Chapter 4: CH 4

Evan seemed bewildered by the unexpected acceptance and fidgeted nervously.

“What should we do?”

When Riett asked, Evan rolled his eyes and said,

“Hide and seek!”

“……”

“Do you not want to…?”

As Riett hesitated, gauging Evan’s reaction, she soon nodded her head.

Since she had decided to go along with him anyway, she should make it somewhat enjoyable.

“No, let’s do it.”

“Yeah! It will be fun! Our mansion is huge, and there are plenty of places to hide!”

Evan enthusiastically explained, his features that were usually expressionless now lit up, making him quite cute…

‘No!’

Riett felt a momentary chill. It was creepy how she found herself unintentionally thinking that he was cute.

Riett steadied her heart and spoke to Evan.

“Okay. I’ll hide, and you’ll seek.”

“Okay!”

After telling Evan to wait for 10 minutes before starting to search, Riett left the terrace of the study.

She considered hiding in the garden, but the interior of the mansion itself was quite spacious, offering numerous hiding spots. Riett quietly made her way downstairs to the second floor.

In her wandering gaze, Riett noticed a door with a golden handle, standing alone.

Coincidentally, the door was slightly ajar, so Riett casually glanced inside.

Most of the items inside were covered in white cloth, giving the impression of a warehouse for storing decorations.

When she lifted the cloth, she found numerous plaster models and glass ornaments. Each one looked expensive.

Riett carefully surveyed the interior and found a spot that would be perfect for hiding.

‘This place looks good!’

Riett’s footsteps led her to an elegant wardrobe made of dark reddish-brown wood.

Riett opened the wardrobe door and noticed that there was enough space for two children and even more. Carefully avoiding touching the glass ornaments in front of the wardrobe, she squeezed her body into the available space.

She soon crouched down and made herself comfortable. The inside of the wardrobe was cozy and dark. As the thought of being perfectly hidden crossed her mind, a smirk formed on her face.

At first, she intended to play fair, but somehow she didn’t want to lose to Evan. That little brat! She would make him cry by not being able to find her! With that determination, Riett felt around the floor to find her spot.

However…

‘What’s this…?’

Her hand touched something cold. Looking down, she found a silver necklace. It seemed a bit rusty. But the necklace had a very peculiar appearance. It had a large green gem embedded in a silver chain.

The gem looked quite big and expensive, but the design was so tacky that she doubted anyone would want it, even if she were to offer it…

As she heard footsteps approaching in the corridor, Riett quickly tossed the ugly necklace anywhere and held her breath, hiding.

Thump, thump…

It felt like she had become the protagonist in a horror movie. Riett realized that her heart was pounding. She was fully immersed in the moment.

Through the crack in the door, she saw a small silhouette approaching, getting closer and closer to her hiding place.

“Hmm… Where did Riett hide?”

He really couldn’t find her. Riett, immersed in the triumph of her victory, was inwardly chuckling when suddenly…

“I found you, Riett!”

“Aaaah!”

Evan abruptly flung open the wardrobe door, startling Riett, who screamed in fright. Surprisingly, Evan was even more startled by Riett’s reaction.

“Aaaah!”

Startled, Evan took a step back and accidentally bumped his elbow against the glass decoration in front of the wardrobe.

“Hey, be careful!”

Seeing that, Riett hurriedly jumped out of the wardrobe and pushed Evan away.

Crash!

But in the end, the glass decoration shattered into pieces.

“R-Riett…! There’s blood!”

Glass shards scattered in all directions, cutting Riett’s foot. Riett looked down at her mangled foot and tightly closed her eyes.

“Ar-Are you okay, Riett…?”

Evan approached with a pale, frightened face and asked.

A sharp pain surged through her.

Evan looked at Riett’s injured foot and tears welled up in his eyes.

“Humph, it’s… because of me, because of me…”

“Stop making a fuss… Go and call the butler…”

Normally, she would have scolded him, saying, “You idiot! You hurt me!” But in this situation, she was scared, and the pain was unbearably intense.

Riett recalled the traffic accident before she was reincarnated into the book.

‘Back then, there was a lot of blood just like now…’

Like that day, the sticky blood flowed down her leg, tracing a crimson line.

As she thought about it, her head suddenly throbbed, and she felt suffocated.

She didn’t think that this level of injury would lead to anything serious, but…

‘Why do I feel so… dizzy?’

Blinking her clouded vision, Riett collapsed to the ground with a thud.

* * *

“Riett! Riett!”

Through Riett’s blurred vision, she saw a boy with a pale, angelic face. His face was so pure and beautiful that Riett naturally thought of him as an angel.

‘But… when did angels have black hair?’

Upon closer inspection, he seemed to have no wings…

“Ah! Riett, you can’t die…!”

His sobbing voice made Riett sigh.

Oh, she must be crazy. Mistaking Evan for an angel.

Riett felt anger rising and tried to focus on her hazy vision. And soon, Evan’s worried face came into focus.

“Riett…? Riett! You’re awake!”

Tears streaked his face, yet he smiled foolishly with that expression.

“Ah, my head hurts.”

Riett held her head and looked down at her foot. It was tightly wrapped in a white bandage.

“The butler gave you first aid. You bled a bit, but there shouldn’t be any serious injuries…”

The pain in her foot was much less than before. It must have been just a superficial cut from the glass shards.

Fainting and being reminded of the situation when she died in her past life, seemed unnecessary.

As she let out a sigh, Evan fidgeted and spoke.

“Riett… I’m sorry. If I hadn’t suggested playing hide-and-seek, this wouldn’t have happened…”

“Haa.”

Riett sighed as she looked at Evan’s guilt-ridden face.

‘What should I do? Should I grab his head and shake it?’

As she pondered, she raised her head. The promise she made with the old man came to mind.

If she did that, this timid guy’s personality would bury itself even deeper.

“It’s not your fault.”

Riett’s gentle words, which felt unfamiliar even to herself, made Evan momentarily dumbfounded, but he soon began to earnestly console her.

“No, it’s not! It’s because I wasn’t careful… And you even saved me!”

Look at this kid. He tries to raise his voice when he could have just calmly talked.

Unable to contain her patience any longer, Riett shouted back.

“Then think it’s your fault, you idiot!”

She expected him to burst into tears again, but Evan just sat silently against the corner of the wall with a gloomy face.

“Riett… Maybe… Do you hate me more now?”

“No. I already hated you to the maximum, so there’s no room for more hatred.”

Riett’s firm words made Evan’s face crumple.

“You’re lying… You say you hate me, but you always help me.”

“No, I don’t.”

It ended up like this, but she never intended to help him in the first place! She just acted on instinct this time too!

She thought about making excuses, but she had no energy, and she just wanted him to think whatever he wanted.

“Then… what kind of person does Riett like?”

He suddenly asked a question that she hadn’t even considered.

Thinking that she should show this frustrating guy a taste of bitterness, she sighed and answered while rubbing her head.

“Someone like a duke.”

“A duke… you mean my father?”

“Yeah.”

“Why…?”

“He’s smarter, kinder, and more handsome than you.”

It was a statement meant to provoke Evan, but it was also true.

Duke Kreutz, as seen by Riett, was an ideal adult.

With his upright posture, gentle facial expression, cultured speech and behavior, and his considerate kindness towards others, not to mention his good looks that hadn’t faded despite his age.

He was the perfect middle-aged man.

‘If only I were a little older, I could have tried to seduce him.’

Riett looked at Evan, hiding her regret. Evan’s usual fragile eyes looked somewhat different.

“What about me?”

“You’re just you.”

“I’m… I’m smart too, and handsome, and kind…”

As he spoke, his face turned red with embarrassment. Tsk, why did he say something like that?

But there was something she needed to address.

“You think you’re smart?”

“Riett saw it… I remember everything after seeing it once!”

She wanted to deny it, but she couldn’t refute that statement. Riett looked dissatisfied as she asked the next question.

“Do you think you’re handsome?”

“Charlotte from next door, or Jane from the next-next door… They chase after me every day…”

Hmm. Every time she’s been to the Duke’s, she has seen girls hanging around there, and she wonder if they’re the ones he mentioned.

Although it’s subtle to call a child handsome, his overly cute and delicate face was indeed accurate.

Of course, she already knows Evan’s future appearance from the novel’s description.

Riett is annoyed, but once again, she couldn’t deny it.

But there was one last question remaining.

“Do you think you’re kind?”

“…I want to treat Riett well, but whenever I try, Riett gets angry at me…”

“That’s the problem!”

Finally, there was room for a rebuttal, and confidence crept into Riett’s voice.

“You’re too timid!”

“…”

“You speak slowly, and you stammer at the slightest thing, you can’t even look me in the eye!”

Riett looked at Evan with a determined expression. By this point, Evan should be moistening his eyes and looking at himself…

‘What’s with that expression?’

Evan tightly clenched his fists and stared at Riett.

But unlike his usual expression, it looked quite determined, almost imposing.

As if he had made up his mind about something.

“…Then, would you like me if I won’t do that?”

“Yes……, at least I won’t be as angry as I am now!”

She almost choked on her words. Riett, who was about to answer ‘Yes,’ was taken aback by Evan’s words for the first time.

Riett quickly put on her usual enthusiastic expression and looked at Evan.

But the atmosphere was subtly different.

The eyebrows that were always knitted together seemed to have disappeared, and Evan showed a faint smile.

Between his well-shaped eyes, his distinct black pupils shone brightly.

“Got it. I’ll try to be the person Riett wants.”