Please Repay Me with Marriage! - Chapter 33

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Pay me back by marrying me!
Chapter 33
Her silver hair, gathered high into a ponytail like a horse’s tail, gleamed with every movement. Her eyes peeked out from beside the tree trunk, blue as a summer sky.
Judging by her height, she couldn’t be more than six or seven years old…
‘Is she from the marquis’s household?’
Her dress was streaked with leaves and dirt and looked a bit shabby, but even at a glance, it was clearly expensive. Besides, a child who could wander freely into the garden of the guest villa could only belong to one kind of household.
Bending her knees to meet the eyes of the child standing at a distance, Zenis curled up the corners of her mouth and held out the ball in her hand.
“Hello there, little miss. Were you looking for this ball?”
Clutching the tree trunk she’d hidden behind as though she couldn’t let go, the little girl rolled her eyes from side to side and slowly nodded.
“Then may I come closer to you, miss, so I can return it?”
Shake, shake.
“Hm?”
The girl cautiously stepped out from behind the tree, then came trotting over, pattering along, and held out both hands to Zenis. It seemed she meant to come to her instead.
Zenis found herself smiling without meaning to. She brushed off the dust from the ball a few more times and set it down in the girl’s palm.
Just as Zenis had done, the girl tapped the ball a few times, then set it on the ground and reached into the cute little bag slung diagonally across her shoulder.
What came out were two candies wrapped in fancy paper.
“Oh my… Are you giving those to me?”
Nod, nod.
“Mm, thank you. There are two, so we can each have one, right?”
Beam.
‘Ah… good grief, she’s too cute.’
Swallowing a rather violent exclamation that the late countess would have been startled to hear, Zenis stared at the candies in the girl’s palm.
One was red, the other yellow.
The fruits drawn on them, so plainly that children would find them appealing, were strawberry and lemon.
Zenis, who loved strawberries, reached for that one without thinking. At once the girl’s eyes drooped ever so slightly.
‘Ah, so she likes strawberries?’
Zenis’s hand passed over the strawberry and landed on the lemon candy. The girl’s face lit up at once.
‘Looks like she really does like strawberries.’
Zenis pressed down hard on the urge to grin foolishly and picked up the lemon candy.
“Thank you. I’ll enjoy it, little miss.”
Answering Zenis’s greeting with a bright smile, the girl tore open the wrapper of the strawberry candy and popped it neatly into her mouth.
Then she looked up at Zenis with expectant eyes. It seemed she wanted her to eat hers right there.
Zenis peeled the wrapper as the girl wished and put the candy in her mouth.
The sharp, tangy scent unique to lemon stung her salivary glands pleasantly. Then the sweetness spreading through her mouth brought a smile to Zenis’s lips. At that, the girl beamed right along with her.
“It’s so delicious.”
Beam!
‘Ah, she’s really, truly adorable.’
Her hands twitched with the urge to pat the girl’s head.
As if she’d read that feeling, the girl pushed her head forward right in front of Zenis.
Is that what I think it is? Zenis, still dazed, carefully patted the round little head with a gentle rub.
At that, the girl gave a giggle, her face utterly content.
“Oh, I’m dying…”
If only I had a little sister like this!
‘Mother, why didn’t you just give me one little sister?’
Zenis cleared her throat and rose to her feet, rolling the candy around in her mouth. Belatedly, she smoothed out her skirt and bowed her head.
“Now that I think about it, I’m late with my introduction. I’m Zenis Elpias, staying at the villa on the Marquis Blair’s invitation. Might you tell me your name, little miss?”
At those words, the girl’s eyes went wide, and she darted her gaze about, looking flustered.
I only asked for her name, so why is she reacting like that? Zenis wondered, when—
“Charlotte! I told you to wait, and you’ve already gone off again?”
Startled, the girl jumped, and quickly snatched up the ball she’d set down. Then, just as she was about to run off somewhere, she pointed with her index finger toward the direction the voice had come from.
“Huh?”
“Charlotte! If you can hear me, come back quick! Your big sister is in the back garden!”
The moment the name Charlotte rang out, the girl tapped the empty air with her finger.
Ah, no way.
“Charlotte?”
At the name Zenis murmured, the girl smiled brightly and tapped her own chest with her palm, as if to say that was her name.
“Charlotte! If you don’t come right now, there’ll be no lemon candy this week!”
Drawing a deep breath with a sharp gasp, the girl dashed off toward the voice. Even so, she remembered to glance back and wave her hand vigorously.
Zenis waved back, watching the girl’s retreating back, and murmured quietly.
“That child, could she possibly be…”
Can’t you speak?

* * *
Zenis’s expectations turned out exactly as she had predicted.
“These are my younger sisters. Elisabeth Blair and Charlotte Blair, in that order.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lady Elpias.”
Elisabeth inclined her head with an elegant little nod, and beside her, Charlotte bobbed her head right along with her elder sister, copying every movement.
The bright smile on her face was just as sweet and innocent as before, so charming that I wanted to reach across the wide dining table and pat her head.
“Just so you know, Charlotte can’t speak. It isn’t that she’s choosing not to, so please don’t take it the wrong way.”
“Oh, I didn’t take it that way at all. How could anyone misunderstand a young lady who smiles so brightly at you like that?”
Irene smiled softly as she watched Zenis shake her head vigorously.
“Thank you for saying so. By the way, Charlotte likes to be called by her name, so please call her Charlotte. Isn’t that right, Charlotte?”
Beam.
‘Oh, damn it.’
That cuteness is hazardous to my health…
How could there be a child who’s such an angel? Zenis pretended to sip her soup while stealing glances at Charlotte sitting across from her.
Charlotte, clutching her bread tightly in both hands and nibbling at the end of it, met Zenis’s eyes and smiled brightly. Then she turned to Elisabeth beside her and tapped her finger on the tabletop in a poking gesture.
“Hm? …Oh, I see.”
As expected of an elder sister, Elisabeth seemed to understand at once what Charlotte’s gesture meant: a single tap on the bread plate, then two taps pointing at Zenis.
“Miss Zenis, may I call you that?”
“Of course. Call me whatever you like.”
“Thank you. You can call me Eli.”
Elisabeth then gazed at Zenis with an expectant look.
But Zenis couldn’t tell what Elisabeth was waiting for. She just blinked, and seeing that, Elisabeth looked slightly disappointed and pointed at the bread on the table with her knife.
“Miss Zenis, do try this bread.”
“Me?”
At Elisabeth’s glance, an attendant standing behind them moved the bread she had indicated onto Zenis’s plate.
The snow-white bread tore softly along its grain, and the walnuts scattered throughout were wonderfully fragrant.
“Wow, it’s delicious.”
“I’m glad it suits your taste, Miss Zenis. That’s Charlotte’s favorite bread, you know.”
Hearing that, Zenis glanced at Charlotte, and the girl, who had been watching her with sparkling eyes, beamed and gave a small clap.
Irene, watching the scene with nothing but fondness, pushed her soup bowl aside and said with a note of amusement in her voice.
“She loves watching other people enjoy the food she likes. So even if she suddenly appears and hands you something, please don’t be too startled.”
“Ah…”
Those words brought something to mind.
Zenis hesitated over whether to ask, then carefully opened her mouth.
“Does Charlotte happen to like lemon candies?”
“It’s her absolute favorite. Has she already given you one?”
So it wasn’t strawberry candy she liked. It was lemon.
No wonder the voice from beyond the wall had so pointedly said she wouldn’t give out any lemon candies.
What a lovable child. If she had been sitting right beside me, I would have wrapped her in a tight hug.
Zenis gazed at Charlotte with flushed cheeks, then sliced a baguette thinly, spread apple jam and fresh cream over it, and handed it to the girl.
“This is a combination my late mother taught me. It’s how I love eating bread most of all.”
Charlotte’s eyes went wide at that, and she quickly took the plate, cut the bread into bite-sized pieces, and popped them into her mouth.
Without noticing the fluffy cream smeared across her cheek, the girl clapped her hands and declared it delicious.
Zenis smiled softly, charmed by the sight.
“Hmm, ahem.”
Just then, Elisabeth beside Charlotte cleared her throat loudly enough for Zenis to hear.
When Zenis looked up at her in puzzlement, Elisabeth fixed her with the same look as before.
‘…What?’
What does she want from me?
To be honest, Zenis found Elisabeth, who was about her own age, a bit intimidating.
‘Zenis, you need to face reality.’
‘Friends? Please. Do you really think we’re still on the same level?’
Just earlier at the jewelry shop, hadn’t Viscount Schultz’s daughter openly sneered the moment she heard Zenis’s name?
And yet, the moment she realized Hawk was a knight of House Blair, she had fled as if running away. Proof of just how high Blair’s standing had risen.
‘That young lady might be laughing at me inside, too.’
Or perhaps she’s waiting for me to show off the shabby, humble manners of a poor family’s daughter?
So she could pick on me for it.
-Tok tok
Zenis, who had been gulping down cold water to steady her nerves, belatedly noticed Charlotte tapping the table with her fingers.
She looked up at Charlotte, and the girl blinked her round eyes and nodded toward the baguette. The one Zenis had spread with apple jam and fresh cream earlier.
“It’s delicious, isn’t it? Would you like another one?”
When Zenis picked up a knife to slice another piece, Charlotte shook her head, indicating that wasn’t what she wanted.
‘Then what does she want?’
Charlotte noticed Zenis’s brow furrow slightly, and she flicked her eyes toward Elisabeth, who sat beside her.
‘Ugh, I have no idea.’
She couldn’t very well ask a child who couldn’t speak what she wanted to say.
Just as Zenis was at a loss, Irene’s voice rang out, as if to rescue her.
“Eli, why do you look so glum? Don’t you like the menu today?”
“…No, it’s nothing.”
“Hmm… Damond, bring us a bottle of Rult apple wine.”
“Rult apple wine?”
Elisabeth’s face brightened, as though she had never been glum at all. Watching her, Irene creased her eyes into a smile.
“Today is a special day, so I’ll let you have a glass. Miss Zenis, is a glass of wine all right with you?”
“Ah… yes. One glass is fine.”
“Then let’s all raise a toast to celebrate. Though Charlotte will have to make do with apple juice.”
Two girls who would come of age next year got a glass of apple wine each, and Charlotte, who was still a long way from adulthood, got a glass of sweet apple juice.
“Welcome to the House of Blair, Miss Zenis.”
As she sipped the reasonably chilled wine, one sip after another, some of the tension began to ease from her shoulders.
Meanwhile, Elisabeth had already finished one glass of apple wine and was pestering Irene to let her have just one more.
“Just one more glass. Please?”
“Hmm… Fine. You love apples more than any other fruit, Eli, so I’ll let you have one more glass.”
“Yay! This time I’ll really make it last.”
But despite her resolution, Elisabeth went and drained another glass of apple wine in no time at all.
Seemingly reluctant to part with the quickly emptied glass, Elisabeth softened her gaze and kept staring at the empty glass for a long while.
‘She must really love apples.’
The thought suddenly occurred to Zenis.
‘Could she have been hoping I’d spread jam on hers too, like I did for Charlotte?’

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