Without revealing that she had actually figured out Reine's plan, Aelia calmly said, "Brother Az gave this gown to me. Giving you something that was actually gifted to me, is against my morals! However, thank you for your gift!"
Seeing that her plan of acquiring the exquisite gown had failed, Reine gritted her teeth. She consoled herself by thinking that at least the other part of her plan had succeeded. She believed that Aelia was just hesitant about giving away the gown sent by Azrael, as it would be truly against her ethics of giving away something gifted to her. She was sure that Aelia had agreed to wear the plain blue gown for her birthday party. Thinking about the humiliation that Aelia would face at her own birthday party, Reine gleefully smiled and bade good night to the two sisters.
As soon as Reine went out and closed the door, Aylin anxiously asked, "Sister, are you really going to wear that simple blue dress? It definitely does not suit the occasion of a birthday party! She is obviously planning to humiliate you on your birthday!"
Seeing the worried expression on her sister's face, Aelia rubbed her head and said, "Silly girl! If even you can figure out her thoughts, do you think that I would be fooled by her acting?"
Aylin scrunched up her nose and indignantly asked, "Then why did you not say anything to her? She acted as if she was so generous while giving away that ugly dress, and you even thanked her for it!"
Aelia explained with a small smile, "While beating the grass, don't startle the snake. Now that we know about their schemes, we have the upper hand. Hence we must not alert them so that it'll be easy to catch them unawares."
After hearing the explanation, Aylin agreed with her sister.
"You are right! Ugh! All these schemes are making me feel tired! I'll go to sleep now. Good night, sis!"
As Aylin left her room, Aelia too felt tired after the long hours of studying and went to bed. Lying on the bed she tossed and turned, but still failed to fall asleep, despite being exhausted.
Just like the time when she felt that something bad was about to happen, just a day before her mother passed away; this time too she felt a similar sense of anxiety. However, instead of feeling anxious about an upcoming danger, she was feeling strangely excited. She dismissed her intuition as the excitement caused by drinking too much caffeine.
As she could not fall asleep, various thoughts circled in her mind. She briefly thought about whom her brother had got to buy her dress this time, for her brother's taste was a little more traditional. She thought of asking her brother about it when he returned. Just as she was about to fall asleep, the words on the birthday card floated to her mind, "See you soon!" She seemed to be coming upon a realisation, but her mind was too muddled by drowsiness to completely focus on the thought.
Aelia spent the next day studying for her ongoing exams. On the evening of the next day, she was sitting in the drawing-room with Aylin, for their brother was supposed to return on that day. Just as the doorbell rang, Aylin jumped up from the sofa and dashed towards the door. Seeing this, their father who was coming down the stairs from his bedroom on the second floor shook his head and scolded Aylin with an indulgent smile, "How many times have I told you to not rush about like that? One of these days you could get hurt."
Just as he finished saying those words, Azrael stepped inside the door. Aylin squealed and hugged her brother. Seeing the playful action of his youngest sister, Azrael warmly smiled at her while rubbing her head.
"Ah! When did my baby sister grow up so much?", said Azrael while pinching Aylin's cheeks.
"Oh jeez! Don't pinch my cheeks brother! I'm not a little girl anymore! Besides how would you know that I have grown up when you never visit us at home", complained Aylin with a pout.
Hearing his youngest sibling's complaints, Azrael gave an indulging smile and said, "Alright! Alright! It's my fault!"
Then he turned towards Aelia who had also come up to greet him. She gave a warm smile and said, "Welcome home brother!"
Azrael said to her after giving his coat to the maid, "Won't you give a to hug your big brother?"
Aelia smiled and hugged him. Azrael rubbed her head and looked at their father, who had come down the stairs.
"If you girls knew that he was coming today, why didn't you inform me? I would have ordered a celebratory feast for your brother's return!" said Mr Romanov with a small smile.
Azrael interjected, "Don't blame them, Dad! I wanted to give you a surprise, so I told them to not inform you about my arrival!"
As the four of them were chatting with each other, Reine came down the stairs and was surprised to see an unfamiliar handsome man talking with Mr Romanov and the two siblings. As she had never met Azrael before, Reine asked curiously, "Father, who is this?"
Hearing Mr Romanov suddenly being addressed as 'father' by a stranger, Azrael raised an eyebrow and looked at Reine with a cold expression.
Mr Romanov cleared his throat and awkwardly explained, "Az, meet your half-sister Reine. Reine this is my eldest son, Azrael."
After the awkward introduction, Mr Romanov asked Azrael to meet him in his office after dinner. Azrael nodded his head and turned towards his two younger sisters, Aelia and Aylin, while promptly ignoring Reine.
During dinner, Aelia asked, "Brother, how long are you going to stay this time?"
While putting their favourite dishes on the plates of the two sisters, Azrael replied, "I'm not sure yet, but I would be staying at least for a week. And don't worry! You guys will be seeing more of me from now on!"
Hearing this the two sisters as well as their father was pleasantly surprised. They smiled and continued eating their dinner.
Seeing the pampering action of Azrael towards the two sisters, Reine felt extremely jealous. She was stewing in anger for being coldly dismissed by Azrael and was also worried that her plan of humiliating Aelia during her birthday party might not succeed now that Azrael had returned. So she began to form another plan.
...
MINI THEATRE
Author: Big brother Az is back!
ML: Hey! When will I be able to meet my darling Aelia? You have even introduced that wily fox Azrael! Do you want to see what I do to my useless subordinates?
Author (a little intimidated): Well, technically speaking I'm not one of your subordinates, Your Highness!
ML: Hmph! Even after using my reference in the title of our story, you still haven't let me meet my Aelia! I see you have a lot of courage! Guards!"
Author (pitifully): W-wait, Your Highness! If you do something to me, you'll never get to meet Aelia.
(ML glares coldly at the author)
Author: Your Highness! I have a way to make you meet Aelia sooner! But...
ML: What?
Author: Well, you see writing about your story is quite tiring! And if you get introduced sooner, my lonely self has to also eat a load of dog food! Still, I might be motivated enough to introduce you sooner, if our readers can cheer me up with their VOTES and POWER STONES.
ML (glaring): Are you now using me to promote your story? Good! Very good! You really have a lot of courage to use my name to promote your novel.
Author (tearing a little): W-w-well, isn't it a simple request? Besides it's not my story, it's technically your story.
ML (in a subdued voice): Readers, please hurry up and vote with POWER STONES! I might shrivel up if I don't get to see my Aelia soon!
Author (gratefully): Thank you, Your Highness! And don't worry, if our readers give me enough motivation you might be able to meet our darling Aelia soon!
ML: Who's our Aelia? How dare you call her 'ours'? Aelia is mine! Hmph!
Author: Yes, yes!
Azrael: You bastard! How dare you say that my sister is yours? Since when?
ML: She has always been mine!
[Seeing the two men rolling up their sleeves to fight, Author pulls them off the stage with great effort]
Author: Phew! Well, readers please do VOTE for me and COMMENT about your thoughts to let me know how you feel about the story. See you in the next chapter! Happy Reading!