16
She only began to ignore his existence after she had grown
up.
Until then, she had looked down on Arthur, who had a
mother of commoner origin and lacked any backing whatsoever.
Looking closely, the clothes worn by Jeanne and the
embraced Arthur were tattered and worn out.
He hardly looked like a Third Imperial Prince living
in a palace.
Curious about that, Candice stepped closer to observe
Arthur well.
A sense of tension ran through the surroundings.
Seeing Candice's figure, Arthur curled his body
up even more.
With a muttering voice, he murmured quietly, 「I'm sorry…… because it smelled so
good.」
A sharp gaze felt from somewhere…… Jeanne was glaring
at Candice, wasn't she.
Jeanne's figure
looked almost like a mother desperately protecting her child.
Her chest aching with a sharp pang, Candice softly
closed her eyelids.
(I didn't want to see this side of Arthur. It makes
my heart hurt so much……)
That was why, unlike her other older brothers, the reason
she avoided Arthur so he wouldn't enter her field of vision might have
been because she envied Arthur, who was receiving affection from Jeanne.
That was why Candice hated Arthur.
Normally, this would be where she yelled at Jeanne,
who had glared at Candice, and Arthur, who had entered her field
of vision, and hurled verbal abuse at them until she was satisfied, but she had
sworn never to do such things from now on.
Today, Candice had been reborn.
（I am no longer someone who gets
angry over this level of things!）
Thinking she had to do the exact opposite to change her
destiny, after reflecting on her treatment of Arthur up until now, Candice
arrived at a single answer.
（I had been treating Arthur
coldly, but from now on…… does this mean I have to dote on him!?）
Having reached such a conclusion, Candice bit her lip
as if to suppress her feelings.
The origin of Candice being killed by her father, Emperor
Valentin, was because she had accidentally killed Arthur while
trying to kill Louise.
In other words, it meant she had to be kind to the man who
would become the older brother of Louise, Candice's greatest
enemy.
（Th-That's definitely impossible,
isn't it!? To dote on this guy…… Buthk, are you saying that if I don't
do so, I will lose my life!?）
Conflict swirled inside Candice's head.
Besides, there were quite a few mysteries surrounding the
births of Arthur and Louise.
Why had their mother only taken Louise and lived in
the city streets…… there seemed to be a reason for that as well.
Candice knew that
later on, Valentin would dote on Louise.
And Louise brought her older brothers to her side,
curried favor with their father, and stole everything away from Candice.
However, if their father, Valentin, tried to kill Candice
because he didn't like her, wouldn't Arthur try to protect Candice
just as he had protected Louise?
Thinking that, Candice gasped, and then her lips drew
a beautiful arc.
（Ufufu, how smart am I! Now that it's decided, I shall dote on Arthur
starting today!）
However, the current Candice didn't know how to dote
on someone.
But, thinking that if she fed Arthur and raised him
into a loyal servant, he would at least protect her to repay the favor, Candice
was intoxicated by the perfection of her own strategy.
If Arthur protected Candice, her survival
probability should increase.
(Getting along with Arthur is nothing but a plus for me! Besides, just as he protected his younger sister, he will surely protect his older sister as well!)
-----
Thank you for my Patrons !!
[Platinum]
-
[Gold]
B random
Nepheos
[Silver]
Corey Hicks
Creris
Frédéric Bertrand-Hudon
Jake Seagraves
Matthew Fraser
Tbaum56
Xavier O'Donoghue
Anton Lim
Baelee
Christopher Feliciano
Ctdela
Curious Panda
nick nasca
SD Fox
Sébastien Dionne
Z
Read Advanced Chapters only on my Patreon
-----
