RWMU 06

Even though I clung to Mom and acted cute, the snack ban wasn’t lifted.

Ha, this isn’t easy.

Mom said she had to leave soon because she had a dinner appointment to attend with Dad, so I took the nanny’s hand and left the duchess’s office. My steps felt heavy.

Led by the nanny, I trudged toward the dining room.

“Miella, you’re here. Lester went to Young Master Rombran’s birthday party.”

My eldest brother, Lionel, who had arrived in the dining room first, greeted me with a smile.

“Lionel.”

I puckered my lips like a bird’s beak and reached out my hands toward him.

Lionel naturally lifted me up and set me on a chair before asking,

“Did something happen?”

“Yeah.”

I deliberately made a more miserable face, and Lionel looked at me with concern.

“Can you tell your brother about it?”

The eyes of fourteen-year-old Lionel, who had lowered his posture to my level, met mine directly as I sat in the tall chair meant for children.

Seeing his gentle eyes full of worry—like he thought something serious might have happened—the adult self I had been suppressing poked its head out.

“Well… it’s nothing much…”

Seeing me hesitate awkwardly, Lionel seemed to conclude it wasn’t anything serious.

His expression visibly relaxed.

“Still. I want to hear it.”

Lionel had always been interested even in the little things in my daily life.

With a soft smile in his eyes, he gently urged me to continue.

Even if your mental age is older, when you’re born the youngest, you end up acting like a kid in front of family.

Besides, physically I really was six years old.

And…

After giving myself a justification in my head for this childish behavior, I pouted slightly and said,

“Lionel, you see… I went to the imperial palace today…”

Starting with a pitiful tone, I ended up spilling every little detail like a real child without even realizing it.

“An entire week?”

Including the part where my snacks were banned.

“Yeah.”

I looked up at Lionel with a deeply dejected expression.

“I can’t eat macarons, éclairs, or chocolate cookies. For a whole week.”

I let out a long sigh, and Lionel stifled a laugh.

Then, with a smile still lingering in his voice, he responded,

“That’s unfortunate. Miella really loves desserts.”

“Exactly!”

I nodded so hard my still-soft cheeks wobbled, making Lionel’s suppressed laughter grow louder.

Normally I would have complained and told him not to laugh, but this time I pretended not to notice.

Because I had a grand plan.

“But Lionel, you don’t really like snacks that much, right?”

I asked in a subtle voice.

“That’s true.”

Lionel nodded readily, pretending not to notice his younger sister’s attempt to extort his snacks.

I looked at him with pleading eyes.

Lionel paused as if thinking, then lowered his voice like we were sharing a secret.

“If Miella helps your big brother with something, I might share some snacks with you.”

In other words, he was using snacks as bait to spend time with me.

Hmm.

Inside my head, a scale appeared—snacks on one side, freedom on the other.

The weight tipped overwhelmingly to one side.

“Okay!”

Toward the snacks.

My eyes sparkled as I stuck out my pinky finger. Lionel hooked his finger with mine and whispered,

“But it’s a secret from Mom, Dad, and Lester.”

He said the exact words I had been about to say.

“Okay, secret!”

Five days passed after our mutually satisfying negotiation.

Today again, I visited Lionel during his tea time, chatted with him, and ate cookies packed with chocolate chips.

Then, like a child who knew when to retreat, I left his room before his afternoon lesson started.

Flour and sugar are the best.

Having eaten two cookies bigger than my hands, I was in a very good mood.

Humming happily, I walked down the hallway toward my room—when I ran into Lester, who had just finished his sword training and was heading back.

“Oh, squirt!”

Sweaty and covered with dust from training, Lester greeted me cheerfully.

But I froze in surprise.

Why is Lester here at this time?

Shouldn’t he still be training?

While I was wondering if I should run away, Lester quickly walked toward me.

“What are you doing here?”

“Uh… I came to see Lionel.”

“Oh, really?”

Lester’s expression immediately turned sour.

His youthful face filled with mischief and suspicion.

A bad feeling crept over me.

Unlike Lionel, who usually let things slide with a smile, Lester was more temperamental.

If he caught me coming out of Lionel’s room after secretly eating cookies, I would definitely get a long lecture.

While I darted my eyes around nervously, Lester stopped a couple steps away and stared intently at my face.

“Wait.”

“Why?”

I forced myself not to look away and asked calmly.

Then Lester asked,

“What do you have stuck around your mouth?”

I didn’t need a mirror to know what it was.

“Hmm… loveliness?”

I tried to joke my way out of it, but it didn’t work.

After staring for a moment and recognizing the cookie crumbs, Lester’s eyes narrowed.

“I thought you weren’t allowed snacks.”

I should have just talked nonstop before he had the chance to say that.

My regret lasted only a moment.

I simply smiled sweetly.

“Geez.”

Lester clicked his tongue and wiped the corner of my mouth with his hand.

“Mmmph.”

Since Lester had trained with a sword since childhood, his hands were already rough with calluses.

Still, I endured his rough touch without complaint.

“There. Now it’s clean.”

While he carefully brushed away the crumbs, I grumbled internally.

It feels like the dirt and sweat from Lester’s hand just got transferred to me.

Between the two, cookie crumbs were definitely better—but now wasn’t the time to say that.

When Lester got sulky, he stayed that way for a long time.

“Lester is the best!”

I beamed brightly and gave him a thumbs-up.

Lester grinned proudly.

“Right? I’m the best, right? You like me more than Lionel, don’t you?”

It was an incredibly childish question for an eleven-year-old, but I nodded enthusiastically.

Watching his face melt into a pleased smile, I asked,

“But your training ended early today.”

Since he seemed ready to let the snack issue go, I decided to distract him completely.

“Yeah, I have to go to the imperial palace later.”

“The imperial palace? Why?”

His unexpected answer caught me off guard.

Was something happening around this time?

At eleven, Lester was already old enough to enter the imperial palace.

But unless there was a special reason, children weren’t usually brought there.

Even if he was the second son of one of the only three dukes in the empire.

While I racked my brain and asked, Lester answered in an annoyed tone, as if he didn’t like the matter much.

“To meet the Crown Prince.”

Ah, right.

His words triggered a memory.

In my first life, Lester occasionally went to the palace too.

He and the Crown Prince were the same age, and the adults arranged for them to become playmates—both to build friendship and strengthen the relationship between the imperial family and the ducal house.

It seemed those palace visits had begun around this time.

You really have it rough. Being the same age as the Crown Prince and all.

Even if Lester didn’t like it, this regular palace visit was an opportunity for me.

I should throw a tantrum asking why only Lester gets to go to the palace.

Then maybe I’d get to go once or twice too.

Grinning to myself while forming a plan that would make the nanny faint, I—

“Squirt, your smile looks suspicious.”

Perhaps his instincts kicked in, because Lester looked at me suspiciously.

But my acting skills were already at a master level.

“You’re the suspicious one!”

Stamping my foot dramatically, I snapped back and subtly pushed Lester toward the bathroom.

“Lester, you smell like sweat!”

It was a fatal attack for an eleven-year-old boy.

Lester’s ears turned slightly red as he jumped away from me.

“I was going to wash up anyway!”

I watched him run toward the bathroom for a moment before heading to my own room.

I should go check if the annex palace has changed.

While thinking about where inside the carriage I could hide so I could sneak to the imperial palace without getting caught.