Published at 21st of November 2020 06:26:38 PM
Chapter 4: 4
“Brother! Did anything happen today? How have you been?”
Furthermore, she bothered Hikan like this at every meal .
There was almost no answer, and even if there is, it was such a short answer .
“Be quiet . ”
Hikan is not a friendly person at all, he gets up and leaves on his own after the meal, or leaving the young Dalia to eat alone because he was busy .
However, for Dalia, who knew about his misdeeds in the original, this was very good .
Hikan, though she was being annoying and irritating, did not seem to intend to sell her anywhere or kill her, as Dalia imagined .
Either way, her plan to lower Hikan’s guard seemed to be working successfully .
‘Hoo-hoo . As expected, I’m great . ‘
Dalia, proud of her own greatness, finishing the flower crown that she has been working on .
This garden is Dalia’s favorite place in the Pesteros’s residence because she could lie freely in a dress .
No one else came except for Dalia, so the whole garden is like a place only for her . So she could sit on the lawn and make a flower crown with the flowers that she picked .
‘I’ll give this to my brother as a gift . ‘
This is also part of Dalia’s big plan to escape . I’ll throw it away or put it somewhere .
Dalia trembled as his cold face appeared before her eyes . (*t/n: she imagined his face)
‘……What if he doesn’t like it?’
If not, I was going to ask someone else to pass it on this time .
“Oh my, Miss . Now you’re making something for the young Duke?”
Then, the gardener Bucky smiled and talked to Dalia while bending his knees .
Dalia nodded with a smile .
“Yes, that’s right . ”
Bucky smiled gladly .
“Miss, you really love your brother . ”
“Of course! Will my brother like this, too?”
Dalia smiled with her arms wide open . If you want to deceive, you have to deceive everyone completely . Unaware of her true intention, Bucky nod his head .
“Of course, since it’s from you, miss . ”
Dalia was popular among the employees .
Even though she is a lady of the Pesteros family, who is said to be directly under the Emperor, she did not insist on her identity or be harsh on her employees .
‘Oh! It’s crooked . ’
Dalia, who lost her concentration, accidentally broke two flowers on her flower stalk .
She pondered it for a moment, then handed it over to Bucky .
“I’ll give one to Bucky, too . ”
“Me, me too?”
“Yes . You helped me pick the flowers . Come here . I’ll put it on you . ”
Bucky bowed his head, deeply touched .
Dalia put the flower crown directly on Bucky’s head . His dirt-stained face, his overalls, and flower crowns were unexpectedly harmonized .
Dalia said unknowingly .
“It’s pretty, Bucky . ”
As she laughed, Bucky scratched his earlobe, not knowing what to do .
While making it, she also made a wreath as a present for the Duchess Blueport to hang on the door of her mansion . After making it, it became more fun and she can also improve her skills .
She also put flower crowns on some of the butlers and maids who passed by . She also wears one .
Now the only one left is Hikan’s . But Dalia’s excited hand stopped in the middle .
‘Oh, come to think of it, brother . ’
Dalia recalled Hikan’s top secret from his secret route in the original .
He is allergic to pollen .
‘…… . ’
I shouldn’t have made it .
Dalia looked at the flower crown and just put it down on the lawn .
I worked hard on this, I started making it when the sun was high, but now the shadow of the tree began to grow long .
‘It’s alright . ’
I’ll make him something else next time .
Dalia got up, brushed her bottom and returned to her room . Without even dreaming that her figure could be seen right from Hikan’s room .
“You must be happy to have a cute little sister . ”
The butler standing beside Hikan said delightedly . On top of his head was a flower crown made by Dalia .
“……It’s not even funny . Put that flower crown out of my sight right now . ”
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Hikan said coldly .
He imagined the flower crown on his head . It was terrible .
Dalia Pesteros . His only little sister . The ‘normal’ child the previous duchess desperately wanted .
When he first came into the mansion, he was going to clean everything up without any rumors if it bothers him .
If he had seen her acting smart or used her head, he would have made a decision right away, but Dalia, who he’s seen so far, seemed to have no such plans .
All she does everyday is to chat with him without getting bored of it or make a flower crown in the back garden like today .
At this level, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to leave her as a card for later use when needed .
But it was a little irritating to keep being around her radius . Pretending to be close by giving useless gifts .
Hikan looked down at where Dalia had left . The flower crown that had been made remained on the lawn .
‘……’
He was staring at it without knowing why . Then he turned his head in a hurry .
* * *
In Dalia’s mind, the plan to appear naive to Hikan is going very well .
All that remains now is to raise money for independence .
She already had her own plan . First of all, she will sell some of the dresses and jewelries that she doesn’t need .
Dalia grabbed the nanny’s hand who came to visit her before her bedtime .
“Nanny . Nanny will always, always be on my side, right?”
The nanny smiled and said without any doubt .
“Of course! If not Miss, then whose side would I be on?”
“As expected of my nanny!”
Dalia clasped her cheek, cuddling at the nanny . The nanny smiled and hugged Dalia . She didn’t miss this time and said,
“Nanny, I need a secret fund . ”
The nanny’s expression hardened for a moment .
“……Yes?”
Dalia explained her plan .
Just in case, if she said that she wanted to run away from the family, she thought that nanny would try to stop her like Duchess Blueport . So Dalia changed her words a little .
The nanny almost cried when she said that she wanted to save pocket money in case Hikan kicked her out of the family later .
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“My poor Miss . I’d like to tell you that the young Duke won’t do that, but I resent myself for not being able to . How can I help you?”
Dalia was moved .
She expressed her grand ambition . The nanny listened and gave realistic advice .
“It’d be nice to sell them all, but you’ll be caught soon as the maids always check the inventory . ”
The nanny took only a little bit of Dalia’s dress and jewelry without being noticed and sold them .
However, it did not last as long as the nanny predicted . The maids are starting to check inventory one by one, saying that the young miss’ items seem to be missing these days .
‘I can’t do this anymore . ’
If they do it again, the situation may get worse as the maids try to find out who the culprit is . I didn’t want an innocent person accused of being the criminal .
I won’t be able to make money this way anymore, but I still have some money .
‘Thank you, nanny . ’
Dalia deeply thanked the nanny in her heart for all her sacrifices .
Then she gathered the money that she saved and put them in the bottom of the box, and looked at them several times, feeling proud .
‘How do I make money now?’
Not wanting to increase the burden on the nanny, Dalia visited the Duchess of Blueport again for consultation .
The Duchess heard her ambitious aspirations, and this time again, she choked on her water .
“Goodness . Creating a secret fund . Dalia, how much more are you going to surprise me?”
Dalia looked eagerly up at the Duchess with her hands together .
“It’s really, really important to me, Duchess . ”
“……I heard that there are many valuable books in the study of the previous Duke Pesteros . Try to look into it . ”
The Duchess reluctantly opened her mouth .
Taking the advice, from that day on, she looked at the book in the mansion study .
Dalia’s late father loves to read . Perhaps there is an expensive rare first edition in the study .
She’ll secretly hide it and sell it at a premium price later!
Dalia made a secret list of expensive-selling books after eagerly reading the journal’s list of auction houses . And while Hikan was away, she sneaked into his study during lunchtime .
The study was quite spacious . Sunlight was coming into the library .
‘I have to take care of it quickly before he comes . ’
She looked around hard, but there were not many expensive books in Dalia’s eye level . She couldn’t reach the one above her height .
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Then Dalia saw a folding ladder leaning against the wall of the study .
She took the ladder and put it in front of the bookshelf . It was higher than she thought . The tallest compartment was more than twice the height of Dalia .
It was a little scary, but she plucked up her courage and climbed up to the bottom of one of the highest compartments . Then she quickly looked at the title of the book, which was originally out of sight .
Sadly, however, there was no book that seemed to be so lucrative .
Most of the books on the shelves were about ‘Transcendents’ . Strangely, it was also a warning of the transcendent’s mana rush or their danger .
‘Is it because of my maternal grandfather?’
With a sigh, she quickly scrolled through the titles and found a book .
The title was very interesting .
Dalia climbed up the ladder and picked out the book with a whimper . When she opened it up, luckily, it was the first edition . First editions can be expensive .
‘I should sell this one . ’
She put the book on her side and carefully descended the ladder step by step . And when only one last step is left-
“What are you doing here?”
“Kyaa!”
Suddenly, surprised by the sound of a voice heard from somewhere, Dalia startled and lost her footing on the ladder .
She missed the book and fell to the floor .
Fortunately, there was only one step left, so she didn’t hurt much, except for the torn knee which was a little painful .
Dalia raised her head with tears in her eyes .
Beautiful silver hair that stood out everywhere came into sight . An inhumanely beautiful appearance . And needless to say, the owner of an inhuman personality . Hikan stood right in front of Dalia looking down at her .
For some reason, with a colder expression than usual .
He picked up the book she dropped without caring about the injured Dalia and turned the page over . With no expression at all .
“I didn’t know you’d like to sneak in . ”
“Well, that’s…”
He seemed to have no intention of listening to Dalia . Instead, he stopped at a page of the book .
“They can’t even be called human beings . Basically they are different from us . ”
He read a passage from the book in a low, cold voice . Then he looked at Dalia with a grave look on his face .
“……is what it said . Do you think so too, Dalia?”