The Male Lead’s Fake Sister - Chapter 40

Ravia returned home after taking care of her business.

It was morning when she left, but now the sun had already set.

And in the main building of the mansion, Ravia’s room was naturally empty.

Only Marquis Calister’s invitation letter welcomed her.

She already expected that the sleeping pills didn’t last for even half a day due to his resistance to poison.

‘Since I left a note, I won’t look suspicious leaving the mansion.’

She had deliberately prolonged her outing because she wanted to avoid encountering Tidwell. And Ravia was relieved by his absence.

‘I was wondering how to react when I saw Tidwell again.’

She wouldn’t be concerned if she hadn’t spent the night with Tidwell yesterday.

Or if it weren’t for what she discovered after leaving his room.

If that was the case, Tidwell’s face wouldn’t have been something she wanted to avoid this much.

Ravia quietly looked around the empty room. To be exact, she was looking for the traces of strange things that had happened in this room.

“Please give me your coat. I’ll hang it up for you.”

He entered her room last night, taking the coat hanging from Ravia’s shoulders as if it were natural. Ravia was becoming familiar with such behavior and removed her coat while replying.

”Then should I take out the tea leaves? Do you like Rooibos tea?”

“Do you keep tea leaves in your room? I see that you even have teacups as well.”

“I feel comfortable doing it alone. I can’t wake up the maid just because I want to drink tea at night.”

“It’s quite troublesome to call people every time. I feel the same way as you.”

Tidwell said he was very happy whenever he found something in common with Ravia.

Just like a child who believed in the myth that one branch is easy to break, but difficult to break when several branches are bundled.

As if he believed similarities would create a strong bond between them.

Of course, she never thought any of his actions were sincere, so Ravia answered lukewarmly as she prepared the tea set.

When she took out a kettle to boil water, tea cups, teaware, and some tea leaves, a shadow fell from behind her.

Tidwell approached Ravia and picked up the tray containing some items that Ravia had placed neatly on it.

”How are you going to carry all of this?”

“I didn’t mean to carry it all at once.”

“Then are you going to scurry back and forth like a squirrel carrying acorns?”

“Why not?”

“I mean, you could just make use of other’s hands.”

She couldn’t tell whether it was really about helping her or warning her not to do anything to the teacups.

Even so, the clattering noise that broke the silence wasn’t that bad.

The spacious room was more than enough for two people to roam freely, so when she was alone again like this, there was a sense of emptiness….

‘…I must be tired.’

Ravia stopped thinking and threw herself into the bed. Her body felt heavy because she was awake all night and then walked outside for a long time.

Of course, she knew very well that her fatigue was also caused by her stress. So Ravia wanted to put a stop to her running thoughts and fall into slumber as soon as possible.

As she lay on the wide bed and blinked a couple of times, an image of the man who lowered his eyelids languidly last night appeared.

”I’m not sure if it’s alright for me to lay in your bed, Sister.”

“Don’t you think it’s too late to say that?”

“Alright. Then I’ll try to be a little shameless since my sister gave me permission.”

“I also don’t want to make tired people sit down for a long time.”

At Ravia’s words, Tidwell had laughed dryly.

“You’re so nice, sister.”

“You’re much nicer than me. The maids have been saying you’re a good master because of your kindness.”

“Only fools believe in honeyed words.”

Ravia feigned a smile at Tidwell’s words.

Because it was such a sharp remark to say to his sister, who had been saying nothing but honeyed words to him. However, fearing the silence that would occur if the conversation was cut off, Ravia then asked.

“Then, what do you believe in?

“Is there anything as honest as human desire?”

In other words, all humans intrinsically had a desire to own something.

There was nothing wrong with what he said, but Ravia only listened silently.

‘Right after that, what did Tidwell say again?’

Ravia blinked a couple of times again as she tried to remember. However, due to her drowsiness, she eventually fell asleep without finding the answer.

*** 

That night, she dreamed.

A very perfect and unrealistic dream where she and Tidwell held no grudge toward each other.

The setting of the dream was the Orangery, the place where Tidwell had first invited her to tea.

That day Ravia changed the venue arbitrarily because she refused to play into Tidwell’s hands, hence making the Orangery empty.

She did not see what the Orangery looked like inside that day, but she later heard from the maid, Clovia.

She said the place was filled with unseasonal flowers, as if the whole year of flowers had been picked and poured into the Orangery. Maybe that’s why the place where the two sat was surrounded with flowers from all four seasons.

There was a pink rose on the tea table. Freesia and hydrangea placed on the floor, magnolia branched out behind their backs, and camellia leaves decorated the vicinity.

Everything would’ve been possible inside a dream, but it also strangely matched the explanation the maid gave Ravia.

Inside that dream, Ravia and Tidwell laughed and chatted peacefully.

Perhaps this dream was Ravia’s manifestation of a ‘what if’ scenario. There won’t be another instance where she was this comfortable facing Tidwell.

A situation where she didn’t have to put anything in the teacup, and where she could admire the blooming flowers without any worries.

The sight of the young man smiling so brightly in front of her was considered something natural….

She couldn’t return to reality.

“…That’s impossible.”

“What do you mean?”

She muttered without realizing it, and Tidwell in her dream asked her gently.

That despicable docility was exactly the same as reality, so she burst into laughter.

Ravia also laughed and talked the same way in reality, so this dream must not be that different from reality either.

What’s so impossible? The answer was obvious.

There was only one difference between reality and dream.

Ravia in her dream did not hate Tidwell, but that was something she could never do in reality.

No matter what the case.

“I don’t hate you…..”
‘…can’t be possible for me. ‘

[T/N: She’s mumbling between dream and reality. The full sentence is ‘There’s no way I don’t hate you’ but she only murmurs the ‘I don’t hate you’ part.]

The answer to Ravia’s murmur was delayed. But even before Ravia could notice that slight pause, Tidwell replied.

“I know. So please sleep more.”

Along with a somewhat bitter voice, a hand was touching her eyelids. The sensation was so real that she couldn’t just dismiss it as a dream.

So Ravia hurriedly opened her eyes. Just like a chick hatched from an egg, it was quite difficult to open her eyes.

The gap between her eyelids was welcomed by bright moonlight. She then fully opened her eyes and found herself in dim darkness.

She could see the empty room even though something had awakened her. It was the same room that felt so empty before she fell asleep.

‘Why did I suddenly dream like that….?’

Ravia raised her upper body and sat in bed. The conversation she had with her maid, Clovia, suddenly played out in her mind.

When she asked Clovia about the Orangery back then, Clovia’s round eyes became even rounder.

“Oh my god, you didn’t see that? There’s so many flowers entering the Orangery, though?”

“Well, it seems to me you aren’t familiar with this place yet, but Leontine’s flowers never wither all year round. Think carefully, is there any room you encountered without a flower vase in it?”

“Oh, I think there’s none so far. Leontine is the only place where the roses bloom until this season.”

“Right. Therefore, it won’t make much difference even if they added more flowers here. So I didn’t pay attention to it.”

“That’s only natural! My lady has a lot of better things to take care of, after all!”

“I appreciate that you think of me that way.”

To put it simply, it was true that she had no time to care about flowers when she was so busy watching Tidwell’s movements.

She was a little curious about it because the maids couldn’t stop talking about it.

Of course, Clovia didn’t just develop interest in gossip on her own volition. Ravia knew that the servants in the mansion were thirsty for gossip and chattered like sparrows at every little incident.

There was another reason why she wanted to know about the Orangery.

Because she was curious about Tidwell’s preparations.