Survive As the Villain’s Cousin - Chapter 4

“No way.”

“…….”

Erial shook his head in disbelief.

Ariel was speechless, but she just couldn’t even speak.

“I’m telling you, so let’s eat cake now!”

When I came to the greenhouse, the cake that my nanny brought me was still there.

The warm milk cooled down, but no one cared.

“I didn’t cry.”

Ariel pouted her lips and took a big bite of the cake with a fork.

“I didn’t cry either.”

So did Erial.

She didn’t like being treated like a child, so she pretended to be an adult and ate sweet chocolate cake.

The twins enjoyed a slightly dry cake with whipped cream, and I was relieved to see the children smiling happily.

Now they looked like children of their age. They were still children even when they pretended to be adults.

“What are we going to do tomorrow?”

They say the ground hardens when a storm passes.

It was just like that.

The distance between the duke and the twins was still far away, but it felt like the relationship that was cut off today continued.

“Dolls!”

“No, let’s play war tomorrow!”

The twins’ behavior was as usual, but the darkness on their faces disappeared.

***

I opened my eyes at dusk.

I came down from the bed and saw my face reflected in the window for a while.

It took quite a long time to get used to the unfamiliar face. 16 years old. I patted my cheeks lightly. The cool touch I felt at my fingertips was vivid.

‘At first, I thought it was a dream.’

I organized out my thoughts. Since I woke up early, I wanted to check something, so I headed to the desk. When I opened the bottom drawer carefully, there was an old notebook.

‘Original Novel Notes.’

The notebook was written when I was old enough to hold a pen.

It looked like a crooked doodle because I didn’t have the strength of my fingers, but it was definitely Hangul.

As I grew older, the original content of the novel became fuzzy.

It was still a long way from the original, but I had to be careful in case of a situation.

‘For example, the Prince’s birthday party.’

The day Ariel falls in love with the Crown Prince.

It was exactly at the Prince’s 15th birthday party. I heard the birthday party was before they went to the academy.

The first official appearance of the Crown Prince.

‘Is there a year left until your birthday?’

Ariel’s story in the novel was not mentioned enough, so there were many missing parts.

Ariel, who first saw the crown prince at the party, only explained that she fell in love at first sight, but what she did or talked about was omitted.

‘And something is going on. What did I miss?’

I looked through my notebook by the moonlight.

The reason why I opened this old notebook was because of the strange feeling I received recently.

The label of the new clothes I bought feels rough by the back of my neck.

“Cinderella doesn’t wear glass shoes” was different from the usual reverse harem novels.

In general, various handsome men only look at the female lead in reverse harem novels. Even if the female lead is connected to the male lead, the men often miss her or live single because they can’t forget her.

‘There are 3 sub-male leads.’

I remembered the letters in my notebook by fumbling them with my hands.

“Erial, the youngest knight of the Order, and Sirius, the cursed second prince.”

But in this novel, all the sub-male characters die.

It was not until the end of the book when the male lead, also known as the crown prince, was able to live with the female lead for a hundred years.

‘The main culprit was Ardentine.’

The important roles of the novel, Erial, and Ariel, showed off their enormous presence throughout the novel.

Starting with a minor quarrel, Ariel curses Daisy in exchange for her life in the middle.

A curse in exchange for life could only be saved by a life.

Sirius dies after releasing Daisy’s curse without hesitation.

Even if Sirius and Ariel die, the story continues.

Erial, who thought Daisy didn’t look after him because he wasn’t the Crown Prince, rebelled when the novel reached its peak, and Grendwin died defending Daisy in the burning Imperial City.

However, the rebellion failed, and Erial was killed by Helios, the male protagonist.

‘It’s kind of crazy, isn’t it?’

Come to think of it, everyone but the main characters are dead.

I felt sorry for the sub-men who died instead of Daisy, but I didn’t care much because my favorite was Daisy.

“I can’t believe you wrote an end with so many deaths. Writer, you’re a scary person.’

The events listed in the novel’s timeline were absurd. But, because of the time of reading, the story never felt like a disaster. The novel flowed like water and everything seemed appropriate for the moment.

After admiring the greatness of the writer, I came back to the main point.

‘I don’t have any.’

I was lost in thought, glancing down at the pages of the novel’s events in chronological order.

The beginning of the timeline is the birth of the twins and me.

Before entering the academy, where the story unfolds in earnest, there were only two incidents.

The Prince’s Birthday Banquet and Sernia’s Death.

However, Sernia, who came out of foreign affairs, died before Ariel when Erial was ten years old.

I’m alive like this.

‘The Duke and the twins are better these days, so they’ll avoid the villainous route.’

After dealing with me, the duke was still blunt, but he showed his face more often than before. In addition to tea time once a month, we sometimes ate together at restaurants, and sometimes I would call for him to ask of his opinion.

Most of the time, it was discussions about how to lead a class or about being the duke.

It was much better than the original. The twins have changed a lot for the better.

Is it just a feeling?

I must be anxious because the start of the original novel is getting closer and closer and closer.

I tried hard to rationalize and put my notebook deep in the drawer.

Think of it as a trivial misunderstanding.

***

“I’ll never lose this time!”

“Unlike Ariel, I’ve always been praised.”

Today was the once-a-month date for tea time with the Duke.

The event, which began nine years ago, was never skipped.

At first, I was so nervous that I grabbed the teacup while shaking and couldn’t use a fork.

The eventful tea time became natural over time.

After tea time, the twins had an upset stomach, but now they dared to eat fresh cream on their cheeks in front of the duke.

‘Well, it’s Ariel who usually gets in trouble.’

“Here comes the Duke.”

The maid opened the door and announced the Duke’s arrival.

The twins then adjusted their posture as if they never fought.

“Have you waited a long time?”

“No, we just arrived.”

Ariel got up from her seat and replied, saying hello.

Erial cleared his throat and said something.

“That’s right. My sister and I have been waiting for you for a while, but Ariel just came.”

He did exactly the right thing.

As soon as I finished thinking, Ariel covered Erial’s feet with her long dress.

You can’t see it, but under the dress, there must be a fierce foot fight between the two children.

“Ah!”

Erial frowned and screamed because of his loss.

When the duke wriggled his eyebrows, both sat quietly.

“What kind of dessert will it be today?”

To change the atmosphere, I called on the maids to bring dessert.

The quick-witted maids quickly set up tea and dessert.

“Sernia.”

The Duke looked at me with a drowsy look.

“I think you’ve gained weight.”

“!”

I was so surprised that I almost dropped my fork.

Sharp eyes. I’ve gained some weight recently.

Still, I couldn’t give up delicious snacks, and I didn’t care because there wasn’t anyone to see.

“Boo, you don’t want to see it? I think I should lose some weight.”

“No, you’re perfect right now. You were too skinny before!”

“Sister, we’re growing up now. It’s natural to gain weight.”

I asked the Duke in a sullen manner, but the answer came from the twins.

They reacted furiously that they liked how I was and I should never lose weight.

They even glared at the duke who brought up such a remark.

Actually, I didn’t want to lose weight either.

I was in a position where I had to live with the Duke, and I was just trying to get rid of my dislike.

‘Dieting is hell.’

I would take care of my health, but I didn’t want to experience hell for my beauty.

I realized that I couldn’t go on a diet because of the many failures in my previous life.

“I didn’t say I didn’t want to see it.”

“I’m glad then.”

I fixed my fork with a bright smile.

Today’s dessert was my favorite, Mont Blanc cake!

Even if the Duke didn’t want to see it, I wouldn’t have given up the cake today.

“Here you are, Duke.”

The subtle scent of Earl Grey spread in the room, and as everyone sat down, Dane, who was waiting, handed a document to the Duke.

It was a document containing the twins’ whereabouts for a month.

A monthly evaluation of tutors, progress of classes, and other work done by the duke. The twin’s report card!

The twins could not hide their nervousness.

I laughed because they looked cute.

‘I’m the only one who can laugh comfortably because no one touches me.’

I also learned basic culture with twins.

Noble etiquette, manners, dance, and embroidery.

As time went by, the twins’ classes became more and more diverse.

Erial took successor lessons to become the duke at the age of nine and started learning swordsmanship because he wanted to protect me.

Ariel was interested in diplomacy and took lessons on the language and economy of various countries.

Seeing the twins finding their way, I felt proud and bitter.

They’re still kids playing in the playground.

No, I remembered that in Korea before reincarnation, gifted education was in full swing.

I was shocked to see where they live in the daycare center and what their parents do for their jobs.

‘It’s worse here because there’s a clear class system.’

The moderately cold Earl Grey felt more bitter.

“Ariel.”

“Yes.”

“I’m done with Chartair.”

“Yes. I want to study the language of the East.”

The central continent, where the Aslande Empire is located, designates and uses the imperial language as its official language.

The next most spoken language is the Brillian language of the Brillian Kingdom, the second largest and most developed in trade.

The Charte Kingdom was small. There is a bell tower right next to it, so even if you often use Chartair, there are few nobles who study from the Empire to Charter.

‘Ariel’s already done with Chartair.’