When the door opened, Cheshire came in, looked at me, and stopped.
Standing blankly, his mouth opened slightly.
âWhat is his reaction, what is it~! Am I so pretty that he canât even speak?â
I coughed and wiggled my toes for no reason.
ââŚWhy?â
ââŚ.â
âCheshire?â
Cheshire, who had been lost in thought when I called, came to his senses and said.
âOh. I was wondering if you were feeling well.â
âYou were worried, werenât you? Iâm okay. Yesterday, Iâm not hurt.â
ââŚItâs a relief. Iâll go.â
âUng? Wait a minute!â
Cheshire, who grabbed the doorknob to leave as it is, turned around.
âA, are you just going?â
âThen?â
âDonât you have anything to say?â
ââŚWhat do you mean?â
âDonât I look a little different than usual today?â
ââŚ.â
âI, isnât it?â
âYeah. It looks different.â
âHmm. How different do I look?â
Cheshire hesitated.
I expected a response that seemed to be embarrassing. The corners of my mouth kept trying to go up, so I struggled to lower them.
Then.
When Cheshire was about to say something, the door burst open.
âLilith! Are you ready?â
It was Theo.
As soon as Theo entered, he looked at me and opened his mouth.
âOh, myâŚâ
âBrother, are you here?â
âKid!â
After that, I heard Leonâs voice.
Leon, who pushed Theo in, looked at me and paused.
ââŚPfft!â
He puffed out his cheeks and covered his mouth with laughter.
What? Whatâs wrong with him?
Leon immediately grabbed his stomach and giggled. His half-turned body rolled on the floor, ready to laugh.
âPuahahaha! Ahaha, octopus witch!â
O, octopus witch?
For reference, the octopus witch was an ugly villain from <The Adventures of Princess Lara>.
With a white face, dark eyes, and red, thick sausage lips!
âLeon, stop laughing.â
Theo tried to stop Leon, but in the end, he couldnât contain himself and burst into laughter.
I slowly looked back in the mirror behind me.
âI, I donât know if itâs weird..â
Perhaps the first makeup in my life was a spectacular failure.
âAaaagh! Lady! What is this!â
âOh my! No! Emergency, emergency!â
Jetty and Jun, who came after them, were also shocked.
* * *
Caught by the Sisters again, I removed the octopus witch makeup and came out with the twins and Cheshire.
The blooming garden was beautiful, and the spring weather was warm, but my heart was bitter.
ââŚPretty.â
Cheshire, who glanced at my gloomy expression, said reluctantly.
âI donât believe it.â
âI mean it.â
âYeah, thank you.â
âEarlier tooâŚâ
Cheshire closed his eyes.
ââŚIt wasnât bad.â
I wanted to cry when I saw him open and close his eyes.
ăCheshire Rubinstein was a person who couldnât lie. He closed his eyes tightly when he had to do it, so it was always obvious.ă
Why does Cheshireâs habit, which appeared in the original work, come to mind clearlyâ.
Why did the damn original work have to describe such useless information when there were no related episodesâ.
If there was even a mouse hole, I wanted to go in right now.
âAn octopus, an octopus.â
âOh, I told you not to call me octopus!â
Leon giggled when I got angry.
âYeah, Leon. Stop it .Lilith, you look so pretty today. Like a princess.â
âUng.â
After removing my makeup, Theo looked at me every minute and told me that I was really pretty.
I felt like I had to change my brotherâs ranking in my heartâwhat a disgraceful Leon.
âBut, Leon, are you really not going to meet the kids? If thatâs the case, why did you come?â
Theo asked, and Leon, who had been walking with his clasped hands on the back of his head, pointed at me with his chin.
âThe maids said the kid was so pretty, so I came to look around for a while. Why would I see Erica Valerin in this fine weather?â
âIs Erica coming today too?â
When I asked, Theo nodded and added, folding his fingers one by one.
âErica Valerin, Damon Martini, Jean Weber, Bruno Fensler, Charlotte MeyerâŚâ
I pricked my ears to see if there was a name I knew.
After hearing it roughly, they all seemed like extras, but I was especially concerned about one name.
âI think Damon Martiniâs name appeared in the original work, but who was it? Seeing as my memories are fuzzy, heâs not the main characterâŚ.â
It was when I was thinking.
âHey guys!â
A familiar voice came from the garden entrance in the distance, and it turned out to be Erica.
Next to her was a boy I had never met before.
âW, what! Why did she come so fast?â
âItâs too late to run away.â
When Leon jumped up in surprise, Theo laughed as if he was embarrassed.
âTsk! Whoa! Uh!â
It seems like he really hates it. Leon didnât know what to do but soon dragged Theo away.
âHey, hey! Letâs exchange earrings with me!â
âAre you crazy? I donât want to!â
âHurry! Change quickly!â
Leon took the sapphire earring on Theoâs left ear as if he were robbing it and forced him to use his ruby earring.
After being forced, Theo wept and put on Leonâs earrings.
I was wondering what theyâre doing.
âLeoooon!â
Erica ran over, waving her hand as if she was glad to see him, and hugged Theo around the waist.
âHoo. She canât tell them apart because they change their earrings.â
I burst out laughing at the sight.
âWhooâŚâ
Theo, who pretended to be Leon, pushed Erica away and sighed.
Wearing a flashy dark blue dress, Erica looked as pretty as a kidâs model today.
As expected, she is also 12 years old and looks quite mature.
âIsnât she pretty?â
When I asked Cheshire, who was next to me, he looked at me and shook his head.
âWell, I donât know.â
âShe is much taller than me.â
ââŚ.â
âPhew, yeah. I am an octopus witch, well.â
ââŚI never called you an octopus.â
âHa, when will I grow upâŚ.â
As I muttered, Cheshire, who was staring, turned his head and said quietly.
âEven nowâŚâ
âUng?â
ââŚItâs nothing.â
âWhat are you talking about, kid?â
Leon, who was listening, suddenly interrupted and spoke into my ear.
âYou are a hundred times cuter and prettier. He just chirps loudly all the time.â
âWhat? You said Iâm an octopus.â
âItâs a joke. You are the prettiest in the world.â
At that time, Erica, who had been harassing Theo in an unreasonable way, approached me.
âHello, Lilith! Long time no see! How have you been doing?â
âYes, sister! You look like a princess today too!â
âOh my? Hoho, you make me embarrassed. Youâre still an angel, baby. Did you dress up a lot today? I think everyone will like it?â
Erica laughed and tilted her eyes as she looked at Cheshire.
âBut who is this? Iâve never seen this face before. Is it a servant?â
Then Theo approached.
âOh, this is Cheshire. My uncle decided to protect me this time, so heâs staying here now.â
âAh, I see. By the way, Leon.â
Erica blinked her pretty eyes and poked Theo in the shoulder.
âWhy are you so kind to me today? Kindly explain everythingâŚ.â
âHuh?â
Then Leon reached out and kicked Theo in the shin.
âUgh!â
Uh, that must be hurt. Theo, who grabbed his right knee, gritted and shouted pretending to be Leon.
âW, what am I knd about! You annoying girl!â
It was natural to be frightened by Theoâs outburst, but Erica only smiled as if she was used to it.
âNow youâre like Leon.â
Looking at Erica, who is still the same today, I nodded my head.
âAs expected, she likes bad boys.â
While watching Erica with her arms crossed and clinging to Theo with interest, I suddenly saw a boy standing next to her.
He was hesitant to see if he was measuring the timing to intervene, but as soon as our eyes met, he quickly approached me.
âNice to meet youâŚ.â
âWhy are you here? Is there no one to welcome you?â
âNice to meet you, Lady Rubinstein. Iâm Damon of the Count Martini family.â
For some reason, Damon, who simply ignored Leon who openly embarrassed him, offered to shake hands.
Seeing that Leon clicked his tongue in disgust, it seemed that they didnât get along very well.
âThis is Damon Martini. The name is familiar tooâŚRemember, Lilith! Remember me!â
Damon, who has dark brown hair and eyes, had a cute face, but his impression was blurry.
âMartini⌠Damon MartiniâŚâ
As I shook hands with him, a light flashed in my head as I searched for memories.
âT, thatâs right! I remembered! Boy! It was a typical villain extra 1 who chose only bad words!â
Damon Martini.
It was a character who kept asking about the origin of Cheshire and even that he lost appetite at Rubinstein family.
Somehow it felt rudeâ.
I was nervous as I glanced at Cheshire standing next to me.
âNice to meet you, Young Master Martini. I am Lilith Rubinstein.â
âOho, youâre quite used to etiquette, arenât you? I heard that you grew up with commoners, so I was worried that you wouldnât be able to communicate.â
âWow, this bratâs mouth is always shameless.â
Damon gave a puzzled glance at Leon muttering softly.
It must be because he doesnât think itâs Theoâs tone.
Soon, Damon realized that the twins were playing each other and said, âAhhh.â he laughed.
Then he said.
âWell, there are some people who are ignorant of etiquette even though they are born aristocrats like the Young Masters of Antrace.â
âYeah, youâre doing well.â
Leon countered, but Damon only smiled as if he was used to it.
âBy the way, I was late to hear that the Duke is acting as your guardian. Where are you from?â
âŚAs expected. As a villain extra whose âfight with the main characterâ was entered, Damonâs interest immediately moved to Cheshire.
I swallowed my saliva and quietly held Cheshireâs hand.
âHeâs a commoner. Stop paying attention.â
âWhat? Is that true?â
When Leon answered instead, Damon opened his eyes wide and covered his mouth.
âWhatâs wrong with the Duke? Ah!â
Damon looked at my hand holding Cheshire and nodded his head in agreement.
âItâs like a playmate. Lucky for you. You got into the eyes of a princess and was educated by a great family. It will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so work hard so that you donât disappoint the Duke who protects you. Understand?â
If anyone sees him, theyâll think heâs the guardianâ.
Damon encouraged him and patted Cheshire on the shoulder.
ââŚYes. Thank you for your words.â
âYes, yes. Ah, why donât everyone stop doing this and go get to know each other over tea?â
âOh, are you guys done saying greetings already? Good! Letâs go too, Leon!â
Erica, who had been distracted by Theo for a long time in the distance, moved away first with him next to her.
âOh, wait.â
I was about to follow, but Damon blinked at Cheshire.
âYouâre not going to follow us, are you? There is a clear line between nobles and commoners, so it is not polite to sit at the same time, right?â