Chapter 6

I carefully brushed off the dust and handed it to him.

“Brother, your bouquet is separate. Here, take it. Congratulations on getting second place!”

“Lep…!”

And when I leaned in and gave Piote’s cheek a tiny congratulatory kiss, he instantly revived as if he’d never been sulking at all. He looked so moved that tears welled in the corners of his eyes. I let myself be pulled back into his arms—arms I had just barely escaped from a moment ago.

‘Get off me, seriously.’

I pushed at his face, but he didn’t budge.

Then I suddenly felt a gaze from the opposite side. Evan was staring holes through Piote.

‘Is he fascinated because I’m a little sister?’

He’s an only child, after all.

“As expected of our little fairy! You even made a bouquet and prepared a present for your brother. You’re so sweet.”

“The bouquet isn’t the only thing. I have another gift. I’ll give it to you later.”

“Yeah, yeah!”

“You two get along well…”

Evan was looking at us with a hint of envy. Of course—boys around his age often wished they had younger siblings. Come to think of it, he had occasionally looked at us with that same longing.

‘When Piote said Evan kept staring at us… was it because he wanted a sibling? Even earlier, when I made Piote the bouquet, he said he envied him for having a little sister…’

Hearing Evan’s comment, Piote lifted his chin and smirked triumphantly. As if saying, “jealous, aren’t you?” I was embarrassed on his behalf.

“Of course!”

I tugged at Piote, flustered by his behavior.

“Brother, let’s all go drink tea together.”

“Tea?”

“Mm. I received some really good tea leaves recently.”

At my words, Piote immediately wrapped an arm around me and strode off. Evan followed behind us with a quiet, gentle smile.

“But where are our parents?”

“You ask that now? They said they had business outside. You told them you’d arrive tomorrow, didn’t you? They should be back by dinner.”

I turned toward Evan; it would be rude to leave him out of the conversation.

“Lord Evan, what do you learn at the academy?”

“Now that you mention it—Lady Lepina will be entering the academy soon too.”

“Yes… well.”

I replied reluctantly. I didn’t like studying, but the academy was mandatory for nobles. I’d never cared much before, but now that there was a future where I might be poisoned and become terminally ill, I was thinking of taking herbalism. Normally, noblemaidens learned embroidery, dance, etiquette… Herbalism was usually taken by future physicians or commoners.

Just thinking about the noble curriculum already exhausted me, but I didn’t have the luxury to pick and choose. If I want to survive, I have to make my own path.

But then Evan suddenly fixated on my form of address.

“But… doesn’t ‘Lord Evan’ sound too distant? Just Evan is fine.”

I blinked at him. Being allowed to use someone’s name was something only close acquaintances did. Until now, he’d always used Lady Lepina very properly.

‘I’m about to be on a first-name basis with my favorite character!’

My eyes sparkled—only for the moment to be ruined by someone dumping cold water on me.

“What do you mean? ‘Lord Evan’ is perfectly fine!”

Piote flailed, insisting Evan shouldn’t spout nonsense.

I wanted to accept right away but… Evan was the son of a ducal house. I couldn’t just start calling him by name. He was older than me, and Piote’s friend.

I suppressed my disappointment and shook my head.

“No. I can’t use your name so casually. Um… how about Lord Evan?”

“I prefer my name… Honorifics make it sound like we’re distant. I’d also like to call you by your name, Lady Lepina.”

“Hey!”

Piote raged beside us, but Evan and I cleanly ignored him.

I hesitated. Truthfully, calling him Evan would be easier. I used to call him that, anyway. And more importantly—it made me feel closer to my favorite character.

I accepted happily. Hearing my name come from my favorite’s lips…

“Yes, please call me Lepina comfortably. Ah—actually, you can call me Lep if you like.”

“Lep! That nickname is only for—”

“Stop it.”

I slapped a firm hand over Piote’s mouth.

Evan was the son of a duke—being on good terms with him would never harm me. I elbowed Piote and whispered for him to behave. My saying that made him sag miserably.

“So that’s why you kept calling me Lepina lately…”

So that’s why he’d stubbornly called me by my full name earlier.

“Then… Lep?”

“Yes!”

The way Evan carefully murmured my nickname—my heart fluttered before I could stop it.

‘I’m on nickname terms with my favorite.’

Humming to myself, I headed toward the receiving room, seating the two and standing up again.

“Wait just a moment.”

I took the tea leaves the maid had prepared.

“My lady…! We can—”

“It’s fine. I’ll do it.”

Recently, I’d become interested in brewing tea, and I often served it to my family. And today, I was serving someone very important.

I warmed the teapot, added the leaves, poured the hot water. Watching the leaves float to the surface made me smile. I hummed as I brewed.

But when I entered the receiving room with the tray, the atmosphere was icy. Evan and Piote were glaring silently at each other.

The moment I walked in, Piote jumped up and insisted the teapot was too heavy, that he’d carry it.

“Lep. You’ll burn yourself with the hot water. Give it to brother.”

I gave him a deadpan stare. He put so much emphasis on “brother.”

When I opened the door, Evan’s expression had looked heated. Did Piote brag about being my brother? He absolutely would. Evan’s face had been cold at first—but when I looked at him, it softened immediately. It happened so fast I almost doubted my eyes.

I set the tray down with a thump.

“Lep prepared this?”

“Yes. I make it for my parents too. I hope it suits your taste.”

I picked up the teapot—just as someone knocked.

My hand jerked. A servant slipped in, bowing an apology for interrupting.

“What is it?”

Piote asked irritably—rare tea time ruined, his mood sour.

“The Count and Madam have returned.”

“Father and Mother?”

Piote stood at once. I also prepared to stand, but he patted my head.

“Lep, stay here. I don’t like it, but he is a guest. I’ll go greet our parents.”

“Okay.”

He clicked his tongue at Evan on the way out, but I waved him off.

“You must be loved very much.”

At Evan’s words, I smiled.

“Yes, I’m loved a lot. Ah—the tea will get cold.”

I poured tea into my cup and Evan’s. The aroma was indeed elegant—just as the young lady who gave it to me had boasted.

I watched Evan’s reaction first.

He lifted the cup. The tea slid down his throat…

“Is… is it alright?”

I expected a comment about taste. Instead, Evan stared blankly at the wavering steam, his brows tightly furrowed. As if something felt wrong, he took another sip.

Was something wrong with the tea? Was it spoiled? Poisoned? Worried, I took the tiniest sip. I’d never tried this tea before, either.

But the flavor on my tongue was simply sweet. Nothing that should make him grimace like that.

Then he suddenly shouted—

“Spit it out!!”

The maid waiting nearby panicked, not understanding. But I already had tea in my mouth. I blinked at Evan’s wide, frantic eyes—

—and then he spit blood.

‘…What?’

My mind blanked as red pooled from his lips.

“Kyaaah!!!”

Mary and the others screamed. Their voices sounded far away. I stared, unable to process it.

Mary’s face went deathly pale seeing the blood he’d coughed up.

And in that extreme panic, I did the stupidest thing possible.

Startled out of my mind—

—I swallowed.

I actually swallowed the tea.

‘What is happening?! Why is Evan coughing blood—’

I rushed to him.

“Are—are you okay?!”

My voice trembled like a leaf. But I forced myself into focus and shouted at Mary, who was frozen in shock.

“Mary!! Get the physician!!”

Finally snapping out of it, she sprinted out the door. Other servants gathered, drawn by the noise.

“Pull yourselves together! Take care of the young lord first!!”

Evan kept coughing—blood with each breath. When the coughing subsided, he glared at me with wild eyes.

“You drank it?!”

“Ah…”

He’s the one coughing blood, yet he yelled at me, even dropping formal speech.

‘Wait…’

The only thing he drank was the tea. And then he coughed blood.

Meaning the tea was the problem.

But nobles always stir their tea with a silver spoon to check for poison. I had done the same. There had been no reaction at all.

And then, a line flashed through my mind.

“Alosi Poison Herb does not react to silver. And I am destined to become terminally ill after ingesting poison.”

‘No way… Alosi Poison Herb?’

My face went white as chalk.