I Became the Youngest Sister-in-law of the Ruined Reverse Harem’s Male Leads - Chapter 27

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#.27

Was he asking if he was a precious person? It was such a foolish question. I couldn’t understand why Edgar would ask such a thing.

“I’m a very precious person to my sisters and mom and dad, but aren’t you, Edgar?”

“I don’t have a mother or father.”

“I don’t have a mom and dad either…”

Edgar’s eyes widened, apparently not knowing my circumstances.

“Our dad passed away before I was born, and mom passed away right after giving birth to me.”

At my answer, Edgar looked at me with a blank expression.

I glanced at Edgar and quietly pulled his hand toward me, placing flower petals on his fingernails.

I hoped it was a flower that would stain nails with color. If our nails turned red together, it would feel like we’d become closer.

“Edith told me. Mom didn’t die because of me, but risked her life to protect me. So I’m a very, very precious child. Edgar is too, right?”

“I, I am…”

Edgar stammered in confusion at my question.

When I looked up, I could see his face clearly, looking lost and on the verge of tears.

What should I say to him?

If I were an adult, I would have fully understood this situation and offered wonderful comfort…

Unfortunately, I wasn’t an adult.

Thanks to the original novel being in my head, I seemed to be a bit smarter than my age.

But that didn’t mean I was vastly superior to other 6-year-olds or could think like I was 14, which was my age in the original story.

I seemed to be somewhere between 6 and 14, but if I had to say…

‘I’m just a kid who thinks a lot.’

I couldn’t understand what Edgar was feeling, but from his pale complexion, I could tell he was having a hard time.

So instead of coming up with wonderful words like adults do, I decided to comfort him like a child would.

“…Huh?”

I stood up and hugged Edgar tightly.

Edgar made a strange sound.

Did Edgar dislike hugs?

When I had a fever and felt terrible, or when I fought with Antonio and cried, my sisters would hug me like this.

Then my troubled heart would calm down, and I’d gain the courage to overcome any difficult situation.

“Just because I fought for you doesn’t mean we’re friends, but still, Edgar is a precious person. You know that, right?”

Edgar squirmed in my arms. But he moved in a really strange, stiff way.

It felt exactly like hugging a square octopus, so when I loosened my arms, Edgar gasped and stepped backward.

“Edgar?”

As soon as I called his name, Edgar hung his head low and then…

“Huh?”

He ran away!

I watched Edgar’s retreating figure as he ran away quick as a cat, put both hands on my hips, and sighed deeply.

“We were supposed to play kitchen together…”

This liar!

* * *

Having heard about the commotion from the previous day, Leopold stopped by the palace where Edgar resided during a brief break at lunchtime.

He was angry that the palace maids had ignored and looked down on the distinguished guest from Trobancha, and he was about to step in himself, but Marius had already handled the situation.

So instead of punishing the maids twice over, he decided to check on Edgar.

‘He must be quite depressed after hearing such things.’

Even though he and Marius, who looked after Edgar, had high status and great power, they were merely cousins.

Moreover, for some reason, Marius had started avoiding Edgar a few months ago.

The reason Edgar had been staying at the Waldrafen Estate instead of the Imperial Palace for the past few months was all because of that.

‘How long will he keep Edgar at a distance?’

Knock knock.

He knocked, but no answer came. That didn’t mean there was no one inside though.

‘There’s a presence, but…’

Normally, either a cold voice would ask who it was, or Edgar would recognize his cousin’s footsteps and burst open the door.

But today, he could only sense a presence with no response at all.

Had yesterday’s incident hurt him deeply?

Worried about Edgar, Leopold knocked on the door again and raised his voice.

“Edgar, it’s me, your brother Leopold. I’m coming in for a moment.”

Soon Leopold counted a few seconds before opening the door and entering.

Edgar was covered with his blanket.

Thinking that the gossiping maids had indeed caused trouble, he swallowed the rising sigh.

“Don’t cry. It’s nothing serious, so there’s no need to cry.”

“I’m not crying!”

Edgar shouted indignantly from under the blanket.

He seemed to be in a bad mood, but it definitely wasn’t the voice of someone who had been crying.

“Then that’s a relief.”

He had resolved to be especially affectionate today when coming to see Edgar, but the words that came out were blunt as ever.

Even as an adult, he felt frustrated with himself for not knowing what to do in situations like this.

‘What would Regina say at a time like this?’

He had always believed that cousins couldn’t replace parents.

They had no obligation to raise the child, and naturally couldn’t give everything like parents would.

But seeing the Berchio Family had shattered that belief.

“There are many difficult times… but even so, we’re happy. That’s what family is.”

The three Berchio sisters also had no obligation to raise Lilliana since they weren’t her parents.

Yet Alicia Berchio had made a life-risking contract for her youngest sister, and Regina and her twin sister took turns caring for the child.

It wasn’t simply out of duty or responsibility. They loved their sister with all their hearts.

Perhaps that’s why Lilliana, unlike Edgar, clearly showed signs of being raised with love.

“Originally, a leader should cherish their subordinates even if they’re incompetent. Our sisters taught Lilliana letter by letter even when she couldn’t read, right? So Lilliana will also teach Edgar how to be loyal to a leader.”

Lilliana, absorbed in playing leader, fought with Edgar every day.

Even when Edgar played mean pranks, Lilliana would quickly get over her mood and get along with him again.

Leopold belatedly realized, through watching Lilliana, what kind of eyes children who received love and attention at home had, what expressions they made, and how bright a six-year-old’s smile could be.

Lilliana showed her friend the same love she received from her sisters.

How to give love, how to apologize first, how to whisper affectionately…

Every time Leopold saw Edgar learn these things and show signs of change, he deeply reflected on his own shortcomings.

“I’m sorry, Edgar.”

Leopold awkwardly patted Edgar, who was curled up under the blanket.

As his clumsy gestures continued, Edgar slowly lowered the blanket.

“I was lacking in many ways. I’m sorry.”

“Why is brother suddenly apologizing?”

“If I had paid more attention, yesterday’s incident wouldn’t have happened—”

“Even if brother paid attention, people who want to gossip will gossip anyway. It was just bad luck that I heard it.”

Edgar answered quite matter-of-factly, unlike a six-year-old, then pressed his lips together and fidgeted with his hands.

Edgar didn’t even notice the strange stain on his fingernails as he watched Leopold’s reaction.

He wasn’t watching his cousin’s mood out of fear.

Edgar was timing the right moment to bring up the topic he wanted to discuss.

“If you have something you want to say, feel free to speak.”

“Well…”

“Yes.”

“…What do you think, brother?”

“What do you mean?”

“Didn’t Mother regret giving birth to me?”

Edgar, who finished his question in an increasingly small voice, gripped the blanket tightly as if he couldn’t bear the current situation.

Despite the warm weather, the blanket was damp with sweat from being pulled over his head.

Leopold, whose face had stiffened in confusion at the unexpected question, answered Edgar firmly.

“Princess Elizabeth never regretted giving birth to you, not even once. I can swear there’s not a shred of falsehood in that.”

“Why? She died because of me.”

“I don’t know who said what to you, but Princess Elizabeth was happy to have you—if anything, she was happy, and never once showed any sign of distress.”

Leopold pulled Edgar onto his lap.

Then he held his small brother tightly and spoke each word deliberately.

“The Princess loved you. Very much.”

“Me? But she died because of me. Everyone says so. If I hadn’t existed, Mother wouldn’t have died.”

When Edgar hesitantly protested, Leopold let out a short sigh.

While Marius was preoccupied with consolidating imperial power by dealing with his blood relatives and nobles, the palace’s order had become a complete mess.

Even as the Blood Emperor, he clearly wouldn’t interfere in personal disputes unless they were serious matters.

As a result, while the nobles involved in state affairs feared Marius, an atmosphere pervaded the palace that anything was acceptable as long as it wasn’t a major incident.

The guests from Trobancha and Edgar bore the full brunt of this damage.

The targets were foreigners and a parentless child neglected by his cousin brothers.

“After Duke Runtvolleney, your father and my uncle, passed away, the Princess fell into great despair and became extremely weak.”

“Because Mother and Father married for love rather than a political alliance, right?”

“That’s right. Usually imperial family members have political marriages with royalty from other countries, but since the Princess had always been in poor health, the previous Emperor allowed her to marry a noble for love.”

Leopold continued his explanation slowly.

“We all thought the Princess would pass away soon. That’s when your existence became known. The Princess found strength and endured because she was carrying you.”

“Mother did?”

His questioning voice was excited. Hope flickered in Edgar’s green eyes. Leopold thought those eyes were as vibrant as fresh greenery.

“Yes. She thought that if she didn’t endure, you would be in danger too, so she tried her best to hold on until your birth.”

Leopold slowly stroked his little brother’s head, recalling how Regina had treated Lilliana.

It was quite awkward, but not impossibly so.

“She didn’t die because of you—she was able to endure because of you. With a body that could have given out at any moment, safely giving birth to you was a miracle. Her love for you created that miracle.”

His grass-like eyes sparkled with a light Leopold had never seen before.

His chubby cheeks flushed pink.

“She was deeply saddened that she couldn’t spend more time with you after your birth. So she earnestly entrusted you to Marius and me before she passed away.”

“M-Mother did?”

“You were born surrounded by so much love.”

At those words, tears poured from his sparkling eyes.

Drip, drip—tears fell like heavy rain, and Edgar hurriedly wiped his eyes with his sleeve, but it was useless.

The more he wiped, the more soaked his clothes became.

“Sniff!”

For a child only six years old, his crying was so pitiful that Leopold embraced Edgar with a heavy heart to comfort him.

Then Edgar burst into wailing sobs. It wasn’t the adult-like pretense he put on when being stern with the maids.

It was the characteristically sorrowful crying of a young child, like when Lilliana was held in her sisters’ arms.

‘Children’s hair is so much finer and softer compared to adults.’

That’s probably why they get hurt and feel pain so easily.

Leopold comforted his small, young brother while swallowing the emotions that kept welling up inside him.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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