Home/I Saved the Villain and Fell Asleep/ch 52

Chapter 52

"Goodness, young lady! You've been running around the mountains all this time, and your already excellent stamina has only gotten better! I'm sure you'll be the most energetic in high society!"

Chalet's elegant voice came from above. I was currently one with the floor, and I was not moving.

"Now! Just one more time, and we'll wrap up for today?"

"Chalet! You said 'just one more time' earlier too!"

I never knew Chalet was such a perfectionist.

I knew she was a good teacher—when Sier and I learned social dancing from Mother, Chalet had given us pointers on the side. But no one told me she was this Spartan!

"These things are better the more they're ingrained in your body."

"I've ingrained enough!"

"Oh my? Didn't you just step on the young master's foot a moment ago?"

"That's because..."

It wasn't my fault—Kali's footwork was off! Kali was good at etiquette like posture and table manners, but social dancing was his weak spot.

"Really, just one more time...?"

I dragged myself up from the floor. Kali, who had also been getting posture corrections from Simon, approached me with an annoyed face.

"Let's do it this way, Kali."

Teasing him for creaking and not being able to dance was fun for the first few rounds, but I could tell he was getting sulky. Pushing him further would only make things harder for me, so I made a suggestion.

"Your foot goes back, and I step into where your foot was—but that's not working. I'll give you signals."

"Signals?"

"By pressing your palm or the back of your hand. Let's try."

"Just this once. That's it for today."

Ugh, I'm trying to help, and you talk like that.

We moved our feet to the music. Whenever Kali got stuck, I pressed the back of his hand, and he naturally moved his foot back, letting me step into the empty space.

Just as I thought the timing was perfect—

"That's it! Good—aack!!"

Excited that we might finally finish, I opened my mouth and tripped. Kali caught my staggering body and pulled me down to the floor with him.

"Whoa!"

"Young lady! Young master!"

Chalet rushed toward us, then abruptly stopped. With a delighted-sounding "Oh my!"

There are countless things in this world that are like irresistible natural disasters.

"Irresistible" means a force that cannot be resisted by human power... and I am human. And this happened because of a force I couldn't resist!

"Oh my, oh my. Are you hurt anywhere? Oh dear, the young master looks dazed."

This was an accident. And he's only fifteen, just a kid. A little lip brush is just child's play!

Though he's big for fifteen...!

"Ah, I'm fine. What are you doing, Kali? Get up."

But apparently, I was the only one who thought that. I grabbed Kali, who was frozen stiff and not even breathing, and shook him hard.

"Hey, hey. That was an accident. Okay? Our lips touched. It wasn't a kiss."

"Hoho, you must be quite embarrassed. Your face is bright red."

Chalet, grinning from ear to ear, covered her mouth and laughed.

Why are you turning so red! What did we even do? Our lips just brushed! You little brat!

"Kali? Hey! Why did you turn to stone? I'm not Medusa."

"Do-don't touch me."

"What?"

When I poked Kali's leg with my finger, a shaky voice came from above.

Before I could look up, Kali strode out of the hall. I watched his back in disbelief.

"What?"

"Oh my, how adorable."

"No, Chalet, why are you laughing all by yourself? That was an accident!"

"I didn't say anything, though? Hmm? Young lady, your face is red too?"

"It's not red!!"

Ha, honestly. How could a little kid's kiss make my face red? Hah, I mean, I'm... I'm an adult! An adult!

This is just a childhood—what's it called—an incident! Yeah! That's what it is!

Even when the tailor came after dance class to pick out outfits for the party, Kali and I were both half-zoned out.

Algenprina Hariella! You didn't drink and kiss him, so why are you acting like such a fool? No, of course! Even in my past life, I didn't exactly live a wild life! But I am a fool!

"Did you two fight?"

Since we were just sitting quietly nodding to Mother's questions without our usual grumbling, she asked if we'd fought. I shook my head vigorously with wide eyes, but she clearly didn't believe me.

After dozens of questions about whether we'd fought and dozens of head shakes, I finally gave up, grabbed Kali, stood him in front of me, and pulled out my club.

"Kali, choose."

"What? You want to fight?"

"Option one—take a hit and forget what happened earlier. Option two—don't take a hit and snap out of it. Pick one!"

"What earlier?"

Huh? Did he already forget without being hit?

"Oh, the lip touch? Don't tell me you thought I was still hung up on that?"

If Philip were here, he'd probably yell about how rude and uncultured that teasing tone was. But...

"Your ears are bright red."

I bit my lip to keep from laughing.

He was trying to act like it was nothing, but sorry, Kali—that failed. Sorry. I'm just too observant.

"It's because you make me mad."

"Puhahaha!!"

He was so cute when he denied it that I reached out and ruffled his hair.

"You adorable thing."

"Are you done?"

"You can be embarrassed, you know? What can I do? Your noona took your first kiss."

"First! Ki...! Don't be ridiculous!"

When he was in his adult form from the magical tool, he could say all sorts of sly things—guess that was really because of the magic.

If he grows up, there won't be any fun in teasing him, so I might as well have my fill now.

Today is the day. It absolutely must be today.

To handle the things I'd been too busy to remember, I wrapped myself in the hat and left my room. First stop: Sier.

The hat is great, but it doesn't hide sound. My footsteps echoed through the empty hallway.

...This is nice? I hate being scared, but when I'm the one doing it, it's different!

I reached Sier's door and knocked. I held my breath so I wouldn't make a sound.

"What?"

Sier opened the door, saw no one in the hallway, and closed it again.

Hmm, Sier didn't seem like the type to be scared. He used to walk alone in dark hallways even as a kid.

Knock, knock. I knocked again, and Sier flung the door open. He stared straight ahead—right at where I was—and even though I knew he couldn't see me, I still tensed up.

"Hmm, I smell something."

Smell? What smell? I showered!

Sier tilted his head and called into the room.

"Bibi! Bibi, come here!"

Bibi? Oh no!

Bibi shot out of Sier's room and ran straight toward me, completely ignoring the hat's magic.

"Aaah!! Bibi!!"

Bibi grabbed the hat in his mouth and started pulling, unraveling it in an instant.

"I knew it was you."

"How?!"

"You mentioned the hat during tea time, remember? And your mana smells like trees, Hari."

"Tch, I wanted to surprise you."

"Just so you know—don't try this on Irein. Got it? Never do that."

"Irein? He's not scared of anything. He wouldn't be surprised."

"It's not about being scared or not. He's a creature of instinct—he might hurt you."

That made sense. Irein would probably throw a punch first and ask questions later.

"Come in."

The room was dimly lit, as if he'd been about to sleep. Sier shuffled to the bed and flopped onto it.

I stroked Bibi's back as he squirmed and burrowed into Sier's arms, and asked him.

"Are you really tired? From the heir lessons?"

"It's manageable. The more I do it, the more I think it was the right choice for me to take over."

"Why?"

"Because either Irein or you would have quit and walked out by now."

"Are you really not forcing yourself?"

"I'm not forcing myself. Anyway, everyone in this family is peculiar—turning down a dukedom that others would kill for. I hear in some families, succession disputes are life-or-death."

Yes. The Czerban Grand Ducal house comes to mind.

"If I become Duke, do you think I could rival Irein?"

Sier's voice was listless. Irein, who had come back to the ducal estate with us, must have tormented him again—he looked pitiful.

"Probably not."

"Figured. Damn it."

I patted Sier's back as he clutched his head and buried his face in the pillow.

"So, what brings my little sister to visit her brother at this hour?"

I quietly pulled out my Goblin Club.

"...Did I do something wrong?"

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