ALEX HESITATED FOR A MOMENT, then asked me, as if my praise was not enough.
"So this, this is just hypothetical. If you were to choose, who do you think would be better?"
Are they even comparable? With Alex in front of me, who is subtly looking for a response[1], I decided to compare the two of them openly.
Appearance; Alex wins. Stan was pretty, too, but he couldn't beat Alex, who was overflowing with masculine beauty.
Talent; Alex wins. Unlike Grand Duke Stan, who still couldn't get out from behind his mother's skirt, Alex has been playing a part in the battlefield since early on.
And the most important: personality.
Of course, Alex wins. Personality is worth ten times the extra points for Alex, simply because he never forced me to do something I don't like.
If it's scored like that, it's almost obvious who would be the winner.
"Of course, it's Alex."
The skill I thought would only work on my family, worked smoothly. The corners of Alex's mouth, which were in a straight line until now, rose slightly.
'Is it possible for a cold, handsome man, who is usually as cold as frost, to be so sweet when he smiles?'
I smiled with him because of his piercing gaze.
"I didn't know you liked me that much."
"I've liked you so much since long ago."
Well, he was my favorite character. Oh, I've been too honest. Alex's face turned a little red, perhaps because he was weak to compliments.
Seeing him embarrassed, it felt different from our Isaac[2].
If I told Isaac this, he would make a fuss, but Alex, who was very dignified, raised my hand slightly and kissed me on the back of my hand.
"Yo–Your Highness?"
Even after his slightly rough lips fell, he still lowered his head and stared at me right in front of his nose.
The warm sunshine shone like a halo behind Alex's back. A light kiss as a greeting was courtesy, so it wasn't weird to share a light kiss on the hand even with family.
But now it felt different because he was my favorite character in the novel. I received this from the male lead, and I was very happy. Alex was so graceful even while doing such an insignificant action, like a kiss on the back of my hand.
"Thank you for liking me."
Okay. So this is the end of my death flag, but wait a minute? Did I hear wrong just now?
I stopped thinking for a moment when Alex smiled brightly in front of me.
'Why is he doing this to me all of a sudden?'
"Ciel, your brother is here!"
When I was about to ask what was that about, Isaac, who heard the news belatedly, rushed in and opened the door without knocking. A subtle change in tension flowed through the room.
The situation of holding hands and facing each other was embarrassing[3]. I shook off Alex's hand and stepped back.
"What– what, Your Highness, what were you doing with my Ciel?"
"No! What do you mean? We did nothing!"
"Ciel needs rest, Lord Isaac."
Unlike me, who was embarrassed, Alex pretended as if nothing had happened. But Isaac didn't let it slide.
"What have you done to my brother?"
"We didn't do anything!"
Isaac's hand turned towards the sword on his waist. No matter how strong Alex was, my brother was no less than him.
In other words, in a one-on-one match, I can't be sure which of the two will win, but just as things were about to get out of hand, Theo and Clara came back to my room.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"Ciel's still a patient. Stop it, both of you!"
Hooray for common sense. Yeah, I was still a patient. I expected it from Isaac, but Alex's outburst completely shattered my expectations.
So what you meant wasn't the "I like you" I know, but "I like you" in a different sense?
No way. That couldn't be true. I was sure he just thinks of me as a little brother, right? I shook my head hard, thinking about it would only give me a headache.
"Brother! This, this scoundrel! To our fragile Ciel!"
"Show some respect to the Crown Prince. Forgive my brother for his rudeness, Your Highness."
Theo immediately stopped Issac's misbehavior. Fortunately, Alex didn't insist and politely arranged the situation.
"I'm fine, Ciel seems startled, so put your sword away, Lord Isaac."
"Isaac, if you keep doing that, I'll hate you."
When I used a special move that I rarely use, Isaac quietly put his sword in his hilt and came to my side, kneeling down on his knees.
"Ciel, my prince. I'm sorry. Were you surprised?"
"You don't listen to what I'm saying, you point your sword at the Crown Prince, brother is bad."
As I turned my back on him, covering myself with blankets, Isaac was at a loss with a face that seemed as if the sky had collapsed.
'Cringe. Ah I'll stop my acting if I already remove my Death Flag.'
If there ever comes a day when these two people really face each other with swords, it'll mean the destruction of the Valentines.
So even if I never get angry, I couldn't just let it go. Theo eventually apologized for him, as he was enraged 'til the top of his head.
"My brother cares about our little brother deeply, so I hope you understand."
"I know that. I will continue to make efforts to be recognized by Lord Isaac."
What a strange thing to say. Getting recognized. I was about to ask what he meant, but I suddenly remembered.
Oh, that's right. I was quite clear with Theo the last time.
'Alex proposed to me, so don't doubt Clara's friendship with him.'
I didn't even think that the two of you would ever meet and talk like this.
Theo seemed to think that I was already in that kind of relationship with the Crown Prince.
"Ciel, are you okay?"
While my brothers were talking, Clara came up to me and touched my forehead.
"Sister?"
"I heard from Theo. It's a ridiculous misunderstanding that I like Mr. Heinz."
"You don't like him?"
That's a relief. I didn't like that squid-looking[4] guy. If she really liked him, I would have seriously doubted Clara's taste.
Clara broke out laughing when she saw me hiding under the blankets, looking pleased.
"Did you worry because you thought I liked Mr. Heinz?"
"You said you liked Ciel the most. I don't like him. I don't know about others, but he's not the one."
I'd rather take Clara with me than just hand her over to that bastard. I sighed and removed my blanket and hugged my sister, she just smiled and patted my head.
Theo and Alex just stared at us.
"Hey, you idiot! Where the hell did you get this!"
Louis, who was nowhere to be seen earlier, ran into my room, angry. Isaac, who left earlier, sulking, also came back to the room as if he had run into his younger brother along the way.
"No, that's."
"Your Highness, do you know what that is?"
"That's why I'm here, Lady Clara. I need your advice."
Oh, that's why you're here. Alex showed Theo the document, albeit belatedly.
Except for Clara and me, who were sitting on the bed, everyone got serious as they looked at the documents.
"You idiot, you're on death row now. Even young people are already doing things like this and they're good at it."
"What's wrong with that!"
"Ah, seriously."
Louis was chased away by Isaac, leaving only the flowers behind[5].
I got up from my seat and took the document Theo was looking at.
"This can't be."
Clara's face turned white.
Clara's skills were the only ones that allowed the flower, which had been cut off due to its rarity, to grow to its current scale.
She was given a commission after only reading documents stating the roots were used for medicinal purposes, but it turned out that their value was in the flower petals, not the roots.
"Clara is also a victim. This request was obviously arranged by the association."
"I suppose so."
Knowing the situation, Theo and Alex immediately left the room.
Clara, who had found out that she had been involved in drug cultivation, sank palely next to me in bed.
"What am I supposed to do about this?"
Drug cultivation was punished using the death penalty. Louis may have been joking about this, but now we couldn't think of this as a mere joke.
With my pale, white elder sister alongside me, I sank in anguish.
No one knows about this yet, except for my siblings.
"Okay. Sister, let's do it this way. You went to retrieve evidence by working next to the criminals after being commanded to do so by the Crown Prince."
"Ciel, but I..."
"It's okay. Don't worry about anything."
If the association was involved, or if they took advantage of the situation, it would have to be investigated further, but I began to understand why Heinz was so unhappy with me.
He could have blamed my sister for everything, but how annoying it must have been to know about my existence[6].
"Ciel."
"You have me."
As long as the best villainess of this novel is on your side, there's nothing to worry about, baby.
Now that things have come to this, I have no choice but to show him a lesson. I grinned, exposing my teeth, with a frightened Clara at my side.
We'll see, Heinz.
I'll teach you what the bitter taste of life is like.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.───
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
[1] The line here "subtly looking for a response" doesn't have a direct translation. It basically is used when someone asks a question and is, very obviously, looking for a specific response. You can read more about it here.
[2] In Korean, if you look at direct translations, when people are really close (usually family) they'll use 'our' like shown.
[3] The word here, 간지러웠다, means feeling shy or bashful but embarrassing sounded better
[4] Koreans use squids to describe ugly people, it's quite common in manhwa for characters to have squid heads.
[5] Louis had brought in documents and the flowers that Clara grew
[6] She means that Heinz could have taken advantage of Clara because of her "adopted daughter" status, but Ciel's presence as a "legitimate daughter" ruined all those plans