I Became the Youngest Sister-in-law of the Ruined Reverse Harem’s Male Leads - Chapter 48
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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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#.48
Francois came and I had to drink the bubbling, awful-tasting mana potion.
They say bitter medicine is good for the body, but I’m not sure if the mana potion is actually effective.
Still, maybe because I’d been sick for three straight days, my body was starting to feel a little better.
Marius took care of me on the first day, then disappeared somewhere.
After that, Liliana and Francois looked after me.
“Little one. Want some water? Or would you like a drink?”
“I want to drink milk.”
“Alright. Let’s have some milk. Are you hungry?”
“Mm-hmm. I think I’ll be fine if I drink milk.”
The maid sisters left to get milk.
Liliana took my temperature one last time and pricked my fingertip to collect blood.
I have no idea what they’re going to use my blood for.
Every time they pierce my skin with a needle, I get scared and my heart pounds.
“Liliana. Edgar hasn’t come to see me, has he?”
“Do you want to play with Edgar?”
“Mm-hmm. It’s nothing.”
As far as I know, Edgar hasn’t come to visit me even once.
As if saying we’re no longer friends.
Even Marius and Leopold came to see me…
Is our friendship really over?
Well, I would have been hurt and cried buckets too if Antonio preferred playing with Vicky over me.
“Lady Emilia. Sir Francois has come to see you.”
“Ah, he must be here for the blood test.”
“Liliana, are you leaving?”
“I’ll be right back. Make sure to take your medicine even if it’s bitter. Got it?”
“Mm-hmm. See you later.”
After Liliana left, I was alone in the room.
I stared out the window, hoping Edgar might come.
But not only did Edgar not appear, even the maid sisters didn’t pass by.
‘I should go to Edgar and ask him to make up.’
I left a note on the bed saying I was going to see Edgar, put on my slippers, and went to Orion Palace.
Every time I come here, I’m struck by how big Orion Palace is.
So many rooms in a place where Edgar stays all alone—it must look lonely.
Knock. Knock.
When I knocked on the door, I heard a voice from inside.
“I said I want to be alone!”
Knock knock.
I knocked again and then quietly opened the door.
An irritated voice pierced my ears.
“Don’t my words sound like words to you? I said leave me alone!”
Edgar was lying down, hugging Cookie tightly.
“Edgar.”
At my voice, Edgar kicked off from the bed and sat up.
Our eyes met—his wide with surprise.
After confirming it was me, Edgar couldn’t say anything and just moved his lips soundlessly.
Then when I sniffled, he hurriedly ran over and covered me with a blanket.
Edgar scolded me in a sharp voice.
“I told you not to come in, so why did you come in?”
“Sorry. But I missed you.”
“If you’re sick, you should stay in your room, not come all the way here. What if you get sicker?”
“I don’t know. I got sicker because you didn’t come to see me.”
Every time I thought our friendship was over, my chest ached so much I felt like crying.
Maybe because of the backlighting, Edgar’s green eyes looked as dark as seaweed.
Edgar looked like he might cry too at my answer, then pressed his lips tightly together.
“Are we not friends anymore?”
“I don’t know either.”
“Don’t you want to be friends with me?”
“…That’s not it. I’m just angry.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Antonio is your mega best friend, but why am I just a friend? We watched butterflies in the garden together and explored the Imperial Palace. And you said Leo is your best friend, right? Why am I nothing?”
“Edgar and I don’t have secrets.”
“What?”
“Best friends are people who make secrets together. Mega best friends are friends who would forgive me even if I told them my secrets.”
With Leopold, I secretly shared chocolate without the sisters knowing, and with Antonio, I’ve shared many secrets growing up together since we were little.
We broke a flower pot while playing and lied that it fell over in the wind, and we often drew on the neighbor’s dog’s belly and ran away, then played dumb.
And someone who would forgive me even if we exposed each other’s wrongdoings and remain friends forever—that’s a mega best friend.
But Edgar and I had never done anything like that.
Edgar wasn’t the type to cause trouble like me, and even when he did cause problems, he would just quietly accept the scolding.
It was the same the day I fought with Helene.
Unlike me, who desperately told Liliana it wasn’t my fault, Edgar just looked indifferent even when Leopold nagged him.
“We’ve never made secrets together. Sniff. Edgar can do everything well by himself…”
Edgar has a bad personality, but he’s a know-it-all at everything.
Unlike me, he reads well and doesn’t have any words he doesn’t know.
That’s probably why we never caused trouble together like Antonio and I do.
“What? That’s what it was?”
While someone was so upset that snot was dripping out, Edgar laughed as if feeling deflated.
Instead, he took out a handkerchief and wiped under my nose thoroughly.
This is a bit humiliating…
“Do it with me too. Some kind of friend.”
“Are we going to make secrets?”
“We’ll make secrets and… anyway, we’ll do everything. Something Helene Aldridge or Chris Ruman can’t do.”
“Then we can’t do best friend or mega best friend…”
But if we don’t do anything, Edgar and I will drift apart forever.
At that moment, something flashed through my mind.
A week ago, Liliana was having tea time with Edith and said this:
“I think Leo and I are soulmates.”
I don’t really know what soulmates are, but Liliana looked very happy then.
She smiled as bright as if sunlight was shining on her, and her voice was full of excitement.
Edith also looked very pleased hearing that, so I remembered thinking that ‘soulmates’ must be very good friends.
“Then Edgar, you’ll be my soulmate.”
“Soulmate? What’s that?”
“Um… it’s something very good! Friends who are together forever, I think?”
“Then that’s something only I can do with you. Not Antonio, not Helene Aldridge. Only I can really do it. Got it?”
“Yes. I will.”
“Can you promise?”
When I hesitated to answer, Edgar’s eyes narrowed.
Even though I don’t know what soulmates are, I’m certain that if I don’t say yes right now, I’ll be in big trouble.
I quickly nodded my head.
“I swear! I’ll only be soulmates with Edgar!”
“Good. Pinky promise.”
Edgar held out his pinky finger.
He was taller than me, and his finger was at least one joint longer and bigger.
When I hooked my small finger around his long one, Edgar tightened his grip to intertwine them.
Then we pressed our thumbs together and stamped them firmly.
“I won’t forgive you if you break it.”
“Don’t worry. We’re soulmates now. There won’t be any breaking it.”
Edgar finally looked satisfied.
From the way his lips curved up softly, he was clearly in a good mood.
“Then let’s go back to Lete Palace now.”
Just as I was about to leave the room again, wrapped in the blanket Edgar had given me, he suddenly dashed to the bed and brought something over to me.
It was Jelly, the bear doll that Edgar had taken from me last time.
“Now you take care of Jelly.”
“He was originally my little brother, you know?”
“I held him hostage because you were being mean. If you bring him over again next time, I’ll boil him into bear meat soup, so behave yourself.”
He’s really mean. Using my little brother as blackmail.
When I hugged Jelly again, the soft texture made me feel good.
Both Jelly and Edgar had returned to how they were before.
Perhaps because of that, I was completely recovered the next day and could get out of bed.
It was after that when I learned what a soulmate really was.
* * *
Leopold was about to meet with Regina.
The two hadn’t gotten back together.
Regina was planning to focus on adapting to the Empire for the time being.
Because of that, Leopold had begged to remain as friends.
Though he might be burdensome, Regina couldn’t reject Leopold since he was the first person to accept even her ability.
As a result, the two had become something of an ambiguous relationship, like friends yet like lovers.
“Your Grace. Duchess Ecroyd has sent you a letter.”
“From great-aunt?”
Duchess Ecroyd, whom Countess of Berg had mentioned before, was Leopold’s great-aunt.
Since there was still some time before the date, Leopold checked the letter.
…Leopold. You’re twenty-five years old now.
Isn’t it about time you took a wife and started a family?
Since there are no adults in the household, it seems you haven’t been able to marry, which troubles my heart.
On top of that, you’re raising your cousin alone, so I’m worried about you in many ways.
So I’ve found some quite decent young ladies. The second daughter of House of Lohmann in the Kingdom of Irpfman…
Leopold didn’t read any further and roughly shoved the letter into a drawer.
He didn’t need another woman. Regina alone was enough.
Regina was waiting for him at the entrance to the Imperial Palace.
Today was the first day they would have a date outside the Imperial Palace.
“Leo!”
Regina, wearing a blue dress the color of her eyes, waved her arm at him.
When Regina’s smile turned toward him, Leopold’s heart swelled.
For the first time in his life, an enormous sense of fulfillment washed over him.
“Have you been waiting long?”
“No. I just came out and saw you, Leo.”
Since they wanted to remain as friends, Regina showed a slightly different side.
Her clothes had become more comfortable, and her expression and way of speaking had become more plain.
Leopold found even that heart-burstingly wonderful.
He couldn’t understand how every single thing about one person could be this good.
“How is Lilliana doing?”
“She’s completely fine now. She woke up early this morning and ran out excitedly to play with Edgar.”
“That’s a relief. I was very worried when she had a fever. Shall we go? I’ll guide you to International Street where the Trobancha shops are.”
Leopold politely maintained his distance as he guided Regina.
Hans and his group, who had been loitering near the Imperial Palace, witnessed the two and twisted their lips.
“He used to look at women like they were stones, but Duke Baltrahen is a man after all. She’s really not an ordinary woman, is she?”
Hans was a petty man who made dirty bets.
So he wanted to recover his pride that had been trampled when Regina had mocked him.
Even if it meant making an enemy of Duke Baltrahen.
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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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