IFAHWIPUTML Chapter 28

"Is something wrong?"

Rohan, who'd been waiting outside the door, walked alongside Chayston as he hurried out.

"No."

As Chayston rapidly distanced himself from the room with those two, Verasielle's bright smile bloomed in his mind.

Her laughter billowed like clouds, sparkling with an added filter of radiance.

"Hah..."

Shocked, Chayston stopped walking and shook his head violently.

He wasn't in his right mind. Finding that woman pretty? Was he insane?

"Are you ill?"

Rohan asked worriedly as Chayston suddenly acted like someone who'd lost his wits.

Why was he acting this way? He'd been behaving particularly strangely lately.

"I must be going mad."

Chayston ran his hand through his hair in irritation, having stopped in his tracks.

Verasielle's smile had already vanished like smoke.

He must be mentally scattered from having too much to worry about lately.

Otherwise, there was no reason Verasielle's smile wouldn't leave his mind.

"I'm going to the training grounds."

If he pushed his body hard for once, these stray thoughts would disappear too.

With that thought, Chayston headed to the training grounds like someone being chased.

But as long as they lived in the same house, they were bound to keep running into each other.

Until that moment, Chayston hadn't imagined at all.

That like clothes soaking in drizzle, his heart was gradually inclining toward her.

Two days later.

"Brother!"

The ducal estate, which had been quiet as if submerged in water, became noisy with one person's arrival.

Raphel and Verasielle, who'd been eating in the dining room, became wide-eyed as rabbits at the voice echoing through the estate.

"Brother! Duke Chayston! Where are you?"

It was a clear, young woman's voice.

When Verasielle looked at Tia questioningly, she immediately understood the intent and answered.

"It seems Lady Kaysis Lashashe has arrived."

Her attitude suggested this wasn't Kaysis's first visit.

"Lashashe?"

Lashashe. It sounded familiar, like she'd heard it somewhere. She felt like she should remember...

Verasielle wracked her brain trying to recall.

Ngh.

A sound escaped her lips, but no particular person came to mind.

"Are you in the dining room? Brother!"

Striding through the estate like she owned it, Kaysis peeked into the dining room and discovered black-haired Raphaleon before scurrying over.

"Oh? Are you a guest?"

Verasielle's hand, which had been picking up peas with her fork, stopped because of Kaysis's sudden appearance.

"Black hair and red eyes? Don't tell me—Raphaleon?!"

Seeing Raphel's appearance, Kaysis made a fuss and rushed over.

She examined Raphel from every angle, fascinated.

"Wow! You found Raphaleon?"

Curiosity filled her blue eyes.

"Scawy..."

Raphel, frightened by Kaysis suddenly getting in his face, stretched both arms toward Verasielle. Verasielle consoled Raphel and held him.

"Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

Though Kaysis apologized with her hands pressed together in genuine remorse, Raphel remained motionless with his face buried in Verasielle's embrace.

"It's okay. She's not scary."

She patted Raphel consolingly as she rocked him. But Raphel clutched her collar and had no intention of raising his head.

"But who are you?"

Having quickly lost interest when Raphel wouldn't look at her, Kaysis changed targets.

The curiosity that had been focused on Raphel was now entirely Verasielle's.

Kaysis, with her thickly waved blonde hair and impressive blue eyes, was a fresh-faced girl who appeared to be around seventeen.

Her face, which hadn't lost its baby fat, was round and cute. A doll-like face that would monopolize everyone's affection.

Verasielle stared intently at Kaysis.

She felt like she could almost remember the identity of this girl who approached warmly without any shyness.

Long blonde hair, blue eyes. A girl who called Chayston "brother"...

'Ah, now I remember.'

Kaysis Lashashe, the only daughter of the Count Lashashe family.

Chayston's father and Kaysis's father had been close friends.

Thanks to that, the two had been close since childhood due to frequent contact.

Moreover, Kaysis was a character who cherished Chayston's nephew Raphaleon like a younger brother.

She'd been described as having a somewhat unique personality, and experiencing it firsthand today—setting aside her scatterbrained nature—she seemed rather rude.

'Is she safe to keep around Raphaleon?'

Verasielle examined Kaysis with sharp eyes as if evaluating her.

"Raphaleon's nanny? But you're too pretty and young for that..."

Pass.

"I'm Verasielle Prozier. Due to circumstances, I'm staying at the ducal estate temporarily."

Verasielle introduced herself with a goofy grin at being called pretty.

No one in the world dislikes compliments.

"Oh, that extravagance queen! Uh, oops!"

Kaysis blurted out whatever came to mind, then realized her mistake and clapped her hand over her mouth.

Shocked, Kaysis soon pursed her lips and watched Verasielle nervously.

Verasielle just laughed it off.

Her public image was someone obsessed with new releases, desperate for limited editions, and crazy about shopping.

She'd even taken out loans and still couldn't get her act together, spending money like water—so she understood people's reactions to some degree.

Rumors about Verasielle's extravagance had already spread rampantly through high society.

Though she never dreamed she'd hear such things to her face.

"I'm so, so sorry! Really. Father always told me to watch my mouth... I'm truly sorry."

Kaysis's face looked mortified as she slapped her own lips.

"Well, it's not wrong. Though I've come to my senses now."

Verasielle shrugged at her deeply repentant attitude.

She could see why Count Lashashe had told Kaysis to watch her tongue.

Making such remarks in public would obviously earn her insults for rudeness.

"Really, truly sorry. Selly..."

Selly? At the strange nickname, Verasielle looked at her silently, and Kaysis smiled innocently like a child.

"Sister Verasielle. Shortened to Selly!"

"Selly...?"

At the word "selly," Raphel peeked his head out slightly. Apparently curiosity had struck.

"Oh right, do you like jelly?"

Delighted that Raphaleon was showing interest in her, Kaysis beamed and rummaged through a pouch tied to the outside of her dress.

Meanwhile, Verasielle's mind reeled at the rapidly changing conversation topics.

Conversing with Kaysis could easily consume an entire day just trying to follow the subject changes.

"Here, a gift!"

In Kaysis's hand as she rummaged through the pouch was a bear-shaped jelly.

The jelly on a stick was large and yellow.

"Woooow! Bear!"

It was apparently enough to capture Raphel's attention.

Raphel squirmed in Verasielle's arms, reaching out.

Kaysis smiled with satisfaction as she gifted the jelly to Raphel.

"Bear, bear!"

Raphel shook the bear jelly in his hand, touched it, and poked it with his finger. Poke poke. He seemed to love it immensely.

Verasielle stroked Raphel's head while staring at the pouch Kaysis wore.

What was that magic lamp of a pouch? How could a jelly larger than the pouch emerge from something so small?

"This is a magic pouch."

Sensing Verasielle's gaze, Kaysis untied the pouch strings and held it out.

"A magic pouch?"

Verasielle accepted the pouch somewhat absent-mindedly and examined it from every angle, fascinated.

An ordinary brown cloth pouch smaller than her palm was a magic pouch?

"Yes. You can take out whatever item you're thinking of."

"Oh, so then..."

"No money. No jewels either. Nothing that could bring financial gain."

Tch.

She'd hoped it could make her rich like a lamp genie...

Verasielle's lips, which had risen with expectation, rapidly deflated.

But how had Kaysis known her inner thoughts and cut them down so decisively?

Thinking she'd been too obvious, Verasielle tried to look mature and put on a solemn expression.

"If Selly doesn't mind, I'd like to give it as a gift."

"What? No, I was staring too obviously, wasn't I?"

Verasielle hurriedly tried to return the pouch to Kaysis. Kaysis shook her head, saying it was fine.

"I want to give it as thanks for forgiving my earlier rudeness. If you'll accept it, of course."

Kaysis: completely approved.

"Really? Thank you. It seems like it'll be really useful."

Even if not for money, she could produce candies or jellies that Raphaleon liked, so it would definitely come in handy.

Verasielle was in an excellent mood—this was her first gift since coming to this world.

Especially since it was such a mysterious item.

"But is this child really the Raphaleon that Brother was searching for?"

Kaysis's face filled with curiosity.

She had a personality that would stay up all night digging until she got to the bottom of anything that made her curious, so she asked Verasielle again.

"Probably. We can't be certain until we use the antidote."

"Ah, I see. But you two look really alike."

"Do we?"

"Yes. Very much so."

Kaysis thought Raphel holding his bear jelly happily and Verasielle examining the pouch from every angle looked remarkably similar.

Especially their transparent eyes.

"Did Selly bring Raphaleon here?"

"Yes. I'm the one who found him."

"Really? Where did you find him? Brother also tried so hard to find Raphaleon."

Kaysis's eyes sparkled as if expecting an epic tale.

"Ah, well..."

The two began chatting animatedly, completely forgetting about Chayston's existence.