CH 49

Chapter 49: Nice to meet you, father and mother-in-law

Count Radin is shaking his shoulders as he is.

Eventually, a tear trickled down from the corner of his eye.

“…Eh?”

What happened? Did I say something that sounded like I was teasing him?

In front of my confusion, the Countess next to me quietly handed me a handkerchief.

“Oh my dear, it looks like you couldn’t hold it in anymore. Since hearing about you from Calva-sama, he has been feeling so sorry and…he’s just not good at hearing sad stories. Now, wipe your tears.”

Count Radin, who was given a handkerchief by the Countess, wiped his tears while sniffling and faced me with a blown nose.

“Ah, so you’re going to be my daughter. Finally, we met. I’m sorry for being late due to Calva being busy…sigh…I apologize.”

Count Radin spoke the line as if he had intended to say it from the beginning, despite his slightly nasal voice.

I have no idea how to respond.

I was about to look stunned and quickly closed my mouth, then tilted my head again.

It seems that the reason for his tears was that he was deeply sorry to hear of my situation. But he tried to be stern with me, as he’d planned.

(I see. He is the type who likes to be punctual and wants to do what he has planned…)

But he may have hidden the fact that he’s easy to cry… or rather, he may have been pretending because he wanted to hide it.

Even so, my situation was so pitiful that he couldn’t help but cry.

(Hmm, but was he really crying that much?)

I didn’t think it would be that bad.

“It is said that she is a lonely daughter who lost her mother at a young age and was raised without any warm words from her father, as if they were not even related. She was engaged to a noble who was after the Elvasti family’s assets, but already had a lover candidate and was in a state where she didn’t receive any gifts, not even a single one with a name… She also said that on her birthday every year, she spends it alone in a lonely and dark room, looking forward to the gift given to her by her maternal uncle.”

Calva-sama told me the explanation, sensing my agitation.

Ah… I feel really sorry for myself.

The content is exactly spot on, but it seems terribly lonely and desolate…

Oh, I’m starting to feel depressed.

Just a little while ago, I was indeed suffering from depression in such a situation.

“I was surprised. This is Kenneth of Count Radin. I am Margrethe. These two will become your sisters.”

The Countess casually opened her mouth and urged her daughters to introduce themselves quickly, accustomed to the tears of Count Radin.

The two children looked at the Countess with the same “Oh my, oh my, father” gaze, but quickly put on serious expressions.

First, the older child made a cute bow.

“I am Loretta.”

“I am Aina. Nice to meet you, Onee-sama.”

The second little girl bowed her head bashfully, it was also cute.

(Little sisters…I’m gonna have little sisters.)

There was a time when I yearned for siblings.

For that, my father would have to remarry, but I gave up on that because it seemed very unlikely.

(Besides, isn’t it a miracle that my father married my mother in the first place?)

Even now, he’s still single, but my father doesn’t seem to be manipulating my mother. I have even suspected him of being a little bit of a womanizer.

I’m kind of glad.

At the same time, it’s unsettling.

I have become their adopted sister. What will I do if these children are bullied?

“First, let’s move to a different place, brother.”

At Calva-sama’s words, I was led to the reception room.

My adopted siblings seemed to have been taken by the newly appeared tutor to another room. They must have been judged to be too young to keep up with adult conversations and too young to sit still and wait.

The reception room that I was led to was a cream-colored one with cute cat pictures all over the walls, unlike the one-glasses-wearing Count.

The furniture was white and pink, and it was just…

(Wait, does Count Radin like cute things?)

Although I was becoming more confused, I couldn’t show it on my face. After all, these were the people who had kindly become my adoptive parents.

(Yes, I’m sure he likes cute things like this, and as a girl, he probably thought, “Well, if it’s a girl…,” and accepted the idea of adopting me. And the Count has a maidenly part in his heart, so maybe that’s why he’s easily moved to tears?)

I was trying to persuade myself with words in my head, but Calva-sama shattered that.

“I think there’s a more settled room, brother.”

“This person said that when Linea-san was welcomed, we should definitely have tea here, Calva-sama. Besides, we decided to adopt her and then renovated this room…”

The Countess is laughing, “hohoho.”

“Why didn’t you stop it, sister?”

“I did stop it, you know? So we settled for plain white walls, but the curtains were made into a lovely pale rose color, and before I knew it, I had ordered rose-colored furniture. My daughters were happy about it, so I let it go. If they get tired of it, we can redecorate again.”

Since the walls are white, you can just return the furniture and curtains.

The Countess smiles like a good wife, and Count Radin himself looked a bit sulky.

“Young girls should be able to speak without tension, so some consideration is necessary.”

It seems that this cute room was the result of Count Radin’s consideration.

I’m sorry, I don’t know what my image is like, so I just decided to put on a smile.

I don’t know how to react…

“I see…”

It seems that Calva-sama had no choice but to be convinced.

And as I sit at the tea table chair I am guided to, I think.

(At any rate, it seems that the impression is not bad.)

As long as that’s not a problem, it’s okay.