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Chapter 3-17 : Saving Jasmine
Mylia stopped right above the Atwood’s mansion.
Her skirt was fluttering in the wind while she was floating in the air.
（Ughh… I’m getting goosebumps now that I’m gonna enter that mansion again… I hope I won’t be found by anyone… Especially that muscle-brain…）
From the sky, the roof of the Atwood’s mansion looked worn out. There were several traces showing that the roof had been repaired many times.
（Anyway, I should check who is at the mansion right now… Sonar Magic, activate!）
Luckily for Mylia, it seemed that only Jasmine was currently at the mansion.
Aaron and Alex should be hunting while Ella and Bonnie were probably working in the barn.
Mylia let out a sigh of relief and slowly descended.
Since she didn’t have to sneak in, she entered the mansion through the front door.
（Uwahh… It’s been a while since the last time I smelled this damp air… This scent of meat and lavender hasn’t changed at all…）
Mylia frowned as soon as she entered.
She then headed to the living room slowly so as not to make noise.
There was Jasmine knitting while sitting at the corner of the large table in the living room.
（Since the granny who usually accompanies her is not here, that means Jasmine onee-sama has no work outside the house today… This is the perfect opportunity to get her out of here!）
Mylia peeked into the living room, staring at her older sister who has the same hair color as her.
She couldn’t see Jasmine’s face because her long bangs covered it but she could tell that she wasn’t smiling for sure. After all, Jasmine looked like she was scared of something.
（Jasmine onee-sama…）
Mylia had been protecting Jasmine for two years after Chloe left for the royal capital.
Whenever Robin tried to bully Jasmine, Mylia would do something like make her slip and fall to the ground or give her a stomach ache with magic.
Not just Robin, but Myla also pranked Alex with magic. She never let that perverted man get near Jasmine.
Mylia didn’t know but Jasmine was probably aware that someone had been saving her all those times.
However, Jasmine couldn’t ask Mylia if she was the one who saved her because Mylia acted like an absent-minded girl at that time.
The unspoken alliance between the seventh daughter and the fourth daughter continued until Mylia went to the royal capital.
（I’m sorry, Jasmine onee-sama… I was desperate at that time and left you here…）
Mylia went into the living room. The old wooden floor squeaked when Mylia stepped closer to the table.
「ーー！？」(Jasmine)
Jasmine shook her shoulders and raised her face in surprise.
「Mo, Mother…?」(Jasmine)
「……」(Mylia)
「No… That small figure… That hair color… No way… Mylia…? Mylia, is that you…!?」(Jasmine)
Jasmine put the knit she was working on on the table and squinted her eyes, trying to see Mylia’s face through the gaps of her long bangs.
However, no matter how hard she tried, she still couldn’t see Mylia’s face clearly because of her poor eyesight, but she could tell that the girl standing in front of her was Mylia from her short body and lavender-colored hair.
Looking at her older sister, Mylia was briefly lost for words, but then she replied while scratching her cheek with her index finger.
「Y, Yes, I’m Mylia… Hehe… Jasmine onee-sama, it’s been a while.」(Mylia)
「That voice… Mylia, it’s really you…」(Jasmine)
Even though Jasmine’s long bangs covered her face almost entirely, Mylia could see a faint smile on her mouth.
「ーー！」(Mylia)
Seeing Jasmine’s smile, she suddenly remembered about herself in her previous life.
She really had the worst life experience when she was in high school. Her classmates hated her and her father was a good-for-nothing who are always drunk and played with women all day.
Whenever she almost fell into despair, she always looked at herself in a mirror and smiled, telling herself, “I’m okay… I can endure it… I’m a strong girl… Everything is gonna be alright…”, over and over again.
Jasmine, who was smiling at her, really resembled herself in the mirror. She knew that Jasmine had been enduring pain all this time.
（Stupid Mylia! How could you leave your fragile older sister for so long in this hell!? Dammit!）
「Jasmine onee-sama, come with me to the royal capital now!」(Mylia)
「Eh?」(Jasmine)
With strong determination in her heart, Mylia squeezed her fists and approached Jasmine.
「You don’t have to live in this house anymore! I’ll take you out of here! You can trust me!」(Mylia)
「Mylia…… I knew it… I knew you were not absent-minded…」(Jasmine)
「Aa…」(Mylia)
Now that she no longer had to keep it a secret, she decided to tell Jasmine everything.
「…I see.」(Jasmine)
「I’m sorry, Jasmine onee-sama. We thought that you would tell everyone else, so we decided to keep it a secret from you as well… We should have told you about our plan back then…」(Mylia)
「It’s okay. Chloe is a smart girl, so I can understand why she was cautious.」(Jasmine)
「By the way, since when did you realize that I was just acting?」(Mylia)
「Since you turned eight, I think.」(Jasmine)
（That’s when I regained my memories of my previous life… Jasmine onee-sama… She’s unexpectedly sharp.）
「But how did you notice it?」(Mylia)
「I don’t know… Somehow I just felt that you had changed for some reason.」(Jasmine)
While talking with a gentle voice, Jasmine raised her face and looked Mylia in the eye even though she couldn’t clearly see Mylia’s face.
（Waahh… Jasmine onee-sama’s eyes look so pretty… She always looks down, so I rarely see her eyes, but I think this is the first time we’ve talked while looking each other in the eye like this.）
Looking at Jasmine’s eyes, Mylia remembered a pretty gemstone she saw in the royal capital.
「I’m very happy that you came, but I don’t know what to say at a time like this…」(Jasmine)
「Jasmine onee-sama…」(Mylia)
Mylia’s chest hurt as she saw Jasmine’s lonely face.
She stepped forward and grabbed Jasmine’s hands.
（Her hands are so cold…）
「Mylia, I’m your older sister, but I’m sorry I couldn’t do anything for you…」(Jasmine)
「No, I should be the one apologizing. I’m sorry for leaving you alone for so long…」(Mylia)
「…Mylia, you’re so kind… But you should forget about me and go back to the royal capital. I think Father will return soon.」(Jasmine)
「Eh? But…!」(Mylia)
Jasmine thought that it would be bad if Aaron found Mylia here.
She gently shook off Mylia’s hands.
「I will be lonely without you in this suffocating house… But…」(Jasmine)
Before she noticed it, tears started running down Jasmine’s cheeks.
When Jasmine was young, the atmosphere in the Atwood’s mansion wasn’t that bad. They were poor but they lived each day to the fullest.
However, it started to get worse after Robin returned when her husband divorced her. The third daughter, Clara and the fifth daughter, Penelope got married and left the house, so was Chloe who left the house for the Royal Girls Academy, and the real despair began when Mylia left as well.
Robin always bullied her, Alex always stared at her with lustful eyes, and Aaron treated her like a useless thing.
She had no freedom nor allies. There was no man who wanted to marry her either.
Jasmine’s days were filled with pitch-black despair since Mylia left.
Therefore, she was very happy that Mylia came to see her. She couldn’t hold in her emotions and burst into tears.
However, as Mylia’s older sister, she felt so powerless. She couldn’t do anything for her. That’s why she thought that at least she shouldn’t trouble Mylia.
Without wiping her tears, Jasmine reached out her hands and gently pushed Mylia’s shoulders.
「It’s hard, but I can endure it. Besides, Robin onee-sama is no longer here, so I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me… Father and Alex-sama will get home soon, so you better hurry.」(Jasmine)
Mylia was grateful that Jasmine cared for her but at the same time, she regretted having left her alone for a long time. Being overwhelmed by emotions, Mylia couldn’t help but burst into tears as well.
Mylia stepped forward and hugged Jasmine as tears started to run down her cheeks.
She could smell a soft and gentle lavender scent from Jasmine’s slender body.
「Mylia, you shouldn’t stay here any longer. They will find you.」(Jasmine)
「No! I’m not leaving without you!」(Mylia)
(There’s no way… There’s no way I will leave her for the second time!)
「Jasmine onee-sama, I’m sorry!」(Mylia)
Mylia hugged Jasmine more tightly. She then cast a protection spell on Jasmine and cast levitation magic to make them both float.
「Whaー Ehh?? We, We are floating…!」(Jasmine)
As the two started floating in the air, Jasmine moved her legs violently in surprise.
「Jasmine onee-sama, don’t worry, we’re floating because I’m using magic.」(Mylia)
「Mylia…」(Jasmine)
Mylia smiled at Jasmine with teary eyes.
（I’ll get her out of here no matter what!）
Mylia used her Sonar Magic to make sure nobody was nearby.
However…
（Oh, no…! The muscle-brain and the perverted man are coming…!）