
The maid heard the bell soon, answered the call, and pushed open the door.
I didn't turn around. She quickly noticed the mess on the bed and, without saying a word, went over and tidied up the clothes on the bed.
"Where is that child?" I asked.
Maid: "Young Master Zoldyck is in the flower room, saying he wants to arrange flowers for Miss Rae."
I put down the comb, responded, and stood up to walk outside.
“Miss Lei,” the maid called to me, “you forgot to change your clothes.”
I was still wearing my nightgown.
The greenhouse is outdoors.
Me: "It's okay, Mom's not here anyway."
The maid hesitated, then turned to look at me, her tone indifferent:
"Anyway, there are no outsiders at home. It's not a matter of principle. Are you going to offend me to uphold your wife's authority?"
The maid lowered her head.
I went downstairs without any hindrance, went out, and walked straight to the greenhouse.
If my mother saw me like this, she would definitely say I look like a ghost wandering in an old house, and that it's indecent.
But... she should also know that.
I am indeed practically a ghost now.
When I entered the greenhouse, Kurt had already picked the flowers I needed.
As he was tidying the bouquet in his hands, he turned to look at me at the sound and called out obediently:
"Sister Lei."
“Don’t you dislike these things?” I asked.
He looked down at the flowers in his hand.
The flowers were soft, but his expression was indifferent.
“But,” Kurt said, “this is probably the only advantage I have over my older brother.”
More obedient and well-behaved than his brothers, he was the only one among the many Zoldyck brothers who could calm down and follow Mrs. Zoldyck's preferences, wearing elaborate kimonos and learning the flower arranging he disliked.
"Don't you like it, Sister Lei?" His gaze shifted from the flowers to my face.
“What if I say no?” I asked.
“Then they have no reason to exist,” Kurt replied.
I have no doubt that the moment I utter the words "not interested," he would immediately crush these beautiful, delicate flowers under his feet and discard them like trash.
Because it's Zoldyck.
“Forget it,” I said, “let them go… put them on my window after you’ve tidied them up.”
Kurt agreed.
I turned and left.
With some time before dinner, I went back to my room and started playing on my phone.
The maid had already tidied up the messy clothes on the bed. I played on my phone for a while, and then Kurt pushed the door open and placed the neatly arranged vases on the windowsill.
Without even looking up, he approached, and as he moved, a faint fruity scent, exactly like mine, wafted from his body.
Only then did I lift my face and glance at him.
I only slept in my bed, how could the smell have gotten so strong so quickly?
He must have secretly done something behind my back again.
“That’s going too far,” I told him. “Don’t do that on Friday.”
He was going to come with me to Kukuroku Mountain that day.
"Didn't my sister say she liked this flavor?" He looked at me innocently.
Me: "I like it, but I didn't let you marinate yourself."
I'm not picking out dried fruit; no matter how flavorful it is, it's useless.
He unfolded his fan, covered his lips, and remained silent.
My phone vibrated; it was a message from a friend: "Why aren't you replying?"
Ah, last night... after the engagement party, I seem to have forgotten about her.
Me: "I forgot."
She: "How could you forget that?"
She said, "But speaking of which, isn't that your boyfriend's name? I'm not mistaken."
Still agonizing over Illumi's name on the banquet backdrop.
I said frankly, "If you're asking about the man I introduced you to before, he and my fiancé are indeed not the same person."
She: "Oh, but you..."
Me: "He's dead, so there's no need to mention him anymore."
she:"……"
Without bothering to guess what my friend was thinking, I exited the chat.
The desktop background image is a pair of silhouettes.
I've always been reluctant to change it, but now it seems like I have no choice but to.
Whether he's really dead or not, that person has completely left my life and will never come back.
...It was fake from the beginning.
I opened the settings and changed the desktop wallpaper to the default wallpaper.
Kurt was watching from the side.
I didn't mean to avoid him... He's a Zoldyck, after all. If he wants to know, he'll find a way. I'd better not embarrass myself.
After I changed the wallpaper, he asked, "Is the background image that of that person?"
Me: "Hmm"
He: "The person who leaves their scent on the pillow."
Oh, so that's what you were asking about.
I turned off the screen and asked, "Is that so?"
Kurt: "..."
“You seem to have forgotten again,” I said, taking the opportunity to subtly criticize him by referencing something he had done, “there is absolutely no smell on my pillow… all thanks to a kind person.”
Kurt gripped the fan tightly, half his face hidden behind it, his long, thick eyelashes drooping down to obscure the light and shadow in his eyes.
I turned my face away and said calmly:
"It's best not to do anything unnecessary without permission."
Kurt: "...Okay, sister."
I gave a soft hum.
Dinner followed, spent in a subtle atmosphere.
Kurt seemed a little uncomfortable. The docile and obedient mask he had been wearing since their reunion that morning cracked, revealing a dark and cold essence. The maids in the house would unconsciously tense up and take a half step back to avoid him if they accidentally made eye contact with him.
In the past, I might have been scared along with these maids and avoided Kurt.
But things are different now. I put on Illumi's ring again, threaded the ring Kurt gave me through a silver chain, and hung it around my neck, letting the necklace sway in front of me with a hint of provocation, so that he across the table could see it to his heart's content.
So, in the end, they retrieved Illumi's ring again.
Kurt's gift could only stay in a place where it could be hidden away at any time, a place that could not see the light of day.
You must be very angry.
But they can't do anything about it.
After all, the ring on my hand is a mark left by Illumi.
A cowardly child does not have the courage to rebel against his older brother.
His only courage was to threaten girls who were weaker than him and seemed to submit to intimidation.
However, the other party was actually a woman older than him, just like his older brother.
His threats will not work.
What should we do?
What else can be done in a situation like this?
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Wicked Rae
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