Chapter 9

HLMS Chapter 9

Rosé is Gabriel’s soulmate, and Gabriel is Rosé’s soulmate as well.

I was shocked when I heard Rosé’s absurd question, because I knew for sure that it was the eventual fate for both of them.

‘When did Rosé reject Gabriel in the original novel?’

I don’t remember that part of the story, but it seems odd.

I know without a doubt that Gabriel would love to be with Rosé, just as much as I love her.

Rosé then pouts her lips.

“But it’s so boring to enter an arranged marriage with someone I’ve never met before.”

The Marquis’s face became stern.

“It was an arranged marriage appointed by the Emperor himself, my dear. If you go around saying these things, you’ll be in big trouble. Do you understand?”

“Is it bad if the aristocrats talk about it?”

“Well our Youngest Lady is one of the pinnacles of the nobility.”

My mind wandered while looking at the Marquis’s troubled face.

Come to think of it, there were other minor changes from the original plot.

For example, in the original story Rosé studied hard to receive her father’s praise and approval.

But now my sister is…….

‘I don’t like classes.’

And that’s not all.

Originally, Rosé had poor health. Hence, she lacked the stamina to run for extended periods of time.

There was also a scene in the novel where Gabriel blamed himself for a cold that she had caught, which was caused by a lot of other minor illnesses she had incurred.

The so-called frail heroine.

‘But our Rosé right now is strong enough to even chew on wood, right?’

Of course, Rosé still had some weak moments when she was younger.

In contrast, ever since I was born, I’ve been so healthy that I’ve wondered whether my father might have secretly fed me a dragon heart.

(TN/N: it’s a metaphor means strong and powerful being)

“Miss Rosé, what can you say about your eldest sister Hildea?”

Rosé and I look at each other at the same time.

I try to smile, but my lips stay down and my hands remain folded. But Rosé’s eyes sparkle lovingly at the question.

“My sister is very beautiful; she’s perfect. She’s more elegant than any other noble lady!”

Well I appreciate the compliment, but I think that’s way too much.

“Well of course someone taught her about…. Wait. Miss Rosé, that’s not what I’m talking about. What I meant to say is that you should watch and learn from her!”

Rosé pursed her lips.

“Ah, I can’t do that. We’re different.”

“What do you mean different? I’ve been teaching both of you, so that you can learn together! Today we will be extending your class by one hour. Miss Hill, you can leave now.”

“Sister!”

As I step out of the room, I look back at Rosé who has a look of betrayal while the Marquis beckoned. I try to reassure her that it would be okay, and walk out the door.

Rosé is cute, but she needs to be educated more on etiquette.

Because I don’t want to see Rosé humiliated in a party.

-ˏˋ ━━━━━━ ʚ ɞ ━━━━━━ ˊˎ-

Deep in the night.

Rosé is already asleep, having been exhausted from today’s class extension. That’s why I’m alone in my room.

“Let’s experiment.”

I push the flowerpot with my hand and it smashes on the floor.

I gulp down nervously.

“Please. Please.”

Since it’s a very small flower pot, no one comes running in with a surprised look. I stare at the broken flower pot and carefully reach my hand out.

Ok…..

“It really wasn’t a dream.”

The flower pot has been restored to its original condition perfectly.

When I lift up the pot and look it over, there are no cracks or defects.

“What kind of skill is this?”

After hearing those words from the servant the other day, I decided to focus my efforts on something productive rather than wallowing.

That’s why I’m trying to check.

To follow the basic rule of the novel , as one of the characters in the story, I should possess an ability as well.

“No way?”

Things that I had previously overlooked come to mind.

A plant that practically shines whenever I touch it and the flowers in the garden that have lived for a very long time.

It wasn’t just those instances.

A few days ago, a bird with an injured wing fell on the window sill, and then ate the fruit from a nearby plant that I was cultivating. After a while, the bird was cured and flew away.

“Are my Congratulatory remarks healing?”

But why did rumors circulate that my Congratulatory remarks are very unlucky?

I was deep in thought.

I need to know exactly what my abilities are.

I really don’t want to, but there may come a time when I will have to leave this mansion.

I love Rosé, and I’m also fond of my Father, but the servant’s words reminded me of all the worries I’ve been pushing down.

That’s why I’m trying.

I decided to study hard to become smarter, and enjoy the benefits of a noble young lady who is rich enough to live well wherever I go.

If I have the ability to heal, it will be of great help no matter what my situation is in the future.

“If it’s healing, then I won’t die. I’ll be able to heal people and make money from it. Even the village chiefs said that physicians would be welcome.”

That’s a good thing right? But why do I feel so sad when I start thinking of that kind of future?

Ignoring the unknown emotions, I take out the shoes that I had lovingly stored.

“Just like they said, whenever you have a lot of things on your mind, the best thing is to move.”

These mysterious shoes have a soft material that makes me feel like I’m jumping on clouds, and I love the cute little wings on them.

After carefully putting on my shoes, my feet feel very comfortable.

“My gift……”

It was hard before because I didn’t have the right shoes to wear when I worked out at night.

Since I couldn’t do it during the day, I could only workout at night.

(TN/N: this answers the reason why the security is really tight especially at night to provide protection whenever Hildea is doing her exercise at night.)

First of all, young noble girls do not run or train like knights in earnest, even if they do exercise like horseback riding.

I had no intention of attracting attention.

‘Wait a minute. But seriously, why did he give me these shoes? As if I knew he knew that these were what I needed the most.’

No one in the mansion knows that I’m secretly exercising at night, right?

‘Is this really a coincidence?’

I tilted my head. There’s no way there’s CCTV here. Then what could it be?

-ˏˋ ━━━━━━ ʚ ɞ ━━━━━━ ˊˎ-

Anyways, while I was on my way back from exercising outside…

‘Something feels kind of strange……?’

The hallway seems excessively quiet.

It’s a place where not a baby ant passed by, but strangely, I have an ominous feeling.

And chills are running down my back.

Please, please…..

‘Gasp.’

At that moment.

I could see a black shadow standing at the end of the hallway, but of course nothing and no one is supposed to be there!

I feel like I want to scream and then faint afterwards.

‘You’re not a spirit, are you?’

Then, I realize that it’s a human being. That said, no matter how much I look at it, it’s clearly nothing more than a thief.

It seems absurd. Who in the world has the audacity to attempt to rob the Hillington family?

But then again.

The good thing is, I hadn’t made eye contact with the thief yet.

‘Damn it. I just need to get out of here, quietly.’

But to be honest.

The Hillington mansion is not an easy place for thieves to break into.

So it’s possible that it may not be a simple thief. It might be someone more skilled than that.

‘Don’t come near me, you thief. First off, I will leave quietly on my own.’

I don’t have the ability to take down that intruder in one shot, so I need to go back and call people, and then……

But the moment I turn around, the thief turns his head towards me.

‘Ahh!’

He’s so fast: that’s why I might be caught any moment now.

I desperately turn around and flee.

At that moment.

Squeak!

‘Huh?’

A long, clear sound echoed in the hallway.

‘What is that?’

As I stepped back, I could hear the strange noise again.

Squeak.

I’m very certain. The sound is coming from my feet.

“….. What.”

Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!

As I looked down distressed, I wondered if that squeaky sound was coming from the shoes that were given to me by my Father.

But that’s not all – the shoes have flashing lights as well. I feel like they’re the same shoes that were worn by children aged seven or eight in my previous life.

I’m screaming inside.

‘Dad what kind of gift did you give me?!’

And why at a time like this!

It was then.

“Who are you?”

Suddenly, my body was spun around. The grip on my shoulder is so strong that I think my arm is about to fall off.

‘Are you asking me who I am right now when you’re the suspicious person here?!’

As soon as I look back with a scream, I make eye contact with my opponent.

“Gasp.”

“I asked you, who are you?….”

His face is covered with a mask, and only his eyes are exposed.

Bright purple eyes shining in the moonlight.

‘Purple….. ?’

Purple. And the exposed eyebrows are a brilliant platinum color.

When I remember who had such a combination, I feel kind of strange.

I hope not. But then it makes sense……

“What, what?”

It was then that the masked opponent collapsed like a bale of straw, when I was on the verge of running away. His face before fainting looked as if he was afraid of losing me.

I was devastated.

“You just asked me who I am, but then you suddenly collapsed.”

This person seems so pitiful that I wonder if he’s the same person who brutally interrogated me moments before.

“Hey.”

At first, I wondered if he was just faking it, but it seemed unlikely that a thief who’s even fully armed like that would change his mind out of nowhere and lay down in front of the daughter of the landlord.

I squatted down.

“Hey, this isn’t a hidden camera prank, is it?”

I try to step in, just to make sure that he’s breathing.

Ha.

“Boy, why are you short of breath?”

I grab my opponent’s mask with my trembling hands and slowly take it off.

“Ha!”

I stare blankly at the fully exposed face.

His messy hair looks like a honey skein.

(PR Note: It’s a Korean dessert similar to Dragon Beard’s Candy)

‘Hey, is it Gabriel? Platinum blonde hair and purple eyes. And the ability to break into the Hillington residence at his age. It can’t be anyone else but him.’

Gabriel.

He was the male lead in this novel.

My mind went blank for a moment.

But what’s this?

The original story hasn’t even started yet. Did I just witness the Male Lead stealing?

Hehehe…. So the Male Lead also had this kind of secret.

“But he looks so pretty.…. I think that he looks prettier than me?”

In there was a storyline where Gabriel approached Rosé first to break the cumbersome marriage, but later was anxious to see it through.

And Gabriel, who was colder than everyone else, acted like he was a darling who would cut open his body and give his heart to Rosé.

‘It was love at first sight.’

I shivered.

Gabriel is a scary guy.

He was also an actor who could pretend to be kind to the people around him when he needed it, except in front of Rosé. Outside of his love for her, no other subject had value for him.

However, it wasn’t that he was kind to Rosé from the beginning.

‘The reason Gabriel first tried to break the contract was because Hillington lost the token of engagement.”

Wait.

I just realized.

‘Maybe he was the culprit?’

The motive fits perfectly.

The thief who stole the token was none other than Gabriel!

He was trying to brazenly break up the engagement using the stolen token. Because he was the one who stole it!

“However…. Why did you collapse when you saw me, considering your main purpose is to steal the token? Did you think that I was a ghost? And in this situation, what should I do?”

Should I help him or not?

‘However.’

When I think about what this kid has been through when he was young, it’s hard to pretend that I don’t pity him.

“Okay, just this one time.”

Hearing some murmurs in the distance, it seemed that people had heard my noisy shoes and were coming.

I shut my eyes tightly. In the end, there’s only one option.

Let’s escape from here before this boy gets caught.

‘It’s fate.’

I put the Male Lead’s arm around my neck with a bleak face.

Wow!

“If you are a man, you should save the woman, and you should also save the woman who will be your older sister. But then again why did you collapse?”

It felt like my face was about to burst from struggling with the unbearable weight, but I was able to eventually lift and drag him.

“Oh, you’re so heavy! I didn’t work out enough for this…….”

You really have to thank me, Male Lead.