Cured of it

She was cured of that cold sooner than she had expected. The cold seemed extremely horrible on the first day, but from the next day onwards, it barely caused her to feel anything.

Even in the modern world, such a recovery state would be considered a miracle.

Maybe it could be that her current body had an amazing immunity.

There was one more possibility that crossed her mind, but she brushed that off as soon as it appeared.

It was that a Mage was hired to get her cured. But taking in the position she was in, that seemed like a joke, especially when her father and brothers did not care about her.

Moreover, in the novel, there were no mentions of Mage being hired to cure 'Seraphine'.

In a world that was filled with magic, such creatures were not uncommon. As their name suggested, Mages dealt with magic.

There were various types of Mages, and they were ranked according to their abilities. Since the author did not go into much description when it came to the Mages, Seraphine was barely aware of details when it came to them.

But one thing she knew was that hiring Mages to cure someone took a lot of power and money. It was fair to say that, other than the Royal family, hiring a Mage was improbable.

Moreover, she wasn't facing anything life-threatening.

That's why, this narrowed down to the fact that a Mage wasn't employed to cure her.

But that wasn't her concern.

Now that she had managed to postpone the meeting with Venessa Ilyster and was cured within merely three days, a rush of excitement went through her.

Wearing a wide smile on her face, she ran to through the garden. Due to the arrival of the winter, the air leaned to the cooler and refreshing side.

Betty and Anna was right behind her, carrying a picnic basket and a mat. However, Seraphine wasn't in the mood to do so.

Although, by the turn of strange events, she was a four year old again, this might not be repeated, and, therefore, she wanted to take advantage of it. 

People tend to act mature from quite a young age at here, and that's why, she wanted to be a child as long as she was able.

Even though the luck of the Female Lead here was rotten, 'Seraphine' barely attracted trouble as a four year old, and as long as she was able to avoid the few red flags, it would be fine.

"Lady Seraphine, please rest now. You have just recovered," Betty said, stopping beside the four year old.

However, those words hold Seraphine's attention for her eyes fell on a particular figure— the third brother. Eugene Vougeious sat under the shade, and on the table before him various kinds of snacks were served.

In his hand seemed to be something that resembled a book.

'Wait!? What? A book!? A three year old is going through a fucking book instead of eating those delicious sweets? Damn! Look at those cookies!'

Seraphine did not get the chance to taste the desserts here due to how she was sick the day she arrived here, and even for the picnic today, Betty packed up some bland food, worried about her health.

Tired of those flavours, Seraphine found her mouth instantly watering when she noticed the desserts in front of the three year old.

Since the boy wasn't even going to try them in the first place, there is nothing wrong with her grabbing some, right?

Moreover, taking in the fact that she was a four year old, there wouldn't be nothing wrong with her grabbing a few!

Of course if she was in her older version, there was no way she would be able to do something as humiliating as this!

With that thought in her mind, she made her way over to the table.

Yes, she was aware of how Eugene did not like dealing with Seraphine, and all of this conversation with 'Seraphine' was basically 'Seraphine' annoying the hell out of him! 

But Seraphine was not going to talk with him. As siblings should, she was merely sharing food with him, and seeing how unconcerned the boy was, there wouldn't be any problem with that.

Like that, she justified her actions and confidently made her way towards the shade. After climbing few steps, she extended her hand upwards and grabbed a chocolate cookie from the plate.

Before placing the cookie inside of her mouth, she stole a glance at the younger boy. He seemed to ignore her presence.

Not knowing where her sudden shamelessness came to her, but she took that as a yes. Since this boy had a rude tongue as well, asking him would turn disastrous.

Biting into the cookie, a smile instantly formed on her face as the sweet taste dissipated through her tongue. Although this world lacked lots of ingredients, it seemed that they knew how to prepare good dessert.

Sadly, that wasn't enough to satisfy her appetite.

"Lady Seraphine, please don't. What if you get sick again?" Betty questioned.

"It will be all fine," she replied.

Her eyes then fell on the small cupcake, and after licking her lower lip, she went for the strawberry cupcake. After eating the strawberry, she devoured the entire dessert in only few bites.

Seeing all the assortments of dessert on the table, she knew that it would be a pity if she left without trying all of them. Noticing how the boy wasn't having a problem due to it, she decided to not be courteous.

After moving slightly to the side, she pulled the chair back and sat up on it. As for Betty and Anna, they stared at their Lady silently and nervously.

°°°

Without placing the book on the table, the young boy extended his hand towards plate and felt it being empty. Surprised, he lifted his head and took in the site before him.

On the chair opposite to him was a four year old. Her mouth, garments, and the table had crumbs lying on it. The macaroon in her hand confirmed that she was behind the missing snacks.

Once she was done with the last macaroon, Seraphine noticed how all of the plates were empty, and disappointment crossed through her. She was too into it that she had lost the track of it, and even now her appetite wasn't satisfied.

Stepping up, Betty made her way over to the lady with a handkerchief and bowing slightly, she gently wiped away crumbs from her before fixing her dress.

"You ate it all."

Hearing the first sound from three year old surprised the girl, and she instantly jolted her head up. As her gaze met with his, immediate guilt erupted within her.

His impassive eyes did not make her feel any better.

It made her feel as if she stolen candy from a three year, and she wasn't able to deny that she something wrong.

No, she wasn't planning to eat all of them, but the problem was that once she started, there was no way she was able to stop herself. This is how she ended up clearing all the plates.

Ignoring the nagging guilt inside of her, she bowed her head and said, "I am sorry. Since I have been starved for days, I wasn't able to hold myself. I will compensate you for it."

This wasn't a lie; she was starved of delicious food!

He scoffed and stated, "Get away from my face!"

His rude tongue did not infuriate much as the others' for this was the way she would react too if someone took away all of her desserts from her. That was totally infuriating.

Out of all the brothers, he was the one who she liked most— although that like was really small— and that was because he never bothered 'Seraphine' beforehand. 

But it was a different matter when one was being disrespectful to their older sibling. Although she was at the wrong side, he was more at fault for raising his voice someone older than him.

This caused her to feel displeased with him.

Raising one of her eyebrows, she questioned, "Do you own this place?"

It did not come as shock to her when the boy did not bother to argue with her, and picking up his book, he got up from the chair, about to leave. 

Since she had no intentions of sitting here, it would be wrong of her to occupy the position.

That's why, standing up, she said, "You can stay here; I don't want to be here. But from best time onwards, I will not be letting you off easily if you show that rotten temper of yours again."

The boy just blankly stared at her.

°°°

When the sudden pain in her stomach caused the girl to collapse and fall on her knees was when Seraphine regretted devouring all of those snacks.

Her face started to turn pale, and creases formed between both of her eyebrows. As her stomach was being painfully squeezed, tears formed at the corner of her eyes.

The scream that escaped from her mouth attracted the attention from those around her, and everyone immediately hurried in her direction.

"Lady Seraphine!" Betty exclaimed— her eyes widening at the girl's action.

She immediately got on her knees, and while anxiety was visible upon her features, she placed her palm on her shoulder.

"It hurts," Seraphine said, "My s-stomach."

It seemed that it had slipped her mind that she was mere toddler right and wasn't able to consume that much.

"Lady Seraphine, hang on. It will be fine. I will take you to see the doctor instantly," Betty voiced out— her tone showing how she was close to panicking.

Immediately, Betty carried the girl in her lap before standing up. All the servants stared at them, and some of them followed after the Lady.

"Someone call for the doctor!" Betty loudly said.

Sweat dripped down her forehead while she hurried her steps. Seraphine, on the other hand, bit her lower lip in order to get rid of the intense ache.

°°°

Once she had taken the medicine, the pain was gradually starting to alleviate, and after running a final test on her, the doctor left. The advise the doctor had left was for her to be careful about her diet in the future.

Beside her bed stood her mother with tears in her eyes, and Betty stared at the ground. Although she was glad that Seraphine was fine, the guilt could be easily shown on her features.

Bowing to her mother, Betty said, "This is all my fault, Your Highness. I am willing to accept any kind of punishment to compensate for my negligence."

Betty wasn't exactly at fault for this. 

The girl was quite young, and this was her first time she was taking care of a toddler. It was common for her to slip up. 

The only reason her parents hired her as Seraphine's personal maid and caretaker was because of how reliable she was despite her young age.

Although her mother had a mild temperament, Seraphine noticed that her mother was quite disappointed and angered at Betty. 

Since a four year old couldn't be blamed for wanting to have snacks, it was her caretaker's fault for not paying attention to her.

Pursing her lips, Seraphine felt guilt rising within her. There was nothing she could currently do to help poor Betty. This was all her fault yet Betty had to be punished.

Betty even tried to stop her in the beginning.

"Please don't punish Betty. This is not her fault," Seraphine spoke out weakly— her bottom lip quivering.

She was aware that her words would have barely have any effect in the current situation but still wanted to try. It would be too regretful if she didn't do anything.

Immediately, she could feel Betty's gaze on her, and it appeared that she was touched by Seraphine's words. This only caused Seraphine's guilt to grow larger.

'If only she knew that I am not actually four!'

"I won't dismiss you for this, but remember that you won't be receiving your salary for three months as a warning. If you slip up next time, I won't be this easygoing," her mother ordered.

Hearing such a domineering tone from a seemingly docile woman was indeed a surprise to Seraphine.

Nonetheless, Seraphine believed that this was going too far. It was merely a stomachache, and every kid of her current age went through a fair share of them.

But currently, she was precious daughter of Duke. Maybe that's why, such a big fuss was required.

The only thing she was able to do was stare at Betty apologetically the entire time, but this time it appeared that none of them managed to get the meaning behind her stare.

In other words, her apology wasn't conveyed.

°°°

A sense of deja vu came within her when two familiar figures stepped into the room, and instantly, without missing the opportunity, she closed her eyes, pretending to be sleeping.

Betty who was beside her was ordered to leave the room by the older brother. After a glance, Betty left the room.

Not wanting to go through the entire thing again, she prayed for both of them to leave. All that crying in left her too weak to argue against them.

"What? She is sleeping?" Clayton said— his voice filled with disappointment.

"That seems to be the case," Lyle voiced out, examining the girl.

'Yes! That's why, leave me alone, You Sadistic Jerks!'

Running his hand through his hair, Clayton ruffled them and stated, "That's a disappointment then. I wanted to check on her stupid face. She is such a weakling! Just a little sweet got her to this condition!"

"Indeed it is quite worrisome."

'Assholes, if you are actually pretending to be worried about me, at least sound like that. Even with my eyes closed, I can sense that both of you are mocking!'

"She gets sick really easily. I don't know what to do since this never happened to me, but do you think that I should train her with me?"

'You want to train a four year old? Fuck! Forget that! Are you crazy!?'

"That won't suit her," Lyle said.

'Won't suit me? Are you some misogynistic bastard? Let me tell you that I can do it as well! I won't be lame like the female lead and follow you!'

"Is that so? I guess you are right. She is too small and will be blown off easily!"

Biting her lower, she tried her best to hold in her urge to not fight with the males before her. Hearing both of them talk nonsense was way too frustrating, and what's worse was that all of those words were affecting her— urging her to retort at them.

Seraphine clenched her hand tightly around the blanket, trying to be smart and not make the situation difficult for her. But since her temper was incredibly small in their presence, this was proving difficult for her.

'They will give up soon! They will give up soon! They will give up—'

"Lyle, you don't have anything to do, right? Let's just wait for her to wake up," Clayton suggested, "It would be pathetic if I left without seeing her awake."

"Let's do that then."