CH 3

“My lady. Did she cause any trouble?”

Clutching her quilt, Blanche replied, warning the helpless maid again with her hand gestures.

“She just pressed my leg for a second. Do not worry. It’s not serious.”

“No, my lady. I will change the maid.”

“It’s okay, I’m sure she knows she has to behave well if she doesn’t want to be like Fleur.”

At the clear threat, the maid became contemplative and nodded her head.

“Yes, my lady! Don’t worry!”

Blanche smiled satisfactorily.

“See, she knows it herself.”

With a smile of compassion, she quietly accepted the maid’s hand to change her new pajamas. Meanwhile, the butler checked the condition of the second daughter from time to time.

After removing the partition covering the bed, the butler served Blanche a thin potage.

Alphonse and Gilbert appeared when Blanche had just lifted a silver spoon from the bed table.

She faced Alphonse, who looked as bad as she did. The 10-year-old boy had slender cheeks, probably because he had been sick enough to skip meals.

“Sister Blanche!”

[system/ Alphonse greets you.]

‘If I were the same as in the past, I would have been happy that my family was happy to see me.’

For a moment she was surprised by her own calm state. She then asked indifferently.

“Alphonse. Have you been well?”

As the boy stood near the bed and coughed in response to the ordinary greeting, Gilbert hurriedly brought a chair.

Alphonse, who had the same red hair as Blanche, sat down and smiled brightly.

“Well, I was sick as usual. By the way, sister. Can you really talk normally now? That’s a relief!”

But she couldn’t accept her brother’s congratulations. She looked down as she knew what he was thinking with that little head.

It was obvious.

Unsurprisingly, Alphonse admonished his sister again. As was often the case even before Blanche attempted s*ic*de.

“But don’t ever do anything dangerous again. What’s the point of speaking properly? Now you’re never gonna walk again. Don’t you think? Besides, do you know how your rash choices have disrupted our plan?”

“A Plan?”

“Don’t you remember? Count Juan.”

“Ah. That.”

‘The plan to poison Count Juan.’

Alphonse chuckled as if he had saved Blanche.

“Sister, you should be grateful to brother Pierre. If it wasn’t for him, this marriage wouldn’t have been possible! Besides, the priest who healed sister was also brought using brother’s connections!”

The 10-year-old boy expected that his sister’s habit to apologize and make excuses would continue. It’s good to have someone worse than him at times like this. Her presence alone made him feel good.

However, Blanche’s apology did not come no matter how long he waited.

“Sister Blanche”?

“What?”

At his calm sister’s response, the boy changed his words in dismay.

“No, never mind.”

Blanche pretended to ignore Alphonse until the end. There was no reason for her to apologize to this little devil.

Instead, she checked Alphonse’s status window.

It was to compare how much difference her stats were with the sickly Alphonse.

[Alphonse Marquette LV 32

Age 10 / Male

Health 70/70

Mana 320

Fame 457

Morality 100

Stress 5]

‘Why is your health so high?’

Blanche blinked involuntarily, wondering if she had seen something wrong. However, Alphonse’s health remained at 70.

The boy was healthier than Blanche!

Suddenly, memories passed through her mind when she had to yield and lose to Alphonse. The voice of her father, who came up with the memories, echoed in her ears. And her rebellion, which she always had to stop thinking about.

[Blanche. Alphonse is still young. So you, the older sister, must be willing to give way. Besides, you have grown too old to play with teddy bears.]

[But father. It’s a doll that my deceased mother gave me as a Christmas present!]

***

[Alphonse wants to go to the lakeside outside the capital for a family picnic, not the citizen park. Is the lake okay, Blanche? Let’s take care of the sick Alphonse this time.]

[I’ve been telling you for two months that I wanted to go to the park, Dad! I also want to go to the place I want to go, even just once! But father doesn’t allow me to go out except for times like this!]

The memories of tears continued even after that. Like when Alphonse pretended it was her mistake and tore up her favorite book, or the moment he coughed when she finally got the attention of her family for the first time in a while.

The end of the memory was always the reproaching voice of the Marquis.

[Hey. Why are you so selfish? Why are you so immature! If you feel uncomfortable, you should at least be sensible!]

Having finished reminiscing, she laughed bitterly.

“Alphonse, have you been faking it all this whole time?”

Ring. Ring. Large texts appeared.

[system/ Gilbert is perplexed.]

[system/ Alphonse is worried that his lies will be revealed!]

For a moment, Alphonse pretended to be sick and grunted back.

“Sister. What do you mean all of a sudden?”

“Literally. You are healthier than me!”

Blanche grabbed her brother’s elbow tightly. Alphonse screamed as if he were sick even though it wouldn’t have hurt because there was a difference in basic physical strength.

“Oh, it hurts! Let go! Grandpa Butler, help me! My sister is crazy!”

The butler rushed in and dissuaded Blanche.

“My lady, please let go of the Young Master!”

Blanche gritted her teeth and let go of her brother’s arm as she threw it away. Alphonse groaned as he wrapped his wrists even though his health was in the 70s.

This incident was passed on to the Marquis.

After returning from his outing, he couldn’t contain his anger at his younger daughter. However, Blanche will not be the only one suffering from the wrath of the Marquis as before.

* * *

The night seemed to have been painted randomly with black crayons.

Another family meeting was held without the eldest son, Pierre.

Blanche had to bear the accusations of her father on her own.

While dozens of candles burned quietly in the family drawing room on the third floor, the Marquis’ accusations continued and, as usual, ended in disappointment for his youngest daughter.

“Blanche. I am really disappointed with you.”

But, unlike before, Blanche didn’t blink. Yes. Her pale green eyes no longer shed tears at the word ‘disappointment’.

Even the look on Mariette’s face, holding the young con artist Alphonse in her arms, was sharp.

“Dad is right. I’m disappointed in you too, Blanche. Faking an illness! How could you say that to Alphonse? Unlike you, Alphonse can’t be healed by a priest!”

Divine power is used for surgery, but was invalid for internal medicine.

Blanche snorted.

“That’s great. Everyone will see a miracle today.”

The Marquis’ face turned red and blue at the harsh words.

“Blanche! Can’t you apologize to Alphonse right now?”

Maybe because he didn’t know that his second daughter was conscious of her past life, the Marquis still acted like a man who had complete control over Blanche’s behavior.

Blanche looked at her father with an uninterested expression.

“Father, choose between the two. Show Alphonse to a priest now or send a dead body to marry Count Juan.”

The Marquis’ hand crossed the air without a chance to stop him. It’s like this again.

Slap!

Blanche felt the fishy taste of blood on her tongue, but she never budged.

Her green eyes glistened 40 degrees like the strong drink Absinthe.

“I understand father’s meaning very well. In two months, Count Juan will be given a dead body as a bride.”

“You, you…”

The Marquis’ shoulders heaved in anger. However, he was unable to suppress his second daughter with violence again. He was afraid that Blanche would do something wrong again.

Surprisingly, the Marquis thought he was a pretty good father to his young boy. It was always his daughter who was wrong.

The Marquis, who had been walking around the sofa with his hands on his waist, soon glared at his second daughter as his lips twitched.

“You dare threaten me with your life?!”

“If you know now then would you like to speed up the conversation?”

After a while, the Marquis, whose nose was breathing in anger, opened the drawing room door with rough footsteps. He ordered the butler who was waiting outside.

“Butler. Bring the priest right now.”

Embarrassed, Alphonse coughed at the Marquis’ back.

“Dad! Do you intend to listen to sister’s coercion like this? Cough, Cough.”

At the sound of his young son’s weak voice, the Marquis turned back, erasing the sharpened anger on his face.

“Oh, Alphonse. Please do not doubt this father’s love. Unlike your mean sister, I don’t believe your disease is fake.”

Mariette also tenderly wrapped her brother’s shoulder and glared at her own twin sister.

“Right. We are different from Blanche.”

However, despite these harsh gazes, Blanche was calm. She glanced at the butler.

“What are you doing, Grandpa? Go on, bring in the priest.”

Even the owner of the house looked at Blanche with slanted eyes, but she gave more strength to her neck. While Alphonse couldn’t hide his nervousness, the father and daughter continued to criticize Blanche.

Then, the priest finally appeared in the family drawing room. She was a woman in her late twenties with dark auburn hair and brown eyes, and had a neutral appearance.

“Nice to see you. Lady Blanche. My name is Segolene, who worships the God of Healing.”

Blanche, who was still sitting on the sofa, looked at Segolene who bowed her head in front of her.

No matter what, she can’t tell anyone that her legs are healed.

**********