"Happy birthday, my daughter." Father greeted me with a smile on his face and I felt my cheeks heat up at the way his voice sounded. He is the type of person who hardly shows affection and may be cold towards his children, but when he shows his fatherly side, I can't help but feel emotional.
Knowing what his opened arms meant, I rushed and tackled him into a hug. The praise and mumbles around me made me feel even more vulnerable. "You came into my life seven years ago and changed it bit by bit." He whispered lovingly as I embraced him back. "I'm happy to have you as my child even if you can be very troublesome and a handful most of the time."
"F-Father, are you sure you're congratulating me?" I mumbled with my brows furrowed. Ever since he realized that Helen and I like to joke around, he began to adapt to our way of talking. I'm glad he now has a sense of humor but why is it always targeted towards me?!
Father smirked before letting go of me. "Of course I am." Whenever he shows his emotions, I really could see that he's still young. Seeing Father being like this really isn't bad at all.
Viscount Neil Flaine, my father and the Lord of this household, started to greet all the guests who came to my birthday party. He gave a small speech about how grateful he is that all the nobles came to celebrate my birthday. It's kind of embarrassing being the center of attention but I have to be used to it since I'm a noble.
It's been around a year since Helen came. Things may have been fun before she came but all of it is nothing compared to the present. She's been with me and tolerated whatever I wanted to do even if it can be stupid and she never judged me at all. Having an angel as a younger sister is a blessing… and a curse because her cuteness may be the death of me.
As I reminisce about the past year, I am suddenly ambushed by some aristocrats. They all praised me and congratulated me but honestly I wish they would stop talking since my cheeks are starting to hurt from all the laughing and smiling.
"My, what a lovely young lady." A blonde around my father's age smiled at me. I knew that nobles are used to giving fake smiles, but when I saw her sincere gaze, I couldn't help but wonder if she really did take an interest in me.
"Thank you," I gave her a bow, "I'm happy to have you here." Look at me and my amazing business smile!
"Viscount Flaine sure has adorable daughters, I heard you're now seven years old?"
"Yes, I turned seven today." I'm seriously dying for this conversation to end. I told Helen that I'll be over soon with my introductions but it's taking too long! It may be painful to say but I know that there would be some nobles that might try to insult her so I better get going.
"Blah blah blah," said the woman. "Blah blah blah?" Her words immediately entered through my ears and passed through just as quickly so it's pretty much useless to try to converse further. I could only nod and smile.
The conversation was going nowhere and I'm already itching to leave so I knew I had to do something. "Thank you for your time..." I trailed off and tried to remember what her name was.
"Oh, I suppose I forgot to introduce myself to the birthday girl. How careless of me…" The lady sighs and shakes her head. "I'm Marchioness Malia Opheron but you can just call me Marchioness Malia, it's a pleasure to talk with you." The Marchioness finished my sentence- the Marchioness?! Did I hear that correctly?
Though she had a smile on her face, I'm sure she has a bad impression of me now. How rude of me to someone that belongs to a high status! I bet she just reintroduced herself knowing that I wasn't listening.
Eugh.
"...Yes, I couldn't show my gratitude enough but I have to attend my tea party as well. I hope I'm not offending you in any way, Marchioness." She blinked twice before chuckling under that warm smile of hers. I wonder why her smile seems so real than the other nobles here.
"No need to excuse yourself, Young Lady. Of course, you may go." I gave her a quick smile and a bow before excusing myself. Though I knew it was rude to cut a conversation that way, I still wanted to see my sister as soon as possible.
I whipped my head left to right as I tried to catch a glimpse of anything pink. The mansion is currently packed with tall adults while the garden had children roaming around. Where could Helen possibly be in this swarm of random people I don't remember? When I was just about to ask a maid, I saw a group of young nobles packed up in one place from the corner of my eye.
My gut feeling told me I shouldn't avoid it so I didn't.
"Aren't you just a burden to them?"
"I'm sure they're so tired to have someone like you!"
The words that came out of their disgusting mouths alerted me. I was already driven by anger, but when I saw the face of my beloved sister, I felt more furious than ever. The mana within was already desperate and ready to attack them. Raising my hand with aim and eyesight sharper than ever, "get away from-"
"I'm sure you all would love to leave now before anything bad happens." A voice boomed and I swiftly snapped my arm back down. She pointed my way, "I doubt she'd hold back," her eyes were deep red as she stared at me. It took me a second to realize that the bastards- I mean children- realized the odds were against them and so they excused themselves.
Tch. They ran away… they truly are cowards. I can't believe I almost used my magic on useless people like them.
"You have to be more careful." Black hair with gray ends and blood-red eyes; such a dark combination. "Don't use your magic carelessly." Her sudden appearance was a surprise for sure but that doesn't matter right now.
I ran and gave Helen a tight hug. "I'm here, your big sister is here… I'm so sorry for being late." She didn't say anything at all but her arms that squeezed me was more than enough to tell how she's feeling. "Don't listen to those children, they're just jealous that you're a precious person from this household."
If only I'm not comforting my sister right now then I'd definitely be chasing them and show them what karma truly is.
"I'm fine, Big sis," Helen mumbled as she dug her face on my chest. "I'm fine now that Big sis is here." Her fingers gripped my back tightly but I didn't ask further.
As I was running my fingers through her hair and whispering whatever to make her calm down, I glanced at my side. The mysterious girl that helped simply kept staring at me and so our eyes met for the second time.
That was until she broke eye contact, gave me a curt bow, and walked away. Only at that moment did I realize that "she" was wearing male clothing. His face was too feminine I mistook him for a girl… whoops.
I'll make sure to find him later and give my utmost gratitude.
"Let's go back to the tea par…" Helen's face didn't seem to light up when I mentioned the tea party. I cleared my throat, "to the part of the mansion with lots of tea! Let's get some drinks and just walk around together if that's fine with you?" Hopefully that save sounded convincing enough.
"If Big sis is with me then sure…!" My lips curved into a smile. If I could make her feel at ease then I'll stay with her no matter how long it can be. I offered her a hand and so my sister and I walked around the mansion sticking close to each other.
I don't want to lose her anywhere now, if I do then I don't think I'll be able to forgive myself if anything bad happens again.
Helen seemed to be happier now that we're just drinking tea together. Her smile was too comforting and contagious; I couldn't help but feel my lips grin widely. We took our time going around the mansion and greeting some nobles quickly before walking around once again.
"This cookie really goes along with the tea," Helen remarked with her eyes shining.
I chuckled, "if that's what you think then let's tell Rachel or Father to buy it regularly."
"Really? Thank you, Big sis!" She's so cute I can't help myself from patting her head.
"You don't have to thank me. It's only natural that you eat what you feel like eating."
As we were talking about sweets and drinks, my eyes drifted over to my right. I was surprised to see that the kids that were ganging up on my sister were now talking around the corner. Now that my head's clear and I can think straight, a brilliant idea came to mind. I glanced at Helen who was just looking around the desserts on the table.
Perfect. I doubt anyone's looking so I just have to-
"Go and move..." I muttered under my breath and made a swirling motion with my fingertip. The tea that one of the girls was holding magically shook and it fell to the lap of another girl. I couldn't contain a smirk when the two of them started to argue like idiots.
"Mama, she dropped tea on my dress!!"
"I told you it was an accident!"
"No, you did it on purpose!"
"And why would I?!"
They kept barking like the morons they are while I watched them fight over spilled milk- or in this case- spilled tea. I'm even enjoying it with a drink in hand and sipping the delicious tea. Ah, the rich and calm life of a noble indeed.
"Big sis?" Helen asked me with her head tilted just a bit. I knew she was going to ask more so I shook my head and told her I just saw a cat run towards the garden.
"A cat? Can we go and see it?"
"Of course, though I'm not sure if it's still there. Another cat jumped in and they had a catfight." I wasn't lying about the catfight. "But sure, let's visit the garden again and see if they're still there."
Helen nodded and seemed very excited that she started to skip around a bit. I feel a bit guilty that she wouldn't be able to see any cats at the garden but I hope God would allow this angel to miraculously spot one? While I was hoping for an actual cat to show up, I accidentally bumped onto my sister's back.
"Why'd you stop?" I mumbled, rubbing my nose a bit.
"I'm sorry I wasn't looking properly." Helen quickly apologized and bowed… not towards me? I looked to my side and saw a boy scratching his neck and nodding at my sister's apology.
Woah, I didn't realize I bumped onto Helen who also bumped onto someone else. What a sudden chain reaction.
"I-it's fine," he paused, "I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings either." Helen gave him a relieved smile and I could see his cheeks lighten just a bit. Ohh? Is this little boy interested in my sister now?
"Geat, the situation's cleared up sl we will be going on our way now!" I hope my voice didn't sound as rushed as I think it did. On second thought, maybe it's better to let him know of ny intentions. I urged Helen to keep moving and we started to walk away.
When I looked back to give the boy a smug smirk, I let him know that I don't plan to let him talk with Helen! The child seemed to be shocked at my reaction and furrowed his brows.
Heh, sorry little boy but I don't think you'll ever get acquainted with my sister anytime soon.
"That was interesting." I thought out loud, my hands on my side as I chuckled proudly. "That boy's out of the way now so let's go to the garden and find those cats!"
"..." I didn't hear a reply at all.
"...Helen?" My voice was suddenly stuck in my throat when the sister I thought I was just talking to was out of my sight. I gulped and frantically looked at every direction, "Helen…?!" My voice was louder this time and the other people near me seemed to be surprised.
Why do I keep losing Helen in this crowd? I'm so used to big spaces that this feels too suffocating!
"Helen, where are you!?" My heart was thumping loudly now. I looked to my right and finally saw the adorable face. "Helen-" My eyes widened and my legs stopped on their own.
Wait… am I seeing this correctly?
Helen was there, smiling and conversing with someone that I don't know. The said someone had beautiful golden hair and a handsome smile that caught me off-guard. Such a good-looking boy is currently talking to my sister, making my heart drop just watching the two of them.
Don't tell me that boy is… is...
"A capture target…?!"