How to Live as the Terminally Ill Younger Sister of the Villain - Chapter 53
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Mason, who had been stuttering, finally let out a bitter chuckle and closed his mouth tightly. He bowed his head to Haley in greeting and turned to leave. Judging by the grumbling sounds heard before the door closed, it seemed he hadn’t cooled off completely.
Only after his presence had completely faded did Haley speak again. “Senior. This… we should report to the Marquis, right?”
“…We must.”
“But then, won’t the Marquis stop Miss from doing that?” Haley asked worriedly.
What Angelina intended to do in the future was far beyond the realm of safety. It was so unsafe and precarious that it couldn’t be simply described as dangerous. Haley thought that Marquis Flaubert, who cherished her dearly, would never allow this.
But Laura, who had been lost in thought for a moment, shook her head. “He won’t stop her.” She answered with a voice full of certainty.
“But…”
“The Marquis has never once forbidden anything Miss wanted to do.” Ante had never stopped her from doing anything. He would only step in to handle things in advance so that she wouldn’t struggle or get hurt doing it.
If she wanted to cross a thorny path, instead of stopping her, he would use all his abilities to turn that thorny path into a flower path. If even a flower path was difficult, he would burn it all down. If even that was hard, he would walk that path first and remove the thorns himself. Even if he ended up covered in wounds, he would make sure she could come comfortably.
That was how Ante Flaubert loved Angelina.
“However… I’m not sure how he can protect Miss this time.” Is it even possible to protect her?
He already hated the Sun God’s Order. Yet, the reason he didn’t fight them was because their influence was too great to touch, wasn’t it? How do you protect someone who’s trying to enter an unquenchable fire pit?
“I can’t fathom it.” Until now, Laura could calculate how Ante would react when Angelina wanted something. But this time, she couldn’t. So for the first time since serving Angelina, Laura felt completely in the dark.
“Miss must know too. That today’s conversation will all reach the Marquis’s ears.” Angelina was the type to clearly communicate if she didn’t want Ante to know something.
But this time, she’s letting Mason inform Duke Kadenhart, and letting them inform the Marquis as well. What on earth is she aiming for?
It was the first time she felt she didn’t understand her Miss, who had always been easy to read. But if asked whether Miss had suddenly become a different person, that wasn’t the case either.
“Let’s wait and see the Marquis’s decision.”
“…Yes, senior.”
***
“Welcome back, brother.”
Angelina, who had returned home, greeted Ante a few days later.
“Lina!”
Angelina saw Ante running towards her as soon as he got out of the carriage, and smiled, spreading her arms. But faster than him, a fox jumped into her arms.
“Kyuu!”
“Did Pudding have a good trip too?”
As Angelina stroked Pudding in her arms, Pudding turned to look at Ante with an arrogant expression of victory.
“This fox…”
Ante quickly swallowed the words that almost came out and grabbed Pudding by the scruff of the neck, throwing him back.
Pudding, who had flown gracefully, landed neatly on top of the carriage and snarled at Ante, but Ante lightly ignored him and pulled Angelina into his arms.
“Our Lina, are you hurt anywhere? Any injuries?”
“I’ve just been at home, how could I get hurt?”
Angelina spoke nonchalantly, knowing that the story of her visit to the Grand Temple had already been conveyed.
After all, she had told Haley not to tell her brother about the Grand Temple visit, at least verbally.
“You can get hurt even at home. Our Lina is so delicate, I’m always worried.”
Having received all the details, Ante also smoothly covered up the lie.
It was a scene of pretending not to know a lie that both parties knew.
“And I heard the Crown Prince visited?”
“Ah… yes.”
Right. That happened.
She smiled awkwardly, having completely forgotten about the Crown Prince due to the incident at the Grand Temple.
“Did he really bring up marriage?”
“Yes.”
“Ha, really…”
A fierce glint flashed in Ante’s eyes for a moment, but it disappeared so quickly that Angelina didn’t notice.
“The Empress seems to have not given up on the idea, even though your brother already refused.”
“You already refused?”
“Yes.”
Well, he hadn’t exactly refused the proposal.
Anyway, he had warned that if anyone touched Angelina, he would destroy everything, be it the Empress or the Imperial Palace. Isn’t that the same thing?
“Then I didn’t need to worry about it.”
‘It seems this story didn’t appear in the original work because it had already ended.’
Angelina, unaware of the hidden story, made her own assumptions.
“You worried about it?”
“I did.”
“…Why? Did you like the Crown Prince?”
“No, just because it was a story I hadn’t heard. I’ve never thought about marriage.”
“….”
Ante suddenly closed his mouth tightly and put strength into the arms holding her, then carefully asked.
“Do you have a man you like these days?”
“Huh?”
“Our Lina is an adult now… it’s time to think about marriage… I know that… So…”
Ante started to ramble. But Angelina understood what he was trying to say.
“If you’re talking about love, well…”
“You don’t?”
Angelina shook her head.
Where would she have time for love to blossom when she didn’t meet anyone except Haley and Laura?
And she was going to die soon anyway.
She had decided to pass on love when making her bucket list.
But it was strange that Ante, who rarely brought up such topics, was suddenly doing this.
“Why? Should I meet someone?”
She wondered if Ante had a family in mind for her marriage partner.
“No.”
However, as soon as she asked, Ante hugged Angelina tightly with a loud voice.
“Our Lina should live with brother. Forever.”
Living with her brother forever was something Angelina had often heard growing up. But today, those words felt very different.
Forever.
I can’t do that.
Her heart grew heavy.
So she hugged him tightly and said.
“…Brother needs to find a partner.”
Unaware of her feelings, he whispered with a bright voice and smile.
“Brother only needs Lina.”
That’s why I’m saying that’s not possible…
Angelina swallowed her sigh.
Pudding wasn’t enough after all. He desperately needed a friend. Someone precious and significant enough to erase her absence.
“Brother.”
Angelina, who had made up her mind once again, pushed him away and said.
“I think I haven’t fully recovered from being sick on my birthday.”
“…What?”
“I’m going to take a short recuperation trip.”
Ante’s eyes widened like saucers and trembled.
***
Angelina regretted her words as soon as she spoke them.
It’s not like she didn’t know what kind of person her brother was, yet of all the many excuses, she chose to say she was sick.
It was because her sense of mission unnecessarily flared up at the thought of quickly finding a friend, upset by her brother’s words asking her to stay by his side forever.
She barely managed to persuade him to let her go to a resort, narrowly avoiding being tied up at home.
Angelina regretted her words as soon as she spoke them.
It’s not like she didn’t know what kind of person her brother was, yet of all the many excuses, she chose to say she was sick.
It was because her sense of mission unnecessarily flared up at the thought of quickly finding a friend, upset by her brother’s words asking her to stay by his side forever.
She barely managed to persuade him to let her go to a resort, narrowly avoiding being tied up at home.
“I’m counting on you again, Jake.”
“Yes, Miss. It’s an honor to be by your side again this time.”
Although not as much as when going to the magic tower, this time too, an excessively strong escort was attached. It was because the resort she was heading to was quite far from the Marquis’s estate.
But it couldn’t be helped as it was the closest resort to the ‘grave’ she ultimately needed to go to.
“Miss, I’ve moved all the boxes you packed yesterday. Is there anything else you need?”
“No.”
“Then I’ll finish organizing. We should be able to leave in 10 minutes.”
“Okay.”
Haley scurried off to do a final check on the luggage. Nearby, Jake could be seen conveying the formation optimized for this journey to the knights.
After watching this scene for a while, Angelina let out a sigh.
“Haah…”
She wondered how she, a homebody, had come to go out so frequently, feeling quite weary.
Being active really didn’t suit her body…
As she slumped her shoulders, a soft cloak was draped over them.
“Lina, are you feeling very unwell?”
Ante, who had approached without her noticing, put the cloak on her.
“Wouldn’t it be better to stay home after all?”
Then he asked with a dejected face.
“It’s okay. Home is nice, but I want to see the sea, do some hiking, and breathe some good air while I’m at it.”
Angelina made up an excuse.
On the other hand, she felt puzzled.
‘Has he figured out why I want to go there and is trying to stop me?’
