The Youngest Daughter of the Snake Family - Chapter 26

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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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Chapter 26
It held everything she treasured—yarn and soap bubbles from when she was a baby chick, and her most precious star-shaped candy.
I glanced at Kasana with a touch of unease.
‘Oh no. Kasana seems interested in the treasure box. But that’s Aileen’s.’
I quickly slipped the treasure box into the drawer and returned to my seat.
“Shall we begin the lesson?”
“Yes! Aileen studying!”
“Since it’s the first day, I’ll teach you how to write Miss Aileen’s name.”
Kasana pulled out a notebook and wrote the characters in neat, large strokes.
The script felt somewhat stiff and angular.
I watched carefully as she wrote, memorizing the order, then gripped my pen and traced what I saw.
“There—bend it to the side at that point.”
“Mm. Hard.”
“It feels unfamiliar now. Shall we try once more?”
“Okay. Aileen can do this.”
I copied my name over and over. This is my name, I thought.
I traced the crooked, elongated characters to the end. The longer characters at the back must be the family name.
Absorbed entirely in writing my name, I suddenly looked up.
“Kasana!”
“Yes?”
“Kaid and Set and Arban too! Rodarria and Kasana.”
I flipped to a fresh page in the notebook, eager to learn their names.
“Aileen wants to know. Everyone.”
“Shall I write them here for you?”
“Yes.”
‘Once I memorize them all, I’ll give everyone such a surprise.’
* * *
Now I can write everyone’s names!
I moved my small hand busily.
“Perfect!”
At last I’d memorized them all.
All I had to do was find them and show them—the thought made me laugh with pride.
I couldn’t wait to go and show them right away.
I left my room with the pen still in hand, heading first to Set.
I hesitated several times at his door before finally squeezing my eyes shut and calling out to him anyway.
“Set!”
“…What? Why are you here, Aileen?”
I’d worried he might not be there, but thankfully Set was in his room.
I beamed at him as he stepped out through the doorway.
“I came to see you?”
“What for?”
“Came to see Set…”
My eyes darted nervously. I worried he might turn me away and send me back.
A brief silence stretched between us.
Set gazed down at me, then let out a sigh—tinged with irritation.
“You came to see me?”
At the same time, suspicion never left his gaze.
His crimson eyes narrowed, studying me as if trying to puzzle out what I was scheming.
I quickly nodded.
“Mm.”
“Why me?”
“Wanted to see you, so I came.”
“What?”
Set made a bewildered sound, as though deflating slightly.
His expression—brow furrowed, eyes blinking slowly—still screamed that he didn’t understand.
I grinned and stepped into his room.
Set’s room, which I was seeing for the first time, was remarkably neat.
So this is where he lives. The atmosphere was so different from mine.
Unlike my room, which had snacks and toys scattered about, Set’s room held only what was truly necessary.
One thing that caught my eye was potted plants positioned throughout the space.
Do you like plants?
Set, who had followed me into the room, spoke with unmistakable displeasure in his voice.
“If you’re just going to stand around gawking, why don’t you head back, Aileen?”
“Oh! No, I have something to show Set!”
I reminded myself why I’d come here and quickly spoke before being sent away.
“Then hurry up and show me so you can leave.”
“I learned how to write Aileen’s name, and I memorized Set’s name too. I came to show you that.”
I’d brought a pen along, so all I needed was paper.
I glanced around the room until I spotted a blank sheet on the table, then carefully wrote out the name I’d worked so hard to memorize.
As I pressed each letter down with earnest concentration, Set’s eyes—which had held not a trace of expectation—widened just slightly.
“Ta-da! Look at this!”
Surprised, aren’t you? You didn’t expect me to be able to write your name already, did you?
“You can write my name.”
“Yes. Aileen practiced really hard to learn it.”
Set’s lips curved upward with deliberate meaning as he gazed at the crooked but earnest letters of his name.
Then came a stream of sharp words.
“Your handwriting is so awful I almost couldn’t tell it was my name.”
“That’s not true. Someone said I write well!”
“Really? Whoever they are, I’d rather they not be so easily impressed.”
I’d expected praise here too, but instead I slumped my shoulders in disappointment.
I was puffing out my cheeks in a pout, preparing to leave, when Set suddenly lifted the paper with his name on it.
“Has anyone else received this from you?”
“I’m going to show people next.”
“So I’m the first?”
“Yes. Aileen likes Set. But you said my handwriting is terrible.”
As I made a sad face and wiggled my ink-stained fingers, Set—showing an expression of slight surprise—offered a smile unlike his usual demeanor.
“Actually, I changed my mind.”
“Huh?”
“You write quite well, Aileen.”
My next destination was where Arban was.
Arban lay idly in a hammock set up in the garden. He wasn’t skipping his lessons again today, was he?
“Arban!”
“What?”
At my call, Arban rose and climbed down from the swaying hammock.
“Aileen has something to show you!”
“Something to show me?”
“Yes.”
But I didn’t see anything suitable to write on in the garden.
Arban, intrigued by my claim to have something, glanced over with feigned indifference.
“What is it?”
“Arban, do you have paper?”
“There’s no way something like that would be out here.”
“Then what should I do? I wanted to show you that I can write Arban’s name.”
“My name?”
There was nothing to be done. I’d have to show him another time. Right now, I didn’t have anything suitable to write on.
As I turned to leave, Arban caught hold of me.
“Wait, you came to show me something. Why are you leaving?”
“Aileen doesn’t have paper.”
“You can just write on my palm.”
Arban extended his open hand. I widened my eyes in surprise.
If I wrote on his palm, it probably wouldn’t wash off easily. Was it really alright for me to write there?
“Are you really sure I should write there?”
“Yes.”
“Alright then. I’ll be careful. Aileen learned Arban’s name the fastest of all.”
Because his name shared characters with another, I was able to learn it most easily.
As I bent my head down and wrote out each character, his palm trembled slightly.
Arban, who had been hesitating, asked quietly.
“You really learned my name first? Not my father’s or my brother’s?”
“Yes. Arban is number one. Everyone else is way behind!”
“Me, number one……”
I looked up with a grin, still remembering the name perfectly written on my palm.
My eyes met Arban’s, who was also bending over to admire the name written on his hand, smiling just as I was.
At that same moment, his lips, which had curved upward, flattened into a rigid line and pressed shut.
Arban seemed flustered.
“Stop laughing!”
“I-I wasn’t laughing because—it’s not what you think!”
His face flushed crimson, Arban bolted from the garden.
I turned toward my final destination.
The last person I needed to find was Kaid.
I came down to the first floor and carefully opened the study door.
As I peeked my face through the gap, my eyes met Kaid’s, who was looking over some documents.
Beside him, Baon was cheerfully waving at me as if greeting an old acquaintance.
Kaid, who must have already known I was lurking outside, looked at me with amusement and asked.
“What have you been doing out there in front of the door all this time? Finally decided to come in?”
“Father, are you busy?”
When I hesitated before asking, I received contradictory answers from the two of them.
“No, I’m not busy.”
“Yes, I’m quite busy, sir.”
“…Aileen, just a moment is fine.”
“Come here.”
Kaid set down the documents and reached out his hand.
I hurried to open the door and stepped inside. The desk was piled high with papers. He still seemed very busy.
When I stood on tiptoe in front of the desk that was taller than me, Kaid pressed his finger firmly against my forehead.
The heel I’d been holding up came down and planted itself on the floor.
“Ow!”
“Don’t pretend it hurts.”
“But it did hurt!”
Covering my forehead and puffing out my cheeks, I saw the corners of Kaid’s mouth curve up faintly.
When he reached out his hand again, ready to tease me further, I quickly dodged behind Baon.
“Miss Aileen.”
“Mm?”
“Was my neck perhaps your target?”
Baon, enduring the weight of Kaid’s sharp gaze, asked hesitantly.
“I wanted to show Father something amazing. But I won’t show him now.”
“Something amazing?”
“Yes, something truly amazing.”
“Come here and show me then. I promise I won’t touch your forehead.”
“Really?”
Though I seriously doubted he’d keep his word, I decided to trust him anyway.
I approached the desk again.
Kaid settled me onto his lap and nodded as if to say, go ahead and show me this amazing thing.
Curious about what I might do, Baon quietly sidled over as well.
I picked up the pen I’d brought with me.

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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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