/
I frowned at first due to wariness, but my expression soon brightened.
“It’s sweet!”
“Yes, I told you. It’s sweet. It’s delicious.”
“Yes! It’s delicious.”
The Leopard tore some more cotton candy with a satisfied face and fed it to me. I ate it up in no time.
“Do you want some more?”
“Mhm.”
To be honest, I wanted to empty all ten shelves in front of me. However, if I did that, there would no longer be any room for chocolate pudding in my stomach.
“Are you going to eat some, too?”
“Yes.”
The Little Bear bought three more cotton candies from the store owner. He took them straight from the shelves.
“Do you want me to feed you?”
“No, thank you. I can eat by myself.”
The Little Bear handed me the cotton candy only after casting a cleaning spell. My heart pounded a little as I grabbed the stick with my hand.
‘Wow…!’
As I stared at the cloud of cotton candy in my hand, my mind wandered. What would it feel like to tear away a piece? So, I did just that. With a gentle touch, I plucked a piece off with my right hand. I knew that it would be soft to the touch, but it was even softer and fluffier than I thought.
“Nom.”
I opened my mouth wide and took a big bite. The fluffy touch of cotton candy grazed my nose and cheeks. The slight ticklishness that came with the touch was oddly pleasant, as I relished the sweetness that melted in my mouth.
Little by little, I ate the cotton candy.
Unfortunately, it was finished in no time.
‘What a shame…’
“Do you want more?”
The Leopard, who was watching me eat with a satisfied face, asked.
“Nope! I have to save room for the chocolate pudding.”
“Our Dia sure is smart!”
The Leopard stroked my hair gently.
“Shall we go then?”
“Wait! The count gave me some pocket money. I want to buy some for you, too!”
The Leopard asked, smiling, “You’re not buying some for Mother?”
“Oh, you’re right! Then I’ll buy two. Well, I’d like to buy three, not two.”
“Three? Do you want to buy some so you can eat them when you go back?”
“No. I’m going to give Lavigne some too. But I don’t know if I have enough money. The Count is the one who gave it to me…”
I took out the coin purse that the Big Bear gave me and untied the string to open it. Strangely enough, the inside was all black, and nothing could be seen.
“Oh, it’s empty…”
“How about you try placing your hand inside.”
I was a little embarrassed, but as the Little Bear said, I tucked my right hand in.
A hard, thin, round thing was caught in my hand. I slowly grabbed it and took my hand out. Between my fingers was a gold, shiny coin.
“Gasp! Gold Coins!”
I placed it in my mouth.
“Hyuk! Dia! Spit that out! What are you doing? Don’t eat it! Spit it out!”
Little Bear, who was sitting across from me, hurriedly pulled the gold coin out of my mouth with a startled face. It was rushed, but it didn’t hurt much due to his gentle touch.
I felt embarrassed.
“My gold coin…”
“Exactly! It’s a gold coin! Not food!” the Little Bear yelled.
I couldn’t understand.
“I know.”
“If you know, then why are you eating it?”
“I wasn’t going to eat it, I was going to bite it. If it’s real gold, it would leave a mark. I just wanted to try. I’ve never seen a gold coin before.”
No, I had seen it in my previous life.
‘Come to think of it… I did try to bite it back then, too. It’s just that I couldn’t because I was wearing a helmet.’
The Little Bear looked like he had a lot to say, but couldn’t speak. After a moment of contemplation, he sighed deeply.
“But you shouldn’t randomly place things in your mouth. Got it?”
“Okay.”
“And- Just so you know, there’s no way that the gold coins Father gave are fake.”
“I see… I couldn’t think about that because my mind went blank when I saw the gold.”
“Ha….”
The Little Bear sighed and apologized.
“Sorry for yelling.”
“It’s okay. I know it’s because you’re worried about me.”
The Little Bear laughed and patted my head and held out the gold coin. I carefully took the gold coin with both my hands.
“Woah…!”
It was my first time seeing and touching a gold coin. My fingers trembled ever so slightly.
“I’ll take out three silver coins instead because it’s a waste to use them. Can I borrow your wallet?”
The Little Bear gave me his wallet and said, “I don’t think there are silver coins in my wallet.”
“Then what about copper coins?”
“There are no copper coins.”
“What?! Maybe the Count gave you the wrong money?”
It was unimaginable for me to have pocket money, much less pocket money, that was in straight gold.
The Little Bear shook his head with a smile, “No, he didn’t make a mistake.”
“Well, I guess we’ll have to use this gold coin…”
Unfortunately, I had no choice.
I jumped from the chair to the floor and walked towards the owner, who was still making cotton candy.
The owner was not tall, but of course, he was taller than me. So I stood on my toes and held out the precious gold coins in my hands.
“Calculate, please.”
The owner stopped making cotton candy, approached me with a big smile, and bowed his head.
“No problem, dear. So far, you’ve had three coppers’ worth of cotton candy. That will be 1.2 silvers in total.”
‘Three coppers a piece…? Cotton candy is expensive…’
Three coppers in the Spania Estate would’ve been an entire meal. I was a little surprised. It didn’t seem that expensive.
“Three more, please.”
After receiving the gold coin, the owner held out three more cotton candies in his hand. Little Bear then walked behind me, took the cotton candy, and put it into his subspace.
“Here’s your change. 7.9 silvers.”
The store owner bent down further and handed me seven silver coins and nine copper coins.
I felt sorry that the gold coin had to disappear, but I took the change politely with both hands and placed them back in my wallet. Curiously, the wallet didn’t get full.
“I’ll give you a different candy as a service.”
The owner smiled kindly and wrapped a light green candy in paper and handed it to him.
“It’s green grape flavored. Please do visit again next time.”
“Yes, I will! Thank you!”
I took the candy carefully and bowed.
The owner smiled even more brightly.
“Let’s go.”
The Leopard came up and hugged me. Looking at her face while hugging me, her expression looked somehow complicated.
It was an expression that bore the feeling of sadness out of pity, but also the feeling of wanting to give more because I was cute.
‘Hmm? What’s wrong?’
Before I knew it, we had arrived at Silver Fork.
‘The interior design is the same as the other Silver Fork!’
I felt a sense of familiarity.
We were led to a single room on the third floor, where we ordered some chocolate pudding.
I ate until my stomach was bloated. As we returned to the Duke’s Castle, the pair of siblings kept smiling at me.
The Little Bear teased the Leopard.
“You have to go to class now, right? See you later~!”
I said my farewell too.
“Goodbye.”
The Leopard stared at the Little Bear with wide eyes but smiled at me.
“Are you going to the daycare center starting tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
“Let’s have breakfast together before you go. Daycare starts at 9, so we can eat together at 8.”
“Okay.”
“See you tomorrow.”
The Leopard patted me on the head and left.
I asked the Little Bear, “Don’t you have class, Juliano?”
“I just came back yesterday, so I decided to rest today. I still have to take classes tomorrow. Although, my schedule is a lot less tight than my sister’s. However, that just means I have more time to spend with Dia! I can take you to daycare every morning and even pick you up!”
I opened my trembling lips and asked, “Why are you so nice to me?”
The Little Bear carried me by my waist and lifted me up into the sky.
The Little Bear’s face from above looked rough and wild, but it oddly seemed friendly to me.
“It’s because our Dia is so good. From the first time I saw you, I already liked you. Although not exactly when you attacked Father, but when we brought you here. Maybe it’s because you look like my sister, but you just felt very familiar,” said the Little Bear, smiling.
“Dia, you like me, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do,” I answered before I could even think of it.
‘This selfish mouth of mine… No, that’s not it!’
It was because I meant it.
He cherished me, and that undoubtedly made me happy. I liked Little Bear.
I said I liked him when I got better after being sick last time, but this was different. I genuinely liked him enough to not hesitate at all.
“As expected, our Dia likes me too!” cried the Little Bear, smiling brightly.
He looked happy, so I couldn’t help but speak a little more clearly.
“…Yes, I really like you, Juliano.”
The Little Bear smiled brilliantly, put me on the floor, and crouched down in front of me so that we were eye to eye.
“You know Dia.”
“Yes?”
The Little Bear opened his mouth with a nervous face.
“Won’t you call me Brother? Juliano just feels so distant… Why don’t you think of me as your older brother and call me that instead? Can you do that?”
The Little Bear was not giving an order. He wasn’t asking as the Young Master of the Duchy nor was he asking me as the Guest of the Duchy. He was genuinely asking as a person of equal position. Because the relationship between brother and sister is equal.
‘Oh…’
It felt as if lightning had struck me from the sky.
‘He isn’t just asking me to change the way I call him.’
He’s asking me to think of him as my real brother, as family.
‘No! I have something I need to do. I can’t let them be involved in my messy revenge.’
No… Would it matter if it was just acknowledged between us and not a formal adoption?
If it’s not a formal relationship, even if my revenge fails and my identity is revealed, it won’t hurt the Duke Family. There might be slight problems, but since he’s the Young Master of the Duchy, he shouldn’t get hurt.
‘Then it might be alright! I don’t mind calling the Little Bear ‘Brother’.’
Older Brother.
Family.
What I didn’t have in my previous life, nor this life.
“…Brother.”
The words naturally flowed out of my lips.
I said it in a fairly quiet voice, but it was clear that Little Bear, no, Brother, heard it.
His stiff face, which showed clear worry, now shone like the sun on a bright summer day.
“Yes! I’m Dia’s Brother!”
He cried happily with a smile.
Tears welled up in my eyes, but only for a moment. I smiled brightly, like my brother, and opened my arms wide.
My brother hugged me at once.
It was as comfortable and warm as usual.
A strong joy struck my body, repelling the loneliness of my soul.
‘This sense of fulfillment…’
I looked at my brother with a cheerful smile.
“Dia, do you want me to give you a ride on my shoulders?”
It seems like the word “brother” had given him a multitude of energy.
‘So cute.’
I said with a smile, “What did you say?”
“A ride on my shoulders.”
“Wouldn’t it be hard for you, Juliano?”
“Juliano…?”
I gulped and said again, “Wouldn’t it be hard for Brother?”
“It isn’t hard.”
“Then… Okay!”
“Stay still for a second.”
Brother stopped walking and held my waist with both hands, then raised me up.
Before I knew it, my legs were draped over his shoulders. I was really surprised.
“It’s so high up!”
“Are you scared?”
“No!”
My Brother started walking with a smile. I thought it would be a little shaky, but it wasn’t. He was still as stable as he was when he walked with me in his arms.
“So you’re always looking at everything this high up? I’m jealous!”
So far, I’ve always been looking up at people.
Especially when facing people like Big Bear, who even had to bend his neck to the point of pain. Riding on my brother’s shoulders like this felt like a cultural shock.
“At this height, you can see all the people!”
The high view was new, but I enjoyed it.
“If you’re jealous, then strive to grow up to be like Big Brother, okay?”
“Yes…! But no matter how hard I try, I don’t think I’ll be able to grow as tall as you.”
“Well, it’s not bad to dream big.”
“Yes.”
“You have to make an effort, okay? Let’s not be picky with our food from now on.”
“Okay…”
“Well, we’re here.”
The Duke’s Castle had a fairly high ceiling, but the door was not, so I couldn’t continue riding on his shoulders.
My brother dropped me off. It was a shame.
“Father, it’s me and Dia.”
After knocking, my brother was told to come in and went into Big Bear’s office.
“Ah…”
The Big Bear was sitting alone working. At least that’s what I thought, but there were five more.