Although the merchant’s items were indeed rare, I never found such childish toys interesting.
At that time, I was keen on learning to read, and more interested in the merchant’s ledger than in the trunks of goods he displayed.
Perhaps annoyed at the idea of having to deceive two little girls barely reaching his waist, the ledger was filled with blatantly absurd entries.
Still, at first, I tried to ignore it. The Penel family wasn’t going to be shaken by such things, and even if they were, it was none of my concern.
“You know how that guy hated me.”
But to think Justin was behind it.
“If you hadn’t stepped in that day, I would have been sent to a boarding school.”
“Boarding school?”
I had no choice but to intervene. If the merchant had merely played around with the prices of the items, I might have ignored it, but he lied about Sabrina secretly using the family seal.
To this day, how the family seal ended up outside the count’s office remained a mystery. The only proof of the merchant’s deceit was the list of items I had jotted down just in case, which matched the items Sabrina had.
That merchant eventually lost a wrist for his actions.
“So that’s how the seal got stamped…”
“Yeah, right. Justin stamped it. Why did he hate me so much?”
Well, it wasn’t so much that he hated her, but rather he saw her as a threat to his position. After all, Sabrina was the legitimate daughter of the countess.
“That’s why I didn’t feel sad at all when Justin died. Even though we shared the same blood.”
I still can’t forget Sabrina’s face from that time. The young Sabrina, terrified and trembling without understanding, was so frightened she couldn’t even cry.
“Since then, to me, you’re…”
“…”
“A savior.”
“A savior…?”
“What’s with that face? It’s annoying.”
Embarrassed to say such sentimental words, Sabrina acted even more brusquely.
“Of course, it’s annoying, but it can’t be helped. To me, you’re not only a savior but also…”
She blushed to the tips of her ears and rubbed the back of a wooden chair vigorously.
“And? What else am I to you?”
I narrowed my eyes and teased Sabrina with a mischievous smile. Her face turned beet red at that.
“Are you really asking? To me, you’re like a mother, a father, a friend, a sister, and, well, almost like an idol.”
I momentarily froze, forgetting even to tease her. Me… that important to her?
“Why are you making such a silly face?”
“Oh, no. It’s just that… I…”
I knew that Sabrina had been relying on me for some time, but I never imagined she thought of me this highly. We were always too busy bickering.
“Of course, it’s obvious. Back then, mother was ill, father was terrible, I was young, and you were too mature for your age.”
“That’s true.”
“It’s not just me. Jonathan feels the same, and mother too… She might not express it, but she might be relying on you even more than me.”
I couldn’t respond and just looked at Sabrina for a moment. Then, she came over and embraced me, sitting there dazed.
Sabrina always smelled strongly of roses. I used to tease her for using expensive cosmetics too liberally, but the familiar scent now calmed me.
She had always had distinct tastes since we were young. I took a deep breath, buried in what seemed like a bouquet of flowers called a dress.
“Look at this time too. In the end, you saved all our lives.”
“…”
“Honestly, even when we lived like princesses in the Penel residence, I wasn’t that happy. I preferred the times we lived together in a smaller house.”
Before I knew it, I relaxed in her embrace. I must have been more tense than I thought since arriving at the duke’s residence. The tightness around my heart seemed to descend all the way to my abdomen.
“Is it because of your romances?”
Sabrina chuckled. Every time she laughed, the decorations on her dress tickled my cheeks.
“Right, there’s not just one or two guys who’ll be sad because I left.”
“…”
“That’s why we’ll be happy here too. As long as we can all gather and have dinner together.”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
“And maybe someday…”
Male lead reborn without memories — but he still falls for her.
The person he finds displeasing in this life turns out to be his cherished wife-master in previous life…
Xie Zhi and Fang Xianxing who had known each other for less than three days through a blind date sat in the same car in front of the civil affairs bureau. They had a disagreement and failed to get married.
Xie Zhi immediately took out his phone, slid through his contacts, and randomly selected the next marriage candidate.
The woman snatched his phone and hung up. Looking at his phone wallpaper, she awkwardly changed the subject: “An ancient painting, eh? It looks pretty good, it’s just that the person in the painting looks a bit like me.”
When he heard this, he sarcastically mocked her for being so delusional, completely unaware that, the person in front of him was the reincarnation of Wen Ru, the famous prime minister of Yuan Shun whom he most admired…
The female CEO who doesn’t want to get married with a divorce agreement in hand × The male archaeological researcher who will only get married if he’s sure he can get divorced
