IWBAACTWITOS Chapter 29

I stared at the mountain of cookies piled in front of me and made a troubled face.

While I'd been asleep, Julian and Yan had apparently gone out and bought cookies, which were now being served as a snack along with ground quince juice.

"Why did you buy so many cookies?"

"You told the Duke you wanted cookies, so he should buy some for you, miss."

The nanny said there were too many, so I should only eat as much as I could manage.

Setting aside the cookies themselves, I questioned the nanny about supposedly asking for them.

"I asked for them?"

"Yes, you woke up briefly earlier, had lunch and your medicine, then went back to sleep. That's when you said it."

"I didn't just keep sleeping?"

"Don't you remember? You said if he only bought one, our house pig would eat them all, so he absolutely had to buy two of everything, then you fell back asleep. The prince does eat well, but you shouldn't call him a pig."

I turned my head and coughed, then swallowed hard at the phrase "our house pig."

"Our house pig" was what I called my brother, and I'd said that in front of Julian?

"Must've been... dreaming."

"That must be it. Still, I'm so glad you're feeling much better. The medicine is harsh, but it seems to work well."

"...Yeah."

I said that and sipped some quince juice to hide my complicated feelings.

The cookies in front of me no longer looked appetizing, but Julian had gone out specially to buy them for sick me, so I picked one up and forced it into my mouth.

While the nanny watched, I was quietly chewing my cookie when something caught in the blankets. I pulled it out to check—a glass bottle filled with candy that had started melting and getting sticky.

"What's this?"

"You said you wanted to dream about candy, so you put it there, miss."

'What's a candy dream supposed to mean?'

I laughed weakly at the nanny, who was looking at me with eyes that said I was adorable enough to die for, then pushed the glass bottle aside.

"So, did you dream about candy?"

"Uh... yeah."

'Is a candy dream maybe a dream about getting beaten by candy?'

There were moments when my whole body hurt like someone was pummeling me, but otherwise I hadn't dreamed anything.

I didn't remember waking up in the middle either.

"..."

When I just put a cookie in my mouth and chewed listlessly, the nanny told me I didn't have to force myself to eat.

"You can eat the leftovers after your cold is completely better."

"...Okay, I'll stop eating then."

The nanny told me to finish the quince juice and took the cookie tray away. Left alone, I let out a deep sigh.

I wanted to slap my own cheek for losing my mind and spouting nonsense, but unfortunately I was already too sore all over, and I had no memory of it anyway, so hitting myself would be pointless.

I drank the rest of the quince juice in one go and climbed down from the bed.

The curtains had definitely been a different color last night—they must have changed them while I slept. I pulled back the thick winter curtains meant to block the cold and wiped the condensation from the window. The garden view appeared.

Most of yesterday's snow had melted, leaving only traces here and there. But the snowmen the three of us had made remained, still decorating one corner of the garden.

'The power of wishes is strong. Especially the wishes of those who can use divine power.'

The idea that wishes come true was divine power—if I'd heard that on the street in my past life, I would have dismissed it completely. But in my current situation, I couldn't just laugh it off.

"Gods sometimes bestow prophecies or miracles, but for the most part they're indifferent, was it...?"

I didn't know who wrote it, but it was absolutely right. When I pressed my palm against the window, a small handprint remained.

The white handprint gradually grew smaller, leaving a tiny trace before disappearing. I pressed my palm to the window again.

A slightly clearer handprint that lasted longer remained compared to before.

'So small.'

When I was young, I didn't know my hands were small. I just thought everything around me was excessively large.

'So at least until you become an adult, don't make foolish wishes.'

I looked down at my two small hands. Below the hem of my yellow pajamas, I could clearly see my tiny feet too.

The hands and feet of a five-year-old. I was only just five. A full fourteen years remained until adulthood.

'Why did you have to appear now?'

The god gave me power because there was clearly a need for it, he'd said. According to him, everything happened because there was a need.

I was born as the heroine's sister because I needed to receive the Prophetess's blessing to use divine power.

I had divine power to save someone.

'I asked for someone, anyone, to show me the way, and you appeared right then.'

He, who wore Yan's face, clearly knew the original story—the fate, in other words.

In this situation where I couldn't properly understand or control anything, he was the only clue I could grasp.

'Wishes, huh? How f*cking ridiculous. My real wishes don't come true.'

Wasn't it funny that after letting go of all my attachments, words I spoke without thinking became wishes that came true?

Unfortunately, the talk about lifespan didn't threaten me much. I'd already died once anyway, and the life I loved was over.

It wasn't that I hated life as Thaleia, but I didn't have strong attachments yet. Rather than being ignorant and missing the reason I was born, the person I needed to save, I'd prefer my lifespan to shorten a bit.

If I disobeyed and made a few wishes, maybe he'd appear again someday.

Then I planned to grab him by the collar and demand answers to everything I was curious about.

"Miss, please open wide and say 'ah.'"

"Ahhh."

The attending physician examining my throat said the swelling had gone down, so I was fine now.

It was a complete recovery verdict four days after catching the cold. Being forced not to budge from my bedroom for four days had left my whole body terribly stiff.

"So I'm all better now?"

"Yes, you can resume normal activities starting today."

I couldn't quite smile at Roxana and Julian's relieved faces. I was planning to make another wish at an appropriate time.

'Then I'll get sick again.'

When I didn't seem particularly happy, Roxana said I must have felt so cooped up and that I could go out and play now.

"Asher came to play again today, right?"

"Yep. He's in the playroom now."

At those words, I jumped down from the bed and ran to the playroom. Asher and Yan were lying on their stomachs, heads together, drawing something. The two little ones seemed to have gotten along fine without me.

"Asher! Yan! Let's play!"

At my call, they both turned their heads simultaneously. Unmistakable joy spread across Asher's and Yan's faces.

"Tilly!"

They threw aside their drawing and ran over, hugging me. Unable to control their speed, we tumbled together. Fortunately, thick carpet covered the floor, so falling didn't matter much.

"What were you two doing?"

"Ah! Wait just a second."

Yan, who'd jumped up, brought over the drawing they'd been working on. Their picture showed flowers falling like snow, snowmen, and the three of us smiling.

"We drew this so you'd get better quickly, Tilly. We were going to give it to you when we finished..."

"Thanks to you, I got all better. Thank you."

I vigorously ruffled both Asher's and Yan's hair. Even when I said I'd hang their drawing in my bedroom, their expressions weren't very good.

"You're not sick anymore?"

"Of course not, it was just a cold. I'm all better now."

Both of them frowned at that. Since they didn't look happy even at the news I'd recovered, I asked if they weren't glad we could play together now.

"That's good, but..."

While Yan hesitated, chewing his lip, Asher asked me directly.

"Tilly, will you get sick again?"

"...Colds are a common illness. Of course I might get sick again."

"We've never caught a cold once."

"That's because you're a little different from other people."

"But you received the blessing too, Tilly."

"...Well, that's true, but receiving a blessing doesn't mean you never get sick at all."

"People say only those who've awakened abilities get sick. So they're saying you must have awakened your ability..."

"Who said that?"

"The imperial palace attendants..."

People from the three families got sick not because they'd awakened abilities, but because they'd used their abilities excessively and had little life force remaining.

But apparently rumors were circulating with the cause-and-effect relationship completely missing.

And because of those rumors, the little ones were anxious. It bothered me.

'Well... It was the same in my past life, but this place isn't much different.'

If I kept getting sick in the future, even more baseless rumors would spread recklessly. I told them both to lean close and whispered in a small voice.

"...This is actually a secret."

"Okay."

"It's because I made a wish."

"What wish did you make?"

I couldn't tell them I'd gotten sick just from carelessly wishing for snow to fall once. Instead, I told them the wish I'd made while blowing out my birthday candles.

"I wished for everyone to be happy."

"We're not happy when you're sick, Tilly."

Asher's words made me press my lips tight. He was absolutely right. Even if there was a promise of eventual happiness, it might feel meaningless if you weren't happy now.

The happiness I'd decided on for everyone would only come after a very long time. If someone had said this to me, I definitely would have asked what good it was if I wasn't happy now.

'Still, this is all I can say to them.'

"Everyone will be happy someday."

"Everyone?"

"Yes, everyone."

What I actually wanted to give them wasn't vague wishes or talk about happiness, but my more honest feelings. But I couldn't bring myself to say it, so I just planted hope that they might be happy someday.

"Because it's a happy ending."