Chapter 9

Chapter 9

“Are you really such a naive lamb? Do you need your master to say ‘eat’ for you to start eating?”

Melody shook her head while picking up the spoon.

“Sheep eat grass on their own, even if the owner doesn’t tell them to eat.”

“It seems you’re worse than a sheep then. Eat quickly.”

Melody looked at the large plate that was given to her, and then replied to the grandmother again.

“I can’t eat this much.”

“Are you telling me to prepare your meal again!”

“You just need to make it less. They say that you will eat all the leftover food in the afterlife. So leave it and eat it in the underworld. Obviously, there is nothing to eat in the afterlife.”

So it was like that. Melody will have to starve if she goes to the afterlife because she has never left any food behind. There was nothing for her to really eat in the first place. So Melody started eating according to the old lady’s wise words.

(e/n: for anyone confused, the Granny is telling her that she needs to have big plates of food if she wants to eat her fill and have leftovers to accompany her to the afterlife in the hopes that the MC will eat enough instead of asking for a smaller portion right off the bat from now on. She’s a very cute tsundere, Granny!)

Unfortunately, this time too, she failed to stock up on food for the underworld. It was so warm and delicious that she ate the whole thing. Her belly was protruding, and it seemed like the skin on her stomach was stretched from the amount of food.

“Looks like you weren’t lucky enough to leave leftovers, you won’t have anything for the afterlife at this rate.”

Grandma grunted as she cleared the plates.

“Grandma.”

Melody looked at the busy grandmother’s back and spoke carefully.

“What is it? I don’t think you’re asking me to bring you a children’s book are you?”

“No. Uh, I’m sorry I used Grandma’s bed.”

“Did you think I lent you my bed? This is a guest room.”

“Gu-guest room?!” Melody asked in shock.

“I’m not someone important so I shouldn’t be brought to a guest room!”

“Then where should you go? Should I pick you up and take you to the barn?”

The old woman answered coldly, but soon after seeing Melody’s expression, her harsh expression subsided somewhat. For some reason, she seemed to understand that Melody would probably say something like ‘It’s better for me to go to the barn!’

“Anyway, the Duke has called you a guest, so there’s nothing we can do about it. Even if it’s uncomfortable, stay here quietly. You aren’t intending to disobey the Duke’s will are you?”

“No….”

That’s right. Melody gave a reluctant answer, looked at the grandmother, and carefully asked the question again.

“Really, I… may I stay here?”

A warm bath, a meal in bed, and a nice room. Doesn’t it seem like Melody became the main character of a romantic fantasy overnight?

“Heh, just because this Aristocratic family has taken in one lamb that doesn’t do anything won’t bankrupt them.”

“I will be of some use too!”

Melody quickly revealed her strengths. At least she didn’t want her to say ‘do nothing’.

“I can read and clean well and….” What else can I do well? What else can I help with? “I speak well! I can talk all day!”

“The Grand Duke doesn’t need a chattering lamb.”

Melody became a little desperate because of her sharp answer that came like a knife. She knelt on the bed and thought about her strengths again.

“I can jump fast. In fact, my body is sturdy. I can move even if I’m starved for three days. I am quite helpful to keep around!”

Melody’s voice grew louder involuntarily as it was mixed with growing desperation. The old woman looked at the young child’s face for a while without saying anything, then slowly turned away her eyes and murmured.

“You have a loud voice.”

“That’s right. I have a loud voice!”

“Hey, I was like that when I was younger too. When I shouted on the second floor, the maids on the first floor all bowed their heads. Isn’t that great?”

“That’s awesome. I wouldn’t be able to do that.”

“Of course. Now do you understand? You’ll have to know that there’s a mountain of things to learn before you can do that type of sassy bragging.”

The old woman picked up the tray that she organized their dirty dishes on.

“If you want to know your subject, prepare well. If you sleep deeply, that chatty mouth will become a little quieter.”

“I can carry the plates. Let me do it.”

Melody got out of bed and spread her arms wide in front of the old woman, asking for the tray.

“You’re still unrepentant, you’re not listening to me and trying to make me the bad guy?! What did I just say?!”

“… There are a lot of things I need to learn.”

“Oh, so you understood me quite well. So you should quietly observe and quickly learn how I carry this tray with your big round eyes, little lamb. Do you understand?”

Melody nodded.

“And the candy bottle next to the bed… .”

“I, I never touch other people’s things! Never!”

“Don’t say silly stuff like that all the time, and I will scold you if you don’t rinse your mouth after eating stuff like that.”

“Are you saying I can eat that candy?”

“Oh, but if you eat them right before mealtime, I will spank your butt until it splits in two.”

The butt already has two sides, was her first thought. But Melody decided not to say the words that rose up in her throat.

The old woman said, ‘If you wander around, you will get scolded.’ Then closed the door and left. Melody circled the room, looking at the decorations and book covers, and then yawned again. It seems that the fatigue that builds up from a long trip is not easily relieved. Melody went back to bed without even eating the candies and fell into a deep sleep.

Her eyes opened. Melody pulled down the blanket that had been pulled up to her head and looked outside the large window. Looking at the color of the sky, it seemed that it was still dawn.

“Hoo, uh….”

At that moment, a familiar sound came from behind Melody’s back. Loretta, who was in a deep sleep, sometimes mumbled. Melody quickly turned around and checked Loretta’s sleeping face behind her. It seems that the small child had a busy day similar to Melody.

She was washed clean and was now wearing good quality clothes. It seemed that the precious daughter of the duke had received all the treatment she deserved, so Melody was quite relieved.

“I was treated very well, too. Thanks to you.”

Melody smoothed out the child’s blanket beautifully and made sure she was well tucked in before she closed her eyes again. As she listened to Loretta’s comfortable breathing, her mind relaxed and she fell asleep again.

The two girls fell asleep so close that they could feel each other’s temperature even in the very large bed. Just like in Melody’s old house.

It was morning.

Melody fell asleep with the duvet covering her to the top of her head because of her long-standing habit. If she sleeps like this, it prevents the tip of her nose from getting colder in the frigid winters….

In any case, it seems that no one at the duke’s estate would have their face get cold like that, but a habit, once ingrained in the body, will not disappear easily.

Melody slightly opened her eyes in the thick blanket. She heard someone’s voice outside the blanket while she was still between the realm of sleep and reality. It was definitely not Loretta. It was a sound coming from next to the bed.

‘Is that Grandma?’

Then I must wake up… she thought. Then she heard an unfamiliar voice.

“She’s really ugly.”

It was the voice of a young boy. There was a grudge that could not be hidden in the slightly youthful voice. For some reason, Melody felt as if she knew the identity of the other person without having to check their face. The information she remembered was already sufficient.

In 『The Duke’s Four Children』, Loretta’s three older brothers appeared. Claude Valdwin, the first and favorite character in Melody’s past life, was currently attending the academy. And the youngest, Jeremiah, showed a talent for magic, which is rare for a nobleman, and was being educated and raised in the Magic Tower. So, at this time, there was only one young boy who came to see Loretta at the mansion. The second older brother, Ronnie Valdwin.

Speaking of him, it can be said that he has the longest and yet shortest time of denial before becoming a die hard Loretta fan.

No matter how much time has passed, no pretty and honest words have ever come out of that disgusting mouth. However, from the moment he saw Loretta for the first time, he was like, ‘Wow, so cute! I really want you to be my little sister!’ Truly the representative of this novel, ‘lovestruck’.

“What, it’s so small… Is this really a member of the Valdwin family?”

He continued to mumble unsatisfied. Even if he says that, Loretta is cute and he just doesn’t know what to do because he was only eleven years old and he doesn’t know how to be honest.

“Why did you leave your room to sleep in the next room? What a naughty girl.”

Melody was overjoyed at the news she had learned through his complaints. Loretta was also assigned another guest room, which seems to be adjacent to Melody’s room. Using a neighboring room in a spacious mansion…. After all, it seemed that Loretta and her had a great relationship.

The boy’s grumbles continued while Melody shifted under the blankets quietly.

“Why is she so slow to wake up? After much effort, this child came to us, but she just slept without saying thank you. She’s so rude.”

He moved closer to the bed. At that moment, Melody was suddenly reminded of a part of the novel. The scene where that mean boy pinched Loretta’s sleeping cheeks until they became very red. That incident was enough to make things quite bad between the two siblings who met for the first time. That unfortunate event must not be repeated.

Besides, Loretta was exhausted from the carriage trip, so she hoped that her sleep would not be disturbed. At that moment, Ronnie raised out his hand toward the bed, starting to reach out to Loretta.

“Wake up, you naughty liar… Ugh?!”

But in the end, his hand could not reach Loretta’s cheek. It was because a girl he had never seen before suddenly jumped out from the pile of blankets behind Loretta and grabbed his hand. Ronnie was still holding his right hand in the air, while making eye contact with the girl who was staring him directly in the face.

Making eye contact.

This simple act was in fact very unfamiliar to him. He was the second son of the great Duke of Valdwin, and he received respect from everyone he met because they immediately bowed down everytime. Especially since all the girls of his age were all noble children who had learned manners and etiquette, they never made eye contact with him.

But what does this girl mean? How dare you set your eyes on one of the Valdwin family’s sons? That was unforgivable. No matter how pretty the girl was, she could never look at him.

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“You d-dare.”

She knew who he was, and he was about to talk, but the girl pressed the index finger of her left hand on his lips. It’s a signal to be quiet. It’s the first time Ronnie has seen a hand sign like this since he was six, so he was at a loss for words.

As he shut his mouth, the girl looked down at the child sleeping soundly on the bed. With a look that said that she cherished the sleeping girl very much.

How strange… Ronnie felt something he couldn’t understand fluttering in his stomach.

(e/n: He’s already got butterflies in his stomach (*≧∀≦*) Looks like Loretta isn’t the only one he is a fan of.)